Chapter Sixteen

 

 

Jake

The next two weeks passed by in a hot blur, with Chloe wrapped around me in the early morning hours. Whatever conflict I had fought against was long gone. I couldn’t resist Chloe even if I wanted to now. Both our defenses had come crumbling down in a lustful crash that had left us breathless and wanting more.

“I think we’ve given the neighbors plenty to talk about,” Chloe said.

She smiled mischievously at me while running a towel through the wet strands of her hair. I returned the smile as I rubbed my face dry with my own towel.

“What makes you think that?” I asked, my voice muffled from the towel.

“Because they see me over here with you and Darren more than at my own house. I don’t even leave here after Darren goes to school.”

“I’m sure Erika is foaming at the mouth trying to get information from everyone.”

Chloe laughed. “She is, actually. She tried to catch me yesterday on my way out to the grocery store.”

That didn’t surprise me. I avoided her as much as possible by dropping Darren off at school quickly and pretending I was on an important phone call whenever she did get close. Why Erika had to get involved was beyond me. None of it was her business, but, as usual, she made it her business.

“Natalie has been giving me the death glare too,” Chloe said, breezing by me to gather her clothes, which were sprawled out in my bedroom. “I think she’s under the assumption that I stole her prospective man from her.”

I grimaced at the thought. Natalie could’ve been Sidney’s twin with their matching personalities and taste for expensive things. She walked by every day dressed in designer dresses that showed off her legs, sometimes pausing to pick at the rose bushes in my front yard.

“That’s why she picks my roses then,” I said. “She’s trying to lure me out of the house to come talk to her more.”

I entered the room right as Chloe slipped into a pair of leggings. The first taste of fall had greeted us last night. A notable chill had clung to the air when I’d gone to work. The tips of trees were a dull yellow, a sign of a change in weather.

“I’m sure she is,” Chloe said, slipping into a oversized T-shirt next. “I better let you go so you can get some sleep. I have to meet with my mother in Lone Tree.”

“Important business?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

I stifled a yawn with my hand when Chloe paused in front of me. She smoothed a hand over my damp hair with a smile.

“Very,” she said. “Erika apparently is in touch with my mother, so I’m sure this lunch has everything to do with you. Oh, and I told her that we slept together too.”

I arched an eyebrow.

“I’m sure she loved that,” I said wryly. “You told your mother?”

“I was upset at the time,” Chloe said, shrugging her shoulders. “Get some sleep. I’ll be over later tonight.”

She pecked a kiss to my lips before exiting my room. I settled back against my unmade bed that now smelled like Chloe all the time. My parents would be doing the same thing too if they heard about Chloe. They had been adamant about Sidney not being a good woman to marry.

A yawn escaped my lips. Fully sated from spending the past hour in the shower with Chloe, I fell asleep quickly. I didn’t wake once until my phone alarm trilled off a few hours later. My room felt pleasantly warm from the sunlight peeking in through the curtains.

I dressed for the day before heading outside to check the mailbox. I was rifling through bills when the sound of bushes scratching against a window caught my attention. Turning around, I flicked a gaze over Chloe’s motionless house. Her car was still gone despite it being nearly three o’clock.

The bushes vibrated before a tall man stepped out of them. Blood roared in my ears when he turned to look at me, having realized I was standing on the other side of the fence, clutching the mail tightly.

“Hey, man. Is this Chloe Johnson’s house?” he asked.

Shoving the mail into my back pocket, I crossed over the fence to look at him fully. He wasn’t that tall in person. He was smug, cocky, and I was tempted to punch him straight in the face just for being here. I resisted though. I had Chloe to think about along with Darren. I wouldn’t do either one of them any good if I was in jail.

“That depends on who’s asking,” I said coldly. “Who are you?”

“Luke,” he said, and he looked me up and down in distaste. “I’m her boyfriend. I’ve been trying to find her all day.”

He still thinks she’s his. A possessive surge shot through me at that observation. I kept my face blank when Luke gave me a strange look.

“She’s not here,” I said.

Luke gazed at me with visible distrust. If only he knew… I kept my curled fists at my sides. If he knew, he’d hurt Chloe. There was no doubt in my mind. Things like that had a tendency to set guys like Luke off.

“When will she back?”

“I’m not her keeper,” I said flatly. “She’s a woman who can handle her own business around here. She doesn’t need you.”

“Right,” Luke said in a tone that suggested he didn’t believe me. “Just tell her that I’m staying at a hotel across the city.” He flicked his sunglasses down. “She knows my number, so she can call me when she gets back.”

He didn’t wait for my response. Crossing by me, he exited through the gate and walked down the street to a black Honda. I watched him speed away before letting out a harsh breath. Fumbling through my pocket, I pulled out my phone to call Nicholas.

“I have a situation,” I said. Hot anger filled every inch of me. “I won’t be into work tonight besides to have someone come talk to you and a judge if needed.”

“A judge?” Nicholas repeated, alarm evident in his voice. “What the hell did you do, Mason? I won’t bail you out if you did something—”

“It’s for my neighbor,” I said, tapping a finger anxiously against the fence post. “She escaped an abusive ex by moving into the house next to mine. I don’t know how he found her, but I found him snooping around her house.”

“Is there a restraining order?”

“There has to be,” I said. “It may have run out, though, depending on what the judge said in California. There’s only one incident on file from what I looked at.”

“That might explain why he’s there if you’re telling me the truth,” Nicholas said grimly. “Bring her into the station. These situations can end tragically.”

“I’ll bring her in when she comes home. Thanks, boss.”

I paced the fence line until I caught sight of Erika exiting her house ten minutes later. She saw me motion for her to come over.

“You’ve been avoiding me for two weeks,” she said warily, “and now you want me to come over?” Her face paled at the expression on my face. “What is it? Is something wrong with Chloe or Darren?”

“Chloe’s ex is here in the city,” I said. “I don’t want to leave this house until I can get Chloe to come with me to the police station to file a restraining order.”

Erika’s mouth formed an “O” before looking down the street in the direction Luke had driven off.

“That was him? I had no idea. I would’ve called the cops if I’d known.”

“He came in the middle of the day for a reason,” I said darkly. “He was hoping to catch Chloe off guard. I don’t have to tell you that.”

“No,” Erika said, “you don’t. I’ll pick up Darren from school. Don’t you worry about that. I’ll have Ian keep an eye out too.”

I nodded.

“Thanks, Erika.”

I waited to call Chloe until after Erika drove off to pick up our children from school. I had no idea where she was, but I needed to find her fast. She answered on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” I barked out. “Don’t come back to your house. Just tell me where you are.”

“What’s going on?” Chloe asked, alarm filling her voice. “You never call me on my phone. I’m just about to drop my mom off back at her retirement community in Lone Tree.”

“Luke is here,” I said, and a heavy silence followed. “I found him outside your house while you were gone. He was trying to find you.”

“Oh my god,” she said. “The restraining order. It must’ve—”

“That’s why he was here,” I said. “Drive straight to the police station. Bring your mother if you have too. I’ll meet you there.”

“What are you going to do? There’s nothing we can do, is there?”

“You can file a stalking complaint. You’ll get a temporary restraining order from the police before seeing a judge. Just meet me there.”

“Okay. I will.”

Chloe pulled into the parking lot a few minutes after I arrived. I half expected her mother to be tagging along, but the passenger seat was empty.

“I haven’t told her what’s going on yet,” she said when I looked at her in confusion. “Luke won’t mess with her, because he knows she’ll call the cops the second she sees him. He’s afraid of her.” Her lips curved up into a bitter smile. “Which is ironic because my mother is frail compared to me.”

I took a hold of Chloe’s hand. “Everything will be fine,” I assured her. I pulled her in the direction we needed to go. “We’ll talk to my boss about this. He’ll give you the direction you need.”

“What about Darren?” Chloe asked, clutching my hand tightly. “Where is he?”

“Erika will watch him until I get back,” I said.

An hour later, Chloe stepped out of the station to call her mother. Her face was pulled tight and visibly pale from the ordeal. Gone was her cheerful spark. A cold fear had taken its place.

“She means a lot to you,” Nicholas said, coming to stand next to me by the window, from which I was watching her in the parking lot. “I’ve never seen you worked up over someone before besides Darren. Not even your ex-wife.”

I shifted uncomfortably at the observation. “It’s different this time is all.”

“Either way, I hope she gets some peace out of this situation. She lives next to you, so she should rest easy.”

He clapped me on the shoulder briefly before returning to his office. I gathered my wallet and keys from where I had tossed them on the desk. I chatted briefly with a few coworkers before going out to the parking lot.

“So, they’ll hand him the restraining order, right?” Chloe asked, chewing on the pad of her thumb nervously.

“When they find him, yes,” I said, noting the frantic look in her eyes. “Come in my truck. Your car will be fine here for a few days. I’ll make sure of it.”

Chloe didn’t argue. She sat rigidly in utter silence as we drove back to my house. I let Chloe inside before checking around her house for any signs of Luke. Nothing. Ian came across the street when I locked Chloe’s front door.

“He drove by once an hour ago,” Ian said. “He’s a bit agitated too from what I saw. You got her over to the police station, right?”

I rubbed at my face in exhaustion. “Yes, and he’ll be even more agitated after that. Thanks for watching Darren, too. Is he okay?”

“Perfectly fine,” he replied. “Outside playing with Julie. We’ll keep him over too until things settle down.”

“Thank you. I’ll call later to wish him a good night.”

I found Chloe sitting on the edge of my bed, playing with her fingertips absently. I sat down next to her, wrapped an arm around her petite shoulders, and tugged her into me. She fell against me without a fight.

“Everything will be fine,” I said. “I can promise you that.”

“I hope so,” she said glumly. “I can’t ever seem to escape him.”

“You will,” I said, rubbing her shoulders. “Even if I have to do something about it, you will get away from him.”