Wicked Fascination

by J. M. Brister

  “How are you? How was the drive?”

  “It was fine,” her father told him. “Uneventful.”

  The man turned toward Freya and said, “You must be Freya. I'm Brian. Welcome to my home.”

  Her heart started pounding hard in her chest, and it became hard to breathe. Why did her body have to choose now to start another anxiety attack? When he held out his hand in greeting, she shrank away a little and almost ran. To where, she had no idea, but she was ready to hightail it at a second’s notice.

  Luckily her father intervened, stepping between the two of them and steering Brian away from her.

  “Look,” he said. “We've had a long day. Why don't I get Freya situated in the guesthouse, and we can join you in a little bit?”

  There was an odd look that crossed Brian's face. Freya was worried that she had offended him, that he would decide to not let her stay anymore. However, the expression quickly vanished, and a slight smile formed.

  “Sure, go ahead,” Brian told her father. “I have a bottle of Scotch with your name on it.”

  “Sounds good,” her father said.

  When Brian had headed back to the house and was out of earshot, her father turned to her and asked, “Are you okay? I didn't tell him anything, so he wouldn't know.”

  Her father knew that she had problems with people touching her. He honestly was the only one who could come close to her without making her flinch.

  “Yeah, I'm fine,” Freya said.

  Her father studied her for a moment before nodding.

  They had gotten all her bags out of the car easily and made their way over to the little guesthouse. The door was unlocked, and when they both stepped in and the lights were flicked on, Freya was pleasantly surprised by the surroundings.

  It was a small space, but it was quite nice. The doorway led into in small living room/kitchen/dinette combo. The decorations were modern: dark beige walls, brown granite counter-tops, white kitchen cabinets with modern hardware. Stainless steel appliances were freshly polished. The living room contained overstuffed sofas that matched the counter-tops and a large flat-screen TV. The guesthouse certainly wasn't her father's luxury New York condo, but it was a lot nicer than the apartment that she had in Charlotte.

  “Do you think that this will do?” Her father asked slyly, sitting down her bags on one of the couches. He must have known that the place was so nice.

  “Yeah, this is nice,” Freya told him quietly. “I just wish that you didn't have to leave.”

  “I know, sweetheart. I know. Look, I'll be here tonight with you so that you can get yourself settled in, but I can't leave my job for that long, especially if Walker is watching what I'm doing.”

  Freya nodded.

  “And if you run into any issues, you can always go to Brian.”

  She felt like her heart had dropped out of her chest at the mention of the handsome, obviously successful man. She wished that she could have met him at another time when life wasn't so complicated.

  What would it matter? She asked herself. The guy is so far out of your league it isn't funny.

  Sighing, she wandered into the bedroom, her father following. It was a spacious room with a queen-sized bed and beautiful oak furniture. The color scheme from the rest of the house had continued into the bedroom as well. There was an adjacent bathroom with its own shower and soaking tub. When she was finished, she turned to face her father.

  “You trust him, right?” She asked, looking at her father straight in the eye.

  “Sweetheart, I would never have brought you here if I didn't.” Her father gave her a quick hug.

  Backing out of the bathroom, she flopped down on the bed. “I think I'm going to lie down for a while.” She was always so tired, and the car ride had taken a lot out of her.

  “Are you sure? I'm sure Brian would love to show you the main house.”

  “I'm good,” she said.

  She didn't even hear her father leave because she had fallen asleep as fast as her head hit the pillow.

  7:30 PM

  Brian was pacing back and forth across his kitchen floor, a flood of emotions running through him. He had met a lot of women in his life. Some had liked him, and some hadn't. However, he had never gotten a reaction from a woman like he had from Freya. She had looked at him like he was a werewolf or something. She wouldn't even shake his hand. The only thing he could think of was that he had done something to offend her.

  Yikes, Ash, you must be getting ugly, said the smart-ass side of him.

  The fact was, he had wanted to make a good impression. As soon as he had seen her step out of that car, his heart had been doing flips and his dick...well, that had been doing some things too. Of course, he should have known that she'd be gorgeous. Joe was a good-looking guy, so it would stand to figure that his daughter would be too.

  No, she's not just good-looking, dumbass. She's drop-dead beautiful.

  Yeah, Freya could give that ditzy blonde actress that he had dated a run for her money any day. Her face held classic features. Her eyes a deep brown. Her hair—sweet Jesus—was a dark brown that cascaded down her back in these wavy ringlets like a fricking princess. And she was tall, probably around five-eight with a slender body. He liked that since he was so tall himself. If he could have gone down the whole checklist of perfect, she would have matched every single one.

  Careful, this is also Joe's daughter you're talking about here, he told himself. He's going to rip you a new asshole if you don't get yourself together.

  When he heard a tap at his front door, he bolted to the front of the house, throwing open the door. He was quite disappointed when it was just Joe standing on the porch. He had been hoping that Freya would be with him.

  “Hey, come on in,” Brian told the older man.

  They walked to the family room, which was decidedly Brian's favorite place to kick back and relax. It had his big, plush brown leather couches, his flat-screen TV, and a real wood-burning fireplace. Across from it was the open-concept kitchen, state of the art. Brian had developed a passion for cooking since he had been out of the service. However, it wasn't something that a lot of people knew about, especially his Ranger buddies.

  Joe sunk down into one of the sofas, while Brian brought out the bottle of Scotch with two glasses. After pouring, he offered one to Joe. Taking the other glass, Brian sat on the couch opposite Joe's.

  “I was a little...disappointed to see Freya wouldn't be joining us,” Brian started, trying to choose his words carefully.

  Joe took a long drink from his glass before answering, “Like I said before on the phone, she's...been through a lot. I guess you could say that she's trying to find her way right now.”

  Brian took a sip of his drink, trying to figure out exactly what Joe meant. The only thing that he could figure was that there was a lot more going on than what he was being told. He wasn't going to push the issue right now, but he was going to find out eventually.

  “I see,” Brian said, dropping the issue for now. “So, I know Freya's going to be staying for the summer, but how long are you going to be staying?”

  “Just tonight,” he replied. “Tomorrow, I'll do a little grocery shopping for her, but I have to get back to New York. I'm already behind on a lot of stuff. Speaking of behind, when I am going to get a draft of that fourth book you're supposedly working on?”

  A large grin splashed on Joe's face.

  Brian chuckled.

  “Leave it to you to bug me about the book. I don’t know, Joe. Whenever it happens. Hopefully by the end of the summer. That was the idea of coming up here, you know.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'll be out of your hair tomorrow, so you can start working on that best-seller that I know is sloshing around in that brain of yours. But in all seriousness, I really would appreciate it if you kept an eye on Freya during the summer. I'll be dropping by to visit, but if you could check on her, I'd appreciate it.”

  “Sure thing,” Brian said, trying to keep any emotion
from showing in his face or voice. Yeah, like that was going to be a problem. He had already been scheming ways of “dropping by” to “check” on Freya.

  “Oh, by the way,” Joe continued. “Before I forget...”

  “Yeah?”

  “How was that super-model you dated?”

  Again, one of Joe's classic grins formed on his face.

  “You didn't think I hadn't noticed, had you? You were all over the rags for a while.”

  “She was a movie star, Joe. A movie star. And she was a complete space cadet.”

  “Uh-huh,” Joe taunted.

  “That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.”

  With that, Brian drained his glass.

  Chapter 9

  Saturday, May 23

  5:30 PM

  She can't possibly stay in that house for this long!” Brian exclaimed as he stared out the living room window, which had the best view of his guesthouse.

  The light was on in the guesthouse, but it looked as if all the curtains had been drawn. She had boxed herself into a little world in that house.

  The week had crawled by. Brian had tried to busy himself by working on his book, working out, running errands, and, of course, working in the yard. He had wanted to be out and be visible so that maybe she'd eventually approach him. He had mowed the lawn, weeded, cleaned out winter debris, all in hopes of coaxing her to come out. It hadn't worked. She had continued to shut herself up in that little house. It just wasn't healthy.

  Yeah, and what you want to do with her probably isn't very healthy either, he reminded himself.

  He had been in a state of...discomfort for the last couple of days. His mind was trying to stay focused on his book, but his dick had other ideas. Hey, he honestly couldn't help the fact that a gorgeous and mysterious woman had been sprung on him.

  He wanted a better introduction with her than what he had initially gotten Sunday night. He thought that he may have had another chance Monday morning before Joe had left, but it hadn't panned out. Now, all he could do is go about his day and try to forget about her for a while. He was just about to go back to his laptop, so he could try and pound out another chapter or two when out of the corner of his eye, he saw the door to the guesthouse open and a hooded figure step out.

  Bingo, he thought.

  Deciding that he was going to “accidentally” run into her, he ran to get his coat.

  5:30 PM

  Freya peeked out one of the slits in the Venetian blinds of the guesthouse. She wanted to go outside. She had wanted to since she had first gone into the guesthouse last Sunday when her father was still there.

  That hadn't happened, though.

  She was too scared, too frightened. She had become a hermit, especially without her father to coax her to do anything. Yeah, they talked every day on the pre-paid cellphones he had gotten, but she missed him pushing her to do things. Some of the conversations that they had had this week involved reminding her to eat.

  She sighed.

  She knew that she had fallen low. Her world consisted of surviving day to day with a handful of pills. Sleep was the thing that she looked forward to the most and even that was a double-edged sword. She never dreamed anymore; they were always nightmares. So even though she slept a lot, she never really got a lot of rest. The dark circles under her eyes were a testament to that.

  Freya squinted and looked out the window again. She wanted to go out so badly. It was so pretty here. She had seen Brian out and about in the yard, doing yard work, and she had been so envious. She had secretly watched him when he was out, making sure to stay out of sight.

  He was such a big, beautiful man. Hadn't her father said that had he been an Army Ranger? She wished that she could be strong like that.

  Then the thought occurred to her: Why not be strong for once?

  She had let James put her into a perpetual state of fear, and he still had a hold over her. For once, she might be safe here. This place was so remote, and the connection between her father and Brian so casual looking from an outsider's perspective that it would be almost impossible for James to find her here.

  Almost, she reminded herself.

  James had found her at the hospital and her father's. But still, what was the point of life if she had to spend it hiding and in fear?

  It was at that moment that Freya made a decision.

  She moved back from the window and went to get one of her zip-up hoodies. She was going to go outside for a little bit. Damn the consequences.

  5:40 PM

  Brian had gone out the back door of the house, which faced out toward the drop-off and the mountains. From there, he walked around the porch and around along the far end of the house. Some walking paths trailed around his property on that side, and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to figure that he had been out on a walk. He didn't want to look that desperate, but this girl was starting to get under his skin. Unlike some of the women he had dated in the past year, he knew that she had some depth going to her, besides the drop-dead looks. She was this mystery that he needed to solve.

  The evening was brisk, and he partially zipped up his leather jacket. In an hour or so, the sun itself would start fading, but right now, it was showing off the beauty of North Carolina's mountainous terrain. When he swung around the house and made his way back toward the guesthouse, he saw a hooded figure standing on one of the platforms that had been built out and over the hill to take advantage of the hilly area. He approached her like she was a wild deer, ready to bolt at a moment's notice.

  When he got close enough, he announced his presence by saying, “Hi.”

  She swung around so fast that Brian barely had time to react when he saw that her face, though somewhat hidden by her hood, was streaked with tears.

  Oh, what the hell? He thought as he tried to think of something to say.

  “Uh...are you...okay?” He asked.

  Smooth. Real smooth, idiot, he told himself.

  Freya turned her head and attempted to wipe her face.

  “I'm...fine,” she mumbled. “I was just...leaving.”

  She turned to leave and was about to when Brian spoke up, “Hey, wait. Don't go.”

  He could see her body visibly bristle, but she stayed. Even with a reddened, tear-stained face, even with the hoodie pulled over her head, she was gorgeous. But there was something about her eyes, something haunted that Brian wanted to find out more about.

  “We didn't get a chance to properly meet,” he told her, trying to keep himself talking.

  She obviously was not going to talk to him about what was bothering her, but he could distract her for a while.

  “My name's Brian, by the way. Although I may have already told you that.”

  He tried to smile and make himself as easy-going and non-threatening as possible.

  “Freya,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

  “Yeah, I know,” he told her. There was an awkward pause before he said casually, “It's a nice evening to be out. I haven't seen you out and about that much since you got here.”

  There was a flicker of emotion in her face before she said, “I've been...I've...”

  She was floundering. Something was going on in her life that was making it hard for her. He had thought it had been something that he had done or said the first time that he had met her, but now he was thinking that there was something else. What it was, Brian was not so sure.

  “No need to explain,” he said, cutting her off so she wouldn't have to be so uncomfortable. “I'm on vacation too...sort of. Everybody needs a little time to relax...Listen, speaking of relaxing, I was going to make a pizza for dinner tonight, but I don't feel like eating all of it. Perhaps you can join me tonight?”

  He was just making things up as he went along. He hadn't planned on asking her in for dinner, but he wanted to make sure that she was okay. There was something about a woman's tears that just...got to him. Hell, he didn't know how to deal with them, but food always was good, right?

&nbs
p; The question hung in the air for a moment. She stood there like a deer in headlights.

  “Hey, I know I'm a guy, but my mom says I'm a pretty good cook. I promise not to poison you.”

  He hoped that his attempt at humor hadn't put her off too much. There was another flicker of emotion, but this was different. Was that a slight smile that he saw?

  “Uh...I don't know,” she murmured. “I don't want to...impose.”

  “Not at all,” he reassured her. “Besides, I bet we both need the company.”

  She hesitated before she said, “Uh, okay.”

  “Good,” he told her, relief running through him. “How about I'll see you up in the main house in about an hour?”

  He watched as the hood nodded back and forth. She turned and left toward the guesthouse. He refrained from saying anything else.

  Quit while you're ahead, he told himself.

  Running a hand through his hair, he let out a deep breath. This was going to be quite an evening.

  6:02 PM

  Freya shut the door of the guesthouse and slumped against it. She was panicking big time. Had he asked her over for dinner? She couldn't believe that she had agreed to go over. The guy was a practical stranger to her, and she was just going to go over there by herself? Her heart was going a mile a minute.

  She pulled off the hood of her sweatshirt, her hair falling out along her shoulders. She knew that there was no way that she could handle it. What was she supposed to do? Just not show up? No, he was persistent. He'd come looking for her. He had been very concerned when he had found her crying. All she had felt was embarrassment. But there had been no judgment in his eyes, just concern. Her father had vouched for this guy, and he was probably just trying to be nice. She was too much of a mess for him to be considering something...romantic. No, it wasn't a date, just Brian being nice.

  Did you want to be strong? Well, here's your chance, she thought.

  She had a choice. She could stay here and hide some more, or she could continue fighting what James had done to her. He wanted her scared. That was why he had kept contacting her. It was his way of controlling her even when he wasn't around (she had had a lot of discussions with her therapist about this).