Touch Me (You & Me - A Bad Boy Romance, #2)

by Lexy Timms

“Ben, I don’t want to put you in danger and I don’t want you to end up in jail or prison. Tim is never going to stop. I kept thinking he’d move on or get tired of this game we’ve been playing. He hasn’t. If anything, I think it’s gotten worse. I can leave and really get lost. I’ve been thinking about leaving the country,” she whispered.

  “Listen, I can’t stop you and I understand your reasoning, but don’t leave because you think it’s better for me. It isn’t. I want you to stay. I can handle myself. I lost my cool yesterday. I guarantee that won’t happen again. I fell for his stupid little game. I won’t do it again,” he assured her.

  She sighed. “I think he’s escalating. I’ve been in groups before and this is a common pattern.”

  “I know. I mean, I don’t know, but I do understand the escalation. I want to protect you, Katherine. Let me help you through this,” he said.

  She didn’t answer him, which wasn’t a definite no or a yes. That meant he had a chance. He was a businessman and he knew how to close a deal.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Katherine

  Two Weeks Later

  IT HAD BEEN QUIET SINCE the day at the bakery. Katherine was cautiously optimistic that her estranged husband had finally realized she had someone in her life willing to fight for her. She wasn’t so easy to attack and abuse now. At least, that’s what she hoped was happening. She’d taken it upon herself to start stalking him, reversing the tables a little.

  She checked the court dockets daily, called his office to see if he was in using payphones to avoid her number being traced. It seemed like Tim had gone back to his life without missing a beat. She’d even gotten brave enough to call his cell phone on one occasion. When he answered, she used a fake accent and pretended to have dialed the wrong number. He was back in LA and that was the best news she had ever heard.

  Tim hadn’t pressed the issue of having Ben charged for assault, which initially alarmed Katherine, but she assumed it would be more of an embarrassment. Tim prided himself on being a big tough guy and to have gotten his ass handed to him by a smaller man would be a bit of an ego blow. She and Ben both believed he had attacked him the second time with the sole intention of the police coming to save him just in time to catch Ben being the aggressor. His dropping the case was out of character, though Katherine had given up trying to make sense of his actions long ago. She wondered if it was because he didn’t know who Ben was. Or maybe because he did. Ben could match Tim in the power department, and outmatch him in wealth. That was really going to irk him when he found out—if he hadn’t already.

  Katherine still had her condo but had been spending the majority of her time at Ben’s house. After everything they had gone through, she didn’t want to be apart from him. Ben wanted her by his side day and night, worried Tim would attack again. She too was still worried that Tim would show up when she least expected it. That was how it had always been. This time felt different. She felt like she had finally won a round, even if it had been Ben who’d done the actual fighting. It was a win for Team Katherine.

  In the back of her mind, she tried to remind herself to stay vigilant, and not fall into that lull he was expecting. In the past, she’d get complacent and assume he had given up his hunt and he took advantage. For too long they had been playing a game of cat and mouse and she was tired of it. She was sick of being chased and for the first time, she felt like she had the power and the means to end it all.

  Her musings about her life came to an abrupt halt when Ben came downstairs, finding her in the kitchen of his luxury home where she had just made coffee. She was lost in thought as she sipped the hot liquid.

  “Good morning,” he greeted, coming around to kiss her on the cheek.

  “Hi,” she replied, pushing the cup of coffee towards him.

  “Big day,” he said.

  She nodded. “You don’t have to go with me,” she told him.

  He shook his head. “Yes, I do. I want to.”

  “Thank you.”

  They finished their coffee and headed to the garage. She got into the passenger seat of the Range Rover and tried her best to calm her nerves. She couldn’t make small talk. She was too nervous.

  “Ready?” he asked, pulling into the parking garage.

  “I am.”

  Together they walked into the prestigious firm where Meredith Green worked as a partner. They were escorted into a small conference room and quickly joined Meredith and the attorney in the firm that specialized in divorces.

  “Good morning,” Meredith greeted, breezing into the room.

  “Hi,” Katherine replied.

  The attorney handling the divorce pushed a file towards her. “Everything is as we discussed. Now, we anticipate him contesting the divorce and refusing to pay alimony. That’s all part of the process. You deserve alimony,” the attorney said.

  Katherine looked at Ben. “That’s only going to make this worse,” she insisted.

  “No matter what you do, it is going to get worse,” the attorney said bluntly.

  Her mouth went dry as she processed the information. She wanted to back out and change her mind. This was truly poking the proverbial bear. She didn’t want to incite his fury, she only wanted to be free of him.

  “If he contests, I’ll have to see him?” she asked.

  The attorneys exchanged a look. “Most of the time yes, because it will have to go to mediation. We understand your reasons for wanting a clean break and we will honor your wishes, however, as your attorneys, we need to look out for your best interests. This man owes you. Don’t let him walk away without even a little scathing.”

  Ben looked at her. “They’re right. You deserve something. You put up with him for a long time. He owes you so much more than that pittance you call alimony. However, if you truly want to walk away, I’ll support your decision. You’re the one who has to deal with him.”

  She took a deep breath. “I’ll take your advice for now, but if he contests it, which we know he will, I’ll back out. I don’t want to ever see him again. All I want is my freedom. I don’t want to sit in a room with him or deal with a mediator. Nothing,” she said firmly.

  The lawyers nodded their heads. “Okay, sign where all the green tabs are noted, and we’ll have him served.”

  The very thought of Tim being served was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. She would love to see his face when he was served divorce papers. She picked up the pen and began to sign her name, over and over until she reached the last page and hesitated.

  “Is everything okay?” Ben asked, his hand moving to her knee and gently squeezing.

  There was a huge lump in her throat. “Yes. I can’t believe this is really happening.”

  He smiled. “It’s been a long time coming.”

  With a deep breath, she scrawled her signature across the page, declaring from that moment forward she would no longer go by Marshall. She wanted zero connection to the man who had made her life a living hell.

  She pushed the papers across the table. “Is that it?”

  “That’s it. You’ve done your part. As of now, you are officially separated. The divorce is probably going to take a while. Remember, talk to no one. He’s probably going to bring up your relationship with Mr. O’Leary. Don’t talk to anyone about your relationship, not even the guy at the coffee stand. Lawyers are slick, trust us,” both attorneys laughed at the statement.

  Katherine nodded her head. “Isn’t it more than obvious? I mean, I stay with him quite a bit and he’s at my place a lot.”

  Meredith shrugged. “He’s a friend until proven otherwise, and let me tell you, it would be wise for you to stay at his place with the extra security. I know his type. He’s going to drag your name through the mud. He’s going to have a private investigator on your tail and looking for anything he can to discredit you.”

  Katherine rolled her eyes. “Great, just what I need.”

  “It’s all part of the dirty game of divorce.”

  S
he nodded her head, fully understanding the arena she was stepping into. Tim would come at her guns blazing. She couldn’t run anymore. Divorce proceedings meant she had to be in touch with lawyers, showing up for court and signing papers. Her days of trying to run away from her problems were gone. It was time to face the music.

  “If that’s all, we’ll go ahead and go now,” Ben said, standing and taking her hand.

  “Thank you both for everything. I can’t believe this is finally happening.”

  Meredith stood and walked them to the elevator. “I’m happy to help. You two watch your back. Remember, self-defense is the best defense in court. Let him get a few licks in next time,” she said with a wink before walking away.

  Ben and Katherine stepped onto the elevator. She couldn’t believe it was finally official. She knew she wasn’t divorced, but having legal paperwork separating her from Tim was like having a huge burden lifted from her shoulders.

  She kissed Ben once the elevator doors slid closed. “I’m free. I’m finally free.”

  He kissed her back. “Yes, you are. You’re in the homestretch.”

  She couldn’t stop smiling. She’d thought she’d been free before when she showed up in a new city and set up a new life, but she had constantly been looking over her shoulder. That was all about to change. There was a light at the end of the dark tunnel she had been trapped in for too long. Soon, she was going to be a single woman, free to date and marry as she pleased.

  Ben’s hand held hers as they walked towards the parking garage. She wanted to celebrate the small victory.

  “Are you going to work?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “I don’t have to.”

  She shook her head. “No, you better. You’ve got stuff to do. I’m going to go home and start looking for a job.”

  “Does that mean you’re staying?” he asked.

  She smiled, nodding her head. “I am.”

  He kissed her. The passion blooming between them. “I’ll drop you off,” he said.

  He pulled into her complex, walked her to the door and did his usual inspection to make sure Tim wasn’t lying in wait. When he declared it was safe for her to enter, he gave her another kiss goodbye, promising to call her as soon as he was done with his meetings.

  She kissed him goodbye and closed the door behind him, sliding both locks into place. Although she hadn’t seen Tim and was convinced he was back in LA, she wasn’t taking any chances. She turned and looked at her condo, excited to be home. Life was good. It was going to get better. She missed her job at the bakery but had managed to keep in touch with Talia. She’d started over more than once. She’d find a new job and build from there. Tim was not going to chase her out of the place she had decided she was going to call home.

  He watched from the shadows. He’d become an excellent watcher of late. She thought she was going to walk away and live a life without him. Her and her boyfriend would not get that happy ending they were after. She was his. All his. He was not going to go down without a fight. He didn’t lose—especially to a woman who needed to learn her place.

  He watched her move in front of the window and thought of the many ways he was going to make her pay for the humiliation. He was a man of means—his wife didn’t up and leave him and jump into another man’s bed. His friends and colleagues would think he was weak if he let her get away with it. The woman thought she had outsmarted him.

  He’d given her the peace and feeling of safety, lulling her into complacency just like so many times before. He would wait, and when the time was right, he would strike. She’d know he was not a man who could be so easily forgotten and tossed to the side. She’d pay for her crimes. She thought she’d had it rough the last few years. He couldn’t wait to show her what real pain and suffering was all about.

  THE END

  Kiss Me Blurb

  “I am not what happened to me,

  I am what I choose to become.”

  You and Me Series

  Book 1 – Just Me

  Book 2 – Touch Me

  Book 3 – Kiss Me

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