The First Taste (Slip of the Tongue #2) - Jessica Hawkins Page 0,130
I don’t know what he intends to do with it, but I don’t find out. Andrew shoves him backward toward the door. “Do what you have to do,” he says. “But get the fuck out. Now.”
“You’re just a bunch of . . . of . . .” Reggie turns and slams his fist into a wall, then curses in pain. “Remember—when you’re jobless and living with a bum—you could’ve had it all, Amelia. If you’d chosen me.”
I don’t give him the satisfaction of a response. He’s half out of his mind anyway. Andrew and I wait, still and silent, until he’s out the door. We don’t even move until we hear the ding of the elevator.
I exhale a sigh of relief. Andrew comes around to face me. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“No, you’re not.” He gently pinches my chin to lift it, inspecting my jaw. “He put his hands on you?”
“I’m okay,” I say and look up at him from under my lashes. As the threat of danger recedes, understanding takes it’s place. Andrew’s here. “You came. You came for the bath, for the whisky—”
“I came for you.” Just when I think he’s going to kiss me, he stops himself. “And I’m not going anywhere from now on.”
My heart swells. But there are bigger things on my mind than romance. “How’d you know I was in trouble?”
“I would never believe you’d go back to him unless he was forcing you to. And on my ride into the city just now, I came to some realizations.”
“About us?” I ask hopefully.
“No. I’d already decided about us.”
I open my mouth to ask what he decided, but he cuts me off.
“I started putting things together—like how he found us at the flea market and then knew where I worked. When he came to the garage, he made a strange comment about what you do behind closed doors, but I didn’t catch it because I was worried about Bell. It just kind of clicked that he was probably keeping tabs on us. Makes sense considering his fascination with control.”
I shake my head. “You were right. Except it was more than keeping tabs.”
“I had no idea it was this bad, but now that I do—I think he’s the one who stole your underwear.”
My gut pangs. As soon as Andrew says it, I know it’s true. Reggie was in my home when I wasn’t. He went through my things. He filmed me in my most intimate moments. I cover my mouth. “What are we going to do?”
He takes me in his arms, and once I’m pressed against his chest, I realize I’ve been waiting for him to do that since he walked in the door. Finally, some of my tension eases. “We’ll be getting a restraining order first thing Monday,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “I can’t have some disgruntled ex-husband taking my girlfriend’s most intimate things.”
My anger drains as I look up. Andrew’s eyes say it all—he believes in us. He came for me. He thinks we can do this. “Girlfriend?”
“You got scared. Then I got scared,” he says. “We want to believe we don’t need each other.”
“But you think we do?”
He closes his mouth, letting my question hang. I wait, anticipating his answer until I realize I’m not going to get one. He’s wants me to provide it. Do we need each other? It’s a strong word. Family needs family. Husbands need wives. Little girls need their mothers. “You need someone for yourself? Or for Bell?”
“No, I can do it on my own. In fact, it’d be easier.” He glances at the ceiling. “If I bring anyone into our lives, she has to be so many things, Amelia. Solid, smart, loving. A good example to Bell. Not a woman who just wants the role of mom and wife because it’s available.”
“But there are plenty of women who do,” I point out.
“Yeah. But none of them are right, they never were. Not even Shana.” He rubs my back. “I want to be honest with you. Earlier tonight, I wasn’t going to come. I went to a bar instead. I thought it was best for us both if we ended this. Then, Shana showed up.”
I freeze, inhaling a short breath at the name. As if I wasn’t already struggling hard enough for Andrew. Now, I’ll have to go up against the mother of his child? A woman who’s clearly cast some kind of spell on him? “She’s back?”