Read Online Taken by You by Carlie Sexton - Free Book Online Page A

feeling that it would be difficult for Roger to find her now. Trying to find her at SDSU would be like counting grains of sand at the beach. There were more than fifty-thousand students on campus. It was a madhouse on any given day. She would keep her eyes peeled for him just in case.
    Neil came out and joined her on the terrace. He wrapped an arm around her waist and gazed out at the ocean w ith her. “I got tickets for the seven o’clock show tonight. It has outstanding reviews. We can find an Italian Bistro to eat dinner before the play begins. We should leave here about three. I booked a suite for us at the Four Seasons.”
    “Tha t would be wonderful, thank you Neil,” she said, her stomach rumbling. “ Sounds like I’m ready to have some breakfast.”
    “Well, let’s go inside and make some. What would you like?”
    “I need some comfort food. How about pancakes?”
    They went inside and began taking out the ingredients for pancakes. Kate started the griddle and Neil mixed the pancake batter with water, oil, and an egg. She added cinnamon to the batter and sliced up a couple of bananas. She loved bananas in her pancakes. When they were done cooking, she poured two glasses of milk, carrying their breakfast out to the terrace. It was so relaxing to just sit, eating breakfast, enjoying the glorious day. Time seemed to stand still.
    “I need to talk to you about something after we finish breakfast,” Neil said, his tone serious.
    “ Has something else happened? I heard the phone ring earlier. Is everything okay with your family?”
    “Yes, my family is fine.”
    Kate had eaten maybe half of a pancake. She just couldn’t get any more down. “I’m done. I just can’t eat with everything going on and now you have more to tell me. Is it ever going to end?”
    “Let’s go inside so we can talk,” Neil suggested. When they took their trays into the kitchen, he asked her to have a seat on the sofa.
    “Before you woke up this morning I made a call to a security firm that we do business with. I have hired them to protect you when you go anywhere without me.”
    Kate looked at him with wide eyes. “What? You want someone to follow me around all day? Do you really think that is necessary?”
    “I think that , given the circumstances, it would be a good idea for you to have protection when you leave home. Roger has proven that he is resourceful.”
    “Well, it’s going to be pretty hard for him to find me at school.”
    “He knows what kind of car you drive. He just needs to find your car and follow you . It will be easier for him than you think.”
    “But i t’s a huge campus with multiple parking lots and countless buildings. He has no idea what classes I take. I can’t imagine that he would find me.”
    “He didn’t have any trouble finding you at work .”
    “But that’s different. It wasn’t a stretch for him to figure out that I transferred to another store. In fact, it was stupid of me to think that would have worked.”
    “That’s why I wanted you to quit your job to begin with,” Neil said, aggravated that the conversation wasn’t going the way he planned. “But you wouldn’t listen to me.”
    She scowled when she heard his “I told you so” comment. She wasn’t ready to totally give up her independence and have him be in control of everything. Their relationship was still too new for her to rely on him completely. But here she was, having to rely on him for a place to live and a job. It went against her nature and how she had been raised to not expect anyone else to take care of her.
    “I know that I didn’t listen to you. I need you to understand that it is difficult for me to count on another person, especially a man. I couldn’t count on my father ever. He wasn’t there for me. His lack of providing has made it difficult for me to trust.”
    “I’m not your father, Kate. I’m the man who loves you and wants to protect you. I’m not going to let you down like he