Find Me in Manhattan (Finding #3) (16 page)

“No. He brought me home and walked me to my door.”

“Did he kiss you goodnight?”

I dropped my chopsticks. “Why would you ask me that?”

“You know why.” His dark eyes met my blue ones, and I held his gaze until he looked away. He had the chance right then to change the whole dynamic of our relationship, but once again, he didn’t take it. I understood, or I was trying to understand anyway, but it was next to impossible when my heart and body were saying something different than my brain. It didn’t help that I knew he actually felt the same way about me but didn’t feel strong enough, brave enough, or stable enough to do anything about it.

Digging deep for strength to be friendly and not lose it completely, I changed the subject. “What kind of car are you and Joe working on?” He went into great detail about the 1968 Ferrari that was brought in a few days earlier. From there, the conversation flowed easily, and we fell back into our easy camaraderie.

I did feel a little bad about never telling him about the emails, but I wanted him there because he was my
friend
, not because he was my protector. I kept hoping that if he didn’t see me as someone who needed help then he might be willing to go beyond this friendship crap. Honestly, though, if jealousy didn’t work, I was pretty sure nothing would.

Michael

I was finishing an oil change on a year old Lamborghini Asterion LPI 910-4 when my phone rang. Moretti’s stupid picture filled up my screen, so I answered knowing he was calling about me skipping our workout that morning. It was raining out, and my body always ached a little more when it rained. It didn’t help that I had a killer headache from not sleeping the past few nights. I hadn’t been taking the sleeping pills in case Sarah needed me. When I took them, nothing woke me up, and I wanted to be available in case she called. I doubted she would call, but I didn’t want to risk it either way, not until they locked the son of a bitch up. Why they hadn’t already locked him up was beyond me.

My phone started buzzing again reminding me Moretti was calling. “Yeah man,” I answered. “Sorry, I skipped. I-”

“Michael!” He cut me off. “Where’s Sarah?”

“I don’t know. VA or class. Why?” I was already on the move. Something in his voice told me something wasn’t right.

I heard him repeat what I said to someone else, Lana probably.

“Moretti! What’s going on?”

“Dude, I came over to Lana’s for a quickie-”

“Didn’t need to know that,” I interrupted.

“No, man, listen. She and I came in together. There were flowers at the door and a note. It said, ‘Come out. Come out. Wherever you are. Time’s up.’ Lana started flipping out trying to call Sarah to see where she was, but she hasn’t answered.” Panic rose in my chest. What if the bastard got to her?

“I’m on my way to the VA. Get Lana to take you to wherever she has class. We gotta find her,” I shouted as I ran to my bike.

“Michael! Wait! There’s more.” I froze and waited for him to continue. “He’s been inside or someone has. Lana looked in Sarah’s room. She said it’s always perfect. Bed made, clothes put away, you know.”

“Make your point!”

“Someone’s gone through her stuff and been in her bed. Her gun safes have been pulled out but are unopened. They have biometric scanning, so I don’t think he was able to get in. Cops are on their way, but you need to find Sarah.”

I hung up my phone and tore out of the lot on my bike like a bat out of hell. I saw a blur of Joe and Phil pass as I drove to the exit of the track. All I could think about was what I would do if she wasn’t safe. I didn’t feel the cold rain pelting me. I didn’t feel the freezing wind threatening to force my bike to the ground. I felt the rush of a mission pumping through me, and fear was in the driver’s seat this time.

I pulled in front of the VA and squeezed my bike into a space where I knew I ran the risk of being towed, but I didn’t care. I took off running for the doors and pounded on the button for the elevator before I finally decided to take the stairs. No one took the stairs except the doctors in this building. There were too many people on crutches or in wheelchairs.

Just as I reached the door to the office she was using, it opened. There she was smiling at the female soldier she had been interviewing. Sarah gave the woman a hug and told her to call her anytime she wanted to talk. As the soldier walked away, she nodded toward me and I tried to do the same, but my heart was still pounding in my chest.

“Michael?” I heard Sarah’s sweet voice say my name and all the worry and fear I had felt left my body. “What are you doing here? Why are you soaking wet?”

I didn’t know what came over me in that instant, but I couldn’t take the distance any longer. I took two giant steps toward her, pushing her back in the office with my body. With my hands busy pulling her to me, I slammed the door with my foot. The instant our lips connected, I felt whole again. I held the back of her head, and she opened her mouth, submitting to my every need. I held her close as our tongues touched once, twice, and again. Her hands tightly gripped my biceps, but I barely felt them with the intensity of our kiss.

When we finally broke apart, I kept my eyes closed and forehead resting on hers. We were both fighting to get our breath back under control while holding onto each other as if one of us would fade away if we let go.

“You’re freezing,” she said breaking the silence.

“I was in a hurry. You scared the shit out of me.”

“What? Why?” She pulled away to look up at me. I hated that we couldn’t remain connected, but I saw the confusion in her eyes and understood why she needed to see me.

“Your apartment. He was there.”

“WHAT?”

“Lana and Moretti found a note and your room was…well, it wasn’t how you left it,” I explained.

“Is Lana-”

“She’s fine. She was worried about you. They tried calling you.”

“I was in an interview. I didn’t hear my phone. What did the note say?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“I actually do.”

“It said, ‘Come out. Come out. Wherever you are. Time’s up.’ It came with some flowers.”

She stepped away and threw her hands on her hips. She didn’t seem afraid. She was pissed. “Good gravy. He doesn’t know when to quit.” Her fingernails went into her mouth while she stood deep in thought.

Then something occurred to me. “I don’t get why he leaves you alone for almost two weeks then suddenly shows up again.”

Sarah’s blue eyes widened and looked up at me guiltily. “Maybe he doesn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“He doesn’t leave me alone.”

I felt the fury rise up inside of me, but the sweet puppy dog eyes Sarah was giving me had me attempting to control my tone. “What else?”

“Nothing much.”

“Sarah…”

“Text messages from a blocked number. Emails from an unknown address,” she confessed quickly while still biting her nails.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I shouted louder than I meant. “Have you told your brother? Lana?”

“No. I don’t want everybody fussin’ over me and telling me what I need to do. It’s ridiculous. I want to forget all this ever happened.” Her accent was thicker when she was emotional. I could hear her fear and frustration in every word she said.

That didn’t stop me from losing my shit. “Jesus.” I turned and started pacing the length of the small room. “You agreed.”

“Look,” she snapped, “I know we don’t know each other very well, but I don’t like being told what to do. I listen to my Mama and Daddy because it’s their God-given right to boss me around. Other than that, no one tells me what to do, you understand?” Her finger poked me in the chest while she glared at me.

I grabbed her finger and pulled her close. “I’m not telling you what to do. I’m trying to keep you safe the best way I know how. I promised your brother that I’d keep an eye on you so I could keep you here.”

“I thought we were just friends,” she whispered when our foreheads were touching.

I leaned in closer. “Friends kiss.” I barely ran my tongue across her bottom lip before gently pressing my lips to hers.

Her eyes closed, and her breathing picked up. “Not like that.”

“Friends touch,” I said as I moved my hands down her back to cup her ass.

“Definitely not like that.”

“Then I don’t think we were ever just friends,” I said right before our lips met once more.

I was never much of a talker. Words weren’t my thing. I sucked at journaling during my therapy because writing wasn’t my thing either. I couldn’t describe things the way other people could, so this was especially difficult to describe…the way Sarah made me feel. It was terrifying as much as it was gratifying. It was the first time I’d wanted something to last forever and feared it couldn’t last another second. She consumed me with that first kiss, so I kissed her again wanting nothing more than to be her everything.

I pulled away before the heated moment could escalate further, and believe me, I wanted to take it much, much further. “We’re going to the police station and reporting everything else he’s sent to you. It violated the restraining order, and I want him behind bars. Then you’re coming home with me.”

“So you can watch out for me?” she asked with a frown.

“Partially.”

“What’s the other reason?”

“I’ve been thinking about you in my bed since the night you stayed at my place. I can’t get the idea of it out of my head no matter how many times I tell myself you’re too good to be true.”

“Well, heck. That’s not the most proper offer I’ve ever received, but what girl in her right mind would turn down you?”

“Would it help if I took you to dinner first?”

“What kind of lady would I be if I said no?”

“The kind who knows what she wants and goes after it.”

With a small smile, she said, “It sounds like you know me a little too well.”

“I’d like to know you better.” I looked at her before giving her a small kiss on the tip of her nose.

She moved closer and batted her long eyelashes with a coquettish smile plastered on her face. “Wanna skip the police station and head right to the gettin’ to know you part of the evening?”

As much as I wanted to agree to it, I knew she needed to file the report. I had to be the strong one here. “Nice try. Grab your stuff. It’s raining, so we’re taking the subway.”

Sarah

It took hours to meet with Darrin Houser, who never became available. Finally, a woman came out and had us write statements and attach the printed emails and copies of the text messages, which I had pretty much already done over email. The lady who collected the paperwork from us said, “Someone will contact you.” When Michael asked when we might hear something, she gave us a look like we were crazy for even asking.

After Lana and Tony had dropped a bag for me over at Michael’s place, he did what he promised and took me to dinner. What didn’t happen was the touching. No kissing, no handholding, nothing. Nada. And it was driving me crazy. I was certain he was doing it on purpose, but another part of me, the vulnerable side of me that I hated, wondered if he’d changed my mind.

He hadn’t.

By the time we made it back to his apartment, I was agitated and borderline needy. I hadn’t felt like this when I was sober since…never. No man had ever made me lose my mind like this. Apparently, he was feeling the same way because the second we were inside the door to his apartment, I was against the wall, and his hands and lips were everywhere. Needless to say, I didn’t mind one bit considering my hands were unusually grabby, and the breathy moan that I heard come from my lips was undeniably one of pleasure. Let’s just say the night didn’t end with only a wild tryst at the door.

A kiss to the back of my neck let me know Michael was awake, and my daydreaming about last night was over in favor of some action.

“Good morning,” he said against my shoulder.

“You talk in your sleep,” I told him playfully. Instead of joking with me and trying to convince me to tell him what he said as I had expected, he froze and pulled away. I rolled over and tried to make sense of the expression on his face. “What?”

“I didn’t…” He swallowed hard.

“Hey.” I ran my fingers across his face smoothing out the worry lines. “I was teasing. All you did was mumble my name and pull me closer to you. It was nice.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s all,” I confirmed.

He let out a deep breath and pulled me close. “Sorry. Sometimes I have dreams, memories. They can get really bad.”

“I know. It’s okay,” I told him, trying to comfort him. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but one day you’ll need to tell someone.”

His eyes were on my bare shoulder where his thumb rubbed back and forth. “Yeah. One day.” He watched his hand move down my arm. He pulled my hand up between us and held it against his chest. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I sighed. We were back to this again. “I won’t. He won’t-”

“I don’t only mean by him,” he said without looking me in the eye.

“What do you mean?” My words came out in a whisper.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but I want you. You’re different, good different, and I could use a little good different in my life.”

As much as I would have loved him to profess his undying affection for me, I knew better. He wasn’t the kind of guy who made promises he couldn’t keep. He was probably the most honest man I’d ever met other than Daddy. Michael was one of the good ones whether he could see it or not.

“Like I said, let’s just take this one day at a time, but this time maybe you could keep your friends from asking me out.”

“Yeah, that’s never going to happen again. I was a moron to let that happen. I wanted to kill Jay, and I never want to kill Jay. Trust me, next time they see you they will all know you’re mine.”

“So, no killing anyone, right?”

“No killing,” he confirmed playfully.

“So, back to taking this one day at a time,” I teased as my hand drifted down his muscular chest. 

“Let’s take this right now,” he said just before he rolled me onto my back and kissed me as if it was a promise of the words I desperately wanted to hear from him. Better yet, it was a promise that made me want to stay in his bed for the rest of the day. Eh, why limit it to one day? I wanted to stay in his bed forever. My heart was so going to break if I kept up these little fantasies.