Amaya

The next morning Paul woke them up again with a delicious breakfast before announcing he was going to show them around the town. After going through the three-ring circus that it took to get Peyton ready to go anywhere, they piled in Paul’s black Range Rover and took off into a beautiful, warm summer morning. While Paul and Peyton chatted, Amaya looked out the window and let her thoughts drift to the message Kelly had left her last night. So far, there had been no sign of her stalker, which was both a good and bad thing. Good, because maybe he’d moved on. Bad, because they were no closer to catching him.

All they had was his false name, Rob Robertson, the identity he’d used to register for her yoga classes. It felt weird to call him by a false name, so she stuck to mentally thinking of him as her stalker, not Rob. She vaguely remembered him, but he’d always kept to himself and given off ‘don’t touch me’ vibes. He was very average, middle aged, kind of balding, slightly overweight with dark blond hair. He wasn’t particularly athletic but the beginner class he’d been in wasn’t very strenuous. Not the kind of guy she’d picture as being her stalker, but evidently, they were almost positive he was the guy the FBI was looking for. Either way, Kelly recommended Amaya plan on staying in Michigan for at least a few more months.

Normally, she’d be depressed by the news, but she had to admit she looked forward to spending more time with Paul. He was nice, really nice, and she wasn’t going to lie and say she wasn’t deeply attracted to him. Maybe she could pretend she was a normal woman without the burden of her past for just a little while. Someone who could look forward to having a future and a relationship. Regardless of her confusing feelings for Paul, she needed to provide Peyton with as good of a life as possible while they were here. Plus, she felt much better having Paul around to help watch over Peyton. Her thoughts were pulled back to the present as the stopped at the first light she’d seen on the ride from Paul’s house into town.

She had to admit, despite her negative first impressions of the place, Green Haven was a quaint village with a friendly vibe that made her feel welcome.

The downtown area was situated between two good sized hills in a wide valley along the coast. With a population of just over twenty thousand it wasn’t big by any means, but large enough to have a decent sized downtown with a lot of shopping options. They passed a Target on the way in, but once they reached town, all the shops were of the small business variety and seemed to be doing a brisk business on this pretty Friday morning. There were a few empty store fronts and she found herself idly wondering how much their rent was. Maybe she could look into teaching a class twice a week while she was up here—just something to keep her in shape and on her yoga game. When Paul eased the Range Rover into a space in front of a furniture store, she turned to him as he slipped on his sunglasses.

“What are we doing here?”

“Getting Peyton some furniture for her room. The stuff I’ve got in there is old and beat up from when I was a kid. I’ll give it to my younger cousin Kyle who can use it for college next fall and get Peyton something she likes.”

After getting out of the car, she met him at Peyton’s door as he unbuckled her seatbelt. “Paul, you don’t have to do this. Whatever you have is fine.”

“No, it’s not fine.” He set Peyton on the ground then shut the door and turned to them. “Let me do this Amaya, please.”

“But why? We may not even be here for that long.”

His jaw clenched, but he nodded. “While you are here, I want you to feel relaxed in my house. Welcome, because you are. I want you both to be comfortable and happy.”

It was a sweet thing to say, and she tried to keep her wits about her as her stomach did that pleasurable flutter again. “That’s very nice of you, but that still doesn’t explain why you’re going to all this trouble.”

“Hasn’t anyone ever treated you and your daughter the way you deserve?”

“The way we deserve? What are you talking about?”

He took a step closer, his broad chest filling her vision as the air around her scented with his cologne. “That right there tells me all I need to know.”

“You are a very confusing man.”

“Nope, just determined.”

Paul grabbed her hand in his own as Peyton took his other big paw and they made their way into the cool brick interior of the furniture store. Tasteful lighting displayed rows upon rows of sofas, tables, and easy chairs while the scent of new fabric and leather teased her nose. Small clusters of people browsed the store and it was surprisingly busy. From across the room, a tall, pretty blonde woman called out, “Bulldog, so nice to see you.”

Amaya took in the very, very welcoming smile on the woman’s face that melted off the second she registered how close Amaya and Peyton were standing to him. Without a doubt, Paul was a catch, and Amaya was pretty sure every single woman in town would love to be the one to land him. Smart, rich, handsome, and kind—he was the type of guy women would push down their best friends to get to.

“Hey, Helen.” Paul’s grip on Amaya tightened while the blonde woman looked at their joined hands with a slightly stunned expression. “Is Gino here?”

“He’s around here somewhere.” She gave Paul an openly flirty smile. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Nah, I’ll find Gino. Thanks.”

The obvious disappointment in the other woman’s eyes made Amaya feel almost bad for the blonde as they walked away. Paul still hadn’t let go of her hand, despite her tugging, and Peyton was having a great time looking at all the furniture. She seemed to find the idea of all these premade living rooms fascinating and wanted to stop at each one, but Paul managed to keep them moving. When they reached a portion of the store that seemed to be devoted to water walls, of all things, they found a very good looking, dark-haired man dressed in a black suit. The crisp white dress shirt he wore beneath was unbuttoned at the top, revealing a glimpse of his tanned throat. When he caught sight of them, his dark gaze, very similar to Paul’s, went from Paul, to Amaya and Peyton, and back to Paul again.

Unlike the blond woman, Gino’s smile grew bigger as he spotted their linked hands. By the time they reached him, he wasn’t bothering to hide his appreciative, flirty gaze. And the smile he gave her was definitely more than friendly.

Paul cleared his throat, drawing the man’s attention away from Amaya. “Hey, Bulldog, how can I help you?”

“I need a little girl’s bedroom set for this beautiful young lady.”

Peyton hid slightly behind Paul as Gino sank down onto his haunches before her. “Hi, my name is Gino. What’s yours?”

“Peyton,” her daughter replied with a small smile, charmed by the handsome man.

“Nice to meet you.” He stood and extended his hand to Amaya, his tone completely different but just as friendly as he murmured in a sultry voice, “Hello, what have we here?”

Unable to help herself, she burst out laughing. “Oh my God, did you just use a Lando Calrissian line on me?”

“You know Star Wars quotes? I think I’m in love.” Gino turned to Paul. “Is she yours?”

Amaya said, “No,” at the same time that Paul said, “Yes.”

Confused, she turned to glare at Paul, but found him giving Gino a look she couldn’t decipher. “She’s taken.”

“I’m not taken!” She flushed hot red as people nearby turned to stare at the crazy woman shouting in the water wall section.

Paul ignored her and smiled down at Peyton. “You ready to pick out your new bed, princess?”

“Ready!” Peyton screeched while jumping around, giving Paul the distraction he needed to avoid her question.

She finally managed to jerk her hand away from his, after a rather visible struggle that seemed to amuse Gino greatly. Amaya tried to ignore the fact that the Helen woman was on the other side of the store, staring daggers at her.

Gino must have noticed as well, because he excused himself while Peyton examined a bunkbed and went over to talk to Helen. Whatever he said didn’t sit well with the blonde woman, because she stormed off. When Gino noticed Amaya watching, he gave her a charming smile and quickly made his way back.

“Amaya,” Paul said, “Peyton asked you a question.”

Tearing her eyes away from the retreating figure of Helen, she smiled at her daughter. “Sorry, honey. What did you say?”

“Isn’t this bed pretty?”

She examined the white bunkbed with pink geometric roses painted on the headboard and footboard. “It’s beautiful.”

Paul stood close enough that she could smell his cologne, feel his heat. “Does it meet your approval for Peyton?”

She startled when he grasped her hand in his again. “Peyton, stay here for a second. I want to show Mr. Paul a nice table. We’ll be right over there.”

After leading them to a bedroom across the aisle from where Peyton lay back on the mattress of the lower bunk, she tried to pull her hand from his. “What are you doing? What is this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you serious? Why are you being so nice to me? To us? This isn’t normal.”

His face hardened. “I’m sorry you feel that way. You see, in my world being nice to someone who clearly needs it is normal.”

“Clearly needs it? Do you think I’m a charity case? I have a very healthy bank account, thank you.”

Obviously frustrated, he rubbed the top of his head, and she noticed he’d shaved recently. She admired the way his head was shaped, out of all things, and wondered what his skin felt like now. When he’d kissed her before, he had stubble covering his jaw. Now he was smooth and perfect. Even though he was being a pain in the butt she still wanted to kiss him.

However, all thoughts of kissing him flew out the window when he said, “Please tell me you aren’t one of those women who get off on bullshit drama.”

She reared back. “Bullshit drama? Buddy, you have no idea what real drama is.”

“What? This? This is real drama?” He shook his head, his disappointment in her clear. “You’re telling me that to you real drama is someone trying to make things right when you got fucked over with your housing situation? Real drama is some guy opening his home to you, giving you his bed, making sure you’re taken care of? Doing everything he can to let you know he wants you in his life any way he can get you?”

“You don’t know the first damn thing about me.” She struck out, irrationally hurting, all the tension of the past years boiling over in a long, angry whisper. “Give me a break. I’ve been through shit that would break you, and I did it alone. All alone, while you had your family to bail you out when things got tough. I. Was. Alone. What the hell is your problem? You obviously have some kind of savior complex, so I’ll let you off the hook. We don’t need to be saved. We don’t need anyone, especially you.”

He got into her space and she backed up, her knees hitting the back of a large sleigh bed, forcing her to sit down as he loomed over her. “You know what? My mom said you were one of the nicest people she’d ever met, but she obviously never saw the real you.”

“The real me?”

“Glad you showed it to me before I got sucked in by the beauty on the surface. I can’t deal with this. The last fucking thing I need in my life is a someone who gets off on mind games.” His gaze hardened, and she got a cold chill up her spine. “I’m getting Peyton that bedroom set, but after that, I’ll take you back and pack my shit.”

“Mind games? What are you talking about?”

“I’m going to stay at the cottage and work on it while you and Peyton stay at the house.”

“No, Paul—”

He just shook his head and turned away, heading toward a waiting Peyton who greeted him with a smile. Her chest ached as her daughter giggled at something Paul said, her dark eyes sparkling. Amaya struggled to hold back her tears and wondered what the hell had just happened.