Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
L auren wasn’t used to waking up in a room that her daughter wasn’t in, but she had to admit she loved being able to spread out in the queen bed. It was a luxury she didn’t think she’d be able to afford any time soon.
Initially she’d been reluctant to move in with Reed, not that she was living with him in the sense that they were a couple and this was the next step for them, but now that she was here, she didn’t want to leave. Not that she’d tell Reed that. As it was, she was surprised he hadn’t kicked her and Charlee out with the way her daughter constantly asked him question after question.
Not once had he lost his temper, and the words Lauren had said to him that first night, that he couldn’t be real, still rang through her head. She was waiting for the other shoe to drop and for him to say enough was enough and send her back to her little house.
Sally and Terence had been sad, angry and worried all at the same time when she’d knocked on their door and explained the situation about Patrick and having to move out. Not only for her safety but for their safety. The last thing she wanted was for Patrick to do anything to them. Hurt the sweet couple just because she lived on their property.
The sound of Charlee’s chatter reached her, and she tossed the covers off. Grabbing the oversized sweater she normally wore over her pajamas, she put it on and got out of bed. It was a school day and she needed to get up so that Charlee could get to school on time, and then, she didn’t know what she was going to do. Today was her day off from the café, and before moving in with Reed, she used to use the time to give the house a thorough clean from top to bottom and then she would shop, and by the time she’d done all of that it was time to get her daughter from school.
Today, though, she had no idea what she was going to do. Reed would be at work, so she’d be alone. If she offered to clean Reed’s house, he’d give her that steely I’m-a-special-forces-soldier look and tell her that he didn’t expect her to do that, like he had the first time she’d offered, which was about three days after she and Charlee had moved in.
As much as she tried to get Charlee to tidy up after herself, her daughter was reveling in the freedom of having a lot of room and so she was leaving things everywhere. Not that she had a lot, but enough to make Reed’s house look cluttered and messy.
Lauren walked into the kitchen and almost swallowed her tongue. Reed was leaning against the counter, shirtless, his hard bare chest on display. He had a six pack and one of those enticing ‘v’s’ that drew her eye and had her trying to picture what rested below the low-slung shorts he wore.
“Hi Mum! Reed went to PT this morning. I asked if I could go next time, like he said I could one day, but he said not yet.”
“You left us alone?” She couldn’t keep the accusation out of her tone.
He slowly put the glass he was drinking from down and came over to her. “Do you really think I’d do that?” he asked mildly.
This close, she had a front row view of his chest, and the ripples of his six-pack were within touching distance. All she had to do was reach out and she could run her fingers down the grooves.
Focus Lauren that’s not what you’re here for.
Lauren latched onto that voice and gave herself a mental shake. “I don’t know, but it looks like you did.”
How she managed to form a coherent sentence was beyond her.
Reed shook his head. “Wilt was out the front the whole time I wasn’t here. Not to mention I had my phone, and if one of the many motion sensors went off I’d know about it.”
That appeased her a little but it also highlighted just how much having her in his house was disrupting, not only Reed’s life, but everyone at Power Security. “Oh. Okay.”
Thinking about it, Reed hadn’t been to PT since they’d moved in. He probably hadn’t gone even before, because he’d always been available to escort her when she took Charlee to school and followed her to work.
“I wouldn’t leave you and Charlee unprotected, believe me. And the guys are more than happy to miss one morning of PT if I want to attend while all this Patrick stuff is going on.”
Lauren sighed. “I wish you didn’t have to change your schedule because of us.”
Reed smiled, the one that curled her toes and set her body alight. “It’s not a problem. I’ve told you I’ll do anything for you and Charlee.”
Lauren was beginning to believe that. Everything Reed did showed her that nothing was a hardship. Nothing was an issue. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you being on my side, but I’m happy that you are.”
He took a step back and she mourned the loss of his closeness. “Now I’m going to hit the shower and then I’ll be ready to take you and Charlee to the places you need to be today.”
“Just Charlee, I’ve got the day off.”
“You’ve got the day off?” His eyes lit up. “That’s interesting.”
He didn’t say anything else, just disappeared down the hallway toward his room.
Damn his ass looked good in those shorts.
“Mummy, I’m hungry, and can we go to see Reed and everyone run and swim and stuff?”
If the rest of the team looked half as good as Reed did, she’d be surprised if they didn’t have a group of women who made their way down to wherever they trained at whatever time just to look at them. Muscles rippling. Sweat dripping down their chest. Their biceps straining as they did pushups or pull-ups.
“Mummy, can we?” Charlee tugged on Lauren’s sleeve and she shook off the images and smiled down at her daughter.
“We’ll see. Now let’s have breakfast.”
Heat still flowed through her as Lauren went over to the fridge on the pretense of getting the milk for Charlee’s cereal when in fact she hoped the cool air would reduce her body temperature.
By the time Reed returned, freshly showered with damp hair and his nautical scent filling the air, Lauren had gotten her hormones under control. “I fixed you your oatmeal, and there are two English muffins in the toaster ready for you,” she said.
After living with him for a few days she knew what he liked to have for breakfast.
“You didn’t have to do that. I could’ve got my own breakfast.” He came up to her and leaned down to brush his lips across her cheek. “Thank you,” he said quietly.
Thank goodness Charlee wasn’t in the room because Lauren was sure her cheeks were as red as the roses in the flower garden outside his bedroom. “Um—you’re welcome.”
She pushed back from the table, collecting her plate and popping it in the dishwasher. “I’ll just go shower and maybe I’ll give Tabitha a call to see if there’s something I can do. I don’t feel comfortable staying here when you’re not here.”
Even though Reed had opened his house to her and her daughter, she was still finding her feet and getting comfortable with living in such a big place.
“Don’t ring Tabitha. I messaged Steve before I got in the shower. I’m taking the day off. We can spend it together.”
Lauren’s heart skittered to a stop and then restarted again. “What? You took the day off?”
“Uh-huh,” he said around a mouthful of food.
“Why?”
The second she asked the question she wanted to snatch it back. Did she have to be so suspicious all the time? Why couldn’t she just accept things at face value?
Because no one ever did anything for her. Not quite true, Sally and Terence helped her when she’d needed it. Her parents, well they hadn’t even met Charlee, so no way could she call on them if she needed anything. And Patrick had never gone out of his way to do something nice for her, even if their relationship wasn’t one in the true sense of the word. Whenever he turned up for a hook-up, he never said or did anything to make her think she was special. She’d been so entrenched in her angry, rebellious teenage stage she hadn’t noticed it.
Reed touched her fingers, and she pulled herself out of her head. She needed to live in the moment and this moment was with Reed. “I want to spend time with you, Ren. Just you.”
Her immediate thought was to say he didn’t mean that and surely he had better things to do, but she was going to try and stop thinking that way. Stop thinking that she didn’t deserve the attention of someone as handsome and strong as Reed. “I’d like that,” she said shyly, and the megawatt smile he directed at her made it all worth it.
“Excellent. Now I don’t mean to rush but we need to leave in about twenty minutes.”
“I’ll be ready, don’t worry.”
“I won’t,” he said with a wink.
Lauren rushed down to the bathroom she shared with Charlee, which was twice the size of the one they’d had in her little house. Everything about this place was so much nicer and if she wasn’t careful she’d start thinking of a future where she didn’t leave Reed’s home—ever.
* * *
“W here are we going?” Lauren asked for the third time in twenty minutes. She knew they were heading south. Was he taking her to Mandurah?
“You’ll see, we’re almost there.”
Okay, so maybe not Mandurah because that was still about another thirty minutes away from where they were.
After they’d dropped Charlee to school and said hi to Andy who was watching the school that day, they’d headed south on the freeway.
Their conversation was light, mostly about their favorite foods, drinks, TV shows, and movies. Every time she tried to bring up the subject of Patrick, which was only a couple of times, but she thought with Charlee not around it would be a good time to talk, Reed told her it was in hand.
What did that even mean?
Maybe once they got to their destination he would be more open to talking to her about it. There hadn’t been any more photos. Well, none that had been sent, some could’ve been taken but she hadn’t seen anyone with a camera.
Reed pulled into a parking lot, and fifty meters in front of her, the ocean sparkled, enticing her to dip her toes in. “You’re not about to make me do some PT are you? Because I’m totally not dressed for it.”
Her wardrobe wasn’t expansive. There was never any money for nice clothes. Most of what lived in her closet were items she’d picked up at the thrift store. Some, like the pale blue sundress she was wearing now, had only been worn a couple of times and was a good brand.
“You’re dressed fine. In fact…” He stopped and flexed his fingers around the steering wheel. “I shouldn’t say what is going on in my mind.”
Now she was intrigued and worried at the same time. Was he going to say he’d changed his mind about everything and that she and Charlee needed to go back to their place because he was tired of having them around?
“What? I need you to tell me,” she pleaded.
Concern lit in his eyes. He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned toward her, framing her face with his hands. When he did that, she felt as if she was the most important thing in his life, as though there was nothing more precious to him, than her. “Hey, it’s all good. I promise.”
“Really?” Could she believe him? He certainly wasn’t acting as if he wanted to kick her out of his house.
“Yes. What did you think I was thinking?”
Lauren didn’t want to say it now because it sounded so pathetic, as if she was a child that needed constant assurance that they were liked. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters if it has you looking like you’re expecting the world to come crashing down on you.”
Over the short time she’d known Reed she’d discovered that he was infinitely patient with her. Always giving her time to say things, now wasn’t any different. It was time for her to start giving back to him. “I thought you were going to kick me and Charlee out. That you’d had enough of us being there.”
For endless moments he didn’t say anything, his hands still framed her face, so she took that as a good sign. “Ahh Lauren, that’s the farthest thing on my mind. I love having you and Charlee in my home. I love hearing her giggles. I love seeing the way you two interact. You’ve brought my house to life.”
With her not being able to look away from him, she watched his face the whole time he spoke. There was nothing but truth in those words. “You’ve given us a safe place, and I can’t thank you enough for that.”
And it was the truth. The last few days they’d been staying with Reed had been the happiest she’d been in a long, long time. The ability to have her own space was something she was appreciative for, because when it was all over, and Patrick had been caught or he’d crawled back into whatever hole he’d recently crawled out of, she’d have to move back to her little cottage and go back to sharing a room with Charlee.
“Do you want to know what I was thinking when we parked and you said you weren’t dressed for PT?”
“I do.” She placed her hand on his thigh, the muscle jumping beneath her fingers.
“From the second you walked out of your room I’ve been fighting the need to rip that dress off you. I’ve been fighting the need to kiss you. I’ve been fighting to keep my hands to myself.”
He didn’t give her a chance to respond. He closed the gap between them and kissed her. The kiss started off gentle but in a matter of seconds, his hands left her face and curled around her shoulders bringing her closer to him. Her fingers dug into his thigh, and she wished that the center console wasn’t between them. She wanted to crawl into his lap. No, she wanted to lie over him. Feel his body beneath hers. Trace the ridges she’d seen earlier that morning.
Reed groaned and broke the kiss. “I’m not going to be able to get out of the car now.”
For so long, she’d pushed the part of her that was a woman aside. Her needs and desires ignored. Her focus had been on her daughter and ensuring that Charlee got what she needed emotionally, financially and physically. Anything that Lauren wanted had been way down on the list.
Now for the first time she wanted to put it to the top. Wanted to have her needs met. “Where were you taking me?” she asked.
Reed looked at her as if trying to decipher where she was heading with this line of questioning. “I thought we could take a walk along the beach and then after that, head to one of the restaurants nearby to have lunch. I know you’ll want to be back in time to pick up Charlee, even though Andy would be more than happy to do that and take her to my place until we get back.”
Everything he said sounded like a perfect date. Something she’d never had and had always wanted. But she yearned for more now. Desire burned in Reed’s eyes as he looked at her and she wanted to let that heat consume her.
“As wonderful as that sounds. There’s only one thing I want.”
“What’s that?”
“You. I want you Reed. For once I want to be Lauren. Not Charlee’s mum. Not Tabitha’s assistant. I want to be me.”
Reed’s eyes flashed with understanding. “I know what you’re saying, but I need to hear the words. Just like when you agreed to move in with me. I need to know that this is what you really want. That this is the step you wish to take.”
“Take me home, Reed. I want you to kiss your way down my body. Possess me. Make feel like a woman.”
His lips crashed onto hers, and she gasped in surprise. Reed took advantage of that by sliding his tongue inside. They made out as if they would never see each other again. As if the world was about to end and they had one last chance to be united with another person.
When they broke apart, the sounds of their ragged breaths filled the car. “I take that as you want this too?” she asked.
Reed turned serious, which was difficult considering his lips were puffy from their kisses and his hair was sticking up from where she’d run her fingers through it. “I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you.”
Warmth stole through her. There wasn’t any doubt that he was telling her the truth. “Let’s go home.”