Saved (Tempted #2) (13 page)

Daydreaming about hot kitchen sex you just had with your fiancé is not productive at work. Not in the slightest.

But in my defense it was hard not to think about West pushing me against the counter. And the sensation of the marble pressing into my back every time he slammed into me.

Clenching my legs together, I shook the dirty thoughts from my head. I had to focus on work. West and his magical penis would have to wait till later.

“Maddie? That’s your name, right?” I heard a voice full of venom say from behind me.

I knew who it was without even turning around. It was West’s mom.

“Right,” I said still not turning around to face her.

“Turn around, little girl. It’s disrespectful to treat your future mother in law like that.”

Taking a deep breath, I turned around to look at her.

“Disrespectful? Why should I respect a woman who chose drugs over her kid? Why should I respect someone who broke a five-year old boy’s heart by driving away? And why in the hell should I respect someone who could walk away from West?” I asked, looking at her as if she had lost her mind, “Do you know what makes him smile? Or what makes him cry? Do you know the way his hair looks when he wakes up first thing in the morning? How about his favorite food? Anything?”

She stood completely still, not making a sound. And the silence was speaking volumes. She must made her to the counter and was standing so close to me we were almost nose to nose.

Looking her dead in the eyes, I felt a stinging sensation hit my face.

She had just hit me.

Rubbing my face, I bit my tongue from calling her the names I wanted too.

They weren’t very lady like.

“Don’t you dare talk to me about my son. I know my son. I’m his mother and you’re just some slut he thinks he loves.”

“Why are you here? Did you just come to assault me?”

“I came here to tell you that I don’t approve of your engagement to my son. He deserves better than you,” she said, looking at with eyes full of hatred.

“So, what does he deserve? Someone like you?” I asked, not backing down from her glare.

“You little bitch. You better watch the way you talk to me.”

“Or what?” I asked, challenging her.

As I stepped closer to her, she answered me by jumping on me and knocking me on the floor.

She dug her fingers down my arm and I knew that it had to have drawn blood. After she took one more blow to my face I finally gathered up enough strength to push her off of me. And she ran out of the door.

Running for the phone, I dialed West’s phone and after the first ring he picked up.

“I was just thinking about you,” he said and I could picture his smile as he said it.

I was crying so frantically that every time I tried to get the words out only sobs escaped instead.

“Angel? Why are you crying? Are you okay?”

“No,” I told him, looking down the blood spilling from my arm.

“What happened?”

“Please get to me, Babe.”

“I’m on my way. Where is Sophia? Is she there?” he asked and I could a car door slam in the backround.

“She had to make a delivery, it’s just me.”

“I’ll be there in a few, Angel. I love you.”

“I love you.”

Dropping the phone, I slid down the wall until I hit the floor. I wasn’t sure why she had attacked me the way she did but all I knew was I needed West. I needed him to wrap me up in his arms and make me feel safe. Because that’s where I felt the safest.

He was my safe place. He was my rock. He was my strength when I didn’t have any.

Hearing the door open, I looked up and saw West rushing toward me. He scooped me up in his arms and sat down at the nearest table.

“What happened to you? Who did this to you?” he asked, looking at my arm and then my face.

When he placed his hand on my eye, I winced.

“Do I have a black eye?” I asked, leaning on his shouler.

“Yeah, Angel, you have the starting of one. Now, tell me who did this to you so I can kill them with my bare hands,” he said, gritting his teeth and giving an angry look out of this eyes.

Sobbing, I tried to get my words out but I couldn’t.

“Maddie, please tell me,” he said, pressing his forehead to mine.

“Your mother,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his shoulder and pulling him close

“Did you just say my mother did this to you?” he asked, removing my arms from him and getting up.

Did he think I was lying? Was he mad at me?

He started pacing back and forth.

“Did you call the police?” he asked, running his fingers roughly through his hair.

“No, she’s your mom,” I said, walking over to him and trying to calm him down.

“I don’t care. You’re the love of my life. You’re my past, present, and future. She touched you and she deserves to pay. Nobody can hurt you and get away with it. You’re my whole world, Angel,” he said before pulling his phone from his pocket and dialing someone.

“Hello? Yes, my girlfriend was assaulted at her work. Yes, she knows the person that did it. We’re at Sweetie Pie’s.”

That was the good thing about living in a small town, 911 never needed your address.

I collapsed into his arms and he rubbed my back.

After what felt like literally five minutes the police came walking into the bakery.

We all took our seats and the police started asking questions.

“Maddie, what happened?” Officer Higgins asked, pulling out a small notepad.

“Mrs. Stevens, West’s mom, came in here and told me she didn’t approve of our engagement. I told her I didn’t care and she attacked me. By the time I fought her off me she was out the door,” I told them, grabbing napkins and holding them to my arm.

I answered the rest of their question and I was praying for them to leave. I wanted to be alone with West. They said I needed to go the hospital and West told them that he would take me himself.

After taking picture of my face and arm they left.

“Did she really say that?” West asked, looking at my arm.

“Say what?”

“That she didn’t approve of us getting married?”

He seemed upset by that and that made me wonder if her opinion really did matter to him. And if it did would he break off our engagement?

“Yes,” I said, waiting on him to tell me it was over.

He sat there and stewed over all the information. Like he was processing the craziness of the morning in his head. It was a lot to take in, I had to give him that.

“What in the world gives her the right to think I need her blessing or even want it for that matter? She walked away from having those rights when she walked away from me. She doesn’t matter to me because I didn’t matter to her. But Maddie, you wanna know something?”

If he was telling it to me then I wanted to know it.

Nodding my head, I slid my hands in his back pockets.

“Even if she would have never left me and still didn’t approve I’d still marry you. Nothing could keep me from you. Or no one.”

And my heart melted in a huge puddle on the ground.

“Babe, you’re going to make me cry.”

“You mean even more than you are now?” he asked, wiping away the tears slipping down my face.

“I meant you’re going to make cry happy tears.”

“Good. I don’t ever want to cause you any pain.”

Tipping my chin up with his hand, I crashed my mouth on to his and kissed him like it was the last time I would ever kiss him.

Pulling away, he looked at me in shock.

“What was that for, Angel?”

“For being you and for loving me.”

“Your eye is starting to swell. We need to get you to the hospital,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me toward the door.

“Babe, I need to lock up and turn off all of the machines,” I said, walking toward the kitchen.

The door opened and I heard someone gasp. Turning around, I saw Sophia.

“Honey, what happened to you?” she asked, looking at my face that was no doubly already bruising.

“My so called mother happened to her. The police said I need to get to the hospital for them to look at her,” West said, leaning against the glass window.

“I’ll take over from here. Maddie, let me know if you need anything,” Sophia said, running her hands up and down my shoulders.

“I will.”

“Okay, you kids get on out of here,” she said, shooing us out the door.

West opened the passenger door up for me and I slid inside. Walking around the car, he got in and started the engine.

I guess West could sense that I wasn’t in the state of mind to talk because he cranked the music up and never opened his mouth.

I hated hospitals with a bitter passion. I hated them with every fiber of my being. They held no good memories for me.

Hospitals were eerie places to me. For most people they signified a second chance. Whether it be someone bouncing back from an illness or a family getting a new addition. But not for me. For me they signified loss and heartbreak.

I think the smell was one of the things I hated the most. I hated the fluorescent lighting. I hated the way the doctor’s hands were always freezing. I hated the way the food tasted. But most of all I hated the expression the doctor wore when he gave you earth shattering news.

Yeah, the last one was definitely my least favorite thing.

Seeing the brick building, I felt terrified. I didn’t want to go in but I knew I had to. West pulled in the parking garage and found the nearest parking space he could.

Lucky for me he parked so close that we were in the hospital in less than three minutes.

Walking through the glass revolving door, I tried to ignore the distinct hospital smell that hit me in the face as soon I walked through it. But it was no use.

West talked to the nurse at the desk and got me checked in. Walking through the waiting room, we found two chairs together and claimed them.

It wasn’t too crowd, so the wait wouldn’t be tremendously long.

“Angel, I can tell something is weighing on your mind. You wanna talk about it?” West asked, putting his between my knees.

“No, I just hate hospitals.”

Okay, that was partly the truth. But I couldn’t tell him what I was thinking about. What happened that night at the hospital was something that needed to be talked about at the right time and that wasn’t right now.

I wasn’t sure when the right time would be and I really wasn’t sure when Luca would decide to take it upon himself to tell West.

“I think everyone does. I mean it smells like Clorox mixed with shit in here and don’t even get me started on the food,” West said, shivering at the thought of eating hospital food, “Oh, and the doctors hands. I mean seriously dude put some gloves on.”

Shaking my head, I laughed at him.

That was why I loved him so much. Not because we practically thought the same things but because no matter how scared I was or what was going on in my life he knew how to make me laugh. No matter the situation he made me feel comfortable and safe.

He replaced fear with laughter. And that’s hard to do but he had that quality about him. He was one of the good ones and I was very, very lucky.

And I was smart enough to know it.

“Maddie Thomas?” the male nurse asked, walking out from the triage.

Standing up, I held on to West’s hand as we followed the nurse.

After checking my vital signs and all that good stuff, he put a bracelet on my wrist.

“Follow me,” he said, standing up and leading us down the fluorescent lit hallway filled with vacant hospital rooms.

Walking into one of the rooms, I sat on the lumpy bed and started down at the white tiled floor.

Another thing that I hated about hospitals.

“Dr. Lyons will be in shortly,” the nurse said, leaving the room and shutting the heavy wooden door behind him.

Hearing that name, I felt all the blood leave my face.

Dr. Lyons was my doctor the night of the accident.

All it took to wipe away me feeling safe with West by my side was that name. I didn’t know if he would bring up what I was hiding from West. There was no way to be sure.

Hearing the door open and footsteps padding the floor, I looked up and was met by a face I would never forget. And not in a
he’s such a hot doctor way
, no it was in you gave me the worst news of my life way.

“Hello, Maddie. Long time no see. How are you feeling?” he asked, looking down at the iPad in his hand.

“Good. Thank you,” I said, dodging all eye contact and shifting uncomfortably on the twin size hospital bed.

“West, how are you?”

“I’ve been better, Grant. How about you?”