Authors: Marie Rochelle
Was he for real?
He couldn’t be that upset over her cart bumping his. True gazed at the guy until his broad shoulders rounded the corner. “Damn, what a rude man,” she hissed. She wiggled her banged up cart back and forth making sure it still moved. The left wheel wobbled for a second or two then stopped. “Well, I don’t have much shopping left, so it will have to do.” She stole another quick glance down the empty aisle and frowned.
Why did he look so familiar?
Ten minutes later,
True
paid for her items and strolled out the sliding doors to her car. On the drive back home, her mind burned with the memory of the guy from the grocery store. He was drop dead gorgeous. His most striking feature was his deep blue eyes.
What am I doing?
She wondered. She moved here to start a new life, not lust after a man she had just seen.
Parking her car in the driveway, True got out of the car, grabbed her groceries from the back seat, and slammed the door shut with her hip. An owl, hidden in the forest, hooted behind her and her body flinched, as its lone cry startled her. Hurrying across her driveway,
True
paused by her front door and glanced over a shoulder at her neighbor’s house. She noticed that his car was gone. “Hmmm, I wonder where Mr. Personality
is?
” She unlocked the door and went inside the house.
Pitching her keys on the table, beside the door, she went toward the kitchen. Standing in the entranceway, she looked around the bright room. Patterned blue and yellow tiles defined the wall behind the range creating a beautiful focal point. The far-left wall had the same patterns used on the island and cook range hood. Copper dish racks positioned close to the stove held her mother’s antique dish set collection. She decided, at the last minute, to add it for a dramatic impact. When she cooked, a bright cheery environment always made the experience more pleasurable.
Heading for the marble island, True stopped in her tracks and the grocery bags slipped from her fingers hitting the floor with a loud thump. She knew why the guy from the store looked so familiar. He was her neighbor!
* * * *
Hayward
brushed a lock of his hair off his forehead. His stomach clenched at the memory of the soft, sweet fragrance that came from his neighbor’s body earlier.
Whatever she had on should be outlawed.
A light had smoldered in her dark eyes when she glared back up at him. God, they reminded him of rich Hershey chocolate. He shook his head at the wayward thought.
What in the hell am I doing?
He had practically drooled in front of her and she acted like he was the rudest man in the world.
He didn’t miss that she’d changed clothes from this morning.
The t-shirt and denim shorts were gone and replaced with a sleeveless purple
hoodie
, and a pair of boot-cut jeans, that molded her thighs.
Hayward
shook the vision his neighbor made from his mind. No, a pretty face and a knock out body wouldn’t draw him in again.
Tossing a box of Total cereal into his already full basket,
Hayward
mumbled. “I can’t believe she tried that shopping cart trick on me.” For some reason he was disappointed, that she wasn’t going to be any different from the other flirtatious women that had moved next door to him. Well he would ignore her like the others.
The scent of fresh fried chicken from the deli drifted toward him in the cereal aisle. His stomach growled at the oily familiar smell but he wouldn’t buy any, because tonight was Saturday, which meant steak night. Turning, he pushed his cart toward the checkout lanes, halfway there he stopped and blew out a deep breath.
Nicole Brown stared back at him from the first cash register. She studied him openly; he couldn’t miss the desire in her light green eyes. No matter what he said or did, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Sighing, he walked the rest of the way and placed his food down on the checkout counter. He hoped this wouldn’t take as long as it usually did when she checked him out.
“Hi
Hayward
” Nicole leaned toward him showing off an ample amount of surgically enhanced cleavage.
“Hello Nicole,” he mumbled.
“Why don’t you call me Nikki like everyone else?” She asked running a fingernail across the back of his hand.
“Nicole sounds so old,” she pouted.
Hayward
glanced down at the Nicole’s nail caressing the back of his hand and jerked it back. “I’m late for something, so could you please ring up my food and charge it to this.” Pulling a platinum credit card out of his wallet, he tossed it on the small tray by the cashier register.
He waited while Nikki rung up his groceries. Her silence was music to his ears.
“Here I need you to sign this.” She shoved the credit card receipt and a pen at him.
Her emerald eyes held his a little longer than needed. “I get off in five minutes,” she uttered.
He ignored the blatant invitation. Did she know how desperate she sounded? Why wouldn’t she listen to him? If he wanted to start dating again it sure as hell wouldn’t be with her. He scribbled his name across the receipt and handed the items back to her. “Sorry, I’ve other plans,” he answered.
“I know you aren’t busy. So how about I fix you dinner at my house tonight,” she whispered touching his arm.
“Nicole, I don’t want to have dinner with you,”
Hayward
muttered. What would it take to get her off his back?
He shoved his credit card back into his wallet. “You seem like a really nice girl, but I’m not interested in dating you or anyone else.”
Lifting his bags off the end of the checkout lane, he walked out the automatic sliding doors his mind on the pile of paperwork waiting for him back home.
* * * *
Hours later,
True
relaxed on her black couch, she watched two couples fight over each other on the latest reality show to hit the television. “I can’t believe people signed up for this show.”
Reaching inside the box between her legs, she grabbed another handful of raisins shoving them into her mouth and then the phone rung as she reached for another handful.
“Hello.” True mumbled.
“Hey sweetheart,” the cheerful voice said on the other end.
“Stephen, why are you calling me so late at night?” She asked wiping her hands on her pink panther night shorts. “Is there something wrong?”
Stephen chuckled. “Can’t I call my best friend to find out how her move went?”
Picking up the glass off the table, True took a sip of her green tea and sat it back down. “I came back from the grocery store about two hours ago,” she replied sitting the raisin box on the table. “I still have a few things that need to be put away in the bathroom and living room.”
Stephen snorted. “I won’t be visiting
Los Angeles
?”
Just the thought of going back home to
Los Angeles
sent a shiver down her back. “No, I don’t miss the excitement,” True muttered shoving down the bad memories. “You know the excitement was the reason I left there in the first place.”
She picked at the fuzz on her pink panther house shoes. “But I do miss you a lot, especially our late night talks. You were the only person who stood by me after all the lies came out.”
“Sweetie, you didn’t have to move because of
Dalton
.” Stephen muttered.
“Yes, I did.”
True hissed.
“True, I’m not the bad guy here.”
“I’m sorry.”
Why couldn’t Stephen leave
Dalton
in her past?
“
Dalton
was good at his job,” Stephen stressed. “No one knew how well his corrupt mind worked.”
True shook her head. “No, he smelled my stupidity a mile away and used it to his advantage.”
If she hadn’t fallen for his deep brown eyes and sexy news anchor voice, she would still be at Starr Technology.
“Listen to me.” Stephen snapped drawing her back to the conversation. “You’ve got to stop blaming yourself. He planned to get that information from Starr Technology by any means necessary.”
“Yeah and the means was to used my superficial need to have a gorgeous boyfriend,” True snorted running her fingers through her hair. “Damn it, why didn’t I listen to you?” She lost count how many times Stephen told her
Dalton
was using her.
“You were in love,” Stephen replied.
“In lust is more like it,” she snapped back.
Sadness gripped her heart, causing a deep ache in her chest. She was the worst kind of fool not once did the thought cross her mind that
Dalton
’s feelings weren’t genuine. “Stephen, I was the first black woman to hold that position at Starr. My boss warned me someone had tried to steal the information before. Why couldn’t I sense it was
Dalton
all those months we dated?”
“He knew you were attracted to him and used it to his advantage.”
“
Dalton
used it against me alright.” True snickered. “He stole my office key made an imprint of it then broke into Starr Technology and downloaded all my files, while I was on vacation with you.”
“True, it wasn’t your fault. How many times do I have to tell you this?”
“Fine, maybe that part wasn’t my fault,” she agreed, “but defending him to my boss after he fired me, was plain stupid.” Every fiber in her body had believed that bastard was innocent. “God, I loved him so much that I raced to his office.
I wanted him to know I didn’t believe those vicious lies. Do you remember what I told you happened next?” She asked, resting the back of her head on the couch.
“Don’t do this to yourself.” Stephen begged.
“Tell me.”
“
Dalton
laughed at you,” he growled. “He also informed you that he only dated you for the information. He never felt the same way as you did and he never would.”
“How did you expect me to stay in
Los Angeles
after all that happen?”
“All your friends are here.” Stephen remarked.
“You’re the only friend I have left.” True sighed heavily glancing out the window over to her left. The night air was so hot and thick. She could smell the wildflowers from the driveway, through the open living room window.
“I knew you wouldn't do anything like that,” Stephen stated. “You’re too honest to steal like Starr accused.”
“Stephen, let’s not talk about this anymore,” True sighed wearily of her past mistakes. “How are things going between you and Michael? Does he still want you to move in?” She didn’t care for Michael. She thought he was only using Stephen. However, Stephen was heads-over-heels in love with the guy. She never even told Stephen about the time Michael confronted her in his living room, about their closeness.
“He brings it up everyday. I do care about him, but I don’t want to rush things.” Stephen sighed on the other end of the phone. “What if he turns out to be just like
Dalton
?”
True heard Stephen curse on the other end of the phone.
She knew he just realized what he just said to her. Stephen didn’t need to get upset about speaking the truth. She wouldn’t wish
Dalton
on anyone.
“God True, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” Stephen choked out.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she sighed. “Listen, it’s late I need to go and I’ll talk to you later on in the week.” She quickly hung up the phone and kicked off her shoes.
True hugged her knees to her chest. She took a deep breath and tried to relax some of the tension in her back and shoulders. Her body always got stressed after she revisited her past mistakes with
Dalton
. She wouldn’t allow another man to disrespect her like that. Her guard was up now. She chewed on her bottom lip and pushed down the memories, burning in the back of her mind.
Swallowing down a groan, True stood grabbing the empty ice tea glass off the table heading for the kitchen. Her bare feet smacked against the cool kitchen tile as she hurried from the room. “I’d better take a shower and call it a night,” she muttered going up the staircase.
She prayed tomorrow would be more exciting than today turned out to be.
* * * *
Hayward
tossed and turned in the tangled sheets on his bed,
it’s not going to come so why keep hoping it will?
He bolted upright and flung the damp light blue sheet off his sweaty body. He had wished for a peaceful nights sleep ever since the accident, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw Brooke’s black Mercedes being pulled from the murky river water.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” He muttered in the dark bedroom.
His family recommended counseling, but he didn’t need a stranger in his head. He could solve his own problems. “I’m not wasting a hundred dollars an hour for someone to poke around in my head.”