Page 63 of Coerced

There had to be something wrong with me.

A man had been friendly and pleasant with me while I was at work and followed me home.

He’d done it uninvited.

I’d just crawled into my bed following a quick shower, and I should have been terrified. I should have been here with the blankets pulled up to my throat, shaking with fear.

But I wasn’t.

Because even if what happened in those first few moments after I’d pulled up at home and gotten out of my car had the power to lead me there—or someplace worse—what happened from the moment Paxton entered the scene quelled my fears.

Maybe it was because I was entirely too shocked by what I’d witnessed.

That man had stepped in and stepped up for me in a way I hadn’t realized I needed. It wasn’t about the physical way he’d protected me; it was everything he’d said.

No hesitation. No second thoughts. He just did it.

So, it was an impossibility for me to feel fearful. At least, not yet. Not now.

Maybe I’d feel differently in the morning. But for now, for tonight, I was going to fall asleep with a smile on my face as a vision of a half-naked Paxton defending me replayed in my mind.

SEVENTEEN

Paxton

“Hey, man. Do you have a minute?”

Jesse looked up from the table in the break room, where he was sitting and having his lunch. Or, well, it seemed he’d just finished his lunch. “Sure, Pax. What’s up?”

“I can only assume, since you’re sitting here calmly right now, that Sawyer got home from work okay last night,” I said.

His brows drew together, his body tensing slightly. “She did,” he confirmed. “Is there a reason you think she wouldn’t have?”

Frustration moved through me. “Someone followed Aria home from the pub.”

Jesse’s body did not relax as he raised a curious brow. “Last night? Someone followed her home? As in, she invited someone back to her place, right?”

I shook my head. “No. Someone who showed interestin her, while she was still at work, wound up following her after she denied his advances.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I wish,” I sighed. I went on to tell him precisely how it had all gone down, everything starting from Tiny demanding to be let out to me walking Aria to her door, and all that happened in between.

“Jesus. Who was this guy?” Jesse asked.

Shaking my head, I confessed, “I don’t know. I was too caught up in the way I was feeling to do much more than get this guy away from her and let him know to steer clear. It was far too late and entirely too dark. I wouldn’t have been able to see a license plate even if I had been looking for it.”

“This is insane. Why does it feel like we get one problem resolved and another is popping up immediately? When are these women going to catch a break?”

I couldn’t say I disagreed with the sentiment. We’d had several trying years lately at Harper Security Ops, and while there were all kinds of cases we’d dealt with, it always seemed like the women who were brought into the lives of the men here were the ones who always seemed to be in trouble.

As I took a moment to consider it, I realized just how bad it was. Not one single couple—whether married, engaged, or simply dating still—had experienced a smooth and uneventful relationship. There had been something awful in every scenario.

Of course, having that thought, recognizing what had happened to Aria last night, and thinking about my role in it along with the way I felt about it, I could only hope that in the end it would mean she and I might wind upwhere so many of my coworkers and friends had wound up.

“It really has been awful,” I agreed.

He huffed. “I guess it’s lucky for Aria you were there. Obviously, I don’t want to see anyone being harmed in any way, and I’m sorry to hear about what happened to her, but I’m relieved Sawyer didn’t have any problems last night. This news makes me want to stop in there tonight, though.”