Chapter 15
Fifteen
“ T hank you for driving me home.” Abby’s eyes landed on the sign outside of Sprinkles as John pulled his truck into a parking spot.
“Of course.”
Her fingers twisted the edge of the shirt she was wearing. Another one of John’s that smelled like him and had made her feel so safe the second she’d slipped into it. It helped that she’d also used his shampoo and soap, so now every inch of her was surrounded in his woodsy scent. He’d even let her borrow his windbreaker, and she was thankful for the coverage it provided to her neck.
“And thank you for taking care of me last night. I’m sorry I interrupted your night out with your brother.”
“Abby, I don’t care about that at all. I’m glad I was there. I’m really fucking glad that you were safe and that you’re open to exploring things between us.” He lifted her fingers to his lips and pressed a kiss to her hand.
“It was a rather unexpected outcome for the night.” Abby smiled.
“Hopefully unexpected in a good way.”
“The best.”
“Remember, I want you to send me that guy’s phone number.”
“Luke.”
“Right. Luke. Hopefully he was stupid enough to give you his real name.”
“God. What if he didn’t? I don’t have his number. We only communicated through the dating app.”
“Okay. Send me his profile. Anything, Abby. Any communication you had with the guy, I want it.”
“I don’t even know how he could have drugged me. I held on to my drink all night.”
He slid his hand over hers, stopping her nervous movements.
“We’ll figure it out. I’m going to talk to the bartender at The Broken Spoke, and I’ll get their security footage. It won’t be too hard to figure out.”
“You should probably get going before your mom starts to worry. I feel so bad that she had to pick up Katy from Jackson and Grace.”
“Don’t. My parents would keep Katy all the time if I let them. Honestly, she loves spending time at their house.”
“It’s just, you’ve had to ask your family to watch Katy extra so you could take care of me twice now. I’m taking time away from you being with your daughter.”
John unlatched his seat belt and slid out of the truck. He jogged around to open her door, reached across her, and unlatched her buckle. Chivalry was alive and well, and its name was Johnathan Boone. She felt like she was ready to swoon.
“Sweetheart, I want to be really clear here. I love Katy with my whole heart. She is my whole world, and I would do anything for her. But I also feel this really intense connection to you, and I have since the night fate first threw us together. I’m thirty-three years old and this is the first time since becoming a dad that I’ve wanted to explore something more with a woman. Not just any woman, either. I want to spend time with you. So, there are going to be times when I ask my family to watch Katy so we can build on whatever this is that’s simmering between the two of us. And the only thing I’m thinking about the times I’ve had to help you is that I’m sorry you’ve had such a hard time lately.”
“I don’t?—”
“I’m making you a priority in my life. That’s not up for debate.” He reached up and pulled the cowboy hat off his head. “Now, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to kiss you before I have to go.”
“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate. She didn’t regret taking the lead with their first kiss, but there was a part of her mind that was screaming at her that he only kissed her out of pity.
He pushed her hair behind her ear, leaned in, and pressed his lips to hers. Oh hell.
There was no pity in the way his mouth devoured hers. Just pure fire. And that same fire was reflected in his eyes when he pulled back, placing his hat back on his head and licking his lips.
“Jesus, Abby. You taste so goddamn sweet. I’ll be thinking about that kiss until the next time I see you. When can I take you out on a date?”
She laughed. “You know my schedule. It’s yours we’ll need to work around.”
“Thursday night. You’ll let me take you out then?”
“Hmm, I might be busy that night….”
“Baby, don’t tease a ravenous man.”
Her breath hitched. “Yes, John. I’ll go out on a date with you Thursday night.”
“These are going to be the longest days of my life.”
“Isn’t there a saying about good things coming to those who wait?”
“I think there is. Get up to your apartment and send me that information, okay?”
“I will.”
Abby stood on the sidewalk and smiled as John drove down the street. What a wild twenty-four hours she’d had. Still feeling a little groggy and more than ready to curl up in her bathtub for a long soak, Abby made her way towards the stairs.
The door to Sprinkles swung open as she walked by. She squeaked as a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her inside the bakery.
“I’m sorry… were you just kissing John Boone out in front of my store?” Emma hissed in her ear.
“Jesus, Em. You almost gave me a heart attack!”
“Not sorry. I want to know why the deputy was dropping you off looking like he well and thoroughly fucked you last night. I mean, these are his clothes, aren’t they?”
Abby flushed. “They are. But there is no way that you saw him kissing me!”
“I didn’t. The cowboy hat move was my first clue. God, how fucking hot was that? Like he was preserving your modesty by blocking you off from the rest of the world. The second was how absolutely flushed your face was when you walked by here. You went on your date last night but here John is dropping you off in his clothes. I’m thinking you’re doing the walk of glory from his arms and not from mystery man number one! You little vixen.”
“Turns out mystery man number one should have been nicknamed Mr. Date Rapist.”
Emma’s face dropped and turned ashy. “What!? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure the guy spiked my drink. John and Jackson were at the bar together and noticed I was struggling when the jerk was trying to get me to leave.”
“Oh my god. Abby. I’m so sorry. I pushed for you to go out with him.”
“Don’t start thinking this is your fault, too. It only belongs to that creep. Which reminds me, I need to screenshot all of our messages. John made me promise I’d delete the app once he had the evidence.”
“Oh he did, did he?”
“Emma. He told me he wants to be the man who takes me out on dates,” Abby whispered. “He told me he wants to be the only man to hold me in his arms at night.”
“Oh my gosh! I knew it! I knew he was trying to flirt with you all those mornings. How are you feeling? Are you totally freaking out?”
“I honestly feel just happy. He held me this morning and I cried in his arms, Em. I cried for the first time since that night with Marco. It just feels right.”
“Hey, I didn’t think you were on the schedule today.” Deputy Marc Bollings sat at the front desk, a large cup of coffee in his hand. Marc was one of the deputies that came out of class at the same time as John, and they’d been close buddies since.
“I’m not. I need to see Hank. Is he in?” John jingled the keys in his hand, feeling unsettled about the conversation he was about to have.
“Yeah back in his office. You okay?”
“Not really. I’ll fill you in later.”
“Yeah, okay. Go. I’ll be out here all day.”
John stalked past the front desk and into the main hallway of the Sheriff’s Department. Hank’s office door was open, and John didn’t waste a second before stalking towards it.
A single knock was all it took to get Hank’s attention.
“John. Everything okay? You’re not on the schedule today, are you?”
“No. Mind if I shut the door?”
“Shit. Whatever is on your mind is that bad?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, okay. Shut it and come sit down.”
John entered the office, closing the door behind him. It only took him two strides to find himself next to Hank’s desk, sitting in the chair opposite him. His leg bounced with all the pent up rage he’d been holding in. There was no part of him that wanted Abby to see how upset he was at what had happened to her the night before. But with Hank, he’d let him see.
“Alright. I’m all ears.”
“I think someone drugged Abby last night at The Broken Spoke.”
“Abby?” It took a minute for understanding to appear on his face. “Abby Cooper?”
John nodded.
“What the fuck?” Hank growled. “Is she okay? Why wasn’t Sam busting down my door this morning at the farm?”
“She’s okay. I just dropped her off at her apartment, but she asked me not to call Sam.”
“Okay, backup. I feel like I missed about a thousand pages of the story.”
John sighed, leaning back into the chair. “Jackson and I were out grabbing a beer last night when we saw Abby and a man together.”
“You know the guy?”
“Nope.”
“They were friends? On a date? What?”
“Date. Met on some app for singles.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t take things into your own hands right when you first saw them together.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I think you know, buddy.”
John raked his hand through his beard. “Yeah. I’m kinda pissed at myself that I didn’t.”
“So you saw her there with a guy but didn’t intervene.”
“Not until she stood up and started swaying. Something looked off so I marched over to make sure she was okay. Long story short, she wasn’t. I helped her out to my truck. Jackson was going to try to stop the guy, because I was really suspicious about how she was acting, but he ran away.”
“What’d they say at the hospital?”
John sat silently.
“Please tell me you brought her to the fucking hospital so we have blood work as evidence that what you think happened actually did?”
“I brought her there, but she wouldn’t go in. I was about to scoop her up and walk her in there myself, but she started hyperventilating. What the fuck was I supposed to do? I didn’t want to take that choice from her when she was already vulnerable.”
“No, I get it. I would have been the same way with Daisy. It’s good she had you there to look after her.” Hank shook his head. “So, we don’t have blood work, and we can’t be certain what was in her system. You want me to send a deputy over to the bar to see if they can find anything on the cameras?”
“No. I’m heading there next. Abby said she’ll send me the messages that the guy wrote her on the dating app.”
“Good. Okay. Let’s start there and see what we can get.” Hank grabbed his mug and took a long drink. “John?”
“Yeah.”
“You finally tell her how you feel?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. You make sure nothing else happens to her.”
“I will.”
The Broken Spoke was busier than John had expected for early afternoon, even with it being the weekend. He walked up to the bar and flagged down the bartender.
“Hey, John. You forget something last night? The lost and found is back in the office.”
“Nah. Didn’t forget anything, Geoff. My friend was here on a date, left in real bad shape. Just trying to see if I can understand what happened.”
“Real bad shape, how?” Geoff’s towel stopped moving and he slammed the glass he’d been drying down.
“I think she was slipped something by her date.”
“Shit. You know that doesn’t fly here, right? I’d never let something like that go if I’d known…”
“Yeah. I know.”
“Is she okay?”
“Last night was rough, but she’s feeling okay now. Look, you guys got security footage I can look at?”
Geoff shook his head, giving John an apologetic smile. “I’ve been trying to get management to upgrade it for a while now. The only camera we have in here is pointed at the register the servers use in the back. The owner only cares about making sure no one is stealing money from him.”
“Shit. Alright. Thanks, Geoff.”
“No problem. Let me know if you find out who the guy is. I’ll post his picture and we’ll make sure he can’t be served here ever again.”
“Will do.” John hit his fist lightly on the bar top two times before turning and walking out.
Well, that dead end made him feel like shit.
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
Abby: I don’t know what happened, but I can’t access the guy’s profile anymore. He may have taken it down, or blocked me. I have access to the messages, but his picture is gone and so is his name and age and all that stuff. I’m so sorry.
John: Sweetheart, why are you apologizing to me? It’s clear this guy knew what he was doing. Jackson and I both saw the guy. We can figure out a way to find out who he is. Don’t worry about it. How are you feeling?
Abby: I’m okay. Emma pulled me into the bakery to talk for a bit, but now I’m back in the apartment. I decided to take a bath, which is nice.
John: Tell me more about this bath…
Abby: It’s very warm. And I’m very slippery from all the bubbles.
John: Abby…
Abby: I was going to wash your clothes to give back to you, but I think I want to sleep in them again, if that’s okay with you.
John: Jesus, baby. You trying to get me to wreck my truck? First I’m picturing you naked and slippery in your bathtub, now I’m thinking of you in your bed wearing my clothes.
Abby: Whoops. Sorry.
John: I don’t think you are, beautiful. And I think I like that about you. A lot.