Careful not to jostle the mattress, Rosie crawled toward Emberlyn’s still body and curled herself to her front, tucking the top of her head just below her chin. My smile turned to a full-out grin as soon as one of Emberlyn’s arm wrapped itself around and pulled my daughter in tight against her on a contented sigh.
After a few moments of watching the two, I settled back down, letting sleep take me away once more.
Chapter 22
Emberlyn
The sweet smell of strawberry mixed with cotton candy was the first indication that I wasn’t where I should have been.
The tiny furnace-like body I was currently cuddling to my front was my second.
And the third—a big third—was the fact that I had a large boiler tucked against my back, his muscular arms wrapped around me, tightening ever so slightly the more I came to.
Shane’s lips met the back of my neck, pressing lightly. “Good morning,” he rasped.
My heart was beating out of my chest with the reality of where I was and who I was with.
Lifting my head slowly, I peered down. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t on the verge of freaking out.
Shane’s arms gave me a brief squeeze. “Relax,” he whispered. “She came in and saw you. I explained that you were having work done to your place and it wasn’t safe to stay there.”
“I shouldn’t be in here!” I whisper-yelled. “You said you’d wake me.”
“Shhh.”
“Don’t shhh me!”
His body shook against mine in silent laughter. “She thought that I was cuddling you because of a nightmare. She asked if she could help me chase your bad dream away, like I do with hers.”
My body lost its sudden rigidity as I melted back into the bed, into the two Peters I was sandwiched between. My heart warmed. I found myself leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to Lana Rose’s crown.
“I hope you’re not mad.” Shane’s words tickled the back of my neck.
“I was.” What was the point in lying? “But I’m not now.”
“Ember?” Little Rosie mumbled as she began to stir.
“Right here, sweetie,” I said softly.
“Did the bad dream go away?” She had yet to open her eyes, instead she simply cuddled in closer to me.
“It did.” I pressed another kiss to the top of her head. “Thank you.”
“Good.” I couldn’t see her mouth, with her tight position against me, but I could hear the smile in her singular word. “Daddy said you’ll be staying with us for a few days. Can we have a sleepover in Daddy’s room again tonight?”
Shane snorted, his body shaking once more with laughter.
This had me smiling.
Was this what a real family felt like? The reality of the moment had an imaginary deadweight lifting off of the pit of my gut. I’d been robbed of this dream. Suddenly, the fleeting thought of losing what was right there surrounding me this morning, my arms tightened around the little girl as I snuggled her, much like my mother used to. This set off a chain reaction because no sooner than my grip grew, so did Shane’s on me.
Nora had left a little over an hour before to join a few friends for coffee, as well as run errands for the family. Shane had gone into work after briefly, allowing me to escort him to my little cottage to bring back some supplies, as well as packaging materials, so I could finalize a few orders at some point during the day.
So far, Rosie and I have managed to perform facials on each other and paint our toenails. I had to admit, my feet looked as if a bubble gum machine puked all over them after the girl was done with them, but I would wear that messy job with pride. It was things like that, which one would never think they’d missed out on until they were faced with it. My sudden bout of melancholy, at never having this with a daughter of my own, faded quickly because Lana Rose had given that to me.
We were in the middle of watching the first of the Harry Potter movies when I realized that we needed extra ribbon.
“Sweets, I need to run back over to the cottage for a few minutes,” I told her.
“But you promised Daddy that you wouldn’t go there by yourself.” She bit her lip.
I escorted her to the front door, pointing out the window to Stan’s van sitting in my driveway. As promised, the man had shown up bright and early to get started on my deluxe security system.
“You see? Stan is there. I’ll be quick.” I cupped her cheek. “Promise.”
She nodded hesitantly. “Okay, but be super fast, Ember. I don’t want us to get in trouble.”
I couldn’t help the smile. It was cute that she was trying to protect me from her father’s wrath. I’d deal with Shane when, or if, the time came.
Sliding on my flip-flops, I kissed Lana Rose’s forehead and made my way out the door. I could feel the girl’s eyes on my back. Once I crossed the street, I peered toward the Peters’ house before turning the corner for the backyard, seeing her still watching from the window at the side of the front door.
I had just locked the cottage’s door when I was shoved forcefully against it, my face slamming nose first into its frame.
What the fuck?
The force of the blow had me seeing stars and my world began to spin like a tilt-a-whirl.
“Stay away from the cop, if you know what’s good for you,” a husky voice I didn’t recognize spat into my ear. The stench of stale liquor on his breath had me forcing back bile. “You’re not her. You’ll never be her. The bastard deserves all the misery he gets. No one fucks with me.”
As quick as he appeared, he was gone, leaving me to collapse onto the ground—frozen in fear—ribbons and tags scattered all around me. I tried to calm myself and assess the situation at hand, but it was no use, my lungs wouldn’t have it. Black spots crowded my vision, and darkness blanketed me as my breath grew shorter and shorter, until all I saw was darkness.
A child sobbing nearby was the first thing I heard when I came to.
“It’s okay, Rosie.” Stan’s voice was soft. “She’s waking up, see?” A sniffle. “Emberlyn, can you hear me?”
My head pounded the moment I cracked my eyes open. With the fact that I was the one in charge of Lana Rose, and the poor thing was in a panic, I pushed through the pain, lifting my hand up to my forehead to shield my eyes from some of the sudden brightness.
“I’m okay,” I mumbled, then tried to sit up with Stan’s help. “Just a bump, Sweets.” I reached for my nose, wincing at the immediate tenderness that made my eyes water, and groaned, “Ouch.”
“The ambulance is on the way,” Stan informed me. “And so is Shane.”
Shit.
Well now I’ve gone and done it.
Chapter 23
Shane
I swear that damn woman was out to give me a heart attack.
When I’d picked up the fucking phone, displaying Stan’s number, I knew that trouble had found at least one of my girls before I’d answered the thing. I could feel it in my gut.
Fucking woman!
Panic to make sure that both Emberlyn and my Rosie were safe had me rushing out of the precinct with Will on my tail, barely making it to the cruiser on time, heading toward home.
“Relax, man,” Will said as we were a few blocks away from our destination. “You heard the radio. Ambulance is on the way, and it doesn’t seem like it’s anything major, other than a broken nose.”
The picture my mind painted of Ember with black and blue eyes, a swollen nose, blood dripping and smeared all over the front of her, and whatever else my head could conjure up on top of that, was enough to make my foot press harder on the gas.
“Don’t you fucking tell me to relax, Will. If it were Tina, would you relax?”
At the mention of his wife, he groaned. “Good point.”
“Yeah. Didn’t think so,” I mumbled as I pulled up to the curb in front of Emberlyn’s house, the ambulance already in the drive, its back doors open. There I could see my woman holding a large piece of gauze over her nose, while Stan
had Rosie on his lap, both watching over my woman who spoke to both of them.
Jumping out of the car, I heard Rosie break out in a loud giggle at something Emberlyn told her. At the same time, Will slapped my shoulder and stopped beside me, assessing the scene.
“Just saying, but if you don’t keep her, you’ve got a few more screws loose than I ever thought. That baby girl of yours likes everyone, but even Tina can’t make that kid laugh like that.” He didn’t wait for my response and kept walking toward the trio and the emergency vehicle.
Emberlyn
“Where are you going?” Lana Rose’s little voice broke me away from the bag I was packing.
“I have to go, Sweets.” After today, I’d proven to be a useless friend, not to mention a crap potential girlfriend, and an even worse neighbor. Nothing that happened today should have occurred. And none of it would have had I’d done what I was told—according to Shane—and stayed put, as he told me on our way back from the emergency room after having my nose snapped back in place.
He was right.
I was wrong.
I was always wrong.
I have no idea why I even entertained the thought that it would ever change. My ex made a point to repetitively remind me, for so many years.
So here I was, packing my bags with a heavy heart while Shane had gone somewhere—who knows where—to cool off from our argument, and his mother was supposed to be occupying Rosie, who had crept up unannounced.
I couldn’t turn to face the little girl, who meant the world to me, but I had to say something. “I’m going back home.”
“B-but, why?” Oh shit! Not tears! I didn’t deal well with tears, especially when I was the cause for them to begin with.
Why do you have to be such an idiot?
I had to make things right.
Taking a deep breath to strengthen myself, I turned and found a teary-eyed girl staring back at me, biting her lip as if to keep her tears at bay.
“Sweets, I can’t stay here.” On a sigh, I made my approach and crouched down to be at the same level as her face. “I don’t want to go into too many details, but me being here isn’t safe for you or your grams. I should have fought your dad a bit harder about that, and for what happened today, I’m so sorry.” I cupped her cheeks in both my hands.
“I want you to stay,” she whined. “Daddy says that we’re stronger as a team than when we’re on our own.”
Smart girl.
“And he’s right, Sweets.” I bit my lip to figure out what to say next, but she beat me to the punch.
“Is it because you don’t want to be our friend anymore?”
Damn but this girl was undoing me. What did I say to that?
“Oh, Sweets,” I pulled her in for a hug and crushed her against my chest, kissing the top of her head, and then buried my face in that subtle strawberry-scented hair of hers. “You’ll always have a friend in me. I hope you know that. And whenever you need me, I’ll be–”
“You’ll be where exactly?”
Shit.
I seemed frozen in place, and I couldn’t seem to bring myself to let go of Rosie to look the imposing man standing before us in the eyes.
“I asked you a question, Em,” Shane ground out. “Where were you planning to go just now?”
“I-I…” I climbed to my feet, releasing Lana Rose and backing away from the two Peters crowding the only exit to the guestroom.
Shane made to follow my withdrawal, his eyes dark and intense. “You what?” he pushed.
“It’s safer,” I whispered.
“Rosie, go help Grams out in the kitchen,” Shane said gently, but never once tore his gaze away from mine. “Em and I need to have a little talk.”
“Don’t be mean, Daddy,” she ordered him, “but set her straight.”
“A talk?” I sputtered.
Shane’s eyes were still locked on me as he slowly kept coming closer. “Yes, a talk.”
“Promise, Daddy.” Rosie made her presence still known.
“Promise,” Shane said with finality.
“Set her straight,” the little girl repeated.
“I will, Princess.”
This made me look past the man of the house—toward his little girl—who now sported a conspiratorial gleam to her eyes. She met my gaze head on and jutted out her chin in a stubborn fashion, right before she made her exit, closing the bedroom door behind her on a low snicker. She may be all of her mother in looks, but that expression right there, that had been all Shane Peters to a T.
Shane
I knew I’d been overly hotheaded with Emberlyn the moment I saw her eyes lose the glimmer they always seemed to carry. Her expression had become withdrawn, and all emotion seemed to have disappeared altogether.
The moment she walked toward the guestroom—her room—I knew I had fucked up royally. It’s why I’d left the house as soon as she’d left the room.
I needed to calm down.
Reassess.
Think.
Then make things right again.
But when I’d made my return half an hour after I’d left the house, I hadn’t expected Emberlyn to be packing her bags. Nor had I anticipated the deep-seated feeling of loss that threatened me to a breaking point.
“You’re not leaving,” I said a little too tersely, as soon as I heard the snick of the bedroom door announce its closed status.
“Well, I can’t stay.” She crossed her arms over her chest. The hurt in her eyes couldn’t be missed. I’d done that to her.
Fix it!
I sighed, letting my head drop to my chest and shaking it out of sheer frustration. I knew that if I let her leave, things would never be the same again.
I’d lose her.
I just knew it.
And I found myself seeing all the more clearly right in that moment.
I had a fight on my hands.
Chapter 24
Emberlyn
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but the look of absolute devastation in Shane’s expression; the sadness in his eyes, after Lana Rose left us alone, took my breath away.
To be honest, I didn’t want to leave; but I couldn’t stay and be part of something he didn’t want me to be a part of. He’d said as much before he left the house. What’s more, I couldn’t be the cause of mistrust and worry—or worse—the one to blame should his mother, Rosie, or even he was to ever get hurt, with all the bullshit raining down on me as of late.
There’s no way he’d ever forgive me.
Hell, there’s no way I’d ever forgive myself.
If things cleared up, then maybe I’d entertain spending more time with the Peters’ clan, but for now, distance was the only thing I could think of to keep them all out of harm’s way.
Gulping the lump lodged in my throat, I knew I was about to crush my own hopes of something greater in my life, but I was going to hurt. No matter my intention, a man, his little girl, and his mother would end up suffering too.
It was better to end things then before they got even more complicated.
Aren’t they complicated already?
“We’ve already been through this,” I started. “I told you that I didn’t want to put your mother and daughter in danger. The same goes for you, Shane. It’s why I didn’t want to come here. It’s why I’m not going to Dalton and Devolin’s either.”
He groaned. “You’re sure as shit not going home.”
“I can stay in a hotel for the next day, until Stan is done installing everything. Rosie helped me out with packaging. All I have is deliveries,” I announced.
“Like fuck!” He took three large strides to bring us toe-to-toe.
“Shane!” came out sounding a little breathless.
His hands gripped my elbows, pulling me so our fronts touched, the scent of him swirling around my head, making me dizzy with want to simply curl up into him and let him handle everything; the way I knew he wanted.
Soft hands rubbed up my arms. “Em,” he whispered. “M
y Em,” came out as a growl along with a fire lighting up his eyes.
Uh! Oh!
“S-Sha–”
His lips came crashing down to mine. His tongue fought for entry, which I granted all too eagerly.
Mint and coffee.
Man and woods.
Soft to hard.
Would there ever be a time I wouldn’t want him? All it took was once and where our physical chemistry was concerned, I was a goner.
“You can’t leave,” he panted against my jugular, my head tilting back as his lips caressed the tender skin of my neck.
“I can,” I breathed.
“Don’t leave me, Em.”
That, right there, was why I had to. If I gave in then, I’d never leave. If I did as he wished, I’d fall for him, his beautiful little girl, and his feisty mother, who I already adored far too much. Hell, I was already convinced that I loved Rosie as though she were my own.
Distracted by my thoughts, Shane brought me back to the present as soon as his hands reached for the hem of my shirt and began to inch it up.
“I-I have to go.” My body was overheating.
“Stay.” Shane’s eyes bored into mine. “You belong here. With me. With Rosie.” He punctuated each sentence with a kiss down my sternum, until he had no other choice but to lower himself down to his knees. Large hands held my hips as he nuzzled my tummy. His tenderness brought tears to my eyes.
Just once more.
Cupping the side of his face so he’d look up at me, I capitulated. “Okay.” I’d give him this one last time. Then I’d make sure he and his would be safe.
Shane
I’m not sure what it was about this time, but despite the small victory in getting Emberlyn to stay, something felt out of place. Oddly enough, it felt like the beginning of the end somehow. This only supplied me with enough determination to hopefully change things, once and for all. The woman had given into me a little too easily just now. Something told me that she was still on the fence and debating to pull a runner.
Night Shift (Nightshade Book 2) Page 9