Page 68 of Accidental Baby Daddy

“What name?” Reese asked.

“A whore,” she said quietly, and my shoulders stiffened. I wished I’d hit him harder. “And then he grabbed me, told me it was time to come home.”

“That’s when you came in, Mr. Stanhope?”

It felt strange, Reese calling me Mr. Stanhope since he’d only been a year above me in high school, but I allowed it.

“Yeah. I just kind of snapped,” I admitted. “I tackled him, and we fought. He got a couple of body shots in, and I returned a few punches myself. When he got up, he ran off.”

“I tried to stop the fight,” Lexie commented, and Reese nodded, scribbling something down on a notepad.

When he was finished writing, he turned off the tape recorder, and looked directly at both of us.

“I have to be honest with you two. Other than the restraining order, we’ve got nothing to hold him on.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.

“I mean, the things that happened, they aren’t enough to arrest him. Unless he breaks the restraining order, we can’t haul him in for nothing.”

“But he tried to kidnap her,” I argued.

“We don’t know that for sure. He said it was time for her to come home, but other than grabbing her hand, he didn’t actually try to remove her from the scene.” Reese paused. “And if he wanted to, he could actually file assault charges on you.”

“He wouldn’t!” Lexie gasped.

“He might,” Reese countered. “You never know about people, especially guys like that. They try to manipulate every situation.”

“Sounds like Dick, all right,” Lexie muttered.

I tried to put my arm around her, but she moved away, clearing her throat. Disappointment washed over me.

“That’s all for now unless you have any questions. Keep us updated if you see him around town,” Reese finished, and I nodded, standing up.

“Don’t worry,” I murmured to Lexie as we waited for Trent in the lobby. “I’ll take care of this.”

“Oliver, please don’t do anything crazy,” she warned.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied innocently, although I’d been thinking about hiring a private investigator to find him and run him out of town.

“He could get you in trouble if he decides to file assault charges. You don’t need that.”

“I want to keep you safe.”

“Let the cops do their jobs,” she said, but I wasn’t sure I trusted the cops. They didn’t seem to be taking this too seriously, and I wasn’t about to allow Lexie to get hurt.

Trent ran up to us, raising his arms for me to take him. I picked him up, his blue eyes wide with excitement.

“She showed me the sirens,” he grinned.

“You’re a real police officer now,” Mariah said with a wink, giving him a little play badge they probably had on hand for the kids.

I pinned it on his T-shirt and Trent grinned so widely I could see every single one of his teeth.

“Let’s get out of here and get some lunch,” I said, realizing it was close to noon.

“Could you drop me off at home first?” Lexie asked tiredly, and I frowned.

“You need to eat, Lex.”

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