Rushing the Goal (Assassins #8)(154)

Looking deep into her eyes as they swam in her tears, he smiled. She didn’t share much, but when she did, it hit him straight in the gut. “Then why are we still talking? Kiss me.”

She cried out before his mouth came crashing against hers, and he got lost in her kisses as he held her close, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew this wasn’t easy now, and while he hoped, in two weeks, Rick would be gone, he knew he wouldn’t be.

No, Rick would always be a thorn in their sides.

But like he had been doing since the beginning, he’d be there for Lucy.

Because he loved her, and he knew there was no other love like hers out there.





Sitting at her desk, Lucy leaned against her hand as she read through emails. She was supposed to be at the house packing, so when Benji got home that night, they could meet him before heading to the airport. But Lucy was dragging ass. Not only had she not slept much that weekend with Angie and Benji both being gone, she was stressed with work. The other designer had f*cked up on a job and Lucy had had to refund the client, which sucked ass. Now, she was considering letting Meg go and hiring someone else, but she had three open jobs right now. Lucy sure as hell didn’t have time to take them on, so she’d have to let Meg finish them.

Then maybe she’d fire her.

It was a mess, and she couldn’t wait to be on the beach. While, yes, she would be working, she would also get to just hang and bum it in the sun. A nice, relaxing vacation before court with Rick the following week. It was just what she needed. Surrounded by the people she loved with her toes in the sand. Glancing at the picture on her desk of Angie and Benji, of course, making silly faces—she swore they couldn’t take a picture of themselves actually looking normal—she smiled. Even though Angie was only at school, she missed her dearly.

The past weekend had been hell once more. Rick had brought Heidi, for what reason, she wasn’t sure, but she stood by as Angie threw a fit, not wanting to go at all. Angie begged him not to make her, but he was hell-bent and made her leave, ignoring her bag with her medication. Even when Lucy tried to give it to him, he just drove off. Lucy had always hated him, but she was really starting to loathe him, and she really didn’t like that.

She wanted that co-parenting thing that everyone on Facebook raved about. She had never even had an ounce of that. Rick had been a dick since the beginning, but Lucy had wanted to believe that maybe she could have that. That they could be adults. She had hoped he wanted to be a father, a good one, but she was starting to realize that Rick Hart would never be a father to Angie.

But Benji could be.

She knew it was insane to think about it, but he was just so great with her. Yes, the bank account thing pissed her off, but it was sweet. It was Benji. Always wanting to help, be there for everyone. But his main concern was always Lucy and Angie. He loved her girl as much, if not more than she did—not that that was possible—and she couldn’t ask for more than that. Because Benji didn’t have to love Angie. Hell, Heidi sure as hell didn’t love her, but Benji did. With all of himself.

God, she missed him. She couldn’t understand how she’d gotten so lucky to meet a man like him. But she loved him more than she could ever express. The way he understood her, was so patient with her—she swore he deserved a medal. She sure as hell didn’t deserve him, but somehow, she had him.

He was hers.

As she leaned back in the chair, a knock came and then the door opened. Rayne smiled as she came to the desk, laying a piece of paper down in front of her. Picking it up, Lucy looked it over as Rayne said, “Nikky Jiggler has not said anything about Benji since that post. It has since been deleted, so I emailed her and asked when that article would be published. She wrote that back.”

Lucy looked down and shook her head as she read.



Rayne,

I didn’t sleep with Benji Paxton. I was paid to put his name on the blog by someone. Because of that, no article will be posted. It’s dumb, but hey, a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks. Especially when I still got paid after having to take it down. Thanks for asking, tho!

Love,

Nikky



“Well, that was short and to the point.”

“Yeah, so at least you know,” she said, and Lucy nodded. She was pretty sure she knew who had paid Nikky, and she would fax this to her dad just in case. She didn’t understand what Rick thought he was doing. Why couldn’t he just leave them alone? Let them be happy.

“Thanks,” she said as her phone started to ring. “You rock.” Rayne flashed her a grin as Lucy reached for the phone, seeing that it was Rick.

What the hell?

Answering it as Rayne left, she said, “Hello?

“I need to see you. Where are you?”

She paused. His voice was hard, to the point. Quickly, uneasiness settled in her stomach. “At my office.”

“Text me the address.”

“Why?”

“’Cause I need to talk to you. Now.”

He hung up and Lucy’s heart was in her throat. She dialed her dad’s number on the landline, and he answered right away, “Hello?”

“Dad, Rick just called me, wanting to come to my office.”

“Did he say why?”

“No.”

“Okay, stall him a bit, and I’ll be right over. What’s the address?”