Damn it, she had to get over this! She’d only just gotten rid of her nightmares and then that bitch, Sara, had given her a completely new set.
Laken rubbed her hands over her face. She couldn’t even sleep in the dark anymore. It was pathetic. She used to be independent, strong, self-reliant. Nothing like the scared woman she was now.
She had always thought of Haven as a safe place, where nothing bad could happen—then six weeks ago Sara—a crazy stalker who’d been obsessed with Lila’s fiancé, Colin— had tried to kill Lila. It was Laken’s fault. If only she had remembered to shut and lock the damn back door of her store. But no, she had left the door open and rushed upstairs to her apartment to get a bottle of wine. Then the phone had rung and she forgot all about the danger to Lila. Instead, she only thought of getting rid of the asshole on the other end.
Sara, the cow who had been terrorizing Lila for weeks, had snuck in and almost shot Lila.
Luckily, Sara hadn’t succeeded, but Laken still held herself responsible. She could barely sleep and every time she ate, she felt nauseated. The guilt tore her up. Not that Lila held her responsible. Lila had always been a sweetheart; she’d never been capable of holding a grudge.
Laken wished she could be like that. She wished she could just let things go. No matter how much she tried to tell herself she was over Duncan, her body still melted in his presence, growing wet and willing in his presence even as she knew she had to stay well away from him.
God, she was a mess.
Duncan Jones looked up at the light shining from Laken’s apartment.
Damn it, she knew better than to leave her drapes open at night. Anyone could be watching her. Like him, he thought ruefully. But then, he had a legitimate reason to be here. He was working nightshift and as a sheriff’s deputy it was his job to keep all citizens of Haven safe, including one prickly, temperamental Laken Michaels—much as she might protest that she didn’t need him watching over her.
She didn’t want anything to do with him. Every time he got close to her, she bristled, her temper firing. Surely, she wasn’t still angry over what happened three years ago. He’d missed one dinner and she had stopped answering his phone calls. When he had finally managed to get to her apartment she hadn’t been there.
He knew that she had stormed off to the club without him that night. He’d received a number of phone calls. He had been furious and hurt that she wouldn’t even take his call. He had a good reason for standing her up, and she hadn’t even given him the chance to explain it to her.
When he had finally spoken to her, she told him in a cold voice that she was moving on with her life, that all they’d had was sex and fun and it was time to grow up.
He had been so furious that he hung up on her, giving up without a fight. He’d thrown himself into his career, determined to forget her. But nothing had helped. Laken had always haunted him.
He should have fought for her. He knew that now. There was no way he would make that mistake again.
When she arrived home a few months ago, he knew the time had come to reclaim her. She had always been his.
Things hadn’t gone well for her in New York. That asshole Ricky, who she had dated for the last year, hadn’t been worth her time. His betrayal only showed how beneath her he was. Duncan hated how sad and down she had been when she first got home. Now she was designing clothes once more and she had lost that defeated look. Thank God, because she had been killing him.
However, there was still something going on with her and he was determined to find out what it was.
There was nothing he wanted more than to bundle her up in his arms and shelter her from any pain. When he thought how close he had come to losing her only a few weeks ago… He shuddered and looked down at his tightly clenched fists, trying to quell the rising fury. She allowed him close then. Just for a few minutes, she had been in his arms.
Where she belonged, damn it.
Laken might not realize this yet, but she was going to be his again. This time, he would make sure to treasure her. This time, he was never going to let her go.
***
“Morning, sugar.”
Laken ground her teeth, telling herself it was annoyance and not pleasure she felt bubbling through her stomach at his words.
Without looking up, she snapped back. “Don’t call me that.”
“Now, is that any way to greet a man bearing you gifts?” he chided softly.
The old Duncan would have pulled her up for her tone of voice. The old Duncan would have bent her over the countertop, scolding her as he smacked her butt. Or he would have ordered her to her knees and given her mouth something to occupy itself with.
That was something she did not miss. No way.
So why do I keep goading him on? Why do I keep pushing, hoping for a reaction? Is there a part of me that wants him to take back control?
She squashed that voice as she glanced up. He was holding a brown paper bag and a large coffee. Her stomach growled. She knew what was in that bag. An apple turnover.
Her favorite, or it had been. How long since she’d had one, since she’d indulged? It seemed her life the last few years had been about work, work, work. There had been little time for fun, little room in her life for indulgences.