7 Months (Time for Love 8)

I turned, leaving less than an inch between our lips.

“I’m glad you came.”

Ming’s eyes flitted down to my lips, and I heard her breathing get shallow.

“I’ll call you later?”

Testing, I darted my tongue out, barely grazing her lower lip. When she inhaled sharply I held back a grin and asked, “Can you get dinner sometime this week?”

Ming’s eyes were still focused on my lips when she answered, “I’ll check my calendar while I’m at the office and let you know.”

Rather than answer, I tilted my head down another half an inch, then fought back a grin when she said, “Fuck it,” and leaned in the rest of the way, her mouth clashing against mine as she kissed me.

“Later,” Ming said when she broke away, a knowing sexy grin on her lips.

I didn’t reply, just watched her walk away, before licking my lips and going back to the task at hand.

Chapter Twenty ~ Ming

Still riding high from the family breakfast that had gone much better than I ever could have hoped, I arrived at Natalie’s friend’s house with some pep in my step.

“Hi, Ming, thanks so much for doing this,” Natalie said when she opened the door.

Her face still had some lingering bruising, but she looked much better than I’d expected.

“Of course, Natalie,” I replied as I followed her inside. “I’m sorry we couldn’t meet face to face until now, but after our last conversation on the phone I made a great deal of headway in the case. It looks like Zeke has accepted the court-appointed defense attorney. They had the arraignment just this morning, and he pled not guilty to the charge of domestic violence assault, so we will be going to court.”

I watched as Natalie seemed to deflate in front of my eyes.

“Not guilty?” she asked incredulously.

“Come here,” I said, taking her arm and maneuvering her to the sofa where we both sat down. “We have the police report. Pictures. Plenty of evidence to make sure he pays for what he did. Trust me, Natalie, this will be okay.”

Natalie’s large eyes sought mine and she nodded. She was so small and delicate, that I if you weren’t paying attention, you might think she was weak, but if you looked closely, you could see the steel underneath.

I pulled out my briefcase and we went over the paperwork involved with the case. I told her what to expect and what our next steps would be.

“You must think I’m an idiot,” she said softly, causing me to look up from the papers in front of me in surprise.

“No,” I replied, my tone serious. “Why would you think that?”

Natalie gave a half shrug.

“Waitress, living in a trailer with a man who treats me like trash … I wasn’t always like this, you know. I went to college, have a degree in HR … It’s just that when I met Zeke, he seemed so into me, ya know? He was so tall and handsome, and he looked at me like I was something to be treasured. I followed him here, moved in almost right away. He didn’t start talking down to me until after we were married six months, then it was like I couldn’t do anything right. He didn’t want me working in an office, making more money than him, thinking I was better than I was, but he hated me working at Jake’s too. It was like nothing I did was good enough. It wasn’t until Brady, well all of the O’Malley brothers, showed me how great men could be, that I started to think maybe there was something wrong in my marriage. Zeke refused to go to counseling, and eventually, I just had enough. I hate to say it, but when he disappeared, I was relieved. Those months he was gone were the best of my life. I finally started to feel like myself again, then he came back.”

Her eyes were so wide I was surprised they didn’t take up her whole face.

“He’d never hit me before. I wasn’t expecting it, didn’t know he had it in him, but when he hurt me that way … Well, let’s just say I was sorry that I only shot him once, and that he lived through it. Do you think that makes me a horrible person?”

“God, no, Nat,” I assured her, scooting closer to take her hand in mine. “It makes you human. No one blames you for protecting yourself. Zeke is the one in the wrong here, not you. You’re not an idiot … You just fell in love with the wrong man. The good thing is, you have your whole future ahead of you. You’ll find yourself again.”

She gave a self-deprecating laugh as she wiped the tears off of her face.

“Who’s going to want to be with someone like me? Who’ll hire me other than Jake?”

“Hey,” I said sternly, wanting to have her complete attention. “You are a gorgeous, smart, hard-working woman; any man in his right mind would want you. Shoot, I see guys watching you all the time at Jake’s, and I think once you’re ready to move forward and you start paying attention, you’ll see that you have plenty of options. And as for a job, if you want to move on from Jake’s, what’s stopping you? You have a degree, and although you may not have a lot of experience, everyone has to start somewhere, right? I’m sure you can find a human resources job … I’d even be willing to ask around and see if there are any openings.”

“Really?” Natalie asked, looking at me with such hope that I vowed I’d start making calls as soon as possible.