Page 52 of Jack

I turn to the side and face her. “My question, angel, is why areyouso upset over a club bunny and something that may or may not have happened over two years ago?”

Her eyes slowly roam over me, not settling on a particular feature. Once again, her coffee quickly becomes the most interesting thing in the room. Well, well, well. One corner of my mouth lifts. This attraction isn’t just one-sided. Good to know. I can work with this.

I set my mug on the end table, slide to the center cushion, and rest my arm on the back of the couch.

“What do you want, angel?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know.”

“You do know. You’re just scared to ask for it.” My words hit a mark I wasn’t aiming for.

“I’m not scared.” She springs from the couch and begins to pace.

“It’s okay to feel, even if it is fear.” I push rather than defuse as we’ve been trained to do.

“I’m. Not. Scared.” She glares at me for a moment before tossing her hands above her head. “Maybe I am. And I hate it. What do I want? I want a normal life. I want the job I love doing.I’m no baker. I want to go home at the end of the day and not worry about what I’m walking into. Has he found me today? Will he come for me? Joel has taken so much, and it’s like he’s still taking.

“I want to go to sleep and not worry if I’ll wake up back in my apartment. I don’t want to be shoved out of bed because I overslept. I don’t understand my life. My only friend took me to a parking garage. She handed me over to a man I didn’t know and expected me to trust him on her word. I spent five days traveling with him and two more people I’d never met. I end up in Tennessee in the middle of a motorcycle club.” She stops pacing and faces me. “A motorcycle club, Jack.”

I nod because it’s all true. Well, I didn’t know she was afraid to go home every day or was shoved out of bed. The black eye. She didn’t fall out of bed. He pushed her. I knew there was more to it. Her ex better never show up in Tennessee. If our paths ever cross, he’ll regret every time he hurt her. I’ll make sure of it.

“I still don’t understand everything that’s happening. No one fully explains anything to me. I don’t have a phone. I can never contact my friends again. Well, Nina. She was the only friend I had left. I don’t understand how your club works. Things are just different and weird. I’ve been here for three weeks, and people think I’m your girl and some future Queen. That makes no sense.”

It makes perfect sense. If she gives me a chance, I’ll prove it and answer all her questions. She’s on a roll right now, so I let her continue.

She tosses her arms up again. “And club girls are real. Nasty, but real.” She shutters again. “Then there’s you.”

Me? Now we’re getting somewhere. Everything she just said is important. Hopefully, I’ll remember it all later. We’re going in this direction now.

I spring from the couch and plant myself in front of her. “What about me?”

Her eyes lift to mine, and her lips slightly part.Yes, ma’am. You sure went there.

“You’re … you,” she stutters.

It’s cute, but she’s not back-peddling here.

“I am, and you’re you.” I lean down with my lips close to her ear. “What do you want, angel?”

“I…” She takes a step backward and swallows hard. “All of it.”

That was a long list. Her little rant was a bit chaotic. It’s okay. Eventually, she’ll have it all and more. I’m not letting her deflect on me here. For each step I take, she takes one backward until her back hits the wall.

“What’s the one thing you want the most today?” I ask.

“Today?”

Maybe taking things in smaller steps will work better with her.

“Today. Tomorrow, we’ll work on something else.”

She thinks for a moment and lifts her chin. “Stop treating me like I’m glass.”

“What?”

“You and everybody else treat me like I’ll break. I’m hurt and scared, but I’m not fragile. I appreciate you all being kind, but you’re overly kind. It’s not normal. People don’t act this way all the time. I want to feel some sense of normal.”

“I treat you how we’re trained to treat an angel.”

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