Chapter 10
I had no idea what I was doing.
Not that I was sure anyone knew what to do at a one-year-old’s birthday party other than talk to each other and fawn over the baby. And even though I was sure I’d had birthday parties when I was a kid, I couldn’t tell you anything about them. They’d stopped when I was young—too young to remember. And I’d never had any friends to go to their parties.
I’d also been told by Lainey that I could make it an hour and a half or so without hiding away with a book, so to leave my books at home.
Not that I’d listened—I mean, who goes anywhere without at least one book in case of emergencies—but then all our belongings had been stored away in a different room, and I’d been too afraid to go searching for my bag.
Not to mention, this was really for Asher’s friends. Which, before this week, had really only been Lainey for me. Well, and I guess her younger sister, Wren, and their great-aunt Ada. But even though everyone knew everyone in a town as small as Huntley, I’d only really gotten to know them after Lainey moved in with me.
And even though I’d technically met Cameron a handful of times in the past few months, it was usually just long enough for a quick word or two. There’d only been one night the four of us had gone out to eat in Huntley Square.
But with Ada having worked for Asher for so long, and Wren knowing the Shadow Industries crew much better than I did—and having a much better rapport, given the way I’d been watching her work through the men, except Asher, flirting in a way that put Hudson to shame—it was clear I was the odd woman out.
It all made for an awkward and somewhat uncomfortable time for me because, let’s face it, I would’ve much rather been hiding in a corner with a book.
Not that I let that show. My smile hadn’t once left my face as I’d happily chatted with Lainey, Ada, and Cameron when they’d been near, and excitedly played with Kaia whenever she’d come up to me. Handing me toys and balls and blocks before unsteadily tottering away and falling heavily to her diapered butt that was covered in the cutest tulle tutu.
“What’s this?” I asked as I dropped to a crouch, balancing on my stilettos, when Kaia found her way to me again, hand outstretched. A soft, feigned gasp left me when she held out a floppy, stuffed bunny. “For me?”
She pointed at one of the blocks in my hand, babbling nonsense as if we were in the middle of an important, comprehensible trade deal.
“Oh, of course,” I told her seriously as I held out the block, ready to trade it for the bunny.
Just as I started standing, my gaze automatically swept toward the opposite side of the room, where Adam had made sure to keep himself from me at all times. Not that I’d been keeping track...it’d just been impossible to miss. You know...during the dozens of times my traitorous stare had sought him out in the hour we’d been in Asher’s large farmhouse, wanting even a glimpse of that angry stare.
I stilled halfway out of my crouch when I realized Wren had moved onto Adam. Something ugly and hot burned in my chest as I watched her grip at his muscled forearm, her fingers absently trailing over his tattoos as she laughed at something he’d said.
The sight of them standing together shouldn’t bother me at all. I barely knew Adam, and whenever I had been around him this week, he’d been unnecessarily cruel. And yet, every male character I’d read about this week had looked like him in my mind. I’d anxiously hoped for any chance to talk to him each day, all while chickening out on asking him to finish helping me learn my job until yesterday. And as I watched him blatantly flirt with Wren, I realized I was horrifically jealous.
The anger in his eyes had disappeared completely. His smile transformed his face, making him look so different and unfairly handsome. He looked comfortable in a way I had yet to see him as he turned toward her, giving Wren his undivided attention. And even from over here, I knew he was also giving Hudson a run for his money.
“This is unexpected.”
I jolted at the equally unexpected voice and shot upright, my heart pounding as I glanced at where Hudson was standing directly beside me, as if just thinking about him had conjured the man.
“What?” I asked, trying to play dumb and hoping he hadn’t witnessed my embarrassing and unfounded moment of jealousy. I clearly needed to take a break from the romance genre for a while.
Hudson reached for me, gently tugging at where my shirt was tied into a knot at my waist. “No nerd shirt today.”
I swatted at his hand, a breath of a laugh leaving me that sounded far too relieved. “My nerdy shirts are the best,” I defended.
He lifted one of his hands as if to placate me. “I just said you weren’t wearing one.” His mouth slipped into that smirk he wore so easily, one I was sure would’ve worked on anyone else. “After five straight days of showing your inner nerd, I’m a little disappointed.”
“Oh, I’m still showing her,” I said, my tone feigning seriousness even as my smile widened.
At the lift of his eyebrows, intrigue practically pouring from him, I swept my bunny-free hand over my midi skirt, then slipped it into one of the pockets to draw attention to the skirt.
Hudson’s gaze fell there immediately, his eyebrows knitting together as he studied the material. “What...what is this?” Amusement left him on a huff when he realized, “There are people on there.”
Holding my pocketed hand out so I could inspect the material as well, I looked at the outlines of characters hidden within quotes and other designs. “It’s Pride and Prejudice .”
A genuine smile lit Hudson’s face as his stare shifted back to mine. “Nerd.”
“I know.”
“So, about this skirt...” he began, his low drawl easily switching into that I’m about to woo you voice he’d mastered. “What if we?—”
“You’re relentless,” I said over him, a soft laugh leaving me as I slipped my hand out of the pocket to, once again, swat his hand away from me, this time from trying to pull me closer by the skirt in question.
“I prefer motivated .”
“Delusional?” I offered as my own smile widened.
“Wounded?” he tossed back, not seeming wounded or in the least bit put off.
A disbelieving hum sounded in my throat. “I’m sure it’s a critical hit to your massive ego that I’m not currently swooning.”
His eyebrows lifted contemplatively. “That’s actually why I’m standing so close,” he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Whether you realize it yet or not, you’re actually giving into my charms and are about to swoon.”
A louder laugh pushed from my lungs at the words that were as confident as they were teasing. “Is that so?”
“It’s science.” He shrugged, looking like it was his burden to bear.
“Oh, well, if it’s science,” I said as if that was all I needed to be convinced, then leaned just slightly closer to whisper, “How long do you think I have before the swooning happens?”
He drew in a quick breath through his teeth, seeming to think before giving me a devastatingly handsome look. “Hard to tell. Holding a stuffed bunny sometimes offsets my charm.”
A sharp laugh left me as I glanced at the floppy stuffed animal, then back to where he’d inched even closer. Pressing my free hand to Hudson’s chest, I said, “Well, I think I might just hold onto the bunny then.”
Defeat left him on a sigh, but he quickly glanced around. “Where’s Kaia? I’ll get her to get that bunny back from you.”
“You’re ridiculous,” I muttered as I all-too-easily shoved him away. “Go flirt with someone else.”
A wolfish look settled over his features as he twisted to walk backward. “Only focused on you, Nerd.”
“I’m sure.” The words left me on a disbelieving huff as my gaze automatically drifted to the last place I’d seen Adam. My breath caught when I found his eyes locked on me for the first time today. Narrowed. So angry. Wren was nowhere in sight.
My heart stuttered before taking off in a horribly fast rhythm as I stood there, trapped in his stare for far too long, all while I told myself to look away. It was absurd to be so engrossed in a man I hardly knew—then again, I’d fallen for Owen the first day, first hour, I’d met him. But for some unknown reason, Adam hated me. And that was more than enough reason to stay far from him, physically, mentally, emotionally...
I finally tore my stare away when my phone vibrated in one of my skirt’s pockets and hurriedly transferred the bunny to my other hand to grab it. As soon as it was in my grasp, another message came through, and dread quickly slid through my veins because the only people I really spoke to were all in that room.
Well, not including my parents...but I’d talked to them just that morning, and we weren’t a texting sort of family. We spoke on the phone or in person because that’s what my parents needed to continue pretending everything was perfect in their world.
Still, I pulled the phone out and felt every part of me lock up as emotions raged and clashed within me when I saw the awaiting messages from an unknown number.
I told myself half a dozen times to ignore them, to slip my phone back into my pocket and focus on the awkward social gathering I’d found myself at, but before I knew it, I was staring at the photo Owen sent me as Kaia’s bunny slipped from the fingers of my other hand.
My heart waged a war I didn’t want to be in as I studied the signatures on what were clearly divorce papers because it didn’t matter. It couldn’t matter. He’d lied to me and used me, along with an unknown amount of other women.
And that’s all I was—another woman for him.
Not to mention, I was still so sure that “officer” had been another form of manipulation.
But as I swiped out of the photo, I looked at the message he’d sent, my teeth worrying my bottom lip as I told myself it was just another lie.
Unknown
I told you it’s only you. I love you Chlo.
It’s a lie. It’s a lie. It’s a lie.
The chant was unsure and weak, and that battle fought harder and harder, until I realized I felt physically sick to my stomach. Until I realized I was shaking from the nauseating feeling of the cold that no longer just clung to my spine, but easily took residence in my entire body whenever Owen tried forcing his way back into my life.
But just as I started locking the screen of my phone, dots appeared in the message, stilling my entire body as I waited to see what he’d say next.
Once the message came through, I didn’t give my heart enough time to fall into another battle before I shakily tapped out a response.
Unknown
Let me see you. I need you.
Leave me alone. I told you what I’d do if you came back to my house, but I’ll do it if you don’t stop contacting me either.
No you won’t.
His response was immediate and sure, and it had my stomach lurching as I once again worried over the potential physical manipulation in the form of a fake police officer following Owen’s words from the other night. “You haven’t filed one yet, and you won’t. I’d like to see what happens if you try though.”
I hurried from the main room of Asher’s home, body trembling as I took shallow breaths, desperately trying not to lose the contents of my stomach in the hall or even the bathroom once I made it there.
I couldn’t let Owen have this kind of control over me. I couldn’t let him affect me this way, but somehow, he was. He’d always affected me so strongly. First, as a lovesick girl. Now, I was just sick from what I’d done and anxious over how easily he could manipulate me—how easily I wanted to give into him whenever he came around and the lengths he’d go to when I wouldn’t .
I used the vanity to keep myself up as I took calming breaths until all thoughts of my past with Owen, that worrying battle in my heart, and why a restraining order against him had somehow turned around to a threat against me , had fully settled.
With another steadying breath, I straightened and looked myself over in the mirror to make sure I didn’t appear as beaten down as I felt. Forcing that practiced smile to ensure it looked as at ease as I needed it to, I turned for the door and slipped out of the bathroom and into the hall as if nothing had ever happened?—
And bounced off a steel wall.