by Charlie
Maybe he was just in the bathroom. She rolled over and stretched, wincing slightly as stiff muscles protested. A smile spread over her face and she ran her hand down her body. It didn’t feel different, but it was. Now, it belonged to Jake. She blushed as memories of the previous night ran through her mind. The things he’d done to her with his hands and mouth! She’d never known… And the things she’d done to him! But it had all felt right and natural. Like Jake had said, it was instinct.
Her hand gently touched her mound and she wondered why the first time hadn’t hurt. From all she’d read and heard, there should have been pain or a burning, tearing sensation, but instead there’d just been pressure and a wonderful feeling of fullness as he entered her before she became lost in the heady sensations his movements had created. Jake had said he wouldn’t hurt her. Smiling she decided that he must be a very skilled lover. How and where he’d attained those skills she didn’t know and it wasn’t her concern. He’d chosen her now and that was all that mattered.
Dreamily, she relived bits and pieces of the night before, how she’d awoke in the early hours and brazenly run her hands over his body, holding his hot shaft and stroking the sensitive skin. With a shiver, she recalled his tongue on her breasts, then encircling her navel… His warm breath feathering over her thighs, his teeth nipping… As if possessed, she’d wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding herself against him, begging him to ease the ache inside. The feel of him sliding in and out of her had been exquisite; his movements slow and sensual until some wild need had risen in both of them and then suddenly he was pounding into her so hard the bed had actually been hitting against the wall. It had felt so good and the intensity of his possession, the masterful way his fingers had dug into her hips… Mmm… Strangely enough, rather than being frightening, it had been exciting and erotic, sending her into spasms of delight. Never in any of her imaginings had she come even close to the ecstasy she’d experienced last night.
Already her body was craving his again and she moved restlessly, wishing he was there with her. She frowned wondering why he still wasn’t back. Listening carefully, she realized that she was alone in the apartment. He was out somewhere. Getting more groceries? Possibly… Oh well, it didn’t matter; there’d be no repeat of last night now. Rolling out of bed, she realized that she needed to use the bathroom. Padding across the room, she decided that a shower wouldn’t be amiss either. Sex was a bit of a sweaty and sticky business.
She turned on the shower and waited for the water to warm up while studying herself in the mirror. Light tan lines from her bathing suit could be seen. That’s strange, she thought. There was no evidence of yesterday’s sunburn. Last night, after her shower, she’d been as red as a lobster. With her fair colouring, it had happened to her numerous times before. Her skin should still be pink and tender, not tanned. What type of cream had Jake used? She’d have to stock up on it, whatever it was. Looking on the counter, she saw no tube or bottle but then remembered it had been in a small foil pouch. Pulling the garbage pail forward, she peered inside and pulled out the lone item.
It was a package of hand cream from a motel chain. The brand was a common one she’d used before and there was no way it would cure a sunburn. She stood and stared at her shoulders, then turned to look over her shoulder at her back. Definitely no sunburn there, either; just a tan. Had she imagined it? No. She distinctly recalled the heat generating off of her skin, the tender to the touch feeling… Frowning, she stepped into the shower and began to wash, puzzling over her missing burn.
By the time she was done showering, she still didn’t have an answer and was determined to ask Jake about her mysterious cure when he returned but after dressing, she checked the clock and realized it was almost time to leave for work. She was just debating about leaving him a note, when he walked in. He was dressed casually in jeans and a short sleeved blue shirt that accented the blue of his eyes. His black hair was slightly windblown and a wide smile spread across his face when he saw her.
“Hi!” He walked up to her and kissed her warmly. “Almost ready to leave for work?”
“Yeah, I was just going to leave you a note and call a cab.”
“No need. I brought your car over here.” He dropped the keys into her hand.
“Really?”
“I hope you don’t mind. I got your keys from your purse and took a cab to the house, then drove back here. I figured you’d want your own transportation today.”
“Thanks, Jake. That was really thoughtful of you.”
“Hey—that’s the kind of guy I am.” He pulled her into a hug and gave her a longer, more intense kiss. She felt her toes curling and wished she didn’t have to go to work. Slowly, reluctantly, they broke apart. Jake gently twined a strand of her hair around his finger. “So, how are you feeling this morning?”
She felt her face getting warm, but bravely met his gaze. “I’m fine—great actually. Thank you for making last night so perfect.”
“My pleasure.” His eyes twinkled then he bent and nuzzled the sensitive spot just behind her ear. She let her head fall to the side giving him better access. A shiver ran down her spine as his teeth grazed her skin. Her tanned skin… The skin with no sunburn…
“Jake?”
“Hmm?”
“What happened to my sunburn?” She felt him still momentarily, then move to brushing his lips along her jaw line.
“Your sunburn? I put some cream on it, remember?”
“Yes, but it was just ordinary hand cream; I saw the package in the garbage this morning.” She pulled back and looked him in the eye. “My sunburn’s totally gone and that’s never happened before. I burn easily and it lasts for days. Jake, what happened?”
He stepped away and picked up Coco, who was lounging on the coffee table. “I have the healing touch, I guess.” Jake spoke lightly, walking towards the balcony, keeping his back to her.
“That’s not an answer.”
Slowly he turned around, as if reluctant to face her. “Look, we can talk about this when you get home, tonight. I… I have something important to tell you and there isn’t enough time to do it properly right now. You’re going to be late for work. It takes longer to drive to the shop from here, than it does from your house.”
Stephanie studied him for a moment before shrugging. It really wasn’t important enough to start an argument over, she decided. “All right, we’ll talk tonight.” She noted that Jake appeared relieved. He tucked Coco under one arm and walked her to the door.
“I want you to be extra careful today. The police said it’s highly unlikely that this stalker person will do anything beyond verbal threats, but don’t take any chances. Don’t go anywhere by yourself. Let Paula make the deliveries. I’ll call the store in about half an hour to make sure you’ve arrived safely.”
“Yes, mother.” She mocked before giving him a quick peck and closing the door. Humming quietly to herself, she made her way to the parking lot, thinking how nice it was to have someone to kiss goodbye. Looking up towards Jake’s apartment, she saw him watching her from the balcony. ‘That’s so sweet,’ she thought to herself as she waved at him. ‘He’s watching to make sure I get to my car safely.’ With one more jaunty wave, she climbed inside and drove off, already counting the hours until she would see him again.
*****
Paula was full of questions about Stephanie’s weekend, both excited that her friend had spent the past two days with Jake and scared that someone seemed to be stalking her. They talked about the incident as they prepared the day’s special orders.
“And he left a message in ketchup on the fridge door?”
“Yeah. At first I thought it was blood. It really scared me.”
“Good thing Jake was there.”
“Uh huh, but the police were really weird. They kept asking questions about Jake and sort of implying that he could be the stalker.”
“Well that’s ridiculous. The man is head over heels for you, and you are for him. Why would he ne
ed to stalk you?”
“My feelings exactly. The police officer just kept saying he was doing his job and I supposed they have to rule out every possibility, but it just bugged me.” Stephanie poked a bow into the arrangement she was working on with more force than strictly necessary. “Here I am. I finally have this great guy interested in me and they’re trying to turn him into a criminal.” Stephanie took a deep calming breath and carried the arrangement to the display case where it would stay cool until delivery time. “So, how was your weekend? Is Chelsea still feeling okay?
“Yep, the rug rat is fine. It was just a little tummy virus that she picked up. But guess what? I met a new guy this weekend.”
“Really? Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Stephanie grinned at her friend. “You just broke up with Kevin last weekend.”
“Yeah, I went a whole week without a date.” Paula sighed dramatically.
“It behoves me that in a town this size you can find so many eligible men to date and I had to wait for one to move in from out of town.”
“Well Jack is actually from out of town too. He’s been subletting an apartment for the past month—he’s a product rep for a software company and they’re blitzing the area. With any luck, he’ll be in town for another couple of weeks,
“Oh—so it’s going to be a long term relationship this time? A whole two weeks?”
“Stephanie!” Paula threw some floral foam at her friend. “Good thing I know you’re just kidding.”
“I am.” Stephanie gave her friend a quick hug before getting out a vase for the next arrangement on the list. “I just worry about you sometimes. How did you meet him?”
“He was standing outside the shop when I left Saturday night. I literally ran into him and he picked up my purse for me. One thing led to another… ” Paula had a Cheshire like grin on her face. Stephanie had to laugh. She’d seen her friend in action before. The poor man probably didn’t even know what had hit him. Paula was an expert in the game of love. Hmm… Perhaps she was the one to ask.
“Paula, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure. It sounds serious.”
“It is, kind of… How do you know when you’re in love?”
“In love? You’re asking me? The woman who goes through men faster than we go through flowers?”
Stephanie shrugged. “I don’t know who else to ask. Have you ever been in love? Really, really in love?”
Paula twirled the carnation that she was stripping leaves from and got a bit dreamy eyed. “Once, with Chelsea’s father. At least I was in love; I guess he wasn’t—dirty cheating bastard.” She snapped the flower’s stem. “Oops!”
Stephanie took the flower from her friend and trimmed the end neatly. “So how did you feel about him? Before he became a dirty cheating bastard?”
“I loved him. I couldn’t wait to see him and talk to him, or just be with him. The sex was great, but we had fun too. Sometimes we just sat quietly together or we’d talk about crazy stuff like if marshmallows were better toasted or plain. We’d laugh and argue and then make up… I thought he was wonderful, smart, funny… and he always seemed concerned about me.”
“So what happened?”
“I don’t know. Chelsea was born. There was no money. We never had time for each other… Maybe he just couldn’t handle the stress of a baby.” Paula sniffed and looked around for a tissue. “Silly of me, isn’t’ it? Getting teary eyed over that jerk, after all this time.”
“Not silly at all.” She squeezed her friend’s hand. “Thanks for sharing.”
“So, did it help? Do you think you’re in love with Jake?”
“Yeah… I think I am.”
“And is he in love with you?”
“I think so. I hope so. He hasn’t said it yet, but he acts like he is. Just before I left this morning, he said we’d have to talk about something important tonight and he was acting a bit strange.” She decided to not tell Paula about the mysterious case of the missing sunburn. After all, it could have just been one of those strange, inexplicable occurrences.
“That could be it, then. Guys get all weird when it comes to using the big ‘L’ word. I can’t wait until tomorrow morning to find out what happened.”
“I could call you at home and give you the scoop.” Stephanie teased.
“No! Don’t do that. Jack’s coming over for supper and you never know where it might lead.”
“Paula! You just met the man.”
“Hey, if I can’t have true love, I’ll take the next best thing.”
Stephanie shook her head and went to deal with a customer that had just walked in. Paula was her best friend, but she couldn’t understand her casual attitude towards sex and her willingness to continually flit from one short term relationship to another, even when she knew there was little chance of success. For herself, Stephanie wanted something permanent and stable; something that would last a lifetime. With Jake, she thought she might have found that. She really could picture herself spending the rest of her life by his side. Hopefully, Jake felt the same way too.
Chapter 16
He sat in his car, watching the customers entering and exiting the shop. They were both in there, but he couldn’t make a move until the coast was clear. There were deliveries that had to be made—he’d placed one of them himself, just to be sure. One of them would have to leave to deliver it; he wondered which one. Not that it mattered. Either way would work. He could follow the car and grab her when she made the delivery at his apartment or, if she was the one that stayed behind, he could sneak into the shop through the back entrance. The silly woman hadn’t even changed the lock. That door could be opened in under a minute.
Everything was going perfectly. It was time to carry out the final stage of his plan. Reaching under the seat, he pulled out the knife and fingered the blade. He nicked his thumb and watched the red fluid well up before sucking on it. It was warm and salty in his mouth. Chuckling to himself, he thought of the message he’d left on the fridge. Using ketchup had been inspired. He’d known that she’d think it was blood. And the initials… Well, she needed a clue to get her thinking about him… worrying. The tension and nervousness would be building inside her now. He’d be able to see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. Fear was like an aphrodisiac to him.
‘Next time it won’t be ketchup,’ he muttered to himself. ‘It will be the real thing and I’ll use your very own blood to write the words.’ The thought excited him even more and he shifted uncomfortably in the car. Today… Today… It had to be today. He couldn’t wait any longer to hear her beg.
Sheathing the knife, he gripped the steering wheel. Come on, hurry up. Make the stupid deliveries. He glanced in the rear view mirror and saw a police car pulling up. Slowly he ducked down in the car and watched in frustration as an officer walked into the flower shop. Damn. It was too dangerous. He couldn’t stay here. What if one of them looked out and saw him while the police were in there?
Sitting up, he started the car and then carefully pulled away from the curb making sure he drew no attention to himself. His jaw clenched in anger. Now he’d have to wait until tomorrow. He was a patient man, but this was lasting too long. Taking deep breaths, he forced himself to stay calm. He’d take a drive. Find someplace quiet. Reassess his plan. Planning was everything. It had kept him from being caught all this time. It would work again. And if not, well… He’d seize whatever opportunity came along.
*****
Stephanie glanced up from the order pad she was writing on. The bell for the outer door usually signalled the entrance of a customer, but this time it was Officer Carter. She put down her pen and sat up straight, waiting for him to come to her. There were no customers in the store and Paula was eating her lunch out back. It was ironic that just when she was hoping to make up the shortfall from the money lost in the robbery, there was a lull in flower sales—go figure.
“Good afternoon, Miss Fields.”
“Officer Carter, how can I help you?’
“I just have a few more questions for you about the incidents that have taken place over the past few days. Do you have a minute?”
“Umm… Sure. My assistant is out back eating her lunch, but she can deal with any customers that might come in. Just let me tell her.” Stephanie slipped out back to inform Paula and then returned. She settled on the stool behind the counter and folded her hands in her lap, prepared to be calm and polite no matter what ridiculous insinuations the man made. “What types of questions?”
“How long have you known Mr. Sinclair?”
“Jake? Well, I met him last Thursday so that was five days ago.”
“And how did you meet?”
“He came into the store and startled me by accident. I spilled my coffee and dropped my bagel. Jake took me to the donut shop a few doors down to make up for ruining my lunch.”