The Middle of Nowhere

by Piper Phoenix

  “Mmm,” he moaned as he slowly rolled his hips. Rex took a breath and then smiled at me. Beads of water dripped down from his hair— this man was simply gorgeous. I kissed him. A wave of absolute happiness washed over me and filled me to the brim. I was falling even harder than I originally thought.

  He lowered me down carefully back down to the tile below taking care that I didn’t slip. He reached around the shower door to grab two towels off of a rack. He turned the water off and I took one of the towels from him. After drying off, I wrapped the big overly fluffy towel around myself and folded it into itself to hold it in place. Rex took my hand to help me out of the shower.

  I walked over to my clothes that were still piled on the bathroom counter and started to unfold them. It was almost surprising a maid hadn’t come through and washed them for me.

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that. I have something for you,” he said and gestured for me to follow him to the other room. I followed naked Rex out to the other room not sure if he was going to give me some of his clothes to wear again. I didn’t really want to walk around town in his clothes. That would definitely put far too many eyes on me. I didn’t want any more attention than I was already getting just walking with him.

  “It’s fine I don’t mind wearing them,” I said as he gestured at a box on the bed. Rex walked over to his dresser and pulled out a fresh pair of underwear for himself.

  “Go ahead, open it.”

  I opened the box that had mysteriously appeared on his bed to find a simple jersey dress inside. “It’s for you,” Rex said as if he thought I still didn’t understand.

  He didn’t have to go to that kind of trouble. I could have just as easily worn the same clothes. I didn’t want to be a bother to him or anyone else for that matter. I furrowed my brow and shook my head.

  “Rex…,” I said and breathed heavily. “You really don’t have to—”

  “Just wear it,” he said looking a little frustrated. It was as if he didn’t think it was a big deal. He just wanted me to say thank you and put it on. “If it makes you feel better you can pay me back for it. It wasn’t expensive, I just didn’t want you to have to wear the same clothes you had on last night. People were photographing us….”

  He was right. I didn’t want people thinking anything negative about me. Although truthfully I didn’t care if they knew I stayed the night with him. But all that would bring more attention on me, and that I didn’t want. After all he wasn’t just some guy, he was Rex Gates owner of Gates Corp.

  I looked down and noticed something else in the box. A new pair of underwear… white, lacy, super sexy underwear. I held them up in my finger and tilted my head.

  “Those you won’t pay me back for. That is my gift to you,” he said with his sexy smirk. “Let’s see how they look.”

  “Rex!” I said almost forgiving him for going to all this trouble. I exhaled and slipped into the underwear, keeping the towel wrapped around myself. “Next time, just ask me first?”

  “OK,” he said with a nod. “I’m just happy there will be a next time. Now drop the towel.”

  12

  After we ate our breakfast we set out to walk around town. The meal had been delivered to the door and it had also probably been prepared by Rex’s personal chef that no doubt lived in one of the apartments below. I thought I’d feel more anxious about walking through the city, but with Rex I didn’t.

  We walked hand in hand through the city park. It was a beautiful day with the birds singing in the trees and the warm sun shining down on us. No one else existed. Even with all the eyes that were probably on us, it was just me and Rex.

  “That dress looks good on you,” Rex said pulling me closer.

  “Thank you, but you really shouldn’t have.”

  “Just accept it,” he said turning to wrap his arms around my waist. He kissed me right there in the open, to hell with anyone gawking at us. But then I felt like suddenly all the eyes in the world were on us. He was practically a local celebrity. “But I can’t stop thinking about what’s underneath,” he added twisting the hem between his fingertips.

  “Don’t get any ideas out here,” I said pulling him over towards a pond where a mother duck was leading her six ducklings across to the muddy bank. “Aww!”

  “Oh! I have an idea!” Rex said turning me to face him. “Let’s go see a matinee.”

  “I’m not getting into any funny business at the theater.” I tapped his chest lightly with my index finger.

  He frowned but excitedly pulled me along. I would have gone to a monster truck show with him if that’s what he would have wanted to do. Although a movie sounded better.

  “Don’t you have to work?” I asked remembering what he had said to his sister last night. That he would take care of her issue in the morning.

  “I’m the boss. Taxi, my driver, or walk?” Rex said without looking at me. I could tell he wished he wouldn’t have said ‘my driver.’

  “Let’s just walk,” I said only because it was really what I wanted to do. I was enjoying the weather. Although I could have been enjoying the weather back at my cabin just as easily.

  While we walked I overheard a couple of girls behind us quietly, although not quietly enough, gossiping behind us.

  “That’s him, for sure it’s him,” the first girl said.

  “No! There is no way he’d just be walking!” said the second girl.

  I could feel Rex’s body stiffen. He was listening too. If I would have looked at him, I bet he would have been rolling his eyes.

  “That can’t be him. He’s single,” the second girl added.

  “I’ll bet you a billion dollars it’s him!”

  “Girl, you don’t have a billion dollars.”

  “I will once I marry him,” the first girl said and they both giggled.

  “Who is he with? Is she someone?” the second girl said with a tone I didn’t care for. I was tempted to turn around and tell them to mind their own business, but Rex turned me hard as he opened the door and led me into the lobby of the theater.

  “You have to always ignore that stuff,” Rex said through a clenched jaw. I opened my mouth, but closed it quickly when I realized I was in his world. He knew how to deal with things like that, I on the other hand had no idea.

  “OK,” I said hoping that agreeing with him would change his mood back to a better one. After all, he was probably used to things like that. And it would all be forgotten quicker than I could say ‘popcorn.’

  We found our seats and I sat down unable to wipe the smile off of my face. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d seen a movie in the theater. I told myself that I had to pay attention to the movie and not allow myself to sit and daydream about Rex. When I glanced at him a third of the way through the movie he appeared to be watching and enjoying it as well. I only got distracted when he put his hand high on my thigh, but he kept his gaze straight ahead at the movie. It was totally distracting but I did my best to focus.

  “Did you like it?” Rex turned to me when the credits started rolling. His eyes shot around the room watching the people as they started to leave. “Shit, there was barely anyone here, I should have slid my hand right up that dress.”

  I cleared my throat, “Yes, I did like the movie. Did you?”

  “All I could think about was you in those white lacy barely there panties… or without them, either way.” He grinned and we followed an elderly couple out of the theater. “What should we do next?” he asked lowering his head down close to my ear.

  “Hmm…,” I said actually not having any idea what to even suggest. I was already worn out from the shower sex, the walk and then the movie. “A nap?” I said only half joking.

  “Back to the apartment?” he said, he almost sounded worried. Maybe he thought I’d ask for him to take me home. Which would be fine with me. I would be OK with napping at my cabin with him. Either location was fine as long as it was with him.

  “Sure, whatever.”

  We wal
ked quickly back to his apartment and I knew it was because he was trying to avoid anyone noticing him. Thankfully, if anyone had recognized him, they politely kept it to themselves.

  The elevator ride up to his apartment felt quicker than it had the time before. “Who all lives in this building? Do you know your neighbors?”

  “I do know them,” he said with a cough.

  “OK,” I said unable to stop the crooked expression that appeared on my face.

  “They are my tenants,” he added as the door to his floor opened. Of course they were. One of them was probably a personal driver. The other the chef just as I suspected. Maybe the third was his maid.

  I shook my head as if trying to toss the thoughts away. It didn’t matter, he was still the man I met back at the cabin. How much money he had didn’t matter. How many buildings he owned and managed didn’t matter. What mattered was the person he was.

  And I loved that person. I stopped in my tracks when I realized what I had just thought. I loved him. It’s been such a short time knowing him, but I knew without a doubt that I loved him. I wasn’t falling in love with him. That had somehow already happened and I was unapologetically, deeply, passionately, in love with him. He didn’t need to know that of course. I mean he already knew I was a little crazy but this would send him running.

  He was staring at me as if waiting for a response. “Did you say something?” I asked.

  “Are you coming?” he asked with his head tilted to the side.

  “Oh, yes, sorry!” I bounced through his doorway ignoring the look on his face.

  “Everything OK, Heather?” he asked as if he already knew what I was thinking. But he couldn’t have known, I mean, not exactly. He couldn’t have known that I had realized I loved him.

  “Yes! I’m fine, everything is all good.” I smiled and flopped down on his bed, “Just a little tired is all.”

  “Right,” he said crossing his arms. “Take a nap. I need to take care of some business.”

  “Sure thing,” I said as he walked away. I watched him sit at the little desk near the window and pull out his laptop. His fingers flew across the keyboard hypnotically and before I knew it I was out.

  . . .

  I woke up and looked at the digital clock on the nightstand. It was 7:35pm. I had slept way longer than I would have liked. Rex was still sitting at his computer, only now he had a mug of probably coffee next to him on the desk.

  The bed creaked under me as I sat up. I swung my legs over the side with my back towards Rex. My stomach growled. It dawned on me that the last real meal I had was breakfast.

  “You up?” Rex asked as I heard the tap-tap of his fingers on the keyboard.

  “Yeah, why did you let me sleep so long?” I said, stretching my hands to the ceiling.

  “You seemed tired,” he said and I heard him click the laptop closed. “And, honestly, I just lost track of time. Shit seems to fall apart when I leave Tavia in charge.”

  “Oh.” I worried that maybe that meant he wouldn’t be taking me back to my cabin tonight if he was going to be busy with work.

  “Should we grab a bite to eat before we head back?” he said as if he had read my mind.

  I wondered if that meant he was ordering me a cocktail dress and would be taking me to some fancy restaurant. The kind where I wouldn’t even know which fork I was supposed to be using. “Sure,” I said apprehensively.

  He handed me my coat and we left the building. I guess the cocktail dress wasn’t happening unless it was waiting downstairs in the limo. But when I opened the door there wasn’t a limo waiting, or even a taxi. We walked towards his office building and I hoped he hadn’t hired a chef from his second favorite restaurant and a private meal was already waiting for us. Not that I hadn’t liked the private meal, I certainly had, but I would be just as happy with a hamburger.

  We walked swiftly down the sidewalk and I almost laughed when he turned into a fast food joint near his office building. “What do you like?” he said turning to me before it was our turn at the counter.

  “I’d love a hamburger!” I said lacing my arm through his. He put his hand on top of mine and stepped up to the counter. He ordered two hamburgers and a chocolate shake. We stepped to the side and waited for our order.

  “What?” he said glancing at me momentarily. “I eat fast food too… not often, but I do.”

  Obviously not often or he wouldn’t be able to maintain his sculpted physique. He grabbed our tray and we sat in the back. I tried not to devour my burger in four bites even though I was famished. He didn’t have the same qualms, he practically inhaled his burger and swallowed it down with a long sip from the shake.

  “Ready to fly back?” he said grinning at me.

  I nodded enthusiastically, but that made him frown. “Oh, no! I had a great time with you, but this is a place to visit, not one to stay,” I said hoping he’d understand.

  “Couldn’t agree more,” he said taking another sip as someone outside the window snapped a photo. “Ugh,” he sighed with a fake smile plastered to his face.

  “If it makes you feel better, I had no idea who you were.” I crinkled the waxy paper that had been around my burger into a ball and tossed it on the tray. “Let’s just go.”

  He passed me the shake and I must have drunk it too quickly. I pressed my fingers to my temples from the brain-freeze. Rex chuckled. I pressed my fist into his bicep for laughing at my suffering.

  I was anxious to get back into the office building. Not excited for the helicopter ride at night, but I wanted to go home. My little cabin I barely lived in had already felt like my home. I hoped Rex would stay with me tonight, but I had a feeling he would have to go back to his place to take care of things at work. For all I knew he was going drop me off and then fly back so he’d be at Gates Corp bright and early.

  Right as we walked passed a little alley, someone reached out and pulled me away from Rex. I was hidden in the darkness and I couldn’t focus enough to even see what had happened to Rex. I was about to open my mouth to call out for him but a hand clamped down over my mouth.

  Suddenly my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I saw Rex standing in front of me with a concerned look on his face. He was holding his hands up.

  “Give me your wallet,” the man behind me said.

  “OK, no problem, just let her go,” Rex said reaching slowly into his back pocket while he held his other hand up.

  “I’ll let her go when you give me your money!” he said with a raspy voice.

  Rex took his wallet and threw it just behind the guy. The mugger let go of me and Rex carefully moved me behind him. When the guy stood up with the wallet Rex swung his fist at him. The mugger dropped to the ground and Rex ran his hands over the body on the ground checking him for any kind of weapon. He hadn’t been armed with anything, unless you counted the popsicle stick he was holding. Rex grabbed his wallet and shoved it back into his pocket. Then he pulled out his phone and presumably dialed 911.

  “Are you alright?” he asked putting a hand on me as if he was afraid I’d bolt. Which I totally felt like doing. But it was too dark and I had nowhere to go except for Aunt Audrey’s. And she didn’t live near here, there was no way was I going to walk there in the dark alone after just having been mugged.

  “No! I’m not all right!” I practically screamed.

  He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. Rex probably just thought I was scared like a normal person. He didn’t know what had happened to my parents to make me the way I was. I couldn’t explain that all, not now.

  Rex started talking into his phone to someone, I assumed the police. I didn’t want to deal with this I just wanted it to go away. I wanted it to never have happened. I just wanted to go home.

  13

  After the cops hauled away our mugger and spoke with Rex and I, we allowed to leave. Rex didn’t take his time getting me to the helicopter. He could sense my need to get home. Once inside he started it up, and flew us back towards the wilderness. Whe
re I shouldn’t have ever left.

  I was shaking the whole way back. My mind was a mess. How could that have happened to me. I had been terrified. This only verified what I already knew. People were bad. Evil. I should have never left my cabin.

  When we landed on the landing pad at his cabin, he opened his mouth as if to speak. I didn’t know what he was going to ask, but he changed his mind and put me inside his truck to drive me home.

  “Please tell me you are going to be OK?” he said the worry in his voice clear.

  “I can’t tell you that,” I said sounding as though I was angry with him. Was I angry with him? I was just angry at the world. Everyone. I guess that included him. After all, he is the one that dragged me out into all of that. If I wouldn’t have ever left my cabin, I wouldn’t have been mugged.

  I could have suffered the same fate as my parents had. Wrong place. Wrong time. I was just lucky that he had a popsicle stick instead of a knife or a gun.

  We drove in silence the rest of the way to my cabin. I gripped my keys so tightly in my hand it started to feel numb. But the second the truck stopped I wanted to be ready to go into my cabin. I hugged myself to try to stop the shaking.

  “Heather, please talk to me,” Rex said desperately.

  “I don’t have anything to say. I just want to go home.” A tear dripped down my cheek and I wiped it away lightning fast. I didn’t want him to know how upset I was. I didn’t want to talk about why I was upset. I didn’t want to talk about my parents. Or anything that would make me break down.

  When the truck stopped I opened the door and jumped out as fast as I possibly could. I slammed the door behind me harder than I had intended. I just needed to get away.

  “Heather! Wait!” Rex called out after me. I heard his door close and his feet stomping after me. I started unlocking my locks desperate just to get inside where I could breathe again. My hands shook and I couldn’t make the keys work.