I glared at him as I held my hand up. “If you’re going to keep talking about this, close the goddamn door.”
He sighed heavily before he did as I asked and returned to his seat. “Well?”
“Yeah, I’m going to quit dating until I’m sure Briar is safe and this whackjob is off the streets.” When he narrowed his eyes at me, I said, “Her brother and I go way back, you know that. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t do everything I could to protect her?”
“So, you’re doing this for her brother?” He rolled his tongue in his cheek before crossing his arms. “It has nothing to do with the way you feel about Briar, huh? You’re not trying to get closer to her and using this as an excuse—”
“She came tomeasking for help,” I snapped. “As a friend. And that’s what I’m trying to be, a good friend. End of story.”
“So you’re not sleeping with her then?”
We hadn’t had sex the previous night, but before we’d fallen asleep, she’d curled up in my arms with a contented sigh that seemed to surpass any level of intimacy we’d shared up to that point. In that one soft sigh it felt like she was conveying what she couldn’t with words. I made her feel safe. Too bad being with her felt dangerous as hell.
“Mind your own business.”
Jake laughed. “That’s what I thought.” He pointed at me. “You’re getting in over your head with this one.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” But Jake knew me better than almost anyone and he was trained to read people. He could sniff out a liar a mile away. That was a reason I’d let him in on our plan, because I knew he’d have figured it out for himself and blown our cover.
“Don’t bullshit me, Lennox. We both know this girl does something to you. Always has.”
I’d never told him I had feelings for Briar, but he’d been around the morning after she ghosted me once or twice and could tell how pissed off I was. I supposed that reaction spoke volumes. “What’s your point?”
“You’re playing with fire. Living with her, sleeping with her—”
“It’s only temporary,” I said, clenching my teeth. “I’ll move out just as soon as this asshole’s behind bars.” I held up the file. “When will that be, by the way? Have you gone to the police with this yet?” We both had connections on the police force and they knew if we brought them evidence in a case it was legit.
“I will.” He sighed. “It’ll probably take another day or two before I’ve got what I need.” He stood, gripping his cell phone as he stared down at me. “But the more time you have with Briar—”
“Don’t.” I knew what he was getting at, suggesting I buy a little more time with Briar to forge a deeper connection. But I refused to do that. I knew she was living in fear of this guy, putting her life on hold for the sake of her safety, and I refused to put her through that for one minute longer than I had to. If she wanted to cut ties when I moved out of her house, I’d just have to find a way to live with that. “I want this guy arrested yesterday.”
“Have it your way,” he said, walking to the door. “But I think you’re making a mistake.”
I sank back in my chair after tossing the file on the desk. I scraped my hands over my face, fighting the fear that I’d already made a huge mistake… falling for a woman I could never have.
* * *
“Dinner with your parents?” Briar gaped at me. “You can’t be serious!”
I’d just picked her up from work and dropped my little bombshell. My mother called me a few hours ago, demanding we come to the house for dinner. I’d scrambled to think of an excuse, but when I couldn’t come up with one in five seconds, she backed me into a corner.
“I’m sorry.” I reached for her hand, bringing it to my lips. “I know I should have checked with you, and I would have, but she didn’t give me a chance to—”
“It’s okay.” She tipped her head against the leather headrest, closing her eyes. “I know the way she can be. It’s not your fault.”
I’d never brought a woman home for dinner. Not once. And there was reason for that. My mother was over-bearing and judgemental, especially when it came to the women in my life. Anytime she’d met a date at a family wedding or event, she’d chastised me for my terrible taste in women, claiming they weren’t wife material.
The first time she’d met Briar, she informedthatwas the kind of girl I’d be smart to marry. Needless to say, our engagement made up for all of my previous sins combined, in my mother’s opinion.
“I guess I should stop and get her flowers, huh?” I looked at Briar out of the corner of my eye and smiled. “Maybe lilies. She hates those. Apparently, they remind her of funerals.”
That earned a laugh when she squeezed my hand. “You can’t get her lilies, though that would be funny. Tulips are in bloom now. She loves those.”
Weird that she knew what kind of flowers my mother liked. I supposed I shouldn’t be surprised. She’d been a part of our lives, a friend of our family, for a long time. And that was comforting... and unsettling, at the same time.
“Fine,” I said, parallel parking in front of a flower shop that was half-way between my parents’ house and Briar’s office. “Come in with me,” I said, when we’d parked. I’d been checking my rear-view mirror the entire time and was pretty sure we weren’t being followed, but I wasn’t taking any chances.
She slipped her phone out of her purse and tapped the screen before passing it to me. “You should probably have a look at this.”
