by Nicky Fox
My apartment seems so much smaller than it did before. I’ve gotten used to Jake’s expansive loft space. Maggie’s junk is scattered all over the dining table. It looks like she dumped out one of her purses to use another one. I shake my head. I’ve missed that girl. I’ve missed Lee and the baby too. We all have to have a weekly meeting, just the three of us girls. I text Lee and Maggie my idea and they both quickly text back agreeing.
I grab a large tote and pull some panties out of my drawer. I also need a few more work outfits. I’m meeting with some new clients next week and I want to look polished. I grab my brush, a nail polish color I love, and some tampons. I already have a new toothbrush at Jake’s place. I think this will do it for now. I make a once-over of my room to see if I’m forgetting anything and then grab my keys. It’ll be more convenient having my car at Jake’s place.
I’m out the door and down the stairs and click the unlock button on my keys. I don’t hear the ding as I look around for flashing lights, signaling my car. I look down one aisle and up the other and still can’t find my car. I think back to where I parked it last. I wrack my brain and finally I remember the spot where I left it. I walk over and there’s a PT Cruiser in the spot where my Honda should be.
I immediately call the police and head to the leasing office. They might have a security camera we can look at. After the woman in dispatch says they’ll be sending a police officer over, I head into the manager’s office at my apartment complex. She’s able to check a few of the cameras at the entrances and exits of the complex. Sure enough, yesterday evening my Honda drove out at eleven o’clock at night. I sigh in a chair in the manager’s office. She offers the video as evidence. I thank her and wait for the police to show up.
While I wait, I realize I haven’t told Jake. I quickly call him. “Hey, I beat you home.” I close my eyes at his comment. He always knows what to say to make me feel better, home.
“Hey. So, umm. My car was stolen.” I hear rustling on his end as if he’s sitting up suddenly.
“Are you okay? Your apartment wasn’t broken into or anything, right?” He sounds so worried and even though this is a shitty situation, his worry for me doesn’t go unnoticed.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m waiting in the manager’s office at the complex. I’ve already called the cops and they’re on their way.”
Jake breathes heavily over the phone. “Good. I’ll be right there.”
I smile and everything feels so much better. Jake always makes me feel safe.
“Okay.”
I’d normally feel like I’m a bother or that I’m not worth the trip over, but with Jake I know there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than with me. Whenever I need him he’s always there. It isn’t even fifteen minutes later and he’s walking with purpose to me. Jake embraces me. I grip on to his back as he holds me tight. I breathe in his smell and lay my head on his chest.
“Are you okay?” he asks into my hair. Jake kisses my head and I melt.
I nod. His hands bring my face up and his lips come down on mine. I hold him tight against me as he kisses me softly. I hear someone clear their throat. I move to pull away but Jake holds tight and kisses me a few seconds more before he finally lets me go.
The police officer stands in the lobby of the leasing center. We accompany him to the manager’s office as we talk about the tape and, of course, my history with Trent. I’m upset about my car, even though I was thinking of purchasing a new one soon anyway. I don’t want to let this get to me. I’m sure now it’ll be easier for the police to arrest whoever is doing this.
An hour later, we’re starved and ready for dinner. We get takeout and head back to Jake’s apartment. We don’t say much as we’re both tired from the ordeal. Later that night, after making love, I’m lying on Jake’s chest. I don’t want to talk about my car or office or the flowers. I want to talk about us.
“Are you my boyfriend?” I don’t know why it sounds funny, but it does. I’m a career woman asking if a guy is my boyfriend. It’s also amusing, because he seems like more to me than that. Jake rubs my back and moves my hair from my shoulder.
“Do you want me to be your boyfriend?” He sounds very serious. I know he hasn’t been in this situation in a long time. He finally trusts someone again; I don’t take that lightly. I want him to know I’m very serious about this relationship. I see it going somewhere.
“Yes, I want you to be my boyfriend.” I lay my palms flat on his chest and look up at him. He bends down to kiss me softly.
“Okay.” This time, he sounds breathy. I squirm on top of him and he grabs my butt. We have round two and when I tell my boyfriend to make me come, he does.
18
“So, you’re telling me he has a solid alibi?” I’m on the phone with the detective the next morning. He has no answers for me. Apparently, Trent is a lot smarter than I gave him credit for. He has been in Brownwood and has a solid alibi for the night my car was stolen. Of course, they won’t tell me what that alibi is. I’m almost tempted to drive the three hours south and confront the asshole. Why won’t he leave me alone? I hang up and concentrate on my work. My business is booming and Jake said I could even afford to hire on Becky.
I give Becky a call and she’s ecstatic. We make plans for her to come work for me two weeks from now. She wants to get her affairs in order first. That day I order her a new desk, phone, and some office supplies. I can’t wait to have another person in the office with me. Don’t get me wrong, I get a lot accomplished when it’s quiet, but I would like to bounce ideas off someone sometimes.
I call Jake with the exciting news. “Hey, Becky said yes!”
He chuckles over the phone. I love that sound. “Should I be worried?” Wow, a joke from Jake Westley. He’s coming back to the living.
“Ha! Very funny. I’m so excited. I already ordered her a new desk.” I tap my pen against my notepad.
“That’s great. How about I bring you lunch and you can tell me all about it?”
“That sounds perfect!”
Forty-five minutes later, Jake strolls through my office door with my favorite Asian food.
“Hey, baby.” Gosh, when his voice rumbles like that, it does things to me. I stand up and greet him with a hug and a kiss. His lips linger on mine. I lick his bottom lip and bat my eyelashes at him. I’m being naughty and he knows it. Jake sets down the food and grabs my ass hoisting me up on my desk.
“Jake!”
“Did you wear a skirt on purpose today? You want me to fuck you on your desk again?”
I giggle and kiss him. I didn’t anticipate eating lunch with him today, so this is a nice surprise. The food goes cold, but it’s totally worth it. There’s nothing like desk sex in the middle of the day. Maybe Jake and I need to look into sharing an office space?
We sit on the floor of my office and pick at our cold Asian food. “We need to have sex on my desk next time.” Jake eats some noodles from his chopsticks. I almost choke on the food in my mouth. He pats my back as I take a sip of my soda. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, you’ll have to put me on your schedule, Mr. Westley.”
He puts down his food and crawls over to me until I’m forced to lie down.
“Mmm, I like it when you call me Mr. Westley.” He rubs his erection against my stomach. This guy seriously has an amazing sex drive. It matches mine perfectly. I’m a very highly sexual person usually, but with this man, I can’t get enough of him. I spread my legs below him and he settles between them.
“Mr. Westley!” I sound like an appalled southern woman. I think that turns Jake on even more. His hips begin to grind against mine. He’s doing a pushup over me as he looks up and down my body. I swear, sometimes he looks at me like he’s never seen my figure before, or he’s taking it all in for the first time. I don’t know how he does it. I begin to unbutton his shirt; we didn’t get to that part on the desk.
I love looking at his body. His chest is one of my favorite parts to look at. I open his shirt and rake my na
ils down his torso. Jake’s head goes back as he groans. Soon he’s unfastening his belt, unbuttoning his pants and rolling on a condom one more time. I open my shirt and bring down my bra so he can kiss me there. He knows how to touch me and what turns me on during sex. I lie on my office floor as he pushes my panties aside and thrusts inside me.
“Yes!” I call out. I might get rug burns from this, but every time I feel this pain, I’ll think of what he did to me. I wrap my legs around his hips as he relentlessly fucks me.
“Come on, baby. Give me that sugar.” Jake’s eyes bore into mine as if to challenge me to look away. I don’t. I gasp at every push and moan at his withdraw. He thrusts faster as he feels me tightening around him.
“Oh, Mr. Westley!” I scratch my nails down his back, but I keep my eyes on him as I hit the peak of my orgasm.
“Fuck, yes. Evie.” He moans my name as I spiral. Jake stills and empties himself inside me. “God, Evie.” He pants. Jake is still hovering above me, sweaty. It’s damn sexy. His shirt completely open, his pants pushed down, and him between my legs. I clench around him and he groans as he grinds against my pussy. “You want more of this cock, baby?” I don’t answer him, I just tilt my hips up.
He finally lies down on me and kisses me. Jake’s kisses are soft and lingering. Exhausted, I lie limp as we hold each other. His lips come to my ear and he whispers, “I love you.”
I gasp and pull at the hair on the back of his head. Jake pulls away and looks at me.
“I love you.”
Tears immediately fill my eyes. I thought I misheard him the first time. I hold his face in both of my hands.
“I love you, too.” Tears stream down the sides of my face. He chuckles and wipes them away.
Jake bends back down to his spot beside my ear. “I love you, Evie Walker.”
I slowly close my eyes and take in his declaration. I was hoping for love with Jake. I know I was already in love with him, but I didn’t know he felt that deeply for me.
“Pencil me into your schedule tomorrow, Mr. Westley.”
He chuckles as I cling to him.
The next morning is Saturday. Jake and I sleep in since we had such a long night. It seems when a man declares his love for me, I become even more insatiable. We’re sitting at the table eating breakfast when my cell phone rings.
“Hello?” I put down my piece of toast and try to eat the bite in my mouth quickly.
“Hello, Ms. Walker? This is Officer Hernandez. We found your car.” I get up and nudge Jake as I sit down in his lap. I hold my hand over the phone.
“They found my car.”
He gives me a thumbs up and takes a sip of his coffee.
“That’s great, Officer.”
“Well, thing is . . .” The officer trails off.
“When can I come pick it up?”
“Ms. Walker, it was found in a church parking lot this morning at two a.m. It was on fire.” I drop the phone. My hands cover a gasp that escapes my mouth.
“Evie? What is it?” Jake grabs my cell and continues speaking with the officer while holding me. “Oh, I see. Okay. Do you think it’s safe? Has Mr. Calloway been accounted for? All right. I’ll tell her. Thank you, Officer.” Jake sets down the phone beside me and rubs my shoulders. “Baby, I’m so sorry.” He kisses my forehead as tears fall. “Don’t worry. I’ll put a security system in your office and I’ll take you wherever you want to go. We can go somewhere today if you want?” I lean into his touch and bury my head in his shoulder.
“I just want to be here with you.” I sniffle. My love high is gone and is replaced with fear. Jake rocks me back and forth for a little while. I just want to escape in this man. I don’t want to face my car, my office, or any of the other problems that have seemed to plague me lately. I want to retreat, but not to a city a couple of hours away. I want to shut down away from the world.
“What did the officer say?” I sniffle.
Jake sighs. “He said where they found your car. They can’t get any fingerprints because of the fire. It’s totaled, baby. The fire department wasn’t able to salvage it. It’s already been towed to a scrap yard.” He strokes my head. “They don’t have any leads.”
I dab at my eyes, but it’s no use, the tears continue to come. I’m not even that upset about my car. I’m more concerned why someone would do something like this. This isn’t a run of the mill theft. Whoever did this set my car on fire to send a message. This was personal. If this person was able to steal my car and set it on fire without any evidence, what else is this person capable of doing?
I think about Trent and if he’s able to do such a thing. I just don’t know. That’s what everyone says about serial killers. They were normal and their family was totally shocked when they went off the deep end. I clear my head of those dark thoughts and think about what needs to be done. I really have no idea. I just want to stay with Jake.
After I stop crying, Jake pulls my face away from him and gazes into my eyes. “I will take care of you. I won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll get to the bottom of this. Okay?”
I nod my head as fresh tears begin. I love this man. I do. He’s become the most important part of my life. I lay my head back on his shoulder. I take him in. Jake’s masculine scent fills my nose and I feel my body relax. He’s become a bit of a security blanket for me lately. I know these horrible things that have happened lately, but out of that it’s brought Jake and me even closer.
I lie against him and think about Lee and Maggie. I already decided not to tell Lee about all this when it started. I’m even more determined now not to mention it. She has a new baby and is healing from giving birth. She doesn’t need to be worrying about me. I should probably call Maggie. I want to make sure she’s safe. I know all of this is directed toward me, so I’m sure she’s fine. I should still keep her updated. When I told her about my car being stolen, she thought it might be a different incident, not the same person.
“I should call Maggie and tell her about . . . the latest event,” I mumble against Jake’s neck.
“Okay, baby.”
I smile at his sweet sentiment. I’m not used to him calling me such sweet nicknames. I love it though. After giving him a quick kiss on the lips, I grab my phone and head to the bedroom to call Maggie.
“Hello?” Maggie sounds tired. She works herself too hard sometimes.
“Hey, Mags.”
“God, you even sound like you’re getting laid. I really need some sausage.”
I smile. I’m not really in the mood to laugh yet, but I can always count on Maggie lifting my spirits.
“Hey, I just wanted to let you know that they found my car.” I pace back and forth not yet wanting to reveal the details.
“That’s great! Did some stupid kids take it on a joyride or something?” I can tell she’s eating something . . . probably an apple by the crisp sound her bite makes.
“Umm, no. It was found in a church parking lot early this morning. It was on fire.” I hear her gasp.
“Oh, my God. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I wasn’t in the car, Mags,” I say sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood.
“Well yeah, but . . . who do you think is doing this? That’s really crazy. Is it your boss? Do the police know?” Her questions are rapid-fire one after the other and I just shake my head at her.
“No, it seems the police and I know as much as you, which is nothing.” I rub my forehead. I feel a headache coming on. I just want all of this to be over. I want the police to catch whoever is doing this.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. I can’t believe this is happening to you. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“Thanks, Maggie. You be careful, okay? Report any suspicious activity. Maybe we should get you an alarm system at the apartment?” I tap my fingers to my lips, debating different companies I could possibly call to install one this weekend.
“Don’t you worry about me, girl. I got my thirty-eight special.”
“I don’t kn
ow if that makes me feel better or more scared.”
Maggie laughs at my comment. I sit down on the bed imagining Maggie with a big revolver handgun. I didn’t know she had one. I know Maggie can hold her own though. She’s been through some shit and I’d trust her with my life.
“Okay, girl. Just stay safe for me, okay?”
“You too, sweetie.” We hang up at the same time.
I must fall asleep because the next thing I feel is Jake’s arms holding me and we’re in bed. We stay in Jake’s apartment most of the day in our pajamas. We watch eighties movies and order in. It’s like being in our own private bubble. There’ve been no calls from the police. I doubt I’ll hear from them about anything.
Jake schedules an alarm system to be installed on Monday. That’s the earliest they could get us in. We spend Sunday much like Saturday with the exception of a stop at the grocery store. It feels like we’re a normal couple. I like the normality of it. He’s my boyfriend. I still get butterflies in my stomach when I think about it.
Monday comes quickly and it’s back to the daily grind. I didn’t want this to impact my business. Jake drops me off at my office after surveying to make sure everything is locked up and safe for me. I give him a kiss and shove him out the door. I have a lot of designs that need to be started.
Before I know it, it’s around lunchtime. The alarm company is supposed to arrive around two. I decide to pop into my favorite sandwich shop around the corner. The people there are great. Since I’m one of their regulars, when they see me come in, they immediately start making my order. Just like clockwork, I walk in and Lucy Clemmons waves hi and puts an order in for my food before I get to the counter.
“How are you doing, Evie?” Mrs. Clemmons asks.
I hand her my credit card and she swipes it quickly. “Just fine, Mrs. Clemmons. How are you?”
“Oh, you know how it is being beautiful and having men fawn all over ya.” She winks and chuckles at me.