Page 45 of Provocation (Temptation 3)

Julia

Closing my eyes, I took a calming breath, wishing I could get a do-over of this day.

First, Imogene walked in on Lachlan and me having sex.

Then Naomi refused to understand why I needed to keep this thing with Lachlan quiet for the time being.

Then, the icing on the cake, Lachlan barged into my office and hugged me for all to see, no doubt causing the rumor mill to spring to life.

What else could possibly go wrong?

“You can’t do this, Lachlan,” I declared in a firm voice, glaring at him. “You can’t just burst into my office and…and…hug me!”

“Friends hug,” he said with a hint of venom, throwing my words back at me.

“I told you why things needed to be this way.” I stepped toward him, softening my expression. “I need time. Please be patient.”

“And I told you I would be. That I understood your reasoning.”

“Then why did you come here? If you—”

“Because I tried calling and you didn’t answer, Julia.” The muscles in his face clenched, eyes awash with concern. “Texted, too. No response. All I could think was that…” He swallowed, the cords in his neck throbbing.

I covered his chest with my hand. “What?”

My heart ached at the vulnerability covering every inch of him. A stark contrast from the man I met mere weeks ago. A man who masked his true feelings with anger.

He wrapped his arms around me, exhaling deeply. I didn’t fight him. Not now that we were behind closed doors.

Then again, the fact my office door was closed, something I never did, probably only increased everyone’s curiosity. It wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together. Everyone who followed sports knew he was from Hawaii. I’d just opened a bakery on the same island where he spent his teenage years. Upon my return, I took an unprecedented two-week break from work, only for Lachlan Hale to appear and hug me in front of the entire office on my first day back.

I could only imagine the chatter currently going on around the proverbial water cooler.

But when Lachlan brought his hands to my face, I didn’t care about that. All I did care about was him and what caused him such panic. And that was precisely what I saw when I peered into his vibrant, blue eyes.

Anxiety.

Trepidation.

Fear.

“I was so scared that something had happened to you.”

Sighing, I placed my hand on his cheek, offering him what little comfort I could give.

I understood his concern. He’d just lost his sister on the fifth anniversary of Piper’s death. With the likelihood Nick was somehow connected to both Claire’s and Piper’s deaths, it was no wonder he worried about me, too.

In the aftermath of Nick’s attack on me and subsequent arrest, I’d suffered from severe anxiety. Didn’t want to let any of my loved ones out of my sight for fear Nick would somehow get to them.

In a way, I still struggled with it, although on a lesser scale.

Regardless, there were still times all it took was one thing for that anxiety to go into overdrive. A memory. A smell. A word. The fear would claw at me, making it nearly impossible to breathe. To think.

To live.

Lachlan must have suffered the same thing after his loss.

“I’m fine,” I assured him. “I’m safe here.”