Page 31 of Stalked By the Recruiter

“She hasn’t met anyone,” my mom cut in before I could make up my mind on how to introduce them. My parents weren’t completely old school, but I had a feeling there was no way my dad would want to meet his only daughter’s new man while he was sitting shirtless on her couch on an early Sunday morning. “Speaking of love…” my mother started to say, and I groaned.

“Mom––“

“Just remember! Next Thursday night at seven! Martin offered to pick you up, and I gave his mom your address.” My eyes widened. I’d completely forgotten about the blind date andmy mom’s little matchmaking setup. I turned so I wouldn’t have to look at Andres. Not that he’d be angry, or I was scared of him. I wasn’t at all! But there was no way I could explain while my mom was on the phone.

“Mom, about that date…”

“Wear something nice and please, chula, don’t have more than one margarita. You start to swear like a sailor when you do.”

“I do not,” I argued.

“You do,” my dad chimed in. I rolled my eyes.

“Mom––“

“Oh! And your brothers are coming out in two weeks. Maybe you can fly out for the weekend? We can have a carne asada. It’s been too long since I’ve had all my babies home.”

“Mom––“

“We love you! Bye!” And with that, my mom, like she could sense I was about to cancel the date she’d set up, hung up on me. I set the phone down on the small table I kept close to my front door and looked up at the ceiling.

“Shit,” I whispered. It wasn’t a minute after that I felt Andres’ body behind me. His heat covered my back, and I leaned into him, resting my head on his solid chest.

“Date?” Andres asked, his lips already on my earlobe, his hands at my hips. A deep shiver ran through me, covering my skin with goose bumps.

“My mom,” I groaned before turning to look at him. He was sexy. His hair was all rumpled from sleep. We’d had a long night in bed and out of it. My lips twitched as the memory of all the places we’d done it at my house filled my head. “My mom set this date up. It’s the son of one of her friends from church.”

“From Arizona?”

“No.” I shook my head and stopped. “Kinda? I’m not really sure where he’s from. But yes, my mom and her friend are backin Arizona. My mom found out he’s coming to the school for an interview. He’s some ex-Marine turned professor, and I guess he’s looking to move here.”

“And your mom wanted to play matchmaker,” he guessed. I chewed on my bottom lip. He knew a lot about my past and divorce, but I knew it was time to fill in a couple of blanks.

“My mom worries,” I started to explain. “She understands why I moved and why I came to California. And she completely supports it, as does my dad, but…”

“She’s a mom,” he filled in, and I nodded.

“Mostly, she worries I’m all alone here.”

“You’re not alone. Not anymore.” His promise made me melt into him.

“I know.” I smiled and took a deep breath. “After my divorce, I worked a lot on myself,” I shared as he simply held me, his hand stroking the small of my back. “And I found myself. Not the same version of who I used to be, but one I think is better than who I was. I know myself better. When I got married…” I swallowed hard. “I was young and naive. I thought life could only be one certain way.” I shrugged. “My parents were always loving and never ever mean or abusive to each other or us… so I’m not sure why I let…” I cleared my throat from the emotions that started to bubble up. “Why I let things get so bad with Sam.”

“We don’t have to talk about this if you’re not ready.” I smiled and lifted my body up on my toes.

“I know I don’t have to. I want to.” And it was the god’s honest truth. Andres knew facts, but I hadn’t talked about this with him yet. It was time.

“There were things I didn’t realize until after I walked away that made me realize we weren’t as okay as I’d once thought. He’d say things, small things about me or what I wore, and slowly, I started to change. Then, after we got married, we tried to have kids but…” I shook my head. “Nothing took.” I smiledweakly. “I think that was a hit to his male ego or pride, I don’t know. Then one day, it wasn’t just words he was throwing around.” Andres’ jaw clenched tightly.

“The first time, I convinced myself it had been an accident. But by the third time, I was done. I looked at myself in the mirror and told myself I wasn’t going to be that person. Not when he still wanted to have kids. Why would I willingly want to bring innocent kids into an environment like that?” I sighed.

The reminder of what I’d been like, of what that situation had been, sat heavily on my shoulders, yet it felt like a lifetime ago. Like I wasn’t even a shadow of the person I’d once been.

“I left and went directly to the hospital. They took pictures and called the police and my family,” I recounted. “My parents had no idea, and they were horrified. My dad wanted to kill him.”

“I bet,” he growled between his gritted teeth. “Baby.” Andres’ hands rose and held my face with so much gentleness that it brought tears to my eyes. “I hate that you went through that. I’d never––“

“I know.”

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