Chapter 3 #2
“Hey, Dad. Gotta problem. I’m at Big Mike’s house with his daughter, November.
Her apartment was broken into. Yeah, Mike’s daughter.
We’re not gonna talk about that shit right now.
Yeah, see ya.” Closing the phone, he tosses it behind me on the driver’s seat.
I’m looking down at my hands. They’re covered in red gunk and so are my jeans.
All I can wonder is who would do this and why.
“Look at me, baby.” I lift my eyes to his and they are warm and concerned. “I will make sure you’re safe. I promise.”
Looking into his eyes with the jeep’s interior light reflecting off them, I can see he’s worried.
Instinctively I begin to tell him about New York and being attacked before I left.
He listens the whole time. His eyes turn darker and his jaw is getting tighter with every word.
He shakes his head when I finish, pulling me in for a hug that I think is more for him than for me.
“Thank you for helping me,” I say.
“You,” he says, kissing my head, “never have to thank me for doing something I want to do.”
“Well, I’m glad you were here.” And that’s not a lie. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I had come home by myself.
“Fuck, baby, me too,” he says, letting out a long breath.
I look down at Beast, who is sitting at our feet, looking up at us and waiting to see if we’re still going for a walk or if I might have a treat.
His head tilts when I start talking to him.
“Looks like you’re gonna get a bath, boy.
” He tilts his head in the other direction.
“And when you’re done, I need to take one too,” I say then realize that I am, once again, talking to my dog.
I look up at Asher and he’s smiling. I say the first thing that pops into my head.
“Do I look like Carrie?”
He bursts out laughing then kisses my forehead. “Yeah, you’re covered from having that damn dog sit on you while you hugged him. When my dad gets here and checks everything out, you can shower.”
“Oh my God,” I whisper, horrified when I remember that his dad is the sheriff. “Your dad’s coming?”
“Yeah, baby. He’s the sheriff.”
“Oh my God, your dad’s coming,” I repeat. Without thinking, I stick my hands up the front of his shirt and use it to wipe my face. “Is that better?” I ask.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” he says, sounding completely shocked.
“Oh, God. Your dad’s going to meet me looking like Carrie,” I cry out. I still have my hands up his shirt so I repeat the process of wiping my face. Then I use the inside to wipe my hands. I look up because he’s not saying anything.
“Okay! So, is most of the red off my face?” I ask.
“You owe me a new shirt,” he tells me.
“Fine, whatever. But is the red gone?”
“Yeah, baby. The red is mostly gone but now I don’t know if I should kiss you or spank you for that shit.
” “Whatever,” I whisper and press my forehead against his chest to hide my huge smile.
My belly is doing acrobatics at the thought of him kissing me.
Two minutes later, red and blue lights flash up the driveway and two police cars pull in next to Asher’s jeep.
Looking around Asher’s big body, I see a very tall man with grey hair mixed with dirty blond walking towards us. This must be his dad.
“Dad, this is November,” Asher says, taking a step back. Then, he pulls me from the seat. When my feet hit the ground, he puts his arm around me, dragging me into his body. His dad is smiling when he walks towards us.
“Hi, November. I’ve heard a lot about you visiting my mama with that dog of yours. She’s been bragging about you for a few weeks now. But I didn’t know you were Big Mike’s daughter. I don’t think anyone even knew he had a daughter,” he says with a kind smile on his face.
“Your mom is a very nice lady, Mr. Mayson. And, not a lot of people know about me,” I tell him as if he doesn’t already know it. “Please call me James. Mr. Mayson makes me feel old.”
“Okay,” I say laughing. “So what happened tonight? You said someone broke in?” Asher tells his dad about the red writing in my living room and Beast being covered in the same liquid that was used on the walls. And how all the lights were off in the house when we got here.
“Okay, darlin’, do you know of anyone who would want to hurt you?” he asks, looking at me.
“No, but the reason I moved here is because I was attacked in New York. Then, on the way here, I pulled into a rest stop to let Beast out and a car with New York plates pulled up a couple minutes later. The strange thing was that I was parked in the area for dogs and they never got out with a dog. I got spooked and ran back to my car but didn’t see them again.
So I don’t know if it was just my imagination or if I was really in danger. ”
“There’s no telling,” he says, looking more concerned. “Did you ever receive gifts or anything unusual before you were attacked?”
“No, nothing like that. Why? Do you think I have a stalker or something?” I ask, a chill sliding down my spine.
“Don’t know. I’m gonna do some checking around and see if we can find anything. Can you stay with someone else for the night? I don’t think you should be alone.”
“Um...I...uh...have to call my dad. I’m sure I can stay with my grandma or my uncle.”
“You’re staying with me,” Asher says, making my heart pound.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say, looking up at him.
“Well, I don’t give a fuck. You’re not leaving my sight and I don’t think your grandma or uncle want me staying at either of their houses with you. So you’re staying with me.”
Rolling my eyes at Asher, I see his dad watching us. He looks smug for some reason.
“Your son is very annoying and bossy,” I tell him.
“I’m sure with you he is, darlin’,” he laughs.
“But he’s a Mayson, so I also know that his bossy side is coming from a very safe place,” he says, looking at me.
His smile is so warm that my stomach does a flip.
“What did I tell you, son?” he says, looking at Asher.
“When it happens— BOOM!” He makes a motion with his hands of an explosion.
“When what happens?” I ask.
“Nothing,” they say at the same time.
“Alrighty, then.” I look back at Asher. “I need to call my dad.” After telling him everything that happened, Dad wants to come home.
I explain that Asher and his dad are with me and that he doesn’t need to worry.
I know the club is busy, because every few minutes, someone is asking him a question while we are on the phone.
I tell him that Beast and I are going to stay with Asher for the night.
To say my dad doesn’t like this idea is an understatement. It takes ten minutes to assure him that I won’t do anything stupid but he still makes me put Asher on the phone to reiterate his point to him. The only thing Asher says is, “She’s safe with me, Mike,” then he hands me back my phone.
So now I, a hosed-off Beast and my overnight bag are on our way to Asher’s place. We drive out into the country. All along the roads are open fields. “So you live out here?” I ask, looking at his profile in the lights of the dashboard.
“Yeah, I bought the land I live on when I first started my business. I began building my house not long after.”
“Wow, that’s impressive. How old were you when you started your company?” I ask, wanting to know his age but trying to be sneaky about it.
“I was twenty-two when I first started.”
“Oh. How long ago was that?” I hear him chuckle and I look over at him. “What’s so funny?”
“I’m twenty-seven, babe. Nothing is ever easy with you, is it?” he asks and I hear amusement in his voice.
“Cool,” I say, feeling like an idiot that he figured me out.
We pass a large red barn then turn down a dirt road.
I can’t see anything ahead of us until we go over a small hill.
My breath catches and I’m stunned. I don’t know what I expected but I didn’t expect to see a large, two story log house with a wraparound porch on the second level.
Beams are holding up the space for parking below.
I see a car and four wheeler parked under it.
“You built this?” I ask and even to myself I sound breathy.
“Yeah. It took me four years to get it finished because I was working on it between jobs.”
“It’s beautiful,” I say because...wow, it’s just amazing.
We get out of the jeep and start walking up to the front porch.
Beast is walking behind us and it’s so quiet out here that I can hear his tail cutting through the air.
He’s so excited to see this new place and explore.
Asher lets us inside and I am completely stunned by what I see.
It’s huge. You can see the logs in the walls.
It’s all warm wood and open. There are giant windows that jut out and make the space almost seem larger.
There is a sunken living room with a long, dark blue couch in the center of the room.
It looks like it needs to be replaced but it also looks really comfortable.
On the wall, there is a huge entertainment center and off to the side is a floor to ceiling fire place made out of different types of rocks.
There are no pictures or throw pillows of any kind.
Actually, looking around, I realize that there are no decorations anywhere.
We turn a corner and enter a giant kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and a large island in the middle with the stove built into it.
It looks like a chef’s dream but it also looks unused.
“Do you cook?” I ask. That’s the only reason I can think someone would want a kitchen this large.
“Some,” he says with a look on his face that I can’t read. What the heck? This is a top of the line kitchen. I would love to spend hours in this kitchen baking or just sitting at the island and drinking coffee.
“Oh, well, it’s a really nice kitchen.” I mean, what else can I say?