Page 19 of Securing His Family

Lauren supposed that made sense and had to trust that they knew what they were doing, after all, they worked in the security field—she didn’t. “How long will someone be watching us? I don’t want to be a burden. I think after the weekend he’ll give up. The emails were sent before he saw me at the café. He probably thought I’d seen them or something.”

Why was she making excuses for the things Patrick had done? It didn’t matter when he’d sent those emails. The fact was he had, and his intent was clear—he wanted to frighten her.

He’d succeeded.

Reed’s next words closely mirrored her own thoughts. “Doesn’t matter. He’s turned up in your life, and nothing about his reappearance would suggest it’s because he’s decided that he really does want to be a father. I still think there’s a reason for his sudden interest in his daughter.”

“I’ve learned that there is no rhyme or reason for the things Patrick does,” she said with a sigh. “I’m sure that in a couple of weeks he’ll have forgotten why he wanted Charlee and move on. It’s what he usually does.”

Or more to the point she’d changed her number so he couldn’t contact her. But she wasn’t going to say that.

“I think this time is different,” Reed said, his voice and demeanor serious. More serious than she’d seen from him before. “I remembered what you said about how he reacted when I said we were engaged. You thought he looked jealous.”

Lauren recalled the moment he was talking about. The way Patrick’s eyes narrowed and his lips twisted into an angry scowl. The expression was gone in a flash, but it had been long enough for her to see. “What about it?”

“I looked over the footage. In fact, we all did, and there was definitely something there. He wasn’t happy at all.”

Lauren shrugged like his unhappiness was a usual occurrence, and with Patrick and her it was the norm. “Okay, so he wasn’t happy. What’s he going to do if he comes back? It’s not like he can force me into rekindling our relationship. I don’t think he even wants me.”

“You’re right, maybe he won’t do anything. Maybe he will forget all about Charlee now that he thinks you’re in a serious relationship. We probably shouldn’t do anything about it. Or him.”

Reed’s about-face shocked her. Not two minutes ago he was saying that Patrick looked dangerous and now he was saying to forget everything. “What’s going on? Why would you say that when you’ve got a plan to keep me and Charlee protected? Was it all a lie?” she demanded, hurt pooling in her belly. She’d begun to trust Reed wasn’t like the other people in her life who said one thing and did another, but it looked like that was exactly what he was like.

“I’m giving you what you want,” he replied mildly. “Reading between the lines of what you’re telling me is, that you know Patrick. You know that in a couple of weeks he’ll leave you alone and that all of this is a great big waste of time.”

Lauren stared at Reed; he was serious. She hadn’t wanted them to make a fuss over her and that’s what he was giving her. Now that she had what she wanted, she didn’t like it.

Ugh, she was annoyed with herself for acting this way, she could only imagine how Reed was feeling.

“Reed, I—uh—” Lauren looked down at her hands as if they would come up with the words she couldn’t seem to find. How did she go back from everything she’d just said to him?

“Ren, nothing’s changed.” He smiled gently at her. “We’re still going to watch you and look into Patrick. I wanted to see how you really feel about it. Find out what your true thoughts are, and I can see that you’re conflicted about everything. But at the end of the day you want Patrick out of your life and that’s the goal for me too. I don’t want him anywhere near you or Charlee.”

“Why?” The question, a tortured whisper.

Reed scooted closer and put an arm around her hugging her to his side. “Because I care about you. I care about Charlee. I told you I’d do anything to keep you safe, and if that meant making you believe I was pulling everything back, then that’s why I said what I did.”

He had been testing her to try and find out how she truly felt. The test had worked because now she did know. She wanted Patrick gone. She wanted to be able to live in peace knowing that he wasn’t going to threaten her or her daughter.

Frustration at herself washed over her. “I don’t know why you’re even still sitting here. You should run as far away from me as possible.”

“Not happening,” he said firmly. “Unless you want me to.”

Again, Reed was giving her an out. Letting her make her own choices. This whole relationship with Reed was so different to what she was used to. Not that she had much to go on as she didn’t count the boys she’d “gone out with” during high school as true relationships. And the one she had with Patrick wouldn’t even rate as one, which was why him now demanding to see Charlee was out of character. The previous times he’d made contact with her, it hadn’t been about Charlee, they’d been more about being a nuisance.

Her head began to ache with the multitude of thoughts about Patrick, a man who didn’t deserve that much of her brain space.

“I don’t want you to run,” she whispered.

His hands framed her face, and she looked deep into his green eyes. “Then I won’t. Whatever you want or need, Ren. I’ll be here for you.”

Lauren believed him deep in her soul. She rested her head on his shoulder and sipped her drink. Reed didn’t say anything either. They just sat quietly, and it was exactly what she needed.

“I should get back.” She’d left Tabitha alone for too long. Not that her boss would mind.

“Yeah, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.” He squirmed a little and she sat up straight.

What the heck was he doing?

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