Pressing his nose to hers, he said, "I have to help my girlfriend move her stuff out of her old apartment and office."

Her eyes darkened as her lips started to curve, only one dimple appearing. "Girlfriend?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I talked about her at lunch. She has this ass to die for," he said, his hands sliding to her ass. "These eyes that leave me speechless, lips that should be on lipstick ads, and a smile that honestly makes it hard to even comprehend how God could give that smile to only one person." Her lips fully smiled and both dimples appeared as her eyes lit up. Smiling, he whispered, "But thank God He did, because being on the receiving end of that smile... Heaven. Pure fucking heaven."

She held his gaze and his heart stopped in his chest as she said, "Wow, this girlfriend must be pretty lucky."

Leaning his head to hers, he kissed her nose, his eyes falling shut. It wasn't going to be easy loving this girl. No, between her shitty-ass ex and her way of dealing with things, it was going to be tough. She had a stream of bad luck that wasn't for the faint of heart. She sure as hell could start a fight in an empty room. But the thing was, he didn't care, because he was a pro at tough situations.

And she was worth the fight.

Pressing his nose to hers, he smiled as he whispered, "Actually, I think I'm the lucky one."

When her phone vibrated in her hand, Lucy made a face when she saw it was her dad.

Again.

What the hell?

She did not want to speak with him. No, she was way too busy. Plus, she just didn't want to hear his voice. Tucking her phone in her pocket, she looked around the room, confused as to what to do next. Her dad calling was messing with her brain.

"Hey, babe. Am I taking the boxes in the back of my truck to your office or to the warehouse?"

She looked up from where she was staring at the floor to see Benji standing in the doorway, looking back at her.

"Sorry, what?"

He smiled and, God, he was so sexy. He was wearing a ripped up, dirty, white shirt with some loose jeans that hugged his massive thighs. Wearing a purple Assassins beanie, he was sweating from all the heavy lifting he was doing. She wanted to ask him to stop, that River and Shea could help, but he insisted.

And she was so damn thankful.

"Boxes in the back of my truck. Where are they going?"

"The office. Thank you. Wait, shit. What time is it?"

She looked around frantically, feeling like she was losing it. The day before, with the help of her family and Benji, they had packed up her whole apartment, taking most of it to the warehouse and the rest to Jayden's. They hadn't finished, though, and had been finishing up while getting the office done today. She tried to tell Jayden and Benji not to worry about helping since they had a game that night, but they wouldn't listen and had even brought Shea to help. By the grace of God, they were almost done, but she was going to lose it. She was sure.

"Baby, your phone is in your hand."

"Sweet Lord in heaven," she complained, looking down and then throwing her hands in the air. "I gotta go get Angie. Shit, I gotta help Shea and River. And then what time do you have to be at the arena?"

Closing the distance between them, he took her in his arms, cupping her face in his hands before kissing her nose. He had been just perfect the last two days. She was convinced he would run the other way after the shit with Rick or her vomiting her issues all over him, but he hadn't. He stood beside her, reassuring her everything would be fine, and she clung to him like a koala. It was crazy, and she sure as hell didn't like leaning on people, but she was leaning.

On Benji.

Especially with the move. It was hard getting everything together, and her emotions were all over the place. It was her first apartment after Rick, and she'd lost it. Yeah, it wasn't her fault and Benji stressed that, but she felt like a failure. Particularly since she was living with her brother at the moment. She should just dip into her savings and get Angie and herself a place. But everything that was by Angie's school was crazy-ass expensive and she just didn't feel right about it. She needed that money for a lawyer in case shit did get nasty with Rick. No, she had to figure something else out.

And having Benji there to bounce ideas off and to just talk to, she was finding was really freaking nice.

"Okay, you go to the house with Shea. Take my truck. I'll take your car, go get Angie, and then meet you at the house, take my truck back, and head to the arena. I have time."

She bit into her lip. It was a good idea, but was it okay for her to send him to get her child? Angie would probably eat it up, but should he do that? "Are you sure? That's kinda over and beyond the duties of a boyfriend, isn't it?"

Shit, she admitted the boyfriend thing, but he must have missed that because he rolled his eyes. "Angie is an extension of you, remember? I don't mind. If it's going to help you out, I want to do it."

She held his gaze and then nodded. "Thank you so much, and I promise sexual favors later," she said quickly and he waggled his brows.

"Shit, I'll be Angie's chauffeur full time for those," he said, kissing her lips quickly before taking her keys out of her pocket. He handed her his, and then kissed her once more. "Meet ya there."

"Okay," she said breathlessly as he rushed out, leaving her as her phone started to ring once more. Ignoring it, she rolled her eyes but then jumped when someone started squealing.

Her mother.

Shit.

"I knew it! He's just perfect. How long have you two been together? I just knew when he said that at lunch he was talking about you. Ah! Why haven't you told me?" she said, throwing question after question as Lucy moaned loudly.

"Mom, not now," she complained as her phone sounded with a text. "Why the hell is Dad trying to get ahold of me?"

That made her mom pause, her smile dropping. "Your father?"

"Yeah," she said, shaking her head and hitting the text.

Dad: Call me. It's about a contract that just came in for your new office. And then Rick's punk ass.

Her stomach dropped.

"Fuck," she muttered and her mother's eyes widened.

"What is it? And goodness, Lucy, your mouth. I'm sure Benji doesn't like that foulness."

But Lucy ignored her, hitting her dad's name. "He doesn't care. Hold on," she said, walking out of the building into the brisk, cold air. Winter was coming and she couldn't say she was ready. She hated the cold. As she cuddled into her coat, her father's deep voice came across the line.

"Lucy, how are you? How's Angie?" he asked happily, making her skin crawl.

"What contract? What about Rick?"

"Right to business, I see." When she didn't say anything, he cleared his throat. "Well, then. I got a contract from Paul Nixon, representation for Benjamin Paxton?"

"Yeah, that's who I'm renting my new office from," she said simply, her face twisting in confusion. "Why would you get that contract, though?"

"You have me listed as your lawyer on your website still."

Oh. Well, that needed to be changed. "Okay, anything wrong with the contract?"

"No, it's pretty cut-and-dried. But do you know this guy or something? This rent is way too low for a real office building."

Lucy's glare deepened. "Does that matter?"

"No, just making sure you aren't getting screwed over."

Her blood boiled. "Is the contract good or not?"

"It's good. It's fair, just really low for rent. Is it legit? Did you have it checked out?"

"Yes," she lied and then made a note to do that, even though she was already moving in to it.

"Okay, well, on to the next order of business," he said simply, unfazed the hatred in Lucy's voice. "That son of a bitch had his lawyer contact me about splitting Angie's time fifty-fifty. I asked what the reasoning was, and he informed me that his son of a bitch client doesn't like the way you are raising his daughter. I told him that he can take us to court, but he better have some solid proof to back up his claims. He asked to settle out of court. I told him to take a flying leap. Just wanted to let you know."

Biting into her lip, she closed her eyes, her body shaking with nerves. "Do you think he'll do it?"

He paused, letting out a long sigh. She could just see him. Sitting at his desk, his pen at his lips, really thinking. So many summers she had watched him do just that. "I don't think so. I told him he'll be paying all the court costs and everything else. That we are completely good with the parenting plan the judge decided. That dickface agreed, too, when the divorce was finalized. He'd be dumb to take us to court, honestly. You keep records of everything still? All the texts, emails, recordings of your phone conversations? Have you gotten anything from the school lately?"

Her stomach was still hurting as she cleared her throat. "Yeah, I'm still doing that. But, no, she's been doing great in school. The new medication is working wonders."

"Yeah, but you need to make sure you keep an ear out. Is she still shutting down when she gets home from his house?"

"Sorta, but hockey has been really great for her."

He clicked his tongue. "Okay, that's good. You are doing it right, Lucy."

"Should I be worried?"

He let out a long breath. "You know, Laney, I don't think so. But I'll keep you in the loop if anything changes."

Her heart skipped at the nickname he had for her. He hadn't called her that in years, and it hurt to hear it. Her dad used to be her hero, the person she loved most and looked up to. She had wanted to be a lawyer for so long because he was one. She would play hockey with the boys and him, just so she could be the center of attention. She was daddy's little girl. But when it came out that he was cheating on her mother, that he had a whole other life with another woman, he not only broke her mom's heart, he broke Lucy's too. That was the day her heart turned to stone and she never trusted a man again.

Well, until now.

Until Benji.

Clearing her throat free of emotion, she nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

"Of course. Call if you need anything."

She didn't answer, she just hung up and slowly shook her head, the nerves eating her alive. She wasn't sure if she should trust what her dad was saying. How would he know if Rick was going to take them to court? She knew he would fight. He loved Angie and knew what Rick had done to them, but still, neither of them knew Rick's financial status. Money talked, but she had so much on him. No, she was fine, but would he really do this?

Looking at her phone, she considered calling Rick, but it wouldn't end well. No, it would get nasty, so she called Benji.

"Hey, I don't have her yet."

"No, I know. You have like three minutes."

"Oh, okay, I was about to go in there and get her. I thought maybe I missed her or something. By the way, this school is swanky."

She chuckled. "Yeah, it's really good for her."

"Yeah, I can tell. But you need a BMW. Your Honda isn't cutting it."

She scoffed as he laughed. "I'll get right on that."

"Yeah, so what's up? You miss me?" he asked and she grinned.

"Always," she decided and his rough chuckle ran down her spine. "But, it's not that."

"Well, that's bogus."

She paused and then laughed. "You and your wack vocabulary."

"Hey, don't make fun of me!" She giggled, looking up at the sky as his laughter made her heart expand. "Anyway, what's up if you don't miss me?"

"I said I did, dork. It was just more than that," she said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, my dad called me."

"Really?" he asked, surprised. "That's not normal."

"No, not at all. But apparently, Rick's lawyers have contacted him and they want to change the parenting plan. Which we already knew he wanted to do, but I didn't think he'd actually get a lawyer."

"Yeah, that's surprising. He seems like a lot of talk, no do."

"Exactly, but my dad told them to take a flying leap, that they can take us to court. But he doesn't think they will. Should I call Rick? Try to talk to him about this? Maybe we can work something out? I don't know, I just don't want to go to court. I don't want to do that to Angie."

He didn't say anything at first, and she'd almost thought she lost him when he said, "Yeah, Angie doesn't need to go through that. But do you think calling him would work?"

"I don't know. I'm sure it would end in a screaming match."

"Yeah, then what's the point, you know?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to make sure I was making the right choice. Ignore it."

"You know him better than I do. As a man, I would want to sit down and discuss it with you, figure out how to make it better for both sides. But he isn't a man, he's a disgusting waste of space, or at least, from what I've seen, he is. You don't really tell me much about him."

Biting the inside of her cheek, her stomach dropped. She didn't talk about it because she hated Rick. Still, she could understand his interest in it. "Do you want to know?"

"Well, considering it deals with you and Angie, I would like to know. Maybe I can better understand his idiocy."

Lucy sighed. "No, there's no understanding Rick Hart."

"Well, we can talk about that later. Angie is coming. I'll be at the house in a bit."

"Okay. Thanks, babe."

"Anytime," he said before hanging up. She dropped her phone to her lips, tapping them in deep thought. Surely, Rick wouldn't do more. Letting out a long breath because she just wasn't sure, she went to return inside. But when she turned, she ran right into her mother.

"Good Lord, Mom! How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough."

She looked hurt and Lucy's lip curled. "I was coming inside."