A Fresh Start (28 page)

“I’m okay,” she assured when she noticed the redness around her wrist. “I’m okay.”

His face was expressionless, but his chest heaved as he took in a deep breath through his nose. He turned to Mrs. Seymour and asked in a controlled tone, “Have you called the police?”

“Right after I called you,” Mrs. Seymour said. “Why don’t you take her upstairs and rest? I’ll get you kids when they are here.”

Paige took in a deep breath and closed her eyes again. She was feeling quite tired.
 

Justin stood and pulled her to her feet. With his arm over her waist, he accompanied upstairs.

That was when she remembered where Cole’s lips had been. She went into the bathroom and washed her cheek and neck with whatever soap she could find. She didn’t care if it was going to cause her skin any problem, she would rather have her skin peeling than whatever he had left on her.

“Paige, stop. You’ll tear your skin.” Justin took her hand and pulled it down.

It took her a moment to react, but she eventually nodded and washed the foam away.

They walked into the guest room in silence until she got onto the bed. She shifted, leaning her back against the headboard. “I shot him, somewhere in his general direction. But I don’t think I hit him.”

“You kept your word.”

She laughed dryly as Justin pulled the blanket over her and got onto the bed. He pulled her against his chest and asked softly, “What happened?”

“The chain lock doesn’t work.”

“You know that isn’t what I was asking.”

She took in a deep breath and sighed. “He didn’t manage to do anything. He would’ve if he could, I’m sure of that.”

She gave him the whole story. Each time she glanced up at him, he would stroke through her hair and crack a small, momentary smile at her.

“Did Mr. Seymour hit him?” he asked after she completed her story.

“He wasn’t sure. But he was certainly well enough to drive away.” She snuggled against his chest. “Do you think he’ll come back?”

“He hadn’t given up even after everything.”

She closed her eyes. No amount of worrying was going to give her a solution. “I think I might need a new door.”

“I’ll fix it tomorrow.” He gave her a peck on her forehead. “Rest for awhile. I’ll wake you when the police get here.”

Justin wanted to kick himself for his stupid decision.

He shouldn’t have gone home, he should’ve continued crashing on the couch. Maybe then he could’ve prevented the situation. He sighed softly and tilted his head to the side, leaning against Paige’s hair. Her head rested on his shoulder while her hand lay on his chest.

At least she was safe now, but he didn’t think he could let her stay in her house alone, not after this.

He kept expecting Mrs. Seymour to come up those stairs and get them. He lay in bed, listening to the soft swooshing of the clock’s pendulum and the muffled noise of the TV downstairs.

The adrenaline rush that got him here was seeping away with each swoosh. He was sure that if he closed his eyes, he would fall asleep immediately.

Slowly, he tried to slip his arm from under Paige.
 

She gasped as her eyes flew right open.
 

“It’s okay, it’s just me.”

The tension from her body vanished. She pushed her fringe from her face. “Are they here?”

“No. I’ll go down and take a look. You want to come with me?”

Nodding, she slipped off the bed.

“Why are they taking so long?” he asked the moment he saw Mrs. Seymour.

“I don’t know, I called them twice. I’ll call again,” Mrs. Seymour said.

“No need, they’re here.” Mr. Seymour moved from the window and opened the door.

Justin scoffed as he saw the police officer walk into the house.
 

Bryan?
How did a school bully become a police officer?

Behind him trailed a younger officer. Someone he’d seen in school as well, but he couldn’t remember a name to go along with the face.

“Hey, Justin. Heard you were back,” Bryan said after nodding at both Mr. and Mrs. Seymour.
 

Bryan’s leisure pace and casual greeting infuriated him.

“You sure took your own sweet time coming over.”

“Everyone appears to be doing fine.”

A reply that didn’t just irked Justin.

Mrs. Seymour stepped forward with her arms akimbo. “No thanks to you. You took nearly an hour to get here. If we had needed help, we would all be dead.”

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Seymour. We already knew it wasn’t an emergency, we’ve been informed of Miss Watson’s condition.”

“Condition?” Paige asked.

Bryan rolled his eyes at Paige as if she was a nuisance rather than the victim.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Justin demanded.

“Her boyfriend, a Mr. Cole Crowen?” He paused, looking over at Paige. “He came to inform us of Miss Watson’s tendency to create stories to gain attention.” Directing his attention back to Justin, he continued. “She was seeing a therapist, you know.”

“Cole is her ex; an ex who won’t stop harassing her.”

“Oh, so it’s true. You
are
seeing her,” Bryan sneered. “You don’t know her, Justin. She’s only trying to get your attention. But I guess she succeeded.”

Justin took in a deep breath and lifted Paige’s arm, showing Bryan the red imprints caused by Cole’s grip. “Look at her hands.”

“Anyone could’ve done that. She could’ve grabbed her own arms.”

“Are you serious?” Paige huffed.

Turning away, Justin crooked his jaw and said dryly, “Just because he wears spectacles and looks studious, doesn’t mean he is trustworthy.”

“I’ve been a police officer for years, I’m sure I can judge a person’s character better than you. Besides, the sheriff was the one who instructed us to ignore her cries of wolf.”

“I saw him running out from Paige’s house,” Mr. Seymour stated.

“On the phone, Mrs. Seymour said she heard a gun shot. Maybe he was running from her.”

“Don’t be an idiot. She was running from him. She ran to our house, then he ran out from her house and toward his car.”

“It’s forced entry at the least. My chain lock was in place, he broke it down,” Paige added calmly.

Bryan nodded, but didn’t bother to write anything down. Only when he saw Mrs. Seymour glaring at him did he patronizingly asked Paige, “Do you have actual proof that he tried to hurt you?”

“I’m pretty sure you can see what happened to my door. What else do you need?”

“DNA?” Bryan said with a smirk.

Paige threw her hands in the air and turned away. “This is ridiculous.”

“What DNA? Do you even know what is going on?” Justin was beginning to seriously wonder how an idiot like Bryan could become a police officer.

Bryan flashed a smirk over at the younger officer and shrugged. “Since there’s no evidence, I guess that’s all for tonight.”

Mrs. Seymour’s eyes widened. “That’s all? That guy has been harassing Paige since he’s arrived. What if he comes back again?”

“Maybe you should be more careful about who you let into your house, Mrs. Seymour.”

“Are you lecturing me?”

Justin clenched his jaws, his hand curling into a fist.

The sudden warmth from Paige’s finger running down his arm distracted him. She gave him a wink before spinning back around and taking a large step toward Bryan. “Mrs. Seymour, do you know his full name?” she asked, her face straight.

“Yes,” Mrs. Seymour replied.

“Feel free to leave then, officer. My lawyer will contact you and your department.”

“Lawyer?” Bryan rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know how things work in small towns, but in New York, there’s always a case to fight when you get the right lawyer. And of course, right lawyers don’t come cheap. But thankfully, graduating first in class from an ivy league do guarantee certain levels of pay.” Paige smirked and continued. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to sue just you, I’ll pull the whole department in. I’ll make sure to let your boss know you’re the reason I’m doing all this.”

Bryan scoffed. “Yeah.”

“You don’t think I have the money? Run a check, I’m sure you can find where I used to work and my position there. Or check with the agent who sold me the house; it’s fully paid in cash. Can
you
do that?”

Returning to Justin, her smirk grew into the same smile he’d grown accustomed to when she saw how much he was enjoying it. “Goodnight, officer.”

“Take her statement,” Bryan barked the order to the younger officer, then turned back to Paige. “You’ll need to come down to the station to sign it tomorrow.” Once he’d said that, Bryan stormed out of the house.

Paige gave her statement to the younger officer who recorded every detail diligently.

When that was done, he reminded Paige to head down to the station to sign the report before leaving.

“Where did you learn that?” Justin asked with a grin.

“I did work in one of the largest auditing firm,” she reminded. “This is nothing compared to the things I’ve heard and seen.”

“That was fun to watch,” Justin said.

“It’s pointless to force them to write the report, they won’t do anything anyway. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t punch anyone.”

Mr. Seymour laughed. “Smart girl.”

Paige smiled and looked at the Seymours. “Thank you. I’m so sorry for waking all of you and causing all this trouble.”

“You didn’t cause it, dear. And don’t worry, Victor doesn’t get many chances to enjoy live target shooting.”

Mr. Seymour nodded. “I would’ve hit him if there were more lights; can’t see as good.”

Justin shook his head while Paige laughed softly.

“All right, let’s get some rest. Are you staying tonight?” Mrs. Seymour switched off the television.

“Yes,” Justin answered for Paige.

“All right, goodnight. Shout if you need anything.” The Seymours trudged up the stairs, leaving the two of them alone.

Paige was exhausted, but she didn’t want to go to bed wearing the pajamas she had on. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she could still smell the nagging scent of alcohol.
 

She’d probably have to burn everything she was wearing.
 

“I want to take a shower.”

“Your neck and face are still red.”

“I won’t…I want to get out of these clothes, take a shower, and change into something else. I’ll be fine.”

He considered what she’d said and nodded. “All right, I’ll go with you.”

He waited in her room while she showered and changed. When she came out from the shower, her hair still dripping wet, he casually mentioned, “The guest room in my house has an attached bathroom.”

“Okay, and why is that important?” She moved over to her dressing table as she rubbed her hair between her towel.

“Don’t you think it’s kind of troublesome to go between the Seymours and your house in order to shower and change. You won’t have to do that if you’re staying at my house.”

Paige stared at him through the mirror, her hand froze on her hair. “You want me to stay at your house?”

“Why not? I drive up to the Seymours every day to meet you. If you move over, I’ll see you in the morning and we can come over together.” Then he added, “Cole doesn’t know where I’m staying, and even if he finds out, I’ll be there. I’m a much better shot. Better eyesight, too. And unlike here, there’ll be more witnesses to him pounding at my door.”

“You said it casually enough, but you seemed to have put in a lot of thought.”

“I had nothing to do while you were showering.”

“Huh.” She pursed her lips and went back to drying her hair.

“You’ll have your own room.”

She sighed softly, then swiveled around to face him. “I don’t mean to sound like a child, but I come from a staunch Christian family. I’ve to tell Drew what happened tonight, and he’ll come here like the big brother he is. When he gets here and finds out that I’m staying with you, you’ll be in serious trouble.”

“You’ve never stayed with a guy before?”

She did tell him about her situation with Cole, but he didn’t think that applied to every relationship she had.

She drew in a deep breath and licked her lips. “Since we’re on that, I’ll just lay it out there. I’ve never stayed with a guy. I’ve never slept with a guy.”

His eyes widened as he tipped his head back. Then he nodded and continued. “I’m not asking you to sleep with me.”

“You’re asking me to move in.”

“And you’re saying you can’t?”

“Can refers to ability. Technically, I can pack my stuff right now, put it in your car, and have you drive me over to your house. The question should be, do you want to be tied to a flag pole?”

Justin laughed and got up. “You’ll have your own room.”

“He’s not going to care. I know all you’ve heard is how nice Drew is to me, but you haven’t heard how awful he is to people he doesn’t like.”

“Pack your stuff,” he said as if he hadn’t heard a single word Paige had said.

“Justin.”

He pulled Paige to her feet and leaned forward so their eyes met on the same level. “I couldn’t breathe on the way here. Mrs. Seymour didn’t tell me much, she simply said to get over here. My heart felt as if someone had clutched their fingers around it and gave it a tight squeeze. I don’t want to go through that again.”

Paige’s eyes softened, and she smiled.

“Leave your brother to me, I’ll deal with him.”

Though her smile stayed, her brows furrowed.

“I’ll be fine.”

“All right. We should leave a note for the Seymours, though. They might get worried if they don’t see me in the house.”

Justin stayed in her room while she packed; she didn’t bring much. He guessed she was too tired to pack everything she needed.

He wanted to help, but he was sure she had a certain method to her packing that would require as much detail as her plate stacking.

When she was done, they headed over to the Seymours’ house, left them a note on the dining table, and finally made their way toward his house. By then, he was wide awake. He took Paige’s luggage into his room and told her to sleep on his bed for that night.

He wasn’t expecting anyone to use the guest room. There wasn’t any sheet over the bed, and the room probably needed some cleaning as well.