Shutter: The Complete Series

by S. E. Dosher

  Finally Paul breaks the silence, “Well, please excuse my rudeness, I’m Paul,” he says and extends his hand to shake Niko’s.

  “Yeah, I’ve seen you at Club Blasé, but I don’t think we’ve ever actually been introduced, I’m Niko,” he replies and his velvety voice reaches out to caress my ears so softly I almost purr.

  “Of course,” Paul agrees as they shake hands.

  Brock’s eyes turn to me, demanding I speak, but my lips won’t seem to part.

  “Umm, and this is Brook. Who seems to have forgotten her manners,” Brock says for me, shaking me slightly from my catatonic state.

  “Excuse me, I don’t seem to be myself. Umm, I apologize,” I ramble at some sort of explanation.

  “No apologizes needed; I’m the one that dropped by unexpectedly first thing in the morning,” Niko says as his eyes find mine, locking me into place.

  Another silence fills the room.

  “Well, I don’t suppose I’m still needed here,” Paul says as he turns to me. “Call me later,” he whispers as he kisses my forehead then turns to the door.

  “Here, let me walk you out; I need to head to work anyway.” Brock offers as he trails after Paul. “It was great to finally meet you, Niko.”

  Before they disappear, Paul mouths something to me and puts his hands to his chest. My eyes widen in confusion, and I shrug slightly, but he disappears before he can attempt to clarify. My eyes find their way back to Niko just in time to see him looking toward the door as well. When he turns back to face me there is a devilish grin on his face that immediately makes my stomach clench. I take two steps back and my legs hit the edge of the bed stopping me.

  “I’m sorry I interrupted…well, whatever you two were doing,” he says, motioning his hand back and forth between me and where Paul was standing. His lips tense and his eyelids flutter anxiously. I have no idea what that means or how to read his face.

  “No problem,” I say, feeling the need to console his apparent shift in moods. “Paul’s like a second brother to me. I have no doubt I’ll be seeing him later today.” Which was true, he was going to grill me to death trying to get the scoop on what the hell was happening right this minute.

  “A second brother?” He repeats to himself and then laughs. “I see.”

  “Wait, you thought there was something else going on in here?” My laugh suddenly matches his. “No way, I’ve known Paul since…well forever, he’s a good friend, only a friend. He’s not really all that into girls anyway.”

  He smiles and his full lips stretch across flawless teeth. “Sorry, I guess that really isn’t any of my business.”

  “No, I don’t suppose it is.”

  “And that’s not why I came here…I mean, to get into your business.”

  He’s babbling slightly, making the corners of my mouth turn up and little sparks ignite within me. In all the time I’ve spent trying to get close to him, while remaining unseen, I’ve never witnessed this side of him. He’s in my house, with me, and something’s got him ruffled – I like it.

  “At the risk of sounding rude to a very rich and famous person I just met, but why, exactly, are you in my house?” I push on his ruffles a little.

  “Actually, I’m here for you. Well I’m here…because of, umm…you.” He clears his throat nervously. “That’s why I’m here.”

  He wipes his hand across his forehead, skirting his fingers past the bandage covering his cheek.

  “Me?” I probe.

  He nods. “I know, Brook.”

  My heart drops.

  “You know what? There’s nothing to know.”

  His face is blank and unreadable, but his eyes flash with some knowing truth that makes my heart race and my face flush red.

  “Don’t try to hide it from me, I know everything.”

  My mind races - he knows! He knows! How did he find out? Did he see me watching him? How long has he known before the final straw of me breaking into his house made him confront me?

  “I…umm,” I stammer. “I’m not.”

  “You are, you’re hiding from me. Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out?”

  “No, I guess I knew one day you would. I just didn’t know how long I’d have until you did,” I admit and duck my head, trying to hide the heat that’s flooding my face.

  “Well, actually it wasn’t too hard.” I don’t dare peek up to see his face, but the tone in his voice sounds humorous to my ears which makes no sense.

  “I’m so sorry, Niko, I…I don’t really have an explanation. I didn’t start out to hurt you…” I pause and finally look up. “How did you find out?”

  He pulls a phone from his pocket. “You must have dropped it when you ran away from the paramedic, took me forever to find it. Somehow it bounced under a bush by the road, I heard it ringing half the morning.”

  My mouth falls open. He doesn’t know, well he knows about last night. But that’s all he knows. Whew!

  “I finally answered, and it was Brock, he told me it was yours, and I wanted to bring it back to you. I wasn’t positive it was you that saved me last night, but now that I see your face, I know it was.”

  Chapter 4

  “Umm, I can explain,” I say, suddenly not sure how to describe I happened to know that someone – especially his stalker – was about to break into his house in the middle of the night.

  “Explain? You have nothing to explain. I owe you. If you hadn’t shown up when you did someone would have gotten hurt. I’m not sure I could have let that bitch run away without hurting her.”

  I stare at him completely confused. He’s thanking me for breaking into his house.

  “Gratitude was the last thing I expected,” I admit bluntly.

  “Why?” he asks and his forehead crinkles in a way I’ve never seen on his face.

  “Well, for starters, I broke into your house,” I blurt out while my mind rushes to string thoughts together without getting caught in my lie. “I guess, technically, I followed someone that snuck into your house, but still, I was there uninvited.” I finally settle on half-truths and hidden intentions.

  “I don’t see it like that at all. You helped, and as far as I’m concerned you have an open invitation to come into my house anytime you please.”

  “Oh fuck, don’t say that, I’d never leave.” I hear the words rush from my mouth before I even realize I had thought them and quickly slap my hand over it before I blurt out something even more humiliating. Heat overwhelms my face faster than I can come up with a way to dig a hole and crawl inside to die.

  He smiles and laughs lightly.

  “Hmm, that might not be a bad thing.”

  I burst into manic laughter.

  “Why is that funny?” he asks, the huge smile still on his face making my head go light and wispy.

  “You don’t even know me, I could be some crazy-ass bitch bent on causing you pain.” Which, honestly, wasn’t too far from the truth.

  He takes two huge steps toward me, and I can feel the warmth of his body radiating through my thin cami. His hand skates across my bare chest and chills trail in the wake of his touch. His fingers finally rest softly on my shoulder, and my skin hums in response. My mind is so focused on the sensation of his touch on my skin, I don’t register his face moving closer until his scent fills me completely.

  “I think we’ll have to change that very soon, don’t you?”

  My eyes move to his and they are the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen. Two perfectly round windows into all of his thoughts and secrets…and desires. Then my eyes move to the bandage on his face, completely extinguishing the dirty thoughts whirling in my head.

  “I’m really sorry about that,” I whisper and lightly graze the material with my index finger and his head leans into my touch – or at least my eyes want to believe it does. My hand retreats back to my side in a show of defeat.

  He shakes his head, “This wasn’t your fault.”

  “Sure it was. I cut you with the damn knife when I picked it up.�
��

  He squints his eyes, deep in thought, then tilts his head to the right, “Technically, I think I cut my face on the knife you were holding.”

  I can’t stop the curve my lips take at his words, and I can’t remember the last time I genuinely smiled.

  “Are you okay? How’s your wrist?” he asks, gently grasping and lifting my hand to inspect it.

  I ignore the chills that run up my arm and down my spine before stopping to pool between my legs.

  “I’m fine, no pain what-so-ever.” I smile and try not to cringe from the pain as he moves my hand in a circle testing out my wrist.

  “I have to go,” he says sadly, “but I think you should let me take you out soon. You know, say thank you for helping fight off the crazy stalker last night.”

  “Umm, I don’t know,” I hedge, my heart screaming from my chest for me to agree.

  “C’mon, it’s the least I can do.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

  He sighs deeply. “Well, I didn’t want to have to pull out the big guns, but you’ve damaged me. Yup, damaged my face, and therefore my work, I’m actually headed to see a plastic surgeon right now to get stitches.” He pokes his bottom lip out and his eyes turn down in mock sadness.

  “What?” My stomach drops.

  “Yup, I can’t work until my face heals, and since you were holding the knife, I think you should be obliged to keep me company until then.”

  “But you said I didn’t cut you,” I argue, reminding him of his very words.

  He waves his hand in the air dismissing my argument. “Semantics. I was there, you were there. No matter who’s responsible, I still think it’s up to you to nurse me back to health.”

  My mouth drops open, and he winks at me. He seriously winks at me, and at the exact moment his eye flutters back open and connects with mine, all strength I had to possibly refuse flew from my body.

  I nod in acquiescence, my mouth hanging open, and the sexiest, primal groan resonates from deep within his throat.

  Before he steps out the door, he turns back and motions toward my chest, smiling wide, “Earlier, when he left, Paul was trying to tell you we could see right through your shirt this entire time. Even though I’ve very much enjoyed the show, I don’t want you to leave the house like that.” Then he lays his third wink on me.

  I look down and see the outline of darkened areolas and perfectly pointed nipples. My hands fly to my chest and I gasp, but when I look up he’s vanished, leaving the door hanging wide open.

  ***

  I consider following Niko after he leaves my house, even though I know where he is headed, but something just doesn’t feel right about it. The act of following someone around seems less fulfilling once they’ve told you where they’re going. Although, actually knowing where he is going doesn’t keep my mind from swirling with images of what he might be doing at this exact moment.

  I regretted saying yes to his invitation the very instant I agreed, but in that moment I couldn’t think of a good enough reason not to. Yeah, I know one glaringly obvious reason - the fact I’ve been stalking him for years. In my head, though, it’s easy to separate the Niko I photograph and the Niko I met this morning. It’s a trivial difference, but a variation I effortlessly allow myself to acknowledge.

  I spend my morning sipping on the iced coffee Paul brought me while reviewing the photos from last night. There was nothing out of the ordinary, until the image of Niko staring out the window appeared on my screen. Blondie was still behind him, blindfolded and waiting for his touch to return, but all I can focus on are his onyx eyes seemingly glued to me. In my head, I understand he didn’t know I was there, but in my heart I longed to believe he felt my presence.

  ***

  “Fill me in fast, lover, because I’ve got the day from hell waiting on me.” Paul blows into the café I’m meeting him in to have lunch like the force he truly is.

  “Nothing to tell,” I tease with a straight face.

  “Shut it, I ain’t got time for your games. I need the deets and I need them now.” He pushes the elbow my chin is resting on off the edge of the table, causing my face to bob momentarily.

  I sigh loudly, “There really isn’t. He left a few minutes after you did.”

  “Oookkkay.” He drags out the word with his flare for the dramatic. “So what happened in those ‘few minutes’ after I left?”

  “He knows it was me in his house last night. He found my phone.”

  “You left your phone in his house?” he scoffs, fully implying I’m the biggest jackass stalker ever.

  “Yes, and no. He found it under the bushes by the road where I was hiding after I snuck off.”

  The deep roll of his eyes in lieu of a verbal response tells me all I need to know.

  “It was your dumbass constantly calling me that alerted him to the phone being on his property. Well, you and Brock. I guess Niko answered when Brock called, and that’s how he found out the phone belonged to me.”

  “Hmm, I never dreamed Brock and I would unite for the greater good.” He widens his eyes at me, and I know the image in his head involving my straight-laced brother is not something I want to focus on.

  “Whatever, enough about Brock.” I dismiss the topic with my hand, hoping he won’t feel the need to start blathering on about his obsession with my brother again. “Niko wants to take me out sometime to thank me for ‘saving him.’ His words, not mine. I know I did the exact opposite of save him when I cut his face.”

  “If the boy wants to properly thank you, then who are you to say no?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me. “Right?”

  “I guess, but it’s going to be weird,” I whine and shift uncomfortably in my seat.

  “Shut the fuck up with that nonsense. You have been given the opportunity to truly discover if your little obsession,” he says the word with a hint of distain, “is worth continuing. You’ll finally know if he deserves your devotion, or if you should leave him to his revolving door of whores. True?”

  “Truth,” I agree, but only on the surface. Deep down I don’t think it’s right. It feels wrong and more manipulative than anything else I’ve done in the past. But at the same time, I want it…I want him.

  “And either way things end up, you definitely have to take this once in a lifetime chance to fuck his brains out.”

  “What?” I snort in response and my lemon water nearly comes shooting out of my nose.

  “You’ve had an itch for that boy from day one, and now you can finally scratch it!” he exclaims like it’s so cut and dry. “Have you ever thought that if you experience the real thing, then maybe you wouldn’t be so enamored with him? Obviously you wouldn’t spend so much time alone with your hands down your fancy panties.”

  “Fuck you!” I laugh.

  “Anytime darling, anytime,” he challenges, motioning his hands toward his body for emphasis.

  “Don’t tempt me,” I smirk back.

  “Darling,” he says and leans in close and covers my hand with his, “if you accomplish nothing else on your little get-together with him, you take control and break a piece off. Understood?”

  “Understood,” I agree emphatically.

  He may be crazy, but Paul does have a point that my girlie parts are more than happy to indulge.

  “You go get you some throbbing rod.”

  “Eh, have you been reading romance novels again?” I groan.

  “Spitting cobra?” he ponders.

  I shake my head.

  “Meatsicle?”

  “Worse!”

  “Baby maker?”

  “You better shut your mouth on that one!”

  “Umm, pee pee?”

  “Are we preschoolers now?” I roll my eyes.

  “Okay, how about love muscle?”

  “Cock! Let’s just call it a cock!” I say forcefully.

  “Cock-a-doodle-do,” He sings at me then smiles and we both fall into a fit of laughter until the table of older women next to us
starts to stare.

  “Shh,” I whisper as we finally calm.

  “Okay, now, on to more important matters. Did you order my chicken salad with extra strawberries and no walnuts?”

  “Yes,” I groan.

  “And the extra feta cheese?”

  “This isn’t my first time ordering your ridiculous salad,” I remind him.

  “Half spinach with extra feta cheese?”

  I nod again, and with perfect timing the waitress delivers a bowl filled with strawberries and feta cheese resting on the tiniest bed of spinach.

  I point at it and then point back to myself. “Told you I knew how to order your mound of strawberries and feta.”

  “Indeed you did,” he says as he pops a cheese-covered strawberry into his smiling mouth.

  Chapter 5

  “Okay, love muffin, I’ve gotta get back to work. I’ve got interviews for more security guards; it was decided we need an increase after Suzy’s latest freak out.” He stands and rolls his eyes, huffing annoyingly.

  “Great, that’ll make my life easier, too,” I groan, wondering how much more of my leftover modeling savings I will have to spend to continue getting inside Club Blasé. It has already dwindled down to almost nothing, and it would have been gone long ago without Brock’s assistance and the occasional photo of Niko I could force myself to part with. To my surprise, the thought of spying on Niko again actually makes me cringe. Maybe this is a good thing.

  “I wasn’t sure you’d keep that up with all that’s happened,” Paul whispers, leaning close to ensure no one overhears.

  “I suppose you’re right, he’ll be more watchful. Not to mention, it feels different now,” I admit.

  “It should feel different. Maybe you should go back to photographing babies, flowers, and sunsets like before.”

  “Blah, blah, and blah. Maybe I’ll call that magazine that offered me a job a while back.”

  “Are their targets willing participates?” He raises his eyebrows at me.

  “Yes, it’s just boring photos to go along with interviews. Mostly stuffy politicians and rich philanthropists.”