Page 45 of Coerced
“Well, I mean, he did take me to The Early Bird that morning, and that place is fantastic,” I started. “But all of the plans he’d had to show me around town sort of flew out the window after breakfast.”
Mallory’s eyes narrowed with concentration. It became clear she was attempting to figure out what Paxton and I did if he hadn’t followed through on the original plans. And the moment she thought she figured it out was obvious, because her eyes widened in disbelief. “Did the two of you run right back home and ravish each other?”
I gasped. “What? No.”
She shrugged, feigning indifference. “Hey, I wouldn’t have judged you. Nixon and I gave in to physical attraction long before anything else. And look where we are now. So, what did the two of you wind up doing, if not exploring Steel Ridge?”
“Roller skating.”
“What?”
While there had certainly been a change in my willingness to talk openly, I had my limits. I’d shared more than I expected or intended to with Paxton when we were at breakfast, but I had to believe it was the uniqueness of the situation that led me to making such a decision. He’d immediately noticed there was something wrong when I opened the door to him that day, and I didn’t want him to think I was crazy. But even in that situation, I had held back from sharingeverything.
And with the way the rest of my day had been turned around after sharing what I had with him, the last thing I wanted to do now was return to the mindset I’d been in immediately after I’d gotten off the phone with my dad.
So, I shared, “Well, Paxton had planned for us to do some sightseeing or other fun things around town, but I’d had a difficult morning before he arrived to pick me up, and I wound up sharing some of the specifics about my life over the last few years and what ultimately led me to moving to Steel Ridge to begin with. After he learned about some things I’d been through, he decided I needed some fun. So, he took me roller skating.”
“Wow. How did that go?”
Laughter spilled out of me. “Honestly, I always thought I was decent at it, considering I did it often as a kid. But Paxton humbled me at the same time heimpressed me. He had certainly refined his skills when he was younger.”
Mallory was smiling as her head moved slowly from side to side. “I never would have guessed it.”
“You and me both,” I murmured.
“So, tell me more,” she urged. “What else happened?”
For the remainder of the morning, while Mallory and I worked on chopping, slicing, and preparing everything needed for our day, I told her all about my time with Paxton. Of course, I didn’t get into specific details of our conversations or even how much I liked the way he made me feel. I simply shared some of the fun and exciting parts of our time at the roller-skating rink and that we went for a nice lunch together afterward. Obviously, I also revealed that he and I had both had such a nice time that we were looking forward to getting together again.
Mallory couldn’t have proven to be happier for me. And I thought that was saying a lot, considering I hadn’t been working for her for very long yet.
It was her response to everything that led me to believe that perhaps so much about the way I was before I came to Steel Ridge had to do with the people around me.
That wasn’t to say that I didn’t care about my family. I did. I still loved all of them, which made this move so difficult and was the very reason I struggled so much with the phone call I had with my dad. But just because I loved them didn’t mean I couldn’t now realize that perhaps I wasn’t living in the best environment for me. It was possible I’d never be able to thrive where I was.
Or, I could have been wrong. Maybe this all felt so good because it was new and exciting. I guess only time would tell if I was seeing everything through rose-coloredglasses. But for now, I thought the best thing I could do was lean heavily into building this new life for myself and hope that the decisions I was making would lead me to a future that felt better than my past.
So far, that was happening with each day that passed. Despite it not being my dream job, my morning and afternoon working at the deli with Mallory was beyond enjoyable. Not only was it busy enough to keep us both occupied throughout the day, but during the bits of downtime we had, there was plenty of conversation and laughter to be had.
The best part of my afternoon happened just after the lunch rush. Two women walked in with bright smiles on their faces, one who looked just as pregnant as Mallory.
“Hi, Mal. How’s it going?”
“Hey, Avalon. We’re good. It’s been a little busy today, but we’re managing okay.”
Avalon’s eyes slid to the side and landed on me. “You must be Aria.”
My brows knit together. How did she know who I was? “I am,” I confirmed, hesitation evident in my tone.
The woman smiled brightly at me and declared, “I’m Avalon.” She indicated the woman beside her and said, “This is Liv. We thought we’d come in today to grab some lunch and introduce ourselves.”
While I thought it was nice they wanted to introduce themselves to me, I couldn’t say I understood why. I had not a clue who they were.
Before I had the chance to respond, Mallory chimed in. “Avalon and Liv work at Harper Security Ops, Aria. And yes, they are both with Harper Security Ops men.”
“That’s right,” Avalon confirmed. “In fact, Damon works in the kidnap and ransom unit with Paxton.”
“And Brix works in the self-defense and tactical training unit,” Liv added.