Chapter 9
Molly twisted her neck, rolled her shoulders, and sighed. It was a miracle that every time she did that, her body didn’t protest. Well, apart from the discomfort from sitting hunched for too long, and the soreness left over from her online self-defence classes.
She watched her reflection in the mirror in the bedroom.
Her red hair sat in wild curls around her flushed face.
Her eyes no longer appeared constantly alert to potential danger, and her ears didn’t perk up at the slightest sound.
And the best of all, her lips were almost always tilted up, keener now to smile than scowl.
Since that fateful day when she’d escaped, she had not heard a peep from Johnny.
It helped that the man wasn’t in the country.
And she hadn’t left him with any sort of contact information to bother her with.
But she knew he had enough resources to find her if he wanted to, even when he wasn’t physically in the UK.
Hell, if he just had his people follow Leo, he’d find Molly so easily. And that was the only thing that kept her up at night. The fear of Leo inadvertently leading Johnny directly to them.
She had considered leaving Glasgow behind for that reason. But this city was her home. Besides, with Leo she was hidden in plain sight, and he’d never let anything happen to her or Rose.
She sighed as she shut her laptop.
In the last year, her life had changed, almost a 180. She had a roof over her head—Leo’s house that he still refused to charge her rent on—she had a job working as a virtual assistant, and she had a small savings balance in cash.
Molly bit her lip as she went through her completed task list. She had clients from all over the world, particularly in the US and Canada. Those hours just worked better for her than UK ones, especially with babysitting. When Rose slept or wound down for the day, Molly could work.
She went through the task list a client of hers had sent her. They were a major event planning business. Most of her tasks for them had been to follow up with vendors and co-ordinate details. She still had to manage another client’s monthly schedule and book their business trips.
They were all high-paying clients. And Molly was good at her job.
When she stood up for a wee break, she noticed the voice levels in the flat had gone from playful laughter and chatter to silence.
As she’d worked, she’d kept an ear out for the sound of water running, which had, like always, been followed by a singular gruff voice talking in lulling tones. That voice did things to her.
No, she wouldn’t think of it, not when working. Not ever. Leo was a friend, nothing more.
Molly stood from her chair with a groan. She had to check on Rose and maybe drink some water before she got back to it.
Wrapping her housecoat tight around her, Molly pattered towards the door and into the living room.
The sight in front of her had her halting on the spot.
Leo sat on the sofa, still dressed in his office shirt and trousers, albeit with the sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms. Those forearms had got her the first day they met, and they still tugged at her feminine self.
But now there were other things, like the day’s scruff on his jaw and the way his head relaxed on the back rest, exposing that long throat to her.
Above all, it was the scene in front of her that had her gut tighten with need and longing.
Leo sat in the living room, surrounded by what seemed like an explosion of soft toys, coloured pencils, books, a picture book resting open on his lap even as he slept with Rose, also fast asleep, tucked into his side.
Tears stung Molly’s eyes.
Leo was a busy man. She knew that. Over the last year, she had grown to understand some of the multitudes he contained. The man was fiercely caring and undaunted by crying bairns. After the night he’d saved them and done such a good job of feeding Rose her mashed potatoes, he’d stayed.
Not in that sort of a way, although in another life she’d have jumped his bones by now. He came around every day, at first with food, and then with groceries to make them dinner. He encouraged Molly to take some time for herself in the evenings as he babysat Rose.
He was too precious to Molly. Enough that she couldn’t muddy their relationship with sex. Not that he’d shown an interest in her, exactly.
And yet when Molly had found a job, he had promised to be at her place at six p.m. every day to take over. The man had never been late, not once.
They didn’t hang out outside the flat very often; she worried they’d be caught even if Johnny was technically away on Foundation business. He had pals around town. But Rose couldn’t be cooped up inside forever, so on weekends Leo came over to take them out on day trips.
It was almost family-esque, their life. And yet they weren’t a family.
Sometimes Molly felt guilty about imposing on Leo and told herself as soon as she saved enough, she would find another place to rent. But she also knew one of the multitudes of Leo was some sort of guilt.
Swiping the tears from her eyes, she padded her way to the kitchen. The man carried a heavy weight on his shoulders. Something to do with the money and position he’d inherited.
She also knew that he was working his arse off to make this work. He worked as the HR head, then came over to babysit Rose for free, and then went home to study HR after he left her place at almost midnight. Rinse and repeat.
No wonder he had dark circles under his eyes and fell asleep the moment he sat still. It wasn’t a healthy or sustainable lifestyle, but when she asked if he wanted a break from them, he looked almost sad and offended. So she’d stopped asking.
Molly poured herself a glass of water, then heard shuffling behind her. She turned around to find Leo gently laying Rose down as he stood up.
Sorry, did I wake you?
Leo shook his head. All done for the night?
Molly pursed her lips. Do you need to leave? I still have an hour or so to go. But Rose is asleep and—
He shook his head, then looked at the toys on the floor and the dishes in the sink. I’ll clean up.
You don’t—
Let’s not do this every night, Molly. You finish your work. I’ve got this.
Didn’t this man see how fucking perfect he was? Despite being more exhausted than Molly was, he was taking care of them like they were his family. Johnny had never done the dishes. Had never once put Rose to sleep. Had never encouraged Molly to do her own thing, or take time for herself.
Yet this man had her back. And he wasn’t getting paid, in money or in sex.
He was an angel.
Molly swallowed the emotion crowding her throat. He’d never even made a pass at her either. Not that a single mother with some extra fat and scars was an attractive choice for a partner.
How the fuck was she expected to not have a huge crush—scratch that, a raging need to jump his bones? What sane woman wouldn’t?
She ran a hand through her hair. No, this was verging on dangerous territory. She was a year out of an abusive relationship. And she was so not ready to be in another relationship, even a healthy one.
But just sex? She had needs Leo could meet.
Didn’t you have a busy day today? When he’d walked in the door that evening, the stress had been oozing off him. You should rest up.
Just Knox on my case. Like he is every day. He muttered something about having watched his six today. Don’t worry, nothing’s going to go wrong.
Molly raised her eyebrows at that strange segue. What was going to go wrong?
Nothing.
She gave him a second to rethink his answer, taking a sip of water instead.
Leo sighed. Sorry. I… I made a mistake today, and Knox threatened to sic Johnny on me. He’s back for a couple weeks. Knox said I had a week to… er…
Bring your one-hundred percent to work? The words slipped from her mouth before Molly had a chance to rethink them. Shite! She covered her mouth. Her body braced for a rebuke out of habit.
Leo would never raise a hand to her, she knew that. He’d earned that much trust. Still she had crossed a line. I—I’m so, so sorry.
Leo surged ahead, causing her to raise her arms, in self-defence, waiting for his punch and—
Hey! Hey. His words were gentle, almost as if he were placating a scared animal. And instead of punching her, he plucked the cup of water from her hands and offered her a wad of kitchen napkins.
Molly blinked at him, the action causing tears to spill from her eyes. What use were her self-defence classes if this is how she reacted to something so minor?
Leo’s smile was sad when he thrust the kitchen napkins towards her. You spilled water down your, er, shirt.
Molly grabbed the napkins and dabbed at her chest. Her housecoat had come loose, so the water had spilled on her white T-shirt, showing the outline of her black bra.
Leo stepped away. I’m sorry if I—
What? No, I’m sorry. I’m the one who’s fucked up. For life, it seemed like.
He stared at his fingers. I promise to do better, he muttered, then reached out and refilled the glass for her.
It only made her feel worse, but she took the glass of water from him. Thank you.
Can I still clean up? he asked in a whisper, as if he was afraid she’d say no.
She’d met women in her position before, when she’d been the one tasked with saving survivors of intimate partner abuse. So Molly knew everyone needed their own time to recover and to regain themselves after… well, after. Eventually this gut reaction would go away.
She was already so much better than she’d been twelve months ago. And it was thanks to this man and her online single mothers’ group. Yet this is how she reacted to him.
Molly cracked a smile at him, as fake as a salesman’s. Thanks for your help. I’ll get back to work now. And she ran back into the room, embarrassed yet grateful for Leo.