“No, no,” she shook her head. “I'm alright, thank you. I just needed a moment.” She lifted her head and looked at him. “Is there any way I can repay you?” She asked. “I don't have a whole lot of money, but I could-”
“Let me buy you dinner sometime,” he said with a boyish grin. She blinked in surprise, not expecting to hear that as the reward that he wanted to claim. She had expected money, or something along those lines, but not a date, that's for sure.
“Are you sure that's what you want?” She asked, surprised. “Don't get me wrong, I would be remiss to not accept, on account of you being all handsome and cool and-” she cut off her own rambling with a swallow, confident that she could make toast off of her cheeks from how much heat they were emitting. “It's just surprising, that's all.”
“Clearly,” he said with a chuckle. He took out a notepad and a pen from his pocket and jotted down his phone number, handing it to her. “Here, this is my cell number, so that you can get in touch with me if you decide that you want to,” he smiled at her as she took it and programmed it into her phone immediately.
“Of course I want to!” She said excitedly as she put her phone away. She opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off when the sound of shrill police sirens cut into the night. Lance looked up from her to investigate the sound.
“Looks like the cavalry is here,” he said with another chuckle. “I'll wait with you to give a statement before I head out,” he glared at the man that attacked her, now being hauled up by a police officer. “Anything to make this asshole pay for being such a coward.” She nodded to him in silent agreement. Now that the immediate danger had passed, she was eager to make sure that he wouldn't do this to anyone again.
A police officer came to take their statements, and was curt but polite about it, clearly not happy with being called out so late in the day and most likely even less happy about having to do paperwork on this scum all night. Their statements were taken in short order before the police officer told them to wait while they questioned the suspect that was detained. They handcuffed him with their own pair of cuffs and took the key to Lance's set to give him his cuffs back, which Lance took with a quiet, 'thank you,' and safely tucked them in his back pocket.
It wasn't long before the police officer that spoke to them before walked away from the handcuffed man while his partner hauled him into the back of their squad car kicking and screaming about how he was being assaulted unfairly and how this wasn't over by a long shot. Elora had to refrain from rolling her eyes at the man. They bagged the assailant's gun for evidence and walked back over to where the two of them were waiting to be told what to do next.
“Well, he says that the two of you attacked him and tried to rob him,” the officer said in a bored tone of voice. “But he's a repeat offender, and the evidence doesn't add up for his story. The two of you have been nothing but straightforward with us, so as far as we're concerned, the case is closed,” he took out a business card for each of them and handed them to each of them. “We might call you for further questions, so just make yourselves available.” They nodded and thanked the officer before he left.
“I'd best be getting back on base,” Lance said as he stuffed his hands in his back pockets casually. “Goodness knows that if I'm not there to beat them into shape, my men are bound to get themselves into trouble over the weekend,” they shared a laugh. “Anyway, I'll text you in the morning, and we'll figure out when we'll get together,” he said with a wink. “I'll be seeing you around, Elora. Have yourself a good night, and drive safe!” He called over his shoulder as he turned and walked away.
“Goodnight,” she said quietly as she walked over to her car and seated herself inside in a daze. She didn't realize that she had a headache until she closed the car door and the loud thump from the door made her head rattle. She hadn't realized that a tension headache had formed, but now that she knew that it was there, there was no avoiding the way that her head felt like it was being split in two.
Driving home allowed the throbbing in her temples to recede gradually, the relatively desolate back roads to her home allowing her to calm her mind and enjoy the quiet of her car to help her wind down from the hectic way that her day ended. And she found herself infinitely grateful when the quiet wasn't disturbed even after she'd walked into her house and setting down her purse on the kitchen counter. Her roommate, and longtime best friend Jenna, only needed to take one look at her before realizing that she had a migraine, evidently, because after she greeted her, she looked at her in silent worry, her brows furrowed in concern. She greeted her friend with a shaky smile before walking past her and heading into the living room. Jenna rose from her seat and left her be, something that she was grateful for.
She sunk into her downy soft couch with a heavy sigh, enjoying the all encompassing quiet that was only interrupted by the soft clinking of glasses in the kitchen, no doubt Jenna making herself something to drink or something. Kicking off her heels and curling up into herself, she closed her eyes and simply enjoyed being done with her day and everything that happened with the evening. She sagged in relief as she felt her tension bleed out of her, and she stretched herself with a catlike purr, limbs extending far away from her center as possible to work everything out of her.
“Rough day?” Jenna asked softly, as she rounded the corner to perch on a sofa chair catty-corner to the couch. She had two mugs of steaming hot tea in her hands and held one out to her to take. She sat up to face Jenna and cupped her hands around the mug, drawing it to herself with a quiet, 'thank you,' and letting its warmth seep into her bones.
“Long day, more like,” she blew on her tea to cool it before taking an experimental sip. “And getting held at gunpoint on my way to the car tonight certainly didn't help things.” Jenna's eyes widened and she nearly choked on her tea from a surprised gasp taken while drinking. “Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,” Elora said apologetically, patting her friend on the back to help her get the coughs out. “Honestly, I didn't know how else to mention it to you, so I just kind of... blurted it out. I'm sorry. I guess I'm working through things myself still.”
“You were held at gunpoint?!” Jenna wheezed. “What happened?!”
“Some scumbag tried to rob me,” she sighed and drank some more of her tea. “But thankfully, someone saw it and came in to help me.” She tried not to blush at the way that she could so easily recall the way that his face looked, and how intense his bright blue eyes were. “We're actually going on a date this weekend.”
“What?” Jenna gasped again, this time thankfully before she had taken another drink of tea so that she didn't wind up choking on it again. “How on earth did that happen? How does someone go from being robbed at gunpoint to getting a date with their rescuer?” Jenna gawked at her with wide eyes, and really, Elora couldn't blame her; the turn of events was sudden and odd for her, too.
“Well, after he saved me and made sure that the robber wasn't going to hurt either of us again, he called the police and promised to stay with me while I waited for the police to come,” she began, setting her mug down on the side table that was perched in the corner touching both the couch and the armchair that Jenna was seated at. “While we were waiting, we talked a little. I thanked him for saving me, and asked him if there was anything I could do to repay him.”
“Oh, God,” Jenna said flatly. “He didn't say that he wanted to have sex with you or anything as repayment, did he? He better not have,” she said, frowning. Elora laughed and shook her head.
“I would never have agreed to it if he had been a douche about it,” she responded dryly. “He said that he wanted to buy me dinner.” She sighed and flopped back onto the couch, staring up at the ceiling. “I need a drink. Do we have any liquor in the house? That'd be nice,” she said wistfully.
“No, we're all out,” she heard Jenna say from her spot in the chair. “And I wouldn't want you to drink too much anyway; you already had a headache before, I could tell, and drinking would only
make it worse.” Elora groaned and hated that she was right.
“Yeah, I can't really argue with that,” she said tiredly. She sighed and heaved herself back up to a sitting position and picked up her tea mug again to take another drink.
“Would you like another cup?” Jenna offered as she rose to make herself another one. “There's plenty of water in the kettle for us both to have another cup or two of tea.” Elora nodded and stood up to go make more tea with her.
She sighed as she pulled out a fresh tea bag and plopped it into her mug. Jenna poured the water into their mugs, and the two of them let their mugs sit there for a little while to let the tea steep properly. They stood in companionable silence while they waited for their tea to brew, and as they waited, it occurred to Elora just how tired she was. She swore to herself that she would go to bed after she finished this cup of tea and had a bit of a chat with Jenna some more.
“So, what's he like?” Jenna asked suddenly, pulling Elora out of her thoughts. She turned to look at her friend, wondering what she meant. “The guy that you're going out for dinner with. What's he like?” She asked with a tilt of her head. Elora sighed.
“Well, he was brave enough to save me from an armed robber, and kind enough to do it even though I was a stranger to him,” she began. “His name is Lance, and he's incredibly handsome, and he was so sweet with me, he made sure that I was alright while we waited for the police to get there. He really acted so caring and gentle while I was working through what happened.” She tapped a finger to her chin as she thought. “He certainly didn't seem like he minded getting his hands dirty, especially when it came to his boys.”
“His men?” Jenna blinked at her, clearly a little lost.
“Oh, right, forgot to mention,” Elora laughed. “He's a Lieutenant in the Navy Seals, and he has men that work under him that he has to make sure stay in line and all that.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Jenna nodded, satisfied with the answer. They drank their tea once they let it cool a little, and it wasn't long before the day's events caught up with Elora, who was already nodding off where they were standing in the kitchen.
“I think I'm going to head off to bed,” she said finally after a yawn so wide that her jaw popped. Jenna nodded.
“Just as well, I've got some more work to do before I head to bed, so I'll still be up for a while,” Jenna took their mugs and washed them out in the sink before leaving them out for the morning. “'Night, Elora.”
“Night,” she said as she headed off to bed. She went into her bedroom, shut the door, and threw herself onto her bed and crawled under the covers, a yawn wide enough to pop her jaw passing her lips. To hell with her makeup, or showering, she'd do it in the morning, she decided as she snuggled deeper into her cocoon of warmth, and let her exhaustion carry her into a dreamless slumber.
When she eventually woke up the next day, she heaved herself out of bed sluggishly and trudged into the kitchen for some tea. After partaking of her fresh, hot brew, she felt a little more awake, but no less slow, like she normally did when she woke up on a day off, but decided that even though she wasn't going into work today, that she needed a shower all the same, and went back into her bedroom and walked through it to make it to her bathroom.
Her en suite bathroom was spacious, but sparsely decorated. She saw little point in it, as she was almost never home to enjoy it, but she had to admit, on her days off, she did wish that she put a little more effort into her home décor. The one thing that she didn't scrimp on was the shower, a lovely walk in glass door shower with two faucets on either side of it, and was something that she always looked forward to when she went to shower, she thought to herself as she got her shower started. Water poured from jets on opposite walls in the walk-in shower as she shed her clothing and stepped in, and she all but moaned sexually when the hot water began to work at her aching and tired muscles. For a while, she just stood in the shower and let the water run down her creamy skin in rivulets to chase away the stress of yesterday, before finally forcing herself to lather her hair and body, scrubbing away the previous day's stress.
Finally, she emerged from the shower filled with more energy than she had felt all week and infinitely grateful the last traces of her migraine from last night had been scrubbed from her scalp. She just finished toweling off when she heard her phone ring on her bedside table. Letting her towel drop and walking over to it, she picked up the phone and answered.
“Hello?”
“Elora?” She heard Lance say on the other end of the call. She smiled at hearing his voice, glad to be talking to him again. Maybe it was because he was the one that helped her out of a bad situation, but the tone of his voice made her feel relaxed.
“Hey, Lance!” She said brightly as she walked over to her bathroom and grabbed a hairbrush. “ Brushing her hair out and making her way to the closet, she began to scan the clothes hung there to try and find something suitable to wear.
“I was just calling to see when you'd be interested in getting together,” he said casually. “I have the whole weekend off, so I was wondering if today or tomorrow would work for you?” Finding something suitable for a date was evidently on the menu for today, she thought as she switched priority from comfort to sex appeal.
“I'm off today, so that would be perfect. What did you have in mind?” She said as she held the phone in the crook of her neck with her shoulder and her cheek. It felt almost naughty to be talking to him while she was naked, even though she knew that there was no way for him to know that.
“How about I pick you up later today and we go out to dinner? My treat, of course,” he said.
“Sounds great, I'll text you my address,” she said with a smile. “What time works for you?”
“I'll be there in an hour,” he said. She stole a glance at her clock, surprised that it was already three in the afternoon. Had she slept that late?
“Works for me,” she said as she pushed past a particularly ugly Christmas sweater that was hidden in her closet. They said their goodbyes and hung up, and Elora sent off her address to him before tossing her phone on her bed and looking in her closet in earnest. Settling on a long sleeved, off the shoulder sheath dress made of soft garnet fabric, she plucked it out of the closet and set it on the bed. Rummaging through her drawers, she eventually found some black lacy slips of nothing to wear as a bra and thong set, and set to work dressing herself.
Her makeup, now more of an alluring smoky eye with full burgundy lips, was put on with relative swiftness, if a bit fumblingly- it had been a while since she'd tarted herself up beyond a little eyeliner, after all. Satisfied with how she looked so far, she let her steadily drying chestnut hair fluff out, letting the natural gentle waves frame her face flatteringly while she picked out a pair of shoes. Settling on a pair of black pumps, she stepped into them, giving herself a once over in the mirror.
The makeup highlighted her striking gray eyes against her olive skin alluringly. The dress swathed her figure in jewel toned scarlet fabric, accentuating her best angles without making her less flattering ones incredibly obvious, something that she was infinitely grateful for. When she was finished, she turned and looked into the mirror, and practically purred from how good she felt and looked.
When she came back out, she noticed that she wasn't alone in the living room, and that Jenna hadn't gone to bed just yet. As it turned out, she hadn't made it that far, she noted as she took in Jenna's snoozing form on the couch. Grabbing a blanket and draping it over her, she took a seat at the chair and fiddled with her phone to pass the time until Lance made it over.
Jenna woke up after another half hour of her waiting, and trudged into her own bedroom to get some actual restful sleep, leaving her alone in the living room. Before she knew it, she was getting a text from Lance letting her know that he was almost there, so she stood up and made her way to the front door. Stepping outside and locking the door behind her, she waited for a few minutes until she saw him pull up to her driveway.
“Hey!” She chirped as she hopped into the passenger seat of his car.
“Hello to you, too,” he said slowly as he took in her appearance. She flushed prettily but grinned at him as he pulled away and headed off toward their destination. “I've been really looking forward to this,” he said with a grin. She smiled and shared his sentiment, and they made idle chat as they went on their way the short distance to the restaurant that they were going to. According to Lance, it was a Vietnamese fusion place that just opened around here that he had been really wanting to try out since they opened. Being a lover of trying new things, she wholeheartedly agreed that this was a definite place to try. They chatted amicably for the drive, and it wasn't long before he was parking his car in the parking lot of the place and they were hopping out of his car.
He held the door open for her as they stepped into the establishment and walked up to the greeter. After asking for a table for two, they were shown to their booth almost instantly, as there weren't any other people waiting to be seated. The place was tastefully decorated and they must have come at the perfect time, in the lull before the dinner rush.
“What would you like to drink?” The waitress asked gently as she pulled out a little notepad and a pen.
“Strawberry lemonade for me, please,” Elora said softly with a smile.
“Iced tea for me, please,” he said. With a smile, the waitress promised to be right back to take their orders and scurried off. As they took a look at the menu, it was easy to make idle talk about everything and nothing, and the atmosphere was relaxed between them, something that pleased her to no end. It was so important to her that they could talk easily and with very little awkwardness or pauses that hung for too long between. She took it as a good sign, and relished in the thrill of excitement for the rest of their date that she felt.
“So, I'm wondering something,” he said conversationally as he stared at her over the edge of the menu. She looked up from hers and set it down, having already made up her mind as to what she was going to order.
ROMANCE: NAVY SEAL ROMANCE: Morning After (Military Bad Boy Pregnancy Romance Collection) (New Adult Alpha Male Paranormal Short Stories Collection) Page 9