Taming the Whirlwind

by L. M. Heidle

K.P.

  A big smile broke across my face because he left me a note. Yep, I’m an idiot. I couldn’t get too close or I knew I would fall for him and end up getting hurt.

  I climbed out of bed with my new resolve. I went to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of apple juice. I stared at the roses; they really were gorgeous.

  I heard the door close. I walked into the living room to see Meg walking in. “The walk of shame? I take it things with Derrick are going well.”

  She was glowing from head to toe. “Ha, funny and yes they are. I feel like I’ve known him my whole life. We stayed up almost all night talking. You know, in between the extras.” She winked at me, causing me to grimace because I knew exactly what the ‘extras’ were. “How was your night?”

  “Hmmm… how could I describe last night? Well, it was interesting to say the least. Kade showed up with flowers to apologize for his behavior. He ended up staying to watch TV and eat ice cream with me. Of course, we ended up kissing which he stopped because he just wants to be friends. For some insane reason, I agreed. I asked him to stay last night but this morning, he was gone. Friends do that, right?”

  “Friends? You’re kidding me, right? Please tell me you’re kidding me.” I shook my head no. “Are you nuts?”

  I nodded, “Probably. Just wait, it gets better. He also said he plans on ‘protecting’ me.”

  “He wants you, Liz. That man wants you hardcore. Why else would he want to do that?”

  I stood there and thought about it for a second. “I don’t know. Friends are worried about each other’s safety.”

  “Yeah right. I don’t buy it at all. He may care about your safety but it has nothing to do with being friends. He could have had those flowers delivered. He didn’t need to hand deliver them. That man makes enough money he could get flowers delivered in the middle of a blizzard.”

  I groaned, “I knew he was going to be trouble for me the first time I saw him. What the hell am I thinking?”

  “I guess enjoy the ride because I’m sure it’s going to be fun. There is absolutely no way you guys are just going to be friends.”

  “I guess only time will tell. I’m going to go make breakfast. Want some?”

  “No, I think I’m going to go to bed. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” I groaned as she walked away. I was so happy for her. It was about time she found a good guy. She had a knack for always choosing the losers. If there was a loser in the crowd, she was like a magnet. Her last real relationship seemed normal at first until she found out he was married with two kids. On that thought, maybe I had better check Derrick out. I couldn’t stand to see her get her heart broke again.

  I wandered back to the kitchen to make breakfast. I decided on my usual: yogurt and granola. I had nothing planned today and since Meg was out of commission for a while, I decided I might as well hit the gym. I changed my clothes and left a note on the fridge for Meg in case she woke up.

  When I reached the lobby, Billy held the door open for me. I pulled my light jacket a little tighter. It was unusually windy for this time of year. As I walked to the gym, I once again marveled at the beauty of this city. I couldn’t believe my dreams had come true.

  I went into the locker room to change my shoes and put my stuff in a locker. An ad poster caught my eye because it was a blown up picture of Kade. I just sat there, staring. Even in print the man was gorgeous. A lady walked in while I was staring at him and laughed. “They don’t come much finer than him, do they?”

  I turned to look at her. She was a short, slim blonde. “No, I don’t think they do.” I had firsthand knowledge that there wasn’t. He looked amazing in the suit he was wearing in the poster but I knew that he was better without his clothes on.

  “Hi, I’m Susie.” I took the hand she offered and shook it.

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Liz.”

  “Likewise. Are you going to work out?” The sarcastic side of me wanted to say ‘well, what else do you do in a gym,’ but I just nodded. We made small talk as we made our way to the equipment. We both hopped onto a treadmill and started a brisk walk. “So how long have you lived here, Liz? You don’t seem like a normal New Yorker. Not enough attitude.”

  I laughed. “I haven’t lived here long. My roommate and I moved here after we graduated. You?”

  “I’ve lived here my entire life. I lived in the Bronx when I was little. I moved to California for college but I missed New York too much, I moved back.”

  I wanted to start running but didn’t want to be rude. “Are you working anywhere now that you’re back?

  She nodded. “I’m in marketing. I work for Parker, Inc.” I lost my balance and almost went flying off the back of the treadmill. Lucky for me, I grabbed the sidebars in time.

  “Oh my gosh. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I just lost my balance for a second. So did you have anything to do with the poster in the locker room?”

  “Yep, I was at that photo shoot. I got to stare at him all afternoon and nobody thought twice about it. What I wouldn’t give for ten minutes with that man. I bet he’s all muscle.”

  Once again I about lost my balance but this time, I caught myself before she saw me. Being in those arms was amazing. “Yes, his body is pure muscle.” Oh crap…did I just say that out loud?

  She turned to look at me, “What did you say? Have you seen him without a shirt?”

  Shoot, shoot. I didn’t want her to know I knew him that way. “I mean I’m sure he is made of muscle. He looks like he works out a lot.”

  She nodded her head. Thank heavens she believed that. We both started running and were lost in our own thoughts. I would give anything to be lost in her thoughts so I could get the piercing blue eyes out of mine.

  When my legs started to shake, I decided I should stop. I hadn’t even noticed that Susie wasn’t running anymore. I looked to my right and saw her riding a bike. I went over the weights for a little bit but I just wasn’t in the mood to work out anymore. I gave up and went back to the locker room to shower and change. Susie was getting dressed when I walked out of the shower. “Well, it was nice to meet you. Maybe I’ll see you again.”

  “That would be great. It would be nice to meet some new people, especially who live around here.”

  “Yeah, I don’t live very far. I just moved into the Drayton apartments not too long ago.”

  “Well, we really may see each other because that’s where my roommate and I live too.”

  “We should get together sometime then.” We traded numbers and went our separate ways.

  On my walk home, I came across a park. I couldn’t believe I had never noticed it before. It had big beautiful trees of all kinds. There were benches where old ladies were feeding the birds. Kids were playing on the grassy knoll. It was so peaceful compared to the hustle and bustle of the city roaring around it. I walked through it only to find that it had an entrance near my apartment. This is just what I needed to relax and try to forget about the world. I sat there for at least an hour, just lost in thought. I finally decided that Kade and I could be friends. It would be hard to be around him at first but that charge had to go away eventually. Plus, it wasn’t like we were going to be best friends. It would be like an acquaintance thing.

  I said hello to Billy as I walked into the lobby. He was such a sweet old man. I unlocked the door of the apartment and it was completely quiet. I guess Meg was still asleep. I crept quietly to my bedroom and decided a nap sounded good. I couldn’t wait to tell Meg about Susie and the park.

  I woke with a startle when I heard something break in the kitchen. I thought maybe Meg had dropped a bowl on the floor but when I met her coming out of her room, my eyes widened. “What was that?” she whispered. I put my finger to my lips. We heard footsteps run across the living room then the door slammed shut. We both breathed a sigh of relief as we made our way down the hall. In the kitchen, there was broken glass all over the floor. The drawers had all been pulled out and dumped on the floor.

  “Meg
, call the front desk and tell Billy what happened. I’m going to go see what else they got into.”

  I made my way past the kitchen into the living room. It was a mess. How had neither one of us heard this happening? I turned to look at the dining room area and the drawers were dumped on the table.

  “Holy cow! What went on out here?” Meg screamed when she walked into the room.

  “I have no idea. Did you get a hold of Billy?”

  “Yeah, he had already called the cops when the guy came running down the stairs and out the door. Apparently, we weren’t the only apartment broken into.”

  “Maybe I’m not so against those cameras after all. I can’t tell if anything is missing. He broke into the wrong apartment if he thought he was going to make it rich.” We broke out in giggles.

  The police arrived ten minutes later. They were taking our statement as Kade barged through the door. The policeman turned to stare at him, “Sir, may I ask who you are and what you’re doing here?”

  Kade briefly looked at him then he turned his attention to me. The usual piercing blue eyes looked wild. His face was etched with worry and tension. He was breathing like he bypassed the elevator in favor of the stairs. He looked me over from head to toe I guess to make sure I wasn’t hurt. As he finished his assessment, relief crossed his face.

  “Friends, ha that’s a laugh,” Meg stage whispered.

  “Oh, shut up, Meg.”

  He walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Are you okay?” I looked up at him. Can I tell him I was better now that he was here? What is he doing here anyways? Oh, yeah, he owns the building.

  “Yes I’m fine. Meg and I scared him away.” He kissed my forehead and wrapped his arms around me. I laughed. “We feel bad for him because he broke into the wrong apartment if he wanted to get rich.” His face went from relief to anger in a split second.

  “You shouldn’t joke about things like this. You two could have been hurt or killed.”

  “Excuse me? You can’t just barge in here like that.” We both turned to face the policeman. He looked irritated that he had been ignored the first time. “This is an active crime scene.” Really? It looked like more like a tornado touched down.

  “Sorry, officer. I’m Kade Parker. I own the apartments. Can you tell me what happened here? Do you have any leads?” He walked off with the officer as they talked over the details of what happened.

  Beside me, Meg said, “I wondered how long it would take him to get here.”

  I faced her and frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “As soon as he heard there was a break in at these apartments, I bet he dropped everything and ran out the door. When he found out it was our apartment, let’s just say I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere near him.”

  “Don’t be silly. Of course, he would come over quickly. This is his property; he wanted to make sure nothing was damaged.”

  “Sometimes for a smart woman, you can be insanely dense.” Just then, Kade looked over and our eyes locked. His eyes were so intense that once again it was just the two of us. “Yeah, it was just his building. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  He nodded his head at the police office and made his way back over to us. “Meg, are you okay?” he asked but his eyes never left mine.

  She waved her hand in between us, “I’m over here.”

  He looked at her, “I’m sorry. How are you doing, Meg?”

  “Thanks for finally asking, but yes I’m fine,” she replied, but he was already looking back at me.

  “Do you guys feel comfortable staying here tonight? I would be more than willing to get you two a hotel room,” he said, looking back at Meg. He turned to me, “Or you could stay with me. I have plenty of room.” I probably flushed five different shades of red. Did I want to stay with him? Hell yes, I did. Who wouldn’t, but I knew for my sanity and our friendship, it wasn’t a good idea. It would seriously be crossing the friendship line if I attacked him, which would probably happen if we got anywhere near a bed. Yep, our friendship is going to work out great, I thought sarcastically to myself.

  Meg started to speak but I slightly shook my head, “No thank you, we’ll be okay here.”

  “Are you sure? The security upgrades aren’t set to be installed until tomorrow.” He tried to make his face look nonchalant but I could see in his eyes, he didn’t want us to stay here.

  “No, it’s fine. We both have to work tomorrow. It would be a pain to have to pack everything we needed. Plus, we have this mess to clean up. Thank you though.” Meg ever so discreetly stepped back until she was out of eyesight but not out of hearing distance.

  “Liz, I wish you wouldn’t stay here. You never know if he’ll come back.”

  “I’m pretty sure he won’t be coming back here. I told you he wasn’t going to get rich robbing us.” He shook his head in exasperation.

  “I don’t like it but I don’t want to fight with you. I’m going to have a security officer walking the grounds until the upgrades are completed. That’s not an option so don’t argue. You’ll also have one walking the halls especially this one.” He ran his knuckles down my cheek. This man is so exasperating. “Well, I’ll leave you to the cleaning. If you change your mind about staying somewhere else, here is my number.” He handed me his business card, “My cell and home number are on the back.” With that, he turned to walk out the door, out as fast as he came in. I just shook my head.

  Meg walked back over. “Why didn’t you want to stay with him?”

  “If we’re going to be friends, I need to distance myself. Staying at his house would be the opposite of that because if we’re even close to a bed, I’m afraid I might jump him.” She laughed at me. “Plus, he’s so intense that I’m scared I might lose myself in him if I’m not careful.”

  “Liz, he’s not Brent. You’re a much stronger woman now but if you think it’s better to stay away, then I trust your judgment. Besides, who says we need a steady man right now? Enjoy being single!”

  “Thanks. Enjoy being single? This is coming from a woman who is crazy about someone.”

  “I really am crazy about him,” she swooned. “Liz, I can see this being serious but I’m trying to not get too attached until he proves himself.”

  “Sounds like a great plan but I have a feeling about him.”

  We spent the rest of the night putting our apartment back together. We both went to bed as soon as we were done. It felt like we unpacked our apartment for a second time. I hoped they found the guy who did this so I could personally kick his butt.

  Chapter Nine

  Monday, September 2

  I woke to the wonderful aroma of coffee. It was going to be a necessity if I wanted to be alert this morning. Every sound I had heard last night made me think it was a burglar.

  “Morning, sunshine. Want some coffee?” I nodded and she poured me a cup. “Will you see Kade today?”

  “Yeah, he has an appointment this afternoon. I’m wondering if he will be back to his usual behavior.”

  “I don’t think it was a fluke, if that’s what you’re thinking. I thought about what you said last night and maybe you’re right. I don’t want you to lose yourself in a relationship again. I know how hard you took it last time. Well, on a completely unrelated subject, I need to go get ready for work.”

  “Yeah, I should probably do that too. You’re going to rock today.” I smiled because I knew behind her tough exterior, she was nervous. I took another drink of my coffee before walking over to the sink to rinse it out. I looked at the clock. It was already 8am. If I didn’t get moving, I was going to be late. I practically ran down the hall to jump into the shower.

  I was out of the shower and dressed in less than twenty minutes. I didn’t even try to do anything with my hair. I pulled it back into the usual ponytail and tried to do a little makeup for a meager effort. I said my goodbye to Meg and was out the door by 8:30 am.

  I walked out the front door and stopped. Kade’s SUV was sitting the
re. Tony opened the door for me and drove me to work in style.

  Danny smiled when I rushed in to work. “Rough night?”

  “You could say that.” I didn’t have time to go into detail about the break-in.

  “Well, don’t worry. We all have those days.” I loved working there. It was so nice to not have a drill sergeant for a boss.

  “Thanks.”

  “No worries. Life happens. Besides, your first client is running about ten minutes late. Guess it’s been a crazy Monday for more than just you.”

  My first client showed up at 9:20am so that session was short. My 10am was usually Eddie, but now it was filled with a new client. It was such a sad situation, a woman who had been pushed down enough stairs to break both her arms in two places. Sometimes, I felt like a psychologist because clients told me their life stories.

  “Liz, your 10:30 appointment just cancelled. Could you wipe down the equipment? Then go to lunch, if you want.”

  “Sure thing, Danny.” I thought about going to the gym since I had some extra time but in the end, I wouldn’t have had time. Cleaning the equipment took a lot longer than I thought. As I was waiting for the elevator, I wondered how this afternoon would go. I stepped aside to let the passengers off the elevator when I saw him walk off. He gave me a tight smile.

  “Hello, Ms. Day. How are you feeling today?” Guess we were back to being formal. I know in a way I expected it but that doesn’t mean I liked it. What I hadn’t expected was for his voice to be clipped and brusque and for him to be in workout clothes. His appointment wasn’t until this afternoon.

  “Yes, Mr. Parker, my roommate and I are fine. Thank you.” If he could be all formal, then so could I. For a brief second, I saw relief flood his eyes.

  “Well, I’m glad for that. The security equipment will be installed before you get home. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  He didn’t wait for my answer. He simply walked past me and into the office. What was that about? Yesterday, he was asking me to stay at his apartment. Today, it felt like he couldn’t get away fast enough. Yep, the friendship idea seemed to be long gone. The elevator doors opened to the lobby and I numbly walked out. I took a left out the door and just started walking. I had no idea where I was going; I just walked. What was his attitude change for? Had I done something wrong or was this his way of dealing with what happened last night? I stopped in the middle of the busy sidewalk when it dawned on me.