Broken Dreams (Broken 2)

That poor girl. If she only knew what type of a man she was marrying…

“And he seems happy now, but when he asked me not to—”

I was pulled out of my moment of daydreaming, and I stared at Tyler. “When he asked you not to what?”

Tyler stood up and gave me a weak smile as he slowly shook his head. “Nothing. Never mind. I’m just really glad you’re here, Court. I love you and Sissy more than anything.”

I smiled as I stood up and set my piece of work to the side. “I love you, too.”

“Congratulations on the baby again. I’m really glad you found Reed and that he makes you happy.”

I gave him a kiss on the cheek and grinned. “Thank you, Tyler, and yes, Reed makes me beyond happy.”

As I watched him walk away, I had the strangest feeling come over me. I felt like that sixteen-year-old girl again, deathly afraid to be alone because he might be here. I found myself looking around.

Tyler was saying good-bye to everyone. He was heading to his bachelor party. He had asked Reed to go, but then he’d made the comment that Reed would most likely feel out of place. Tyler had almost seemed like it bothered him to say that, but he’d said it. Reed had no desire to go, but it still pissed me off, and I had every intention of talking to Tyler about it after the wedding. My parents had made me promise to wait. They had also been upset by how rude Tyler had acted, and it took everything out of me not to junk-punch him.

I watched as Tyler walked out the door. I turned and looked out the window as I watched him walk down the sidewalk and up a little ways. He jumped into a Toyota 4Runner that took off down the road. I glanced over to my right, only to see Reed staring at the retreating 4Runner also. I put my hand on my stomach and tried to push down that awful feeling I hadn’t had in so many years.

He’s out of the country, Courtney. He can’t hurt you any longer.

When I looked back at Reed, he was staring at me. He smiled that smile of his and made his way over to me.

When he pulled me into his arms, he whispered in my ear, “Let’s stay at a hotel tonight.”

I closed my eyes and held on to him harder. I had told my mother that I didn’t want to stay at the house. I couldn’t bear the thought of Reed being in the same bed where Noah had done those things to me.

I hadn’t even had to tell Reed my anxiety over it. The first night we had gotten here, he had gone up to my room ahead of me. When I’d walked into my room, I’d seen he had built a little tent on the floor. When I’d crawled into it, blankets and pillows had been on the floor. I’d looked at him, and he’d told me we would be camping for the next few nights. I had thrown my body into his as I’d cried and told him how much I loved him.

When I stepped back, I opened my eyes and nodded my head.

“I’ll let your mother know our plans.”

I couldn’t talk. I just stood there and watched him as he walked into the kitchen and said something that made my mother laugh. Then, her smile faded, and she looked at me. I was scared shitless she would start screaming about us wanting to leave and go to a hotel. She turned back and smiled at Reed as I watched my father shake Reed’s hand.

Wait, what’s happening? What did he tell them?

Reed walked up and took my hand as he said, “Let’s go pack up. I’ll call and make reservations at a hotel.”

I followed him up the stairs in silence. When we got in my room and Reed shut the door, I finally found my voice. “What did you tell them? Are they mad we’re leaving?”

He laughed as he put both suitcases on the bed and shook his head. “I simply told them that I was uncomfortable being under their roof, and that due to my respect for you and them, I just simply couldn’t make love to you while being here. And that since we are newlyweds still, I was going to have to take you to a hotel.”

My mouth dropped open. “You didn’t,” I whispered.

He looked at me and said, “Oh, yes, I did.”

“And my father didn’t kill you?”

Reed shrugged his shoulders. “Nope. He said he respected me for being honest and for thinking about their feelings on the matter. Married or not, he said you are still his little girl.”

I sat down on the bed and tried to let it all sink in.

That’s it. Reed Nickolas Moore has powers, very strong powers, that not only control my heart, soul, and libido, but apparently, he has the power to make my family fall so in love with him that he can do no wrong.

This is bad, very bad.

After we checked into the hotel and made our way to our room, I was exhausted. My cell phone began ringing, and Reed and I both moaned, “Not again.”