Seducing Lauren

  “I’ll have to check it out sometime.”

  “I think you’d enjoy it,” Jill agrees.

  “You two look a lot alike.” I blush when I realize I’ve said it aloud. But it’s true: they both have black hair, blue-gray eyes, and olive skin. Their biggest difference is their height. Ty is tall and broad, while Jill is petite.

  “We look like our mom,” she responds softly.

  “Does she enjoy Florida?”

  “I think so. We don’t talk often.”

  “Ty told me about your dad. I’m sorry, Jill. I had no idea.”

  Jill’s wide eyes meet mine. “He did?”

  I nod yes.

  “Wow.”

  “Why are you surprised?” I ask, tilting my head.

  “Ty just doesn’t talk about him.” Her tone is soft, but matter-of-fact.

  “Ever?”

  She shakes her head, her eyes narrowed as though she’s deep in thought. “He trusts you.”

  I blink rapidly. “I trust him too.”

  A slow smile spreads across Jill’s pretty face. A smug, happy smile. “I hope so, because I have a feeling you’re gonna be stuck with him for a long time.” She checks her watch and then jumps up. “I have to go. I’ll see you tonight!”

  With that, she’s off, waving at the barista behind the counter on her way out.

  He trusts me.

  * * *

  The drive home is quick. I wrote two chapters today, putting me back on track for my deadline. I’m excited to see Ty and the others in a few hours and spend some time at the pumpkin patch.

  The vans and trucks that littered my driveway earlier have gone. I park and insert the key to unlock the door, but it’s already unlocked.

  The door opens easily.

  The alarm is also not set, but that doesn’t surprise me because I left it off for the workers.

  But I know that I locked this door, and Dave nor any of his crew had no need to walk through the house.

  The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something is just . . . off.

  I set my purse and keys on the table by the door and walk inside the quiet house. From what I can see, nothing has been moved or touched, everything is as it was when I left this morning.

  Then I walk back toward the office, and the door is ajar.

  I always shut that door.

  Always.

  Without taking another step forward, I turn toward the front door, grab my purse and keys, and pull my phone out of my pocket as I lock myself inside my car.

  My hands are shaking, my breath is coming in petrified pants as I dial Brad’s number first.

  “Hull,” he answers.

  “It’s Lo. Are you working?” I hate how unsteady my voice sounds.

  “Yes, what’s wrong, Lo?”

  “Someone has been in my house.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m sitting in the car in my driveway.”

  “Stay there, I’m on my way.” He hangs up, and I immediately call Ty.

  “Turner and Sullivan,” the receptionist answers. Ty’s cell phone must be forwarded to the office.

  “This is Lauren. Is Ty in court today?”

  “Yes, he is, but he should be here in about ten minutes. Do you want me to have him call you?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “I don’t know. I just need him. Please tell him as soon as you see him.”

  “Of course.”

  I hang up and throw my phone in the passenger seat, waiting for Brad to arrive. I swear, time has never moved slower than it is right now.

  Where is he?

  Finally, Brad’s car pulls into my driveway, but I stay where I am, even when he climbs from his car and walks to mine.

  “You can get out now, Lo.”

  “How do you know? You haven’t looked inside the house yet.”

  Just then, Ty’s Jeep comes screaming into my driveway. He comes to an abrupt stop and throws it out of gear, then jogs to my side, opens the car door, and pulls me out of the car and into his arms.

  “What’s wrong?” He’s breathing hard and his heart is beating a staccato against my cheek.

  “Someone has been in the house.”

  “What?” Ty pulls me away from him and shoots a look at Brad. “Have you checked it out?”

  “I just got here. I haven’t gone inside yet. I want to hear the story first.”

  “What happened, baby?”

  Brad’s eyebrow rises at Ty’s term of endearment, but we both ignore him as I begin the story of going to the café to write, my impromptu coffee date with Jill, and coming home.

  “So, nothing has been touched inside?” Brad asks when I’m finished.

  “Not that I can see, but I swear I locked that door, and my office door was ajar.”

  “You said yourself that you were preoccupied with work before you left, right? And that the crew was distracting you?”

  “Yes, but I always, always close the door to my office, Brad. I never forget.”

  “Okay, I’ll go inside and take a look around.” Brad leaves us, his hand on his firearm as he enters the house.

  “I’m not crazy, Ty.”

  “No one is calling you crazy, beautiful.”

  “Someone who shouldn’t be has been inside my house.”

  After five long minutes, Brad returns, shaking his head. “There’s no one in there now. The crew locked the back mudroom door. Maybe one of them came through the house on his way out?”

  I’m shaking my head no before he even gets through the first sentence.

  “If Lo says someone has been here, someone was here, Brad. She’s never cried wolf before.”

  Brad sighs and pushes his hand through his hair. “I know. I believe that you feel that something is off here, Lo. But there’s no sign of forced entry, and you had a work crew here all day who had access to the house.”

  I sigh in frustration and glance back at the house. “Did you go in my office?”

  “You didn’t?” Ty asks me, surprised.

  “No. When I saw the door ajar, it scared me and I came outside and called you guys.”

  “I did go in the office, but only you can know if something in there has been messed with.”

  “Come on.” Ty grips my hand firmly in his own and leads me to the porch. “Let’s go check it out.”

  The door to the office is closed now, thanks to Brad. When we walk inside, goose bumps break out on my skin.

  “Is anything different in here?” Brad asks, and stands back as Ty and I walk in, looking around.

  “It looks the same as it did this morning,” Ty murmurs.

  “It does,” I confirm, but my voice is hesitant.

  “But?” Ty asks.

  “But I feel it. Someone has been in here.”

  Both men look at me dubiously, and I’m mortified to feel tears form in my eyes. Am I going crazy? Has Jack finally pushed me over the edge?

  “Hey, don’t cry.” Ty kisses my forehead before he turns to Brad. “What do we do now?”

  “The same that you’ve already been doing, unfortunately.” Brad glances around the room, and his eyes stop on the large book covers hanging on the wall. “Hey, I recognize those.”

  I stiffen, but before I can say anything, Ty responds, “Those are Lo’s favorite books, so I had them framed for her.”

  “Cool.” Brad seems to accept the explanation and turns for the door. “I’m sorry I can’t be more help, Lo. There’s just no evidence. But if you do find that something is missing, let me know right away.”

  I nod and try to offer Brad a smile as he turns and leaves out the front door.

  “Someone was in my house,” I whisper, and sink down onto the chaise lounge.

  “Why didn’t you lock the front door?”

  “I did! I told you, I’m sure I did. I know that I was preoccupied with this deadline, and the commotion out there had me all distracted, but with all the Jack shit happening,
I’m sure I locked it. And I know I shut this office door.”

  “Okay, I believe you.”

  “You do?”

  “Of course. You’re not stupid, and you’re not a liar, Lo.”

  I nod, relieved to know that he believes me, because I’m not so sure I believe myself anymore. It all seems so silly.

  “Maybe it was one of the construction guys who came through the house on his way out for the day.” I shrug, then rub my hands briskly over my face.

  “So you had coffee with Jill?”

  “Yeah. She came in to Sips and sat with me for a bit.”

  “What did you talk about?”

  “Stuff.” I shrug like it’s no big deal.

  Ty’s eyes narrow. “What kind of stuff?”

  “Girl stuff.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  I laugh and kiss Ty’s cheek. “That’s okay.”

  “You’re not going to tell me?” His eyebrows are raised high on his brow.

  “Nope.”

  He frowns, then smiles down at me. “Okay.”

  “I got the work I wanted to finished, so I can frolic through the corn maze tonight with no worries.”

  “Oh, great,” he replies sarcastically. “You’ll be frolicking without me.”

  “Why?”

  “Honey, I’m a guy. I don’t frolic.”

  “You have a tattoo of a princess tiara on your arm, big guy.” I slap his shoulder and stalk past him to go change my clothes. “You’ll frolic.”

  “I’ll run, not frolic.” His voice is right behind me on the stairs.

  “You could romp through the corn,” I suggest with a laugh.

  “Do you remember earlier when we were talking about spankings?” Ty asks with a smile in his voice.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lie.

  “You’re about to remember, sweetness.”

  CHAPTER

  Fourteen

  TY

  “I don’t want to take a dumb hayride,” Seth, Zack’s twelve-year-old son, murmurs as we all hop up onto the wagon, stacked with hay bales, being pulled by a big, green John Deere tractor. “Can Thor and I run alongside you, Dad?”

  “That’s fine, but stay close,” Zack agrees, and sits next to his brother, Josh, who has Cara snuggled in his lap.

  Jill climbs aboard and waits for us to sit, then sits on the other side of me, far from Zack. I glance over at him and notice his scowl before he schools his features and watches his son and the boy’s dog happily run alongside the wagon as we bounce over the field to the pumpkins and the corn maze.

  “The haunted house is down tonight,” the driver calls back. “They’re fixing the wiring or something.”

  “Well, crap,” Lo mutters beside me, disappointed. I wrap my arm around her and kiss her temple, breathing in the clean scent of her.

  “Thank God,” Jillian exclaims at the same time, making the others laugh.

  It’s close to seven in the evening, just approaching twilight, but the rows of pumpkins and the high stalks of corn are illuminated with tall stadium lights so bright it’s almost the same as being out here during the middle of the day.

  “Why are we at the pumpkin patch again?” Zack asks.

  “Because it’s tradition.” Cara elbows him and Jill smirks at him.

  “What, are you afraid that you’ll get lost in the corn maze and you’ll need your twelve-year-old to help you find your way back out?” Jill taunts him.

  “No, I’m afraid I’m going to have to find your ass in there when you lose your way.” He grins at her warmly. I glance down at Jill and see she’s grinning back.

  I’m not sure how I feel about that.

  This farm opens to the public every year. Families and people of all ages come out to enjoy the maze, choose pumpkins, and buy fall produce offered here, but during one day of the season, all proceeds are given to an organization called Text No More, an organization that educates the community about the ramifications of texting while driving.

  Mary and Eric Thomas own and run Wildfire Farms, and six years ago their four-year-old daughter was killed when struck by someone texting and driving.

  Most of the community comes out to support this cause.

  “Holy crap, Dad!” Seth points to the thousands of bright orange pumpkins on the ground ahead of us as we approach the patch. “That’s a ton of pumpkins!”

  “Why do we need pumpkins?” Josh asks Cara. “No one is going to come trick-or-treating way out at our place.”

  “Because they’re fun.” Cara grins at him. “Get in the spirit of it.”

  Lo is quiet next to me, deep in thought.

  “You okay?” I murmur into her ear, and smile to myself when she shivers.

  “I’m fine,” she responds softly.

  I tip her head back to look in her eyes. “You sure?”

  She just nods and leans her head on my shoulder, and I shelve the issue, reminding myself to ask her about it later.

  “Hey, y’all are coming to our place on Sunday for football, right?” Josh asks us all. “Seattle is playing San Francisco.”

  “I’m there,” Zack confirms.

  I glance down at Lo and watch the small smile form on her lips. “You down?”

  “Sure.”

  “We’re in,” I confirm.

  “I hate football,” Jillian says with her nose wrinkled.

  “Oh, us girls will be eating snacks and gossiping while the guys watch football,” Cara assures her.

  “Then I’m in,” Jill replies with a smile.

  The tractor stops by the edge of the rows of pumpkins and we all disembark the wagon. Thor and Seth have run ahead into the rows and rows of pumpkins, playing fetch with a stick Seth found on the ground.

  “Thor and I want to go into the corn maze!” Seth calls to Zack.

  “In a bit! We’re going to look at pumpkins first.”

  “Pumpkins are for babies,” Seth grumbles.

  “Whatever, brat.” Cara catches Seth in a headlock and rubs her knuckles on his head, making him laugh. “Take it back!”

  “Never! You’re a baby!” Seth giggles and tries to twist away from the small woman, who is clearly much stronger than she looks.

  “I’ll make you eat those words!” Cara yells back.

  “You don’t scare me!”

  Thor barks and jumps around them, wanting to get in on the fun. Finally, Cara lets go, panting with exertion, and leans over, bracing her hands on her knees.

  “I’m too old for this.”

  Josh leans in and whispers in her ear, making her flush and grin at the same time.

  I swear, they’re like rabbits.

  Lauren’s face breaks out into a wide grin as she follows the others, picking through the vines to find the perfect pumpkin.

  “Are you really going to carve these?” I ask her with a grin.

  “Hell yes. I love Halloween.” Her smile dims for a moment, before returning as she squats by a large, oddly shaped pumpkin. “This one would be perfect.”

  “That one looks heavy.” I eye it dubiously.

  “I have faith in you.” She laughs and winks at me.

  Cara, a few rows over, calls, “Lo! Come help me pick one!”

  Lo points to her pumpkin. “That one’s mine, Sullivan!” Then she sets off in Cara’s direction. “I’m coming!” Lo calls out, and jogs through the vines and piles of dirt to Cara. “How big do you want?”

  The girls set off, picking through the pumpkins and laughing with each other, while Josh and Zack play with Seth and Thor.

  Watching Lo with my friends, the people I’m closest with in the world, rocks me back on my heels. She fits with them. The most I ever dared wish for was that they’d tolerate each other, given their history when they were kids, but Lo has come to be a part of our little group, and I couldn’t be happier.

  Lo laughs at something Cara says, throwing her head back and tucking her thick, auburn hair behind her ear. Her smile is wide an
d happy, and her blue eyes are shining in joy, and it’s in this moment that I know without a doubt that I love this woman.

  She’s it for me.

  I stagger back a step and sit on a hay bale, rubbing my hand over my chest just as Jill steps up beside me.

  “I definitely like her,” she comments casually, watching Lo and Cara.

  “You do?”

  Jill nods, then smiles down at me. “She’s good for you.” She turns her eyes back to the two women and tilts her head in thought. “And frankly, I think you’re good for her too.”

  “Why do you say that?” I continue to rub my chest, unsure why there’s an ache there.

  “Look at her, dude. She’s come out of her shell since she’s known you. She’s quick to smile now. I think you make her happy.” Jill nudges me with her elbow. “Not that I understand the attraction. You’re ugly and a complete jerk.”

  “Obviously,” I smirk. “Did you pick a pumpkin?”

  “I’m not getting one. I’m going into the maze.” She rubs her hands together in delight. “I’m gonna beat Zack through it if it kills me.”

  “What’s up with you guys?” I ask casually.

  “Nothing at all.”

  “That’s a complete lie.” Jill shrugs and stands to march away, but I grab her arm, holding her close. “So, you can ask about my love life, but I’m not allowed to ask about yours?”

  “I don’t have a love life, Ty.” Jill pulls her arm out of my grasp and walks away. “I like it that way,” she calls over her shoulder.

  Lauren turns to me and waves her arm over her head to get my attention. As if I weren’t already aware of exactly where she is and what she is doing.

  I’m always aware of her. I can’t get enough of her.

  Jesus, I fucking love her.

  “We’re ready for the maze,” she calls out to me. As I approach her, she links her fingers through mine and smiles at me, and I want so much to blurt out in front of all of our friends that I love her, but I know that this will have to be handled gently.

  I refuse to have her run away on me now.

  “Thor and I are going to kick all of your butts in the maze!” Seth taunts us all. Thor barks in agreement and they take off into the tall cornstalks. Josh and Cara jog in after them, and that leaves Jill and Zack eyeing each other dubiously.

  “I’ll go alone,” Jill announces, and takes a step forward.