by Kira Hillins
Sheron stood in his bedroom doorway in a tight leather dress, impatiently waiting for him to finish the call. By the way she dug the sharp end of her heeled shoe into the short Berber carpet, she was eager to leave for the bar.
Relentless woman. She was like an evil possessive older sister with horns on her head and a tail to smite him down whenever he got out of line. If she hadn’t been married to his late brother, Chase, he would’ve already kicked her out of his house.
“End the session with doughnut girl,” Sheron said.
He covered the microphone with his hand. “Get out of my room, Hateful.”
Sheron flipped her long black hair over her petite tanned shoulders. “Jackass.”
“Devil woman.”
She batted her long lashes once. “Baker’s man.” One side of her lilac-colored lips curved upward.
Ben grinned, trying not to laugh as he shook his finger at her. “Nice one,” he said. “Now please. Get out.”
“Hope your gig goes well tonight.” The sulk worked back into Zoe’s voice.
Ben removed his hand from the microphone, then sighed. “I’ll make it up to you, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Happy birthday, Zoe,” he said and then disconnected his headset.
He ran his fingers through his hair as Zoe’s picture disappeared from the TV screen. Would’ve been a perfect night to ask her if she wanted to meet and pursue some sort of…relationship-type thing if their meeting worked out. Not sure how it’d work since she lived five hundred miles away, but he was ambitious.
Chapter Two
Soljer’s wrath lay in purple globs all over the sand. Wouldn’t be much longer until the alien bodies disappeared, leaving no more traces of this tragic battle.
Zoe directed Sonya up the winding ladder to the top of the lighthouse. Near the turning light floated a sparkling heart-shaped box.
She hesitated. Did she really want to see a picture of someone she couldn’t have? She already liked this guy well enough, but to fall head over heels for him would be disheartening.
She set the controller down on the coffee table next to her unfinished lasagna and leaned back on the couch. The clock on the wall near the stairs read 9:06 p.m. The lids of her eyes drooped as rain pounded the side of the apartment. Lightning lit the room. Thunder cracked.
Her cell phone rang. She glanced at the number. It was Nicholas Johnson. He’d called several dozen times since he’d gotten out of jail last month, saying his two years there had rehabilitated him. He’d wanted forgiveness for all the horrifying things he’d done to her, but she would never forgive him.
She’d promised herself she wouldn’t let him frighten her. She couldn’t, or she would never move on with someone new, someone worthy and sweet. Like Ben.
She picked up the controller and clicked on the box. The photo twirled around. The moment the gorgeous man stopped in the center of the screen, everything in the apartment shut down.
“No!” She darted from the couch. “Not now!”
Her bare feet slapped against the kitchen’s cool floor as she made her way to the row of drawers beside the refrigerator. She grabbed the short flashlight and emergency candles, picked up her dad’s old silver smoking lighter, and hurried through the dark to the kitchen table.
Lightning flashed. Thunder clapped. She jumped a mile off her feet. The kitchen was one big shadow. Someone could easily be hiding in the corner of the room, ready to attack.
Her hands shook as she flipped the switch on the side of the flashlight, illuminating the kitchen with dim yellow light. A breath passed her trembling lips. Thank God there was nobody in the room but her.
She set the three blue candles on the counter, then lit each one with the silver lighter. She hated the dark. She hated storms like this, when the roar of the wind outside sounded like a train barreling down the tracks. Perfect weather for a tornado. Reminded her of the stormy night the police dragged Nicholas off to jail.
The doorbell chimed. Body covered in chills, she swiftly descended the five steps to the tiny foyer and peeked out the peephole in the door. She smiled as she twisted the old dead bolt, and the new one she’d had installed yesterday. She unfastened the chain, slid the bar into the latch, and then opened the door wide.
Renji Tanaka, best friend of twenty years and baker at the bakery she managed down the street, stood before her with an LED lantern in hand. He was also her neighbor, and always came to check on her, especially when the lights went out.
Raking his fingers through his wet brown hair, he entered the apartment. “Brought a deck of cards if you’re interested.”
Zoe closed the door behind him, then locked the dead bolts. “What if I’d been asleep?”
“At this hour?” He kicked off his loafers and parked them along the wall beside her boots. “Zoe Kearny doesn’t sleep on Friday nights. Not when she has Coastal Universe, the game that kills brain cells and makes people unhealthy.”
“I’m healthy. And not everyone’s an outdoorsman who loves to hike and camp.”
He followed her to the kitchen and set the lantern on the table. “I sit every once in a while too.”
“When you’re fishing on the reservoir.” She offered him a seat at the breakfast bar. “I figured you’d be out with your new girlfriend.”
He took off his coat and draped it over the back of the bar stool. His dark hair seemed longer than usual, tousled and wet below his ears. His bangs mingled with muddy-brown eyes glistening in the candlelight.
“She was obsessed with me. Kept telling me how uncanny it was that I looked just like the character in her favorite Japanese anime. ‘Tall, Asian, and gorgeous,’ she said.”
Zoe laughed. “You are a handsome man. A girl knows when she’s lucky and doesn’t want to let go.”
He grinned. “It’s true. I am a very hot guy.”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
“I had no idea Zoe Kearny, one who lives life in a video game, carried such feelings for real men.”
Ignoring his tease, she folded her arms across the table and groaned. The photo on the screen had been crystal clear, but she’d only caught a glimpse of short midnight hair and pale skin. Had she seen emerald eyes, or were they the same faded color from the older picture?
She had seen an amazing smile beneath his lips. But why did it matter? They were online friends playing a silly video game. They’d never meet when he had hot girls hanging on him at the bars.
“What’s wrong?” Renji asked.
“I was in the middle of something when the electricity went off.”
“Was Sonya having sex with an alien?”
“Characters can’t have sex with aliens, only with other characters.”
“That’s discrimination.”
He always teased to get her flustered. Worked every time, especially when he harped on her about playing a mature video game in which players had sex with each other. In game it was called coupling, or popping the virtual cherry for first-timers like her. She’d wanted Soljer to be the one to pop her cherry.
“You lead an unhealthy life. Your blood isn’t flowing as well as it should be. It makes your brain all crazy-like.” Renji pulled a deck of cards from his coat pocket. “You sit here in your lonely little apartment tapping buttons all night when there’s a real world outside to explore.”
“I’m not ready to explore the real world yet.” She shrugged. “And I don’t need a lecture from you. Keep your nose out of my business, or…you’re fired.”
The corners of his lips rose as he shuffled the cards. He dealt one card faceup, one card down. Her face card showed a five of diamonds; his, the king of hearts.
“You need a break, Zoe,” he said as he looked under his hidden card. “How about a movie this weekend?”
Zoe looked at her hand. A five and a hidden two were terrible cards. “Hit me.”
He turned his card over to reveal the ace of spades. “I’ve already won.”
“Luck,�
� she muttered through a roll of thunder.
“I cheated.”
“Figures.”
“Shall we make a friendly bet on our next round?”
In their history together, they’d made millions of bets. She’d lost 95 percent of them. Most of their bets were kind of fun, but she’d paid a good amount of settlements doing dishes at the bakery.
“What kind of bet?” she asked.
“If I win this next hand, you go out with me on a date.”
She wrinkled her nose. They’d tried dating once when they were freshmen in high school. After several weeks of movies, holding hands, and sharing a few innocent but awkward kisses, the relationship fizzled.
The decision to break up was a mutual one, but it also came with a pact. If they were both unmarried by her thirtieth birthday, they’d tie the knot and have a ton of children.
“I’m not ready.”
“Come on, Zoe. I’m good for you. I am a faithful guy, you know.”
She belted out a laugh, thinking of the first time things went bad for him. “Have you forgotten about Amber, and the night your girlfriend caught you and her in her father’s barn…naked?”
“She was just…curious how big my muscles were.”
“And why wasn’t she wearing clothes?”
He shrugged. “She’s a professional kickboxer. I wanted to see her muscles too. Patty and I weren’t dating at the time anyway. It was never cheating.”
“So you’ve sworn all along,” Zoe said with a laugh. “What do I get if I win?”
“I’ll cook dinner for you every night for a week if you win.” He leaned back in the chair, hands behind his head. “If I win, you go on a romantic date with me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not going to happen.”
The lights came back on in the living room. Zoe tossed her fist upward as she slid off the stool and went straight to the TV, eager to get Ben’s picture back on the screen.
“What do you have to lose?”
“My best friend.” She picked up the controller. “Dating will ruin our friendship.”
“Yeah, I know. All joking aside, we’re both single and at an age to bear lots of children. With our looks, can you imagine how gorgeous our offspring will be?”
“Seriously?” she called out as she pushed the round X button on the controller. The console whirred to life. Happy to see the Power button glow green, she went back to the kitchen. “The first pretty girl with muscles to come along, you’ll be in the buff in the barn.”
“You’ll never let me live it down,” he muttered. “Deciding hand, Zoe. Bet or no, check your cards.”
She picked up her hand. Jack of hearts and queen of diamonds stared back at her. She could taste the home-cooked meals now. Teriyaki Chicken Monday. Lasagna Tuesday. Beef Stroganoff Wednesday. What other hearty meals could she dream up?
“I’ll stay,” she said, holding her cards together in one hand.
He drew a five card from the deck and placed it beside his ten. A grin crept across his face as he held the second card up before him. Eyes on her, he stood upright.
“Tomorrow is a good day for an outing.”
“No way have you won again!”
Renji tossed the six of spades down on the table.
“You cheated, didn’t you?”
“Fair and square,” he replied. “Let me take you to Wichita. We’ll have dinner at a fancy restaurant. We can catch a movie. Maybe stroll leisurely in the park like we used to.”
“I’m not going on a date with you.”
“Fine, then,” he grumbled. “Dinner and a rental?”
She thought for a moment. It wouldn’t be a big deal since he occasionally came over and cooked for her anyway. Ben had his Saturday-night gig. Microwave meals were getting rather tedious.
“You cook,” she said. “And rent the movie.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave a short nod. “I suppose I’ll head home,” he said, shoving his arms through the sleeves of his coat. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He slipped on his loafers and then opened the door. A refreshing breeze blew into the apartment, bringing a widespread grin across his face.
“Hey, Renji!” she called, catching his gaze before he shut the door.
“Yeah?”
She smiled. “Thanks for coming to check on me.”
“Always will, Zoe,” he said with a wink. “See you tomorrow morning.”
Thunder rumbled in the distance. Thank God no tornado sirens went off this time. She so disliked cramming herself in the one underground basement with fifteen other worried tenants.
She locked the door and then hurried to the couch. Sonya stood before the heart. Zoe sat and pressed the A button. The box opened. The photo whirled around and stopped dead center on the screen.
Oh my. There he stood, crystal clear with a brilliant smile on his handsome face. Deep green eyes penetrated her soul. A black T-shirt hugged his tall, toned upper body. He folded his arms across his chest, pale biceps rounded below the hems of his shirt’s short sleeves. The stance showed off a tattoo of a gun-toting soldier on his forearm.
Zoe’s heart skipped. She was sure this man made beautiful girls fall to their knees and worship the ground he walked on. The kind of man no woman should ever call babe in light conversation. A man who probably had model girlfriends. A lot of them. A player in all aspects of the word. That meant she’d never meet him and have anything real.
Chapter Three
Saturday morning, Zoe walked to the bakery with Renji by her side. As dough rose in a giant steel bowl on the west side of the kitchen, he started on doughnuts he’d prepared the night before.
At seven, Millie Saunders came in to finish decorating the specialty cake the preacher from the Baptist church on B Street had ordered a week ago. PS I love you were the words he wanted to add on his wife’s birthday cake. Millie, genius cake decorator, somehow managed to fit it in with brilliant gold letters below Happy Birthday.
With three rambunctious sons who took all-year-round sports trips, an outgoing ex-minor-league baseball-player husband, and her part-time job at the bakery, Millie was Superwoman. She could decorate the ugliest thing in the world with frosting and make it look edible.
“I hear Renji has special plans for you tonight,” Millie said, wiping her hands on her dish towel.
Zoe shrugged as Millie drew tiny flowers around the top layer of the cake. “He’s coming over to cook dinner. We do it all the time.”
Millie placed the tube of frosting on the counter, then stepped back. “I think it’s great you’re taking interest in something besides video games.” Millie winked her left eye. “Renji’s beefy.”
“Millie,” Zoe whispered. “For the millionth time, I’m not interested in him.”
“That man’s been head over heels in love with you since you were kids.”
Renji was mighty beefy. Huge muscles bulged beneath his short-sleeved baker’s shirt. That gorgeous tanned skin looked like silk. Felt like it too. Zoe thought he’d make a good cop, especially since he enjoyed riding with the local police department. But he always said he’d rather lend his help than write speeding tickets all day.
A blonde woman in a bright yellow coat stood at the counter talking to Renji, flirt in her eyes. She laughed at something he said. Knowing him, it was probably some cheesy joke about doughnuts.
“Is that the new person in town?” Zoe asked.
“She owns the new sports bar going in across from the church.” Millie stole a glance at the woman. “Her name’s Drema Holetzer. Moved here from South Dakota a few weeks ago. She’s looking for a bartender.”
“Well, I hope she’s not trying to steal Renji.”
“Renji wouldn’t dare.” Millie shrugged. “Anyway, I heard she’s supposed to be at church tomorrow, but I wouldn’t think a woman of that nature would be so…holy.”
“What do you mean?”
“From what I heard, she started a big uproar in the last town. The waitresse
s were call girls, and most of the clients were married men.” Millie snickered. “She’s not going to find anyone to hire when ninety percent of our population is over fifty. Can you imagine old Gertrude Holly in nipple tassels, swinging her droopy boobs around?”
Zoe belted out a laugh, catching Renji’s attention. Drema turned her eyes on Zoe and then waved at Renji. She flashed a smile as she left through the front door.
Renji meandered Zoe’s way, brows shifted upward.
“Ready for a home-cooked meal tonight?” he asked when he stopped at the steel counter. He inspected the dots Millie made in the center of the cake’s flowers.
“Yes,” Zoe replied. “Did you rent a movie?”
“I rented The Notebook—the perfect date-night movie.”
“This isn’t a date—”
“Yes, it is,” Millie said. “Suck it up, deary. You and Renji are going to get married and have a ton of babies.”
Renji’s smile broadened. It was clear as day the two worked together on this. No matter what Millie said or what Renji believed, Zoe wasn’t ready to fall in love, and definitely not with him. However, she did want to explore options with her gaming partner.
“Now.” Millie smiled. “You two go. I’ll close up tonight.”
Millie turned Zoe around and shoved her toward Renji. He caught her in his arms and led her by the hand to the back room to get her things.
“You haven’t taken time off in over a year.” He picked up her purse from the office desk. He placed it in her arms and then turned her toward the door. “So let’s go.”
“Where?”
“You’ll see.” Zoe followed Renji out the door. Although hungry for one of Renji’s delicious meals, she’d rather be locked up in her apartment, playing her game tonight with Ben.
They hopped in Renji’s old red Chevy. The truck rumbled to life and purred deeply as Renji drove it out onto the main road.
“We’re not going to Wichita to some nightclub, are we?”
“Of course not,” he replied. “We’re going to the grocery store.”
“As usual.”