Chapter 5
Chapter Five
R eed was aware of Lauren behind him, watching him. He kept doing what he was doing, when all he wanted to do was wipe his hands and pull her tight against him, like he’d done a couple of hours ago.
He wanted to kiss her. Wanted to take away her worries, because as much as she tried to hide them, he saw them. He didn’t need to see her face to know she’d been concerned about him walking into her bedroom. Not because he had anything sinister planned, but because when he’d seen the two single beds, he knew she was waiting for him to judge her choices.
There was nothing for him to judge. Lauren was an amazing mum. What did it matter that she shared a room with her daughter. While the house they lived in was small, it was safe. Safer than some apartments. Safer than her living in an area where it wouldn’t be secure enough for her daughter to be able to go outside. But here, this house, tucked at the back of another property, was perfect for the single mum.
“You didn’t have to do those. I would’ve done them later.”
Reed glanced over his shoulder. “I helped make this mess, it’s the least I can do.”
Lauren didn’t say anything as she came over to him and picked up the tea-towel so she could dry what he’d washed. They worked together in a companionable silence. Everything about the evening had been easy. Conversation had flowed between them all. Admittedly Charlee had been the chattiest, but when he and Lauren had talked there hadn’t been any awkwardness between them.
His heart had almost exploded with happiness when Charlee asked if he could put her to bed. He may not have kids, but even he knew that asking someone new to do the task parents always did was a big thing. Which was why he’d checked with Lauren. If she’d had any issues, he would’ve made an excuse and told Charlee next time. Because there was definitely going to be a next time. Now that he’d gotten his foot in the door with Lauren, he wasn’t going to let it slam shut.
Ever since he’d first seen her he’d wanted to get to know her better, but she’d been prickly and he could understand why. She was protective of her daughter and her daughter’s needs.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me today, Reed. It was a lot and something you didn’t ask for.”
Reed rinsed the last dish and placed it in the strainer. “It wasn’t a lot, Ren. I wanted to do it.”
How much did he tell her? He didn’t want to scare her off by saying everything he was feeling. Not to mention he’d shortened her name again, and the first time he’d done it, she hadn’t liked it. The simple fact was the name slipped off his tongue as easy as being in the same room with her. The corners of her lips tipped up slightly, as if she was now okay with the nickname he’d given her.
“I’m pretty sure you didn’t think when you woke up that at the end of the day you’d be sharing homemade pizzas with me and Charlee. Not to mention, having to deal with my ex.”
Her eyes shadowed at the mention of Patrick Stringer. Reed had been so occupied with spending time with both Lauren and Charlee that he hadn’t given his phone a thought. Although he did register the times that it had vibrated in his pocket, but he hadn’t wanted to pull it out and look at it. That would have been rude.
Now though, with her mentioning Patrick, he wanted to, but first he needed to let her know that he really was okay with how the day had turned out.
Reed took the tea-towel from her, placing it on the counter and rested his hands on her shoulders so she had no option but to look him in the eye. “I wouldn’t change one thing about today. Not one thing. I enjoyed every minute of it, especially dinner with you and Charlee.”
Fuck, he wanted to lower his head and kiss her. Taste her lips. Show her that he hadn’t been talking through his ass. That everything he’d said was the truth. But he couldn’t, so he’d shoved the urge aside.
“I don’t know what to think, Reed,” she said on a sigh. “You’re almost too good to be true. And you know what they say about things like that.”
“They’re likely not to be true.”
“Exactly. It’s not just me, Reed. It’s Charlee. We’re a package. You can’t have one without the other.” Lauren stepped away. “Oh God, what am I saying? Nothing about this is real. The only reason you’re here is because of Patrick. If he hadn’t turned up at the café, you would be at your place, not here.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but it did happen and here I am. Willingly, by the way. You didn’t force my hand. Didn’t demand I follow you home. And I know you well enough to know that you didn’t coach Charlee to ask me to stay for dinner.”
“I would never do that,” she gasped.
“Right. So, you can forget any thoughts you have that I was pressured into doing something I didn’t want to do.”
Even after all he’d said, she still looked unconvinced, and Reed wasn’t sure what else he could say that would assure her what he said was the truth.
“It’s probably best that you go. Patrick hasn’t turned up. And I’m guessing that he will probably give up now that he didn’t get his way.”
Was she crossing her fingers behind her back? Because he could totally see her doing that.
“Do you really think so?” he asked.
Lauren shrugged. “He never showed interest in Charlee from the moment I said I was pregnant. I did it all on my own.”
Something she’d said earlier tweaked in his mind. “You said he had no rights. Did he give them up? Do you have that in writing?”
If there was proof that Patrick had signed away parental rights, then that would definitely be in Lauren’s favor. If it was just a verbal agreement then it would be a different matter entirely.
Her gaze slid away from his, and his stomach dropped. He had his answer. All signs were pointing to a verbal agreement not a written one. “He did sign a piece of paper but it wasn’t written up by a lawyer. It was something I wrote up.”
Not as bad as he thought it could be, but if Patrick was belligerent and determined enough to get his hands on Charlee, he could argue that it wasn’t a true and legal binding document.
“It’s still something,” he said quietly. He needed to tell her. To let her know he’d asked Wilt to investigate Patrick. If they were going to go through this together, and he was determined they would, he had to be truthful with her. “Come let’s sit and talk.”
He held out his hand and hoped like hell she’d take it. A breath whooshed out of him when her fingers closed around his. Warmth stole through his bloodstream and every protective molecule in him roared to the surface. He would do whatever he had to, to make sure no harm came to the woman in front of him. Or to her daughter.
Before he sat, he pulled out his phone and glanced at the screen. Amongst the notifications was one from Wilt. He’d open it after he’d told Lauren what he’d done.
“You’re looking very serious, is everything okay?” Lauren asked.
“Yeah.” He paused and gathered his thoughts. “Look, I did something while I was waiting for you to get Charlee from her friend’s place.”
A flash of fear crossed her face and he cursed himself for causing her to be afraid. “What did you do?”
“I asked Wilt to look into Patrick. Find out anything he could about the guy.”
“Why?”
“Because he threatened and scared you. I need to know who we’re dealing with. He wasn’t happy with anything you or I said. He doesn’t look like the type to give up easily, even if you think he will.”
Lauren looked up at the ceiling before returning her attention back to him. “Patrick was a teenage mistake. We didn’t even really have a relationship. As I said, he wanted nothing to do with me when I told him I was pregnant. He told me to get rid of the baby. I even saw him once, about a month before Charlee was born, and he looked straight through me. He was with another girl at the time. I didn’t think he’d bother me after the way he acted, but a day later he cornered me as I was coming out of the grocery store and told me to not even think about claiming he was the father because he would deny it and tell everyone I was sleeping around on him. That was when I said I didn’t want anything from him and he could give up his rights.” She shook her head as if the memory was one she didn’t want to recall but knew she had to. Reed wanted to tell her that it didn’t matter what happened in the past, that all that mattered was the here and now. “He told me to stay where I was and went into the store. A few minutes later he came out with a notebook and pen and shoved them at me. I wrote that he willingly gave up any claim he had on Charlee and got him to sign it. He threw the paper at me and then walked off. I was sure that was the last I’d see of him.”
Reed didn’t like where this was heading. “But it wasn’t?”
“No. When Charlee was about four he found my number and started to call and message me. I was so stunned that he was trying to make contact. I let the calls go to voicemail and deleted the messages. He was so persistent.” Her fingers were clasped so tightly together he could see the white of her knuckles. “One day I’d had enough and answered his call. He said awful things, even threatened to take Charlee from me. When I reminded him he had no rights, he laughed and hung up. I changed my number and things were quiet for a while, but then he called again and again until I had to get another new number.”
Reed wished Patrick was in the room so that he could grab the guy and remind him of what he’d said and done. “And he never found out where you lived?”
That was something that seemed off about this whole thing. If he could find her number, then he could easily find her address.
“He did, and so I moved. I found this place, and I get everything sent to a post office box. I don’t have a formal lease now, but Sally and Terence are great and are happy I’m here. After I moved, Patrick hadn’t made contact in years, so I thought he’d given up and I was safe. But I was wrong.”
That fucker was going to find out that harassing Lauren was going to cause him a wealth of pain. “How long has he been contacting you this time around?”
“It started a few months ago. At first I didn’t respond and blocked his number. But I guess he kept getting a new number because he kept messaging until I told him to back off and, yet again, told him he had no claim over Charlee. I thought it worked because the messages stopped.”
“Until today, when he turned up at the café,” Reed deduced, and the dread he’d felt before expanded. If Patrick had found out where she worked he had to know where she lived—which is what he’d told Lauren earlier and one of the reasons Reed was sitting on the couch next to her.
“Yes. And I’d be stupid to think that I’m safe here now, right? Even with all the precautions I’ve taken.”
He could hear the pain in her voice at knowing the haven she’d created for her and her daughter wasn’t as safe as it had been twenty-four hours ago.
What could he say? She was right, she wasn’t stupid and she wasn’t safe anymore. “You’re not stupid, and yeah, if he can find your number after you change it, he can find out where you live. The thing is, why is he now facing you in person instead of just over the phone?”
“I don’t know.” Stress was the last thing Lauren needed but it bracketed the lines around her mouth, and Reed wished he could take it away. “I don’t understand why he even cares. It’s not like he wants me. His interest in me died rapidly after I said I was pregnant. And every message is about wanting Charlee, not me. But, today, I saw something in his eyes that I hadn’t seen before.”
“What?” Reed went on alert, every instinct in him wanting to protect her and Charlee.
“After you told him we were engaged, he looked almost jealous. He certainly didn’t believe us, even when you came up with a reason why I wasn’t wearing a ring.” She shook her head as if disregarding that thought. Reed wasn’t going to though. “I must’ve mistaken the look for jealousy when it was really contempt.”
Reed was more inclined to believe Lauren was right with her first assumption—Patrick was jealous. He’d ask Steve if he could look at the footage of their interaction. Zoom in on Patrick’s face and find out if he could interpret what look Lauren was talking about.
“If you think it’s jealousy, then I’m going to trust that. You know him. You spent time with him. You’d know.”
Lauren scoffed, a look of disgust marred her features. “I wouldn’t trust me if I were you. I’m not known for making good decisions or understanding how a person acts.”
Reed hated hearing her talk about herself that way. “Every decision you’ve made since you’ve had Charlee has been good, don’t discount any of that. We’ve all made stupid mistakes as a teenager. I made plenty. We learn and grow from them, and you’ve done that.”
“Did you make a mistake by saying we’re engaged?” she asked quietly. “I know you only said it to get Patrick off my back and weren’t serious.”
What would she say if he told her that the idea of being engaged to her didn’t freak him out as much as it should? If he didn’t feel comfortable with Lauren or wasn’t attracted to her, no way would he have ever said they were engaged. But he couldn’t say that. It had been a highly stressful and emotional afternoon for Lauren and he wasn’t going to pile more on to her right that moment.
“If I had to do it all again, I’d do and say the same thing. I don’t make decisions without knowing what the outcome could be.”
“You can’t seriously mean that you’d marry me. That’s absurd, Reed. You hardly know me.”
He shrugged. “If it keeps Patrick away and you and Charlee safe, then I would.” He held up his hand when it looked like she was going to protest. “Him thinking we’re engaged will give us time to come up with a solid plan to ensure that, in the end, Patrick can’t touch either of you. Ever.”
Lauren got up and paced over to the window. He wanted to go and grab her away from such a vulnerable position. Even though they were behind a large house, it didn’t mean that someone couldn’t sneak down the driveway and attack her. Convincing her to let him put security cameras in would be even harder than the conversation they were having now, but he could always approach the owners of the main house. It was their property after all. That was tomorrow’s problem.
“That’s not going to happen,” she whirled around. “If Patrick turns up again I’ll deal with it. And if he asks about being engaged to you I’m going to tell him…well I don’t know what I’ll tell him, but I’ll think of something.”
Everything in him wanted to revolt at Lauren’s declaration, but he remained where he was. She may think she could get Patrick to listen to her and believe, but after everything she told him about the man, Reed thought her chances of getting Patrick to do anything she wanted was slim.
Reed may not agree with what she was thinking and doing, but he wouldn’t demean her by going all tough alpha male on her. He respected her feelings too much to do that. But he also wasn’t going to stand by and let anything happen to her. Or Charlee. He would be the warrior he’d been trained to be and watch over them, and if Patrick tried to make a move, Reed would be ready and waiting.