Tangled Bliss Read Free Page A

had
been with her. Her mind whirled with what if’s and why’s.
    What if she’d touched that thing? What if one of her
family had moved it to put something else there? They sometimes popped over
to see her and had a key.
    When the door swung fully open, she saw Alex. He strode
straight over to her. Her shoulders slumped. Relief washed through her. In that
moment, he’d never looked better. His stress showed, though.
    Part of his hair hung near his collar, obviously tugged from
the band. The light blue shirt of the police uniform clung to his shoulders,
highlighting the tension in his muscles.
    She stood and practically jumped at him. His arms wrapped
around her. He pulled her so tight against him she almost lost her breath.
She’d never been so happy to see someone.
    Her arms tightened around him. She wanted to stay right
here. His warmth and strength soothed her frazzled nerves. She leaned into him
and breathed in his woodsy scent. She needed this.
    “Are you alright?” Alex’s arms tightened.
    “Yes, just a little scared. I could be around this person
every day and still have no clue who is stalking me.” Chelsea leaned back to
look up at him.
    “We’ll find out who he is, baby. You don’t need to worry
about that.”  Alex guided her back over to the chair.
    “But where will I stay? They say my house is uninhabitable.
I can’t bring trouble to my parents or my sister or brother.”  She sat and her
shoulders slumped.
    “Baby, you’ll stay with me. You know we’re heading toward
living together anyway.” Alex pulled a chair over beside hers.
    “No, we aren’t. Not as the relationship is now.” She shook
her head. She didn’t want to get into this. After the day she’d had, she didn’t
want to fight with the man who offered such comfort to her.
    He frowned.  “And what’s wrong with our relationship?”
    “I know only a little more about you now than I did when I
first met you. There are parts of your life that you refuse to talk about. That
doesn’t make me confident in our relationship.” She sighed. Her shoulders
slumped.
    He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Baby, there are
things I don’t want to talk about. Not because I’m hiding them from you. That
life is over. I don’t want it to be a part of this one.”
    “You can’t separate it. It’s not as if it was an actual past
life. It’s part of your history. While the specifics are unimportant, you can’t
ignore those years.” She threw up her hands.
    “I’ll tell you, but I wanted you to get to know me first.”
He leaned forward.
    “That doesn’t matter at the moment. If I don’t want to bring
trouble to my family, do you think I want to dump it on you?” She shook her
head. As much as his offer touched her, she didn’t want him to become a target
of this bastard. She had no idea what this stalker would do if she moved in
with Alex.
    “Chelsea, even if you moved into an apartment, you wouldn’t
go alone. I’m not letting you face this on your own. You might not be certain
of where our relationship is headed, but I am. This is a commitment for me.”
Alexander took her hand.
    She looked at him and knew by the stubborn look on his face
that he wouldn’t budge. Although his insistence frustrated her, she welcomed
the concern. It made her feel less alone.
    “We don’t even know what we’re facing, except someone who’s
obsessed. You haven’t had time to think about this.” She shook her head. Even
if he thought about it overnight, he wouldn’t change his mind. He’d set himself
up as her protector.
    “Whoever this is and whatever his goal is, he won’t succeed.
I promise you that.” He framed her face and looked into her eyes.
    The man spoke now, not the police officer. The sheer
determination in his brown eyes seared her. She hadn’t ever seen that much
emotion from him before. He’d always been a little closed off.
    “I’ll take you home, my home. Your sister is getting you
some clothes from a