"You heard correctly." I smiled and walked towards the kitchen, ready to get some bowls. I noticed Brody shiver as I passed him.
"It's freezing in here," he commented, bending down to scoop Theo up in his free hand. "You need to turn the air conditioning off."
"Yeah, I will admit it put a dampener on this evening's entertainment," I said, nodding towards next door. "If I'd had my windows open, I would have been able to hear them a whole lot better."
"Sounded like they were having a bad night. What was that about?"
"I have no idea, but she gave it to him." I smiled, taking the carton from him. "This isn't caramel."
"I know. I thought it was time you had a new favorite." He smiled, giving me a very intimate look. My stomach flipped. Feelings could be so inappropriate at times.
"How was your date?" I asked, secretly hoping it was crap.
"She talked about nothing, but herself and would only eat the salad. When I asked her if she wanted desert, she laughed and told me she was too fat already." I watched as he shrugged his shoulders. "That's when I brought the ice cream for you."
Was that a good thing, I wondered? It didn't sound good.
"Oh," he continued, "I mean, you don't seem afraid to eat ice cream, and you look amazing. All the time. You never look fat." He cringed. "I need to stop talking, don't I?"
"Yep, before you bury yourself in all the shit you're talking."
"I just really like a girl who's not afraid to eat."
"Well, I love eating." Picking up the bowls I'd filled, I held one out to Brody. He gently placed Theo on the floor and took it from me, his fingers brushing mine as he did so. My stomach swooped once again, but as I looked up, he didn't seem to have noticed anything. I tried to ignore my heart palpitations as I dug my spoon into the delicious sweetness. I walked back towards the lounge, allowing the cool, creamy texture to sit on my tongue. The ice cream was almost orgasmic. At least, I told myself it was the ice cream, and not Brody, evoking thoughts of orgasms.
"I think we should go to Weight Watchers," said Brody, following me down the hall. I dropped my spoon into my bowl, the ice cream suddenly thick and gluggy in my throat.
"Weight Watchers?" I choked.
"Yeah," he mumbled, pulling his spoon from his mouth. "We need to see who owns the pedometer, remember?"
Oh, thank God for that. I'd actually forgotten about the pedometer.
"I know you recognized Lucy, but if she owns the pedometer, maybe we can find some clues as to why she was in my house," he continued. "Or maybe I'll just ask her," he shrugged.
"Yes, of course!"
Brody looked at me and frowned. "What did you think I meant?"
"Just that—the pedometer," I replied, shoving the spoon back into my mouth before I could give away my real thoughts.
As we sat on the couch, I busied myself watching Theo. He jumped up on Brody's knee, his very soggy bunny hanging from his jaw, a look of anticipation in his bright eyes. Brody dropped his spoon in his bowl, picked Bunny up, and threw it across the room. Theo bounded off the couch and chased after it, his whole world lit up with excitement.
While we ate, the game continued. When Brody had had enough, Theo stood with his paws on Brody's chest, his tongue hanging to the side, his eyes boring into Brody's. I sat quietly and waited to see who would cave first. As if there was any doubt. Theo was far too cute not to get what he wanted.
* * *
It was after six by the time I walked in my front door, my back aching, my shoulders sore, and my feet killing me, after a long day at work. A soak in a nice hot bath was exactly what I needed. Only I didn't have time for that. Brody, Isaac, and I were going out for dinner. It was supposed to be a mediation dinner for Isaac and Adam, but Adam's trip had been extended when another pilot got sick. Isaac sulked until I reminded him he could spend the evening sitting at home sulking or across the table from Brody, where the view was much more spectacular. So out to dinner we were going.
I decided a hot shower would probably do the trick, so I left Theo on the couch snuggled up with Bunny and dragged myself upstairs. Flicking the light switch on, I walked into my bathroom, and the first thing I noticed was that the window above the sink was open. Now I don't normally leave windows open if I'm out, so my first reaction was to be a little freaked out.
I wondered if it was Isaac. He'd been in here this morning before I left for work. His hair straightener had died, and there was no way he could face the day with slightly frizzed hair, so he had come over to use mine. I chastised myself for being silly and closed it, undressed, and stepped under the delicious, hot water.
I had just closed my eyes and allowed my mind to wander over the day's events, my shoulders relaxing back into a normal position away from my ears, when I heard a noise coming from my bedroom. It actually sounded like someone had knocked over my crystal candlestick.
Bloody Theo. I bet he was after his glass of water.
I reluctantly turned the taps off and stepped out of the shower. As I reached for my towel, the bathroom door swung open with a bang, and a man wearing a balaclava stood in front of me.
My heart stopped as I went to scream. The light flicked off, and he ran at me, grabbing my arm and covering my mouth.
I'd never been in a situation like this before and being soaking wet and naked did not help. Adrenalin kicked in as I reached back and grabbed at the balaclava, but I lost my grip as he pushed me to the floor. My head banged against the toilet bowl. The world started to darken, but I knew I couldn't black out. If I did, who the hell knew what he would do to me.
I rolled over to my knees and crawled toward the door, but he was quicker. Grabbing me by the hair, he pulled me up to standing.
"Where is it?" he demanded. I wanted to ask him what he was talking about, but my voice failed me. "Where is it?" he yelled.
Tears stung my eyes as they escaped my lashes, but I tried to control my trembling lips as I stuttered an answer.
"I…I…d…don't know," I cried.
My voice trembled, giving way to fear. I'd always hoped that, in this kind of situation, I would be one of those brave women who fought back, kicking the man in the groin and running to safety. I guess I wasn't. He pulled my hair harder, my face closer to his lips. I could smell his breath as he swirled his chewing gum around, putting it to rest in his back teeth.
"Don't lie. I know you were her friend, and she confided in you," he growled, his voice low and menacing.
I felt cold wash over my wet, naked body as he lowered his hand, skimming my breast. I didn't think he had a weapon, but right now, I wasn't convinced he needed one.
"Please, I don't know what you want," I whispered.
I felt his anger as he spun me around and pushed me against the wall. The room was too dark to see his eyes, but I felt their intensity as he put one hand around my throat and pushed his body into mine.
Just as I thought he was about to tighten his grip, he loosened it, his opposite hand coming to rest on my hip. Fear paralyzed me as his hand grazed my side. Moving to cup my breast, his other hand moved from my neck to my face, brushing my lips as he did so.
I braced myself as he moved his mouth to mine, his tongue finding its way, but as it did a sense of familiarity washed over me, breaking the spell the fear was holding. I parted my lips a little bit more, inviting his tongue, the taste of spearmint evoking a memory. As he took the bait, I bit down hard.
Hearing his scream, I tasted his blood as his hand struck me. As he staggered backwards, I took my opportunity and ran for the door. I didn't know whether he followed me or not, as the only sound I could hear was my blood pounding in my ears.
I almost fell down the stairs as I ran towards the front door. My fingers were numb and useless as I tried to unlock it, my eyes darting backwards, waiting for him to appear. Finally the key turned, and I flung the door open. I ran out through my gate, into the street, and straight into Brody's arms.
"Chloe, what the hell is going on?" he asked.<
br />
"There…there's…a…a…man in my bathroom," I stuttered.
"What? What do you mean?" I felt his arms pull me tighter as I heard voices around me. It was then I remembered I was naked.
Now held up naked against Brody may not be a bad thing, and under normal circumstances I'd have enjoyed every moment, but as the adrenalin stopped pumping and the shaking started, the reality that I stood naked and scared in the middle of the street hit home. Thankfully Brody held me tight, his heart pounding as I placed my ear against his chest.
"We need to get you inside," he whispered, his lips close to my ear. "I'm going to take my jacket off for you, okay?" He tipped my chin up to look into his eyes. All I could do was nod.
I stayed in close to him while he removed his jacket. Safety engulfed me as he placed it around my shoulders, his warmth surrounding me. I could feel his fingers trembling as he did up the zipper, gently gliding it all the way to my chin. A feeling of calm flowed through me as I looked up into his dark eyes.
"Chloe? What are you doing?" I heard Isaac's high-pitched squeal from behind me.
"Isaac, take Chloe to my house, lock the door, and call the police. I'm going to see if he's still there." I felt Brody reach into his pocket and hand Isaac his keys.
"See if who's where?"
"Just do it!" snapped Brody. "Chloe can explain what's happening when she's safe."
With Brody's commanding tone, Isaac did as he was told. He placed his arm around my shoulders and steered me across the street. I wanted to protest, but shock set in as the shaking kicked up a notch and nausea filled my stomach.
I reached Brody's doorstep, stopped, and looked back towards my house as the screech of car brakes rang out in the evening air.
In horror, I realized Theo had just disappeared underneath a red Audi. I heard my scream, but it felt surreal, as if it was someone else. Running back into the street, I felt the world had slowed as everything now moved in slow motion. I didn't think to check for traffic as I leapt from the footpath, Theo my only thought.
Throwing myself on the road, I vaguely noticed Joy stepping out from the driver's door as Theo crawled towards me, his eyes huge and his body shaking. He was alive! By some miracle, the car had missed him.
Reaching out to him, he moved into my arms. As I pulled him close, tears streamed down my cheeks. His little tongue flicked out, licking the tears off my chin as I laughed and cried. Honestly, I didn't know which I wanted to do the most.
Feeling Isaac's hand on my shoulder, reality came back. I saw Joy looking at me, disgust etched into her hard features. Fair enough, I suppose. From her point of view, there I was, sitting in the middle of the road, naked except for Brody's jacket, hysterical, with a dog licking my face.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The police took ages, asked lots of questions, and treated my bathroom as a crime scene. They advised I should spend the night somewhere else and to change all the locks on my doors and windows. That would be job number one tomorrow. In all honesty, none of us felt like going out to dinner after that, so I packed my work clothes, pajamas, makeup, toothbrush, and of course, Bunny, into an overnight bag and moved myself and Theo into Isaac's. Brody's would have been preferable, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
Theo seemed okay after his run-in with the car, but I kept a close eye on him and decided I would take him to the vet tomorrow. I had their emergency number on speed dial in case I needed it.
I will report that I was now clothed and slightly embarrassed I had run into the street naked. I made a mental note to avoid the corner shop for a while since I did remember seeing Mr. Wilks looking at me with a very big smile on his face.
Sitting on Isaac's couch, waiting for our pizza to be delivered, I looked up from patting Theo to find Brody staring at me, his thoughts unreadable. I was actually pretty freaked out about what had happened, but I tried my hardest to shrug it off and act normal. Well, normal for me anyway. Giving Brody a big smile, I averted my eyes to concentrate on Isaac. Unfortunately, he too was staring at me. His thoughts, however, were far from unreadable.
"You know, Isaac, you should paint a feature wall in here." I smiled, hoping to divert his attention.
"You can't distract me that easily, young lady. We need to talk about what happened to you."
"No, we don't, Isaac. We've already talked about it. Honestly, I'd rather forget it ever happened." Denial was the best policy in my book.
"How can you say that? You were attacked!" I could hear the emotion in Isaac's voice as he squealed, causing Theo to jump with fright.
"I'm fine. The man was asking me where it was, and I think he just got a bit distracted," I said, rubbing Theo's ears for comfort. If Isaac kept talking about it I would have a very hard time staying in denial.
"Where what was?" asked Brody, his voice quiet in contrast to Isaac's.
"I have no idea," I replied, grateful the conversation was straying from me being attacked.
I knew those memories would creep out of their hiding place sometime in the middle of the night. I looked at Brody and wished that, even if it was just one night, I could spend tonight snuggled in his arms, safe and dream-free.
"I heard you say to the police you thought he was familiar. Do you know who it was?" asked Isaac, chasing my thoughts back to reality.
"No. It's just that when he pushed his body into mine…I felt a feeling of deja vu. Not the violent part, just the feeling of his body and the smell of his breath." Geez, conversation got back to this pretty damned quickly. "I'm sure it was just me being stupid. Fear makes you imagine the most ridiculous things."
Thankfully, our conversation was put on hold as there was a very loud knock on the door. Saved by the pizza delivery guy!
An hour later and with a belly full of pizza, I felt fatigue make my body heavy. Brody settled on the couch next to me as we watched my favorite feel good movie, While you were Sleeping with Sandra Bullock. The guys had decided I got to pick the movie because I'd had a stressful afternoon. In actual fact, it was Isaac's favorite too, but he acted very macho in front of Brody, which made me smile.
Their plan to distract my thoughts away from my attacker worked exceptionally well though. The more Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman characters fell in love with each other, the more I felt the tug on my heartstrings when I looked at Brody. Shit!
As the movie drew to a close, he yawned and turned to Isaac. "Is it okay if I sleep on your couch tonight?" I saw Isaac's Adam's apple bob up and down a few times as he gulped at the thought of Brody on his couch.
"Sure!" croaked Isaac.
"What? Why?" I asked.
"I'd feel better if I was here."
"So would I," squeaked Isaac, his voice resembling that of Minnie bloody Mouse.
"Brody, I'm fine. Whoever it was has gone. He was gone by the time you went into my house. I'll have the window locks changed tomorrow so he won't be able to get back in." The thought of Brody sleeping under the same roof as me was both scary and…oh let's face it, it was just plain scary.
"No. I'm staying. I'll sleep a whole lot better."
Well, that makes one of us, I guess.
* * *
I almost made it through the night without visiting Brody on the couch. Almost. I'd fallen asleep quite easily since the day had taken its toll on me, but just as I thought, the nightmares started around two in the morning. I dreamt about the man in my bathroom. He was back, touching me again, only this time I ripped off his mask and found Jack. He took Theo to the kitchen, drowned him in caramel ice cream, and put him in the freezer. Every time I tried to save Theo the balaclava reappeared, and we started the whole sequence again. Waking up, I felt around the bed for Theo. I found him curled up on my pillow, and my heart rate decreased.
I decided a glass of water was what I needed, so I got up and switched on the hallway light. I made my way down the stairs and past the lounge.
I saw Brody, the hallway light bathing him in soft light. I stopped in the doorway and watched h
im for a few minutes, the scariness of the dream lingering. Watching his slow, even breathing, a feeling of safety engulfed me as my fear evaporated. I couldn't help myself.
I moved silently into the room and sat on the floor in front of the couch, just listening to him breathe. Placing my head on the edge of the cushion, I closed my eyes and felt peace. I know it wasn't the same as being snuggled up next to him, but this was a good second.
I woke a few hours later with Brody's fingers entwined with mine and covered in his blanket.
* * *
Later that afternoon, after work, I agreed to go with Brody to the Weight Watchers meeting. Really, it was just a hunch as we didn't even know if Lucy attended this meeting, if any at all. I'd never been to one before, and I will admit to feeling a little bit apprehensive as I waited for Brody to pick me up.
This was also the first time I'd been back in my house alone. Until yesterday, my house was my safe place. I was determined for it to remain that way, so I put on my brave girl panties and sucked up any lingering fear. The locks had all been changed with Brody overseeing the whole thing. He was a real sweetie, leaving me a personal alarm with a note saying I was to keep it on me at all times. I'd given it a trial run earlier and nearly burst my eardrums from the noise. I made a note-to-self to only use it in absolute emergencies.
I was still slightly embarrassed about last night. Sure, Brody had seen me naked yesterday, but waking up holding his hand had felt a lot more intimate, and I was still having a hard time looking him in the eye. So I decided to dress slightly better than normal in the hope of giving myself some extra confidence. I slipped on my little, fitted black skirt and pink, knitted top with the deep V-neckline, applied my third coat of mascara, and waited for the knock on the door. Hearing my gate swing shut, I expected to see Brody standing on the other side of the door, but instead found Isaac.
"Afternoon," he said, his scowl already in place. I felt myself sigh.
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