Page 28 of Strip for Me

I laugh. My laugh sounds cold and heartless even to my ears. “Stay away from me, Liz,” I say, my voice sounding strong and hiding the fact that my heart feels like it’s breaking in two.

“He loves me,” Liz says as I turn around. I don’t bother replying to her as I shut the door behind me.

I can’t save her from repeating my mistakes, and I don’t want to even try.

Twenty-Three

DOMINIC

“I found her,”Kaiden says as he leans back from the computers in his room.

“Do I even want know why you can find her phone on your computer?” I ask Kaiden as I hold the bridge of my nose. For fuck’s sake, this day went from bad to worse. First, I come home to see Ellie looking terrified and finding out it was her ex being the one that scared her. I didn’t think as I punched him, and I don’t regret it.

The only good part of the day was when Ellie kissed me, that was one hell of a kiss and made me feel like a fool for ignoring her. I shouldn’t haven’t ignored her just because I couldn’t cope with how I felt. I’m falling for her, and it’s scaring the shit out of me. I don’t want a repeat of what happened with Casey. I made her miserable. When we first met, it was a quick marriage, and I fell for her way too quickly. I shouldn’t have married her, and I know that. I know she is happy with someone else, now; a normal man who works in a bank, and I’m happy for her.

“My mate is a cop, he found her. Nothing illegal,” Kaiden grins as he types away on his phone. Yeah, nothing illegal this time.

“You found Ellie?” Andre asks as he comes into the room with Todd following.

“Yes,” Kaiden says to them.

“What are we going to tell her?” Todd asks, pulling a hoodie on.

“The truth, and hope she doesn’t run,” I tell him. I don’t want her to think we are all mad, but we want to try this.

“I believe she left because she felt guilty for kissing me,” I tell them as we all walk out of Kaiden’s bedroom and down the stairs.

“I didn’t get a chance to explain things,” Andre admits, and I nod, I had guessed that. I doubt she would have run if they’d talked. I thought when she kissed me that Andre had told her, and that’s why I kissed her back like I did. I was so fucking happy that she wasn’t running from us.

“Where is she anyway?” Todd asks Kaiden as I pull my coat on.

“In the middle of the city,” Kaiden says.

“Let’s go and find our girl, and bring her home,” Todd says and storms out the door.

Our girl indeed.

Twenty-Four

ELLIE

“Anythingelse I can get you, Sugar?” The middle-aged woman asks me as she gives me another cup of tea. I’ve had three since I got here and spent the whole time trying to calm down. Holy ducks, I must look like a hot mess. There’s a pile of tissues on the table where I’ve wiped my eyes from the tears. The woman has her blonde hair in a ponytail, a serious face, and a crinkle-free uniform. She reminds me of my mother, who is also blonde and always has everything under control.

“No, thank you,” I say, and she nods before she starts to walk away and stops.

“Are you okay? I mean, can I help you in any way?” she asks as she turns to look at me. Her look is caring, so she no longer reminds me of my mother.

“No, thank you, I’m just having a bad day, you know?” I ask her, and I’m glad when she nods.

“Well, I’m over here if you need someone to chat to, we’re pretty quiet today,” she says and walks off. I glance around the small restaurant, it’s a quirky, little place that I’ve never been to before. The walls and floors are covered in old, preserved newspapers, they’ve been made into tiles and wallpaper. Thedates of the papers on the wall near me are from the 1950’s, and I’ve read all the papers near me while I’ve been trying to process everything.

“Ellie.”

I look up, following the voice, to see all the guys standing near the table. I was too busy daydreaming to see them all come in, but they are all standing in a line watching me. It was Dominic who spoke, and he is the first one to step forward.

“You guys must hate me. Holy ducks, I hate me for messing with you all. I never meant to kiss some of you,” I say to them, and they all stare at each other before they wordlessly step forward. Kaiden slides into the both next to me, Andre and Dominic sit opposite us, and Todd gets a spare chair to sit at the end of the table. The waitress’s eyes widen when she comes out of the kitchen and sees me stuck in the middle of a hot guy sandwich.

That’s the only way to explain what it feels like.

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