Drew grabbed her hand. “You don’t have to tell me this.” To be fair, he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear it, he wasn’t sure he could stand to hear it. It was ten times harder than he’d imagined it would be.
“No,” she argued. “I do. I have to be honest with you. Being with me or even being with you isn’t about sharing all the happy parts we have with each other. It’s sharing the shitty, darker parts too, the parts that shaped us into the people we are. If we keep things light and don’t delve into the hard stuff, then what’s the point of us doing this again? If I can’t be myself with you, be honest with you, I will run again. I know I will, and I don’t know if I’ll survive it this time.”
Man up! Drew told himself. He gathered every bit of strength he’d gotten from Liam Walker—the man who’d made him into the man he was today. The pussy part of him—he knew that was his sperm donor, the one who ran when things got tough. The one that didn’t want to stick around for the woman he loved. He’d been taught better than this, and he wouldn’t disappoint her. Not again. “Okay, I’m all ears, sweetheart. You take whatever time you need.”
“It was weird when the bathroom door opened this time. Really quiet. Usually when my mom came in, she was loud, already talking about her night at work. Normally she was counting money and telling me what bills we could pay, if I could get the new shirt I wanted, what part of it I could put back for school. But this time, it was deathly quiet.” She pulled her legs up underneath her and did her best to get comfortable on the bed.
“You know that feeling you get when shit’s about to go down? The way your hair stands up on your arms, the goosebumps over your body, and the drop in your stomach?”
He nodded, because he’d felt that many times in his years with the club. Every time they’d been in trouble, he’d known it. Any time something went south and they were in deep shit, he’d known it. He was well-versed in that feeling and followed it each time it overtook his body.
“That’s how I felt. I looked anywhere I could for a weapon.” Suddenly she laughed. “But let’s be honest, what the fuck are you going to do with a pink Lady Bic with daisies on it?”
His laughter broke through the seriousness of the situation. “It would take hours to break skin.”
“Right? So I had a huge bottle of shampoo that was half-empty. I grabbed it and waited.”
Thinking about it now, she was lucky she hadn’t been killed.
“My heart pounded, and I tried not to breathe so loud, but I was panting, and I know he heard me. I could see the shadow in the shower curtain, and I could tell how close he was getting to me. When it opened, I threw the bottle of shampoo at his head, screaming bloody murder.” She stopped, panting now. “We faced each other, and I saw it was Dixon. I got up and took off at a run for my bedroom. I had that knife you’d given me to protect myself.”
Drew couldn’t help himself. He could no longer not touch her. He couldn’t watch her struggle through this by herself without offering her some sort of physical support. He grabbed her face in his hands, forcing her to meet his eyes as she told the rest of it.
“I slammed the door, but I didn’t have a chance to lock it. I didn’t look back as I ran to the bedside table where I kept the knife. My feet were wet, and I slipped, but I caught the end of the drawer as I did and was able to pull it open, and my hand hit the knife. He grabbed my ankle and tried to pull me across the floor, and I knew if he got on top of me, it was over. I half-turned and swung the knife. I had no idea if I would hit anything or if I would get air, but I felt impact.” She shivered; glad when Drew brought the blanket up around her shoulders. “I got him across the stomach. He was stunned. I think he was too stunned to do anything else. He cussed me and then made some threats, but he had to leave. He was bleeding everywhere, and I thought maybe I had hit an artery. I never saw him again until we pulled the arrest records, and I never heard his name again until Meredith called me asking for a favor.”
“Damn,” Drew breathed, pulling her to him, cradling her head in the crook of his neck, palming the back of her neck so that he held her tightly. “How did your mom not find out?”
“It was her long night at work. I cleaned up the blood and then pretended like nothing had happened.” She wiped her eyes. “I had a lot of practice in pretending. Being a stripper’s daughter gives you a great imagination so that you don’t ever have to live in the moment.”
He hated that for her, and he raged at what Dixon could have done to her. Next time, he would kill the bastard with his bare hands. He made that promise to himself, and he never broke those promises.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“You know none of that is ever going to change the way I feel about you, right?”
He pulled her chin up with his fingers, forcing her eyes to meet his.
“I should know that, and part of me does, but there’s another part of me that wonders what in the hell you let me keep coming back for. I mean, how many times do I have to leave you, how many times do I have to retreat into myself before you tell me that you’re done? I keep waiting for it,” she admitted.
“There aren’t enough times, Char. You’ve been mine since the day we met. I knew you would be mine, no matter what.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss. “Show me,” she begged.
He flipped them so that he lay on top of her, his arms circling her head, fingers digging into her hair. He wanted to surround her; he wanted her to feel him in every part of her. Inside her body, breathe in his scent; he wanted to be inside her pores. To be a part of her that she carried with her everywhere she went so that she knew she wasn’t alone. Never again did he want her to feel she was alone and had to navigate life by herself.
He lazily kissed her, owning her mouth as he slowly and sensually ground his pelvis into hers. It reminded him of the make-out sessions they’d had on his couch when his parents had been upstairs asleep. It wasn’t often, but he’d been able to get her alone, away from Mandy, away from Tatum, away from everyone, where she was just his. Her arms tightened around his neck, and she lifted her chest closer to his.
Drew moaned when he felt the peaks of her nipples running along his skin, protected by the shirt she wore. Reluctantly, he let go of her lips and moved his hands down her body to the hem of her T-shirt before slipping it up and over her head.
“You’re gorgeous,” he breathed. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”
The reverence in his voice brought tears to her eyes as she watched him dip his head to take the hard flesh into his mouth. He worshiped her in a way he hadn’t ever done before, and it was almost her undoing. She ground herself up against him, trying to find some relief from the feelings coursing through her body. She wanted to touch him without the barrier of clothes.
Pulling her hands away from his neck, she moved them down his chest, over the hard lines of his abs, to the waistband of his underwear. Quickly, she pushed it down far enough that she could reach in and take his hard length out. It was hot with arousal, the smooth skin hard against the grip of her hand. “I need you,” she whispered.
Good. He needed her too.
Pushing aside the underwear she wore, he stopped a moment before he completed their joining. “Are you good?” He wanted her without the barrier, she was different from any of the women he’d been with. Drew hoped that he started his sexual life being with her and ended it being with her.
She nodded. “I’m on the Pill. We’re good.”
With a hard stroke, he sank himself into her heat, twirling his tongue around her nipple as he did so. It wasn’t a hard fuck or a race to the finish line. He moved his hips slowly, lazily thrusting in and out of her, holding her hands up over her head with his. His mouth made circles around her hard flesh before moving up to her neck and sucking on the sensitive skin there.
“Drew,” she breathed heavily. All of the things he did were surrounding her in a haze of passion. None of it was blatant, all of it was sensual, and i
t excited her like she had never been excited before. She grasped his fingers with her own, trying to pull out from under his spell.
For a moment, he released her flesh, and their eyes met each other. “Let it wash over you, baby. Don’t strain for it, let it come.”
His voice was soothing, and she laid her head back against the pillow, closing her eyes and letting it come the way he instructed her too.
The orgasm that hit her out of nowhere was strong, but it was almost emotional. Tears escaped from her eyes as she felt him pump into her, felt the heat of his release. He was almost silent, moaning softly as he bit down harder on her nipple, causing her pussy to grip him harder for a split second.
When it was over, he gathered her up in his arms. Neither one of them said anything; they lay in the silence, holding each other. In the dark, her instinct was to pack her shit and leave and never look back, but the words they’d spoken to one another and the desire not to be her mother kept her here. For now. And she knew it would for always.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“We need to stop trying to get as much evidence together as we can. We need to make a move. Dragging this out is doing nothing but taunting him and making us crazy.”
Charity heard what Meredith was saying the next day as they sat at the common table having breakfast. “If we file the injunction to have a restraining order, he’s going to know Maggie talked, and he’s going to come for her. We’ll have to ask for Witness Protection.” She glanced over at Rooster. “Is that something you can help us with? If we pull the trigger on this, we have to be able to protect her. I won’t let her be unprotected.”
Rooster nodded. “I still have a few friends I could pull some strings with. I’d be almost willing to bet that as short-handed as the sheriff’s office is they would appreciate our help. It might be the perfect day to file that motion. You may get a sympathetic judge.”
Charity hoped so. “I’ll do the paperwork today and send it with you, Meredith. I have to go downtown to file motions. If Maggie has any questions, you have her call me.”
“You’re not going downtown without me.”
She’d felt him before she’d heard his voice. The chemistry between them was stronger now than it had been before. Trusting him with all of her secrets had done that. Letting every part of her past go had opened the path for her feelings to be stronger than they ever had. He looked good. He was freshly shaven, his skin appeared to still be a little damp from the shower he’d obviously taken, and he had eyes only for her. Walking over to her, in front of the room, he bent down, kissing her soundly on the mouth.
“Let me grab some breakfast, and we can head out.”
She nodded—literally struck speechless by the way he looked at her. Charity had given up seeing that look on his face again a long time ago. Seeing it today warmed her heart and took her breath away.
Liam and Tyler sat at the table with the rest of them. “You two be careful down there today. Someone is going to get to Dixon first, and he better hope the cops get him for beating his wife instead of the cops arresting him for the home invasions. The elderly woman was released from the hospital last night, and they told us she pointed the finger at him.”
“Things are not looking good,” Meredith commented. “The sooner we get him off the streets, the better off everyone is.”
“They’re going to need more than eyewitness testimony, unfortunately.” Charity took a sip of her coffee, blowing on the hot liquid.
Drew had a seat next to her and gifted her with the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. “What if there are people in this room who know where he’s housing the shit he’s stolen from the invasions?”
She eyed him critically. “Then I think people in this room better start talking. That could help my case significantly. The more things I have to stack against him, the better off I am, and the more likely it is I will get what I’m asking for. I want these ladies safe, and we’re going to have to take Dixon down to do it.”
Drew took a bite of his breakfast and began telling her about his and Dalton’s run-in with Squirrel. She took notes, listening intently as she did so. “This is great information,” she praised him. “Hopefully he has something there from the invasion where the lady was hurt. That would be best case scenario, and if other people come forward and ID him, it will build the case stronger.”
“Not to mention, both Maggie and Skylar can testify,” Meredith added. “Skylar was in the car for one of them. Towards the end of the girls being with him, he’d gotten sloppy.”
“It’s because he thinks no one can touch him.” Charity was furiously writing down things she needed to do today. “For so long he’s been doing this under everyone’s noses. He’s in for a very rude awakening.”
“Then we all agree that nobody be by themselves until he’s been picked up. If it wasn’t for Mer, Maggie, and Charity, nobody would be putting all these things together right now. Chances are, he’s figured it out, and if he’s woken up yet from where Drew knocked him out, he’s pissed.”
Charity’s head shot up. “Wait. You knocked him out?”
“We had a disagreement.” He grinned over at her.
She shook her head. “I have no idea what I’m going to do with you.”
Denise laughed from where she sat. “Join the club, honey, join the club.”
It was weird driving Charity around in a truck that didn’t belong to his dad. Just another way things had changed since the last time Charity had been in Bowling Green, and even odder that they weren’t on his bike. Both of them had agreed, though, that it would be best if they didn’t make themselves a moving target. On the back of the bike, they were just that—an easier target.
“Do you want me to park on the street, or do you have a space around back?” Drew asked as he turned onto the square.
“There’s a space around back.” She motioned for the alleyway that would take them to the small parking area. “I don’t park here because it makes me feel cornered.”
He could see why, but it beat being out in the open where they were sitting ducks. He’d take cornered any day. The way he saw it, if you cornered a tiger, that tiger fought his way out. “Don’t get out until I come and get you,” he told her, leaning over to give her a kiss before he exited the vehicle.
Drew got out, making sure to look everywhere he could. He was on high alert; more alert than he’d ever been on. Everything he’d ever been trained to do, anything ever drilled into his head about watching his surroundings and knowing where he was, he put into play in this moment. He did not want to chance anything with Charity’s life. He’d just found her again.
He opened the door and leaned in. “When you get out, keep your head down and get into the office as soon as you can. I got you and nothing’s going to hurt you, but don’t fuck around.”
Her heart pounded in her throat, but she knew she was safe with Drew, above anyone else. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
“You ready, sweetheart?”
She nodded.
“Let’s go then.”
She forced herself out of the safety of the truck, making her feet move, hoping that the rest of her body followed through. Getting to the door, she felt Drew’s heat behind her, and her fingers shook as she pressed the numbers in the keypad. Don’t mess up, she told herself, trying to calm her nerves. That was the last thing she wanted to do, leave them out in the open. Whispering up a prayer apparently worked, because she got it the first time.
They fell through the door, closing it with a loud lock behind them.
“Mission number one is accomplished.” Drew squeezed her hand. “We’ve already swept the office this morning. You’re good to do whatever it is you need to.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Halfway through the day, Mandy arrived, along with Jasmine.
“Char, look alive. You’re mom’s here.”
“Shit,” she hissed, wishing to God this wasn’t going to happen here, but she knew she’d avoided h
er long enough. There was only so long she could put off the meeting with her mom. It wasn’t a reunion like it had been with Drew and Mandy. This was a meeting, plain and simple.
They talked every week, and her mom had known she was coming home, but neither one of them made promises about how they would handle it once she was here.
“It’s so good to see you,” Jasmine said as she made her way into the office like she owned the place. She walked quickly over to where Charity sat and wrapped her up in a huge hug.
“It’s good to see you too, Mom.” She hugged her back, tightly. It was good to see her, but there was so much baggage that came with her and their relationship. “What are you doing here?”
Never one able to tell when she wasn’t wanted, Jasmine went about everything like she couldn’t even hear the distress in Charity’s voice. “Mandy told me she was coming down to help you, and I figured I could too. I can take the stuff over to the courthouse for you, get you lunch, whatever you need. I just want to feel like I’m helping.”
Jasmine, as always, was a hurricane, but with her there was no eye. There was not a calm bone in her body; it was go, go, go all the time. And she expected everyone to be that way with her. She didn’t know how to slow down, how to appreciate anything that wasn’t in your face, and wanted instant gratification.
“We’ll see what we can do, Mom.”
Drew glanced at Charity and could tell she was feeling overwhelmed. He could see the panic in her face, could feel the uneasiness coming off her in waves. Although they’d eaten breakfast not long ago, he grasped for straws.
“I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink. Doesn’t the coffee shop down the street have good stuff?” he asked, looking at Mandy for help.
“Yes! Frappes, fruit smoothies, coffee, tea, they have it all,” Mandy spoke up, hoping it would take Jasmine’s attention elsewhere.
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