CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
But when that sergeant looked down at Stuart’s midsection, and Stuart looked down there too and saw that he was fully aroused, he was infuriated even more.
How could he be aroused by somebody that young?
He wasn’t attracted to women that age when he was that age!
What was wrong with him? Why was he so out of character today?
Was it Tabby? Or was it being back in Larkin?
He decided it was Larkin. That was the easier call. He couldn’t get out of this town fast enough.
That was why, as the clerk handed Tabby a sheet of paper with the tow truck company’s name, address, and phone number on it, he stood up.
He tried to shake off his arousal by buttoning his suitcoat and placing his hands in his pockets.
But it didn’t work because Tabby, and her perfectly configured body, was still in full view.
He knew she was a kind, considerate young lady when she thanked that nasty-ass clerk just for doing her job, too, when he was certain she could have done it much faster.
Like right away. But Tabby didn’t seem to mind as she hurried to him.
“I got it,” she said with that wonderful smile.
“I got it,” she said again as she waved that sheet of paper in her hand.
He wanted to say about time or something equally as frustrating, but he couldn’t steal her joy. “Good for you,” he said with a smile of his own. “Now let’s get out of here,” he added, and she grinned. She was more than happy to do that too.
He opened the door for her and allowed her to pass in front of him. But as she passed by him, they were so close that her body brushed his still-aroused penis, which both of them felt, and then they made it outside.
It didn’t even occur to Tabby that she could have been the reason he was aroused, mainly because she never thought of herself in any sensual way whatsoever.
Her mind immediately went to the environment.
She assumed some desirable woman had walked in while she was at the property desk.
Why else would he have been that aroused sitting in a gruffy police station?
But Stuart, even more embarrassed, just wanted to get in his car and get away from there.
But when they got outside, they both felt deflated.
They knew they were going to part ways probably forever, and although they both wanted to go on with their lives, it seemed kind of sad that they would be going on separately.
Tabby didn’t know what to make of that feeling. She knew she was still a girl alone, and that had always been fine by her, but she didn’t feel lonely around him.
But Stuart didn’t know what to make of it either.
He enjoyed her presence as well. In an odd way, she made him feel a sense of hopefulness and jubilance around her.
But he also knew he had tons to do. Including an appointment with a realtor to help him sell his mother’s house.
And on top of all of that, he had to take care of his own monumentally difficult corporate situation. Time to go!
“Alright, Tabby, you have a good rest of your day,” he said like a man ready to make a clean getaway.
“You too,” Tabby said as if it was no big deal to her either.
He knew he should offer to give her a ride to the tow company, but he really needed to get going. And besides, she was an industrious young lady. She’d find her way. “Well, take care of yourself.”
“You too,” she said again.
He gave her another glance that had his eyes looking down the length of her, which she found odd and he couldn’t control, as he began walking toward his car.
But as soon as he made it up to his fancy car and was ready to open the driver side door, she realized her dilemma. And she began hurrying to him again. “Stuart. Stuart!”
He turned to her.
“I left my phone in the car.”
“Excuse me?”
“My phone.” She made it by his side. “It fell out of my hand when that girl hit my car. I hate to be a nuisance, but could I borrow yours to call for a ride? They aren’t gonna let me use any phone in that police station.”
Stuart knew that was undoubtedly true. He pulled out his own phone, put in the password to open it, and then handed it to her.
“You know a phone number by heart?” he asked her as she pressed numbers on his keypad.
“Just my cousin’s,” she said as the phone began to ring.
“Stacy, hey,” she said relieved when her cousin answered.
“I need a ride girl. No, it didn’t break down.
I was in a car accident. That girl I caught sleeping with Darius rammed into the front of my car.
Yeah girl. It was so scary. But can you pick me up?
No, it got towed. I need a ride to the tow yard. ”
The disappointed look that came over Tabby’s face let Stuart know whomever she was calling didn’t want to help her. Which he halfway expected.
But Tabby, he noticed, didn’t give up so easily.
“But you can just drop me off,” she said over the phone.
“It won’t take long, I promise.” Then she waited and listened again.
She even glanced at Stuart as if she was embarrassed.
“No, no, I understand. Okay. Yeah sure. No, I know. Right. Me too. Un-hun. Okay bye.” She ended the call abruptly like a young lady accustomed to turndowns.
She handed the phone back to Stuart. “Thanks.”
“Is there anyone else you can phone?”
Tabby hated to admit it. “No. There’s nobody else.”
“What do you mean nobody else? You only have one friend?”
She wasn’t a friend, she was a cousin. “I work day and night,” she said. “I don’t have time for friends.”
But somehow Stuart knew it was the other way around: They didn’t have time for her.
“Thanks again for everything though,” she said heartfelt. “You’ve been very patient and kind with me. God bless you,” she said like the sweetheart she was, Stuart thought, as she turned to leave.
Everything within him was telling him to just leave her to her own misery. Let her do bad all by herself. She was accustomed to it. Everything within him was telling him to just go. Everything except his heart. “Get in,” he said to her.
She turned and looked at him. But when she looked, she didn’t see a man eager to help. She saw a man helping reluctantly. “I can see on your face you have to go.”
“Get in, Tabby.”
“But I’ve bothered you enough.”
“Would you prefer to call a rideshare?”
She couldn’t afford a rideshare.
She got in.