Chapter Twenty-One

Ian

I was even more grateful for my job after talking to Raymond, and I spent the rest of Monday with my head down. Thankfully the walk had done me good, and so had speaking to Ian. I came back to work with a fierce determination. I wasn’t going to let Raymond take over my life again. I was finally in a good place, and nothing was going to stop me. Mae had suggested that I spend Monday night with her, and I’d gratefully accepted. The two of us had stayed up late eating ice cream straight from the tub and watching comedy shows. Every now and again, I’d think about Raymond knowing where I was, or my mother not believing my story, and I’d feel the weight of sadness and fear on my shoulders. But for the most part, I was able to put it behind me.

Mae had come with me to my apartment that morning, and we’d made sure that Raymond was nowhere to found. I changed into new clothes, locked the door, and then headed out to work with her. Mae was great company to have, and the following day at work things were busier than usual. I wondered if Mae had asked John to keep me busy, because he seemed to be acting a bit strange toward me. But I decided not to ask or to care. The more work, the better. And I went through almost the entire day without really thinking about my problems. At the end of the day, I grabbed my bag and went over to say goodbye to Mae.

“Another busy day,” I said. “I just wanted to say thank you for last night. It meant the world to me, and it was exactly what I needed. I think we might’ve eaten our weight in ice cream, though.”

She laughed. “I know. I’m going to need to work it off. Are you coming back with me? I just need to finish sending this email, and then I’m good to go.”

I shook my head. As nice as the offer was, I couldn’t hide away forever. I told her so. “And anyway, I asked Ian to come over tonight. So at least if anything happens, he’ll be there.”

“Oh good. For once, I approve of having Ian around. Gunner is the perfect man to have around in times like this. Raymond will take one look at him and run away.”

“I like how you’re using Ian and Gunner interchangeably now,” I said.

She laughed. “I try my best. Anyway, I’m glad he’s going to be there, Eliza. But if you need anything, you let me know okay.”

I nodded. “I will. And thank you. Unfortunately, I can’t hide out forever. But I’ll put you on speed dial for sure. Hopefully he won’t come, anyway. Now that he knows I’m all the way in Arizona, he might just leave me alone.”

Mae looked doubtful, but she nodded regardless. “I sure hope so.”

The moment I got home, I saw that Ian was waiting for me. I’d been hoping to have time to shower and change before he arrived, but he was at least an hour earlier than I thought he’d be.

“Looks like I beat you to it,” he said and grinned. “Hi, Lashes.”

“Hey, Gunner,” I said and immediately blushed. Why did he have that effect on me? “Thanks for coming. I hope you weren’t waiting too long?”

“Nah, only about an hour and a half.”

“What? Are you serious? Oh no, I’m so sorry. You should’ve called me.”

He laughed. “Nah, just kidding. I literally just got here.”

I punched him lightly on the arm, and he pulled me in for a kiss.

“Asshole,” I said.

I opened the door and let him in.

“So, I thought since you’re always taking me out, that I’d cook you dinner.”

“You can cook?” he asked. “I thought you just baked amazing cookies.”

“I do bake amazing cookies, and if you’re lucky, you might get some later. And can I cook? Not all that well. But I do know how to make a mean chicken curry.”

“Curry? Nice. It’s the one thing I can’t make and exactly the sort of thing I feel like tonight.”

“You’re easy to please,” I said. “And I’m glad you like curry because I had no plan B.”

“You never need a plan B when it comes to me. I told you, I like most food.”

“Oh yeah? Is there anything you don’t like? You know, for future reference. Also, what would you like to drink? I have red wine, white wine, and beer.”

“A beer would be great. And let’s see,” he said and followed me into the kitchen. I handed him a beer and poured myself a glass of wine, and the two of us went to sit in the living room while he continued to think about what food he didn’t like.

“Are you seriously still thinking about the question? There must be something you don’t like.”

“I think I like everything. Oh, wait—cinnamon. I’m not a fan of cinnamon. But then again, I’d probably still eat it without complaint.”

I laughed. “Good to know. And thanks for coming over, by the way. I know it was short notice.”

“It’s no problem at all. Can I ask you a question?”

“Yeah, of course. Ask away. I’m an open book!” I said.

He raised his eyebrows. “Are you?”

“What do you mean? Of course I am.”

“You are, for the most part. But I get the feeling that something is going on in your life that you’re not telling me about.”

I looked at Ian in surprise. Here was a guy who hardly knew me, and yet he’d picked up on the fact that something was wrong in my life.

“You’re pretty good with people; you know that?”

His eyes widened. “Seriously? You’re the first person that has ever said that to me. I’m terrible with people.”

“You’re actually not. When you let your guard down, you’re actually one of the easiest guys in the world to talk to. And you’re right, by the way; something is going on in my life. It’s sort of why I invited you over tonight. I mean, obviously I want to see you too. But I kind of wanted you here because of my ex-boyfriend.”

“Why? Is he dangerous?”

I thought about that. Never in my life would I ever have considered Raymond to be dangerous. But then, he had started hitting me on numerous occasions.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But the reason I came to Arizona was because I was running away from him. The whole job thing was purely coincidental. They’d offered me the job, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to take it. Then I got home and Raymond, that’s my ex-boyfriend, came home drunk and tried to hit me.”

“He tried to hit you?” Ian said in shock.

“Yeah. It had happened before. A few times. Anyway, that time it got stopped before getting too bad. He was so drunk that he tripped and passed out on the couch. Which gave me just enough time to gather my things and move to Arizona. I went straight to the job, and spent the next two nights in my car as I had nowhere to stay. Mae found out and let me crash by her, and then I got this place. And slowly but surely I’ve been getting my life back together again. I’ve been so proud of myself, you know,” I said. My words caught at the end of the sentence and I started to cry. I quickly wiped away my tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to cry.”

“It’s okay. You can cry. So what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

I told him all about the phone call with my mother and how she thought the world of Raymond and decided that he could do no wrong.

“She didn’t believe you? That’s crazy.”

“Yeah. I mean, I guess she just doesn’t want to believe that he’d do something like that to me. He can be very charming and persuasive when he wants to be. I see through it now, but for a long time, I didn’t. So I guess I understand where she’s coming from.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re her daughter! She should believe you, and not him!”

I sighed. He was right. I was making excuses for my mother. But I couldn’t help myself.

“Yeah, I know. I know. Anyway, she went and told him where I had moved to. I’m not sure how many details she told him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he now has my exact address as well as my place of work. I really didn’t want him to know. I guess I should’ve told my mother about all of this before, but I didn’t want her to worry. And I told her that we had broken up. I didn’t think that he would go and see her and that she would spill the beans on the whole thing.”

“You think he’s going to come and hurt you?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what he’s going to do. I’m trying not to think about it. I mean, I can’t. I have to live my life. Maybe he won’t even come. But I . . . I just wanted you here with me tonight.”

“I’m sleeping over!” Ian announced.

“What? You don’t need to do that.”

“I know. But I’m going to.”

I smiled. I didn’t want to argue with that. The thought of Ian with me all night made me feel so much better. “Thank you. Now, can we change the subject? Because I really don’t want to talk about Raymond anymore. The only thing that I want to do is heat up your curry.”

“Heat it up? I thought you made it yourself.”

“I did. My recipe makes so much. I made this a few days ago and had so much leftover that I had to freeze the rest. So all I have to do is heat it up and we’re good to go.”

“Then there really is no proof that you made it yourself, is there?”

I laughed. “Nope. Only my word. If you like it, I’ll make it again, and you can watch me.”

He grinned. “Oh, I do like the sound of that.”

Dinner with Ian was wonderful. He was kind enough not to bring up Raymond anymore. Instead, we spoke about everything else under the sun. I wasn’t sure why he thought he wasn’t a people person. To me, he was the sweetest man in the world. I wondered if it had to do with the club that he belonged to. Perhaps there was a need to be seen in a certain way, even if he wasn’t like that at all. Or perhaps he really was a hot-shot with everyone else, and simply only kind to me. I didn’t mind. He was good to me, and that was all that counted. I liked that I could see how nice he was. But I also loved his rough exterior. He was a walking contradiction in all the best ways.

“That was amazing. Thank you,” he said.

“I’m glad you liked it.”

“I still don’t believe you made it, you know.”

“Is that just an excuse for me to cook you some more?”

He laughed. “I just need proof, that’s all.”

“I’ll think about it.”

I chuckled and stood up to clear the plates. He tried to help me, but I insisted on doing it myself. He was my guest, after all. I took the plates over to the kitchen and popped them in the sink. I was just about to wash them when Ian appeared behind me. He put his hands on my hips and whispered in my ear.

“You’re safe with me, Eliza.”

I turned around and smiled at him. I was just about to thank him, but I couldn’t talk because his mouth was already on mine.