It felt fucking fabulous to hear that, but I wanted it to be under better circumstances. And I wanted her to always need me. I promised myself while standing there, holding the most amazing person I knew in my arms, that one day soon she would never doubt that I’d always be there for her.
Slowly, I moved us further inside the door, shut it, and flicked the lock, while she still clung to me, her arms wrapped around me like a grape vine. “Sweetheart, can you tell me what happened?”
After a few beats of silence, Lake whispered, “He was in my house at the lake.”
My blood boiled. “He was what?”
Crap, I never wanted to scare her and my anger vibrated with each word. My mind spun in circles like a prize wheel, but it was more like a wheel of doom. Then it landed on a question that I was almost afraid to ask but I had to.
“Honey, how do you know that?”
I held my breath waiting for her answer.
“He called my phone,” she shuddered, fear clear in her tone.
Before I could say anything, Stormi popped up from the couch. “Is it morning?” she asked in a cute, sleepy voice.
That had Lake pulling out of my arms and swiftly moving toward her daughter, her own worries forgotten.
“Not yet, sweetie. How about I tuck you into bed and you get some more sleep?”
Stormi got off the couch but instead of answering her mother or heading toward the bedroom, she raced toward me. When she got close enough, she looked up at me with her big brown puppy dog eyes and asked, “Can you tuck me in?”
My gaze went to Lake who wore a soft smile on her face instead of the fear-induced one I’d seen when I opened the door. She nodded, answering my unspoken question..
Looking back down at Stormi, I lifted her up into my arms. “You bet I can, kiddo.”
As we walked by Lake, I kept one hand tucked under Stormi, and extended my other to her mother. I wasn’t going anywhere without her; I needed her in my sight. When she clasped my hand without hesitation it felt amazing.
Her trust, even after everything I did, was something I never thought I’d have again.
Stormi asked to sleep in bed with her mom and I didn’t blame her after being brought to a strange place. Lake didn’t even balk at the request. Once I got her settled and said goodnight, I moved back and rested my shoulder against the doorway as I watched the girls do their thing.
The situation with this guy was escalating quickly and that wasn’t a good sign. Not only would I be using my resources in the department to figure out who the asshole was but all the guys atNo Surrenderwould be helping as well.
I would die trying to make sure nothing happened to either of my girls.
I’d triedto ignore the way Lake looked.
We’d moved back out to the living room while Stormi slept and Lake went through what was said by the mystery caller and what had led to her phoning me. While she spoke, the alarm in her voice clear, I tried to stay calm knowing that it was what she needed. If she saw or could hear the rage in me it certainly wouldn’t help her.
Throughout the conversation, I kept touching her. I wasn’t sure how I’d ever let her get too far from me until whoever was messing with her was caught. I knew how crazy that sounded when I’d been a fool in the past and I’d removed her from my life for so long, but in all that time she was never far from my mind.
And she’d never left my heart.
With everything out in the open, it seemed to have dissipated some of the fear that had been evident since the second she called me. Lake paused, sucked in a breath, and looked down at my hand that rested on her knee, my thumb softly rubbing circles on her bare skin.
The caress seemed to resonate with both of us simultaneously and Lake jumped from the couch just as I pulled my hand from her leg. She headed into the kitchen where she aimlessly started to find things to do. I watched as she opened the fridge and closed it multiple times, fidgeted with the dishwasher, rearranged stuff in the cupboards.
All the while, my eyes absorbed and took in every flawless inch of her.
In a pair of baby-blue shorts, her tanned, toned legs descended from the barely there fabric that stopped just shy of her perfectly round ass. My gaze moved up and I almost swallowed my tongue when I noticed her voluptuous breasts peeking out of the white tank top that fit her like a glove.
Her hair was in a messy bun showcasing her neck and I couldn’t stop thinking about how I wanted to kiss every inch of it, along with the rest of her. There was no way to stop my body'sreaction even though I knew it wasn’t the time to be responding to her this way when I’d come there to help her.
I was going to hell for sure.
Before I knew what I was doing, I rose from the couch, and moved her way. As I came up behind her, she turned at the same time and we almost ran into each other. She gazed up at me, her soulful-brown eyes searching mine, and I was lost.
