Unexpected Angel (11 page)

“About what?” She turns to look at me curiously. I’ve pushed her more times than I can count in the day we’ve known each other and I can only imagine where her mind might be wandering.

I reach for her, needing her closer to me. Needing her to feel the desire coursing through my veins. Wanting nothing more than for her to feel how much I want to help her and make her happy. “About what happened when you were at Holly’s. When you walked in, you were smiling and happy. When you came out, your smile was forced. It wasn’t even wide enough to show off those cute dimples you have.”

As she settles
herself between my legs, using my chest as a backrest, I reach up with one hand to tuck the loose hair behind her ears. It seems foolish to me, but it is the only thing I can think of to do so my hands touch her without giving her the wrong impression.

We
sit in silence, watching a windsurfer navigating the rolling waves, possibly for the last time this year. Just as I give up on expecting a response from her, she starts to talk. “She’s just… she’s different. I’m not sure what it is, but tonight was the first time I saw it. I can’t help but feel like the years I spent with my ex placed a wedge between us that I’m not sure how to remove.”

I hate the sadness in her voice as she realizes one of her oldest friends is drifting away from her. Even more, I hate the
fist pump I’m doing internally at the thought that Holly hasn’t corrupted her.

“Precious,” I whisper softly. “It’s not pleasant, but it’s a fact that sometimes we grow and change. The people we thought would always be there for us aren’t. You’re just now at a place where you can start to be the person you
should be. She’s a single woman who has had years to get to where she is. Maybe you were meant to be close as kids, but your paths as adults aren’t meant to cross.”

Tasha
runs her fingers against my jeans. “I can’t think like that. I can’t just give up on someone I’ve known almost my entire life. She’s my best friend. She’s my Zeke.”

“No, she’s not. Zeke and I didn’t meet until college. Our paths crossed because once we knew who we were, the paths led to the same place.”

“But how do I let that go? I don’t want to, but if it comes down to it, how am I supposed to let go of such a huge part of my life?”

“With your head
held high, precious angel,” I say so quietly I’m not sure if she hears me over a group of pre-teens playing soccer nearby.

The sun dips below the horizon and we stand to head back to my car. I silently wish for many more days like today with Tasha.
Before we leave, Tasha checks her phone. Seeing her brow furrow as she reads the newest message, I try to look over her shoulder to see what caused that reaction. Yes, that makes me just a bit of a creeper, but I don’t like the look in her eyes. Unfortunately, she stashes the phone back in her pocket before I can see.

When I
pull into Tasha’s driveway, I kill the engine and quickly make my way around to her door. With every step, I say a prayer that I’ll find a way to keep our time together going. Sharing the same physical space with another person is something I normally try to avoid but I want that with Tasha.

“So, I was thinking maybe you could grab some clothes and we could head back to my place,”
I say casually as we walk up the front sidewalk. My hand grazes against hers and I interlace her fingers in mine.

“I’m still not sleeping with you, Dylan.” She
doesn’t look at me and it’s hard to see her facial expression in the dim light.

“You a
lready slept with me,” I point out, hoping to keep the mood light. “But no, I’m not trying to get you back to my condo for wild, kinky sex. I was just hoping we might be able to talk more and maybe watch some cheesy movies or something.”

“
I don’t know,” she sighs. I can tell she wants to but she is trying to talk herself out of it.

Turning to face her, I pull
her body to mine. “Why do you keep doing that?” I ask gruffly.

“Doing what?” She looks
confused for a moment before dropping her eyes to the ground. “I swear that wasn’t a lie. I don’t know if I should go back with you. I have to get caught up on some work and I’m supposed to go to my mom’s tomorrow for brunch.”

Seeing her in these moments when she let her guard down strengt
hens the feelings I have for her that are anything but sexual. Tasha is so sweet and I can tell she has a kind heart just from watching her and seeing the look on her face when she mentions going to see her mom. If I were truly a good man, I would say goodbye at the door and never look back. Of course, no one has ever accused me of being a good man.

She opens the front door and flips
a switch to illuminate the living room. Her house is a hodgepodge of thrift store finds, no piece matching another. “So, this is it,” she sighs, waving her hand around the room. “Home sweet home.” There is a sadness in her voice as her eyes follow mine.

“It’s cute,” I
assure her, wrapping my arms around her, hoping to get rid of whatever makes her feel sad when she walks in here. Home should be the place where she feels the most content, not a place that fills her with somber memories. “Now, grab your things and let’s go.”

“Dylan, I already told you, I have too much to do here and tomorrow’s
a busy day for me.” She presses her lips together in a thin line. I’m not sure if she is starting to get irritated or if she is trying to hide a smile. Either way, it’s cute as hell.

In a bold move, I
make my way to her entertainment center. One way or another, I am going to spend more time getting to know her. I have to fly to Pensacola on Monday and I want her thinking of me the entire time I am gone, waiting for me to come back so we can continue seeing where things lead.

“Fine, then we’ll pick a movie and ha
ng out here for a bit.” I look over my shoulder to see her staring at me with wide eyes. When she doesn’t immediately shoot down the idea, I continue, “If you want me to go home when the movie’s done, I will. Otherwise, we can curl up in your bed for the night and in the morning discuss whose bed is more comfortable.”

She
shakes her head. “You’re something else, you know that? Fine, you pick out a movie while I go change. And having already slept in both beds, I assure you, you don’t want to sleep in mine tonight.” I watch her walk down the long hallway of her modest ranch home before turning my attention back to her impressive DVD collection. Just about the time I realize there is definitely something unique about this girl with her eclectic taste in entertainment and a surprising lack of chick flicks, a shrill scream from the room at the end of the hall sends me running.

(Tasha)

Tripping over my clothes hamper as I
made my way to the bedside lamp should have been my first clue something was amiss. Instead, I chalk it up to the fact that Holly was in my room yesterday and she is notorious for moving things as it suits her. The soft yellow glow from the lamp fills the room and I scream as my body crumbles into a pile on the floor.

“Tasha,
” Dylan’s panicked scream echoes through the house. “What’s going on?”

And to think, I had
considered telling him goodbye at his car and sending him home
. Now, I want nothing more than for him to scoop me into his arms and tell me it will be okay. “What the fuck is that?”

S
cribbled across my mirror in the same red lipstick I wore to the club are the words ‘Stupid fucking whore’. Scrawled across the single wall without windows or doors are, ‘You’ll pay for this, stupid bitch’, written with some sort of marker.

“I don’t know,” I sob
, not wanting to look up and see the writing again. Seeing the alarmed expression on Dylan’s face, I feel like I over-reacted. He probably expected to walk in to see a dead body on the floor or a knife-wielding psychopath in the closet.

Even though it
is only words on my mirror and my wall, I feel violated. Someone came into my home while I was gone and wanted to leave me a very clear message. I am certain that no matter how much I clean the walls or how many coats of paint I apply, I will never again walk into this room without seeing those hateful words.

Dylan eases
himself onto the floor beside me, his back leaning against the mattress. “Precious, you need to calm down,” he whispers in my ear as his strong hands move up and down my back. “Can you think of anyone who would have done this?” Even as he waits for my answer, he is pulling a cell phone out of his pocket. I turn my head to him when I realize he hadn’t called 911 or even the non-emergency police number.

“Tommy, it’s Dyla
n... Yeah look, a good friend of mine has a problem and we need your help.” Seeing the confusion in my eyes, Dylan places his hand over the phone. “It’s okay, Precious. Tommy’s a cop buddy of mine. He’ll get over here as quick as he can.” His eyes stay focused on mine until I nod, letting him know I understand. “Yeah, are you working tonight? Okay, good…” He gives this mysterious Tommy my address and hangs up.

“Everything’s going to be okay. We’re going to go out to my car until Tommy gets here. I don’t want you inside until we know there’s no one hanging around.” There
is no mistaking the fact that this isn’t a request and there is no point in arguing with him. Part of me wants to go through the house to see if anything is missing but the bigger part of me is terrified to know if there are more messages waiting for me. Or worse.

As Dylan ushers me to his car, he uses
his free hand to make another call. “Z, it’s Dylan. I need you to come over to Tasha’s house…I don’t care if you have one woman or a harem of naked virgins in your bed, I need to you tell her goodnight and get your ass over here. I’ll text you the address.” He hangs up the phone without waiting for a response.

“You didn’t need to do that,” I
say meekly. I hate the thought that not only am I ruining our impromptu plans for the night, but now Zeke is also breaking his own plans because of me.

Dylan presses
me against the hood of his car. “How many times do I have to tell you that I take care of what’s mine? I’m going to go inside with Tommy when he gets here so I need Zeke to keep an eye on you.”

“I just…”

He cuts me off before I could finish. “Don’t even say it. I hope it won’t take you long to realize that when you’re involved with me, you have a whole network of people standing ready to help. I would have done the same for him and he knows it.”

As much as I want
to protest, to remind him that I’m not his and that we aren’t “involved” as he put it, I know it’s not the time. Twice in twenty-four hours, Dylan has been there to save me from my own life. First, he got me out of the club when I didn’t want to be there, and now by calling his friends to help me.

“Thank
you,” I mumble. He lifts me so I am sitting on the hood of his car and wraps his arms around me while we wait. “So, how do you know this Tommy guy?”

Dylan laughs
, kissing the crown of my head. “You don’t want to know, Precious. Let’s just say we have some of the same interests.”

Before I
can dig deeper for an answer I would like, I notice a police cruiser coming down the street. As it slows in front of my house, I issue a silent prayer that he hadn’t turned on the lights and siren or he had turned them off before turning into my sleepy residential neighborhood.

“Get in the ca
r and lock the doors.” I slump into the passenger’s seat and push the lock button as soon as he shuts the door. I curl up on the seat resting my head on my knees as Dylan walks over to talk to his friend. When Zeke knocks on the driver’s side window, I jump and let out another girly scream. Once I stop shaking, I reach over to unlock his door.

“Hey kid,” Zeke
greets me as he slides into the driver’s seat. “Want to explain why I’m sitting in Dylan’s car with you instead of in bed with a sexy red head?”

I really wish Dylan hadn’t called him. I’m not
in the mood for a babysitter, especially not a cocky womanizer like Zeke. I don’t know him that well, but it seems to me that sex is the one thing he likes to talk about. That does nothing to settle my frayed nerves.

“I’m sorry, Zeke. I told Dylan he didn’t need
to have you come over here, but he insisted.” I can only imagine how pathetic I must look to Zeke right about now. “Someone wrote some things on the wall of my bedroom and he didn’t want me alone while he and his cop friend check it out.”

“Don’t be sorry
; I just wanted to know what the fuck was going on.” Zeke’s voice no longer carries an edge of annoyance to it. Instead, the same tenderness Dylan shows when he tries to calm me down fills it. “Is there anything missing?”

I watch
Dylan and the cop walk into my house and reach for the door handle. “Don’t do that,” Zeke says authoritatively. “If Dylan wanted you to stay out here, you need to stay.”

“What’s up with the two of you thinking
it is okay to command women to do things?” I seethe. “He and I are going to have to have a talk about that if he really does want to go out with me again because I just got rid of one controlling jerk; I’m not looking for a replacement.”

Zeke reaches
out his hand to me. “Sweetie, there’s a big difference between controlling assholes and people like Dylan and me. When we tell you something, it’s for your own good. When people like your ex tell you to do something, it’s because it’s what he wants you to do and he gets off on the thrill of knowing he’s in complete control.”

“And you two don’t?” I ask
. I have read enough books to have an idea of what guys like Zeke and Dylan enjoy. I don’t see his point, other than the fact that I am pretty sure both of them like things like what I saw at the club and Nick had never been aggressive unless he was angry.

“You have a point, but there’s still a difference.” Ze
ke watches the movement in the house before saying anything else. “When your ex told you to do something, how did you feel?”

I
don’t want to answer him. If I do, I know it will prove his point for him. On the other hand, if he is as much like Dylan as I think he is, he won’t take too kindly to my ignoring him. I look away from him before responding. “Bitter and hurt,” I whisper.

“
Okay and what about when Dylan tells you to do something? I know him well enough to know he doesn’t often request things and your comment tells me he’s already told you to do something you might not have wanted to do.”

I shrug
, again not wanting to answer. “I guess it was different. But I still don’t see why you can’t be nicer. Have you ever thought that if you asked me to stay in the car, I might have done it because it’s the sensible thing to do until they come back out?”

Will
there ever be a time in my life when I don’t have everyone thinking I am some poor, defenseless woman who needs protection from her own naiveté?

Zeke raises
an eyebrow. The way that simple movement contorts his entire face makes me laugh. “Would you have stayed in the car?
Really
? I’m no one to you. I highly doubt you would have done as I asked. On the other hand, you’re still here, so obviously my approach worked.”

“I’m still her
e because I’m annoyed and want you to give me an answer,” I state firmly. “But yeah, I suppose you’re right. And you’re not no one to me. You’re Dylan’s friend, so I’m assuming there’s some good in you somewhere. And you did give him those tickets for today, so thanks for that.”

“Hey, when Dylan told me you were still around the morning after, I
knew there must be something special about you. And don’t be fooled, he paid a hefty price to get those tickets,” he laughs. If nothing else, having Zeke next to me is helping me forget about what my bedroom looks like, even if just for a few minutes.

(Dylan)

“Okay, so I’ll need her to do a quick walk-through with me and then I’ll come to your place after a bit to get a full statement,” Tommy
informs me as we walk out the front door. Whoever had been in Tasha’s house either has a key or has some badass breaking and entering skills. My bet is on the former, seeing as nothing appeared to be out of place.

“What the fuck?” I bellow
as I see Zeke leaning across the front seat to give Tasha a kiss on the cheek. “You might want to go now before I kill Z.” I storm across the lawn, slowing before I get to the car. I want to break the window and yank him out of the car to pummel him, but sense kicks in before I follow through with that plan. Not only will that leave me with the bill to replace the window, but it would also freak the hell out of Tasha.

“Dylan,” Tommy yells
after me. “I’d rather not have to arrest you tonight, be smart.”

Smart. Yeah,
that’s a good idea. And why am I getting so possessive over her? Maybe Pensacola will be good for both of us. I need some space to think about what I am doing and it won’t happen if we are both in the same city.

I raise
a hand to Tommy, waving him off. “Don’t worry, I’m cool.”