She sighed. “I was hiding from Fenton.”
I frowned. “That git I pulled off of you at the bar?”
“The same one. He’s always too close. Too inappropriate. He always seems to find me.”
I ground my teeth, speaking through them as I tried to bite back the flare of anger. “Define ‘find you.’”
“It happened at a work thing for Dexter the first time, about a year and a half ago. I’d never seen him before, but we were making chit-chat. You know me. Then Dexter came and put his arm around me and... I don’t know, Fenton got this look on his face. It looked like fury. As if one of us had done something to piss him off. I didn’t really understand it.” She shrugged.
“Did he try to get closer to you?”
“Not really. But he started making Dexter work longer hours. Then one day he turned up at my office. And this was before Mom got really sick. I was leaving to go and have lunch with her, and there he was. He just happened to be there. He called it a happy coincidence and insisted on following me to lunch.”
I cursed under my breath. Every invented curse I could think of. “Hell, he stalked you.”
“I’m not sure if I’d call it stalking, but every now and again he’s there, right when I don’t want him to be. He insisted on lunch that day, forced himself on me and my mother and paid for everything. I, of course, tried to decline. And then Dexter asked what the hell I’d done to his boss because the guy was so upset that he changed Dexter’s job and made him directly report to him.”
I frowned at that. “This is only getting worse.” For a month, we’d been worried about an unseen enemy, but this toad sprocket had been right under my fucking nose all along.
“I kept telling Dexter I hadn’t done anything. I didn’t know why he was being like that or what he wanted, but Dexter was happy to move up. He’s the kind of guy who was always ambitious and wanted more, and he just didn’t want to see it. But every time we had a date night or something planned, we’d have to cancel because he’d have to work. It was weird. One day I finally stopped listening to Dexter and didn’t put our date nights on his calendar. When the next couple happened as planned, I figured that Fenton had been having a look at his calendar and stopping our plans.”
“Did you report him?”
She shook her head. “I don’t really have any proof.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She shrugged. “We haven’t talked about any of this stuff. You know about my mom, but I mean, it’s not like you know who I lost my virginity to when I was eighteen.”
My scowl deepened. “We’ll talk about him later. And as soon as we get back to London, you need to file a restraining order against Fenton Mills. That’s an order.”
“You don’t get to dictate my life.”
What kind of utter bullshit was that? “Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
Why? Because for the first time in a long while I was allowing myself to care about someone. “Because I care about you. You’re the best operations director I’ve ever had.”
“I’m the only one you’ve let yourself have. Jessa told me you like to stay hands-on.”
“Yeah, well, if you want something done, do it yourself. So what’s your plan for pencil dick?”
She sighed. “I’ve been trying not to think about it.”
“I saw that kiss he gave you when he said goodbye.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was for your benefit, not mine. Things just got really bad for us about six months ago, right after Mom died. I was driving one night, and we had a bad accident. He broke his hand in three places and required a lot of physical therapy. We’ve never really recovered from it. He blames me.”
I was going to kill him. I was going to kill both of them, Fenton and Dexter. Fenton because I now had a feeling that he was the one following her or having her followed, and Dexter because he was just a pure arse.
He was cheating on her. But I couldn’t tell her any of that because she would want to know how I knew. It would hurt her, and my sole aim was to keep her from hurting.
“We’re friends, remember? So, let me help you with this. This shit can’t go unchecked. You have to tell the police.”
She frowned. “Now you sound like Telly. She’s been saying for ages that I need to just report him.”
“I agree.”
“I wish I could explain it, but I sort of feel like I can’t, like my hands are tied and that no one will believe me.”
I took her hand, dangerous rookie move that it was, but I couldn’t help it. I needed to touch her. I needed to feel her soft palm against mine. “I am your friend, Livy. I’m not just your boss. I will help you. I know people in the police department. They’ll take your report seriously. He’ll be forced to stay away from you. People like that are dangerous. I don’t want you hurt, get it?”
She nodded and withdrew her hand from mine. I was bereft at the loss of her warmth, but I couldn’t really force her to hold on. “Thank you. It’s like my whole life is in a twisty-turny shamble and I don’t have a clue about what to do.”
“Listen, I’ll help you. Whatever you need. I don’t want to overstep, but you have to do something about him. He forced you to hide.”
“I know. I feel dumb.”
“Don’t feel dumb. That’s how he wins. That’s what he wants you to feel. Like, ‘Oh, maybe you’re making this up.’ You’re not.”
“Why are you so amazing?”
“Tell that to my mates, would you? They’re not always sure I’m amazing.”
“Why do you do that?”
I frowned. “What?”
“Diminish the good qualities about yourself. You act like all you are is a facade, but you’re so much more. Why don’t you want anyone to see that?”
The woman saw me too well, and that was dangerous. But despite the danger and my pounding heartbeat, I met her gaze. “Because sometimes it’s easier to pretend than to let them see the real you.”
Livy
I had been dreading this moment all night. All day really. I had known there would be a moment when it was time to say goodnight. Put an end to the day. Put an end to pretending that I was carefree and happy and had not a care in the world. “I should probably get to bed.”
He nodded and took the wine glass from my hand and sat it on the coffee table along with his. Then he stood and reached out a hand to me. I glanced up at him. He was so tall and broad, and sex appeal oozed off of him in waves.
The connection to him was ever-present. From the moment I’d shared a closet with him, it had been like the gears of a clock clicking into place. Like every moment of my life had led me to him. He was more than familiar. He was home.
He’d spent his whole day showing me everything I wanted to see in this glorious city. I hadn’t even asked, and he’d done it. I didn’t even know what to say to that.
“Thank you for everything. I wish I had the words to say thank you properly, but I’ve never in my life dreamed of a day like this. I won’t forget it.”