Chapter Three
Ava Anderson
I cannot believe my eyes! How is it possible, and what are the odds? Three months later, and many, many sleepless nights after wondering whether I’d done the right thing by running out on him that night and here he is, dropped right into my lap by the motherfucking universe.
Of course, I didn’t say anything until he left, but I am positive that he recognized me too. I can still see the shock in his eyes, even though he didn’t say a damn thing. I know very well what that look was. It’s also why he tried to reject being assigned as my bodyguard.
Suddenly, the meeting with the captain finally takes root and everything that he said comes back to me. Apparently, there’s a chance that I was the intended target, and the shooter may realize it. That’s terrifying to think about. I didn’t offend anyone. I wonder what people would say about me, or anyone at all. Why would someone think that I am worth killing?
And then there’s the idea that I will somehow have to accommodate that man in my house for the next three months, until they catch the shooter. How is that possible?
There’s no way I can bring myself to spend that much time with him— we had sex!
And yes, it was frigging amazing. The best sex I’d had in years, but maybe I felt that way because I did approach that encounter through a distinct sense of lack. After all, I’d been a single mother for years prior to that, and it was the one time that when I did decide to try going out to get picked up. I find myself reliving the experience, clear as that time.
I see him, at the bar, when he catches my eye. I feel the immense urge to approach him, and I do, hopeful I do not come off as being too forward and scare him off. While I watch his silhouette against the light, strong and full.
“Hi.” I say.
“Hey,” he replies.
It hits me all over, and I am stunned by the richness of his voice. So much so that I find myself unable to say a thing until he speaks up again.
“Want to drink with me?” There, so casual and straight to the point, that I wonder if it is a trap, or too good to be true.
But his smile remains steady, like he knows I need to see it to be comfortable. So I take a seat beside him.
“You look like you’re afraid the entire bar might turn against you.” He jokes .
I couldn’t help my laughter. “I don’t usually do this. In fact, I’ve never done this before.”
“I love the way you laugh. And do what, go to the bar to have a drink?”
I shrug. “That, and it’s been a while since I took anyone to bed. I thought I would meet someone.”
Now, he looks back at me with new eyes.
My reverie is broken as thoughts of the present cloud my head. Remembering that night, I know that I cannot house this man in my house for an extended period of time, knowing what we’d done in that hotel room. There is no way I can stand it. I am absolutely mortified.
But the thing is, I also can’t ask the captain to switch him out with another officer. Who knew he’d be a cop? It just goes to show that there is a lot that these officers do in their off time. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that he is married.
I just don’t want to cause trouble for him, and letting the captain know I want him changed would raise all sorts of questions. Questions that I don’t want to have to answer.
Just as I am about to get lost in another round of mulling over my thoughts, Dayton comes into the living room.
“So, DJ is asleep in his room.”
“Indeed, he is. ”
The silence hangs in the air for a while. Awkward, though I don’t know why. He couldn’t possibly know what I do, could he?
“And the Captain is leaving you a bodyguard.” He says again.
“Yeah, but he said he needed to get his things, so the officer out there is just there to hold the fort down until he comes.”
Dayton shrugs. “At least that means I won’t have to worry so much about you.”
“You’re worried?”
“Of course, I bloody am!” Dayton explodes, and all of a sudden, I am reminded that this is Dayton. My manager with a terrible temper.
He has such a big heart, but terrible anger when things don’t go his way. I had forgotten just how invested he was in our performance being a success too, and how this must be affecting him.
“How are you taking it?” I asked him, hoping he would calm down.
“That poor girl. Shot. In the chest, and six times.” He tells me. “How do you think that happened? To Lynn, of all people? And now they say that it’s because of you. Maybe it's because of you. I can’t believe it. I refuse to believe it.”
“I think I will be fine, Dayton.” I said, standing up weakly to take his arm. “And they’ll catch him. I know they will. I just know it.”
He looks at me dubiously for a while, and then visibly relaxes. I feel his muscles go from stiff to pliant, and I know I’ve managed to avert an episode with the next unlucky person who would’ve crossed his path .
“So, our show didn’t get off to a good start.” I say, trying to gauge his mood.
“All that money, wasted.” He speaks, and I can see he is close to fuming again, so I do my best to defuse the situation.
“Well, we can always try again, when this is all over.” I say, even though I know it just won’t be the same. Already, I know that several of my co-stars have already called it quits. They won’t be returning, at all.
“Yeah, probably. But not right now. I need a drink,” he says.
“There’s some brandy in th—”
“No. I need to go out to a bar.”
“Okay. I understand. That’s all right. Just remember to be safe?”
“I will be.”
And he is off. I follow behind, going to close the door. But when I get there, I see an officer has been dropped off, and is sitting at the door.
“Why don’t you come inside?”
He smiles, a dapper, young, and freckled smile. “I'd prefer to stay here, Miss. I'll wait for him to come back, and then I will take my leave. Please don't worry about me, ma'am.”
“Okay, I understand. ”
It doesn't do much to argue with men when they have their minds set on something, because you won’t get anywhere. I decided to leave it be.
“I've got some milk, and I can slip you some brandy in it. Just in case. You think you could manage with that?” I ask, giving him a conspiratorial wink. I see the struggle on his face for a while, and then watch as he looks at his watch. It is past 6. Definitely past his work hours.
I prod again, “I won't tell if you don't.”
That seemed to settle it. He nods, and I nod right back.
Walking toward the kitchen almost proves too much for me to handle in my condition, but I manage to do it. I poured his milk, with a very generous shot of alcohol and began ferrying my contraband back over to him. The smile on his face is enough to make every step of the way worth it, and I leave the light on for him.
Inside, I go to DJ’s room to check on him. He is fast asleep, the little angel. At least I didn't have to deal with a tantrum or the likes of it, tonight of all nights. Feeling tired, I settled onto the couch to rest, afraid I would have trouble going to sleep because of my thoughts. But it doesn’t take long for me to drift off.
When I wake up later, it is to the frightful sight of a large male figure standing over me. I nearly screamed in fright, but not before I managed to recognize his blond hair. It was the officer. Wade Cooper. My one-night stand.
“You almost scared me to death.” I say, feeling my heart thump against my chest. “I would think that someone like you, would understand what I don’t need at the moment. ”
“You should be more security conscious.” He says gruffly, turning away from me. “May I sit down?”
“Yes.” I reply, shrugging.
He sits, but not before placing two duffel bags onto the floor beside the chair he chose. I have to admit, now that I could see him in the full glare of light, he was even more attractive than I thought so many nights ago.
Of course, I had been on a mission, and the alcohol did its bit, but I genuinely felt he was good-looking.
Now though, I realized that I hadn’t seen it all. He is handsome. A rugged face that looked accustomed to hard times, with a chiseled jaw that was set hard. No doubt with aversion for me. He probably hates me for ditching him in the hotel room.
I decided that I can’t let it hang over us. It’s either that, until I am forced to make him leave by annoying him, getting on his nerves the entire time he’d be here till he asks for a replacement himself, or we sort this out right now. I don’t have to talk to him. Just feed him if I have to and give him a place to sleep.
“I know you’re probably angry with me. About that night we met at the bar.”
He doesn’t say anything. Just keeps staring at me. Unfortunately, I can’t see the color of his eyes, or what they look like under the light, because it reflected off them. But I figure there is hardly any love in there.
“Well, I’m sorry.” I start, then shake my head. That wasn’t what I wanted to say. Or rather, how I wanted to say it. “Look, I’m not sorry I left. I didn’t want to deal with having you ask for my number and turning you down. I’m sorry though, that I left you hanging.”
“That’s because I’m here now, right?” Wade Cooper asks, and I wonder if I’m doing more harm than good.
“Naturally. Apparently, the universe loves a good joke.”
He is back to being silent again.
“Well, I just wanted to get that out of the way, and see if maybe we couldn’t put it behind us?” I say, scanning his face for any signs as to what he is thinking. “Do you think that there’s a way we could just not talk about it? What happened between us?”
For a split second when he opens his mouth, I think he might mention the one-night stand. A part of me is expecting it, so I’m disappointed with the words that come out of his mouth.
“I don’t mind not talking about it again. And please understand, I intend to be as professional as possible, while I’m on your detail. I intend to keep you alive, safe, and well until we find the killer. You have nothing to fear from me, and other than doing my job of keeping you safe, you won’t see me making your life difficult.”
I thought he’d want to talk about it. At least a little bit. I would have felt better, and it would have been more acceptable, this whole situation. Instead, I’m sitting here disappointed, with questions in my head while we endure the awkward silence.
I cleared my throat, refusing to stay in the living room a moment longer. “There’s a third bedroom by the kitchen. You can take your things and sleep there at night. ”
But Wade Cooper is shaking his head before I can even finish. “Thank you, but not tonight.”
“Why? You want to sleep in the living room?” I ask, raising a brow. He did seem to be taking his bodyguarding duty seriously.
“Not exactly. I will be setting up motion sensors around the house to capture movement at night. It’s the perfect use of my first night here. That way, we can know the moment someone starts skulking around the house.”
I am impressed. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him know that. So I just nod, and I am about to head into my room when a thought crosses my mind.
“Have you had anything to eat?”
“Yes, I had a burger a few hours ago.”
I shrug. At least I tried. “If you get hungry, you can head into the kitchen for something. There’s also brandy in the decanter, if you want to relax.”
I thought he would rebuff me, or reject it but he just nods, and then he was on his feet even as he motioned me to go inside.
I feel the irritation building. Who is this man, and why does he think that he can tell me what to do in my house? Huffing, I walked into my room.
Men. They are just the same no matter what. Barely an hour in my house and he’s telling me to go to bed. And then the thought of him walking around in the house, and outside too, sickens me. Badly. If I had my way, I’d kick him out onto the street this very instant .
But there’s nothing I can do about it, and if the truth be told, I can’t allow myself to lose sight of the real reason why he’s here in the first place. To protect me, and it appears that he is quite capable. I like the idea of an alarm blaring and waking us up if someone tried to sneak in.
That means I don’t have to stay up at night worrying too much. Tonight, I can sleep well at least.
But I find that I can’t. Instead, my mind keeps flashing back to the night I’d met Wade Cooper. And with each passing second, I am submerged in it, reliving each moment like the present.
* * * *
The rain continues to pour as we sit. And in my head, I know that I desire to take this man somewhere and spend the rest of the night with him.
“You came here to get picked up?” He asks me, surprise in his eyes.
“Yes, isn’t that what you men do when you go out to the bar?” I asked back, challenging him.
He shrugs. “I haven’t ever tried it, but I wouldn’t mind it. I’m in a bit of a celebratory mood myself.”
“What’s the occasion?”
“Just got a new gig, and some other things. Hey, my name—”
“Shh,” I say, surprising myself by putting a finger to his lips. “Names will ruin it right now. Let’s go? ”
He nods and gets off the stool before helping me up. A proper gentleman, then.
I hadn’t expected it, but I guess I set the tone for the rest of the night, because he did not say a word to me the moment we were in the room. All I saw before the lights went off was a large white king-size bed.
In the dark, I wait. But not for long. I feel the hardness of his body against mine, and at that moment, I feel justification in the decisions made tonight. The margaritas he’d ordered were in full swing through my system too, and so I let myself go, allowing this stranger to lead me to the bed.
His hands, so full of strength, and yet like phantom wraiths at the same time, sliding from my face to the nape of my neck.
When one falls to cup my breast, I feel a tremor travel through my entire body. Again, I am reassured by this decision. It’s been way too long.
“Thank you,” he says, voice husky with desire and I understand. For tonight, under the sound of the thunderstorm and the rain, we were one and the same.
“No, thank you.” I whispered back, then turned to face him.
In the dark, it was hard to see a thing, but that only meant it was perfect. Every touch, his breathing and the rise and fall of his chest against mine, it is all heightened by the alcohol.
My breast is squeezed by his groping hand, and I feel myself go moist down under .
And then he takes me to the bed. I let him lay me there, not expecting the kiss that followed.
After that, I lost all sense of time.
All I do feel are his hands on my body, and his mouth on mine. Until he parted my legs with his, and then a rigid warmth nudged at my opening.
The night burst into an explosion of color and sensation. As the rain drums all around us, and thunder echoes into the dark, I let myself be lost in the ecstasy of the night.
My moan echoed through the room.