I laughed at the last one. “Did you just throw the Chinese food in for good measure?”
She scrunched up her nose. “Kinda, two didn’t seem like enough.” She giggled.
“Done.” I chuckled and tapped her on the nose. “Chinese food it is. We will both walk Zef, I’ll set you up on the dining table and I’ll work from my office – no hovering, I promise.” I held my fingers up in scout’s honour.
“Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Pierce.” She grinned as she held out a hand for me to shake.
“Ditto Miss Rush.” I replied as I took her hand.
I ordered my girl her Chinese food and the three of us sat around on the floor of the lounge and ate from the cartons. El seemed relaxed and happy. Looking at her, you’d never guess she had someone terrorising her life.
“I can’t wait to see the girls.” Quinn squeaked as she put down her empty carton.
“God me too, it sucks Lex can’t come, but it’s still going to be so much fun.”
“What are we gonna do?” Quinn asked.
“Lawson said we can use here to stay.” El told her. “And if there was anyone that could possibly get us into the VIP section in the hottest club in town, that would be amazing.” She winked at Q.
“Fine, pimp me out.” Q laughed. “That sounds good, thanks for letting us crash your bachelor pad Law.”
“It’s not a bachelor pad anymore Q. And you’re welcome.”
El turned to me. “Did you tell her about the boys?”
“What boys?” Quinn demanded.
“I’ve invited Rome, Logan and Josh to come for the weekend too. I can’t keep track of all you girls on my own.” I chuckled as Quinn screwed up her face.
“Ew not Rome, that guy is such a tool.” Quinn whined.
I laughed. I knew she wasn’t going to be happy about him coming. Rome had hit on my sister relentlessly for the better part of the last ten years. He had a big mouth and he liked the sound of his own voice. But he was a good man. He always had my back, and he’d gotten me out of some pretty dodgy situations back in the day. I owed him a lot.
“What’s wrong with him?” El asked Quinn.
I got in before she could start tearing strips off my boy. “He’s fine.” I told her.
Quinn snorted.
“Okay he’s a big mouth. He’s got no filter, so be prepared for any thought that crosses his mind, to come right out his mouth – it’s actually pretty funny. Quinn just gets pissed at him hitting on her all the time. He’s a bit of a player.”
“You forgot that he’s the size of a gorilla, he’s rude and he doesn’t understand the word no.” Quinn added in.
I chuckled at her distress.
“And a bit of a player? Are you kidding me? The guy would screw anything with a pulse.” She whined.
“He sounds charming.” El grinned. “It sounds like you might be making more work for yourself here Cowboy.”
I shrugged. She was probably right. I’d filled the guys in on what was happening, and why I needed the extra eyes. They wouldn’t let me down, but I couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t cause mayhem with the girls in the mean time.
“Logan is a sweetie though, I’m glad he’s coming.” Quinn smiled fondly at the thought of my friend.
Logan was a Texas boy too. He’d moved with me years ago and we’d even worked together for a while. Logan was fresh out of the Army and I was planning on asking him this weekend to come back and work for me. I could always use a guy like Logan around.
“Okay.” El looked deep in thought. “And what about Josh?”
Quinn fanned her face dramatically. “God, that boy is hotter than hell. Not as much of a whore as Rome, but he gets around.”
El giggled at Quinn’s description.
“Josh is okay, but we’re gonna have to warn the girls. One look at his smile and they’ll be falling at his feet, just like the many before them.”
“Have you…” El asked.
“No!” Quinn and I both said quickly.
No way in hell.
Quinn looked a bit disappointed. “No, protective big brother over here nearly kicked his mates ass when he tried it on with me.” Q rolled her eyes and I smirked at her. “I’m still not sure why Rome can come on to me twenty four seven, but Josh can’t?” Quinn whinged.
“Rome just does it to try and goad me – Josh actually wanted into your pants.” I stated, matter of fact.
El laughed loudly. “God this is going to be a hoot.”
59. Ellerslie
The last couple of weeks had passed so incredibly slowly. Lawson hadn’t let me out of his sight for more than five minutes. He’d worked from my office when he had to, and when he didn’t have to work, he’d either sit outside my door and distract my P.A, or sit inside my office and distract me.
I loved the man, I really did – but he was driving me insane. He had it in his head that the threat was inside the building, and therefore I couldn’t possibly be without him.
I was grateful to be here at all, each morning he would try every trick in the book to persuade me to stay home. The fact of the matter was, I couldn’t just drop all my work – and he knew it.
I rubbed my temples as I looked at the document in front of me. My father had me working on acquiring a contract that was proving to be nothing but a giant pain in my ass.
Jonathon Peters was giving me the run around, and now was not a good time to mess with me – I was right on the verge of ripping his head off.
I picked up the phone and direct dialled his office.
“Jonathon speaking.”
“Jonathon, this is Ellerslie Rush.”
“Ah Ellerslie. I was just about to call you.”
Sure you were asshat.
“Well I’ve saved you the hassle.”
“Yes, well, I’ve been meaning to tell you that we’ve had some competitive interest from another company.”
I rolled my eyes. None of this was news to me.
I feigned surprise. “Oh really? Can I ask where you currently stand with the decision?”
He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Yes, well now, that is the problem. I think we are going to have to give it a little more consideration.”
I do not have time for this shit.
“Give it to me straight Jonathon, what’s the offer?”
“The offer is only a small margin more than yours, but there are a few differences to the conditions of the contract.”
The price didn’t matter to me – the conditions did.
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll double my existing offer. The terms and conditions stay as they are. Do we have a deal?”
“I… I’ll have to consult the board.”
Sweet Jesus man, just get it done.
“I want the contacts signed and here to me within the hour Jonathon. There are plenty of other contracts in the works, and quite frankly I don’t have time to wait on this. Get it done or the offers void.”
I didn’t even give him a chance to respond, I slammed down the phone and muttered a string of curse words under my breath.
“You’re hot when you’re angry.”
I narrowed my eyes at Lawson and gave him a look that screamed ‘don’t fucking push me’. “Do you seriously not have anything better to do? I thought you were running a business here?”
He shrugged and looked at his watch. “Na baby, I’ve got all the time in the world.”
“Lucky me.” I grumbled under my breath. I knew I was being a bitch. I loved spending time with him, it was just getting a bit out of control. I needed space to work, and I wasn’t getting it.
I really hoped I hadn’t just blown the contract with Jonathon. The guy was a first class prick, but we needed to get ourselves in there. There were some big things going down with the majority shareholders. Things that a weasel like Jonathon Peters didn’t have a clue about.
I jumped when Lawson crouched down in front of me. I’d been so lost in thought I hadn’t seen him approach.
“I’m sorry pretty girl. I know I’m smothering you. But I can’t make myself walk away from you.” He said quietly. His head was hung down and he was staring at my shoes.
I ran my hands through his dark shaggy hair. “I know. I love you for it, I really do.”
He looked up and met my eyes. “I’m torn between the need to protect you, and the worry that you’ll get sick of me and leave.”
There was no way I was leaving him. I knew this was temporary. And as much as I longed to do normal things like drive my Jeep and go and get my own lunch, I was also dreading the fact that I wouldn’t see as much of him. I had gotten use to waking up to his smell, to feeling his warm body next to mine, to walking his dog. I was really going to miss having all of that, every single day.
“I’ll make you a deal.”
He chuckled. “You and your deals.”
I winked at him. “I’ll stop being such a bitch, but you have to go and annoy Quinn for the rest of the day. I’m no more than 30 seconds away, so you can’t say it’s not safe. I’ll be so much calmer once this work is done.”
He smiled and sighed. “Okay fine. But I’m just down the hall. Just yell out if you need me.”
I forced myself not to roll my eyes. “I know. Now out.”
He rose to his feet and walked to my door. “I love you El.”
I smiled. “I love you more.”
I watched Lawson leave as I fished around in my bag for the card Mark had given me. I dialled the numbers and waited.
“Detective Johnson.”
“Hi Mark, this is Ellerslie Rush.”
“Ellerslie, what can I do for you.”
“I was just calling to ask about Evan, and if you’d had any leads from tracking his movements?”
“I have had a tail on him for several days Ellerslie. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
I nodded my head. “Okay, well I guess that doesn’t eliminate him though does it?”
“No that information doesn’t, but we have also discovered he was at an open house during the time my man saw the photographer. So that makes it pretty hard for him to be the suspect.”
“Right. Well at least that clears that up. Lawson isn’t going to be happy, we need to find this guy.”
“Yeah he’s about pushed to the max I would say. I’m doing everything I can, but him keeping you hidden away is either going to force this guy to get more creative, or he’ll just wait you both out. I’ve tried to explain to Lawson that hiding isn’t a great option, but he won’t listen.”
“Tell me about it.” I huffed. “Could you give him a call and just let him know everything you’ve told me. I have to get some work done – I’ll try and have a talk with him later about it.”
“Sure, no problem Ellerslie. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you Mark, I will.” I hung up and scrubbed my hands over my face.
This is not going well.
I knew that this guy wasn’t finished with us, these quiet weeks were the result of us barely being out in the light of day. Mark was right, enough was enough – I didn’t want to hide anymore.
***
With Weston’s help, I managed to get through the bulk of my work load – I even received the signed contract, within the time frame I demanded and I was thrilled with the win.
The girls were all arriving tomorrow afternoon and I couldn’t wait to relax and unwind. Lawson and I both needed it. I was glad his boys were coming – I was dying to meet them all, and having them there would hopefully get Law to relax a bit too.
I picked up my phone at the thought of him.
“It’s safe to come back now.”
I packed up my desk and told West to go home, he’d been putting in some crazy hours lately and I was feeling pretty guilty about it.
I smiled as I heard Lawson knock lightly on the door. He was leaning against the door frame with a sly smile on his face. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
I stuck my tongue out at him and moved to meet him.
He scooped me up in a big hug and lifted my feet from the ground. “I’m sorry baby.” He murmured in my ear.
“I’m sorry too cowboy.” I replied softly.
He set me down on my feet, took my bag from me and held my hand all the way out. We reached the parking garage and hopped into his truck. It was just the two of us tonight – Quinn was going for a drink with Colt, she was planning on having a talk with him about their current relationship.
If you could even call it a relationship.
Lawson and I sat in comfortable silence, and I sang along quietly to the radio.
“Hey.” I said suddenly. “This isn’t the way to your house?”
“Na, we need to grab your Jeep. You’ll be okay to follow me?”
I nodded. “Yeah of course. But why?” This was new.
“I got a call this afternoon and one of my project manager’s is having some problems on the building site. I couldn’t get out of it. I’ve got to head down there first thing and straighten everything out.”
I knew whatever was happening, it must have been bloody important if he was going to let me out of his sight.
“I hope everything is okay.”
“I’ll sort it all out, it should be fine, he’s just new to the job.”
I nodded.
“Are you okay to drive to work?”
I snorted. “Lawson I’ll be fine. I’ll call you when I get there and I won’t leave the office. I’ll be more than fine.”
“I’ve got an extra guard organised for tomorrow. He’ll meet you in the garage and he’ll stay with you until I get back into work. I know it’s probably over the top but I don’t give a fuck.”
I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.
I bit my tongue. I knew if I fought him on it, he wouldn’t go to work. I didn’t want this shit interfering with any more of our work than it already was.
“I’ll be fine, thank you for thinking of everything.”
He looked at me in disbelief and I grinned. He was expecting a fight.
Not today cowboy.
I was saving my energy. Having a man like Lawson in my life, I was quickly learning I would need to pick my battles.
60. Lawson
I pulled into El’s parking garage and watched her like a hawk as she jumped out and hopped into her jeep. I laughed to myself as she gave it an affectionate pat.
I’d had a long talk with Quinn after Ellerslie had kicked me out of her office. She’d told me about how El had become very independent after Baxter had left her – how she’d used her independence to get her through it.
I’d felt like an asshole. I couldn’t stop the way a was behaving. I was the first to admit that. There was a deep seated urge inside of me to keep that woman safe – to protect her. I knew it was driving her crazy, but I couldn’t take the chance that something might happen to her. Even letting her drive to work tomorrow was taking a huge risk in my mind. The guy I’d hired to watch her tomorrow was ex-military, so I knew she was in good hands. I just needed to get my own shit sorted so I could get back there and get her home safely.
The weekend I’d originally been dreading, I was now looking forward to. It’d been way too long since I’d had a beer with the guys, and it was obvious El and Quinn were missing their friends too. This weekend would be good for all of us.
I was intrigued to meet Jemma and Stacey, El had described them as a handful. I was having a hard time imagining how they could be more trouble than my sister and Brooke. The last time I’d seen them together, they’d been rip roaring drunk and gotten me into more trouble than I’d bargained for – I’d had a shit load of fights in my day, but that one still took the cake.
That lot all together, combined with my boys, was bound to make for a hell of a night.
I followed El all the way to my place. I was at a loose end with who might be causing all this trouble for us. I had been pinning my last hope on Evan, but that appeared to be a dead end too. None of it mad
e sense. Ellerslie hadn’t done anything to deserve this.
I pulled up next to El in the driveway and opened the garage door. I gestured for her to park next to me in the space I’d cleared out for her. I liked the sight of her Jeep in there. It made this place feel even more like home.
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