Chapter 19

Tate

“Is she all right? What happened?” I was on my feet and moving across the dimly lit waiting room as soon as Jana stepped through the door.

“She’s a little banged up, Tate, but she’s fine. I didn’t get to stay long because the cops are in with her. They’re pretty sure her car was tampered with.”

I couldn’t swallow past the lump in my throat at hearing that someone had done this to her. “This is all my fucking fault.” I put an arm around Jana and led her to the seat beside Max, who watched his woman with worry in his eyes.

Jana groaned and smacked my chest. “Yeah, Tate, this is all about you.”

I grinned at her show of levity, appreciative. “Seriously, I was an ass. Got too much in my own damn head and just walked out while she was in the shower. She knew what the fuck I was doing, probably better than I did at the time, and so she went home. Giving whoever this asshole is, a perfect chance to target her.” It pissed me off that I let those fucking cops get inside my head, because this was the end result.

Jana sighed and grabbed my hand. “Teddy is her own woman, Tate. We offered her a place to stay and she refused us too. This psycho is out to get her so what’s important is that we find him! Or them.” She shook her head as tears fell down her cheeks. Max wrapped his big arms around her and I stepped back, looking out the window as fat, round drops of rain fell to the ground.

All I could think about was it was a good thing the accident had happened before the rain came or else her injuries might have been worse. It wasn’t much to be grateful for, but all of it seemed too perfect, or too perfectly timed.

“Shit, of course!”

Jana and Max’s gaze both found mine and I chuckled, walking out of the waiting room in search of Teddy.

Teddy who was ignoring me and had no desire to see me.

Well she would now, because her safety depended on it. She was buried in pillows gazing through the half-closed blinds when I walked in, so lost in thought she didn’t even hear me enter. “Teddy. I’m glad you’re all right.”

She tensed and slowly turned her head so I could see the anger and hurt, the disappointment in her big, blue eyes. “Tate. I’m fine.” She pulled the covers up to her chin with her one good hand.

I grinned. “Sorry sweetheart, but not from where I’m standing.”

“I’m also not your problem.” She spit out. It really was too bad that she couldn’t cross her arms because the defiant tilt of her chin was adorable. And sexy.

“I can understand why you think that, and you have every right to be pissed off and ignore me all you want. But later. Right now, I need to keep you safe.”

She groaned.

“No, don’t say anything. You’re not a problem. Ever. So tell me Teddy, are you going to shut up so I can apologize or are you going to answer my questions?”

I could see the indecision in her eyes. She wanted me to apologize and to mean it, but she’d never do anything that might resemble asking for an apology.

“Ask your damn questions.”

I grinned at her fiery temper. A redhead to her core. “Okay. I need you tell me everything that happened from the moment you left my house.”

“After you disappeared, I packed my things and went home. The workers were still there and I got a few things done, including a security consult.” She went on and on about the mundane tasks that filled her day and when she got to the breaking glass, something became clear.

Someone had waited until she was as vulnerable as possible to maximize her terror. “Have you noticed anyone following you, or seen the same car in different, random places?”

She shook her head, wincing and pinching her eyes closed at the pain. “No. And I have been looking, being cautious and even taking different routes.”

I smiled because she was actually listening even though she’d pretended not to at the time. “When did you notice something was wrong with your car?”

“Not until maybe a minute or two before I realized something was wrong. The noise wasn’t noticeable, not really, so I turned down the radio to listen. It vibrated a little more and then the brake pedal went down too easy but nothing happened.” She was starting to get upset, remembering and I felt like an ass all over again. “I’ve been busy, Tate. Between the party, the work on my house and the psycho stalker, I’ve been a little preoccupied.”

“No one is blaming you, Teddy. I’m sorry I left the way I did and I know you won’t believe me, but it had nothing to do with you. Spending time in there with the cops did a number on my fucking head and I had to get away.”

“Sure,” she snorted, which told me clearly what she thought of my apology. Or my excuse, I wasn’t really sure. “It doesn’t matter, Tate. You don’t owe me anything. Including an apology.”

She wouldn’t listen, not now. But that didn’t mean I’d give up. If we were nothing else, Teddy and I had become friends and my behavior had betrayed that friendship. “Maybe I don’t, but I want to be a better person than that for you. You deserve more.”

She scoffed. “I have exactly what I deserve, Tate. Believe me.”

I didn’t believe it, but I knew arguing the point with her now would only make her angrier. “How long are they keeping you?”

“At least another night. I might have a concussion and since I have no one to watch me safely, they’re keeping me.” Her words weren’t accidental, we both knew it, but I don’t think she meant it to hurt. To Teddy, it was just a fact.

“And?”

She shrugged. “I have a sprained ankle and a broken arm, so I’ll take the rest of today to figure something out. You should probably go check on Jana and Max.”

“They weren’t in a fucking car accident!”

“Don’t yell at me, Tate! Who fucking asked you to come, anyway?”

There was the fiery beast I knew she hid within her. “Not you, because you would never admit such a weakness as needing someone, would you?”

“What would be the point of needing people when they just leave? I’ll stick with myself since I know I won’t let me down.” She sucked in a deep breath, her pain written in every line drawn across her face. Watching her struggle to reach the call button tore me up and I went to her, placing it in her hand.

“Thanks,” she growled at me, clearly not thankful.

“I won’t let you down, Teddy. You might hate me forever, but I promise I won’t ever let you down again.”

She yawned. “Hating you wouldn’t help anything. Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself.” I guessed me being here exhausted her because her voice got weak as she drifted off to sleep.

I stood to leave just as a nurse was about to enter with a tray full of nurse shit. I held the door for her and watched as she walked over to sleeping beauty. She must not have realized Teddy was in la la land because I heard her say, “Ms. Quinton, we have painkillers for you that won’t harm the baby! And of course your prenatal vitamins.” Her voice was chipper but her words sounded so foreign I figured I had to be experiencing a fatigue-induced hallucination.

Because if I wasn’t, then that nurse just said Teddy was pregnant.

Only Teddy hadn’t said a word to me about it.

Because the baby wasn’t mine? Or, because I wasn’t the kind of man she wanted to raise a child with?