Authors: Samantha Leal
At eleven in the morning Laurie woke with a start and about two seconds of having absolutely no idea where she was. She sat up and looked around the hotel room and piece by piece fragments of the night before came rushing back to her. She put her head in her hands.
She had left Brad.
She had driven to a town she hadn’t visited in over ten years.
She had been attacked.
And rescued.
By a wild animal.
And the mysterious stranger with those beautiful blue eyes …
She got out of bed and tiptoed over to the bathroom where she ran a sink full of warm water and splashed her face. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw the same ghostly look that the girl who had turned up at the jewelry store had. Her skin and lips were pale and her normally shiny blonde hair was limp and dull. She turned on the shower and got in. She wanted to wash away all traces of the last twenty-four hours and forget. Except for the stranger. She didn’t want to forget or wash him away at all. But lusting after some mysterious man who had come to her aid in the middle of the night in a strange town was the last thing she needed. She still couldn’t believe it had all happened…the whole thing was so crazy. And the more she thought about it the more bizarre and crazily coincidental it seemed that the giant dog, or whatever it was, had appeared at just that moment. Maybe it had been a wolf she mused.
Whatever
, she thought, as she moved on to wondering what her rescuer had done with the men he had found assaulting her.
After she showered, she got dressed and went down to the reception area of the hotel. She found that the water had helped wash away some of the less than positive aspects of the previous night’s events. She also felt mildly renewed by the rest as well as she surveyed the comings and goings in the lobby. Considering how dead the town had been at three AM, it was pretty busy down there now. A lot of people seemed to be there on vacation, just like she had been when she was younger. But Laurie and her family had never stayed in a hotel there. They had always rented a lovely little log cabin just outside of a camping park near one of the lakes. She wandered into the restaurant and was shown to a table by the hostess. As she sat down she wondered if the cabin would still be there. It was a shame she wasn’t going to stick around to find out. After last night she just wanted “out of Dodge”, as they say.
“What can I get you?” the waitress bounced over with a big cheery smile.
“Coffee please,” Laurie replied, “The biggest one you’ve got.”
She looked up at the TV they had on in the corner. The channel was turned to the news and some small town reporter appeared to be droning on about some equally small town story. She couldn’t hear what was being said because the sound was off, which she figured absently was just as well. She was just about to look away when the camera panned to a pre-recorded video featuring a familiar truck. It was the same black truck with mud sprayed all up the side from the night before. The one that belonged to the men that had attacked her. Laurie’s heart thumped in her chest. Her eyes were wide as she stood up and walked closer to the television. All along the bottom ran the tag line that went with the news story;
Local men found under suspicious circumstances
.
Laurie asked the waitress to turn up the volume so she could listen to the report, while at the same time photographs appeared on the screen of the two men. She winced and her blood ran cold as she instantly recognized them.
“ … in the early hours of this morning discovered unconscious in the middle of Main Street,” the reporter was saying as the sound came up, “Both men are refusing to cooperate with police questioning and are being held on bail. Police ask for anyone with any information to please come forward …”
The reporter turned to the side and a new camera angle, as he shifted gears to another story having to do with some local sports rivalry or other.
Laurie was stunned. Seeing it on the news brought the reality of the night before rushing back into her mind. She turned on her heel and went back to her table. When she sat down she put her head in her hands. She had to get out of there. Even though she felt safer knowing that those men were behind bars, the place felt forever tarnished for her. She felt dejected at the loss of the purity of one of her happiest childhood memories. Now whenever she thought of that summer it would be clouded with what had just happened the night before. The waitress came to the table and poured her a large mug of coffee.
As she drank it she looked out of the window and saw again for the first time in years what the town looked like when it was alive. It was exactly how she remembered it and she wished she could just erase everything from the night before. She knew she had to leave, but she also had a nagging at the back of her mind that she had to find the stranger and at least say thank you properly now that her mind was a little clearer. She was vaguely aware of a tiny silver lining in all this. At least all this had taken her mind off of Brad.
She went back to her room and packed her things. She had an hour before she had to check out and even though she didn’t want to be wandering around the streets of Blakestone Ridge, she felt as if she owed it to him, and to herself, to find out what had happened once he had left her. She needed to thank him for being so kind and for making sure she was alright. She probably wouldn’t find him, but at least she could try.
As she went out into the sun and walked down the street she passed a lovely little row of shops. Some of them sold bric-a-brac and some had local produce, but they were all unique and she loved the fact that there wasn’t a single chain store. They were all independently owned and everyone seemed to know one another. It was almost enough to help her forget the incident the night before. She had been thinking maybe she should go to the police, but she just wanted to get out of there at that point. Seeing a convenience store she forgot her musings and went inside. She had felt tempted all morning to buy a packet of cigarettes. After what she had been through, she really didn’t feel she needed an excuse. She stood a moment looking for her brand behind the cashier but instead of asking for any, turned and went to the drinks refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. As she was walking back to the desk to pay, something caught the corner of her eye. It was the smiling face of someone familiar. She turned to the magazine rack and her jaw almost hit the floor. She couldn’t believe it.
There on the front cover of one of the glossy magazines on the shelves was her mysterious stranger. He was the epitome of dark and handsome and his blue eyes pierced her all over again. He was standing straight and tall in an immaculate suit. Laurie crept forward and picked it up.
Surely it couldn’t be
…?
It was a business magazine and it was most certainly him. She flicked quickly through to the article and scanned it furiously. Her eyes picking out specific words as she went.
Aiden Cooper… International businessman… Risk taker…
Billionaire
…
Laurie lowered the magazine and swallowed hard. If this wasn’t the man who had come to her rescue the previous night, then he had an identical twin running around. An identical billionaire twin. She shook her head and laughed. She looked at the cover again, not believing her eyes.
“Did they get my good side?” came a voice from right behind her.
She spun around, her heart jumping up into her throat. It was him. She was starting to feel like she had stepped through the looking glass like Alice. His beautiful eyes drilling holes into her soul. He looked down at the magazine with an uncomfortable and slightly amused gaze. Laurie sheepishly lowered it before replacing it on the shelf entirely. It felt somehow like she was snooping or spying on him, although that was obviously not the case at all. It had been right there in front of her. Anyone would have been more than intrigued.
“I don’t even know what to say…I was just…I mean I wanted to…” she began.
“How about we get a cup of coffee,“ he said simply. There was a warmth and caring about him that lit her up inside. It was starting to light her up in other ways too, she realized.
They sat opposite each other in a small café a block down from the hotel. Laurie couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was exactly as amazing as she had remembered and she realized she was both excited and nervous just to be around him. Along with what seemed like his innate sensitivity to her needs, there was something about him that screamed power and danger, and even after all she had been through, she found the combination intoxicating.
“Last night…” he began, “Well, this morning when I woke up, I knew I had to make sure you were okay.”
“I’ve felt better,” she said, “but I’m not as stunned and in shock as I was last night.”
“I was worried,” he looked down, “I shouldn’t have left you but I thought you’d been through enough without some strange man hanging around. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to rest up a bit and get grounded again.”
“If it wasn’t for you, who knows what would have happened to me…” She then filled him in on the details that led up to his appearance.
“Well, from what you are saying they were basically just a couple of idiots. Maybe even dangerous idiots, but still just idiots,” he shook his head.
“Well, still, if you hadn’t gotten there when you did,” she shuddered. “What did you do to them when you went back anyhow?”
“When I got back to them they were still pretty out of it, but I had some choice words with them about what their futures would look like if they ever came within a hundred miles of Blakestone Ridge again. Then I knocked them out again and left them for the police to find.” He looked amused. “I didn’t hurt them too much. No need to worry… well, apart from the broken noses I didn’t hurt them.”
A wave of relief washed over her. She did feel safe with him. She had not even realized how unsafe she had felt before.
“So, who are you, Bruce Wayne waiting for an opportunity to play Batman? Do you just hang around dark alleys in the middle of the night looking for damsels in distress to save?” she joked and smiled genuinely for the first time in days.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” he smirked. “What are we having for breakfast?”
They ordered fresh fruit and pancakes and they had been talking for almost twenty minutes before Laurie realized they had never had a proper introduction, although by now she knew his name, of course.
“Aiden Cooper, at your service” he smiled, “And I already know yours as well, Laurie Miller.”
She looked at him and studied every inch of his face. He was deadly serious.
“How do you…?” she began.
“The hotel,” his face cracked into a smile, “I didn’t tell you last night, but now that my mild mannered cover is blown… I actually own it…”
“’It’s not the best, but it’s not the worst?’ ”, Laurie laughed, quoting him from the night before.
“At least I’m honest,” he winked.
She looked into his amazing eyes again and although she could have sat there with him forever, she knew she still had to leave. Now she wasn’t just on the run from crazy Brad, she wanted to be out of Blakestone Ridge before the two men were released from jail. She felt as safe as she could with him, but she just felt rattled by the past few days. She needed some time to get her bearings.
And what about the animal I told you about? I mean it was nothing I have ever heard of before. I like I said, I didn’t get a good look at it, but I heard it. I mean, it was huge! Have you heard anything about something like that around here before?”
“Ah, who knows, probably a wolf or a dog…or maybe you somehow used you magical powers to call your spirit animal to save you.” He was smiling and laughing as he said it, but there was that amused glint in his eye again as well.
“I wish,” she laughed. “I hate to cut this short,” she added, genuinely disappointed, “But I can’t stay in this town, I need to get going.”
“I’m going to have to say ‘No’ ”, he grinned leaning forward, “I would like to convince you to stay and, furthermore, I would like to ask if I can take you out for dinner tonight, just to make sure you’ve fully recovered of course,” he said with a playful wink.
“I can’t,” she shook her head, “I’m due to check out in five minutes and after last night I’m just too nervous to stay around here…”
“Did you not hear me, I own the hotel… and not only that, but those guys won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, and if they do, trust me, they’re not going to come looking for you.”
He reached across the table and lay his hand on top of hers. His touch was like fire, the heat coming from his skin was electric.
“Trust me…” he said again.
Laurie knew that after all she had been through, this was the last thing she should be doing, but it wasn’t every day she got asked out by a heroic billionaire who seemed genuinely desperate to spend time with her. She thought back to how she had spent the past year being degraded and treated badly. Her confidence had hit an all-time low and there she was with this brilliant, sexy man… and she was going to turn her back on him and walk away? She stared into his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. The warm blue of them was so endearing she knew there was no chance she could pull herself away. Definitely not today and maybe not ever.
“Lunch,” she said, doing her best to hedge. “I don’t want to be out too late.” She cocked her head and returned a playful wink of her own.
“As you wish,” Aiden bowed congenially.
“And nothing too fancy,” she smiled, “I didn’t exactly bring a huge string of outfits and you know what us girls are like…”
“No problem,” he squeezed her hand before signaling to the waitress for the check.