Page 31 of Bodied

She sat down at her breakfast bar with her phone. “I feel like we need to talk, Wesley. Can we meet somewhere? You pick the place.”

“What’s there to talk about?”

That one sentence hurt Lauren more than all the rest put together. Somehow, she’d thought there was a chance she could repair the damage her mom had done to her relationship with Wesley. She’d been certain it wasn’t that fragile, but now she was starting to doubt herself. She cleared her throat and fought her panic. “Our… our relationship. Us. I thought we could figure this out together, you and I. What we have… it’s too good to throw away over something so small. Isn’t it?”

On the other end of the line, she heard Wesley sigh. He was irritated, clearly. “Look,” he said after a moment of silence. “What we had… It was just a bit of fun, wasn’t it? It wasn’t that serious. It was a risk we both knew we were taking, and we lost the gamble in the end. Although, I think I potentially lost a bit more than you did. We’ll see how my boss deals with the situation after this job is through.”

“But—”

“Don’t worry about it, Lauren. I don’t blame you entirely. It was just as much my fault as it was yours. okay? So relax. The world isn’t coming to an end or anything.”

Except, to Lauren, it definitely felt like the world was coming to an end. The last two weeks of her life had been filled with more happiness than all the rest. Because of Wesley. She’d fallen for him for real. She even caught herself thinking about their future together, from time to time. But he hated her now. Even if he didn’t come right out and say it, she knew he hated her.

“Okay,” she whispered into the phone. “I think I get it now. I must have misjudged the situation. Well, I hope things don’t fall apart for you anyway. Thanks for the good time, I guess.”

“Sure thing,” he said, and he hung up the phone.

Lauren sat in stunned silence for several minutes after that. Then the idea that everything had just fallen apart hit her like a ton of bricks. In one evening, over one stupid fight with her mom, she had lost the one good thing in her life. Finally, she broke all the way down. She cried and cried, mentally berating herself the whole time. Why did she invariably screw up everything that went her way? She felt like such an idiot.

She tried to watch a movie to get her mind off things, but nothing was really sinking in. So she turned off her monitor and wandered into her bedroom. Without bothering to brush her teeth, change into her PJs, or turn out the lights in her living room, she climbed into bed, curled into a ball under her covers and continued to cry like a baby.

She felt betrayed in so many ways — not just by her mom, but by Wesley, too. Somehow, he’d made her believe that what they had was special, that it was something real that could last. It hadn’t been just a bit of fun to her, and she felt so humiliated that she hadn’t been able to properly read the situation. She was usually so good at reading other people, but Wesley had fooled her good. Well, she wasn’t about to let him do it again. She was done with having ‘a bit of fun’ with anyone, especially anyone connected to her mom in any way. She grabbed her phone from her night stand and immediately blocked his number.

There. Let him try to fool her again. She would show him that she wasn’t going to allow him to break her heart twice. She was done with him, done with games, and done with being thrown away over one stupid mistake, one misstep at a party.

“I hate you,” she muttered to her darkened phone. But whether she was talking to Wesley or herself was a question she wasn’t really prepared to answer.

CHAPTER15

LAUREN

Anne Bartlett had been in do-not-disturb mode for the last several days, and it was driving her daughter absolutely crazy. Lauren had tried texting, which got her no response. She’d tried calling her mom’s cell phone, but no one ever picked up. And she tried calling her mom’s office repeatedly, only to speak to the same assistant every time.

“Well, when is she going to be available to talk?” Lauren asked Maria, who was probably just as tired of hearing Lauren’s voice.

“I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that question,” Maria said.

It had been that, essentially, over and over again for days. The more Lauren thought about it, the more angry she got. It felt like her mom had just thrown a live grenade at Lauren’s life, and then run away to hide from the fallout. Well, Lauren wasn’t about to let her. Anne Bartlett was going to face up to what she had done, no matter how badly it made her feel. And it should make her feel badly, Lauren decided. What she’d done in the last few weeks had been a combination of some of the most selfish decisions Lauren had ever seen from her. She had taken it too far, and someone had to tell her so. She couldn’t avoid it forever.

“That does it,” Lauren snapped at her empty apartment. “I’m not going to just sit and take it anymore.” She threw on an outfit that was semi-professional, but she was in too much of a hurry to care about her hair, which was still a bit of a mess. She ruffled it even more so it looked intentional at least. Then she pulled on her shoes, grabbed her purse and coat, and went to confront her mom.

The day was gray and dreary. Ben met her at the door. “Can I give you a ride somewhere?” he asked.

She wanted to tell him no, but she supposed it would be cheaper than a taxi. Anyway, none of this was his fault, so she determined not to take it out on him. “Sure,” she answered. “That would be great. I’m heading to my mom’s office. She’s not expecting me, though, so if you think taking me there will get you in trouble, it’s completely fine to say no. I don’t want her to take it out on you.” If nothing else, at least no one could accuse Lauren of being incapable of learning from her mistakes. She wasn’t about to be responsible for ruining another bodyguard’s career. She now knew exactly how much damage her mom was capable of doing when she put her mind to it.

Ben gave her a quick smile. “No worries, Ms. Bartlett. Technically, your mom is not my boss. And my boss will know that I did everything required to keep you safe, which is the whole point of my job.”

Far from comforting her, the explanation only made Lauren feel worse. She climbed into Ben’s car, and stared out the window as he pulled away from her apartment building. “Wesley didn’t seem to feel that way,” she muttered, more to herself than anyone. “He acted like my mom essentially controlled his whole career.”

Her obvious irritation didn’t seem to affect Ben, who just explained the situation with a clarity of mind Lauren could only hope she would have when she actually confronted her mom. “I’ve been around a lot longer than Wesley has,” he said, “so our boss knows and trusts me over any clients we may have. I have a decent reputation. Wesley doesn’t have one at all, but I’m sure he will in time.”

That made sense. Ben pulled up to her mom’s office and unlocked her door for her.

“You don’t have to stick around,” Lauren told him. “I don’t know how long this will take, and my mom’s office is pretty well protected. Go grab lunch or something.”

“Okay. Your mom’s office has my number. Give me a ring when you’re finished, and I’ll come pick you up.”

“Thanks, Ben.” She smiled at him, and he watched her go into her mom’s office before driving away.

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