Chapter 14
“Come on, honey. Time to head home.”
Lilac jolted awake. Shit. Had she fallen asleep? How had that happened?
She was still in the staff room at Dirty Delights. Devon had asked her to wait for a few minutes so he could drive her home.
Oops.
At the end of her first shift, Devon had insisted on walking her to her car. Instead of telling him she didn’t have a car, she’d chosen one at random.
As they’d gotten closer, he’d beeped the locks.
Yeah . . . to her embarrassment she’d chosen his car.
So now he insisted on driving her home until she had her own mode of transport.
She felt terrible that he kept having to drive her home after every shift.
“Sorry I kept you waiting, honey,” he apologized as they walked out to his car.
A chilly wind hit her. Soon, it would start getting colder and she didn’t have the wardrobe to cope with cooler weather.
“You don’t need to apologize, Devon,” she said. “I feel awful that you’re driving me around. You really don’t have to. I’m fine walking home.”
He opened her passenger door. He really was a gentleman.
“One thing you need to learn about living in Haven is that no man here is going to be comfortable with you walking around at night. If I don’t take you home, anyone who sees you is going to offer you a ride. Or they’re going to call Jake. Did you have a meeting with him yet?”
“Um, no.”
He shut her door and walked around to the driver’s side. His car was fancy, with leather, heated seats.
Ahh, heated seats. So deliciously decadent.
“You’re going to have to.”
“Because of that whole silly guardian thing?” she asked.
“It’s not silly,” he told her sternly.
Right. Maybe it wasn’t, but it seemed awfully unrealistic. People just weren’t this nice.
Mind you . . . everyone she’d met so far had been pretty nice. But surely there was an ulterior motive to it all. Opal had suggested that maybe the entire town was like a giant cult.
To be honest, it made the most sense.
Both she and Ryleigh had warned Opal not to say that out loud anywhere that anyone in this town could hear her.
With Opal, it was a fifty-fifty chance of whether she’d listen to them.
“Linc will probably act as your guardian if you ask him, since you’re staying in his guesthouse.”
“I can’t ask Linc to do anything more for us.”
“Us?” Devon asked.
Shit. Had she not mentioned the others?
“I’ve been traveling around with my friends.”
“You didn’t say anything about them,” Devon said.
“I must have forgotten. Thanks, Devon,” she said as he pulled up outside Linc’s. She undid her seatbelt.
“Before you go, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
She tensed. Great. Was he going to tell her that she couldn’t work there anymore? Shit. That would be a blow. Still, she’d get it after everything that had happened during tonight’s shift.
“I’m sorry about tonight. I won’t break anything else. I just got a shock, seeing Tanner?—”
“Hey, you’re not in trouble.”
“I’m not?” She was jittery with nerves. Her heart felt like it was beating too hard.
“No. Of course not. I just wanted to let you know that if Tanner is upsetting or bothering you, you can let me know. I’ll ban him from the bar if I have to.”
She sucked in a breath. “You’d do that?”
“You work for me now, Lilac. I take care of my own.”
“But you barely know me. And I’m guessing Tanner is a good customer so isn’t he one of your own?”
“Nope. All of my staff are like my family. I protect them. So, you will let me know, yeah?”
“Yes, thanks, Devon.”
He grunted. “For what it’s worth, the Malones are all good men. Just fucking crazy. Particularly, the younger ones. Get some sleep, honey.”
“Thanks. Night.”
* * *
Why wasshe spending so much time in his car?
And why was Devon driving her home?
Tanner stood in the shadows of a tree as he watched them. He’d parked his truck a few blocks back when he’d seen Devon’s car stop and jogged the rest of the way, not wanting them to know he was watching. But he was starting to get pissed off.
Had Devon warned him off because he wanted Lilac for himself?
He couldn’t see what they were doing. Why had they stopped outside Linc’s house?
Stepping forward as Devon’s car sped off, Tanner followed her around the back of Linc’s house to his guest house. He’d been to Linc’s a few times. He was a good guy. But Tanner didn’t like that Lilac was staying in his guest house.
He found a spot to stand in, ignoring how cold it was getting. It was after one in the morning, and she was just getting home.
He didn’t like that either.
Fuck. What was wrong with him? He’d he become some sort of stalker. He needed to go home. She wasn’t running. Hell, it seemed like she didn’t even have a vehicle.
None of this was adding up.
Maybe he should pay Linc a visit.
Or perhaps you should just leave since this isn’t any of your business.
Tanner turned to leave when an unexpected noise had him stilling.
Was that a baby crying? He looked over at the guest house. A soft light turned on in the living area and he saw her walk in front of a window. It had to be slightly open because he heard that cry again coming from the bundle of blankets she held against her chest.
Was that a fucking baby?
His stomach dropped as he did the math. No. No, there was no way it could be his. But that meant that she had to have been pregnant when she was with him.
Why the fuck hadn’t she told him? How hadn’t he noticed? Then again, she might not have been showing.
He just . . . he didn’t understand this.
Was the baby the reason she’d run? Had she been worried that he’d notice? Or was there some other reason?
Then the crying stopped and the light turned off.
Wait. Who had been looking after the baby while she was out? Had she left it alone?
Fuck. He had too many questions and not enough answers.
But he was going to get them.