by Ivy Smoak
"I just mean, with his list of priors I don't doubt you'll be filling one against him in your near future."
Fuck you. I didn't lose my temper as easily as James, but I wanted to punch this guy in the face. "You know, I'm pretty sure James donates a lot of money to the New York City police department. He might reconsider that now."
Officer Daugherty laughed. "Great. We'll make sure to put your blackmail case with missing suspects at the top of the priority list," he said sarcastically and turned back to his computer.
I should have kept my mouth shut. "I hope you have a great weekend," I said as nicely as I could muster as I walked after James. He wasn't in the waiting area. I walked outside and blinked from the bright sun. James was pacing on the sidewalk, yelling something into his phone. I ran over to him.
"James."
He put his finger up. "No, not in half an hour. Now." He hung up his phone as he ran his hand through his hair.
"Are you okay? James, I don't think there was anything he could do. That's just how restraining orders work."
"That guy was an asshole."
"Yeah, maybe. But you can't call him an ass to his face. He's a police officer."
"Freedom of speech, Penny."
"No. That's insulting a police officer. He probably could have arrested you for that."
He lowered both his eyebrows.
"Take a deep breath, okay?"
He laughed.
"James, this isn't funny. They don't believe Isabella did it. They think it was Tyler. I don't even know if they believed us."
"Because they're fucking idiots!" He gestured rudely to the building.
"Get in the car before you get us arrested." I shoved his shoulder.
When I climbed into my side, James had his forehead resting on the steering wheel. I gave him a second to calm down before I touched his arm. "So, what now?"
He lifted his head and ran his hands down his face. "I called my security detail."
"You really think she'd try to hurt us?"
"I have no idea. All she cares about is status. And as soon as we get married, her status goes down."
"Didn't it go down when you two got divorced?"
"She played the whole divorce card really well. The whole, 'woe is me' thing really worked in her favor especially after everyone found out I was dating a student. The press ate it up."
"I didn't think people actually believed her."
"People believe whatever they want to believe."
I looked out the window. I knew that. That's why I had to transfer to NYCU in the middle of college. I could feel James' eyes on me. I knew what he was thinking. He didn't have to say anything. "He didn't have anything to do with it, James."
He put his hand on my knee. "If you're sure, I'm sure."
I turned my head toward him. "I'm sure."
He nodded.
"I may have said something to Officer Daugherty about how you'd be reconsidering your generous donations to the police force. And he may have insinuated that our case was now a low priority. I'm sorry." There was no need to talk about why I had snapped. This wasn't the time for that. I'd ask James about his record later.
James laughed. "I kind of figured that about our case anyway. My private investigator is coming by the apartment in about half an hour. I wanted to make sure he saw the pictures and notes before the police took them."
"You have a private investigator?"
James nodded.
"And a security detail?"
He nodded again.
"Have you ever used them before?"
"I've used the private investigator to help get Isabella to sign the divorce papers. And I may have gotten him to give me some information about you before we started dating."
I laughed. But it didn't look like he was kidding. "Seriously?"
"It's not like I found anything out. Like I said earlier, you don't have a record or anything. All he got me was that you were a good student and your home address or something like that."
I shook my head. "You're so ridiculous. And what about the security detail? Have you used them before?"
"I use them all the time."
"Since we've been together?"
"Especially since we've been together."
"Why have I never seen them before then?"
"I pay them to not be seen. But they'll be swinging by the apartment too. I'll want you to know who they are if you see something or if you feel like you're in danger."
"What do they do exactly?"
"They do hourly perimeter checks outside our apartment and office. And they attend any functions we go to. They were even at the party my parents threw us."
"Wait, really? Where were they when Isabella slapped me?"
"Isabella hadn't been on the list of potential threats. We probably should have told Officer Daugherty that she hit you. He might have taken us more seriously then."
"List of potential threats?" I asked, ignoring his comment about being slapped. Officer Daugherty definitely wasn't going to help us now either way. "Who is on the list?"
"Just a handful of people."
"Like...who?"
"They're just possible threats, Penny. It's nothing serious."
"Who's on the list?"
He shifted in his seat. "Only a few people. Joseph Moreno, the CEO of an online security company I had to fire for security breaches. He wasn't happy with the loss of the Blive Tech account, and made some disturbing promises that I hope he doesn't deliver on. Richard Sutton, who filed a lawsuit against me after he claimed I stole his idea. I didn't, by the way. Brian Vega, who founded a startup that I buried when I launched Hunter Tech. His technology advancements were outdated as soon as we launched. I've gotten death threats from him. Albert Dalton, who owns an oil company. One I definitely wasn't invested in. He sends me threatening letters sometimes about how I'm ruining the economy by looking for new energy sources. Marc Hatfield, a Harvard acquaintance who's always asking me for money. I actually have no idea who he is. I'm pretty sure he's crazy. And Kristen Dwyer. It's really not a big deal. It's just in case. I like to be proactive."
"Kristen Dwyer? Who is that?"
"Just a student I had that I thought was stalking me. I should probably remove her from the list. It was a long time ago."
"From New York or Newark?"
"Newark. I had her the same time I was teaching you actually."
"And you thought she was stalking you?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she was. But she has a boyfriend now and I really don't think she's a threat anymore."
"Did your private investigator find that out for you?"
"No, actually, I ran into her during my bachelor party."
"Did she follow you there?"
He laughed. "No, she was there for her friend's bachelorette party. By the way, did Rob tell you about Daphne yet?"
"Daphne? No. I was too self-absorbed last night. You know, crying everywhere and missing you."
He grabbed my hand. "Well, you're going to like her. I think she's coming to the rehearsal dinner tonight."
"Wait, Rob is dating someone?"
"You sound surprised."
"Of course I'm surprised. He never stays in one place for more than five minutes. He must really like her."
"I think he does. And she's good for him. She seems really grounded. He needs that."
I smiled. "I think you're right about that. Maybe he's finally ready for some roots. Is she from New York?"
"Yeah, she lives like fifteen minutes away from us.
"That's even better. It would be awesome if Rob moved to New York. Besides, the girls he was chasing on campus were much too young for him."
James laughed. "Maybe it's a Hunter thing."
I pressed my lips together and shook my head. "Maybe." I scooted over in my seat and leaned my head against James' shoulder.
He immediately put his arm around me.
"I love you so much, James."
He kissed my temple. "Tha
nk you for forgiving me. Thank you for giving me another chance. I love you too."
His arm had tightened around me when he spoke. Isabella had gotten into his head too. I could tell that he was still struggling with the fact that he thought his love was twisted with addiction because of her. But that was okay. We'd work through that together. I had my whole life to convince him that what we had was purely love. I had my whole life to convince him just how amazing he was.
Chapter 7
Friday
"Penny!" Bee yelled as she jumped off a chair and tossed Mason the streamers. She ran over and threw her arms around me. "Why didn't you call me? I was so worried about you. I left you like a hundred texts."
It was so good to see her. I had convinced myself I had lost her friendship. I immediately hugged her back. "I just...I thought if James broke up with me..."
"What? That I wouldn't be your friend anymore? Are you crazy?" She held me at arm's length. "Penny, you're one of my best friends. No matter what."
"Thanks, Bee."
"I can't believe you didn't think you could talk to me." She hugged me again. "I'm always here for you. Always."
I couldn't help it. I had felt so alone last night and this morning. To know that the friends I thought I lost were still my friends made the tears flow again. My chosen family was still choosing me back. I was so full I couldn't help but burst.
"Welcome back, Penny." I felt Mason's hand on my back.
Bee released me from her hug so I could look up at Mason. "Thanks, Mason. I'm sorry I hung up on you this morning. I didn't want to walk away. I didn't..."
He laughed. "I know that. I was trying to guilt trip you."
I wiped underneath my eyes. "Well it worked. You know me so well."
"Don't cry, Penny." He leaned down and hugged me hard. "Just for the record though, I'll always have your back."
"I know. And thanks for being with James last night when I couldn't be."
"I would never let anything happen to him either. Family, Penny." He patted my back and released me from his hug. He gave me a warm smile that just made me cry even more.
How did I get this lucky?
"Don't make her cry again," James said. "I'm pretty sure she's already dehydrated."
"Yeah, because of you, asshole," Mason said and tossed the roll of streamers at him. He winked at me.
"Why was no one on my side last night?" James said.
"Because you're an idiot," Rob said. He patted James' shoulder as he walked over to me. "Told ya you'd be back in time," he said to me with a smile.
"Thanks for everything, Rob." I stood on my tiptoes as I threw my arms around his neck.
"That's what family is for."
"You know what I mean," I whispered in his ear. "For being there when you didn't have to be."
"That's what family is for," he said again and kissed my cheek. "And you're super hot when you've been walking around in the rain."
"Rob!" I laughed as I released his neck and lightly punched his shoulder. "I heard you're dating someone."
He smiled. "I'm assuming James told you that?"
"Mhm. Why didn't you?"
"Because you were upset last night. I didn't think it was the right time to brag about my new relationship. Especially when you were convinced that you weren't part of the family anymore. Which was ridiculous."
"You look happy."
He smiled. "I am. She's...really something."
"Is she coming tonight?"
"Yeah. I mean, if that's okay. James said..."
"Of course it's okay. I can't wait to meet her."
"I think you're going to like her."
"Does this mean you aren't going to say super inappropriate things about me anymore?" I made a pouty face.
Rob laughed. "No one can stop me from doing that. It's our thing."
"Our thing?"
"Yeah, our thing. I say hilarious stuff and you pretend to be upset about it."
I laughed. "Right." I laughed again as James wrapped his arms around me from behind.
"We have an hour before we have to be at the rehearsal, so we need to finish this in forty minutes," Bee said and clapped her hands.
"Where's Matt?" I asked.
"He went to go buy more streamers," Bee said. "Can you try to get a hold of Melissa? We could really use her help. She's not returning any of my texts. And Jen should be here any minute. Ian left like an hour and a half ago to go pick her up. I'm not sure what's taking them so long."
"Okay, I'll give Melissa a call. What else do you want us to do?"
Bee smiled. "Go get ready. Relax. We got this." She picked up a roll of streamers off the ground.
"Come with me," James whispered in my ear. He grabbed my hand and led me toward the stairs. As I walked up the stairs, I glanced over my shoulder at my friends decorating our apartment. Yes, I was lucky. And I was so happy to be home.
James lead me into our bedroom and then the bathroom. He dropped my hand and pulled his shirt off.
"I should call Melissa. She'll want to know what's going on."
"Not right now." He turned on the shower.
"James, we should really be helping them decorate. And making sure everything's set for tonight."
"We can do all that. But first, we both need a shower. We need to relax. We need to unwind from earlier." He grabbed the bottom of my dress and pushed it up my thighs.
I lifted my arms in the air as he pulled it the rest of the way off.
"Besides," he said and kissed the side of my neck. "Our friends have got it covered." He unhooked my bra and pushed my thong down my hips.
"What about Officer Kemp? And your investigator? And..."
He put his finger to my lips. "We're getting married tomorrow. Let's just take this one moment to focus on that." He pushed his shorts and boxers to the floor and stepped into the shower.
I bit my lip. I did need to shower. And get ready. And about a million other things in forty minutes. I laughed as he grabbed my arm and pulled me in after him. I looked up at his handsome features, covered in the cascading water. A smile was planted on his face.
"I can't wait to marry you."
"I can't wait either." I placed my hands on the scruff on his cheeks. "Thank you for coming after me. Thank you for fighting for us."
"Wherever you are, I am. I'll always fight for us. Close your eyes, baby."
I smiled and closed my eyes. I heard him open the bottle of shampoo. His fingers immediately started massaging my scalp. It felt amazing. He was washing off last night and this morning and everything in between, cleansing me of every worry and fear.
I kept my eyes closed as he started to massage my shoulders. "You're perfect, Penny," he said as he kissed my neck and moved his hands down my arms. I sighed and leaned back against his chest as he washed my breasts and stomach. His fingers ran over my most intimate areas and down my thighs. He shifted behind me as he got low enough to wash my legs and feet. Oh my God, my feet. This feels amazing. I pressed my hand against the shower wall as he placed a kiss against my ass cheek.
He pulled me back under the water and grabbed my hair, tilting my head back, making sure I didn't get any soap in my eyes. "There," he said as he let go of my hair.
I slowly opened my eyes and sighed. "That was just what I needed."
He kissed my forehead. "I hoped so. Go get ready, baby. I'll be out in a second."
"Let me do you."
"You take longer to get ready than me," he said as he grabbed his shampoo bottle.
I grabbed the bottle from him. "You need this too." I poured some soap in my hand. "Let me."
He smiled and stepped out of the water. He closed his eyes and put his hands on my hips as I started to massage the soap into his hair.
A quiet groan escaped from his lips, which put a smile onto mine. I placed a kiss on the tip of his nose as I began to lather up his shoulders. I massaged his lower back. I knew it bothered him from sitting at a desk all day. He groaned again. "That feels so
good, baby."
I massaged him another minute before running my soapy hands down his chiseled abs and over his growing erection. He groaned again. This would definitely relax him. I tightened my hand around his hard cock.
"Fuck." He laughed and opened his eyes. "As much as I want to do that, we don't have enough time." He stepped under the water and rinsed the soap out of his hair. "Go get ready. Now." He slapped my ass.
"So demanding."
"We can revisit this later," he said and winked at me.
"When? We're not sharing a hotel room tonight."
"Shit, I forgot about that. Maybe we should make time."
"I want you to want me tomorrow night," I said as I stepped out of the shower.
"Penny, I always want you." Something crossed over his face and he turned away from me. "I'll be done in a sec," he said into the water.
I tried not to let it bother me as I wrapped a towel around myself. I knew he had talked to his therapist about me. James had even told me that his therapist agreed that he wasn't addicted to me. Why was James doubting his word? Should I find a way to contact him? Maybe James needed to talk to him, to help calm down.
That desperate feeling that he had gotten when he told me to leave wasn't addiction. Because I felt it too. It was...pain. Loss. Heartbreak. I quickly combed my hair and grabbed the blow-dryer. By the time I was done drying my hair, James had turned off the water.
He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. I would never tire of seeing him like this. Beads of water dripped down his perfectly sculpted torso. God, he was so sexy.
He walked over next to me and ran his hand through his hair. "Do you want me to shave?" he asked.
I smiled at his reflection in the mirror. "No. I like your stubble."
He kissed my cheek. "What color tie should I wear?"
"Um." I turned toward him. I hadn't thought much about what I wanted to wear. "I'll let you know when I figure out what I'm wearing."
"How about gray suit, black tie? Can't go wrong with that."
"That's sounds perfect."
"Come downstairs as soon as your ready. I want you to meet the security detail before we head over."
"Okay."
He put his hand under my chin. "Remember the first night we moved here? I had wanted to take you out to a fancy dinner. We both got super dressed up and were walking through Central Park to go to the restaurant when you convinced me you just wanted to try a New York hot dog? We ended up just spending the entire night talking and laughing on a bench. And I got mustard all over my suit jacket." He smiled.
