A Christmas Surprise

by Jana Leigh

  They broke apart and then Traci looked over at Sandi and said, "Why don't you go on now? Jared will help me finish up."

  "Are you sure?" Sandi asked.

  "Of course, go on, get some rest. See you in the morning," Traci stated and pointed to the back door.

  "Okay, see ya." Sandi turned and grabbed her coat to head upstairs.

  She went out the back door and turned to go up the stairs. There were two floors above the restaurant, the second floor was storage, and the third was the apartment where she lived. Thankfully, the stairs were enclosed so she wasn’t freezing her ass off as she walked out without a coat.

  Sandi went up the first flight and heard a noise in the corner of the walkway. She turned to look, but it was so dark she couldn't see anything. Frowning, Sandi reached out from where she moved to go up the next flight of stairs, there was a light switch there for the stairs, and she could just flip it on to make herself feel better. A cold shiver ran through her as she took one-step and then another, something didn’t feel right. A dark figure jumped out at her, and Sandi screamed for all she was worth. Hell, it was probably the night watchman Zach hired, but she didn’t care.

  She was shocked when the figure reached out and pushed her hard causing her to fall to the bottom of the stairs. The fall made her land on her hip and back, knocking the breath out of her.

  Suddenly, the back door to the restaurant flew open, and Jared stood there with his gun drawn. He saw Sandi lying on the ground and immediately went to her.

  "What happened? Are you alright?" he asked as he began to run his hands over her to see if she had anything broken.

  "I'm fine," she gasped, finally able to take in a breath. "Someone was upstairs and knocked me down the first flight. Where did he go?"

  "I didn't see anyone when I came out," he said and scanned the area again.

  Just then, Traci came out and ran over to Sandi. "Are you okay? What happened? Can you move?"

  "I thought I told you to stay inside," Jared growled.

  "I did, and then I came out to see what happened," she growled back at him.

  "Next time, do as you're told. You never know what could have happened. We could’ve been being held at gun point, and you were our only way of getting help."

  "Oh yeah," Traci snorted. "Could have been Jack the Ripper out here, too, but I am not seeing it."

  "With all that has gone on, nothing would surprise me," Jared said wryly.

  "Um, guys? I would really like to get up now, if you don't mind," Sandi said, still lying on the ground.

  "Oh sorry, honey, here let us help you up," Traci said, glaring at Jared.

  They helped her to stand and then Jared asked, "Did you get a good look at who it was? Did you know him?"

  "No, it was dark and he was wearing dark clothing," Sandi said. "Maybe someone just got lost or turned around."

  "Well, come on. I'm gonna walk you up and make sure everything is okay," he said, putting his hand on her lower back, and grabbing Traci's hand in the process.

  They all went up the stairs, and when they arrived at Sandi's door, Jared motioned for the girls to step to one side. He cautiously pushed the door open. Sandi couldn't believe it. It had been slightly ajar! Now why would anyone want to get into her house? she thought.

  Jared pointed to the girls to stay where they were. Neither one of them argued. They waited outside, clutching each other's hands until Jared came back out.

  "Looks like someone wanted to send you a message, Sandi. It seems you have an admirer." He turned and led them into the living room, and back to the bedroom.

  There on her pillow sat a single red rose. Sandi looked around the room, and then gasped when she saw the mirror above her dresser. In red lipstick, the one she loved to wear on bar nights, the word, SOON, was written. What the fuck did that mean? Who did this? Why did she suddenly feel very alone and very vulnerable?

  Jared was on the phone talking to one of his deputies when Sandi reached out to grab the offensive rose, and he stopped her saying, "Don't touch anything, this is all evidence now." He then continued to give orders about having the lab come and search for fingerprints.

  Sandi could not think for the life of her, of anyone who would want to do this. She hadn't been on a date since, well, since Danny. Not that she hadn't been asked, it was just that no one else could measure up in her eyes. And surely she hadn’t pissed anyone else off enough to do this. She was a Manager of a Restaurant, the most excitement she had was when Mr. Jorman from down the street sent back his green beans because they gave him gas.

  This was giving her a headache, and to think, hours before she was thinking about how wonderful her life was now that she lived here in Johnstown, Colorado. She was gonna be the next headline in the Breeze, the local newspaper. The owner never had anything exciting to report so he listened to the police scanner for all the details of what was going on, it showed up in the paper the next day. Jade and her brothers had been fodder for the paper in the last few months.

  Jared began to question her, asking about dates, previous boyfriends, anyone who might be angry with her. The whole time Traci sat with her and held her hand as they sat on the couch together. Then the lab guys showed up; Jared went back on the phone again and walked outside.

  "I'm so sorry, honey," Traci said. "We have to figure out where you’re going to stay for the next few days because you sure aren't staying here by yourself."

  "Oh no, I will be fine," Sandi said. "This was just a prank of some sorts, it has to be."

  "Well, in the meantime, you don't need to be alone. Now, let's see, what with everything happening, we’ll have to figure out who has an open room."

  Chapter Three

  Jared stepped outside of Sandi's apartment and made the call. He knew his brother Danny was going to be pissed. He had watched the two interact for some time and knew that his brother didn't have a clue, but things were about to change.

  "Hey, bro, whatcha doin'?" Danny answered.

  "We have a situation," Jared stated in his Sherriff tone that alerted his brother this was serious. "Someone broke into Sandi's apartment tonight, left a rose on her bed and a message on her mirror then as he was leaving, he ran into her coming up the stairs and literally pushed her down one flight."

  "WHAT? Is she okay?" Danny yelled, confirming Jared’s suspicions once and for all.

  "She's going to have some bruises, but she’s fine, well, as fine as she can be," Jared said sardonically.

  "What was the message he left?" Danny demanded.

  "The perp wrote 'SOON' on her mirror. Sandi seems to have caught the unwanted attention of someone." Jared smiled when his brother began to curse in the phone. He had it bad. Hell, Jade and Traci were right. Now they would never hear the end of it from those two, and they would probably try to make it a damn triple wedding. As if they weren’t going crazy to begin with.

  "What's next?" Danny growled.

  "I've got the lab boys all over it now, but with all that has gone on, all the homes are full. We need to find someone to stay with her until we figure this out," Jared said, already knowing what was coming.

  "I'm packing now, be there in fifteen," Danny stated and then hung up.

  Jared hung up his phone and smiled, yep, his brother was going down.

  As Jared stepped back into the apartment, he heard the tail end of the conversation between Traci and Sandi about finding her somewhere to stay. He heard them say something about her coming home with them.

  "No, we won't," Jared said as he stepped back into the living room. "I have a deputy coming here to stay with her. Our house is full and Jade and Zach's house isn't big enough. So, this will be the best solution, unless Sandi wants to go stay with the boys at the old place?" he said with a twinkle in his eye. For once, he was going to be able to tell his woman he had one up on her. Finally.

  "Ah no, thank you," Sandi said quickly. "I will be fine here, by myself. This was just a prank. There is nothing to worry about, I'm sure."
<
br />   "Well, until I’m certain of that, you will have company. He will be here soon," Jared stated in his most official Sherriff voice. Everyone knew not to argue with him in this mode. The result would not be good. Rarely did he pull that out with his close friends, and his fiancée raised an eyebrow at him, and he smirked.

  Sandi slammed her mouth shut and thought, well, won't the deputy have fun sleeping on my lumpy couch. This night couldn't get any freakin’ worse!

  Just as the thought had run across her mind, there was a knock at the door. Jared went to open it, and there stood Danny. Who in this damn universe was after her? She knew there had to be someone of higher power that hated her, because if not, she had the shittiest luck around.

  Danny walked in wearing jeans and a black t-shirt that stretched over his muscles like a second skin. He was carrying a duffle bag that he sat down by the front door and then spoke with Jared quietly for a few moments. The lab guys finished up and then left.

  Sandi cussed in her head, she couldn’t believe that Jared hadn’t said who was coming over. If he had, she would have packed up her shit and gone to sleep in the fucking jail for the night. The deputy would have looked out for her. She must have made a noise because Danny frowned at her over Jared’s shoulder. She smiled sweetly at him wondering if she could find some itching powder to put on the couch.

  Jared took Traci's hand and led her out, after she hugged Sandi with a promise that she would call her if she needed to talk. Sandi smiled and waved at them as they left and thanked Jared again for his help. A smile was pasted on her face when she shut the door, and leaned her forehead against it until she gathered herself up.

  As Sandi pushed away from the door, she turned to see Danny standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and staring at her as if she was a wayward teenager. "What?" she said and turned to go into her bedroom to see what kind of mess the lab boys had made, not waiting for him to answer. His hand snaked out, grabbed her by the upper arm, and spun her back around. She was immediately enclosed in his arms, exactly where she wanted to be but for all the wrong reasons.

  "Are you okay?" he asked in that deep husky voice that set shivers up her spine.

  "I'm fine, it's just a prank. Jared was the one who thought I needed someone here, if you have somewhere else to go, or someone else to do, you can go. I will be fine," she said snarkily as she pushed away from him. She was tired and she really did still want that soak—now more than ever since her fall.

  "Jared is right, you do need someone here. I volunteered for it," he said, stunning her by running his hand up and down her arm seductively.

  "Why? We aren't seeing each other anymore, Danny," Sandi said and pushed her way out of his arms and stepping back, making sure she had a good ten feet between them.

  "I know that, but that doesn't mean I don't still care about what happens to you," he growled as he reached over and grabbed his bag. "I assume I am to sleep in here?"

  "Duh," Sandi replied and forced herself to stop from sticking her tongue out at the end of the sentence. "I'm going to go take a bath. Help yourself to the remote and any food." She stomped off to her room to collect her robe and her iPod. She went into the bathroom and began to run the water into the tub. She stripped out of her clothes and added some bath salts, then plugged her iPod into her ears and cranked the volume. She just needed to escape for a little while and pretend that all of this was not happening.

  She lay back in the tub with her eyes closed, listening to her favorite song, which she knew if anyone else found out about, she would be teased. She loved the group Berlin and their song, "Take My Breath Away." She was a sucker for eighties music and movies. As she reclined listening, she kept her eyes closed thinking of the movie Top Gun while the song played.

  During the song, the couple was having sex, and all she could see were her and Danny in their places. She slowly ran her hands up her sides and fantasized it was Danny touching her. She curved her hands on the undersides of her breasts, and then slowly ran her fingers over her nipples.

  She moaned and then began to pinch her nipples making tiny sparks run all the way to her clit. She rubbed her thighs together, trying to get some friction, but it didn't help. She slowly worked her right hand down her stomach, while her left hand continued to tweak her nipple. Just as she reached the apex of her thighs, a movement or noise caught her attention. She snapped her eyes open to see Danny leaning against the doorjamb with his arms crossed watching her every move.

  She quickly sat up and jerked the earwigs out, tossing them to the floor beside the iPod. "What are you doing in here?" she shrieked and tried to gather bubbles to cover certain areas.

  "I knocked and when you didn't answer I thought you may have fallen asleep. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Go back to what you were doing, don't mind me," he said with a smile that said he was all too happy to sit back and watch. Well, she didn't want someone who would watch, she wanted someone who would do—her, to be truthful.

  "Get out!" she shouted and pointed out the door. He shrugged and walked out, closing the door behind him. So much for a relaxing bath.

  Danny exited the bathroom and thought, dayum that was hot. What had happened there? He wanted to go back and ask her who she was thinking of as she stroked herself but knew she wouldn't tell him. He hoped it was as he thought and not some random guy. His throbbing member was hoping it was him, but sadly, he would not be finding out anytime soon. So with his zipper making a permanent mark on his cock, he decided sitting down and watching TV was out of the question. He headed for the kitchen thinking that making her dinner would soon distract him enough to be able to walk normally again.

  She quickly washed off and then jumped up to turn on the shower to wash her hair. Once done, she stepped out and toweled off. Putting on her robe, she walked out into the hallway and then dashed into her bedroom, pulling on her boy shorts and an old t-shirt.

  Sandi looked into her mirror and noticed that the word had been cleaned off. She looked more closely at her room and noticed that the bedding had been changed. She always kept a spare set in the closet, including a bedspread for laundry days. The rose was nowhere in sight. She assumed the lab guys had taken it hoping to get a print.

  She walked out into the kitchen and saw Danny there cooking. She stood there watching him for a minute before he said, "You could grab us some sodas out of the fridge while I finish making this salad."

  How did he know she was there? She didn't think she had made a sound. She walked over to the fridge, grabbed two sodas, and set them on the small table that had two chairs. She saw he had already set the table and had even remembered the napkins. She had a thing about napkins. Aunt Betty had always said a southern lady knew to always hold a napkin in their lap for a variety of reasons.

  Danny came over with a bowl of spaghetti and the salad in which he’d already added the dressing. He set them down and then told her to dig in. He started filling his plate and began to eat while she was filling hers. They ate silently for a while until Danny said quietly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

  She thought it over. "What is there to say? You are a freaking pervert who needs to go to therapy. Oh, or were you talking about my other stalker?” Sandi said sweetly. “I keep saying it was a prank, and I'm sticking to that theory."

  "I don’t need therapy, damn it. Any idea who might want to pull this prank?" he asked tightly, with a tense look in his eyes.

  "No, maybe just some kid who got bored. You know, like Peeping Tom’s, I heard that is the gateway crime, what do you think, Deputy?" she said trying to sound bitchy even though she was shaking inside thinking that someone had it out for her. It was all starting to sink in, and she set her plate aside as she realized that. She began to shake. What was she going to do? she thought. Who could it be? Why would someone want to hurt her?

  Her thoughts began to turn toward all the things that could have happened to her if this person had been in her house when she came home. Fear engulfed her. Just as her e
yes filled with tears, and she glanced at Danny, she saw he was looking at her with understanding.

  The next thing she knew, he got up and rounded the table to her side. Picking her up in his arms, he carried her to the couch. He sat down, holding her in his lap, cradling her to him, while she cried and held on to him. As she slowly came back to herself, she realized that he was rubbing circles on her back and whispering to her that she would stay safe, and he would take care of her. She gathered her thoughts and calmed down more. Then she shifted in his lap, and he let out a groan.

  "Darlin', you had better stay still, or we are going to have a serious problem," he stated in that deep voice. He looked down at her and gave her one of his cocky grins that always irritated her. That grin meant he wanted to get lucky and that sure as hell wasn't going to happen.

  She quickly moved off his lap and then grabbed one of the throw pillows on the couch and stuck it between them. Whether that was for a barrier between them, or to cover her nipples that had tightened and now showed through her shirt, one would never know. His knowing smile on his face said he knew as he turned to her with an upraised eyebrow.

  She waited for him to say something, but he didn't, so they just sat there staring at each other until she got exasperated. "Although I thank you for being here, I really wish you would go. I am fine now, no one is here, and I do have a deadbolt," she said with as much conviction as she could.

  "Sorry, darlin', I'm here for the night. Don't go gettin' your panties in a twist, I will bunk out here on the couch, unless you need me to keep you warm?" he said with a leer.

  She giggled and said more calmly, "No, I will be fine. You know where I keep the spare stuff." She got up and started to leave the room, at the doorway to her bedroom, she paused, "Hey, Danny?" She looked into his eyes and spoke from her heart, "Thank you."