Lost in Me (Lost Duet #1)

Chapter Two

Shawn

I slightly turn around and watch Em make her way to her office. She doesn’t turn and look at me even though I know she can feel me staring. It is just what she and I do, I guess. It has been this way for years. There is just something about her that draws me in, and when I looked over her file, I learned a lot about her and what she has been through, which explains why she is always on edge and quiet.

But I have heard her with clients and have seen her with my other staff around them. She allows herself to be open and funny. She lets her guard down just enough that I get to see the woman she is hiding inside. The woman she feels she lost with her ex, but I see she is still in there, just waiting to be free.

Emory Sparks is the kind of woman who is downright gorgeous but doesn’t know it. She is humble, kind, sweet, and gentle. She is much shorter than me, but I can tell she is in shape. She has shoulder-length hair with a mixture of dark brown and blonde.

She has tattoos covering a lot of her body, or at least the parts of her body she has allowed us to see, which is very surprising to me. She doesn’t seem like the type, but then again, I think she is misunderstood. She wears black glasses that make her look sexy as fuck. She wears comfortable clothing that shows off her curves but is never showing too much.

Today, she is wearing a pair of blue skinny jeans with black boots that come up to her knees and a dark green button-up shirt. The shirt is undone in the front, showing off the black tank top underneath, and her chest tattoo.

“Why don’t you just go talk to her?” Sherri states in an amused voice.

I feel my heart race a little, hearing Sherri’s words. Talking to Em is not that simple. She has been through enough. She doesn’t need to get mixed up with a guy like me. I am not good for her. “I’m good right here,” I answer back.

“You two have been playing this hot-and-cold game for years,” Sherri says, allowing a small laugh to leave her.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I take a deep breath. Sherri is not stupid. Em and I have been playing the hot-and-cold game, but it is better this way. It is better I keep my distance from her.

“We all see the way you two look at each other,” Sherri says softly.

I am very much aware of what my staff has seen, but I can’t hide the way I look at her. I have tried.

“It would never work,” I say calmly.

“Now that is the first lie you have told today, young man,” Sherri states.

I don’t need to look at her to know she is shaking her head. Sherri is the only staff member who has the balls to talk to me the way she does, but I have learned to love her for it. She isn’t afraid of me. She says what is on her mind, and I admire her for that, although sometimes I wish she was afraid to say what is on her mind.

“Careful,” I state in an amused voice. I don’t know why I said it. Sherri won’t listen to me. She never has and probably never will. Sherri is confident in who she is, honest and blunt to the core with everyone, even clients. She makes me laugh and shake my head at least five times a day. It keeps things interesting around here, that is for sure.

Sherri laughs and answers the phone on the first ring.

I take a deep breath and shake my head as Em makes her way into her office, turning on the light. Her schedule is full today. The clients and my staff love her, and I can see and understand why. She is a mystery.

****

I look up and see Em leave her office. She has been overloaded with clients today. I can hear her walking around the hall toward the break room. She loves coffee like no one I have ever seen before. I just need to get her a coffee maker to keep in her office.

I take a deep breath and continue to look over the emails—the never-ending emails. I hear the front bell go off. I can hear a man speaking to Sherri. The one thing I love about this building is that I can hear everything. It makes it easier to keep my staff and clients safe. After all, we are helping them escape and heal from some dangerous men.

A few moments later, I hear a cup fall and shatter on the ground in the break room. I jump up from my chair and exit the office, making my way down to the room right across from the front desk. I see a tall man standing near the desk. He looks angry and on edge. He is covered in tattoos, and from what I can tell, they are from when he was in prison or jail. I know because I have some that look the same.

I look at Sherri. She is sitting down, trying to answer the man’s questions. I stop and look down at the broken coffee cup. I take another step inside and slowly scan the room. I turn and look behind the door and see Em on the ground. She has her knees pulled up, her arms are wrapped tightly around her knees, and she is rocking back and forth. Her head is leaning against the wall, and her eyes are closed. I see tears rolling down her face.

I take a deep breath and slowly close the distance between us. I kneel down in front of her and lift my hand, resting gently on her knee. As soon as I do, she stops rocking back and forth, opens her eyes, and looks at me. Her eyes are a dark ocean blue. Fucking beautiful.

“Em,” I whisper, not wanting to make her afraid of me.

“Shawn,” she whispers my name. I can hear the fear in her tone as Sherri continues to talk to the man who is now yelling at her. He doesn’t like whatever answer Sherri has given him. I keep my eyes on Em. Her eyes search mine. Her body tenses each time the man raises his voice.

“Let me help you,” I state softly as I reach out my hands to her. She looks down at my hands for a moment, then grabs onto them. I slowly stand, forcing her to do the same. The man is still yelling. But right now, I am only focused on Em as she shoves her face into my chest, making my heart beat a little faster at the gesture.

I release my hold on her hands and slowly and gently wrap my arms around her, pulling her into me. She allows me to.

I have never seen her act like this, and honestly, it concerns me. She is having a trauma response to the man who is yelling. She is going through exactly what her clients come here to talk to her about. I need to fucking make it stop. I don’t like this. I don’t like that this fucking man is coming into my business and making Em this uncomfortable.

I have been watching her long enough to know she is about to break, shatter, and I fucking refuse to let that happen.

Even though I don’t want to leave her, I need to get this fucker out of my business, away from my staff, and away from Em.

“I need you to stay right here,” I whisper.

“Please don’t leave me,” she begs me. Her voice is both making my heart sink and turning me on. Her voice is like no other, and it has always done strange things to me.

“I will be right back, I promise. I need to ask him to leave,” I state softly.

She takes a deep breath and pulls back just enough to look up at me. Her eyes search mine for a moment, then she slowly nods. “I trust you, Shawn,” she says through her tears.

I gently release my hold on her and take a small step back. She backs up into the corner, hiding behind the door. Seeing her like this makes my blood boil. Makes me want to break this fucker’s neck, but I can’t, not yet and not here.

I take a deep breath and nod as I turn and walk around the door. I stop at the doorway. The man is pounding on the counter at Sherri. I can tell she is uncomfortable with this man. We don’t get many men in here, and normally, when we do, it is because they have found their victim, and I think this time the victim is Em.

I slowly walk over to Sherri, standing behind her. The man stops yelling and stands up straight. He looks me right in the eyes, and then he looks me up and down, trying to size me up, which, honestly, takes everything in me not to laugh. He has no fucking idea who I am, and I can tell he is not from around here, but he will soon remember my name.