Sarah wasn't sure how to feel. The phone call was from the police and pretty much told her what she had already wondered and suspected. They had tried calling her a few times at the shop but when they could not get hold of her at her home phone or the bakery, they tried her cell phone.
There were no other prints on the register other than hers and Tyler’s, which was what she expected since he worked with her, but at the same time raised questions as to why there were no others found. Could he be the thief? “That was the police and they were just getting back with me regarding the fingerprints at the bakery. Nothing abnormal found, the prints are from myself and Tyler.”
Matt stood next to her silently. He wanted her to draw her own conclusion and confirm what he suspected. “How do you feel about that?” he asked after a moment or two, as they walked up to the stairwell of his apartment. He wondered if it would be Tyler’s prints and he knew she had mentioned her ex-husband, however, he had not come near her in quite some time. He did not suspect Josh as much as she seemed to. He did not know the man, but there was always a possibility. He was now curious and fearful to see what prints they found at her condo.
Taking the steps, Sarah said, “You know, I pretty much figured that is what they would find. I mean, he and I both work there together. I was kinda hoping that there would be another set so I could say, “Ah ha! He did it!” she said halfheartedly.
She really had no leads, other than Tyler, and no proof. She still wondered if it was bad luck, if Josh was back and still holding a grudge or if it was Tyler. She could not readily accuse Tyler and could not see him doing it. He was romantically interested in her. So why would he hurt her like that? It did not make sense.
Matt unlocked the door and ushered her inside his apartment. Sarah gave a loud yawn and stretched. Matt felt guilty keeping her up. She was up so late last night, and he knew she had to get up early...and he again had kept her out late. “Baby, how about we get you to bed a bit earlier tonight so you can rest.”
Sarah did not argue. She was tired and felt confused. She wanted to go home, but wanted to be with him. She was exhausted but at the same time wanted to spend time with Matt. It seemed like either choice was right but in so many ways wrong too.
He guided her back to the room and invited her to change while he started a bath for her. He saw her nod in agreement and she proceeded to undress as he stepped out of the room, giving her some space. Matt turned on the water, placed the stopper and moved to the kitchen to make her some hot tea. He returned shortly with cup in hand, and saw Sarah sitting in the tub. She had turned off the water and was sitting with her knees to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs with the most confused and downhearted look on her face.
As Matt walked in, Sarah asked him quietly, “Do you think Tyler could have taken the money?” She wanted to ask him if he thought Tyler had been the one to break into her home, but she could not voice it just yet. Part of her was still in denial, after all, if he was interested in her? Why would he take the money and why would he ransack her things?
Matt said honestly, “I just don't know” and gave her the cup of hot tea. He watched as Sarah took a sip and said nothing else. Matt offered to wash her back for her and watched as she turned, nodding silently. He gently rubbed the washcloth on her back and massaged her shoulders with the suds, trying to get her to relax a bit. He stepped out and grabbed a pitcher from the kitchen to wash off the suds, and offered to wash her hair too.
He watched Sarah reached up to undo her braid, Matt stopped her and took over. He ran his fingers through the braid, separating each plait and fanning them out along her back. He then took the pitcher of water and slowly poured it over her head, taking care to keep her forehead dry. Matt lathered the shampoo in his hands and began massaging it into her scalp.
Sarah moaned in pleasure. It felt so good to have someone wash her hair and felt so relaxing. The water was so warm and soothing. He was so gentle and tender. He poured clean water over her head again, squeezing the extra water from her hair. Sarah finished up her bath and reached for a towel.
Matt had one waiting and enveloped her in it. He gently towel dried her hair, and moved to tuck her into the bed they shared the previous night. He noticed she didn't argue. It seemed she was exhausted both mentally and physically. The hot bath seems to drain the remainder of energy from her. Matt watched as she drifted off to sleep and set the alarm on her phone for her.
Sarah awoke the next morning with Matt curled against her as the alarm on her phone went off. Sarah carefully peeled herself from the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom, determine to let him sleep since he had been kind enough to allow her to do the same.
She had been so very weary yesterday and peace was just what she needed. In the shower, she made plans to follow-up with the police department to see if there had been any changes on the status of her break-in at the condo.
She figured she would call as she waited for the alarm to be installed today at the bakery. Plus, she considered having one installed at home too. She was really enjoying her time with Matt, but she had a home to get to and she didn't want to be in his way. Not that he had said a word, but things were moving fast between them and maybe she needed to slow things down a bit.
Sarah got out of the shower and toweled off. She heard Matt moving around in the other room and opened the door. She saw he was in the kitchen making coffee for them both. He poured a cup and kissed her. “Morning,” he said with a smile and rubbed his eyes.
“Hey, there!” she said with a smile back. Things were so easy with him. It was so simple to just be there and be with him. “Got any plans today?” she asked casually, knowing he had to work also but felt like she needed to make some sort of small talk to fill the silence.
Matt shrugged “Meh, delivery here, delivery over there?… Possible hot date later with a gorgeous girl,” he said teasingly. He wanted to see her smile at him, anything to get her mind off of her problems.
Sarah feigned shock. “Do you know one?” she said as she gulped the rest of her coffee and got ready to head out the door. She laughed as she felt him swat her gently on the backside. “You know I do,” she heard him reply as they bantered back and forth for a few as she put on her shoes.
Matt finally asked “What about you, any plans today?” He wondered what was on her mind. She seemed awfully quiet, almost restrained. He knew she was stressed and she had every right to be.
Sarah almost felt guilty evading his question. “Oh you know, cook a few things, make a few phone calls, the usual,” she said brushing it off. She felt horrible suspecting Tyler. She had been so sure it had been Josh, and felt a bit ashamed that she had believed it would be him, when he had apparently moved on too. It was hard sometimes to let the past go. Sarah had no answers, only suspicions and she was concerned. Plus, she was afraid she was rushing into another relationship--like she had done with Josh in high school. She liked Matt so very much and wanted it to be just right between them. She was scared.
Matt nodded, kissed her and headed off to get ready for his shift. “Will you wait for me and I will take you to the store?” he offered. He wanted to make sure she was safe.
Sarah glanced at her watch. She had time to wait on him and honestly enjoyed the company in the morning. She smiled as he gave her a quick peck on her cheek and hurried off. “Be back in a second,” she heard him yell over his shoulder. She watched him walk off admiring the view and sipping on her strong coffee.
20
They left the apartment together fifteen minutes later. Sarah was going to take her car, however, Matt said that he would drop her off and pick her up instead. Sarah finally confided, “Well, I considered going by my place and getting some cleaning done so I can move back in,” she said quietly. She watched as Matt stood silently at the car door, saying nothing, his eyes searching her face. “I just thought that maybe I was in your way. Things are moving fast, and maybe we need to get to know each other a bit more?’ she explained. “I am not trying
to hurt you or break up with you. I love us…the idea of us,” she continued. Sarah reached out to him, trying to reassure him.
Matt grasped her hand and pulled it to his chest. “Sarah, if you need space and time, I understand. I like being with you; there is no doubt for me. I just want you safe and if you want to move back into your place, I understand.” He did not want to lose her by pushing her away if she was not ready.
Sarah had always been independent and it was far too easy to need him. She said to him, “I’ve been thinking of putting an alarm at the house too, maybe you could come with me tonight so I can do a bit of work cleaning up. How about we have our hot date at my place,” she said suggestively as she drew circles absently on his chest over his heart. She wanted to reach out to him, to comfort him and lighten the mood.
Matt nodded, held open the car door for her as she slipped inside his car. He was a bit surprised. He almost resented the fact that she was wanting to move back into her place. He was just so comfortable with her and thought she was too, but he never expected her to want things to change. Maybe he was naive? Of course, she had a life, a home of her own and things to do, but the last week or so had been just bliss.
Matt quietly drove her to work, same pattern as before. He drove in front, looking to make sure no one was there and then circled the building. He pulled into the lot to let Sarah out close to the door. Tyler’s car was already parked out back of the small shop and the light was on inside.
Sarah leaned over, gave Matt a lingering kiss. Matt grasped at her hand that was stroking his cheek. “Sarah, just try to be safe okay?” he said watching her. She had quickly grown to mean so much to him and he could not imagine being alone again. “Of course. See you later?” she asked, giving him a soft kiss. She opened the car door, keys in hand, and exited the car. Matt waited to pull out from the parking lot until he saw her duck inside the door and wave from the small window pane high on the panel.
Sarah turned from the door and saw the small kitchen was lit up, but did not see Tyler. “Tyler?” Sarah called out as she walked in further and flipped on the fryer. She slipped the apron over her head and heard a loud bang from the front counter area. Sarah’s heart began to thud in her chest as she slowly peeked around the corner of the door.
She gave a sigh of relief when she saw him and quickly changed her mind at the expression of anger on his face. “What is wrong?” she asked alarmed, thinking they had been robbed again. She was pretty certain she had counted the till the night before and deposited the funds. There should still be over one hundred in the register to start the day.
Tyler stood at the counter, both hands clenched. “How could you?” he whispered. His body shook in fury. He was so angry and felt such betrayal. He could feel his pulse pounding in his chest with every breath.
Sara could hear bells going off in her head! “How could I what, Tyler? What is going on?” she walked up behind him to see if the place had been vandalized or if the register had been opened. She saw everything looked normal.
Tyler turned on her and grabbed Sarah by the upper arms painfully. “Ow! You're hurting me!” he heard her exclaim, frightened. He had a harsh grip on the tender part of her upper arms and his fingers dug painfully. Tyler shook her and asked again, “How could you? How could you do this to us, to me?”
Sarah felt her mouth drop open in shock. “To us?” she questioned. What was he talking about? There was no ‘us’ however she was not about to say that while he had a hold of her! “Tyler, you are hurting me. Let me go,” she said calmly.
“Yes! Us! You and me!” Tyler yelled at her, tightening even further the grip on her arms. “To us! To our shop! To me!” he shook her again with each word. He jerked her body close against him and looked at her with a hostile glare, dropped his voice. “How could you?” he ground out between clenched teeth. She was so soft and so close; why could she just not have chosen him?
Sarah pleaded, “Tyler, stop it! You're hurting me!” and tried to break his grip. She eventually freed one arm as she squirmed trying to pull away from his large body. She swung away from him as far as possible and jerked hard at her arm as she tried to free it from his grip. “Tyler, this is my shop,” she said evenly trying to calm him down.
Tyler felt something snap in himself. He flung Sarah bodily towards the chair that was perched along the wall. He was more than angry. He was enraged. He had seen them, her and Matt together, at the shop. He had come by to pick up his keys he had forgotten in the pocket of the smock she had him wear. He hated that damn smock, he thought angrily.
Sarah was shocked and winded as she landed hard on the chair and toppled over. She raised up on her hand and scooted back from him. Her side throbbed deeply in pain. She had hit the chair hard.
Tyler stood over her, glaring and breathing hard. “How dare you!” he seethed, “bring him here and fuck him in my shop?” he finished screaming at her, getting louder with each word. He could not believe they had been so involved with each other that they did not hear the bell up front announce his arrival. He walked in and found his Sarah bent over the table, crying out in passion. It should have been him making her excited like that. It should have been him making love to her in their shop.
Sarah was shocked. How did he know? Did he see them? Did he watch or walk in and how could she not have noticed? She scrambled to get away from him and he grabbed her by the hair as she stood and turned to run. Tyler tugged back on her braid and Sarah yelped in pain. She felt her hair yank and felt something tear, bringing her almost to her knees.
Tyler pulled her against him. “I have tried to be nice... I have tried to be polite. We have built this shop up … and you had to go and fuck it up for us!” he said angrily against the side of her neck and he held her braid tightly. “You said you didn't date employees but I am not your employee, I am practically your partner in this business.” Again, he pulled hard on her braid as if to enunciate that he was in control. He held her arm tightly and smiled maliciously when he heard her groan in pain.
“This is our place,” he repeated again. “What’s yours is mine … and what’s mine is yours. I did not steal that money. That was our money for the day and I needed it,” he said and shook her again and threw her against the wall.
Sarah was in trouble. He was crazy! She suspected he might have been the one that had taken the money but did not want to accuse him wrongly and had nothing to go off of. She had hoped differently because he was such a help around the shop and she didn't want to have to fire him. Sarah was stunned as she hit the wall hard and more shocked when he slammed into her bodily, grinding himself against her. She could smell his breath near her face and felt him shaking with rage.
Tyler thought of how her body looked last night bent over the table and jealously clouded his vision. “You gave it to him. Now you are gonna give it to me, whore!” he said menacingly “I cannot believe you fucked him in our kitchen,” he said tearing at her shirt. He knew how she liked it, based off of how she was taken last night and the sounds she had made.
He could tell she liked a man in charge and he was in the mood to hold absolute control over her. He saw that Matt had taken her aggressively. He was so angry, he would do the same as Matt did. He would take her roughly and then tell her he loved her. That seemed to work last night for Matt, it better damn well work for him too.
The sound of the fabric tearing away put Sarah in survival mode. She was not going to let him rape her. Sarah started slapping and kicking at him. She felt the same fear all those years ago when Josh held her by the throat, choking her. She screamed out “No!” and started fighting him, trying to protect herself and get away.
Tyler reared back and punched her hard in the jaw. He watched her collapse on the floor, stunned from the impact of his fist. He assumed she liked it really rough then, because she finally got quiet and she had let a moan slip out. Tyler sat on her hips, pinning her to the ground. He reached down and grabbed her hands in one of his and held them over her head, smashi
ng them into the cold linoleum floor. He grabbed at her shirt with his other hand and ripped at it, buttons popped off everywhere.
Sarah screamed again. “No!” she yelped. Her shirt fell completely open and she started bucking underneath him “No! NO!” she shouted, panicked. She could feel the cold air on her body and struggled.
Tyler let go of her hands and bunched them in front of him tightly. “Shut up, shut up! I am going to get what I have coming. You are mine dammit!” he said hotly and punched her again and again. Sarah went still and felt the pain wash over her, the blackness welcoming her.
21
“Hello?” Sarah heard a female voice call questioningly, “anyone home?” the voice tried again. The voice was so familiar and so welcome, as long as it was not Tyler returning to finish the job, Sarah hoped dazedly. “Help me, please” Sarah tried to scream in pain but it only came out as a moan. Everything hurt. She hurt to breathe and her face was so tender and sore.
Sarah saw one of her customer’s, a favorite and a good friend, Millicent Clark peer around the doorway and scream. She came flying around the corner, her high heels clacking on the floor and crouched down next to Sarah. “Oh my word, Sarah! Are you okay?” she grabbed her purse and called 911 and rushed to Sarah’s side. “Are you okay” she repeated, scooping Sarah’s head into her lap and telling them to send an ambulance on the phone.
Sarah cried in relief that it was over, help was on the way. She also cried in fear and self-loathing. She felt so dirty and hurt so much. Millicent just held her and made crooning noises until the police arrived. Sarah felt her smooth her hair on her sore head, that now rested in her lap.
Sweet Heat Rising (Thoroughbred Men Series) Page 13