Talk Me Down (18 page)

“No,” she repeated. “Let’s discuss this right here. Cameron, I told you not to come here.”

“Molly,” he chuckled.
Display calmness.
“Molly, you agreed to be my date.” He turned toward Ben. “Policemen’s Ball. I’m honored to be receiving a small award and even more honored that Molly’s agreed to attend with me.”

“I agreed before I broke up with you. I told you last week that I wasn’t ever going to see you again. It’s been over for six months, Cameron.”

“Not quite six months.” His face was all pleasantness, but his eyes offered a warning.
Threat of force.
Easy enough to neutralize that.

“Yes, Cameron,” she sneered, “there was that little incident five months ago. You want me to tell these people what happened? Fine. I had sex with my ex-boyfriend a month after we broke up. Oh, the humanity!”

“Come on, Molly,” he sighed. “We don’t want to go into those details here.” Another warning.

“Oh, let’s just get it all out, Cameron. That’s why you’re here isn’t it? Listen everyone! I had sex with him in an alley, behind a club, against a brick wall. I was drunk and angry and lonely, because Mr. Magic here kept stealing all my friends away, and so I did something trashy. What else have you got, Cameron?”

“I’m not here to fight with you—”

“No, you’re here to screw up my life again! Haven’t I made it clear that I want nothing to do with you?”

He raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Molly, you called me in the middle of the night last Tuesday. You also called me two days before that. If we’re over, why do you constantly reach out to me?”

“I called to tell you to leave me alone!”

Cameron shook his head again, allowing a hint of sadness to leak through.
Show empathy and understanding.
“I know you’ve got commitment issues. I know you’re no good at relationships. I’d imagine Chief Lawson sees that about you, too. But I love you. And you can have sex with all these different guys—”

“Hey!”

“But it won’t change how I feel about you.” He turned back to Ben. “Chief, I’m really sorry you’ve become involved in all this. Molly and I have been going back and forth for a while, and I hate that you’ve been pulled into our argument. I’m sure you’ve seen she has commitment issues. You’ve known her for years, right?”
Encourage the subject to do the talking.
“You’ve seen how nervous she gets about genuine emotions?”

But Ben was the strong and silent type. “Enough,” he growled. “Sergeant Kasten, my office. Now.”

She grabbed Ben’s arm as he moved past her. “Please don’t. You don’t understand. He’s got…he manipulates people, changes how they see me. I know you don’t like me very much right now, but don’t listen to him. Just…”

Ben shook off her grasping hands. “Go home, Molly. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“I’m not leaving! I won’t—”

He swung back toward her, and Molly actually took a step away from his vicious frown.

“You just spilled the details of your sex life to the whole police force, not to mention a few details of mine. So get the hell out of my workplace,
please,
and I will speak with you when I’m done here.”

Shit. Well, she’d managed to thwart Cameron’s plan, but only because she’d done the deed for him. Alienated Ben. Proved everything he thought about her true. “You don’t have the right to send me away so you can discuss me. This isn’t medieval England.”

Not even a flicker of sympathy sparked through his eyes. “This is my police station. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. Leave. Now.”

She could argue for hours and he wouldn’t back down, not after she’d humiliated him like this. His eyes made that clear.

“Fine,” she whispered, then speared Cameron with a look she wished could kill. “And Cameron? Don’t ever contact me again. Is that clear? Will one of you good police officers take that down as evidence? I do not want this man calling me or knocking on my door or sending me gifts. I’ll be in to file a restraining order when I’m allowed back on police property.”

Her vision blurred with tears, and the room swung blindly around her when she turned, but she clearly saw Cameron slap a friendly hand against Ben’s back. And there was no missing the decidedly unfriendly smirk on Brenda’s face as she watched Molly leave.

So it was done. But as Molly trudged home under the annoyingly cheerful sun, there was a tiny spark of triumph under her misery. Her fling with Ben was over, but she’d pushed it under the train herself before Cameron could manage to tie it to the tracks.

Sadly, that was a big improvement.

Ben shoved up from his chair and stalked into the hallway, barking, “Is there anything else you need from me this afternoon?” to no one in particular. A chorus of negative responses greeted him. Apparently his off-duty officers had felt a sudden need to come in and organize their paperwork today.

When he reached the front door, Ben stopped, turned and glared at the far wall. “If any of this ends up in the
Tribune,
I’ll know it came from one of you. I would not appreciate that in the least.”

“Yes, sir,” Brenda and the men responded.

Nodding, Ben started to leave, but Brenda rushed over with one hand out to stop him.

“Are you okay, Chief?”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what that woman did to you. Why don’t I drop off a plate of my lasagna tonight? You’ll feel better with some good food in your gut.”

“It’s all right, Brenda. Honestly.”

“I knew that girl was trouble as soon as she flounced back into town. She—”

“Whoa.” Ben shook his head. “I appreciate your friendship. I always have. But I need you to give Molly a break here, okay? For me?”

She took one of his hands and held it between both of hers; her lips disappeared in a thin line. “Of course. You’re right. You sure about the lasagna?”

Ben assured her he was, and managed to hold his anger down to a simmer until he was outside and in his truck. Then he ground his teeth together, wrapped his fists around the steering wheel and spewed out every single curse word he knew. Just to be thorough, he combined a few of them, repeated a few more and finally felt calm enough to start the truck and back out into the street. By the time he got to Molly’s house, he could almost feel the ends of his fingers again, though his blood pressure was still affecting his hearing. The world sounded wrapped in cotton, though the sun was too fucking bright. He wished his vision was still darkened by rage.

She opened the door before he’d finished pounding and seemed startled when he brushed by her and closed it behind him. He paced to the kitchen, pulled out a chair and then walked away without sitting in it. His eye fell on the back door, so he checked to make sure it was locked, then finally turned to face her.

“I can’t believe you dated that guy.”

Molly’s hands dropped from her hips. Her face lost its anger. “Huh?”

“He’s a complete ass, Molly. What the hell were you thinking?”

Her eyelids fluttered. “Uh, what?”

Ben held up his hands in exasperation, glanced around the kitchen. “Did you have a drink when you came home?”

“I…I…Didn’t you talk to him?”

“Yes, I talked to him. I talked to him for a half hour. That’s thirty minutes of my life that I will never get back.”

“And?”

Why was she looking at him like he was speaking in tongues? Was she pissed about being thrown out? Because he was sure as hell still pissed at her, and if she wanted to—

“Ben!” she screeched. “Are you saying you didn’t
like
him?”

He felt his face twist in disgust. “Jesus Christ, did you want us to be friends or something?”

She slapped both her hands over her mouth, muffling a little cry.

“Molly, I—” He wasn’t quite sure what he meant to say, but whatever it was, he lost the words when she launched herself at him. He had to step one foot back to save his balance, and when she wrapped her legs around him, he had no choice but to hold on to her ass. And then she was pressing kisses to his mouth and jaw and neck, which was pretty damned distracting.

“Oh, Ben,” she whispered against his ear. “I know you must hate me, but I don’t care. You’re my hero.” Her tongue licked at his pulse, urging it to quicken. It did.

“Hey…What…?” But her hands were under his shirt, caressing his naked back, nails biting him just like they did when—“Wait.”

“You’re amazing. A miracle. I should’ve known…”

“Molly.” He had to clear his throat, because he meant to sound authoritative, but he sounded simply aroused. “Molly. Why was he really here?”

She bit his shoulder, tightened her legs around him. “To ruin my life.”

“What?”
He let her go abruptly, but her legs were strong enough to hold her, and her hips just dropped more snugly against his groin. “Ah! Just a second. You are not going to distract me this time.”

“Don’t worry. This’ll only take a minute.”

He grabbed her waist and pulled her off like a stubborn burr. “Could you stop cracking jokes for a few seconds and be serious?”

That cut through her mood like a knife. She set her feet down, crossed her arms and glared, hero worship forgotten.

“Tell me what you meant about Cameron ruining your life.”

She shrugged, looking like a rebellious teenager. He expected her to start cracking gum when she cocked her chin up. “He’s been stalking me.”

Those words hit him right between the eyes. “What?
Stalking?
No. No, that can’t be right, because
you would have told me about that when someone started breaking into your house.
”

“It wasn’t him.”

He couldn’t strangle her. First of all, that would be wrong. Second, everyone would know it was him. What to do? Ben took a deep breath and tried to let it out slowly. “Please.
Please.
Say something that makes sense. Anything.”

“It wasn’t him! He never did anything like that in Denver, plus the reason I’ve been calling him is to check on his whereabouts. It couldn’t have been him. That morning my house was broken into, he was at his desk in Denver.”

“Shit. You’re sure? So what do you mean by stalking? I knew I should have arrested that bastard just for being cheesy.”

“You think Cameron’s cheesy?” She started to laugh. “God, Ben, I think I love you.”

The air left his lungs at the same speed as all the blood left her face.

“I mean…you know…” she stammered, while his stomach sunk to the floor in a sickening rush. “I didn’t mean
love
love. I just…”

Ben nodded, wanting to skim over that just as much as she apparently did. “I get it.”

“It’s just that everyone adores Cameron.
Worships
him. He’s got this power…I’m not sure I ever even liked him, he just…sucked me in. And then one day I woke up and realized I was so relieved he hadn’t stayed the night. I didn’t want to have to see him. But every time I tried to break it off…” She shook her head. “He talked me out of it.”

“But you did break it off.”

“Finally! After I started looking into his work and realized I was being constantly manipulated. Talked down.”

“Handled,” he added, thinking of the way the man had tried to put off an aura of instant friendship.

“Handled, exactly! Like I was practice for his job, keeping his skills honed. When he realized I was done with it…I don’t know. He needs to feel that he’s in control, that’s why he loves his work so much. And he couldn’t stand not pulling my strings anymore.”

Ben’s stomach was back in place, but it was starting to burn with anxiety. “What did he do?”

She collapsed into a kitchen chair and propped her chin on her hand. “It started small. He was suddenly hanging out at
my
places. The bar in my building. My favorite restaurant. The coffee place on my block. And my friends kept in contact with him, invited him to their parties, urged me to give him another shot. It was like they were all hypnotized, you know?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s what he does! He’s trained to bring people around to his point of view. Even my family…well, Quinn was too distracted to get sucked in, though he was constantly giving out information he shouldn’t have. But my dad, my mom…” She pressed a hand to her eyes. “They couldn’t get enough of him. ‘Come on, Molly. He’s like a son to us. He loves you. Why don’t you grow up and make a good choice for once?’”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. Ouch. I had to skip Memorial Day with my parents in St. George because they’d invited him.”

“I’m sorry, Moll.”

“And then I started seeing him in places he really shouldn’t have been, like the bookstore on the other side of town. Or in a women’s clothing boutique. Why would he be there? I complained to his superior, complained to everyone I could, but it didn’t matter. Everyone loves him. And he made it clear that I was the problem. Sending mixed signals. Blowing hot and cold. He even…After that night at the club…I just wanted to go home and pass out, but he said he needed to settle his tab, so I went back in with him, and he made a big production out of it, tucking his shirt in, grinning like a damned ape.

“In the end, I just tried to ignore it. I started dating again, hoping he’d fade away but, boy, was I mistaken.”

Ben’s anger at her was subsiding, and he noticed now how tired she looked. Drawn and miserable. Ben grabbed a Frappucino from the fridge and popped it open for her. She smiled at him, and he couldn’t resist trailing his fingers down her cheek.

“I’m sorry I accused you of being childish, Molly.”

She shook her head, but Ben saw the tears she swiped from her eyes and felt like a complete jerk. He should have just asked her about it instead of jumping down her throat. But he always felt on edge with her, waiting for the other stiletto-heeled shoe to drop.

Molly took a long drink and slumped back in the chair. “I didn’t tell you because…well, I knew he couldn’t be the stalker, but if I told you, you’d look into it anyway. You’d have to. And I thought if you called him…”

“Yeah?”

She let her breath out in a long, sad sigh. “Every single man I’ve dated in the past six months has fallen for Cameron like a ton of bricks.”

“
Fallen
for him?”

“It sounds crazy, but he steals them away from me faster than you can say ‘homoerotic bonding.’”

“And you thought
I…
You…”

“No, no. I didn’t think you’d want to spoon with him or anything. I just thought he’d come up here spewing about my ‘issues,’ and how screwed up I was, and how I clearly wasn’t over him yet. And then you guys would exchange cop stories and have a few beers, and you’d have the excuse you’ve been looking for to bow out. The end.”

“I
guess,
” Ben drawled in disgust. “Sure, I could see that if I were some kind of wussy pushover with mommy issues.”

“I’ve had a rough six months, okay?” she cried. “Little Blue was my last friend, and frankly the last time his batteries ran out I had a fleeting moment of panic that he’d been compromised!”

“Nice,” he snorted and had to dodge the fist she threw at his hip.

“So I didn’t want to tell you about Cameron, and I made it clear to that crazy bastard that I wasn’t going to Denver with him, but I knew he’d show up anyway. I didn’t want to be around, and I didn’t want you around, either. I’m sorry. I had no idea he’d go to the station and…God, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, pushing down his mortification at the whole incident. She wasn’t exactly wise and dignified, but Molly had her reasons…and her own special brand of charm. “I don’t need some over-groomed city cop to tell me about your issues, Moll. I lived half my summers at your house. I like your parents a lot, but I cringed every time they sang Quinn’s praises, even when I was a kid. I was there that day his SAT scores came in—”

“Gack,” she choked out.

“And I remember that look on your face when your dad laughed and told you to plan on taking the ACT so you wouldn’t feel bad. And when your debate team made the district finals and your mom and dad came to our basketball game instead. Christ, if I’d known about the debate I would’ve skipped the game and come myself.”

Molly shook her head frantically. “Please say you didn’t tell Cameron any of that!”

“I’m not one of those so-called men you dated in Denver. I wouldn’t yell ‘fire’ at that slimeball if his ass was in flames.”

“Thank God.”

“My point is that I can see you have trust issues, and I know why. I even understand your need to keep your secrets close, but just for future reference, some of the things
I
like to keep secret are how often and how hard I have sex with you.”

“Uh…right. I’ll, um, keep that in mind.”

“Because that was more than a little out of line.”

“Yes. I agree. I have a bit of a temper.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Hard to tell.”

She gave a mumbled, “Sorry,” then grabbed her drink as if it were a lifeline and gulped it down.

Sighing, Ben dropped into the other chair and ran a hand through his hair. “All right. Let’s go through all of it.”

Molly’s eyes went wide. “All of
what?
I don’t think it’s a good idea to discuss past relationships with—”

“All the incidents since your return to Tumble Creek, and exactly why you think Cameron couldn’t be responsible.”

“Oh, that makes more sense. So…Are we…?” She looked up from her study of her hands, and Ben had to suck in a quick breath to feed the rush of his heart. Her hazel eyes were soft with anxiety, uncertain instead of bold, and she looked like the girl she used to be, the one who’d never been quite enough in her parents’ eyes. The one who could walk into her house without anyone noticing. How many times had Ben wandered back to her room just so she’d know someone had looked up when she came through the door?