by Tia Siren
I hesitated in gathering my purse. Since falling from the roof, I had done my best to avoid Derek as much as humanly possible with us living so close. Nothing seemed to make that man happy. A cricket would set him off, but not like Leon. He was in control, guarded, and never once seemed physically threatening.
Except the one time he came tearing around his house with a gun pointed directly at me.
Navy SEALs. He’d had combat training at one point in his life. That much I could sum up him from the day he had rescued me from the roof. Running toward the sound of danger had been instinctive for him. Maybe having Derek next to my house wasn’t such a bad thing.
I left the library. Along the way, I rummaged through my purse for my phone to call my mom.
“Leon messaged me,” I said the second she answered. “He emailed me, actually. He knew I’d check my email.”
“You’re supposed to close those social media accounts,” she scolded, sighing into the phone. “I know this is hard, Jenna, but you need to listen to what the police told you. You know that jail only pissed him off. When he got out—”
“I know.”
A headache pounded in my temples. The hot summer air settled heavily on my shoulders. The sound of traffic washed over me. The first stirrings of dread started in my chest.
“He’ll come to Colorado,” I said quietly. “He knows where you live, Mom. Remember? We visited you once at Lone Tree.”
Anna blew an angry breath into the phone. “I’m not afraid of him,” she said defiantly. “Hell hath no fury like a mother protecting her child who has been hurt.”
That did not help my fears. It made everything way worse. I rubbed at my eyes tiredly as I climbed into the driver’s seat of my car.
“You should be,” I said.
“Honey, men like Leon live off threats. I’ll contact someone here, though, to see what they say about the situation.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
I pulled up to the house at 8:20 a.m. to find Martha and Derek talking with each other on the sidewalk. I felt Derek’s gaze threaten to burn holes into me as I climbed out of the car.
“I wish I could say that I could watch him,” Martha said. “It’s just too much, Derek, to do that every night. He needs a steady schedule, and he’d sleep better at your house.”
“I know all that,” Derek said, pointedly turning away when I approached them. “It’d just be for a little bit until I can find another permanent babysitter who can stay here overnight with him.”
Martha caught sight of me approaching. Her eyes twinkled mischievously. “What about Jenna?”
“Me?” My eyes widened at the thought of staying in Derek’s house overnight. “I don’t know if—”
“You’re in a need of a job, dear,” Martha said. “That’s what you told me the other day. Derek pays $100 a night Monday through Friday.”
That’s $2,000 a month. I looked up at Derek, who looked less than thrilled judging from the sharp glare he sent Martha.
“Well—”
“I have no idea who Jenna is,” Derek said flatly.
Martha rolled her eyes. “Does she honestly look like a criminal to you?”
“Appearances aren’t everything,” he replied. He ran a hand through his hair in visible frustration. “Please, Martha. I just need this until I can find—”
“I can do it,” I said. They both turned to look at me. “I can do it. I love kids. I took a couple of courses in child psychology as part of my degree.”
“There you go,” Martha said cheerfully. “Problem solved, Derek. It’ll be a good thing to get know your next-door neighbor.”
I caught sight of the wink she sent in Derek’s direction. Realization dawned on me then why Martha had suggested me.
“Martha—”
“Well, I better go,” she said, checking her wristwatch with a smile. “I have to get some errands done before picking up Julie from school. Jenna, call me if you need anything.”
She left us standing there on the sidewalk. I scuffed the heel of my sandal against the concrete while I waited for Derek to say something. I wasn’t thrilled about babysitting for Derek, but the pay was too good to ignore. I needed something to keep going.
“Listen, I can babysit until you find someone else,” I said. “I’m not some horrible child abuser on the run, if that’s what you think.”
Derek’s eyes narrowed at that. “What are you on the run from?”
I stiffened in surprise at the question. “Th-that’s none of your business if I’m on the run.”
“It is if you are going to watch my kid,” he said.
I threw my hands up in frustration.
“Fine,” I said shortly. “I was just trying to offer a solution until you figure something else out. It’s called being nice.” I started up the sidewalk, his gaze burning holes into me. “Maybe you should learn something about that.”
“Wait.”
I paused. Footsteps slowly came up behind me.
“I appreciate the offer,” Derek said, and I turned back to face him. “I go to work at 8:00 p.m. My shift ends at 5:00 a.m. You can sleep on the couch.”
My heart skipped in relief. The last thing I wanted to do was spend time in Derek’s house, but I needed the money until I figured something else out as well.
“I’ll be over at around 7:30 p.m.,” I said. “I can cook Owen something to eat too. I’m not a completely helpless person like you think I am.”
Derek didn’t respond. Dark and tired circles surrounded his eyes. It was hard to read the expression on his face.
“I’ll cook him dinner,” he said. “I’ll expect you around 7:30 p.m.”
He didn’t wait for a reply. He didn’t utter a thank you. I watched the strong muscles in his back flex through his shirt as he walked up the pathway to his front door. Something told me that pleasantries and politeness weren’t a part of Derek’s personality.
He’s still sexy though.
I sighed inwardly. I didn’t need to get involved with another man who was obviously emotionally unavailable or otherwise scarred. I was just going to stay the night inside his house, on his couch, while he went to work. There was nothing strange about that. Nothing would happen.
I had no idea if I was relieved about that or not.
Chapter Six
Derek
“My last babysitter gave me chocolate all the time,” Owen said. “I did everything she said because of that.”
I looked over at Jenna, who was standing nervously in the living room, holding her purse close to her chest. She smiled down at Owen despite her nerves.
“You’re in luck,” she said. “I love chocolate too.”
“Not too much chocolate,” I said, too tired to even argue with Owen. All morning I had tossed and turned, trying to get Jenna out of my thoughts. I caught Jenna’s eye. “Don’t let him bully you into giving him more sugar. We had a discussion about this before you came over.”
Owen stuck out his tongue at me. He immediately bounced back over to the couch to grab the book we had been reading together before the doorbell had rung.
“Jenna,” he said, grabbing ahold of her hand, “let’s read this book together. My dad doesn’t like it.”
“Sure,” Jenna said. “Just give me a minute with your dad, okay?”
He pouted. “All right.”
I grabbed ahold of Owen’s shirt before he could shoot up the stairs. He squirmed underneath me when I hugged him tightly, my heart lifting at the sound of his laughter. He had been devastated when I’d told him Hayley wouldn’t be able to watch him anymore.
“Good night, buddy,” I said, pressing my lips to his hair. The smell of his fruity shampoo filled my nose. “Bedtime in ten minutes. I mean it.”
“Fine,” Owen sighed out dramatically.
He slipped out of my arms to run up the stairs. I listened to the patter of his feet across the hardwood floors before turning to look at Jenna. She smiled timidly.
“If you need
anything,” I said, holding out a piece of paper with my cell and office numbers, “call these numbers. I always answer at least one of them.”
“Right,” Jenna said. She glanced at my bulletproof vest curiously. “Are you a cop, or—”
“I work for the police department, but I’m not a police officer,” I said.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I pulled out my wallet to take out a one-hundred-dollar bill. Jenna waved it away when I offered it.
“Pay me tomorrow,” she said. “What is it that you do exactly?”
The last thing I wanted to do was discuss what I had to watch every night. The Internet was an abyss of horrible and dark and twisted things that normal people didn’t think about on when they logged onto their social media accounts on a daily basis.
“I work for the cyber-crime unit here,” I said carefully. “I work on the Internet all night to catch criminals.”
Jenna’s eyebrows shot up in understanding. “Oh. That makes perfect sense then why you are gone at night all the time.”
“You noticed I was gone every night?”
“Well, sort of.” She flushed brightly before turning to look at the bookshelf. “Do you mind if I read a book once Owen is in bed? I lost all of mine.”
“Go for it,” I said, and I didn’t push the conversation further. I took in her tanned and long legs that were noticeable because of the shorts she wore. How would it feel to have those wrapped around me? I stirred in arousal at the thought. “Okay, have a good night. I have to get going.”
I didn’t give her a chance to reply. I gathered my keys from the hallway end table. The hot summer air didn’t help the fact that my skin already felt hot and flushed from imagining Jenna wrapped around me. I wiped away the sweat gathering at the nape of my neck. I needed to do something to release this tension brewing inside me. It was only for a few days until I found a permanent babysitter.
The phone didn’t ring once. Five o’clock rolled around without a word from Jenna. I pulled up into the driveway ten minutes after, wary of what I would find. The smell of freshly brewed coffee caught me by surprise when I walked through the front door. Shutting it quietly so as to not stir Owen, I walked through the dark hallway to where the kitchen light was spilling out.
“Morning,” Jenna said. She stood behind the kitchen island, nursing a cup of coffee while scrolling absently through her phone. “I didn’t expect you to be back before six.”
“I try to get back early to get a shower in before taking Owen to school,” I said. “Do you mind if—”
I pointed to the coffee pot behind her.
“Oh,” Jenna said. “Here. Let me pour you a cup.”
While she poured a cup of coffee, I undid my bulletproof vest with a sigh of relief. I draped it on the back of a dining chair. Jenna held out the cup for me to take. Her fingers brushed against mine briefly. The softness of her skin sent a tingling sensation up my arm. Her blond curls were damp. Gone were her tight shorts (thankfully), and instead she wore a pair of loose sweatpants that hung low on her narrow hips. Her tank top left little to the imagination, though, from her perky breasts to her flat stomach.
“Thanks,” I said, retreating to put space between us. “How did Owen do throughout the night?”
Jenna smiled warmly. “He’s a gentleman. I didn’t hear a peep out of him at all once I told him it was time to go to bed.”
“Good,” I replied, nodding. I took a long sip of coffee to fight of the exhaustion that clouded my brain. A hot shower with Jenna in mind sounded good, but I fought it off. The last thing I needed to do was release myself with thoughts of Jenna. I cleared my throat. “Thank you again for taking care of him while I find a babysitter.”
“No problem.” She tapped a finger against the rim of her mug anxiously. “I’m still looking for a job right now, so if you need me longer than a week, I’m free.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
Silence stretched between us. My body ached everywhere. I downed the rest of my coffee before setting it on the kitchen island between us. I pulled out my wallet to hand over a one-hundred-dollar bill.
“Thanks,” Jenna said, tucking it into the pocket of her sweats. “I actually had a favor to ask of you since you’re obviously well trained in self-defense and everything else…”
She trailed off a bit uncertainly. That piqued my interest long enough to put off having a hot shower.
“What are you getting at?” I asked.
“There is a person in my life who isn’t necessarily a good person,” she said a bit timidly. “I was wondering if you possibly teach me some self-defense tactics or how to use a gun.”
A sharp coldness settled in my chest.
“If you’re in danger—” I started, but Jenna cut me off smoothly.
“I was in danger,” she said. “I just want to be able to protect myself in case something comes up again.”
“I’m not buying it,” I said shortly. “What is going on for you to want a gun?”
Jenna’s eyes flashed defiantly. “Does it matter to you?”
“It certainly does. Owning a gun is a huge responsibility, one that I suggest you think long and hard about. It can end someone’s life.”
“Never mind,” Jenna said. She set her coffee cup down on the kitchen island. “I’ll be over tonight to watch Owen if you still need me. If not, you know where I live.”
I didn’t call her back. The front door shut quietly a moment later. I walked to the kitchen window to watch Jenna cross the front lawn before disappearing behind a few shrubs. That coldness in my chest melted away. Was he that dangerous? Years of working behind detectives and my fellow officers told me that he was dangerous, whoever Jenna had in mind. She’d done the right thing by moving away, but I didn’t want to see her end up with the emotional scars I carried close to my heart. Watching the life flicker away from someone’s eyes took a toll in a lot of ways. I’d seen it a few times, and I never wanted to see it again. Sidney had never understood why I had chosen to fight from behind a computer screen. “You shot people in the head before,” she had said. “Why fight it this way?”
The morning light spilled in through the curtains. I headed upstairs for a long hot shower before I started the process of getting Owen up for the day. The floorboards groaned beneath my feet as I treaded as quietly as possible to the privacy of my room.
The window was open still. I hesitated in closing the curtains as I always did. Instead, I hunched down to see Jenna collapsing in her own bed. She reached out to wrap her arms around a pillow, holding it tightly to her. It didn’t take a genius to see that she was crying.
I stood up with a sigh. Closing the curtains, I headed straight to the shower. I couldn’t help her as much as I wanted to.
Chapter Seven
Jenna
“Who is this man exactly?”
I rolled my eyes at the suspicion in my mother’s voice. “His name is Derek Summers. He lives next door to me with his son, who I watch at night while he goes to his job as a detective or agent or something. I’m not sure—”
“Jenna.”
“What?” I asked, blinking at the sharpness in my mother’s voice.
“I don’t think this is a good idea at all. You just got out of a highly abusive relationship that you’re still involved in to a degree. Do you think it’s a good idea to be babysitting this man’s child? You don’t even know him.”
“Everyone knows him,” I said, exasperated. “The neighbor across the street suggested that I watch his kid for him. He’s not a bad person.”
“Honey, you said the same damn thing about Leon,” she said, equally exasperated. “I know how you tend to be sometimes, Jenna. You get caught up with men who aren’t healthy for you.”
“I’m not caught up in him, though!”
“It sounds like you are to me.”
“I’m not,” I said, rubbing at my eyes in frustration. “This is just a job for me to get by until he finds a new babysitt
er, or until I find a different income. That’s all.”
“Right,” she said sarcastically. “Just keep your guard up, sweetheart. This guy doesn’t sound too good to me. Where’s the mother of that child?”
It occurred to me then that I had no idea where Owen’s mother was. There weren’t any pictures of her in Derek’s house either.
“No idea,” I said. “He hasn’t brought it up.”
“That doesn’t sound good to me. He’s a complete stranger to you.”
“To be fair, I’m a stranger to him too.”
My mothered sighed into the phone. “Where is this going to lead, Jenna? I hear something in your voice that suggests you are hopeful about something.”
I gritted my teeth. I was starting to see the mistake in telling my mother about Derek. She wanted to jump to conclusions. I do want something though. The temptation was there. I could feel it curling in my lower stomach, and if I read Derek’s lingering gazes right, he felt the same temptation. It’d never happen though. There was something dark and painful behind his gaze that kept him back.
The sound of Owen’s laughter reached my ears. I sat up from where I was curled up on the couch below the windows I had opened earlier in the morning. Owen happily waved a Nerf gun as he darted across the front lawn with Derek pumping his own Nerf gun behind him. That carefree smile on Derek’s face warmed me from the inside.
“I’m not hoping for anything,” I said thickly. “I have to go, Mom. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“All right. Call me tomorrow.”
She hung up without question. I dropped my phone onto the couch cushions before sliding my feet into a pair of flip flops. Owen grinned cheerfully at me when I stepped out on the front porch.
“Hi, Jenna! Come join us.”
I started across the damp grass in their direction. I caught Derek’s eye as a guarded expression fell over his face. Gone was that carefree smile.
“If you don’t mind,” I said, hopping over the fence between our yards. “Do you have a spare Nerf gun?”
“Inside,” Owen said, and he thrust out his. “I’ll go get the other one. You can have mine.”