Blind Love Read online

  In some ways, losing Ben pained her more than losing her vision. She had no control over the blindness. Their divorce, on the other hand, was a choice. His to cheat and hers to let him go. He violated her trust. To make matters worse, Hailey carried his child. Those were too many obstacles for their marriage to survive. In the end, Ben and his new bride had moved to another city to build their family and left Lauren alone to figure out how to live in a world without him.

  She lifted her chin and took a deep breath. Sunny was right. She had changed. Once upon a time, hearing Ben’s name felt like someone stabbed her in the stomach. Today, the pain was more like someone clenching her organs in their hands and squeezing. It still hurt, but it wasn’t debilitating. And now when the world didn’t feel so empty, he’d returned. But this time, she wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt her again.

  Chapter Five

  Ben

  Ben slid his car alongside the curb and put it in park. He stretched his neck until the joints popped and cracked. It had been a long night. Two drunk drivers, a domestic disturbance, teenagers in the park breaking curfew, a motor vehicle accident…and those were the incidents before midnight.

  The digital clock on his console flashed seven. This time of day, most of the city was waking up and getting ready for school or work. For him, it was bedtime. He’d already dropped off the squad car and should have been driving home. Instead, he’d ended up at the edge of Lauren’s cul-de-sac.

  Sliding off his shades, he stared at the landscaped home across the street with the red azalea bushes in front. Acid burned his stomach as he considered knocking on her door. That, combined with the seven cups of coffee he’d ingested in the past twelve hours, had everything to do with the ulcers propagating in his intestines. He popped some antacids and chewed the chalky substance.

  By now she was up drinking her coffee. The perfect time to drop in, if he could find the courage to do it.

  Although the sun’s rays made it too bright to tell, he knew every light in her townhouse was lit. Lauren was scared of the dark.

  “All I see are colors, and one day, even they’ll go away. When you turn off the lights, I freak out and think it’s finally happened,” she had explained. That reason alone should have been enough. But every month, when the electric bill showed up, he forced the topic.

  Ben leaned against the seat and closed his eyes. Somewhere along the way, he forgot what a treasure she was, and by the time he realized his mistake, it was too late.

  If only he could go back in time…

  “Some mistakes you can never undo,” she told him. The pain on her face and the coldness in her words burned him to the core. Never had he begged anyone for anything. But that night, five years ago, he was on his knees, tears showering his face, pleading for the impossible—for the only woman he’d ever loved to forgive him.

  Knowing he had lost the best thing to ever happen to him was a knife to his gut. A knife he personally imbedded. But he agreed to do the right thing and walked away from Lauren to be a husband to the woman who carried his child.

  His cellphone rang, pulling him from his thoughts. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips when he read the number.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” he said.

  “Good morning, handsome,” the tiny voice replied back, imitating him, seconds before her giggles took over. The sound of her laugh instantly relaxed the tight muscles in the back of his neck.

  “How’s my favorite girl?”

  “Good. I ate my breakfast and got dressed without a fuss so Mommy’s letting me watch some TV before I go to school.”

  “Sounds like a perfect morning.”

  “Yup,” she said. Ben closed his eyes and imagined Chloe. Brown, wavy hair pulled tight into two ponytails, huge brown eyes, sitting and kicking the edge of the couch with the heels of her sparkly light-up tennis shoes.

  “Daddy?”

  “Yeah, baby.”

  “There’s a fox on TV and he stole the babies’ toys. You need to arrest him and take him to jail.”

  Ben chuckled and shook his head. She was the only good thing in the fuckup he called his life. “I’m not allowed to arrest foxes, beautiful. But I bet the TV police will take care of it.”

  “No, they never do anything. He’s always stealing things. What, Momma? Okay. Mommy wants to talk to you.”

  After a few seconds of shuffling, his ex-wife got on the line. “Hey, Ben.” She sounded rushed. Most likely dressed for her job with the Colorado Springs PD, she was probably packing his four-year-old’s lunch as she spoke to him.

  “Hi.”

  “Tomorrow you’ll be picking up Chloe after preschool and taking her to your place for the weekend, right?”

  He heard his daughter cheer in the background and smiled. “That’s the plan.”

  “Good, wanted to be sure. We’re running behind schedule so I’m hanging up, but I’ll have her call you tonight.”

  “Hailey.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Thanks for letting her call.”

  Hailey paused for a bit before answering, and when she did, he could hear the emotion in her tone. “Chloe’s lucky to have you. I’d never do anything to mess it up,” she whispered before hanging up.

  A current of pain coursed through him. He popped another chalky pill. Even though he didn’t love her, he’d tried to build a good life with Hailey. Obviously, when he found her in bed with another man, he knew he’d failed. It shouldn’t have surprised him though. Their relationship had been a mistake from the beginning. Flattered someone like her would even be attracted to him, his ego and dick took over the logical part of him. Three months of covert meetings later, she was pregnant.

  Shortly after the dust settled, he had a different wife, a child and a new job in the Colorado Springs PD. All of which should have made it easy to forget Lauren, and, during the day, he did. But at night, when the world slept, his mind wandered to her and what he’d thrown away. He wondered how she was. If she was happy. A woman like her deserved to find the kind of man who would appreciate her. The kind of man he’d failed to be.

  Besides figuring out where she lived, he gave her the privacy she deserved. But when he transferred to the Denver PD and the job of patrolling Lauren’s neighborhood came up, he jumped at the chance.

  For over a month he drove down her street, aching for a glimpse. The evening he finally laid eyes on her he forgot how to breathe. His face and the back of his eyes burned with emotion. He’d ended up pulling the squad car over and just staring at her. It had been so long.

  She’d worn her hair pulled back in a ponytail that day. Ben couldn’t help but notice how her shorts and shirt accentuated her muscular figure. She hadn’t aged. In fact, she looked younger. Leaner, more confident. She was beautiful.

  Ben’s chest tightened as the gut-wrenching pain of loss flooded back. He hungered to go to her. To beg her to give him another chance. To do whatever it took to prove himself worthy of her love. Instead, he’d stayed rooted to his seat and gripped the steering wheel. A tear escaped from the corner of his eye as she and the dog disappeared around the corner.

  He missed the furry beast almost as much as he missed her. He’d helped pick him out and trained Jack to not only guide but protect. Ben always knew the dog would take care of Lauren. He just thought he’d be around to do it too.

  Every workday, when there wasn’t an emergency, he patrolled the neighborhood around the same time as her jogs. At some point, he hoped to muster up the courage to talk to her. Now that Sunny had seen him, he couldn’t put it off anymore. While he considered the prospect of knocking at her door, it opened.

  He slid his shades back on and held his breath. Lauren closed the door and locked it behind her. Instead of holding her head high like she normally did, she kept it down. He squinted and leaned forward, trying to read her. She brought her hand to her cheek and swi
ped at the skin under her eye. A tear? His stomach twisted and the back of his neck tightened.

  Sunny’s Jaguar parked in the driveway. Lauren and Jack outside this early in the morning. His mouth went dry. The acid from his gut began to rise. Sunny told her.

  The two maneuvered their way onto the walkway. Jack looked across the street, straight at him, and wagged his tale. The chocolate brown German shepherd let loose several excited yelps before sitting on his flanks and yodeling.

  The coward he was, Ben put his car into drive, pulled out from the curb and exited the neighborhood. “At some point real soon,” he mumbled to himself, “I need to grow some balls.”

  Chapter Six

  Wiping off the Dirt

  Gabe sat in his truck, allowing the two college students checking out his property time to look around. From the looks on their faces and the things they’d said, it was clear they were impressed. The low rent and the fact it was five minutes away from the university made this decision a no brainer for them—hopefully. He turned on the air conditioner and leaned his head against the seat. Now all he had to do was wait.

  The twenty-year-old house looked nothing like the way he found it. Granted, the place didn’t have real wood floorings or marble countertops like Lauren’s, but considering the small funds he had to work with, it looked pretty damn good.

  The rent money from this place would help pay for the expenses of his next project. The rundown cabin he’d bought overlooking Pike National Forest and the Platt River Valley. The perfect location for people wanting a vacation getaway.

  As his brain whirled with numbers, a police car slowed to a halt behind his truck. Its dark-haired, uniformed occupant climbed out of the cruiser and walked toward him. The man was tall. Muscles filled out his starched navy shirt and a hand rested on his holstered belt.

  Gabe lowered his window, positioned his palms on the steering wheel and waited. The last thing he needed was trouble. He’d already gone through enough of that back home and wanted no more issues with law enforcement. The officer took off his aviators and poked his head in.

  Gabe stared at his nametag while the man looked around the interior of the cabin. B. Dawson.

  “Hi,” Dawson said.

  “Can I help you, officer?”

  “I was patrolling the neighborhood and noticed you idling in your truck. Is there a problem?”

  “No problem at all.” Gabe flashed his best smile and jutted his chin toward the house. “This is my property. I have potential renters checking it out and was giving them some privacy.”

  The man nodded and looked back at its direction as if in deep thought. “What’s your name?”

  “Gabriel Briggs.”

  When he didn’t respond, Gabe tried to fill the silence. “I’ve seen you driving around the neighborhood. Thank you for all you do.”

  Another quiet nod was his reply. Gabe’s mouth twitched. After twelve years of service in the Marine Corps, eight of those as a Scout Sniper, there were very few people he found intimidating and this cop was definitely not one of them.

  The officer jutted his chin toward the house. “You’re going to rent it out to those two kids?”

  He looked up to see the individuals in question approach and regard the cop cautiously. Gabe grabbed the door’s handle and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, I need to get out.”

  Officer Dawson pushed off the truck, letting him exit.

  “Another perk about the place,” Gabe said when he neared them, “is we have a great police department patrolling the neighborhood. Officer Dawson here is one of them.”

  The two grinned at the uniformed cop who managed to crack a smile. “We’re ready to sign,” Todd, the athletic-looking kid, said.

  Officer Dawson squinted his eyes and stared the boys down. “This is a quiet neighborhood. I’m hoping you can respect the peace and not cause any trouble while you’re here.”

  Gabe fought the urge to roll his eyes. The man took himself and his job way too seriously.

  “Yes, sir. No trouble at all,” Brent, the scrawnier of the two, answered with a big smile.

  “Great to hear. Welcome to the neighborhood.” With a wave and a brief smirk, he got back in his squad car and drove away.

  “All right, let me get the papers.” Gabe ran into the house.

  On the way back, he noticed the two boys standing with their arms crossed, staring across the lawn.

  Todd nudged his buddy. “She’d be an excellent cougar, my friend.”

  “With that ass, she could be anything she wants,” Brent replied.

  Gabe followed their stare to find Lauren tying her shoelace and shook his head. Planting a hand on each of their shoulders, he maneuvered them to their car on the driveway. “You’re not her type. Now put your tongues back in your mouths and fill out these forms.”

  After the boys drove away, he stared in the direction Lauren disappeared. Although he had no clue what her type was, he’d hoped he was more it than those pre-pubescent kids.

  Maybe it was time to investigate further.

  In running shorts and a tank, Gabe stopped at the edge of the park, admiring the view. In particular, Lauren’s ass and legs as she rounded the corner. When her faithful sidekick caught a whiff of him, the beast turned his head and slowed down. It took a slight tug from the dog to get Lauren’s attention. Watching the two of them communicate was amazing. If he was honest with himself, he’d have to admit everything about her fascinated him. But since he rarely allowed himself to think along those lines, he ignored the thought and ran to them.

  “Hi,” Lauren said, stretching her quadriceps. He shook his head and chuckled at the fact she knew he was there. Gabe tilted his head to make sure her muscle flexed the way it should. When her sea-green eyes rimmed with blue focused on him, he cleared his throat and looked away. Somehow she always seemed to know when he was drooling and having inappropriate thoughts about her lovely parts.

  “You mentioned the trails were great, I thought I’d give them a try. Can I jog along?”

  Her brows rose and she stretched the other quad. “You don’t strike me as a jogger.”

  Hands on his hips, he tilted his head again to admire the stretched parts. “What do I strike you as?”

  “A pushy neighbor who keeps staring at my ass,” she snapped and walked ahead.

  He laughed as he caught up. “Sorry. Come on, it’s just two neighbors enjoying a jog together.”

  “Okay, but no talking, no ogling, and if you fall behind, I won’t wait for you to catch up,” she countered and jogged off.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, easily matching her gait.

  An hour later, drenched in sweat, Gabe was bent over holding his knees, wheezing for air.

  “Not bad.” She handed him her water bottle.

  “Thanks,” he puffed.

  Before he could take a swig, her dog dropped onto its hind legs and started yodeling. Stunned, Gabe turned to Lauren, only to find her pale and rigid.

  “Can you tell what he’s singing at?” she asked.

  He tracked Jack’s stare to the source of the serenade. “Yeah. Officer Dawson, who’s currently leaning against his cruiser, arms crossed, watching us.”

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Where is he?”

  Gabe gulped a swig of water and twisted the cap back in place. “Eleven o’clock.”

  “Thanks. I need to go take care of something. I’ll see you later. Jack.” The dog stopped singing and stood on all fours. She grabbed his harness and rubbed his neck. “Go to Ben.”

  Gabe sat on a nearby bench and watched them walk over to Officer Ben Dawson. He noticed the way Ben uncrossed his arms and shifted as she approached. How Jack jumped all over the man like he was family. The way Lauren stood, feet apart, hands on her hips, looking every direction than at the man in front of her. As if it ca
used her pain to be there.

  Rooted in his seat, Gabe scrutinized them. There was history between those two and from the pitiful way the man watched her walk away, it was obvious Officer Ben wasn’t ready to let it stay in the past.

  Common sense told Gabe to stay away. Far away. A cop. A confused, albeit hot, neighbor who sent mixed messages. This was getting way too complicated. Even as he told himself to run, idiot he was, he found himself jogging toward her.

  She walked with her back straight and chin up as if nothing had happened. He didn’t comment on the moisture brimming in her eyes seconds before she blinked it away, nor did he mention how her hand clenched Jack’s leash so tight her knuckles were white.

  “I thought you’d be home by now,” she said, acknowledging him before he uttered a sound.

  How the hell does she do that?

  “Forgot to give you back your water bottle.” Gabe handed her the disposable container. “You okay?”

  “Yup.” She took a drink and continued down the sidewalk, obviously not in the mood to talk.

  He kept her pace. “You know, people say I’m a good listener.”

  “Oh yeah? Which people?”

  He chuckled. “The ones in my head.”

  She laughed.

  “So the very serious Officer Ben is…”

  “None of your business,” she said, moving faster.

  Again, he kept pace. “Rude, but point taken.”

  Gabe kept his mouth shut and walked her home. In front of her door, Lauren hesitated. “I’m sorry I was rude to you earlier. Ben’s my ex-husband and this was the first time I’ve seen him in a long time. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

  Yup. Everything about the woman screamed “run” in bright red flashing lights. And yet…

  “No problem. We’ll do it again same time tomorrow?”

  “Maybe. Goodnight, Gabe.” He watched her unlock the door. Although her words clearly were telling him to leave, he could sense her need for him to stay.

  Walk away. Just walk away. “Hey, Lauren?”