Chapter 2
Chapter Two
L auren’s blood chilled at Patrick’s declaration.
Noo!
Her mind screamed, and she pressed her lips together to stop it from erupting out of her.
“Not happening today, buddy,” Reed’s voice rumbled against her side and, as much as she’d resented his presence earlier, right now, she was glad he’d stayed.
“You have no rights,” she managed to get out. “You gave them up, remember?”
Anger replaced the shock at seeing him. Anger that Patrick believed after all this time, he could demand to see the child he’d told her to get rid of. The child he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge. The child he’d only decided to show an interest in, in the last couple of months when his messages had started coming in out of the blue—again.
“Things change,” he said as if it was that simple.
Beside her she could feel Reed getting tenser and tenser. Being this close his scent teased her senses. Nautical was the only way she could describe it. It reminded her of the blue of the river so close by. A fresh, open, clean smell.
Oh my God, what am I doing, waxing lyrical about his cologne when my life could be imploding right this second?
Lauren pushed thoughts of Reed’s scent from her mind. “No things don’t just change because you want them to. Now, as Reed said, leave Patrick and don’t bother coming back.”
“What he says means nothing to me,” Patrick scoffed.
“Oh yes it does,” Reed growled, his body so tight she was surprised he didn’t snap. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m Lauren’s fiancé and we’ve both asked you to leave nicely. Don’t make this more difficult than it has to be.”
What?!
Engaged!
Somehow she didn’t whip her head around to stare at Reed in shock after his declaration.
As if she and Reed were ever going to get married, but if it got rid of the asshole sperm donor in front of her, then she’d play along with it.
“That’s right,” she said, placing her hand on Reed’s stomach, the muscles beneath bunching, and if she pressed down hard enough, she was sure she could feel the ridges of a six pack. Not that she was going to do that, no matter how tempting it might be. “We’re engaged.”
Was that Reed’s lips brushing the top of her hair? She couldn’t be sure, but that’s exactly what it felt like.
And she liked it—a lot.
Probably more than she should, considering the circumstances and how his actions were all for show and meant absolutely nothing. Not to mention, this was the first time he’d touched her. The moment Patrick walked out, Reed would move away from her and leave.
“If you’re engaged, where’s your ring?” Patrick sneered as he pointed to her left hand where it was on display against Reed’s body.
“She doesn’t wear it to work,” Reed answered for her, and she was glad because her mind was as blank as a freshly baked cupcake and couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation as to why she didn’t have a ring on if her life depended on it.
“Convenient, but I don’t believe you,” Patrick announced smugly.
My God, he is infuriating!
His mistrust and arrogant belief that he knew everything was one of the reasons he annoyed her so much. Being with him had been a mistake her seventeen-year-old self had made, but she’d been moody, angry at the world and rebellious against her parents strictness. She’d wanted to defy them and didn’t care about the consequences of her defiant actions. Although, out of her mistakes came the best thing in her life, her daughter. She wouldn’t trade Charlee for anything in the world.
She wasn’t going to stand there and let Patrick think he could intimidate her. Think that his opinions were of importance to her. That they mattered at all.
“I don’t care if you do or don’t believe me. What I do with my life is none of your concern. Now get out of here before I call the police and tell them you’re being disruptive.” Lauren had no idea if they would even come, they probably wouldn’t, but it was all she could think of.
Patrick laughed. “Being disruptive. That’s hilarious. You always say stupid things.”
In a blur of movement Reed had Patrick flat on his back, pinned on the nearest table, Patrick’s laugh now a strangled sound as Reed’s arm rested against his throat. “You pushed it too far, asshole. No one speaks to my fiancée that way.”
Lauren stood, spellbound as Reed hauled Patrick off the table and frog marched him toward the exit at the same time as the door opened and Steve and Tabitha burst in. Tabitha rushed over to her while Steve kept the door open to allow Reed to shove Patrick out, the man falling to his knees on the pavement.
“This isn’t over, Lauren. This is just the start!” Patrick yelled, but she turned her back, not wanting to see him.
“Are you okay?” Tabitha asked quietly.
“I don’t know.” And she really didn’t, the last fifteen minutes felt like something out of a police drama on television. She wrapped her arms around herself, noticing that her hands were shaking.
“Come on, come sit down.”
Lauren allowed herself to be led over to the table where Reed had laid out Patrick. The enormity of what happened hit her. “I’m so sorry Tabitha.”
“What are you apologizing for? I’m sure you didn’t ask for whatever happened to happen. I’m just glad Reed was here for you.”
“Me too,” she murmured, and now that adrenaline wasn’t buzzing in her ears, Tabitha and Steve’s presence registered. They’d never turned up in the past when she was closing the store. Tabitha trusted her, and Lauren had worked hard to earn that trust. “Why are you here?”
Tabitha sighed, and a hint of color blossomed in her cheeks. “Ever since my attack, Steve always checks in on the café at closing.” She pointed to the cameras located around the space that Lauren was well aware of. “He does it when I’m here with you, so don’t think it’s because we don’t trust you, because I do, and so does he. He just likes to keep everyone safe. Anyway, he saw what was going on and we jumped in the car and came down.”
“Looks like we arrived at the right time too,” Steve said as he strode toward them. He crouched down in front of Lauren, and she tried not to squirm under his observation. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you did he?”
“Reed? No, he didn’t hurt me,” she all but shouted, indignant that Steve would think his employee had hurt her.
“Not Reed,” Steve replied with a smile. “I was talking about the other guy, whoever that was.”
Oh, of course he was referring to Patrick. There’s no way he’d believe that any of the men he employed would hurt her, or any woman for that fact.
“No, Patrick didn’t hurt me. Although he might’ve if Reed hadn’t been here.” The reality of how things could’ve turned out had Reed not been there hit her, and a cold chill swept over her thinking that Patrick could’ve forced her to get in a car with him. Forced himself onto her. Or worse, forced her to collect Charlee from her friend’s place where she’d had a sleepover. “He can’t get her,” she whispered. “He can’t touch her. I won’t let him.”
Warm fingers caressed the back of her neck, calming her immediately. “We won’t let that happen. Patrick won’t touch Charlee.”
Reed.
If only she had the same confidence that Reed had. If Patrick had found out where she worked, then he could find out where she lived. What school Charlee went to. He probably already knew all that information.
They weren’t safe at all.
She bolted upright from her seat, urgency making her movements stilted. “I need to go. I need to get Charlee.”
“Whoa, Lauren! Stop.” Reed’s command grated against her every nerve.
She took steps away from him aware that she was being watched by Steve and Tabitha. She didn’t care. All that mattered to her was getting to her daughter and making sure she was safe. “No! You don’t get to tell me what to do. I’m grateful for what you said and did with Patrick, but that’s where it stops. You’re not my fiancé. We’re not a team. The only team is me and Charlee. You’re as bad as Patrick.”
She rushed past them to the office where her purse was stowed. Her hands shook violently as she pulled it out of the bottom drawer. The first thing she did was grab her phone to see if she received a message from Charlee’s friend’s mum to say she’d been taken. Or that Patrick had turned up there.
There was nothing. No message. No missed call. Her daughter was fine. She clutched the phone to her chest and closed her eyes. It had only been a few minutes since Patrick had left, it wasn’t possible that he could’ve got to Charlee’s friend’s house. But he could be close.
She had to leave.
“Lauren, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.” Her eyes flicked open and she found Reed standing in the doorway, blocking her exit. She couldn’t escape.
As if he could track the line her thoughts were traveling down, he came into the office and stood against the wall, leaving her room to pass if she needed to.
That simple gesture had her fight instincts leaving her body. If Reed was anything like Patrick, he would’ve remained where he was, ensuring she stayed in the room. Patrick would’ve never apologized for what he’d said. Or done.
“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said you’re like Patrick. I know you’re not.”
“It’s fine. Would you like me to come with you to get Charlee?”
His offer wasn’t a surprise after everything he’d already done, and she was grateful for it if she was being honest with herself. Which she needed to be when it came to this man. Today he could’ve done things differently. He could’ve left her to battle with Patrick all by herself. Instead, he hadn’t. Reed had done what he’d done, not as an ego boost for himself, but for her. To keep her safe.
“I’d like that. Thank you.”
“I’ll follow you.”
“Sounds good.” Lauren collected her things and then made her way out. Tabitha was standing behind the counter fiddling with the till. “Oh darn, I should be doing that.” She rushed over ready to finish closing out the day, the task she’d been doing when Patrick had turned up and disrupted everything.
It was Tabitha’s day off, she should be spending it with her husband, not finishing jobs that were Lauren’s responsibility.
“It’s fine, Lauren. You go get Charlee. I can finish up here.”
Lauren chewed her bottom lip, needing to see her daughter for herself that she was safe, but also Tabitha had given her a chance when she’d needed a job and she didn’t want to let the other woman down. “Are you sure?”
Tabitha grabbed her hands and squeezed. “Very. Now go.”
Knowing it was pointless trying to argue with her boss, Lauren gave her a quick hug. “Thank you.”
“Always. And,” Tabitha pulled back and looked Lauren in the eyes, “I want you to know that whatever you need, whenever you need it, we’ll be here for you. We’re family.”
After having her own parents kick her out because of the decisions she’d made, Lauren had forged her own path. She’d created a little world that was hers and Charlee’s. But it had been lonely. There had been times when she’d needed help and there hadn’t been anyone around that she could call on. Hearing Tabitha tell her that she wasn’t alone anymore meant the world to her.
Reed had suggested the same as well, but she hadn’t wanted to listen. Refusing to believe that she could be a part of the community that Tabitha had married into. A community that Lauren yearned to be a part of, and now she was.
“Thank you for saying that.”
All through her conversation with Tabitha, Lauren was aware of Reed standing off to the side. Steve was beside him. The two men silent sentinels ready to spring into action if needed—like Reed had done without question when she’d needed him. Like he was about to do now.
Lauren met Reed’s eyes. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
She nodded and headed for the door, Reed falling into step beside her, his hand rested just above the small of her back. A touch Lauren liked far too much.