27. Olivia
CHAPTER 27
Olivia
H earing Bax call out my name, I tug my mascara wand away from my lashes and glance over at the open bathroom door. “I’m in the bathroom,” I call out, then hear the heavy sound of his boots on the wood floor.
“Babe.” His big frame fills the doorway. “We gotta go. You’re going to be late, which means I’m going to be late.”
“First, I told you that you don’t need to wait for me. I’m literally walking into the garage and getting in my car. Second, I don’t need an escort to follow me to work. And third.” I meet his gaze in the mirror. “You’re the one who wouldn’t let me out of bed this morning even after my alarm went off, so if we are late, it’s no one’s fault but your own.”
“Oli, if I had tried to leave you in bed when your alarm went off, you would have lost your mind.” He’s probably right about that, especially since I had been right on the verge of an orgasm when it did start to beep.
“Whatever, I just need two minutes.” I move my mascara to my other eye and start to apply it.
“Did you talk to Kourtney this morning?”
“Yes, she said she was fine and that she slept great.” I shove the brush for my mascara back into the tube, drop it to the counter with the rest of my makeup, and then pick up my blush stick. “She’s positive that with the police after the guy the DNA came back to and his face all over the news, he’s going to avoid showing up somewhere he’s been before.” I swipe some blush on my cheeks as he leans against the doorjamb, crossing his arms over his chest. “I told her not to let her guard down, that it’s obvious this guy gets some sick thrill from scaring women and making them think they’re okay then coming back later to prove they were wrong.”
“I hope she heeds your warning.”
“Me too.” I use one of my makeup brushes to blend in the blush. “I told her that if she changes her mind about staying with us, she’s always welcome, but she’s insistent that she’s okay and wants to be home in her own bed, which is beyond stupid to me.” I turn to look at him. “But besides kidnapping her and forcing her to stay here with us, there isn’t much I can do.”
“She’s using the alarm system, right?”
“Yeah, but I would just feel better if they knew where this guy went,” I admit quietly to hide the fear I actually feel. It’s been over a week since the DNA results came back to a man named Jack Bower, who has a history of sexual assaults against women. An average-looking guy who could honestly be any man and change his appearance with just a box of hair color or by growing a beard. And even though I know the police are doing everything they can to track him down, they’ve had zero luck, so Bax has grown more and more paranoid every day that something is going to happen to me.
And although I appreciate his overprotectiveness, dealing with it daily has become a lot. Not only am I not allowed to go anywhere on my own, not even to my car that is now parked in the garage, but I also have him following me to work every morning. Then, either my mom or my dad meets me at the spa in the evenings to follow me back home, and they hang out with me until he gets here. On occasion, Liam does, but his schedule is typically as unpredictable as Bax’s, so he can’t normally take the time. The only positive to come out of this entire mess is that Bax and Liam are now talking again, so at least things won’t be awkward at Thanksgiving.
Picking up my gloss, I swipe some on my lips, then close it up and drop it to the counter, cringing when it falls into the sink, taking a few other things with it.
“When this build I’m working on is done, I’ll finish this bathroom and build a vanity for all your shit,” he says as I take my stuff out of the sink and put it back on the counter.
My only acknowledgment that I heard him is the “mmm” sound I make in the back of my throat. We still haven’t spoken about the conversation we had back in Gatlinburg. Right now, I’m still pretending that I’m only staying the night every night, even though my clothes have all moved to his closet and drawers. And all my boxes from his garage have migrated inside and been unpacked and mixed with his things. I told myself it was because he needed room so that he could move my furniture farther to one side of the garage so that I could park inside. Believe me, I know I’m lying to myself, but even if it’s ridiculous, I feel better pretending like we aren’t rushing this, even if we totally are.
“Are Nalia and Zuri settling in okay?” I change the subject.
“Yep, Nalia starts working for us next week, and Zuri starts school after Thanksgiving break.”
“I can’t wait to meet her at Thanksgiving.” I follow him out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, where I sit on the side of the bed to put on my shoes.
“I’m not sure if they will be at Thanksgiving, baby. Nalia is a little worried about overwhelming Zuri, and since Thanksgiving was moved to Clay and Willow’s place because she’s so far along in her pregnancy, his family will be there too.”
“Oh.” I move to my feet. “Are Nalia and Zuri going to be alone, then?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t talked to her about her plans.”
“Well, I know they don’t know my family, but Mom is always happy to have more people around during the holidays. They could come with us so they aren’t alone, and it would just be you, me, Mom, Dad, and Liam, so that way it’s not such an overwhelming crowd.”
“I’ll talk to her about it,” he says softly. “And if not, we’ll have them over for dinner soon.” His eyes wander over me. “You ready to go now?”
“Yes.” I roll my eyes, and he grins before leaning down and pressing his mouth against mine.
When we get to the mudroom, I put on my coat as he calls Gemma, and I hear her nails clipping on the hardwood floors as she runs down the hall to us.
“Hey, girl.” I give her some love as Bax opens the garage door, and then the three of us walk out to my car.
“Is your mom or dad meeting you this evening?” he asks, wrapping his hand around the side of my neck while he drops his chin.
“I think Dad, but I’ll let you know.”
“Alright.” He opens my door and waits until I’m in my seat and buckled in before leaning in and touching his mouth to mine. “Love you.”
“Love you.” I smile to myself.
“I’ll follow you, then see you tonight.”
“Alright.” I get myself situated, then wait until he’s backed out of the driveway to pull out of the garage. When we get to the main road, I spot Star walking on the side of the road and honk my horn. Turning to look over her shoulder, she smiles and waves at me.
I glance in my mirror as I slow down and pull over to the shoulder, ignoring my phone that starts to ring
“Hey, Star.” I greet when she opens the door, and she beams at me.
“Hey, Olivia, thanks for stopping.”
“You’re welcome.” I glance in my rearview mirror and wave at Bax, who, even from a distance, looks pissed. Great. “How have you been?” I ask as my phone starts to ring again.
“Good, or great, actually. I should have my car back next week.”
“That’s exciting.” I smile over at her, and she looks down at the cupholder between us where I put my cell.
“Do you need to get that?”
“No, it’s my boyfriend. He’s behind us in the truck.”
Glancing behind us, she mumbles, “He doesn’t look very happy.”
“He’ll be okay,” I assure her.
“You haven’t come by to get some cookies.”
“Sorry, I’ve been so busy with work, but I will. Are you ready for Thanksgiving?”
“As ready as I can be, I have to work that morning for a couple of hours, but I’ll be off that afternoon to cook. Are you cooking?”
“Yeah, my mom and I are.” I flip on my turn signal when I’m almost to the grocery store. “Do you want me to just drop you out front again?”
“Please.” She unhooks her belt as I pull up to the door, and I wait, holding my breath as she shoves her door open. “Thanks again, Olivia.”
“You’re welcome. Have a good day.” I almost ask her if she has any new vibes for me, but I’m scared to death she’ll say yes. I don’t know if I could handle hearing another warning from her and it possibly coming true.
“Bye.”
“Later.” She slams the door, and I wave at her before she walks away. Then, I look in my rearview mirror at Bax, who doesn’t look any happier than he did a few minutes ago.
I drive out of the parking lot of the grocery store and head to the spa, finding a parking spot right out front. The moment I shut down the engine, a door slams close by hard enough to make me jump.
“Great,” I mutter under my breath, then look out my window up at Bax as he walks up to my door, grabbing the handle.
“First,” he says as soon as he has my door open. “Don’t ever fucking ignore my call when I’m calling you, Olivia,” he says quietly, but it’s the quiet in his tone that scares me more than the look on his face. And the look on his face is pretty fricking terrifying.
“Bax.”
“Who was that?”
“That was Star,” I say calmly. “She works at the grocery store.”
“She a friend of yours?”
“Kind of?”
“Kind of?” he asks, and I let out a breath.
“I met her a couple of weeks ago when it was raining, and she was walking to work.”
“So you randomly picked up some strange woman on the side of the road when someone has been after you?”
“Let’s calm down.” I roll my eyes. “Star is harmless; she works at a bakery and lives with her elderly parents. I doubt she’s vandalizing cars, tossing bricks through windows, and breaking into houses in her free time.”
“Babe.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.” I toss my hands into the air. “I just gave her a ride to the store, and as you can see, nothing happened to me.”
“But something could have happened. You don’t know her. Right now, you don’t know anyone.”
“Don’t you need to go to work?” I ask, grabbing my bag before I squeeze past him so I can get out of my car.
“Olivia,” he clips as I start walking toward the front door of the spa.
“I’m not an idiot.” I spin around to face him. “I’m not taking any risks. I have babysitters all day, every day; I don’t go anywhere without an escort; I haven’t even been able to get drinks with Eva or Holly or have lunch with Lincoln because I know that you’ll worry, and you’re already worried enough.”
“Lunch with Lincoln,” he whispers.
“Oh my God, can you please save the caveman act for another argument?” I cry. “He and I are friends, you know that, and you also know he’s not interested in me.”
“He was interested in you until he knew he didn’t have a shot with you.”
“Yeah, and he still doesn’t have a shot with me because I’m in love with you.” I leave out the YOU IDIOT that I scream in my head. “But that doesn’t mean he can’t be my friend.” I close my eyes and drag in a breath, hoping to calm myself. I won’t do us any favors if I start acting as irrational as he is right now. “Please.” I open my eyes. “I know that you’re stressed about what’s going on, and I’m stressed too, but I promise I’m being safe,” I whisper the last part and watch his jaw clench.
“I love you.” The words sound ripped from somewhere deep in his chest.
“I know that.”
“You don’t. You can’t understand what it feels like to have a piece of yourself buried so deep inside someone else that you know if something happens to them, if they cease to exist, you would too.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me,” I choke out, pressing my fingers to my lips, hoping to hold back the sob I can feel climbing up the back of my throat.
“Fuck, please don’t cry.” He closes the distance between us and pulls me into his arms, wrapping his palm around the back of my head. The moment my face is buried against his solid chest, the tears I was attempting to hold back begin to fall. “I fucking hate when I make you cry.” He whispers against my ear, “It’s going to be okay.”
“I… I know.” I attempt to wipe my cheeks.
“We’ll get some kind of normal soon, alright, and even if I fucking hate it, if you want to be friends with Lincoln, I’ll get over it.” He sounds so miserable saying it that my lips wobble into a smile.
“I love you.”
“I know you do.” He presses his lips to the top of my head then I listen to him drag in a deep breath. “We okay?”
“Yeah.” I sniffle, and he touches his fingers to my chin, tipping my head back so that he can see my eyes. “I love you.”
“I know,” I repeat his earlier statement, although I now realize that I didn’t know just how deeply he loved me before this moment. “I’m okay.” I rub his chest. “You need to get to work, and so do I.”
“I hate the idea of leaving you like this.” His eyes are filled with concern as they scan my face.
“I’m okay, promise.” I wipe my cheeks. “I’ll see you tonight when you get home.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” I lean up on my tiptoes and press my lips against his. “Go, I’ll see you tonight.”
“Call me when you have lunch.”
“I will,” I agree, and he slides his fingers back into my hair, using his hold to kiss me once more, this time deeper and longer than before.
He pulls back with one last brush of his mouth across mine, then slides his fingers along my jaw as he loosens his hold. “I’ll see you later.”
“Later.” I let him go, then since I know he won’t leave until I’m inside, I walk toward the spa. As I’m opening the door, I turn to wave at him, and he lifts his chin before he heads to his truck that is taking up two parking spots.
I step through the door into the office and find both Holly and Eva with wide-eyed looks on their faces as they stare at me.
“Umm.”
“What in the world was that?” Holly shoots to her feet, and Eva groans.
“Nothing, Bax was just dropping me off.”
“That was not just him dropping you off. I’ve seen him drop you off before, and even though that is always an experience, whatever that was, it was for sure something else.”
“Were you spying on me?”
“Ugh, absolutely,” she says like duh. “I even got some of it on video.”
“Holly.” I close my eyes, shaking my head.
“What? It was just like one of those moments from a Hallmark movie. All that was missing was the snow falling from the sky.” She looks over at Eva. “Am I wrong?”
“You’re not wrong,” Eva mumbles, shrugging.
“Please don’t encourage her.” I sigh, falling into one of the client chairs.
“Sorry, but I’m on her side.” She grins as she tips her head to the side, then her face softens as she studies me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I set my bag on the floor. “Bax is just worried.” It’s an understatement, but they know the situation, so I don’t need to exacerbate things.
“I hope that guy is caught soon,” Holly says, and I give her a sad smile.
“Me too.”
“We should go have a drink tonight after work,” Eva says, and I shake my head, already knowing that isn’t going to happen. “Come on, we can go to one of the local bars. You can invite your mom or whoever, and we’ll all be there. We won’t let you out of our sight.”
“I don’t know.” I fiddle with my fingers in my lap. Honestly, I feel like a bird who has been caged up for weeks, and the idea of stretching my wings, even for an hour, sounds almost too appealing to turn down. I never considered myself someone who loved going out, but I also never had that option taken away from me until recently. “I’ll call Bax at lunch and see what he thinks,” I say, and both Eva and Holly share matching grins. Holding up my hand, I look between the two of them. “I’m not promising anything. If he’s not comfortable, I’m not going.” Especially after he told me that I’m a piece of him that he would not be able to exist without.