Finding My Forever (6 page)

“Everything will be fine.” Katelyn sits next to me and holds my hand. I hate feeling like this. I worked hard to get over the things that happened to me, but in the blink of an eye he’s back and I feel on edge and afraid.

“I wish it were that easy.”

“It can be, if you think positive. Maybe he just wants to talk or maybe after Paul gets a hold of him he’ll realize that Beaumont isn’t safe for him. Harrison and Liam aren’t going to let anything happen to you and neither is Paul. You have friends here, Jenna, friends that care and love you. Liam thinks of you as his sister. So do I.”

“Yeah,” I say, my voice breaking. She’s going to make me cry and there isn’t a thing I can do about it. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“We’ll be more hurt if you leave us or if we don’t beat this psycho at his own game. You’re one of us whether you like it or not.”

Thing is, I like it. I’m just afraid of what they’ll think when they find out I’m pregnant. I don’t even want to know what they’ll do if they find out who the father is. That’s a secret I’ll take to the grave.

A
S
soon as we drive onto the road, the car I spotted earlier turns its lights on. He thinks he’s being a sly little shit, hiding in the dark like the big bad wolf. What he doesn’t know is that Paul is lurking behind Liam’s gate waiting to see if the car moves. I watch out of the rear view mirror as Paul’s lights flash. Josie turns around and watches while I drive her car away from the scene that’s taking place behind us.

“Should we stop?”

“No, we’ll get in the way,” I say even though I want to turn around and get a good look at this dickhead so I can try and protect Jenna. “We need to get her stuff and get out of there while Paul is talking to this guy. We don’t know if he knows where she lives, just where she works and we have to make sure she’s never alone.”

“That’s really nice, Jimmy.”

“What?”

“You wanting to take care of Jenna. I don’t know you’re not around much so it’s usually just the five of us. I’m really hoping to set Jenna up with Paul.”

“Why?” I ask.

“He likes her and he’d be good for her. We’ve known him for a long time. He’d make a good husband.”

For some unknown reason my jaw clenches together. My teeth grind at the thought of Jenna being with Paul. I shouldn’t give a shit. She’s just a friend. A friend that I care about a little more than I should.

I remain silent until we arrive at Jenna’s apartment. I look around as I get out of the car. There’s no sign of the car or Paul and I’m hoping they’re still talking. Josie and I run up the stairs and down the hall to the apartment. I look around, mentally taking a note of her neighbours. It’s very quiet up here so if she were to scream I’d like to think someone would hear her. But then again, if this was LA and someone screamed they’d ignore it, so who knows?

Josie lets us in and gets to work. I tell her we should keep the lights off if at all possible so we don’t draw attention to her ex in case he’s outside.

“Where did you learn all of this?”

“What?” I ask, picking up a photo of Jenna and Josie from the wedding.

“Well you were pretty impressive at the house, directing everyone and now with the lights.”

“Oh… my ex-girlfriend’s uncle is a detective and in her dad’s attempt to change me he got me to go on the beat with his brother for a few nights. The guy talked a lot, and I listened.”

“Was that Chelsea?”

I look up and find Josie standing in front of me. I put the picture of Jenna down. “Yeah, how’d you know that?”

“Liam told me, said you weren’t always a womanizer.”

I can’t help but laugh. He’s one to talk. “I’m not a womanizer. I just like women.”

“Same thing, Jimmy. You need yourself a good girl to keep you happy.” I smirk at the thought. There’s one woman I’d like to keep me happy, if she was willing, but I have no doubt she wants nothing to do with me. Unfortunately, that’s something I need to accept and move on.

My phone vibrates. I take it out of my pocket and shake my head at the irony of the situation.

“Speak of the devil,” I say aloud.

I’ve been thinking a lot. I want to see you.

I don’t even know if I should respond or ignore Chelsea. She puts my head into a mind-fuck. I wanted to marry that girl and have gorgeous babies with her, but she ruined me. She made me feel like I was worthless. She made me think that everything we had shared meant nothing to her.

“You okay?”

I clear my throat and put my phone back in my pocket without sending a text back to Chelsea. “Yeah, you ready?” I reach for the bag she’s carrying and put in on my shoulder. I follow her out. I look around Jenna’s apartment and try to picture her in it, curled up on the sofa reading a book. In my mind she looks happy, content.

I walk down the stairs first and tell Josie to wait when I step out onto the path. It’s late and there isn’t much traffic. The wrought iron lamppost casts a soft haze over the street. I look left and right, trying to decide if anything is out of place. I nod at Josie. She walks out and heads towards her car, climbing into the passenger seat. I walk around to the driver side. As I step onto the road, a car whizzes past and slams on their breaks. They stay in the middle of the road with their lights shining.

“Get in the car, Jimmy,” Josie yells.

I scramble, opening the door and sliding in just as they reverse past us. I turn on the ignition and put it into gear.

“Call Liam and tell him that we’re being followed. We can’t go home right now.”

“He knows where we live.”

“I know he does. He also knows where Jenna lives, and he doesn’t need to know we are heading back to your place. Find out where Paul is.”

Josie speaks to Liam as I drive around. I’m watching my mirrors, waiting for this arsehole to come up behind me.

“Liam says go to the house.”

“He does?”

“Yeah, he says security is there and the gate will be locked tonight.”

“Okay.” I do as Liam suggests and drive back to the house. We aren’t followed, which is suspicious to me. What is this guy playing at?

We get stopped at the driveway and the car is checked. I know it’s a precaution and I’d be doing the same thing, but for God’s sake, I have the owner of the house in the car with me. As soon as we’re given the okay, the gate shuts. It’s a fortress here. Liam had walls and massive fencing put up when he bought the house. He didn’t want anyone watching his son. I don’t blame him. If I had one, I’d never take him out in public.

Josie and I rush into the house. She runs straight into Liam’s arms.

“What the fucking hell is going on?”

“We don’t know,” Liam replies. “Paul called from the station to say he had the driver of the car in custody, but wouldn’t say if it was Jenna’s ex, just said that you were right. I called him about this other car and he thinks it’s a bunch of teens just screwing around.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me?”

Liam shrugs. “I did that shit when I was a kid so why not.”

“That’s such bullshit. Those fuckwads scared the crap out of your wife.”

“I’m fine, Jimmy.”

I throw my hands up in exasperation at this whole mess. I see Jenna sitting down and carry the bag in my hand over to her.

“Thanks, Jimmy.”

I kneel down in front of her and watch as she hides her face from me. She doesn’t want me to see her crying.

“You don’t have to hide from me.” She sees all the ugly that I am; I should be able to see hers too.

“You give me whiplash, Jimmy.”

“What does that mean?”

Jenna sighs and wipes her face with the back of her hands. “It means that one moment you’re this untouchable rocker who doesn’t care and then the next you’re this sweet guy who does.”

I sit back on my heels and look down at the floor. Is that how others see me too? I look at her. Her green eyes glisten from her tears. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to confuse you. I’m just being me.”

“Yeah I know,” she says this so sadly that it makes my heart ache. What did I do to her to cause her pain? It’s stupid, I know what I did and that’s exactly why it won’t happen again. “We’re friends, right?”

“Of course, we are.” I get up from the floor and sit down next to her on the sofa. I’d pull her towards me, but I don’t want her to feel awkward. It’s hard to stay friends with someone like her, but I’m going to try even if she doesn’t want to be my friend. “Do you know what you need?”

“What’s that?”

“A holiday.”

Jenna laughs. “That’d be nice, but I make just enough money for me to pay rent and live. I don’t save for things like a vacation.”

“I’ll pay.”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m not borrowing money from you.”

I sit up so I’m in her eyesight. I pull her chin up so she’s looking at me. “I think we should go somewhere for a week or two. Let things settle down and just relax. Besides, I think we have some things to discuss.”

“I don’t know, Jimmy. It feels wrong and I don’t want to be a third wheel.”

“Third wheel?”

Jenna sighs and fiddles with her fingers. “I don’t want to watch you hit on women.”

Does she actually think I’d take her on a holiday and go on the pull for other women? This girl is crazy. Her ex messed her up good and proper, that’s for sure.

“Sweet Lips, I want to take you on a holiday so we can relax. We can lie on the beach, drink some girly fruity crap, have fun in the sea and eat overly expensive food. I want to do this because you’re my friend.”

She blanches at the word friend. I don’t blame her, but I need to keep the lines defined. I’m not boyfriend material for her and I don’t want her thinking I’m going to settle down like Liam and Harrison have.

“It’s just a holiday, Jenna, nothing more.”

“I’ll have to ask Josie for the time off.”

“Do you really think she’s going to say no?” I ask, trying to stifle a laugh.

“No about what?”

We both turn to find Josie walking towards us. She’s carrying a tray of food and right on cue my stomach growls.

“I figured as much, Jimmy. So what am I not saying no to?”

I take a sandwich off the tray and offer a smile in thanks. “I’m taking Jenna on a holiday to take her mind off things.”

“Really, you two on a vacation together?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“Oh I don’t know. You’re not exactly each other’s type.”

I shrug. “So, I’ll change for a week.”

Josie and Jenna both look at me. The room is silent. I can’t help that I like my ladies’ man persona. Chelsea made me this way. Loving someone who does that much damage totally fucks with your mind and your sense of being.

“Have fun on vacation,” Josie says, leaving us to plan.

“So, Sweet Lips, where do you fancy going?” Her eyes light up and her lips turn into a huge smile spreading from ear to ear. I know I said I’d keep it in my pants where other women are concerned, but if I’m going to get to stare at Jenna and her fit body in a bikini for a week, she and I may need to come to a friends’ with benefits understanding.

No, that can’t happen.

I
look out the window and sigh. It’s been raining for three days straight with no sign of letting up. I suppose if we were going to have a weather element, I’d take rain over a hurricane or tornado. Not sure how I’d deal with a tornado warning.

I’m depressed. Not in the
I’m going to go do something drastic to myself
sense, but more in the
I’m bored out of my mind from being locked up.
I’m supposed to be sitting on a warm beach someplace in the south, but Officer Paul Baker had to burst my fantasy bubble. When Jimmy announced that he was taking me on a holiday, Paul put his foot down… literally. He said that I couldn’t leave, not in the middle of an active investigation, which confused me because I hadn’t pressed charges. But he said I need to stay and Liam agreed.

Jimmy didn’t say anything. In fact, he left that night and hasn’t been around since. That was almost two weeks ago. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I thought that maybe we’d be friends. I know that is far-fetched considering his history and his need to be free all the time. I mean why would he want to babysit me, when he can be out doing who knows what and not suffer the consequences?