Authors: Melissa Price
Eighteen
They went to the movie theater and waited in line. Sean had taken her hand when they made the short walk and those goose bumps were back. Good thing she had a jacket on. They picked an action movie they both wanted to see.
When they walked up to the booth, Taylor pushed him out of the way or tried to. He shouldered her out of the way gently and ordered two tickets. He held her back to stop her from paying. She grabbed his wallet and held it away from him as she tried to get her card out with one hand, but he was too fast. He snatched his wallet back and was the first to get his card in the teller’s hands.
Taylor made an exasperated sound. He grinned at her. “You lost.”
“You are so irritating. You are not going to keep paying. I can afford my own stuff.” That was not quite true. She did have limited funds but she was did not want to take advantage of his kindness.
Even though they had just eaten, they got a small popcorn and drinks. She had grinned when he offered and rolled her eyes at him. She had given up trying to pay. For now. She would get her revenge later. She replied, “Of course, it’s the movies. You don’t go to the movies without popcorn.”
They sat in the first row behind the railings. Sean lifted the arm rest between them. She was very aware that he was still holding her hand. How could holding hands seem so sensual? It was a casual thing. Wasn’t it? His hand was warm and gentle. The goose bumps were growing in number. His thumb absently caressed the back of her hand as they watched the previews. She almost shivered.
It was so distracting, she could not concentrate on the screen. In fact, there were little jolts of electricity emanating from her hand, up her arm, and into all areas of her body. She felt like she was getting ready to melt into a puddle of gelatin.
Sean knew exactly what he was doing and it felt natural, caressing her hand and holding it. Still, it was causing some uncomfortable reactions in him so he reluctantly stopped and let her hand go as he picked up his drink.
The movie finally started. She was engrossed in the action packed disaster movie from beginning to end and when they left she told him how much she enjoyed the movie.
“It was good. Do you want to do anything else or do you want to go home?” He hastily added, “I don’t want you to get too tired. You’ve done a lot today, especially with the gym.”
He smiled as she did her now familiar slight tilt of her head. “If you don’t mind I’d like to go home.”
“Sure.”
When they got home, they watched TV and talked. She was too full to eat dinner but she offered to fix him something and he told her he was still full too. She suddenly realized during the TV show that they had sat closer together on the couch. They were both more towards the middle.
When she went to bed, she laid there, thinking about his hand caressing hers and fell asleep with a smile on her face. She was not looking for love or any relationship for that matter. But she dreamed of more than his hand touching hers.
Nineteen
The next day, Sean got into the car with his partner, John. As they pulled out of the station to start their patrol Sean casually asked, “Hey, John. Did you know Sara was the woman for you right away or did it take a while?”
John was immediately interested. It was so unlike his young partner to talk about personal stuff. Usually he was the one who brought things up about his wife and family. And this question had come completely out of the blue.
“I think it took me three or four days. We went out every day and I got to know her pretty well. I had a day off and spent the day with her and at the end of the day I knew she was the woman for me. She told me later she knew right away. I know Sargent Mayfield and his wife hit it off right away. Benny said he and his wife did not get along well at first but then they fell in love. Why are you asking?” He glanced over at Sean.
Sean shrugged, “Just curious.”
“Who is she?”
“What are you talking about?” Sean tried to play it off but he realized he had opened a can of worms and his partner was astute.
“Come on Sean. We’ve been partners for four years. I know you pretty well and you have never asked me anything like this or even talked about the women in your life and don’t think I don’t know about some of them.”
“What do you mean you know about some of them? I’m just asking. It’s not a big deal.” He was hoping John would drop the subject, but he should have known better.
“Sara knew one of the women you were dating and she did not like her very much. Said she was too self-centered and was going to end up taking advantage of you and she didn’t like it. Besides, it is a big deal. It means you might have met someone special. I can’t wait to tell Sara.”
“Come on, John. I was just asking a question. Besides, Sara doesn’t need to hear about my personal life.”
“She’ll be so excited and you know she’s going to insist on meeting her. Does the woman know how interested you are? I know she must be cute. What does she look like?”
Sean rolled his eyes, “I should never have asked you anything. I just met her recently and I was just curious about you and Sara, not about the two of us.” He realized his slip after the words were already out.
“Ah, so it is the two of us. Congrats. You might have finally met that special woman.”
Sean sighed, “Forget I said anything, okay?”
“Oh no. I’m gonna want updates and I have to meet her. What’s her name?”
Sean sighed, “What woman did Sara know?”
John laughed, “Think about it Sean. You know who I’m talking about. I bet this woman is nothing like her.”
Sean did know who he was talking about but he wanted to get off the subject. Amanda. Taylor was nothing like her.
“So, name? Is she the one responsible for that wonderful tart? And here everyone is thinking you bought it somewhere. Name?”
Sean looked ahead at the road and shook his head but he did not have to answer because a call came through.
Taylor went to the gym and the gym attendant kept a close eye on her. She liked Derrick. He was nice and he didn’t make it obvious that he was keeping an eye on her. Sean must have said something to him about it. Still, she liked having Sean there much better. No comparison really. Derrick did not give her goose bumps or make her catch her breath or give her dreams.
Derrick came over to check on her when she was done. “How do you feel?”
“Good, thanks.” She didn’t want to say tired and shaky. She looked at him curiously. “Derrick, how many guests has Sean brought here?”
Derrick grinned at her, “You’re the first.”
Taylor thought about that all the way home.
When she got home, she decided what to fix for dinner and then called her Grandmother.
“Hi, sweetie. How are you?”
“Really good, Gran. I am going to make it there soon I hope. I’ve missed being able to visit you two.”
“Well, your grandfather and I try to stay out of trouble but it’s not always easy.” She started laughing.
Taylor laughed too. She could not imagine them getting into any trouble. They chatted for a few more minutes and then she hung up.
She finished fixing dinner. When Sean got home, they did their usual routine. Eat, watch TV and talk before going upstairs. Taylor was happy to spend the evening watching TV and talking to him. He still made her a little nervous but he always managed to put her at ease right away. He told her about his day, but was careful not to mention what he had talked to John about. She told him about going to the gym. She added, “Still don’t like to exercise.”
He had laughed, “You are determined not to like it.”
“Am not. I’m just being honest. And I did listen to music which helped, but it still was agonizing.”
He smiled, “Okay. I give up.”
Twenty
The next morning, John asked Sean for an update before he even got to the car.
“There’s nothing to tell. You’ve got to stop.” They both got in.
John looked over at Sean and grinned. “Don’t worry. Oh wait, I’m supposed to say no worries. I only told Sara and our lips are sealed. No one else will know.” John knew he was annoying Sean, but this was too good and unexpected to pass up.
“How comforting. I haven’t known her long. She’s staying at my house.” Damn it. Why was he saying things he would never had said before?
“It doesn’t take long. At your house? Like a roommate? This gets better and better. What’s her name?”
Sean gave him a look and didn’t answer. He had said too much.
John laughed, “I’ll get it out of you sooner or later. You know I will.”
Sean endured John’s questions throughout the day but refused to answer him. It was personal and he didn’t like talking about personal stuff much. Taylor knew more about him than he had ever shared with anyone, even John.
John just shook his head, “Remember, I’ll get the information out of you eventually so you might as well give up now. You’re just prolonging the inevitable. Oh, wait. You’re going to go off like a frog in a sock.”
Sean laughed at that. John liked trying out some Australian phrases on him. John knew he was going to drive him berserk with questions. Sean had no doubt he would find out eventually, but he was going to hold out as long as possible. He didn’t talk about his personal life and John knew it. But John was doggedly determined.
Taylor made three cheese and mushroom ravioli from scratch for dinner. Pasta was one of her favorite things to make and eat. Making pasta had been one of the first things she had learned to do as a cook.
Most chefs specialized in savory cooking or sweet, but Taylor liked to do both. She leaned more towards savory cooking but she had learned how to do desserts from a retired neighbor who had worked in a family bakery. She had spent a lot time patiently showing Taylor some tips and tricks and even had shared some special family recipes. The older woman felt she could as the bakery was long closed and no one else in her family was interested in starting another one.
Taylor loved going over on her days off to learn from her and they had become friends. When she was unable to take care of herself right after the car accident Taylor had been in, her son had moved her into his home with his wife and kids in a different state. Taylor had missed her terribly but she would talk to her on occasion and she was enjoying the time with her son, daughter-in-law, and her grandkids. She had felt bad that she was not there to help her but she had been so long in the hospital it would have been impossible. At least she seemed happy.
In the restaurant, the head chef had allowed her to make a couple of desserts that she had tried at home for the specials menu. They had gone over really well with the customers.
She kept busy during the day watching the food channel, writing down ideas and recipes. She had not gone to culinary school as many chefs had, but she had learned from professional chefs, both retired and in the business.
After she prepped dinner, she cleaned around the house with the radio on. She never did like housework but it seemed like fun here. Maybe it was because she had so little time for herself that it had felt like such an imposing chore. Or maybe it was because she came home tired every night and even on her days off she felt like doing very little or spent the day at her neighbor’s place. She had always put cleaning off as long as possible. Housework and doing laundry were the worst. But cooking was always so much fun.
Shortly before Sean was due home, she went out the front porch to sweep off the leaves and twigs that had accumulated during the night due to wind and rain. The porch had a roof covering the back half of it so the floor was just damp in front of the house, but there were still blown leaves and twigs under it. She got the far side done and made her way to the other side of the porch.
This isn’t so bad, she thought. She had turned the radio up loud enough to hear from outside and she swept to the upbeat rhythm of the song that was on. And it was good exercise.
She suddenly wondered if she was supposed to be sweeping the debris off the porch and into the yard. Maybe she should have put it into a plastic garbage bag to haul out to the woods. Well, too late now since she was more than half done.
But she might be causing herself or Sean more work. She just was not sure. She had never owned a home. His yard was full of leaves and twigs now but before the storm it had been clean and neat looking. Maybe later if she got ambitious, she could go out and rake up leaves. That would be something new to try. It couldn’t be that hard. Surely she could find a rake.
As she was sweeping, she tripped on a larger piece of branch behind her that she did not see. She stumbled backwards, stepping on leaves and small twigs rolling under her feet. The tip of the broom handle smacked hard against the bay window pane and with her weight behind it, glass shattered everywhere. She fell to the porch on her butt amidst showering glass.
Twenty-one
“Dammit,” was all she could think of to say. Then she looked with dismay at the shards of glass all around her. A couple of slivers were embedded in her hand where she had tried to slow her fall.
She just sat there. The realization that she had just broken his window was sinking in. Not only was she stuck sitting in a pool of glass, she had to tell him that she had damaged his home. Was he going to be upset?
She would pay for it. She could fix this. Call a glass company right away. Better to tell him it was under control and was going to be fixed. Of course, she had to figure out a way to keep the cool air from getting into the house until it was fixed. And she had to get to a phone.
She remembered her cell phone was in the house. What an idiot, she knew to keep her phone with her at all times. What had she been thinking? Well, she had just been going out to the front porch for some sweeping so she had not even considered putting her phone in her pocket.
She closed her eyes and groaned. Maybe she could pretend like it hadn’t happened? That was childish. She was getting cold and started to shiver. No coat either, dummy. She had not thought she needed it as she moved around sweeping. That had kept her warm and it wasn’t that cold out today. She made a frustrated sound.
How to get up without getting more glass embedded in her skin? It would be almost impossible as she would have to struggle to get up, if she could.
As her thoughts were swirling, she heard him drive up. Oh great. How was she going to handle mister gorgeous if he got mad?
Sean saw her sitting on the front porch but did not see the broken glass at first. He hopped out of his truck. As he got to the top of the steps, he saw the broken window, the glass all around her, and her bleeding hand. “Taylor, are you okay?”
She looked at him wide-eyed. “I’m so sorry, Sean. Really I am. I was trying to sweep the porch and I tripped. Don’t worry, I’ll fix it. It’s my fault.”
He ignored her as he crunched through glass and picked her up, carried her into the house and into the kitchen. He sat her on the counter and put her hand under the faucet and pulled out the small shards.
She watched him with his head bent down, pulling out glass. He looked tired today and she had made it worse.
He put a couple of bandages on it after drying her hand. His administrations had brought back those darn goose bumps. Hopefully he didn’t see them. He turned off the radio.
She asked softly, “Are you upset?”
“About a window? Don’t be silly. It was an accident. And don’t worry, I’ll get it fixed.” He gave her a quick smile.
“I’ll pay for it.”
“Don’t need to. I have homeowner’s insurance that will cover it.”
“Oh.”
He looked her in the eyes, “As long as you’re okay, its fine.”
She was relieved he was not mad but also curious. Why was he so easy going about it? Most people would be upset. But she was not going to have to pay for a window repair. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he had been angry. It was his house and she was just a guest who was making a mess.
He told her to sit still and came back with a brush.
“Put your head down.”
“What?”
“Your head. You have glass in your hair.”
She bent her head and sat quietly on the counter. Never had a man brushed her hair, except her dad when she was little. She had complained a lot when he pulled, but he had never minded. Thoughts of her father quickly faded as Sean took her hair out of its ponytail and brushed her hair. It was creating some soothing and warm feelings in her body.
When Sean picked up a soft hand brush, she asked, “Now what are you doing?”
“Making sure there’s no glass pieces that we can’t see on your clothes.” He pulled her off the counter.
“Oh.” He brushed her back, rear, and shoulders and moved to her arms, then looked at her with an apologetic look, “Sorry about this.” He brushed her chest and made his way down her legs.
She held her breath when he lightly brushed off her chest and made his way down.
When he was done, he shone a flashlight on the floor and they both could see a little glimmer on the floor. He swept and mopped the floor quickly.
“Be careful for a few days. Don’t go barefoot in here. I’ll be right back.” Then he changed clothes and made some calls and told her someone would be out tomorrow. He put some plastic up to keep out the cold and then came into the kitchen.
She started to carry a broom and dust pan outside to sweep up the broken glass, but he stopped her, “Where are you going?”
“I was going to pick up the glass on the porch.”
He took the broom from her. “I’ll do it, no worries.”
When he was done he helped her finish dinner.
“I’m really sorry to put you through all this trouble. It seems like all I do is cause you trouble.” She surprised herself by crying. She felt awful. He was always having to do something to rescue her and she did not like the feeling.
Sean was nonplused for a moment. She tried to never cry in front of anyone. “Really. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. But I’m not crying.”
“I can see that. Roof is leaking. The rain is getting on your face.”
That made her laugh. “Why are you so easy to get along with? You don’t get upset very easily.”
“I tried getting upset when I was younger and it got me nowhere. So I decided not to get upset easily. I don’t let things get to me if I can help it. It helps on the job when you are getting cussed at, spit on, swung at, and yelled at.”
He took her face in his hands, “You are never any trouble. Never. Come here.” He pulled her into his arms and held her. It felt so good to hold her. Her body fit perfectly to his. Her full breasts were pressed into his chest and he could smell the lemon scent of her soft hair. He smiled inwardly about the conversation at the fountain. Now she wasn’t the only one smelling, he mused.
“I’m sorry.” She sniffled.
“Don’t be. Everything is fine. You’ve just had some tough days and you can cry all you want.”
She shook her no. “I don’t like to cry.”
“Everyone cries. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I bet you don’t cry.”
“Ha. You should have seen me bawling my first night in the U.S. I was crying like a baby. I was scared and alone and unsure of everything.”
She pulled back to stare at him, “Really?”
“Yes.”
She wiped her cheeks, “When I was in the hospital, I cried once and they started asking me all kinds of questions and then said they were going to get a psychologist to come visit me. Just because I cried one time. They said I might be depressed. I never cried again.”
“After all you had gone through, you deserved a good cry.”
She smiled at that. She turned to the stove and got dinner ready to serve.
After dinner, Sean complained when they were cleaning up that he was going to gain weight or have to work out harder but was quick to add that he was not going to stop eating her food.
She snickered, “Maybe you should give up on eating all those donuts.”
At first he just stared and then he got it. He grinned, “Yeah, we cops eat a lot of those. Not sure I can quit; it’s an addiction.”
She laughed, knowing he didn’t eat them.
“Oh, I checked and one of the three parts for your car came in today.”
“Oh. Great.” She tried to sound happy. Why wasn’t she? She decided not to try to figure it out.
She was lying on the couch watching TV when he came in from the den. He had been on his computer, something she had not done, she reminded herself. She should at least check her email. Tomorrow. She was too comfortable right now.
He picked up the pillow she was lying on and slid into the couch with the pillow on his lap. He said nothing as they watched a dramatic movie. She tensed with her head on his lap, but it was on a pillow so she relaxed. It was intimate yet casual and she was content. She didn’t want to make him feel like he had done something wrong, now did she?
She fell asleep towards the end of the movie. Sean shucked in air when she sifted positions. Her nose was almost in his crotch and he could feel her warm breath. He tried to control his breathing, but since he was struggling, he got up without waking her and carried her upstairs.
When she awoke, she found herself in her room in bed, covers over her. She smiled and thought about how good it had felt when he had held her. He hadn’t minded her blubbering all over him. She only briefly wondered how the movie ended and went back to sleep.
When Sean had picked her up and carried her upstairs, he was careful not to wake her up. She didn’t waken when he laid her on the bed, so he took her tennis shoes off, and pulled the covers over her. He stood there for a moment, watching her. He reached out and pushed a stray strand of hair off her face. He was astonished that this woman had gotten under his skin so quickly. He had never these kind of reactions to a woman before. He wanted to sleep with her, but it was more than that. He liked doing things with her, coming home to her, he felt protective of her, and he felt needed. It was more than the fact that she was a little weak, a lot more. He glanced back one more time as he left her room, she was still asleep.