Haynes, K. R. - The Light in Her Eyes [In Her Eyes] (Siren Publishing Classic) (12 page)

So here she found herself pacing her kitchen, her tiny, closed-in kitchen.

God, it felt like the walls were closing in on her tonight. She had to get out. Go somewhere, anywhere instead of spending another long night on the couch waiting to see if Jon came home to her. Throwing on her black jeans and white T-shirt with a low neckline, she slipped her feet into the nearest pair of matching shoes.

Fuck Randall and his commands for her to stay either at her house or at his place while he was on call, all because they still didn’t know who was behind the malicious messages sent to her. And to top off her stellar mood tonight, Chloe had received another message from the sick bastard while Randall had been away.

It was too much. It was all becoming too much. She needed him. She needed Randall. She needed his calming touch to soothe her nerves and to soothe her damn temper, too.

Staying hidden in the tiny box she called home was out of the question tonight. Randall’s place was no better. Sure, it was bigger, but just as empty. Just as bloody lonely, too.

Snatching her purse and keys from the hall table, Chloe headed out to the only place she could think of that might offer her some sort of solace, The Convict Inn. Hopefully Mary J would be behind the bar tonight. Chloe could use the other woman’s shoulder to cry on. Or at least to bitch and moan to so she could rid herself of this bad mood plaguing her.

The last thing Randall would want when he finally came home was her shitty mood.

Yeah, Chloe found herself in a right mood tonight and if Randall found out where she was heading right now there would be hell to pay. It was worth it though, totally worth it. She couldn’t stand being stuck inside anymore.

Slamming her car door shut and turning the engine on, she roared out of her driveway and headed toward the pub. A fifteen minute trip she could do in less than ten by speeding. If Chloe was lucky she might get pulled over by an overeager cop for speeding, and then she could demand to the officer to be taken in. Then Randall would have to see her.

Good plan. A pity it didn’t work, she thought, pulling her car into a free spot outside the pub’s front doors.

Parking her ass down on a vacant stool at the front bar, Chloe waved to Mary J who was serving up at the other end of the bar. She waited for the pretty redhead to come down and say hello before ordering her drink.

“So how’s things, sweetie? How’s that man of yours going?”

“Fine,” Chloe grumbled to the other woman.

“Oh hell, sweetie, you don’t sound fine. Hell, I’ll go as far as saying you look like one pissed-off woman, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

“No, I don’t mind. Plus, it’s true. I am one pissed-off woman tonight.”

“So I take it your Randall isn’t joining you tonight then?”

“Nope, he got called in by his ass of a boss.”

“Anything I can do to help, sweetie? You seem so not like your old self tonight. It’s so unlike you. What’s up?”

Running a hand through her hair, Chloe stared at the glass of wine resting on the bar in front of her. “I don’t think it’s something you can help me with, Mary J. It’s me, all me. Hell, maybe it’s just PMS or something.” Taking a large sip of wine, Chloe glanced up at the other woman, knowing she could see the tears threatening to fall. “I guess I just miss him. He’s been working so much lately I’ve barely seen him.”

Right at that moment, Chloe wanted to tell the other woman about the new voice message she had received from the stalker. But she couldn’t put Mary J in such an awkward position where Randall was concerned, being that he had all but forbidden her to discuss the situation regarding the stalker to anyone. Something about the less people who knew about it the better chance they had of catching him, in case it happened to be someone close to her. Chloe couldn’t imagine that Mary J had anything to do with her stalker. However, she kept her word and stayed mum on the subject.

“Sweetie, have you tried calling him?” Mary J asked her.

“Yeah, but he can’t or won’t take my calls. I just wish I knew which one. This silence is killing me inside. Plus, I got another message from, ahh, never mind. Forget I said that, would you, Mary J?”

“Are you in some sort of trouble, Chloe? I heard Mick and Randall discussing about someone leaving you threatening messages the other night when they stopped by for a quick drink after work. Did you receive another one, sweetie?” Chloe just nodded her head. “Does Randall know you got another message?”

“No.”

“Oh, hell…”

“Yep, that pretty much sums it up.”

“Do you know when he finishes up on his shift then?”

“No, I have no idea. It’s not like he’s taking any of my calls anyway. Maybe he just doesn’t care about me like I thought he did.” Chloe mumbled the last part, hoping to be wrong, that it was just her own insecurity that made her think that way.

She quickly sculled the rest of the wine down and ordered another one from Mary J. While the other woman went about pouring her drink, Chloe couldn’t help but scan the pub with her eyes. She could feel someone’s eyes on her and had no idea where they were coming from. Or even who they were coming from.

Mary J plonked her glass of house white in front of her then clasped her hand over Chloe’s when Chloe reached for the glass of wine. “Sweetie, don’t say that. Don’t even think it. That man cares deeply for you. Hell, I would go as far as saying he loves you.”

Chloe rolled her eyes and scoffed at hearing the other woman’s last comment. But she didn’t dare rebuff her sentiment though. In some way Chloe knew Randall loved her. How much though? She didn’t know.

“You may not believe me, sweetie.” Hearing the caring and understanding in Mary J’s voice made Chloe feel worse than she already did. “You may not see the love he has for you, because you’re angry and pissed at life and probably at him. But never doubt your Officer Randall’s love for you. I’ve heard it in his voice when he speaks your name. I see it in his eyes. They light up when he talks about you, Chloe. You’re the reason he’s mellowed out and become, well, happy. You’ve made him happy, sweetie. Don’t turn your back on that fact alone.”

“I doubt I’ve made him happy. I’ve probably made him mad if anything.”

“Aw, sweetie, I think you doubt how much of an impact you’ve made to his life. Do you doubt your feelings for him, too?”

“No, I guess not. It’s just…”

“You miss him,” Mary J interjected for her.

Running her hands through her long caramel locks, Chloe avoided glancing up into Mary J’s eyes. “Yeah, I miss him and I’m miserable because I miss him. God, why do men and relationships have to be so damn complicated? Why can’t for once something be easy in life?”

“Hey, sweetie, if relationships were meant to be easy there wouldn’t be a single girl left in the world.”

“True, ugh!”

“Can I give you some advice?” Chloe nodded her head for Mary J to continue. “Don’t give up on him. And don’t give up on love, either.” Mary J laughed then. “And this advice is coming from a single gal who’s been single, well hell, too damn long, that’s for sure.”

Smiling up at Mary J, Chloe thanked her for setting her straight. The words she had spoken were nothing but the truth, something Chloe respected the hell out of. She just hoped that one day she could return the favour when needed.

“Do you want another wine, sweetie?” Mary J asked.

“Nuh, I better not, driving and all.” Seeing an empty booth over in the corner, Chloe picked up her half empty glass, said good-bye to Mary J and made her way over to the empty booth.

As soon as she sat down her phone started ringing. Pulling it free from her purse, Chloe froze when she saw who was calling her.
Oh, shit
. Flipping open the phone she kept the trembling from her voice at bay, while keeping her words stern and straight to the point.

“What do you want?”

“You sound like you’re in a great mood, precious.” She grunted at Randall’s obvious taunt at her expense. “Are you missing me that much, Chloe?”

“Like you’d care if I did or, in your case, didn’t.”

“Aw, precious, I care. I care a hell of a lot. You of all people should know that by now.”

Obviously not enough to answer my damn phone calls
, Chloe wanted to say but remained silent instead.

Her silence on the matter, however, was disturbed by a group of idiots nearby, when they started whistling and yelling obscene things to her. Randall hadn’t asked where she was yet. Chloe had thought she was safe, that she got away with sneaking out of the house for a few hours. Then those stupid fucking idiots had to go spoil her fun. Not that drowning her sorrows by any means could be called fun. More like hell.

The harshness of his voice when he asked where she was had her cringing from just the sound alone. Randall made her realise then that she had made a foolish and rash decision in coming out to the pub tonight. But what was done was done. She just had to suck up whatever punishment he dished out to her now.

She had chosen to leave the house unprotected and alone tonight, not him, something Chloe knew Randall was not willing to negotiate on before leaving the house, but she had chosen to ignore it anyway.

“I asked you a question, Chloe. I expect a damn answer from you, now!” The harshness in his voice and the disapproval she could hear echoing in his words made her feel ten times worse than she already did.

“Where are you?” was the question he posed to her. Chloe found herself in two minds in whether to tell him or not. Hearing her say that she was at the pub would only have him raise his voice at her and, well, she had heard enough of that already. Randall already knew where she was because of those loudmouthed jackasses. He might not know the exact pub she was at but he was a smart man. He could figure it out if he wanted to. Plus, it wasn’t like he could come down and drag her out of the pub anyway being he was still working.

Taking a deep breath to shore up the courage she didn’t really feel she had, Chloe uttered the one word she knew would get the biggest reaction from him by saying it.

“Out.”

With that said she calmly closed the phone shut. Chloe could hear Randall cursing a blue streak at her when she closed her phone.

She couldn’t explain the reasons for wanting a reaction from him. She just needed one, to know he still cared about her.

As soon as she closed her phone it rang again. No surprise there. Randall called her back almost straight away. Persistent, she would give him that. Refusing to answer his call, she let it go straight to voicemail. When he called again, Chloe calmly picked up her phone and turned the bloody thing off. Serves him right, she thought, for not taking her damn calls when she had called him.

A few minutes passed by when out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw Mary J dashing to answer the phone behind the bar. When she caught the other woman looking her way and nodding her head in her direction, Chloe knew Randall had discovered which pub she had ventured out to alone. She guessed she better get used to sitting on a sore ass for the next couple of days, or even a week. No doubt Randall would slap her ass until he had made it blush all shades of red for her disrespecting his direct order to not leave the house alone.

Twirling the stem of her wine glass between her fingertips, a loud bang at the front entrance of the pub startled her about ten minutes later. Randall. Chloe didn’t need to look up to know it was him. She could feel his brooding presence storming toward her.

Lowering her eyes and resting her hands in her lap, she waited for him to come to her.

Chapter Eighteen

Randall was pissed Chloe had hung up on him again. It was becoming somewhat of a habit of hers to hang up on him midconversation, and one he needed to rectify soon. Not only had she ended the call abruptly, Chloe had also disobeyed a direct order to not leave the fucking house unprotected when he was on call. Well, not until they at least caught the sick fuck leaving her threatening messages. He gave her the order for her own safety, and for him to know she was safe when he couldn’t be there to protect her.

After a few phone calls Randall had found the pub Chloe had snuck out to alone. And by the looks of it she’d been drinking up a storm, too. As he stood at the end of the table, glowering down at her, Chloe didn’t even make an effort to lift her gaze to his. Reaching out, clasping his fingers around her upper arm, and keeping his voice low but stern, Randall issued out his command to her.

“Come with me now, little girl.” He practically pulled Chloe out of the booth then escorted her out the front entrance of the pub in total utter silence.