Chapter 14 #2
Officer Peterson quietly stepped into their room after a soft knock at the door. “Now, that looks like it’s against regulation.” He smiled at Drew, and Karlie snuggled up in the bed. “I’m sorry to interrupt you two, but I need a statement from Miss Angel.”
“Of course,” Karlie smiled.
“Baby, if you don’t feel well enough to do this right now, Officer Peterson can come back.” Drew looked at the officer like he wanted to hurt him.
“No, I’m good,” Karlie said, trying to placate Drew. “I promise, I can do this now.” She kissed drew softly. “What do you need to know, officer?”
“Can you start from the beginning and tell me what happened?” The officer took out his pad and pen, ready to take her statement.
“I was going to get some food, and Jake found me in an empty hallway. There was no one around.” She knew she just had to get through her statement, but she was still shaky from the whole thing. Reliving it was something that had to be done, but she wanted to get it over with.
Drew reached down and grabbed her hand, squeezing, offering her his silent support.
“He—he told me that he did something to keep Drew and Ryan away. Jake told me that they would never come for me in time and that he was going to take me and my baby away from Drew.” She blew out a breath, remembering her fear.
Drew cut in, “Jake must have been the one to call the cops.” Karlie looked confused between the officer and Drew.
“Break-in?” She was quickly realizing just how far Jake had gone to make sure Drew wouldn’t get to her in time.
“Yeah, Jake called the police while Ryan and I were waiting at Jenna’s house for the locksmith. He was watching us, waiting for us to leave you alone. I guess he thought that it would buy him some time, keeping us at Jenna’s house for a while,” Drew explained.
The officer agreed, asking Karlie to go on with her statement. “Did he have a weapon when he found you in the hall?” he questioned.
“No,” Karlie continued, “he took me by surprise, and his hold was so tight, I was afraid to struggle because I was scared he would hurt my baby.” She reached down and put her hands on her belly. “He told me that he was going to hurt us both. I didn’t want to make him angry enough to do that.”
Drew growled again, “I should have killed him when I had the chance.”
“Well, you just about did. I’d call knocking him out cold and dislocating his shoulder a pretty good second choice.” The officer grinned at Drew.
“When I saw Drew, everything happened so fast. Drew was trying to talk to him while Jake was moving me closer to the elevators. I knew that if he got me on them, I’d be gone.
So, when he kissed me, I fought back. I guess I surprised him because I was able to get away.
” Drew was holding her tighter; she glanced over at him and saw so much anger on his face.
She eased a hand down his cheek as if trying to take some of the anger from him.
“I’m fine, Drew. He can’t get me now, right?
” She turned her attention to Officer Peterson.
“He can’t hurt us now, right? You have him, don’t you?
” She could hear the worry in her voice.
“He’s in custody, Miss Angel. He won’t be able to hurt you or your family for a long time.” Karlie breathed a sigh of relief.
“When I saw Jake in the back of the cafeteria, I realized he must have gotten back in through the kitchen. I saw the gun in his hand, and I just started running. My only thought was to run. Well, at least until I saw him shoot Drew. Then, I could only think about getting back to him. I couldn’t let Jake kill him.
I—I need him too much. I love him.” She looked over to Drew, unshed tears in her eyes.
He brushed them away with his thumbs as they fell down her face.
“I love you, too, honey.” His voice was gruff with emotion.
“Officer Peterson, if you wouldn’t mind, I’m feeling very tired now.
” Karlie felt fine; she just needed to be alone with Drew.
She needed to tell him how she felt; how much she needed him.
She knew, at that moment, that Drew would never hurt her as Jake had.
Drew wasn’t Jake—it was that simple. All those months of not completely trusting Drew wasn’t fair to him.
He did nothing but prove, over and over, that he loved her and would never hurt her.
She wasn’t going to let a jerk like Jake ruin the rest of her life with the man that she loved.
If she did, then Jake would win, and she couldn’t let that happen.
“Of course, if you think of anything else, please give me a call.” He walked to her bedside, handing her his business card.
“Yes, thank you, for everything,” she whispered. Officer Peterson left, and the room was quiet, except for their baby’s heartbeat. She concentrated on the steady, strong beat and knew what she needed to say to Drew.
“Yes,” she whispered, looking into Drew’s eyes.
“Yes?” He seemed confused at first, but when he understood what she was saying yes to, his whole face lit up, starting with his beautiful, green eyes. “You mean, yes, you will marry me, honey?”
“When I saw you lying on the floor bleeding, all I could think about was that Jake was going to kill you. I panicked. I couldn’t imagine my life—our lives,” she whispered, touching her belly, “without you. I will marry you, Drew. I love you so much. I don’t want to spend my life without you.
” She pulled his face to hers, framing it with her hands.
“The baby and I both want to spend the rest of our lives with you.” She smiled at him and kissed him gently at first until he took control, deepening the kiss.
He pulled back from her, leaving them both panting for air. “Baby, you mean it? You’re going to marry me?” He seemed so hopeful that she couldn’t help her giggle.
“Yes, I mean it,” she said. His very loud, “Yahoo!” scaring poor Nurse Grumpy so bad that she just about dropped their food tray on her way into their room.
“Sorry.” He winced, “She finally agreed to marry me!”
Nurse Grumpy didn’t seem as happy about their news: “I thought you said she was already your fiancée?” She looked at Drew, suspicion on her face.
Drew smiled his sexy smile and shrugged.
Karlie laughed, throwing her head back, holding her baby bump.
Yeah, she could get used to being this happy.
Karlie wanted her happily ever after with him. He was her forever.