Unbound Faith (Bulletproof #1)

by J. L. Baldwin

  “Call me babe, hopefully I’ll catch you later.” Before I could reply, he turned and jogged off of the beach and I stood there looking like an idiot staring at his muscular back as his figure started to fade off into the distance. My eyes trailed down to his perfectly sculpted ass that flexed when he moved. Yep, he’s got those Luke Bryan ‘Shake it for me’ buns. Any man with those is definitely a keeper.

  “Too bad I’ll probably never see him again.” I say to myself. I look down at my phone and smiled at the contact. Just a single letter, with so many memories attached to it. I hit the home button then immediately look for my camera app and open it up. I zoomed in on the beach where I was standing and where he was standing right in front of me and snapped a quick picture and saved it as his contact picture. I should have changed it to Mr. Buns but it would definitely make me seem like a creeper.

  I wanted to remember this moment forever and every time I look at this picture, I will.

  My phone buzzed with an incoming text from an unknown number. He must have sent a text to himself without me knowing. I, very hesitantly, opened the message, then my breath caught in my throat at reading the first few words.

  “Miss me already? I know that I miss those gorgeous eyes of yours. Sorry I had to bail but I have work stuff to catch up on and it’s on a deadline. It sucks, but hopefully I’ll see you later. Try not to miss me too much, baby. ;) “

  Baby. He called me baby. Normally I would hate when guys I barely knew called me baby, but the thought of it rolling off of his extremely exotic tongue sent a new wave of pleasure through my entire body that lit me up like a Christmas tree.

  There was a pretty good chance, I was definitely going to be seeing him again…and soon.

  Chapter 3

  Zac

  Maybe Craig was right. There’s a good possibility I could get really close to her and she could get hurt. The last thing I want to do is hurt her. It’s funny, I know every detail about her that the file says and then some but I don’t know her. At least, not in the dirty ways I’d like to. If that makes me selfish, then so be it. Craig’s name flashes on the screen of my phone, as if sensing I was thinking about him.

  “Just checking to see if you’ve done what you’re supposed to and NOT what you’re supposed to be doing, if you catch my drift.” ;)

  I reply back instantly. “What do you mean asshole? You think I’m going to screw this up?”

  The dots appear on the screen at him replying. Shouldn’t he be working and not checking up on me?

  “Of course I know you’ll screw this up. You forget I know you. We’ve been friends for years. So, with that being said, don’t screw this up just because your dick has other plans.”

  Asshole. I swear he’s worse than I am. I take another look at the time and I have enough time to get to my apartment to take a shower before I have to be at my “other” job. I type out a quick “Whatever, talk to you later, duty calls” to Craig and switch my phone over to silent.

  I turn around to see if she still stands there and Jayde is nowhere to be found. Poor thing must have taken off since I probably scared her to death. That’s exactly what I don’t want to happen. She doesn’t need to be mixed up in my world. A tiny part of me doesn’t care though. That same tiny part of me wants her to be in my world. Call me a selfish bastard but that’s how it is.

  The run back to my apartment is quiet for the most part. A few women sitting in a café drinking coffee gawk at me and cat call but I ignore them and continue on my run. It’s no secret that I’m good looking. That’s all a part of my allure. Women want the cocky, good looking, asshole type. That’s how women are nowadays. Maybe they think we are good in bed. That isn’t too far from the truth.

  The apartment building comes into view and years of no updating is obvious by the looks of the exterior. The land lord really needs to get this fixed pronto. I can’t have Jayde coming home with me to this. I need to think about what would be best for her. So why am I thinking about bringing this girl home with me? If she knew I was thinking that, then she would surely run away scared, if she hasn’t already. My neighbor, Mary Winchester is standing outside watering the plants that are lined up along the front of the building. It’s the only part of the building that actually looks beautiful, thanks to her.

  Her elder, frail body is leaned over and as the gentleman I am, rush over to help her. “You need help there Mary? I don’t want you to fall down.”

  At the sound of my voice, she slowly turns around and pummels me with the watering hose, drenching me from head to toe. She drops the hose and clasps her hand over her mouth in shock. “Oh my my boy I’m so sorry.” She says, barely above a whisper. Her eyes grow wide at my appearance and a smile replaces her shock. “Well you sure know how to make an old woman’s heart go pitter patter.” Mary smiles and I see a hint of a blush coat her soft cheeks and it makes me smile in return.

  “Don’t worry Mary, you’ll always be my number one.” I lean in and give her a kiss on the cheek before she shoos me away. “Hush now you flirty boy, don’t make me turn the hose on you again. I know you can’t resist me.”

  I laugh out loud. “Oh you know me Mary. I can’t resist. I’m going to go get cleaned up. If you need anything, call me.”

  Mary smiles. “I will. Bye Zac.” I wave one last time before I take the stairs two at a time up to my apartment. My apartment matches the rest of the building. Falling apart in pieces. I’ve tried keeping up with the maintenance but it’s not helping.

  The apartment still reeks from what’s her face that left this morning. I look down at the entrance table and there lies in plain black and white, her phone number with a message. “You may be an asshole but last night was amazing and I definitely want to go again. Call me.” The rest of the note were not so vague descriptions about the various things she would do to me if I called her. Too bad it did nothing to rise the beast. He stayed deep down, waiting for that perfect woman with chestnut brown hair and beautiful green eyes. God, I just wanted to get lost in them.

  Tossing the note in the trash, I jump into the shower and quickly clean up. Washing the sand and salt off my skin is a hell of a lot easier than washing away the dirt and grime that lies in the city. I miss home, but not enough to go back. Besides, Jayde isn’t there. After my shower, I lay out the clothes I’m going to need for work tonight. The clothes I can wear for my new “job” are so much different than my clothes for my real job.

  While I’m getting ready, my cell phone rings and I pick it up not checking to see who it is. “This is Marshall.”

  “Zac, you ready for tonight son? It’s your first day and I don’t want you to mess it up. A lot is riding on this.”

  I roll my eyes at his lack of confidence in me. “Oh come on Chief. I got this. That’s why you chose me for this, right? You think I can do this so that is what I’m going to do.”

  He chuckles on the other end. “Okay Zac. I have confidence in you.” There is no lack of lies in his statement. “Okay, talk to you later Chief.” And with that I hang up the phone. There’s no need to continue this conversation any longer. I notice my phone’s battery is charging so I grab my charger from my nightstand drawer and give it a quick charge before work.

  I take my time picking out the right shirt. One that I can roll the sleeves up to accentuate my tattoos so I can look the part of a real bartender. A tight silk long sleeved shirt fits the bill. The dark color really brings out my eyes. Something I know will drive the ladies wild. I do hope I get to see a special woman tonight but I’m not getting my hopes up.

  Letting my hair stay messy and looking like I just rolled out of bed, I smile at my appearance. Nothing screams sexier than a bartender who can fuck like a rabbit. Well, maybe a private investigator who can fuck just the same. I hope and pray this works. Whatever happens, it has to.

  Chapter 4

  Jayde

  The walk to the office was long…and hard. Or maybe my mind is elsewhere on something else. No, I need to get my mind ou
t of the gutter and back to work where it belongs. I save the picture I took of mystery guy and saved it under the contact on my phone. Now every time the phone rings, all I’ll see is his glorious ass. If the phone rings is what I should be saying. I stop by the café and grab a latte from my sister and head on to the office.

  Walking in a few minutes late, I catch the gaze of all my co-workers. It’s not like me being late is an unusual thing. Gwen, my friend and fellow co-worker stands up to greet me as I walk in. “Hey girl. You going out tonight with us? There’s this new place on the main drag and it’s supposed to be the hottest place in town! You have got to come with us!” She insists. Gwen stands at about six foot with golden brown skin and long chocolate curls. I’m so envious of her.

  “Maybe another time, Gwen. I have to get this piece typed up by tomorrow and I don’t want it to be sloppy which it will be if I go out and get drunk.”

  She pouts. “Oh come on! We won’t get too tore up, I promise. It’s your girl’s two week post break up period and I need to go out and mingle with some hot guys.”

  I laugh and shake my head as I pull up the chair to my desk and settle into it. “You’re not taking this break up hard, are you?” I say jokingly. Gwen only broke up with that loser of a boyfriend two weeks ago after a three year long relationship. If you ask me, it was three years too long.

  Gwen props herself up on my desk crossing her legs looking. “Of course I am. I choose to grieve about my break up with booze. That’s all.” She chuckles like it’s nothing. I know better than to assume it’s nothing.

  “On another note, I have those pictures for that piece I’m working on. I think this will be our best one yet.” I hand her my camera to take a look at the beautiful shots of the beach this morning.

  Gwen takes the camera and starts to scroll through, admiring each one individually as if it were a piece of art worthy of a museum display. “Oh these are perfect! Definitely something I would love to read about. You’re amazin’ at these shots, you know that right?” I love how thick her accent goes with certain words. Gwen is without a doubt southern to the core.

  “So you with me or what? Bring somebody with you and maybe that way you’ll have a better time.” She says with a suggestive smile. I know she’s referring to a guy, which I don’t have…yet.

  “I’ll think about it, okay?” I say. “Besides, I don’t have anybody to bring of the nature in which you’re referring.”

  She smiles suggestively again. “Sure you don’t. Well I’ll let you get back to your piece but tonight, it’s so on. And I’m not taking no for an answer. You’ll see I always get my way in these arguments girlfriend. Love ya.” She says hopping down from my desk and walking away. There’s a reason she is my favorite co-worker.

  I laugh softly and go back to concentrating on my piece. ‘Soulmates of the Shoreline’ is quickly becoming one of my favorites and I can see why.

  “Hey Gwen, did you finish the piece you were working on?” I yell across the desk to her. She has resided back to the corner with one ear bud stuck in her ear. Probably watching Game of Thrones. It wouldn’t surprise me considering that’s one of her favorite shows ever.

  “Huh, what? Sorry I didn’t hear you doll. I’m busy.”

  I laugh then look up with a teasing look. “Busy looking at Jon Snow I see?”

  Gwen’s eyes bulge out and she waves her hands in the air to shush me. “Not so loud. You want Satan of the south to hear ya? She’s been on my case as it is.” Gwen says, clearly feeling very intimidated by her not so pleasant manager.

  “She isn’t as bad as you believe.” I say trying to reassure her. Gwen is always so melodramatic when it comes to the manager.

  “Yeah if you’re a tiger who is hella hungry and it’s dinnertime.” She says, not looking up from her computer.

  Brooke Winters was the manager of the paper. Technically, I owned it so I was her boss. I liked to feel equal among the other employees and Gwen and I were close. I never thought of myself as her boss. Nor would I ever try to exert any kind of authority over her unless she needed it. Which was rare. Gwen was always quick to get her pieces to me and they were always top notch. If I could, I’d hire her as manager and kick ole ‘Satan of the south’ out as quickly as possible.

  I laugh listening to her rant about her manager. There’s so much I can say about Gwen that it would take forever to say how much I admire her.

  “Falcon! My office, now!” The phrase, ‘speak of the devil’ would be so perfect right now but so totally ironic. I look up and smile at her and mouth, ‘good luck’ before she gives me a look of defeat and trudges on into Brooke’s office. I have an office of my own but I like to work out on the floor. It’s easier to interact with everyone around me that way.

  The rest of the day goes by without a hitch. Gwen was given three new pieces to do before the day was over which she wasn’t thrilled about. Brooke was chipper and happier than usual to me, which is odd because as controlling as she is, having me as a boss was not her cup of tea. I took every opportunity I could to try and help Gwen with her pieces but she refused. Said she can do it all on her own. I admire her confidence in her work. That is something that will make somebody a great manager one day. Too bad Brooke was under contract for another few months.

  Closing my laptop, the chocolate chick comes strutting over to me, coffee in hand. “So, you’re going out with me tonight, right? I mean after Satan gave me all this work, a girl can use a drank.” Her accent is so solid when she speaks, it makes me smile. Mine is too, but I don’t notice mine that much.

  “Umm, I don’t know. I have a lot to do.” I say, trying to buy an excuse out.

  “Oh no, there will be no working tonight. Girl, you’re always working. Take a break will ya?”

  There’s a hell of a battle inside of me right now. Go out and have fun? Or stay inside and do work for tomorrow? Meh, too many decisions I need to make.

  “Alright, alright, I’ll go out with you. But I’m bringing my best friend and sister with me too.”

  Gwen jumps up and down smiling widely. “Yay! That’s perfect! A girl’s night out on the town is exactly what I need! Thank you Jayde!” I nod when she gets all excited. Maybe a night out with the girls won’t be so bad. I definitely need it and Gwen does too. I sent a quick text to Anna and Sarah telling them the plan tonight. They both reply back within minutes giving me the okay that they’re in. I hope that this will be fun like Gwen said. What’s the point in going out if you’re not going to have a good time? I close my laptop and tell Gwen bye and that I’m going home to go get ready.

  A half hour later I’m back home and getting ready for tonight. The air was cool tonight so I picked out a blazer and jeans combo that would make my curves go on for days. Ever since this morning, I’ve been doing some thinking. If somebody like Z can be attracted to me, which was plain as day he was, then why shouldn’t I show off my body a bit more? It’s not like being fat is disgusting. It’s just different.

  Styling my hair to accent my facial features, I fix it up into a messy bun with a few strands falling down into my face. This is just the right hairstyle to make my eyes stand out and pop. My phone rings from my purse and I rush over to see who texted me. “Hey girl, you ready yet? It’s time to get our par-tay on!” Oh Gwen. God bless her but she’s already been hitting the bottle and we haven’t even got to the club yet. I quickly type back a reply, “I know I’m getting ready. I’ll pick you up.” And I slide my phone into my clutch. Taking one last glance in the mirror, I make sure my make-up is done up right to look very natural. I was never a girl to be into all the different colors. If it looks natural, then it’s for me.

  Since Sarah is going, she’s driving and going to be the responsible one tonight. I didn’t even have to ask. She insisted on driving. Who am I to argue? A few drinks won’t hurt and I can stand to loosen up a little bit. Sarah is in the car ready to go when I get downstairs. “Come on let’s go! This is going to be so much fun!” She says getting really
excited about tonight. “I’m coming, I’m coming!” As soon as I’m in the car and shut the door, she speeds off without a second thought.

  “Damn, you’re in a hurry or something?” I say before even clicking my seatbelt in place.

  “Do you know how rare it is I get to go out to a club? I spend the majority of my time at that coffee shop so I hardly ever get to go out.” Sarah says with a smile. I can tell how excited she is over tonight. I can’t lie, I’m excited too. It’s been a long time since either one of us have been out with the girl’s. We swing by Anna’s house and pick her up and she is looking gorgeous and dolled up as usual. “Damn girl, you look good.” She blushes when she shuts the car door shut and actually has time to click her seatbelt in place. “Thanks Jayde but you’re the one who’s always on point.” Anna says when she gestures to my outfit. I wave her off and turn back around in my seat.

  “Gwen is meeting us there. I think her mom is going to drop her off so she can come back home with us since she’ll be too drunk to drive.”

  They both nod in unison and the rest of the drive to the club is quiet. The closer we get to the club, the more excited I begin to feel. The lights come into view and it looks like a place straight out of a Texas rodeo. The country vibe was straight on and I loved it. This was the place to be judging by the looks. Since it’s right on the main drag, there are a lot of people around so navigating a place to park will be kind of difficult. “I think Gwen said there’s parking in the back.” I say pointing to the road right beside the club. I am unsure of whether or not this is the place until I see Gwen waving from the sidewalk. I wave back to her and gesture to the road where we are going to find parking and she nods with a thumbs up. Poor thing is probably trashed by now. Jack Daniels is an evil concoction.