Single Mom's Protector - Complete Series

by Nella Tyler

  I closed the door behind Bennett as he left the room. I wasn't sure who would be at the door, but I didn't want to be discovered if it happened to be someone from the press. I waited and listened for Bennett to open the door and I got nothing. A lot of time seemed to go by and I wondered what was taking him so long to answer the door. Was he just peering out the peephole at them? The whole situation was beginning to get a little weird for me. My instincts were screaming to me that something strange was going on. Whoever was at that door meant business and the banging continued.

  It had to be a girl – he was cheating on me and didn't want me to find out. It had to be that, otherwise why wasn't he answering the door? Why didn't he let me come out there with him? It was so bizarre, and yet it made total sense if he was cheating on me. I wasn't sure if I should march right out there and demand to know what was going on. But then I heard the door open and what I heard next made me grateful that I had not gone out there.

  Chapter Eleven

  I almost threw up when I heard my father's booming voice come through the living room. He was so loud that I could hear him all the way in the bedroom. What the hell was he doing there? And why hadn't he told me he was coming to town?

  When Bennett swung open that door not only did the Triple A coach walk in, but he was followed closely by my father. I could only imagine that Bennett was absolutely mortified to have him there – especially with me naked in the next room. I cracked the door open a bit and could see my father standing there looking about as angry as I had ever seen him. I stood there in complete silence, trying to catch every word that was spoken.

  “I want to know, Mr. Thomas, why the hell you weren't at practice today? And what's worse is that after talking with your coach, it turns out you haven't been at practice in quite some time. So what the hell do you have to say for yourself?”

  Bennett's face had grown a bright red. “Sorry, Sir, I can explain.”

  “Well, I certainly hope so.”

  My stomach churned not only for myself, but also for Bennett. He must be terribly embarrassed to have my father of all people show up at his home and reprimand him. I also felt sick because I knew it was partly my fault. It was because of me that Bennett was missing his practices and although I had never asked him to, I never stopped spending time with him in the morning, either. I was partly to blame and I hoped my father never found that out as he would be so disappointed in me. He would be disappointed that my relationship with Bennett was affecting Bennett's career, especially since my father was interested in adding him to his own team.

  “Look, Sir, I am very sorry, you are absolutely right. I should have been at every practice, but I had some personal issues come up and I had been under a lot of stress with the recent accusations. I was just trying to take some time off to deal with it. I thought my hand was good enough to keep me on top without the practices. But I intended on being there next week.”

  “I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you. You should know better than this, and here I am at the game to evaluate the team and the star pitcher is nowhere to be found.”

  Oh God, Dad. He was really laying it on thick, I felt terrible for Bennett. God, if he finds me here not only will Bennett be dead, but so will I. I couldn't have been more grateful that I didn't walk out there with him because my father would be tearing me a new one, as well. My God, he was just praising me the other week on my professionalism. That would go down the toilet for sure if he knew that I was there. My heart was slamming in my chest as I listened to them out there.

  I couldn't believe my father hadn't told me he was going to be in town. Wasn't he planning on seeing me while he was there? He must have come to evaluate the minor league players because I knew there were no major league games to follow right now in the city. He must have gone to see Bennett, and oh how mad he must have been not to see him at practice. One day was bad enough, but then he had to find out that he missed four practices. I knew Bennett shouldn't have been blowing off practices, it looked really poor to people like my dad. I should have put more pressure on him to go.

  “I can't express to you how sorry I am, Sir, that I was not there to greet you today. All I can do at this point is assure you that it will never happen again.”

  The whole time, the coach had stood by silently. I think he knew that my father pretty much had things under control. Leave it to my dad to put the fear of God into people.

  “I want to tell you one thing, kid. You do have huge potential in this industry and you have the opportunity to go far. But if you are unwilling to put in the hard work to get yourself there, then you are as good as dead to me. I don't take lazy players. I don't care how much talent they have, I won't do it, so I suggest you keep that in mind. You aren't signed to a team yet and I don't imagine any manager would be too impressed with you right now.”

  Bennett was rendered speechless, and I couldn't blame him after what my father said. My dad was hardcore and didn't pull any punches with anyone. He was straight laced and always told it like it was, whether someone liked it or not.

  “Do you understand what I'm saying to you, Bennett?”

  Bennett nodded.

  “If you keep this behavior up, you are going to blow your chances with the big leagues and most people don't get a second chance after that.”

  “I know that, Sir. It will not happen again, I promise you.”

  My dad stared at Bennett hard, his gaze not wavering for a minute. Steve could be terrifying when he wanted to be and he wanted Bennett to know that he meant business.

  “I suggest you start concentrating on baseball first and foremost and that is it. The ladies have to come second in this business. There will be plenty of ladies for you if you ever make it to the big leagues, I can assure you of that much.”

  Gee thanks, Dad, I thought as I shook my head. What a stupid thing to say. It was the last thing he said before I saw him turn and leave with the coach, slamming the door behind him.

  I let out a deep breath, glad that they were gone. I silently closed the door again and waited for Bennett to tell me the whole story.

  Chapter Twelve

  The door opened, and Bennett came in looking sheepish. I wanted to let him start telling me about my father because I was embarrassed to tell him I had been eavesdropping on him.

  I smiled awkwardly. “So, what was all the fuss about?”

  “Oh, yeah big surprise – your dad came to visit me. Cool, huh?” He chuckled softly.

  I stared at him unsure of why he was joking around. Why wasn't he explaining to me what had just happened out there?

  I laughed nervously. “Oh, really? Why was he here? That's kind of weird, isn't it?”

  Bennett started laughing, and I couldn't figure out why. My father had just ripped him a new one out there, and he was acting like Steve had come over for a cup of tea.

  “Oh, it was nothing. He just wanted to check up on me, see how I was doing after the scandal, ya know? It was actually really nice of him to take the time to do that.”

  “What?” I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was he really not going to tell me what happened? Why not? Shame? Embarrassment? Either way, it didn't matter he should be telling me the truth.

  “Yeah, he wanted to make sure I was okay and that everyone on the team was doing well.”

  “Really? That was all he wanted?”

  “Yup.”

  I stared at him, more hurt than I could have imagined feeling in that situation. Why was he lying to me, right to my face?

  “Did you know that your father was in town? You should have told me.”

  “I actually had no idea he was in town. I'm just as surprised as you are.” I was determined to have a talk with my father about all of this, especially about being in town and not telling me about it. That was pretty bad, in my opinion.

  “I thought it was pretty cool of your dad,” he said again without much enthusiasm.

  “Oh yeah, super cool.”

  I didn't have a
choice but to pretend I believed him. I couldn't possibly fathom was what going on at that moment, and I needed some time to think about it. I would have to confront him at some point – he was lying to me, after all, and seemingly for no reason. I thought we had the kind of relationship that meant that we could talk about anything, tell each other anything. But Bennett was hiding things from me and I didn't know why.

  I was pissed. There was a large part of me that wanted to tell him off right there. But now was not the time. I really needed to think things through, plus I wanted the opportunity to talk to my dad.

  I had no intention of letting Bennett get away with trying to pull one over on me, but my confrontation would happen all in good time.

  Unsure of what to do or what my next move would be, there was an awkward silence between us.

  “Everything okay, babe? Do you want something to eat?”

  I looked at him willing him in my mind to say something, to just tell me the truth. He just stared at me with worry on his face. Did he wonder if I had heard anything? The way my father roared, I was surprised he hadn't expected me to hear the whole thing.

  I could barely stand to look at him at that moment. I needed to get away from him, I was so angry. I couldn't understand why he couldn't just be honest. Was he ashamed of admitting he made a mistake with the practices? Was he afraid I would say, “I told you so?” Because I totally would.

  “Look, I need to go. I don't have time to eat, I'm sorry. I had no idea my father was in town and he's probably looking for me right now.”

  “Really? Are you sure?”

  “Yes, Bennett, I have to go. I'm going to go look for him before I go back home. I will talk to you later.”

  I turned then before he could see the anger begin to show on my face. I walked out of his bedroom and headed to the front door. I knew he was probably wondering why I didn't kiss him goodbye or anything, but I was pretty pissed. It would do him good to have something to worry about. I didn't care how he felt because at that moment, he deserved it. I was falling in love with Bennett and here he was lying to me. I didn't care why he didn't tell me the truth – there was no excuse for that behavior. We were in a committed relationship and he had lied to me. What else had he lied about in the past? It was something I would wonder about.

  He probably had the best intentions, but the bottom line was he had lied. He was no different than any other guy I had dated and I had no intention of going through that again.

  Throwing Love #4

  Chapter One

  I quickly headed back to my apartment, my driving a clear indication of my mood for the day. I was still furious at Bennett for lying to me and I couldn't imagine why he had. After everything we had been through, why couldn't he just be honest with me? I had gone through situations in the past with guys who would rather lie to me than just be honest. It was a frustrating place to be in because after awhile, you wondered if you could believe anything that came out of your boyfriend’s mouth. I didn't want to be in another situation like that, I would much rather find a man who knew that honestly was a key ingredient to having a healthy relationship.

  I knew deep down that Bennett wasn't a bad guy and that maybe it did have a lot to do with pride like Connie said, but at the end of the day, I would not settle for a man that lied to me. So he would need to get his act together or things just weren't going to work out between us. All I could think about was getting back to my apartment as soon as possible. I didn't know what my father’s agenda was during his visit, but I assumed he would be trying to touch base with me sooner rather than later and the last thing I wanted was for him to suspect that I was with Bennett during his little visit.

  I arrived back to my apartment without issue. I had expected my father to call me by now, but apparently getting in touch with me was not one of his priorities on his trip. It was pretty odd, considering my father and I always tried to get together to have dinner while he was in town. He didn't make very frequent trips, so it was nice to see him when he did.

  My father wasn't at the apartment when I arrived, and I was relieved to find that he hadn't sought me out there. I didn't think that he would show up at my school looking for me since he had no idea what time my classes were, so I would have to wait for that phone call.

  I didn't want to return to school only to have to explain to him where I had been. I would rather him find me at my home instead of anywhere else, it was just easier that way. It was those kinds of awkward conversations that were made difficult with a father/daughter bond. My father, for the most part, was good about staying out of my business, but who knows what he was up to during this visit.

  Most importantly, I didn't want him to ask about Bennett or whether or not I was still involved with him. He was already angry enough with Bennett. I was sure that at that point he knew we were still together. He could have easily heard it through the sporting grapevine; it certainly wouldn't be hard to figure out. But explaining things to him would be difficult since I hadn't exactly told him that I had continued the relationship after our first few dates. I hadn't really talked to my father at all in regards to Bennett, so I wasn't really sure what he did know about our relationship – if anything. I would rather leave it at that until it was necessary to have a conversation with him about us.

  I decided to make myself breakfast and a cup of coffee to get my day started. I loved coffee, as it was what got me through the day, especially a day as stressful as this one. I had expected to get a text message from Bennett at some point, but as the day progressed, I still hadn't heard from him. Considering his lie, the fact that I still hadn't heard from him caused me no small amount of irritation and ruined the rest of the day for me. Seriously, what was wrong with him? Did he not realize that holding onto things like that was going to be our undoing? It was a mystery to me how bad some men could be at communication. It was actually pretty frightening.

  I needed to rally in my best friend to get some advice.

  Connie ended up coming over after her classes were done for the day; she really didn't have a choice after I had sent her ten frantic text messages begging her to come over. I could always count on her to give me a different perspective on a situation, so I knew one way or another, she would lead me in the right direction when it came to Bennett. He had won her over the last time we had hung out, but there was a good chance that he would lose her support after our conversation. She had a far lesser tolerance for bullshit in relationships than I did. She was usually the one that bailed on a boyfriend first because she had exceedingly high standards. Not that I didn't, but in this particular situation, I was wondering if I was waiting too long to end something that just wasn't right to begin with. But that was what Connie was for, to hopefully shed some light on a very dark situation.

  She came in carrying a bottle of wine and that alone put a smile on my face. “Okay, let’s hear it. What did he do now?” She was smiling when she said it, which sort of helped.

  I laughed. “Oh wait until you hear this one.” I was really laughing to avoid exploding out in rage, but laughter was supposed to be the best medicine, after all.

  I grabbed some wine glasses as Connie settled on the couch. I joined her and watched as she poured us both some wine. “If we have to, we can order pizza soon, too. I'm starving.”

  “Sounds good to me, the meatier the better,” I said.

  “So, what's up? What happened to the happy couple? Because I thought you guys had finally arrived in bliss town.”

  “You would think it could last more than a week, but I'm starting to wonder if that is possible,” I groaned. “Well, my dad's in town.”

  “What? What does that have to do with Bennett?”

  “Oh, you have no idea. The saddest part is that I had no idea he was in town. He still hasn't called me to tell me, so I don't know what's going on with him at all. He never comes to town without calling me. The only reason I knew that he was here was because he showed up to Bennett's place this morning while I was there.
”

  Connie's eyes grew wide. “Oh no.”

  “Oh yes. Thankfully, he has no idea I was there, but I thought it was pretty crazy that he went there in the first place. The truth is, Connie, I haven't been completely honest with you lately about my relationship with Bennett.”

  Connie suddenly looked sad and I felt bad all over again for not being open with her about what was going on in my life. I should have been upfront with her from the beginning, and then maybe I wouldn't be in the mess that I am now. She could have advised me on what the best course of action would be. I knew Bennett was doing something wrong, and the fact that I didn't want to tell Connie about it should have been proof enough for me.

  I quickly explained to her what had been going on for the past few weeks in regards to Bennett and his missed practices. She shook her head repeatedly as I told her that Bennett had missed so many practices just to spend time with me. Seeing the look on her face and listening to myself say the words out loud made me feel that much more stupid. Of course, it had been a crazy situation and I should have put an end to it long before my father showed up at Bennett's house. Instead, I had been selfish and took advantage of the fact that Bennett wanted to spend so much time with me.

  “Oh God, Emmi, how could you let that go on for so long? I don't know much about baseball, but even I think he was crazy to miss practices. He shouldn't have even missed one, never mind four – that’s madness. What was he thinking?”

  “I know. I know. I told him exactly that, but he wasn't listening to me. Regardless of the fact that I know baseball, the guy rarely listens to me. He thinks he knows what is best, and I thought he had a handle on it. Then it got to the point where I just gave up and spending time with him was wonderful. I took advantage of the fact that he is so talented, and I thought that he would be okay. But even I know that's a foolish way of thinking, the most talented major league players never miss practices unless they have a really good reason. I'm an idiot.”