Love Under Protection (425 Madison Avenue Book 15)

by Aubree Valentine

  “I’m good right here, don’t let me stop you though.”

  “If you’re good, I’m good.” He stands and takes both our plates and the empty beer bottles.

  “Christ, you don’t have to clean up.” I laugh.

  “Old habits.”

  “No, more like domesticated.” I can’t help but poke.

  Jameson has never been known to be a neat freak, but since he and Olivia made things official, he’s learned some manners. A fun little fact that I enjoy teasing him about every chance I get.

  He comes back with two more beers. “Yeah, yeah. Who’s getting laid every day? Oh, that’s right.” He winks and I flip the beer cap at him.

  Chapter 18

  Raylynn

  Almost everything I own is boxed up and ready to be moved this weekend. I didn’t think it was possible to ever feel so out of place somewhere, but I’m feeling it here. I’ve been feeling it, ever since I came back from the wedding. Recent events have only heightened it.

  Sawyer has somehow managed to ruin any chance I have at getting a job here. Christ, I can’t even get an interview with most places. Those that do interview me never call back, and when I follow up, they tell me they hired someone else. I I’d suspected Sawyer had a hand in it, but when I got a call from one place telling me that my previous employer had some pretty serious concerns and told them I was fired for insubordination, I knew.

  Jameson’s family lawyer is doing all he can to try and stop Sawyer, but he’s nearly untouchable, and so much damage has already been done. He’s even managed to convince his father that I’m the bad guy. Mr. Flynn even went as far as to tell me to call off my lawyer—because in the end, I have it coming for whoring around on his son, and I’m lucky that they let me walk away with such a generous payoff.

  The severance package and the money I’ve saved over the years is only going to get me so far. Fear of hitting rock bottom has already set in and plays in my mind over and over again.

  Maybe I should leave this town once and for all. Start over somewhere brand new, somewhere Sawyer hasn’t destroyed my reputation, yet.

  Jameson and Liv did offer their spare bedroom. You wouldn’t be alone there, I tell myself for the hundredth time this week.

  Could I really hack it in New York? Sure, I lived in Paris for a few months, I’ve been to Milan, but could I settle down in one of the busiest cities in the country? Would I be happy there?

  Harley’s in New York. I push that thought aside and stare at the phone in my hand. I will not base my life choices on a man or a relationship, after all, that’s how I ended up in this mess.

  One call and I could change the course of my life.

  Am I only running away? Should I stay and fight?

  It’s not running away if I’m moving on to something better, right?

  What could it hurt? Not giving it another thought, I dial up Liv’s number.

  Liv’s cheerful voice answers on the second ring. “Hey, girl! We were just talking about you. All good things, I promise.”

  “Aww, I’m flattered. I think.” I force a laugh. “So, about this weekend.”

  “Yeah? Everything is still a go on our end. We fly in Friday morning.”

  “Can you get your money back on those flights?” I ask.

  “What? Why would we do that? Are you staying? Did they get Sawyer to back off?”

  “Change of plans and no Sawyer hasn’t backed down. They don’t think he will.”

  “Okay, so tell me what the change of plans are!”

  My voice drops, and I ask, “Is that spare bedroom still empty?”

  “Our spare bedroom? At 425 Madison? You want to come here?” I can hear the excitement in her voice.

  “If you’ll have me.”

  “Are you kidding?!” Liv squeals. “Of course, we’ll have you!”

  Tears fill my eyes, and I choke back a sob. “Thank you.”

  “Hey, none of that. You know Sawyer isn’t worth a single fucking tear.”

  “I know, I’m just...this is all...I’m a mess.”

  “You’re not a mess. We’re still coming down. We’ll help you pack up the moving truck, and we’ll all drive back together. You’re not doing this alone.”

  Weight falls off my shoulders, and I sag back into the couch in relief. “You’re the best, you know that?”

  “I do what I can,” Liv jokes. “Oh, Raylynn, I’m so excited about you coming to New York.”

  “Me too,” I tell her.

  Chapter 19

  Harley

  Peaches is standing guard at the door and starts barking before the very first knock. Judging by the way her whole body is shaking with her tail wagging, I don’t even need to bother looking.

  Sure enough, Olivia is waiting when I open the door. Peaches yelps and jumps on her owner while Olivia fawns over her, asking the furball if I’ve been taking care of her while she was away.

  If dogs could talk, I’m sure Peaches would tell Olivia all about the steak dinner we shared and how her walks are never quite long enough—in her mind. Oh, and I’m sure she’d tell Olivia about how I wouldn’t let her chase the squirrel in Central Park. But she’d leave out the part about how she puked in my patrol car when I took her to work with me to take care of some admin stuff.

  “Was she a good girl?” Olivia finally looks at me and sing songs.

  “Define good.” I smirk.

  “You’re evil.”

  “Hey, I am not. I took good care of her.” I pretend that I’m not trying to look around her and catch a glimpse of Raylynn.

  Jameson let it slip when he dropped Peaches off to me on Thursday night that Raylynn was actually coming to New York. I haven’t been waiting on pins and needles for them to get back. Nope. Not at all.

  “She’s lying down. Migraine,” Olivia leans in and whispers. “Jameson said to tell you to get your ass down to the garage and help him with the rest of her boxes.”

  I snort. Of course, he did.

  “Come on, we can go together. I’ll take this one for a potty break.” Olivia tugs on my arm.

  “Christ woman. Let me get my keys at least.” I pull back from her grasp to pocket my keys that are on the counter. “You’re going to need this too.” I hand her Peaches’ leash.

  “Chop, chop.” She giggles behind me as I walk to the elevator.

  “How much coffee have you had today?” I inquire. That’s the only thing that could possibly explain her level of giddiness. No one should be this excited about moving boxes.

  “It wasn’t the coffee,” she whispers with a blush.

  “Ah, fuck. Forget I asked.” What the hell is it with these two? Ugh.

  Jameson is leaning on the side of the moving van, scrolling through his phone when I step into the garage.

  “Really, man? Come to help you. You’re standing there holding up the truck, I jib.

  “Whatever. Grab some boxes, and let's do this.”

  I eye the contents in the back of the truck and the single moving cart. “Hold that thought,” I throw up a finger and dart back inside, headed for the maintenance office.

  My luck, Jake is on duty tonight and is all too happy to lend me one of their carts. “Appreciate it, man.”

  “Sure thing. Next time I get in trouble with the law, I’ll call you.” He chuckles.

  Like that would ever happen. Jake isn’t one to cause trouble.

  This time Jameson is actually unloading boxes when I get back.

  “Oh damn, look at you, smart guy,” he says, piling another box on his cart.

  “Pays to play nice with the maintenance staff,” I tell him as I climb in the back and grab a box.

  Three trips are all it takes to empty the moving truck. Part of me wonders if that’s all she has but I don’t dare ask out loud. It’s not my business.

  “Taking this back to Jake, I’ll catch you later, man.” I start to make my exit before I actually come face to face with Raylynn. This whole time she hasn’t emerged from her room.
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  “Come back after you drop that off, we’ll grab some food,” Jameson offers.

  “Nah, I’m good. Got some work I can catch up on.” I’m halfway out the door when I stop and call over my shoulder. “By the way, Peaches prefers vanilla cake donuts from the corner bakery. You can thank Cap for that.”

  “Stop. Stop right there,” Olivia demands.

  I spin around with a sly grin.

  “Your Captain fed my dog donuts?”

  “Only one. She was my partner for the day. I had work to catch up on.” I shrug.

  “You took Peaches to work?” Jameson laughs.

  “Listen, when I told her I needed to leave, she looked so sad. I didn’t want her to be lonely, so I took her. She was a huge hit by the way. They said she can visit anytime.”

  Olivia doubles over in laughter. “Oh, my goodness. The dog has you wrapped.”

  “Uhm, babe, I wouldn’t laugh. She has you pretty whipped too,” Jameson adds and earns himself an elbow to the gut.

  Movement to my right catches my eye. Raylynn emerges, looking tired and surprised. I’ve clearly overstayed my welcome and should have left five minutes ago if I really planned to avoid her.

  She looks at me with a broken smile, and I nod in return.

  “Alright, I’m out. See you around.” This time I don’t waste any time, I push the cart over the threshold and let the door quickly shut behind me.

  Chapter 20

  Raylynn

  “That went well,” I mumble to myself.

  I’m not sure what I was expecting when we ran into each other again, but this surely wasn’t it.

  “That’s Harley for you. He’s prickly on the best of days,” Jameson says out loud.

  That’s not the man I remember. No, the only thing prickly about Harley was his stubble against my skin.

  “Forget about it for now. He’ll come around,” Liv adds. “Let’s talk about dinner! It’s your first night here we should celebrate with some delicious and authentic New York style pizza.”

  I shake my head and laugh. “Liv, I’ve had pizza in New York before. It’s not like I’ve never visited the city.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Jameson can go pick up a bottle of wine for us too. Since I’m fresh out.” She looks at Jameson and bats her lashes.

  He rolls his eyes at her but reaches for his keys. “Order the pizza, I’ll pick that up too. It’ll be quicker than delivery,” he says, kissing her. “Raylynn, wine preference or is Merlot your go-to, too?”

  “Ooo. Merlot. I’m totally down with that. Thank you.” I give him a hug and head back to my end of the apartment. “I think I’ll grab a shower and throw on some pjs.”

  “Good idea! Meet you back in the living room in twenty!” Liv calls out as I walk away.

  Harley’s weirdness aside, I can already tell I made the right call coming here. The emptiness that settled into my soul back “home” has begun to lift, and I feel like I’m with family again. Something I hadn’t even realized I missed while I traveled the world.

  The corner of Liv and Jameson’s apartment that they’ve graciously let me take over is an oasis of its own and nearly the size of my entire studio apartment, yeah, the one Sawyer was so hell-bent to take away.

  He has no idea why my place was so important. It’s the only place I’ve truly lived in since my parents died when I was eighteen, leaving me with only enough to bury them both and literally a tiny nest egg. The job with Sawyer was a dream come true when I least expected it, being his assistant paid my way through college and let me keep saving since the rent at my place was cheap. When I finished college, Sawyer asked me to become his only assistant and travel with him. I should have known it was too good to be true.

  I let all thoughts of Georgia and Sawyer go while peeling off my clothes and stepping into the massive walk-in shower. The instant hot water and high-pressure dual shower heads are amazing and soothe the rest of my stress away.

  Feeling completely refreshed and in a pair of my most comfortable fuzzy pajama pants and an oversized top, I shuffle back to the living room and find Liv already cuddled up on the couch with Peaches while scrolling on her phone.

  “Jameson should be back soon. He sent a text saying he had the pizza and wine in hand,” she says, looking up from the device. “I found Sweet Home Alabama on Netflix. I figured it’s been a while since we’ve seen it. We’re overdue.”

  I flop down on the opposite end of the couch and squeal, “Yesss!”

  “Remember the first time we forced Jameson to watch it with us?” She giggles like we’re back in high school.

  “I do. And he ended up getting so wrapped up in it. Remember how he would quote lines from the movie?”

  “God, yes, and with the funniest accent ever. And his hand on his hip!”

  “Because his Southern drawl isn’t enough.” I wipe tears of laughter from my eyes.

  Liv grabs my hand and gives it a pat. “It’s good to have you here.”

  I take a deep breath and smile. “It’s good to be here. Are you absolutely sure that I won’t cramp your style? You two are newlyweds after all.”

  “Nonsense. You’re on the opposite side of the apartment. Harley may argue that you’ll need earplugs—if you ever asked him about how thin the walls are, but there’s no way we’d want you to be anywhere else.”

  “I’m grateful for you both. In case I haven’t said it enough. And first thing Monday, I’ll start pounding the pavement to find a job so I can pay half of the bills.”

  Liv waves a hand in the air. “Take all the time you need. Jameson has made it pretty clear that you’re not responsible for any expenses here. Just take care of yourself.”

  “I appreciate the gesture, but I fully intend to pitch in. Put it in a college fund for my future nieces and nephews.”

  Liv’s smile widens. “We’ve still got plenty of time for that.”

  Jameson walks in a few minutes later, arms full, and we both scramble off the couch to help. The smell of pizza seems to remind my stomach that it’s been hours since I last ate and it lets out a rumble in protest. We all laugh as Jameson passes out paper plates and we each grab a slice or two from the box.

  “I’ll pour the wine. You two go sit down. When I’m done, I’ll get out of your hair.”

  “Jameson, you don’t have to…”

  “It’s fine. I’ve got some building plans to review for a client. Liv’s already got Sweet Home Alabama cued up, trust me... you two catch up. If I get lonely, I’ll go next door and bother Harley, I’m sure he’d love company,” he jokes.

  “I think Harley has seen enough of your face for one day. Better be careful, babe,” Liv warns playfully.

  “You hush and sip your wine.” He hands us each a glass. “I’ll see you ladies later.”

  “Bring the trash and dishes back out here when you’re done!” Liv scolds as he walks away.

  “Yes, dear!”

  I snort laugh at the two of them. “Somethings will never change.”

  Chapter 21

  Harley

  I’ve avoided 425 Madison’s newest resident for three days, not counting the less than five minutes that I saw her from across the room the night I helped Jameson move her things. I’ve got double shifts to thank for that, but it looks like my streak has ended now.

  “Hm. Fancy seeing you here, Mr. Wagner,” she says as soon as I step on the elevator.

  I was too busy looking at my phone to notice her before, but I can feel her now.

  “Raylynn.” I nod.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, are you really going to play it like that?”

  Call me an asshole, but it pleases me to no end to see that she’s still the same determined woman I met in Hawaii.

  Since we’re the only ones in the elevator car, I move in and crowd her space and look down at her. “Like what, Raylynn? Say it. Say the words.”

  She moves even closer and stands up on her tiptoes so that we’re nearly face to face, or we would be if she were a few inc
hes taller. “Like you haven’t been buried so deep inside me. Like we haven’t been so intimately acquainted that we know exactly how to get each other off.”

  “Fuck,” I hiss and swallow hard. Damn if she didn’t call my bluff. I never should have doubted that she wouldn’t back down.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what we did. And now you want to play like we don’t even know each other.”

  Her lips are mere inches from mine. I could lean down and capture her in a kiss. Would she let me?

  “Trust me, darlin’, there is no forgetting a woman like you.” I surprise even myself with that confession.

  “Tell me something, Harley. What would you say if I told you to prove it?”

  The elevator dings, and Raylynn steps back, making a quick exit as soon as the doors open onto the rooftop deck. Like a lost puppy, I chase after her, thankful that it’s empty up here tonight.

  “Raylynn. Wait!”

  She stops and spins around. “What is it, Harley? Cat got your tongue?”

  I take three long strides until I’m standing in front of her again. “You’re playing with fire,” I warn.

  “Won’t be the first time I’ve gotten burned,” she murmurs.

  “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”

  She blows out a breath. “I know. I know. Listen, it’s been a day. I came up here for some peace and quiet. I wasn’t expecting to bump into you. I’m sorry, I’ll just go back down to the apartment. I can hang out in my room.”

  “You don’t have to go.” I brush her hair back from her face. “I can leave. Or I can promise to sit back and keep my mouth shut.”

  Hell, I was headed for the gym, not the rooftop deck, but if she needs me, then I’m here.

  “Fine. You can stay. On one condition.”

  I raise a brow. “Go on.”

  “Hmm. Maybe two conditions. First, you sit and look pretty. No talking. Second, are there security cameras up here?”

  Jesus Christ. Surely, she can’t mean what I think she does with that last one.