Page 55 of The Fixer

Meg gave a tight smile. “I’m glad you feel that way, Eliza. It will only help you heal.”

“I think it could help others, too,” she rushed out, as if sensing the woman shutting down that line of thought. “What Jet’s taught me has been immeasurable.”

“You want him to, what, teach classes here?”

“No,” Eliza said, shaking her head. “No, not Jet. He’s got a job.” The girl paused, sucking in a quick breath to hide her lie. “He has things to do. I meant, we could find someone to come in, to teach classes here. I was researching it online. There are dozens of places that teach martial arts and self-defense, some specifically for women. Surely we could find someone who would come in and teach our girls.”

“I’m not sure—”

“We’re here to help these women, Meg,” Eliza said, voice pleading. “We’re here to help them get back on their feet. To escape the cycle of abuse. Teaching a woman to fight back, to escape from her attacker’s hold… Isn’t that better than trying to pick up the pieces after she’s already been hurt?”

Resignation and pride swirled in the older woman’s eyes, and that pride, it flooded me, too. I pulled Eliza closer, dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

“You’re right,” Meg said after a quiet moment, the hard look in her eyes gone soft. “We can look into it. If there’s interest in the shelter, we’ll do what we can to make it work.”

Eliza squealed, her body jumping with untamed energy at my side. “Oh, thank you!” she said, squeezing me before letting me go, going to her boss. “Thank you so much!” She wrapped the woman up in her arms. “You have no idea how much this means to me. How much this will mean to them.”

Meg chuckled, pulling herself free. “Perhaps we can wait until after the Gala?”

“Of course,” Eliza told her, laughter weaving through her words.

“The Hope Gala?”

Eliza turned to me, chocolate eyes glimmering. “You know of it?”

“I’m aware of it.” I rubbed at my chest. “Is that coming up soon?”

“This weekend,” Meg replied as Eliza tilted her head to one side, searching out something on my face I hoped she’d never find. “We’ve had our hands full.”

“Has it been bad?” Eliza asked.

“It’s been manageable.”

“Do you need me to help?”

“No.” Meg gripped Eliza’s hand, turning her full attention to the girl for the first time since she’d stepped into the room. “I need you to heal. I need you to grieve, to take the time you need to take so you can come back to me the strong, courageous woman I know you are.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, just above a whisper.

“I’m sure. Brooke will be home tomorrow, and she can help with any of the last-minute things. Everything is taken care of, Eliza. You go home, take care of yourself.”

Her attention swung back to me, her pointed glare full of the kind of accusation she’d thrown at me earlier. As if she thought I was in the way of Eliza healing. Like I might take from her the happiness I knew lived inside her.

But I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. For her, I wanted only good things.

Even if that meant… Especially if that meant she’d never be with me.

Eliza took another round through the building, saying goodbyes to the women, to the children, who were staying in the shelter. We’d had a late start getting there, and by the time I stepped out of Meg’s tiny little office, it was already dark outside. I helped Eliza into the car, so tempted to bend down and help her buckle in. So tempted to lean down and press a kiss to her lips. It took everything in me to hold back, to shut the door and leave her side. The longer I was in her presence, the more I wanted her.

She clung to me as I drove, her fingers strung through mine, her other hand gripping my arm. Every time I peeled my eyes away from the rearview mirrors, I found that gorgeous smile floating on her lips. We wound through traffic, holding hands. I turned down quiet side streets, sped through busy intersections, drove like there was a demon on our tail. But the girl, she didn’t seem to notice.

Only sat there, enjoying her life.

“Did you want to grab something to eat?” she asked, this sleepy sound to her voice. It drew my attention from the rear view and the empty street I’d been watching for the past ten minutes. Her smile sat crooked on her lips, and my dick kicked as my mind swirled down through the cesspool of indecent thoughts that flooded my brain.

I drew my attention back to the street, finding no one there. “Why don’t I take us home? I’ll whip us up something while you relax. It’s been a long day.”

“Yeah,” she murmured. “That actually sounds nice.”