by Kitty Parker
"I'll never let anything bad happen to you, you know that right?"
I shook my head in response keeping my eyes closed, concentrating on his heart beat.
"I promise." He whispered into my ear.
He kept saying that. He promised nothing would happen to me. He promised he would protect me. Protect me from what I didn't know. He promised and I had a feeling that he would go to all ends to keep that promise.
Chapter 15
"I've been watching her closely. Yeah, yeah. No. No. Yeah she found that, I know. Okay bye." The man hidden in the shadows behind the mansion flipped the cover of his cell phone closed and placed it back into his dark jeans.
He slipped back into the house under the cover of the dark, moon less night. He crept quietly up the stairs without disturbing a single sleeping soul. Just the way he wanted it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When I woke up the next morning, I felt different, I felt happy. I hadn't woken with any disgust, fear, or hatred. That was most certainly a change. I crawled out of my bed and quickly dressed myself in a pair of faded jeans and black tee. I crossed the room to my door and smiled as my hand turned the handle of the unlocked door. Another wonderful change.
I padded barefoot down the hallway and tried to remember which door led to Andrew's room. I had it narrowed down between two doors that were located next to each other. I selected the one on the right and tried the handle. It swung open easily and revealed just what I had been looking for.
The walls were painted a deep forest green, matched with beige carpet. The headboard of the bed along with the dresser was made out of dark mahogany. Lying in the giant bed that was resting against the back wall was Andrew. He was still asleep and I could hear quiet snores emitting from him.
I tiptoed over so as not to wake him and stood next to his bed, staring down at the sleeping form of this Adonis I smiled. He let out another soft snore and I placed my hand over my mouth to suppress the giggle that tried to escape.
Unfortunately all that did was cause me to let out a rather loud snort. I clasped my hand tighter over my mouth. Seconds later Andrew's beautiful green eyes fluttered open and fell onto me.
"What are you doing in here?" He asked with a sleepy smile while sitting up.
"You snore." I responded.
"No I don't!" He said with a look of horror on his face.
"Yes yooooouuuuuuuuu doooooo!" I replied in a sing song voice.
"Liar." He pouted.
"Nope you snore. I think it's rather cute."
"Really?"
"Yep." I said plopping down on the bed next to him.
"Well then if it pleases you I guess I'll snore more often." He said with a quick peck on my lips.
I caught myself blushing from the brief kiss. This guy really knew how to knock my socks off! Well I guess he really couldn't do that, seeing as I was barefoot. So then I guess you could just say he took my breath away. Nah, that's not right either, I was still breathing. There's just no way of describing how he made me feel, and I liked it that way.
"Get dressed." I said hopping off the bed.
"Why?" He whined pulling me back down. "Can't we just stay in here all day?"
"You're joking right? This is going to be the first full day I don't have to spend in my room. Plus I'm hungry." I said wiggling free of his grasp around my waist, to stand up and move out of arms reach.
He pouted again before getting up and heading into his closet. If only he knew that if he had pouted for a mere five seconds longer I would have lost all control and given in and stayed right there for the rest of the day. Those amazingly sexy lips of his were to die for.
He emerged a couple of minutes later pulling a gray T-shirt over his head and sliding it down his chiseled chest. Oh, he was SO close to making me want to stay in that exact spot for the rest of the day.
"Ready for breakfast?" He questioned walking over and grabbing my hand in his own.
"Yep." I replied happily.
We walked hand in hand down the stairs and into the kitchen. After we had finished our breakfast he led me outside. I was so happy to see sunlight again other than from the window, or running away.
Surprisingly there was a garden out back, which looked like it was taken good care of. Didn't think a house full of men would actually care about that kind of thing. The majority of the garden was taken up by pink rose bushes while other flowers were scattered through out.
"It's beautiful." I said glancing at a group of flowers that look rather exotic.
"It was my mother's." He said in a quiet tone.
"Was?"
"She passed away when I was fourteen."
"I'm so sorry." I said squeezing his hand.
"It's not like we didn't expect it. She had had cancer for a couple of years. This was one of her favorite things to do, be out here and take care of the garden."
"Did she know about…"
"Yeah. She knew about my dad. She didn't really like the idea of me joining but we finally talked her into it, telling her that I would be safer if I knew more about what was going on."
"Are you safer?"
"I guess so. I mean of course I put myself in danger, but then again if I didn't know I might have ended up like you."
This hurt, it hurt because it was true. Would I have been better off knowing what Andrew had known his whole life? Would I be here, or would I be dead? Would someone have tried to kill me rather than kidnap me?
"I didn't mean it like that." He said quickly seeing the hurt in my eyes.
"I know. I'm kind of glad I didn't know. If I knew I might have been dead by now."
"I'm glad you didn't know either."
I smiled up at him and then another thought passed through my mind.
"Andrew?"
"Yeah?"
"My dad used to work for your dad right?"
"Yeah." He said his voice hardening.
"So if my dad had never left then does that mean I would have grown up, here with you?"
"I guess so." He said returning his gaze to me.
"What do you think that would have been like? Would things be different than they are now?"
"I'm not sure. I think we would have been good friends, but I don't think it would have amounted to any thing like this."
"Then I'm glad I didn't know." I said giving him a warm smile.
He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my lips. He lingered there for a few seconds before either one of us could deepen the kiss, he pulled back.
"You know I think I'm going to end up with back problems." He said laughing.
"What? Why?"
"Because I have to lean so far down to kiss you, because you're so short."
"I'm not that short!"
"Yes you are."
"You're just huge! I'm average!"
"I'm over a foot taller than you."
"Like I said, you're HUGE!"
"Huge huh?"
"Yes hu- - AHHHHHH!"
I screamed as Andrew plucked me from the ground effortlessly and threw me over his shoulder. The last time I had been in this position I was being kidnapped, funny how things can change. He walked back into the house with me beating on his back to put me down.
"Not kidnapping her again are you?" A voice rang out with a low chuckle.
Andrew spun around; me still over his shoulder. I had to lift my head so I could see who had spoken. Mason was leaning against the stair rail with his arms crossed over his chest, a smirk playing across his lips.
"No. Just meesin' around." Andrew said gently placing me on the ground.
"Sure." He said turning to ascend the stairs, smirk still on his face.
"People in this house really do have bad timing." I said looking up at his retreating form.
"They do."
We climbed the stairs and headed back to Andrew's room. He shut the door behind us and came over and lay down next to me on his bed, where I was already sprawled out.
"S
o how was your first day outside of your room?" He asked playing with a strand of my hair.
"Amazing."
"Good." He said closing the space between us.
Our lips met in a light embrace, quickly turning into more. I pulled away and bit my lip to keep myself from laughing. I kept my gaze on his vibrant green eyes. I could stare into them for days.
Ironic how the things happen isn't it? Here I am lying on the bed of my kidnapper, kissing him and becoming lost in his eyes. The very eyes that I had seen the night my life changed. The night my life had changed for the better, or so I thought at least.
Chapter 16
"A couple of days?" A low voice replied into the small phone.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be ready. Yeah. Come at night. Okay, good. Bye." The conversation ended as the man hung up the phone.
His blue eyes shifted nervously, making sure no one had heard his conversation. He couldn't afford to let this all go to hell. He would be dead for sure if it did, on both ends of the situation. He casually strolled back towards the house.
On the outside he was calm, cool, and collected. While on the inside his mind was racing with all the possible things that could go wrong. All of the horrible scenarios that played over and over in his mind every night as he lay in bed in the same house.
He slipped through the small opening in the back door, closing it softly. He silently padded up the stairs and stopped with my hand still holding the doorknob. I could see her bedroom door from here. I was so close it was scary. She had no clue, just the way it needed to be. Perfect.
A smirk spread across my lips. She was so naïve, trusted so easily, she wanted to trust and confide in people because she could never with her parents. Everything had gone perfectly, why did I ever worry about this? Nothing would go wrong, everything was perfect.
I opened the door to my bedroom and changed out of my clothes. Flopping onto my bed I closed my eyes, the smirk still present on my face. This would be easy. Only a couple more days and all would be done.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Good morning beautiful." Andrew said as I stepped out of my room and into the hallway.
"Morning." I replied rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
He was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a light gray T-shirt. While on the other hand I was still wearing my pink pajama pants and light blue tank top. One thing I had learned was that Andrew was a morning person. Weird isn't it, I never pegged him as the rise and shine sort of guy. I guess looks can be deceiving.
He met me in the middle of the hallway and crushed me with a giant hug. Letting go he ruffled my hair. Now my bed head was worse than before. I smiled lazily up at him and ran my fingers through my hair trying to make it look somewhat decent.
"Get dressed." He said turning me back around to face my room.
"Why? It's just breakfast." I said turning back to face him.
"Not today. Today were going out."
"Out! As in out of the house?" I asked excitedly.
"Exactly." He said a smile lighting up his face. "Now go get dressed." He said turning me around and slapping me gently on the butt.
I shot a pretend glare over my shoulder before letting a smile break out on my face. I hurriedly headed into my closet and sorted through my clothes, trying to find something to wear.
I finally emerged from the closet wearing a pair of faded jeans and a dark green shirt. Andrew was lounging on my bed. His arms behind his head and his feet crossed at the ankles in a casual, magazine cover worthy pose.
He stood up as I approached the bed and took my hand into his. His lips quickly brushed against mine, causing my body temperature to rise. He tugged on my hand leading out of my room and down the hallway.
We descended the stairs and found Jett waiting for us at the bottom. I shot Andrew a confused look; he didn't seem to notice and nodded to Jett as he led me towards the front door with Jett following us.
Outside there was a black Lexus sitting in the driveway waiting for us. Before crossing over to the driver's side, Andrew opened my door and held it for me, waiting for me to climb in. I practically flew into the car. I was going somewhere other than that house!
Andrew shut my door and climbed into the driver's seat. I heard another door shut and looked back to see Jett sitting in the back seat. The car roared to life as Andrew turned the key in the ignition.
"Um… I don't mean to be rude, but why is Jett with us?" I asked as the car started down the driveway.
"My dad said he had to come with us."
"I'm your body guard for the day." Jett chimed in, supriseingly with a smile on his face.
"Oh. So your dad knows about us then?" I asked nervously glancing at Andrew out of the corner of my eye.
"Yeah."
"And he's okay with it?"
"At first he was a little concerned, but then we had a talk and he got over it. So now he's fine with it." He said shooting me a reassuring smile.
"Where are we going?" I asked, now that I could rest easy on that topic.
"Surprise." Was all I got from him.
"Jett, do you know where we're going?" I asked twisting around in my seat.
"Sorry, can't tell you. Strict orders from the boss." He said a smile present on his face.
I turned back around in my seat to find Andrew smirking as he drove along the deserted road. We were the only ones on the road, not another car in sight for miles. I looked out the window to watch as a group of trees flashed by in a blur of green and brown.
"Are we there yet?" I asked.
"You're just like a little kid, and no we won't there for a while." He said shaking his head and laughing.
I rested the side of my face against the cool, smooth, surface of the window and closed my eyes. If I was going to be in here for awhile, then I planned on taking a nap. I was tired and the soft humming of the car lulled me into a peaceful sleep.
"Emma wake up. We're here." A deep, soft voice whispered in my ear while I was being shaken gently.
My eyes cracked open to find Andrew's form bending over me. Jett was already standing outside of the car waiting for us. I peeled my face, which had become stuck, off of the window and sat up with a yawn.
I opened my door and stepped out. The loose gravel crunched under my shoes. I looked around at my surroundings, only seeing the gravel road that seemed to stretch on, and an endless amount of trees.
"Where are we and what are we doing here?" I asked Andrew as he came around to my side of the car.
"Turn around."
I turned to face where the car was parked and saw a small restaurant with a decent amount of cars out front. It had that cozy, country look to it. A fading sign had the words Grandma's Kitchen painted on in peeling white letters.
Andrew's warm hand found its way around mine and led me towards the restaurant, Jett following silently behind us. Once inside I could faintly hear country music playing in the background. A rather plump old woman waddled over to us with a bright smile on her face.
"Welcome to Grandma's Kitchen."
"Table for three." Andrew said.
"Right this way." She answered as she led us over to an empty table covered in a red and white checkered tablecloth.
"How did you ever find this place?" I asked after she had taken our orders and returned to the kitchen.
"My parents and I used to come here all the time. We stopped coming when my mom died. I thought you would like it."
"I do like it. It's really cute and homey." I replied putting on a smile.
He had family traditions. I never had family traditions. I wonder if things would have been different if his mom was still alive. Both of my parents were still alive and we never did anything like this. They would have turned their noses up at it complaining that it wasn't a five star restaurant. Whatever, I was here with Andrew now. If he cared enough to share and old family tradition with me than that was fine by me.
Margaret, the old waitress, broug
ht our food to us minutes later. After I had demolished my amazingly, wonderful, delicious meal. I sat back happy and full and closed my eyes in bliss.
I opened my eyes seconds later to see Andrew laughing quietly at me.
"That good?" He asked.
"Actually it was wonderful." I said sitting up.
"I liked mine." Jett threw in.
"I had forgotten you were even here." I said turning to face him. He hadn't said a word since I woke up.
"I'm doing my sneaky, quiet, stealthy, body guard work. Don't mind me." He said cracking a smile while trying to put on a serious face.
"Because I definitely need protecting from the waitress." I said laughing.
"You never know. She could be an assassin in disguise."
I let out a small laugh so as not to draw attention to our table.
"Well, I would love to sit here and discuss all the ways that a seventy five year old woman could kill us, but I told my dad that we wouldn't be gone too long." Andrew said standing up and laying the tip down on the table.
We walked out after thanking Margaret for the wonderful service and climbed back into the car. After a minute of silence I got bored and reached forward turning of the radio.
I flipped through the channels and lightening fast speed. Country, nah rap, nope, classical, nuh-uh, rock, no, AH! I flipped back to the channel I had skipped and threw my hands in the air.
"Are you serious?" Andrew asked turning to look at me.
"Make her turn it off!" Jett cried from the back covering his ears.
"NO!" I shouted swatting away Andrew's hand as he reached to change the station.
Why would they EVER try to turn off such a fun song? Who doesn't love the Spice Girls If you want to be my Lover? I think it's built in to guy's DNA to hate all girl songs.
"IF YOU WANNA BE MY LOVER YOU GOTTA GET WITH MY FRIENDS!" I sang at the top of my lungs.
"Stop her!" Jett yelled over top of me.
"You know you know the words!" I shouted back at him.
"Do not!"
"Do to!"
"NO!"
"I bet Andrew knows the words." I said turning to him to find a grimace on his face at every word that blasted from the stereo.
"I hate this song." He said gritting his teeth.