WindSwept Narrows: #21 Charlotte Bell & Natalie Templeton

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

“Want to hear something almost as sappy?” She said, almost a whisper. He nodded, waiting while his fingers stroked along her cheek. “I’m glad you ignored me and brought breakfast on Sunday. But if you tell anyone that…”

  “Got a hardcore reputation to maintain?” He cleared his throat and managed to force the words out, keeping it light. The last thing he wanted was for her to run when he blurted out how crazy he was about her. That he wanted her in his life for the next fifty years or so. At least.

  “Can’t have the guys think I’m going sweet on some doctor,” she teased.

  “Who meant to lite into your fine ass for taking those stitches out on your own,” He growled, sweeping in and kissing her once more before sinking to the concrete bench and watching her blink at him.

  “I always take out my own stitches,” she said with a dismissing shrug.

  “Humor me, Natalie,” Tre reached for one of the sacks and began lifting containers from the inside. Whatever she’d brought smelled terrific.

  “Gyros, Greek fries with feta and some yummy salad,” she said as if reading his mind, working on emptying the other sack and opening containers. She handed him a fork and opened a packet of salt, sprinkling it over the fries that were crispy and steaming. “You told me there wasn’t much you didn’t like and I love these.”

  “I’d be happy with a bologna sandwich if I could talk to you while I ate,” Tre liked the tiny hint of color that infused her cheeks.

  “You…”

  “Me?”

  “Give me a minute,” she said, inhaling and taking a bite of a potato. “This…us…it doesn’t worry you, Tre?”

  “I know a lot of your friends, Natalie,” he said carefully, thinking over their collection of friends. “I know some worried things were moving too quickly; I know some had trust issues to work through…the point is, any couple has things to overcome before they feel comfortable enough to admit it felt good enough to trust and relax with that one person in their life. Worry me? No. What would I worry about?”

  She lifted a corner of the pita with meat and lettuce and cheese and bit down, chewing thoughtfully; searching for the words to explain her thoughts.

  “You aren’t like anyone I’ve known, a guy, I mean. Girls talk. I think it’s genetic for most of them,” she dragged a fry through some cucumber sauce. “And maybe it’s how you’re raised. Talking about things wasn’t real high in our family. You just did without questions,” she sighed.

  “So it took a while for you to learn to talk about issues and problems.”

  “No. Actually, I always wanted to talk. It took a while for me to realize my family wouldn’t be the ones I talked to and it took me a while to accept that I’m not the one who’s broken because I want to talk,” the words rushed out in a flurry and she reached for the soda, inhaling half of it. “What I’m trying to say without looking like an idiot, is I need to talk. I need someone who’s willing to talk to me about everything. I…I think I settled before and that was wrong.”

  “I don’t remember calling a halt to our talking,” Tre said easily. “In fact, I think we spend a lot of time talking about anything that pops into our heads,” he leaned over and winked at her. “Even in the middle of the night.”

  “I don’t normally do that,” she said quickly, feeling the heat flood into her cheeks.

  “How do you know? And I don’t remember complaining,” Tre chuckled, the thought of waking up to find her stroking him, licking him and taking him into her mouth the most erotic thing he’d experienced in his life. Because she wanted him. “It’s a turn on to know your girl wants you. And good for the ego.”

  “Sometimes I feel very inexperienced…” Natalie clapped her hand over her mouth. “Ignore that. I don’t know what’s come over me today.”

  “We have eons to practice, babe,” Tre carried her palm to his lips. “Got a sexy dress for Friday night?”

  “I’ll stop at my place on the way home…to your house…and bring something, if that’s alright.”

  “Do you want me to help you move things to my place?”

  “I think…not yet,” she said quietly, refusing to look up.

  She still needed a place to hide. Just in case. And he understood that.

  “You’ll tell me when you’re ready, Natalie,” Tre drank half the iced tea she’d brought for him and dug into the meaty sandwich. “If it’s not raining this evening, we can take the popcorn to the boardwalk and taunt the gulls.”

  She laughed at that and was ready to bite into another thick cut fry when her name echoed across the open patio. Her head snapped up and the fry fell.

  Tre saw her fingers shaking and reached to hold her hand.

  “James.”

  Tre turned to see him being held back by two of his co-workers.

  “Come over and talk to me, Natalie!”

  “Look at me, Natalie. He can’t hurt you. I won’t let it happen, your friends won’t let it happen,” Tre held those deep violet eyes with his, promising more silently than she was ready to hear in words.

  “I don’t know why he’s here, Tre. The divorce was final over two years ago,” she said, almost breathlessly. She accepted the cup he slid to her and took a deep drink of the cold fluid. “They’ve warned him.”

  They continued eating, working to ignore the shouting behind them.

  “He’s here because he’s a bully. He gets off on scaring you,” Tre said tonelessly, relieved when several officers from the station appeared, escorting him physically from the station. “I have a friend who will file a complaint with the judge, Natalie. Carter knows how to handle this kind of thing and how to keep him away from you.”

  “I’m not staying with you because of them, Tre,” Natalie’s head snapped up, her eyes searching his, willing him to believe her. She wasn’t using him and didn’t want him thinking she was. She liked him. Maybe a little too much.

  Tre chuckled. “Babe, I know you’re not using me. It’s not who you are. Not inside you to use someone for yourself,” he crumbled the paper and aimed for the trash bin behind her. “I can see you doing it to protect someone else, but not yourself.”

  “I almost feel like I should thank that idiot for shooting me,” she murmured, standing up and going to his side. She hugged him, kissing him soundly before backing up. “I’ll see you later. I’ll probably beat you home so I might go for a run.”

  “I have a gym there, you know,” he saw the spark of interest. “Maybe you should explore the house a little, Natalie. I don’t have secrets, I promise. Be careful, okay?”

  “I work at it,” she promised, waving and striding off to her car, eyes darting around uncomfortably. She was safe inside her car before sending a text to the judge’s office about James Bryant and his sudden interest in her again. She believed in the laws. If only they worked right now and then, she’d feel better.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Tre had the windows open on the Jeep as he rounded the wide curve to the house, the sound of a siren behind him sending his foot down a little harder. The gates to the grounds were open and a second police car was screaming in behind him as he pulled swiftly to the side and jumped out of the Jeep.

  “Natalie!”

  “Sir, you can’t go in there!”

  “I live here!” He shoved past the officer, his attention barely registering on the man being dragged from his house, kicking and screaming. “Natalie Templeton – where is she?”

  “Inside, sir.”

  “Natalie!”

  He crossed the room, immediately grabbing up the black bag by the door.

  “We have paramedics on the way, sir,” the officer tried to decide if he wanted to get between him and the woman bleeding from her temple. And silent. Too silent for his taste.

  “I’m a doctor. Cancel them. I’ll take care of her,” he moved carefully, slowly, his hands taking hers from where they twisted on her lap. “What happened?”

  “Fool break into house!” Mrs. Yang came from the kitchen with a coup
le clean towels and a bowl of ice. “I tell him leave! Cai went to alarms and he told man to leave. He refused and I called police. Miss Natalie came out to see what was the noise and ordered man to leave, he hit her, over and over until she fell. I hit him with helmet and he went down,” she said firmly, her lips set and head nodding. “Helmet good defense,” she said with a chuckle when Natalie gave a little laugh.

  “She swings a good right,” she said softly, dragging in a ragged breath. She shook her head. “I didn’t expect him…before I could react he was…”

  “He told her to come with him or he kill her,” Mrs. Yang said angrily. “Bully needs to be in jail for long time.”

  “He will be, Mrs. Yang,” Tre answered coldly, his hands working the antiseptic over the gash on her forehead. “No stitches this time, babe.”

  “We need some signatures, and your name, sir?”

  “Doctor Tremayne Thorne. This is our house. We live here. Mrs. Yang and her husband, Cai live above the garage,” Tre applied a lite bandage and stood up, nodding to Mrs. Yang and letting her prepare an ice pack for Natalie. He faced the officers, his features drawn, hiding the emotions coursing through him. “How did he get in?”

  “We found his car next to the side fence a few feet further up the curve,” one of the officers answered. “It’s parked close enough that we believe he climbed over the wrought iron. That’s what triggered the alarms.”

  “I left the front door unlocked,” Natalie curled into the corner of the sofa, holding the ice pack to her temples.

  “Natalie, this is not your fault,” Tre said quietly.

  “Can you tell us what happened, Miss Templeton?”

  “It’s Detective Templeton,” Tre said flatly, pacing the floor, he pulled his phone out and tapped in Carter Shipley’s number, leaving him a text message.

  “You’re on the force? Sorry, ma’am,” the officer straightened a little more.

  “I was in the workout room,” Natalie began, pushing her mind to report. “It’s down that hall, all the way at the end of the house. I had music playing and heard the shouting,” she looked down at her hands, her half gloves still in place. “I heard the shouting, but it wasn’t all in English, so I came out to see what was wrong. I made it to the arch when…” Her hand went to her right temple. “He struck me from the side and I went down, hitting the corner with my forehead.”

  “Then bully kick her!”

  “He…let me see, Natalie,” Tre moved to her side, meeting the glare. Before waiting for words, he lifted her from the corner and laid her out on the sofa. Guessing her position, he pulled up the stretchy tank she wore, swearing softly at the prints and bruises. “Take photographs, officer. She’ll want them for her attorney.”

  “Tre…I’m okay.”

  His fingers moved lightly over her side, pressing into the soft flesh and then onto her ribs, watching her face and gritting his teeth.

  “Nothing broken.”

  “Dinner on stove,” Mrs. Yang told them both. “Good chicken soup with thick noodles, just like you like,” she said with a nod, looking at Natalie. “You eat, Miss Natalie. You need food to heal.”

  “I’ll make sure she eats, Mrs. Yang, thanks,” Tre said tensely, grateful for normal things to think about.

  The sound of the camera clicking seemed enormous and Natalie just wanted to curl back into the corner and close her eyes. Giving into that, she listened absently to Tre talking to the officers.

  “Cai will set alarms and make sure car is towed,” Mrs. Yang declared, nodding to the young man and leaving the house, mumbling to herself in Chinese. She’d signed her statement before leaving, calling out to her husband as she went.

  “Carter, I need your attorney skills or someone just as good,” Tre spoke quietly into the phone when it rang. “If you’re not doing criminal cases anymore, refer me, please.”

  “You sound tense. What happened, Tre?” Carter Shipley pulled a notepad across his desk and held his pen poised. He listened and took notes, nodding and opening his computer. “Let me send a quick note to Anna and I’ll go to the station now and petition there be no bail on this. Given the background, unless I get a seriously insane judge, he won’t be out anytime soon. I’ll get back to you.”

  “Thanks, Carter,” Tre snapped the phone closed, only just realized he was pacing the floor and Natalie lay watching him from the corner of the sofa. He closed one eye. “I’m not going to apologize for taking the lead on this, Natalie.”

  “I haven’t asked you to, Tre.”

  “And your brother isn’t the one you need. You need action and defense, not some fucking idiot who wants to play at being your advocate,” Tre was pacing again and didn’t see the shock on her face. “That fool needs to be locked away before he…before I fucking kill him.”

  Natalie knew he was upset because Tre didn’t swear.

  Not that word, at least. Granted she’d only been with him a week, but she knew the man, the personality and he was a fairly calm person. Laid back and happy. But she could feel the waves of anger pulsing from him. Anger and fear.

  “Tre, I’m okay,” Natalie wasn’t sure how to calm him down. Her head was throbbing just a bit and she turned shoving her feet to the floor. But she discovered she couldn’t move because he was there, leaning over her, staring into her eyes. “Tre? I want some Tylenol…something…some juice…”

  “Marry me.”

  “I…” Natalie could honestly admit she hadn’t seen that coming. She closed her eyes and opened them to still see him staring at her through his glasses, brown eyes sparkling intently.

  “Fuck,” Tre spun away, back to pacing. “This isn’t the way I had it planned. I was going to be patient. Give you time to trust me. Give you time to heal and recover. Months, if that’s what it took, I didn’t care as long as you didn’t lock me out. Then I come in and…you know how many accident runs I make where I hear the people wishing they’d done something differently that morning? They shouldn’t have argued…they should have remembered to kiss their wife or husband or child…they should have said I love you more…before the person was gone and their days were over,” he spun back to her, two long strides and he leaned over again, kissing her before she could move.

  “I’m not going to be that guy, Natalie. I love you now. I want to marry you, now. I want to protect you and take care of you and laugh with you. I want to keep those idiot relatives away from you and come home and know you’ll be here with me. I want to play and wake up with you every morning. Now,” he said vehemently, finally realizing she hadn’t breathed, let alone spoken. “I just made a mess of the whole thing, didn’t I?”

  “Yes.” She whispered, the corner of her mouth lifting a little.

  Tre exhaled, his head hanging. “I knew I made a mess of it.”

  “No, Tre, I mean yes, I’ll marry you,” Natalie had her lower lip pulled between her teeth. Mostly to keep from laughing at the look on his face.

  His mouth opened and closed; a little frown creasing his forehead and those sexy sparkling amber eyes blinking as if processing her words. He was her rambling genius, she thought with a sigh. And he wanted her.

  “Tomorrow. Lunch time,” he said when he began breathing again. “And you’re taking the day off. Medical. I have a judge friend, he’ll give us a special license,” Tre went to a cabinet in the kitchen, poured several tablets into his palm and filling a glass with orange juice before going back to her, handing them both over. “I didn’t just dream what you said, did I?” A slightly skeptical doubtful hint in his voice.

  Natalie shook her head, finding the confused Tre too adorable for words. Uncertain wasn’t something he’d shown since he began his campaign.

  “Tomorrow,” he repeated gruffly, dropping to his heels before her and lifting her palm in his. Her fingers twined with his, their palms touching.

  “Tomorrow. I’ll send the text now that I won’t be in tomorrow. Per my doctor’s orders,” she said softly, pushing her feet to the floor. “Mrs. Yan
g left dinner for us and I’m starving.”

  “You said yes,” Tre swallowed, licking his lips and swallowed again. “What happened to smart cops don’t get married?”

  “Smart cops listen to their instincts,” she said with a little smile. “Not all the other stuff around them. It’s just you and me in this. Not my relatives or my ex or any ex you might have – just us. When you throw all that away…instinct says I have my own genius who’s crazy about me and who somehow managed to make me feel again. And I’m not willing to lose that.” She moved to sit up, a low groan breaking free before she could stop it.

  “Dinner and then the hot tub,” Tre declared, figuring he’d make decisions while he was on a roll. Or dreaming. Right now he’d take all he could get.

  “That sounds amazing,” Natalie stood up and stretched, palms out and holding him off. “I’m okay, Tre. Mostly. I’m going up and change and get my phone. I’ll let them know I won’t be there tomorrow, siting the case number and my physician. Which will make a few people chuckle.”

  “I’ll get the soup out,” Tre watched her move to the stairs. “If you aren’t back in ten minutes, Natalie, I’m storming the bathroom. Your head’s been bounced around a little too hard for my liking.”

  “Ten minutes, doc, got it,” she tossed over her shoulder, stripping as she climbed the stairs.

  Clothes dropped into the basket before she went into the bathroom, staring into the mirror and wondering if she really knew what she was doing. The woman who smiled back at her told her she did and it was a good thing.

  Wearing a loose fitting t-shirt and shorts, she went back to the kitchen, sliding into the stool and inhaling the fragrant vegetable and chicken soup. She heard Tre come up behind her, a shiver racing through her when his hands tipped her chin back for his kiss.

  “You’re just checking my bruises,” she muttered testily when the kiss ended.

  “I’m multi-tasking,” Tre countered, sitting on the stool across from her and staring for a long minute before he broke a piece of the crusty bread and began eating. “Cai and Mrs. Yang can’t see the pool or the hot tub.”