by Talya Bosco
“You know it could have just been the way Jim worded it.”
“He said weekend. He knew.”
“Okay.” Carrie sat there and bit her top lip, an annoying habit she’d had since they were kids. Whenever she had a problem to work out, she worked at her lip like that.
“So let’s break this down. What are you angry about?”
“I don’t know. Everything. Nothing. Shit.” Julia hugged herself tighter. She felt like she was fully justified in her anger but didn’t know exactly what she should be angry about.
Carrie stared at her for a second. “All right. So he stopped you on a made-up excuse Friday night.”
“Right.”
“So you are pissed about that.”
“He took advantage of it.”
Carrie waved Julia’s comment away. “We’ll get to that in a second.”
Julia glared at her sister but waited.
“You think he lied to you.”
“Hello? I know he lied to me.” He had, hadn’t he?
Carrie sat back. “Okay, so you are mad at him because he stopped you under false pretenses.” At Julia’s nod, Carrie continued. “But you’re the one who started the sex.”
“Right.” Julia groaned inwardly. She’d never get over that.
“So you aren’t angry about that.”
“Yes. No.” Shit. Wouldn’t she ever learn?
Carrie sighed. “You can’t have it both ways, sis.”
Julia thought about it for a moment. Carrie was right. “Fine. I’m not angry about what happened in the woods. I’m angry at him lying to me about why he was stopping me. He took advantage of the situation.”
“How different is this from when a guy pretends he knows you at a bar? Or makes up some other dumb excuse to get to talk to you?”
“I don’t know. It just is.”
Carrie shook her head. “Okay, I personally disagree with you, but we’ll let that one go for now. Whose idea was it for you to go to his house?”
“His, of course.”
“And you really think Jim put him up to that?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to think that, but it was so out of the blue. It just seems wrong. It seemed right at the time, but now, in retrospect it makes no sense at all. It’s not like we even knew each other. And then all his cryptic comments last night while we were having sex confuse me more. All I was planning was that one night. Hell, I wasn’t even planning it. It just kind of happened.”
“Couldn’t that be true about the whole weekend? It just happened?”
Julia wanted to believe that. She truly did. Especially given how she’d grown to feel about him. But Jim’s words continued to haunt her. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t suppose you want me to talk to Jim about it?”
Julia was sure the look she gave her sister could have burned a hole in the wall. “Don’t even think about it.”
* * * *
Julia debated the incident the entire week. She wanted to believe Dennis was better than what she feared, but she also couldn’t put it past Jim to ask him to do exactly what had happened. She could see him thinking that making her happy would make her easier to live with. Or even, if she got her heart broken, maybe she’d leave. She trusted Jim about as far as she could throw him.
But should she be painting Dennis with the same brush just because they worked together?
By Thursday she didn’t know what to think. Dennis hadn’t called her, although she hadn’t tried calling him either. Of course, he didn’t have her cell phone number. But then he could have called the house. She knew his schedule could sometimes be erratic. According to Carrie, this week he was working nights, which meant he went in at six and didn’t get home until six in the morning. Even if he wanted to talk to her, there wasn’t any time between her schedule and his. But then again, not wanting to talk to her would explain it just as well.
“Well, I’ll be honest. I couldn’t find much wrong with her.”
Julia looked up at the mechanic she’d left her car with last week. “Really? I was kind of worried, with it getting so old.”
The man shook his head. “Changed the oil, ran it through the computer, did visual checks. Like you knew, brakes needed new pads, but the hoses looked okay. You’ll probably need new tires in a few months, depending if it’s city or highway miles you put on it. Other than that, nothing really wrong with it.”
Wow. An honest mechanic. She couldn’t remember if she’d ever encountered one before. And he seemed like a nice guy to boot. When she’d dropped the car off last week, he’d listened to everything she’d had to say about it and promised to get right on it.
“Wonderful. How much do I owe you?” She’d agreed for him to keep the car for the week, as he was a friend of Carrie’s and said he’d do most of the work after the shop closed, keeping as much as he could off the books.
He leaned back, giving her space. “Well, other than the oil, filter, and brakes, we are mostly looking at just my time.” He looked at the paper in front of him. “My itemized bill says one-fifty, but I have a special going on.”
“Yes?” She had a feeling she knew what was coming.
“I give a discount to personal friends of mine. So how about I call it fifty dollars, and you go out to dinner with me?” Saving a hundred bucks sounded great to her but almost too good to be true. Even if he was asking her out to dinner.
“Dinner?” She was willing to go out with the guy, but the last thing she needed was another entanglement. Her record with men wasn’t getting any better.
His smile brightened up his face. “Just dinner. No strings.”
She read his name tag. “Howard? How about one hundred and we split dinner?”
“Hundred. And dinner is on me. And I won’t take no for an answer.” Before she could say anything, he continued. “And if it makes you feel any better, you can meet me at the restaurant. No expectations.”
“I’ll be frank. I really don’t want anything other than friendship right now. “ She hadn’t with Dennis, either, and look where that had gotten her. Already a week of heartache, and they hadn’t had anything more than two nights of sex.
He shook his head. His voice got low, less happy than it had been seconds before. “Don’t worry. Neither am I. My wife passed away from cancer just over a year ago, and to be completely honest, I’m not over it yet.”
“I’m so sorry.” She put a hand on his. She pulled it back and asked, “But, then, why?”
“Why am I going out? Because my daughter has been pushing me for the last few months. I figure I can at least tell her I tried. If you’re willing?” The look on his face melted her heart just a little.
“You don’t have to bribe me with my bill, you know.”
He smiled. He really was a good-looking man. “I know, but this way I can convince myself I’m doing you a favor at the same time you’re helping me out.”
She could understand why Carrie had described him as a teddy bear. “Tomorrow okay with you?”
“Perfect. You want to meet me, or should I pick you up?”
He already knew she lived with Carrie. And he really didn’t strike her as dangerous. And if Carrie didn’t think it was a good idea, Julia could always cancel. “You can pick me up. What time?”
They set their plans, and she paid her bill before leaving, more positive than she had been a few minutes before.
No matter what happened, she had a feeling she’d end up with a new friend at the very least.
* * * *
The date went surprisingly well, but she’d been right in her initial assessment. Their chemistry was more of a pair of friends than anything else. She enjoyed his company, but his heart was still with his late wife, and she knew that maybe not her heart but definitely her thoughts were already taken by Dennis.
When they pulled up to Carrie’s house after dinner, their good-byes were short and sweet. Howard’s cell phone went off before he could even get out of the car to walk her t
o the porch. His daughter was texting to ask how the date was going.
“Call her. I know she’s anxious.”
“She can wait a few minutes.”
“Go. I’ll be fine. I live with a cop, for goodness’ sake. The man has more security measures than Fort Knox.”
Finally he agreed to go, and she waved him off as he pulled away.
Julia turned and strolled up the walkway, looking for her keys in her purse as she walked. She reached the porch before she found the keys, and kept searching. She did not want to ring the doorbell to get in.
“If he was a true gentleman, he would have walked you to the door. Couldn’t get away from him fast enough either, huh?”
Julia’s heart jumped into her throat. She turned to face Dennis for the first time since Sunday. He sat on the swing hanging in the corner of the porch. She had been too busy messing with her purse to even notice him.
“I told him to go. He had to talk with his daughter.”
“And when were you going to talk with me?” He stood up slowly. Even half mad at him, and feeling guilty, she loved the way he moved.
“You’ve been working all week. I thought you were working tonight too.”
“Is that why you haven’t bothered contacting me?”
“You didn’t call me either.”
“I’m not the one that walked out without an explanation.” He strode toward her.
She stepped back.
“Afraid of me now?” She thought she detected a bit of hurt in his question.
Yes. No. Not really. She knew he would never hurt her. At least not physically.
“What do you want, Dennis?”
“I wanted to talk. But you weren’t home.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t check with you before I made plans.” Her anger rose now. Who did he think he was, coming over here like this, scaring her half to death? If he’d wanted to talk, he could have called before tonight. She didn’t know if she was more angry or hurt at his lack of action.
“Julia, please—”
“Go away, Dennis. If you wanted to talk, you could have tried doing it anytime this week. You didn’t have to behave like a caveman and try to scare the shit out of me.”
“Caveman?”
She turned her back to him, keys finally in her hand. Before she could unlock the door, however, he was behind her and grabbing her wrist. She dropped purse and keys in surprise. Just as he’d done last week, he had the cuffs on her before she knew what was happening. When he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, she reacted with real anger. “Dennis! Put me down!”
He ignored her and strode down the stairs. He walked around the porch and continued.
“I said put me down, God dammit. What the fuck are you doing?”
“Watch your language. The girls might still be awake. They don’t need to hear that.”
Julia growled. “Dennis! I’m not playing with you.”
Dennis deposited her on her feet so quickly she lost her balance and fell against the car. “I’m not playing either.”
He pushed her into his car without a further word and slammed the door. She sat there, fuming, but waited until he got into the car before saying anything else.
“Dennis, please, come on. Be reasonable.”
“I tried that. It didn’t work. So now you get unreasonable.” He turned on the radio at a loud enough volume that she knew no matter what she yelled, he wouldn’t hear it.
She thought she had been angry before, but that was nothing to how she felt right now. Fear wasn’t part of the equation either. She knew he would never hurt her. He was angry, not homicidal. But knowing all that didn’t make her any less irritated. She had thought better of him than this. By the time he’d pulled into his driveway, she was ready for a fight. She’d been having doubts about leaving him Sunday without giving him the chance to explain, but now she didn’t care. She was sick and tired of his caveman antics.
Fine, carrying her once was understandable; the second time was funny. Tonight was unacceptable. Damn man. Screw this shit. She did not need a relationship of any kind with a man who thought he was above not only the law but the rules of common decency.
She gave serious thought to trying to kick him when he got her out, but she knew it would be pointless. Not only was the man bigger and quicker than her, he had experience with criminals who weren’t happy to be stuck in a backseat. There wasn’t anything she could do to him that would be a surprise.
He opened the door and stepped back. She assumed it was to see if she was going to fight him anymore.
Instead, she sat there, glaring at him. She let him help her out of the car but said nothing. Two could play at that game. He wanted to talk. Well, too bad. She didn’t. When he got tired of her silence, he could just take her home.
He walked her into the house, setting the alarm on the door before he led her into the living room. She guessed he wanted a warning if she left him this time. Not like she was going to get very far. She was wearing three-inch heels and had no car. And no purse.
The fucking bastard had left her purse on the damn porch when he’d kidnapped her. He’d better pray to whatever god he prayed to that her shit was still there when she got home, or there’d be real hell to pay.
She was kind of surprised he didn’t walk her straight upstairs, but she should have known better. Despite everything, he had a little more class than she’d been giving him credit for the last week.
He sat her down on the couch and unclasped her cuffs. She pulled her hands away from his. The shock that went through her body at his touch was the last thing she needed. She could already remember every second she’d spent in his company. She didn’t need the physical reminder as well.
“Do you want something to drink?”
She glared.
“Fine. Well I, for one, want something. I was waiting on that fucking porch for hours tonight.”
“Well that’s your own damn fault. If you’d called ahead of time, you’d have known I wasn’t home.”
He walked back in, a soda in his hand. “No, in fact I wouldn’t have. Your sister has been telling me all week you weren’t home when I knew damn well you were. I figured it wasn’t worth the hassle of calling. So I just went over.”
He’d been calling all week? Carrie hadn’t mentioned it. Her baby sister, trying to protect her. Although she probably should have left the decision whether or not to talk to him up to Julia.
“You have heard of things called cell phones, right?”
“Oh, yeah, and Carrie was going to give me that number, right? And I could just see your reaction if I either asked Jim for it or ran your name through the system. I may be slow sometimes, but I’m not stupid.”
Point for him. She would have never forgiven him if he had done either of those things.
He popped the tab of the can and took a sip. “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting you to be out on a date.”
She slid deeper into the couch, trying to look much more relaxed than she really felt. “So sorry I didn’t wait for you and another weekend of pity fucks.”
He hissed through his teeth. “That’s what you think last week was about?”
“Are you telling me Jim didn’t ask you to hook up with me? That Jim didn’t know you were going to be with me on Friday night?”
He put his drink on one of the side tables before answering her. “You got all that from one thirty-second answering-machine message?”
“What the fuck am I supposed to think?”
The pained look in his eyes hurt her more than she would have expected.
“God dammit, woman! I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want tonight to go this way.”
“What the hell did you expect after throwing me over your shoulder and kidnapping me? Declarations of love?”
He sighed heavily and sat in the chair opposite her. “I don’t know what I expected. Hell, I wasn’t even thinking when I did it. I just wanted to see you, to get a chance to explain
.”
Part of her wanted to lash out at him. To tell him to go to hell. But another part, the more reasonable, and maybe the more hopeful part, wanted to let him tell her what had really happened. Tell her what she had missed.
“Fine. Explain.”
“When I met up with you Friday night, it was part circumstance, part planned.”
He really was gorgeous. She couldn’t help but admire him, even as pissed at him as she was.
“You never asked me what I was doing on the road to Jim’s. He’d asked me to check on you because he knew you weren’t used to being in the country. Believe it or not, the idiot cares for you and wanted to make sure you were feeling safe.
“When I saw Carrie’s car, my cop instincts kicked in. He hadn’t told me yours was in the shop, so when I saw it, I jumped. I knew you were home alone. Carrie couldn’t have been driving it. I assumed the worst.”
“Not the most brilliant of deductions, was it?” Despite wanting to hear what he had to say, she couldn’t let go of her anger. Striking out at his intelligence wasn’t exactly sensible, but there it was.
“Well, as you pointed out the other day, sometimes I can be rather dense, especially where you’re concerned. When I saw it was you, I didn’t have the chance to tell you Jim asked me to check up on you before I smelled your breath.”
“And like a good cop, you had to make sure I wasn’t drunk.” Her voice was much less surly now. She understood that urge.
“And, well, you know where it went from there.”
Julia’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. She had no one to blame but herself for what happened then. She was the one who had started it. “And after?”
Dennis sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “After, it was too late. After, well, I didn’t want to ruin it. I was enjoying the weekend. And I don’t mean just the sex.”
He sat beside her. He grabbed her hands between his. “I enjoyed being with you. Whether it was in bed, watching TV, eating breakfast, or even when we went shopping. I liked just being with you. I felt like I’d known you for years. I was comfortable with you.”