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Lexa came around the counter and pushed at my chest. The feel of her hands on me stopped me in my tracks, doing what her strength alone couldn’t. I covered them, pressing them harder against my heart as I looked down at her with pleading eyes.
“Outside,” she commanded and pushed again, but still, I was unmovable.
Keeping one of her hands in mine, I followed her out to my vehicle. The monster inside me was completely calm now, and I finally felt like I could breathe again.
Able to think clearly, I felt eyes on us and turned to find all the customers, including Higgins, standing at the window looking out. But there were others watching now as well. Bash Reid stood there with eyes that were just as hard as his daughter’s had been when I first walked into the shop. His huge, inked arms were crossed over his chest as he just stood there watching us.
Lexa glanced back too, and I felt her tremble when her gaze landed on her father. Jerking her hand out of my hold, she put distance between us before facing me. “You need to leave. Right now.”
“Not until you hear me out. Lexa, I swear—”
“No!” she cried, tears filling her eyes, tearing me apart inside. “I can’t do this with you. I’ve told you so many times I’ve lost count, and yet I kept giving in. Apparently, I’m weak whenever you’re around, but that stops now. I have too much shit going on in my life at the moment to constantly have to wonder if the guy I care about is going to use something I say inadvertently against the people I love.”
“I would never do that to you. Your family doesn’t matter to me, I’ve told you that just as many times.” Erasing the distance between us, I cupped both sides of her face in my hands. “Just give me a chance.”
“You’re asking too much. I refuse to let anything touch my family, including you.” A tear fell from her eyes, making it impossible to breathe for a moment. “Stay away from me, Ben.”
“Lexa—”
“She said to stay away, Sheriff,” Bash said behind me in a hard voice. “Now get your fucking hands off her. You might be the law in this town, but you touch my daughter again, and Campbell will need to find a new little bitch to do his dirty work.”
I dropped my hands and clenched them into fists. Lexa’s trembling only intensified, but the tears in her eyes dried up in the next heartbeat. Her gaze stayed locked on mine, seeming to plead with me not to argue, telling me so much that I couldn’t decipher.
“Please go,” she whispered. “Don’t argue with him. It will only make this worse.”
“Meet me tonight,” I mouthed, and her eyes locked on to my lips.
Her lashes lowered, but I got the answer I wanted before I finally stepped back from her. Turning to walk to my car, I tipped up my chin at Bash along the way.
“You have a good day, Sheriff,” he said with a snarl on his face. “Stay safe.”
Clenching my fists, I reminded myself not to do anything reckless. I could handle him with no problem, but if I punched her father, it wouldn’t win me any points with him. “I’ll be seeing you, Reid,” I told him as I climbed behind the wheel of my cruiser.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, my eyes went back to Lexa. She stood there watching me go, her face blank as her father spoke to her. Before she faded from my view, I watched him hug her, and I clenched my hands around the wheel.
Gritting my teeth, I knew there was only one way to deal with this shit. By the time I got back to the station and walked into the disaster I’d left of my office, I had a plan. Slamming the door shut, I found my phone in the wreckage of the scattered papers and broken screen of my computer.
Dropping down into my chair, I pulled up the contact I needed just as my secretary walked in, caution masking her face. Margaret was a little younger than my grandmother, her hair short, gray, and permed on the regular. She was also my grandmother’s closest friend, so I knew without a doubt, Gran either already knew about this morning’s events or would very soon.
“How about a cup of coffee?” she offered hesitantly.
“Sounds good,” I told her as I hit connect on the number on my phone. “Then don’t let anyone bother me for a few hours. I’ve got work to do.” As she nodded, I got an answer and leaned my head back against the chair, closing my eyes as I spoke to the woman on the other end. “Paige, how are you?”
“What do you want, Ben?” she asked, sounding exasperated, but I could also hear the huskiness in her voice. That same huskiness she used to try to get me to do whatever the hell she wanted. But Paige never had the hold over me she thought she did.
Not like Lexa did.
“You know that favor I’ve been holding on to for the last five years?” I heard her grunt, the noise anything but ladylike.
That more than anything told me how affected she was by my sudden call. Paige Stanford was always the perfect lady. No hair out of place, not so much as a speck of lint or a single wrinkle on her dresses. We’d dated for all of two minutes before I’d started losing my damn mind when she tried to change me.
But she still owed me a favor, and her father was the state’s attorney general.
And I needed Campbell out of my hair once and for all.
Lexa’s dad thought I was working with the bastard, and the slimy DA was trying to make it look like I was to everyone. I’d be damned if that motherfucker would be the reason Lexa was taken from me. He had to go, sooner rather than later.
“Yes, I remember,” she grumbled. “What’s it going to cost me?”
