Chapter 31
Tyler
Idon’t like this at all. Not one bit.
I immediately felt ill the second Audrey was out of my sight. I wanted to leap out of the SUV and run after her, not letting her walk into whatever this meeting with Joe was without me.
But I didn’t. I stayed in the driver’s seat, hating everything about this situation and not being able to do anything about it. I circle the block, watching the clock tick toward the fifteen-minute mark, so I can go back and pick them up.
I’m pulling back to the curb a minute early, shifting the vehicle into park just as they step outside.
Joe gestures to where I’m parked, and Audrey nods and starts walking toward me.
My heart hammers against my ribs. She looks unscathed, at least. The expression on her gorgeous face is about the same as it was when she left me. Stressed. Indignant. Resolute.
One of those emotions, I could understand. But the mixture of them, I’m unsure how to decipher.
Her perfume invading my nostrils when she climbs inside calms me somewhat. If it wasn’t for Joe, I would be able to touch her. And really be able to make sure she’s alright. But I can’t yet. My foot presses harder on the gas.
In record time, I’m pulling into his driveway. Before I’ve even turned off the engine, Audrey’s out of the vehicle and halfway across the driveway, with Joe not far behind her.
With teeth grinding in vexation, I walk into the house well after them. As I pass the dining room, Audrey’s standing next to the table, her arms wrapped around her waist, nodding to whatever Joe says, though I can’t quite catch what it is.
Knowing now isn’t the time to confront Audrey, I go outside to talk to Matt when I see him through the back door.
“Hey, man. That was a quick meeting.” He looks up from where he’s sitting.
I drop onto the chair next to him and place my forearms on the table, clasping my hands together and releasing some of the strain in my shoulders. “Yeah, I don’t know what it was about. But thankfully, it didn’t take long.”
He stares out across the yard before looking back at me. “Please tell me I’m not the only one who’s starting to hate this job.”
I flop back in the chair and run my fingers through my hair. “Definitely not the only one.”
“At least you have Audrey here with you.”
Sighing, I admit, “Yeah, but I don’t want her here.”
“I’d feel the exact same way.”
We stay outside and talk for a few more minutes before he gets up to walk the perimeter of the property, as we’re supposed to do every few hours.
I stay seated for a couple more minutes, lost in thought.
If I can convince Audrey to get a job somewhere else, maybe I can convince the guys to end this contract.
Whatever spooked Joe enough to hire us in the first place seems to have disappeared.
Besides what I think are his shady business practices, I haven’t seen where he really needs security.
Unless he’s just using us to deter people from coming after him, which, if I were in his shoes, I might do as well.
I want to believe the best in Joe, that he isn’t a crooked businessman, despite his past criminal charges. However, the more I’m around him, the less sure I am that he deserves my trust.
And I certainly don’t want to gamble with Audrey’s safety.
I don’t get a chance to talk to her for the rest of the day, so by the time she’s packing up to leave, I sneak into the dining room.
“Audrey.”
She startles, a hand flying to her chest. “Tyler, you scared me.”
I grimace. “Sorry about that. I thought you heard me.”
“It’s okay. What’s up? I’m about to head home.” Her tone tells me she wants me to get on with it so she can get out of here.
I frown, not liking how this is going. “I wanted to see if you wanted to come to my family dinner tonight. We talked about it the other day.”
Her face falls, and I already know the answer before she says it. “I’m sorry, Tyler. I can’t.”
This interaction is so different from when she was in my bed last night and this morning that I’m taken aback.
Every stressor I’ve had in the last few weeks regarding her, this job, and my biological father boils to the surface.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t bother me, but I don’t understand what would cause this change in her.
It feels like one more rejection from someone I care about.
My expression hardens. I open my mouth to say something I’m sure I’ll regret later, when a knock at the door interrupts us.
“I gotta go,” Audrey mumbles as she grabs her things and hurries to the door.
I rush after her, not wanting her to answer the door alone. Reaching around her, I grab the doorknob before she can. “Please, let me answer it.” My other hand goes to her waist, and I ignore the electric current that surges whenever I touch her. “Just in case.”
She peeks up at me over her shoulder before stepping aside. “Okay.”
I move away slightly so she can slip farther out of the way of the door before I swing it open. I’m instantly relieved that she’s leaving when the man Joe met with the other day at the demolition site stands on the other side.
“I’m assuming you’re here for a meeting with Joe?” I ask, moving to put myself between the man and Audrey.
He tries to look around me with an oily smile. “I am, unless there’s someone else worth meeting with.”
“There isn’t.” I open the door wider, reaching my arm back to find Audrey’s side, so I can keep my body between them.
The knowing chuckle does nothing to put me at ease, but at least he recognizes the move for what it is—claiming her and warning him.
“Got it. I’ll see myself back.” He strolls into the house like he belongs here.
I remove the gentle hold I have on her. “Just go, Audrey. I’ll talk to you later.”
Rounding me, she hesitates.
“Audrey, please.” I want her out of the house and away from whatever’s happening in Joe’s office, and I also need to take a moment to get my head on straight. I’ll call her later when I have more time to express myself to her.
I don’t move from the doorway until Audrey’s car turns out of the driveway. Once the door’s closed, I call the guy coming to relieve me. I’m not above begging him to get here early, needing to get out of here.
I don’t feel any better by the time I’m walking into Ian and Maggie’s house for dinner. When I step inside, I slam the door behind me harder than I intend.
“Goddamn, Tyler. Can you not bust my shit up the second you walk in my house?” Ian bellows from the living room.
I tramp across the house and join the small group already gathered.
Jack’s sitting in one of the large wingback chairs, with Ella perched on his lap.
Nate and Olive are cuddled up on the couch, while Maggie sits in the chair that matches Jack’s and Ian straddles the armrest. Maggie’s arm lays on Ian’s massive thigh as she leans into his side, and he rubs her back mindlessly.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to slam the door.”
Maggie waves off my apology. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just grouchy today.”
“Is Audrey coming?” Ella chirps excitedly.
My face must give away my disappointment when Nate says, “Oh no, that doesn’t look promising. What did you do?”
I deadpan before I snap, “I didn’t do anything. She’s just been…stressed. And wasn’t feeling up to coming.”
I don’t feel bad about not telling them the whole truth because I didn’t think I could adequately explain everything going on without taking up way too much of the evening.
Maggie reaches over and squeezes my hand. “I have a good feeling about you two. I think it’ll all work out.”
I smile down at Maggie, appreciating her belief in us. “Thank you for that. I hope you’re right.”
She mocks offense when she says, “Okay, well, rude that you would assume I could ever be wrong.”
Ian smooths a hand down the back of her head. “Yeah, my wife is a perfect angel who’s right about everything.”
Maggie whips her head in his direction. “The answer is still no.”
I hold my hands up. “I don’t even want to know what this is all about. So, forgive me, Maggie, you’re right. I’ll marry Audrey within the year.”
Of course, my mom and Tim would pick that exact moment to walk into Ian’s house, followed by Nate’s sister, Lori, and her partner.
“Oh my god, that makes me so happy!” My mom rushes to my side and hugs me tight.
I wrap my arm around her shoulder. “Mom, calm down. That wasn’t what it sounded like.”
Her eyebrows push down in a frown. “Wait, so you don’t want to marry her?”
Glaring at Maggie, I hiss, “This is your fault.”
She just laughs and pretends she didn’t have any part in this conversation. I glance over at Tim and grimace. Both of his eyes are still very much black from where Rob punched him.
“How are you doing, Tim?” I ask, hating that he ever had to get involved with any of this.
He shrugs with a reassuring smile and claps me on the shoulder now that Mom has let me go. “I’m fine, Tyler. Don’t look at me like that. This wasn’t your fault.”
I don’t get a chance to respond when the door opens again, and Nate’s other sister, Pamela, walks in with her husband and two of their four kids. “Hi! Sorry, we’re late, and that we had to bring some of the rugrats.”
The older of the two groans. “Mom, we’re right here. We can hear you.”
Pamela laughs as she ushers her group farther into the house, and Maggie jumps up from her seat. “It’s no problem at all. We have the gaming system set up. Or you guys can go out in the yard and play with our new puppy!”
The kids exclaim that they want to play with the dog, so she walks them toward the back door, where an adorable yellow golden retriever sits staring into the house, tongue dangling out of its mouth.
“When did you two get a dog?” I mutter to Ian, never knowing him to be a dog person. I actually specifically remember him calling them “hairy bags of fleas” once.
His grin is wide and filled with love as his eyes track Maggie as she moves through the house. “When Maggie decided she wanted one.”
I snort a laugh. “Got it.”
The affection disappears from his gaze when he moves it to me, his eyes narrowing. “Just wait, Tyler. Your time is coming, I can promise you that. The second Audrey says she wants something you didn’t think you ever would, you’ll do whatever you fucking can to get that for her.”
Smirking, thinking about the goats, I follow him into the kitchen. “I know, I know.”
All this talk about marriage and doing whatever I can to make Audrey happy helps ease some of the bleak emotions I was feeling earlier in the day, despite still wishing she was here with me tonight.
Vowing to call her after I leave here, I help Ian finish dinner prep and spend the rest of the evening reminding myself that this is the family I chose and that I’m damn lucky to have them.