Define Me (17 page)

“Oh my word, I can’t believe that.  Did Vincent fire her?”

“No she quit.”

“OH”

“Anyway, we sorted ourselves out and now we can start fresh, so tell me what happened at my party, did you like any of the guys that were there?”

“Yes I did, but I don’t know if you are going to like it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I wanted to ask you about Brent, the guy that went to school with you is there anything or was there ever anything between you guys?”

“Brent?”

“Yes
, the army guy.”

“No there is nothing between us.  We went to school together, nothing more.  I hardly know the guy.”

“Oh, ok.  Well I sort of like him and would like to get to know him better, but he is very distant and I think he only has eyes for you.”

“I can guarantee you there is nothing between us, go for it.”

“Great, so have you heard anything about the photo-shoot for Simplicity?”

“No, I almost forgot about that.  I will speak to Vincent and let you know,   I think that is going to be so much fun I can’t wait.”

The rest of the day went by so quickly, after school I went to the supermarket and got all I needed for dinner.  I wondered if it would be ok to do wine with dinner, I didn’t even know if Vincent drank wine.

I sent him a text asking about wine, he responded with-in a few seconds:  “A little wine every once in a while will not do any harm.”

As I was driving back home I spotted this white delivery truck following me.  It may have been nothing but I didn’t feel comfortable. I drove directly to Simplicity; I felt it was my safest option. When I parked my car and got out, I found Vincent standing by his car just about to leave.

“Hey babes, what you doing here?  Is everything ok, you look upset?”

“It is nothing; I’m just a little paranoid.”

“Why what happened, tell me.”

“I thought I saw a white van following me, but I must have been wrong.”

Vincent looked around but the van was nowhere to be seen. 

“I’m glad you came here first. When you feel something is wrong, just phone me and I will come to you. Ok?  Let me take you home, I want to go to gym before dinner.  You want to join me?”

“It would be great of you to take me home, is Heather still working?”

“Yes Cole is teaching her the in’s and out’s of running the shop, I have to say she did well today. I think it will work.”

“I am glad about that.”

“So you want to go to gym with me quickly.”

“No I need to get home, I’ve got some homework to do and then I want to get started on dinner.”

Heather popped in after work to shower and get ready for her date with Cole. 

“Hey, how was your first day at work?”

“I love it; it is going to be so much fun.  Vincent is really good with the food; you will enjoy cooking with him.  I can so see why you two are perfect for each other.”

“Thanks hey, so what do you guys have planned for tonight?”

“We’re going to go down to Yard House, when you guys are done with your “romantic” dinner do you want to come and join us?”

“I will see what Vincent wants to do.”

“So tell me, any word from Rebecca?”

“Yes, she came to the shop today, made a big scene in front of the customers but Cole handled it. But you can see the boys are worried about it.”

“Why, what did she say?”

“She screamed at Vincent that he was making the biggest mistake of his life and that she was the only person that would ever love him.  Vincent went crazy, he told her she was mad and that he never wanted to see her again.  Cole eventually managed to calm them down but Rebecca totally lost it.  Vincent was on his way to the police station to go and report the incident.”

“Oh shit.”

“I wanted to ask you what happened when you came home, 5 minutes after Vincent left for the police station, Cole got a phone call and Vincent said that you were followed home by someone.”

“I don’t know if I was followed but after Rebecca’s phone call yesterday I was a little spooked.  I thought I saw a white van following me home from school, but when I stopped at Simplicity it was gone. This thing with Rebecca is just freaking me out, when I first met her we really got on but when she saw the interest Vincent was showing me she changed.  Oh, I’ve got some other news to tell you.  I saw Sam in class today, she asked me about Brent.  She wanted to know if there was anything between us; it looks like she has the hots for him.”

“WHAT?  Samantha’s got the hots for Brent?  Where did she meet him?”

“Monday night when he came to make trouble for me.”

“Oh yes, now I remember.  Well good luck to her, I think he is strange.  I tried my luck with him and he is like a cold fish, he only has eyes for one person and she is already taken.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh please Caitlin, tell me you are not that blind.  Even at school Brent had the hot’s for you but he never acted on it.  Now it looks like he has lost his mind, openly going for you in front of Vincent, that was crazy.”

“Come on Heather that is not true. Ok I agree, I can see he likes me but really to try anything, he is not that type of guy.”

“We will have to see about that, he is always hanging around in the shadows.  I wonder about him, what made him like this.”

“Yeah, we will have to see.  There is something about him, a little bit of danger and mystery.  Well Samantha likes him, good for her.”

By seven o’clock Heather was ready to go out, we were sitting outside on the patio drinking a glass of wine when Vincent and Cole arrived.  Vincent walked to where I was sitting, pulled me up into his arms and kissed me. 

“I missed you.”

“You saw me a few hours ago, how could you have missed me?”

“So does that mean you did not miss me?  Now I’m heartbroken.”

“Oh please!”

Vincent sat down on the chair and pulled me onto his lap, I wiggled my butt just a little too tease him.  Vincent put his mouth to my ear and whispered softly.

“You need to stop doing that or I will take you up stairs right now and there will be no romantic dinner for you tonight.”

He kissed me on my neck and then focused on Heather, I could feel his hand creeping in under my top and up my back.

“So Heather, how did you enjoy your first day at work?”

“I loved it boss, can’t wait for tomorrow.”

“Boss, I like that.  Do you hear that Cole, she knows I am the boss.  Now you just need to start calling me that too.”

“Yeah, that will never happen.”

We talked for a while about the day and Vincent told me about the situation with Rebecca at work.   He went to the police station to report it; while he was there he told them about the phone call and also the white van that followed me.  They said there was nothing they could do about it but it was put on record.  An hour later Cole and Heather left for their date.  Vincent told them that we might join them later for a night cap but not to count on it. 

We stayed on the patio watching the sun go down, Vincent knew it my favourite time of the day.  I was still sitting on his lap, looking at the ocean; he had his arms wrapped around me and his nose in my hair. 

“I love the smell of you, what is it?”

“Lavender and Vanilla, it was a gift from my mom when I moved here.”

“It smells good, you smell good.”

“Happy to know you like the way I smell, what else do you like about me Mr Charming?”

“Well where do I start?” Vincent start kissing my neck, “I love your soft skin and the goose bumps that you get when I kiss you right here” He trailed soft kisses all along the back of my neck.  “I love your soft pink lips and the way they plump up when we kiss too much”, he turned me around to face him and started kissing me. I opened my mouth to let him in, his tongue twisted and twirled with mine, (I loved the minty taste of his breath, even after a long day his still tasted like heaven.)Vincent pulled away breaking our kiss, I moaned at the loss, the hunger I felt for him.  “I love the way your baby blues sparkle in the moonlight, you have the most amazing eyes I’ve seen in my life, I love the way you look at me right now, that hunger in your eyes and the way they look when you come undone under me.  Caitlin, everything about you I like, you are my everything.  I know we have only known each other for a short while but I know that all we need is us.”

I didn’t know what to say, I did not expect Vincent to go all mushy on me when I asked what he liked about me.  What he said and the way he said it, OMG I didn’t think I could be more in love if I tried.  That man had managed to knock my feet right out from under me; I didn’t want to be anywhere else but in his arms for the rest of my life. 

“You make me so happy Vincent, thank you for being you.  For teaching me to trust again and to open my heart.”

“I Love you Caitlin.”

Wow I did not see that coming, guys don’t say the L-word so soon in a relationship.  I was a little shocked but happy, I felt the same I was just not ready to say it. It was such a whirlwind relationship, everything was happening so fast, but when it this right why deny how you feel?

“I understand if you are not ready but I need you to know how I feel and that I will make it my goal to make you happy and …”

I lifted my finger and placed it on Vincent’s lips, stopping him from saying another word.

“I love you too, Vincent.  I wish I could express to you the way you make me feel.  You are the best thing that has happened to me.”

The words were hardly out of my mouth before Vincent pushed his body against mine, with his arms tightly wrapped around me.  He held me to his chest and started showering my face with soft kisses. 

“All I want to do right now is take you upstairs and make love to you until the sun comes up.”

“So what is stopping you?”

Vincent leaned forward and lifted me in his arms,  as we turned to walk into the house we heard a noise coming from the bushes next to the house, I snapped my head up to look at Vincent, to make sure I was not imagining it.  The look on his face told me that he also heard the noise. 

“Get in the house and lock the doors, I want to go see what that was.”

“No Vincent don’t go!”

“Caitlin, I am not telling you again.  Get inside and lock the door, NOW!”

I ran to the front door to make sure it was locked and then the back door.  I made my way back to the glass patio door; it was so dark I couldn’t see a thing, not even Vincent.  The minutes ticked by, should I phone the police?  I didn’t know what to do I was starting to freak out when I looked up and saw Vincent standing in front of the door.  I quickly opened up to let him in.

“You were gone long, did you see anything?”

“I don’t know what I saw.  There was a guy, I think, walking in the parking lot in front of Simplicity.  Before I could get to him he got into a car and drove away.  He wasn’t alone I could see there was someone in the passenger seat but it was too dark to make out their faces.  He didn’t run, so I don’t know if it is related, besides that I couldn’t find anything” 

“Vincent this is freaking me out, what is happening?”

“I don’t know Caitlin.  I agree, to many funny things have been happening since Rebecca left, it must be related but the cops can’t do anything without solid proof and we don’t have anything.  I don't feel happy with you living here right now, not until we find out what is happening.”

“I understand but I can’t just leave my house.  I have school and I need to start prepping for exams.  I will just have to tighten up the security of the house.  Can you help me with that?”

“I don’t want you to stay here baby, come to my house, I have all the security we need.  Maybe during the day when you need to study it would be ok to be home, I am right here so I can keep an eye out, but I think at night you need to come and stay at my place.”

“What about Heather?  If someone is hanging around my place she is in danger too.”

“I will speak to Cole, maybe she can room with him for a while.  I can’t see him complaining about that, or if it will make you happy she can come and stay at my place too, there are enough rooms.”

“I think she will go for option one, to be honest.  Ok, I am happy to do that.”

“Great, go pack your bags, I want to get out of here.”

“What about supper?”

“Shit I forgot.  Can you put it back in the fridge for another time?  Let’s go meet Cole and Heather; we can grab a bite to eat there.”

“Yes I can, but we will need to come and get it tomorrow.  I will cook it at your place”

I quickly ran upstairs to pack a bag.  I would just pack enough for 2 nights.  I could do proper packing tomorrow after class.  Ten minutes later I was ready and loaded into Vincent’s car. 

By the time we got to Heather and Cole, Heather was already quite drunk. 

“Hey, bestie, we have some catching up to do.  Cole be a darling and get my girl a sexy drink, this is the first time she has come out to a place like this.  We need to party.”

Oh she’s crazy, but if I was honest I felt like I needed this.  The stress of the past two days was getting to me.  Vincent and Cole walked off to the bar.  I told Heather what happened at the house and also what Vincent suggested we do.  She was a little shocked but when I told her that Vincent suggested she stay with Cole, all her worries were forgotten.  When the boys got back to the table, I could see from the look on Coles face that Vincent had told him what happened.  Cole walked up to me, put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest.  Wow this is strange; I didn’t take Cole for the affectionate type.

“Hey girl, you ok?  We will get to the bottom of this, don’t stress.”

“Thanks Cole.”

Vincent came to sit next to me handing me my drink.  I didn’t even ask what it was it had a lot of alcohol but tasted like cold drink.  After 3 or 4 drinks I could feel my head spinning and I had not even touched the food Vincent had ordered for me.  He tried very hard to get me to eat, but Heather and I were on a mission.  Dancing, laughing, and just going crazy.  Close to midnight, I could not take it anymore.  I walked up to Vincent and sat on his lap.  I was finished, could not see straight anymore.