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His voice shook “You don’t ever have to feel unsafe again I won’t allow it”

Apprehension clouded her features “I ht fro to try this…”

“We are”

Her eyes squeezed shut “Then there are sos you deserve to know”

Chapter Twenty-One

Ginger’s heart pounded She was actually going to tell Derek about thethat happened next between them would depend on his reaction She didn’t harbor any fears that he would arrest her or demand she return the cash to Valerie She could rest easy on that score But one thing she’d learned about Derek? He took his job as a law officer very seriously Hoould he feel about having a thief in his bed?

If anyone had told her a week ago she would be considering a relationship, with a cop no less, she would have laughed and called that person a filthy liar Well, here she was And she’d be da to be so at all

Maybe she’d shed a little bit of her for with an actual businessman about her furniture But she would never coirl from Nashville who’d once flashed her brsts at a hardware store owner in exchange for hi a deadbolt on her and Willa’s bedrooave her, and she would never be ashamed of her actions

Only one question remained Would Derek be ashamed of her?

“Willa and I didn’t have the best of upbringings,” she started, hating her voice for shaking “Ourand…she wasn’t quite ready for a kid And by the ti, she still wasn’t ready” She took a deep breath “I’ve had to do things maybe some people wouldn’t approve of to keep us clothed and fed—”

“Ginger, I know”

Her expression went from anxious to confused “You knohat exactly?”

Derek released a breath and placed a hand on her arht once he explained, she would h her

“Please try not to get upset”

She didn’t say anything

He sighed “I ran a search of your na persons report filed for you and Willa, by your o”

Ginger couldn’t get air into her lungs She lurched up in the bed, hand clutching her chest, vaguely sensing the alarone to the police and reported thes Their hly unlikely considering the condition she’d been in when Ginger last saw her—or so Her mother didn’t associate with cops unless they were in the process of arresting her If she’d walked into a police station without handcuffs on her wrists, there ood reason

The ht have co persons report, but hadn’t er to get the money back

But she would never involve the cops unless her circumstances were dire Life or death Either it hadn’t been herit for someone who now needed it back Or she’d borrowed the cash and her debt was co due

How could Ginger not have seen this co for theht her into a roo persons report?

Ginger threw her legs over the side of the bed, intending to go pick up Willa from school She couldn’t think beyond that She just knew she didn’t want her little sister out there alone

Derek pushed her back down onto the bed, loo above her

“Get off me!”