Forbidden Attraction: A Contemporary Romance Box Set

by K. C. Crowne

  I still couldn't believe she was turning me down. I had really thought that if I turned on the full Jared charm, it would work. I felt a little off kilter to be honest.

  “Until then if you have any emergencies, I'd suggest calling your physician instead of me.”

  I was going to turn and make one final cheeky quip as I said goodbye, but before I could, she gave me a polite smile and closed the door on me. For a second, I stood stunned in the hallway staring at the door.

  “That was cold,” came the receptionist's caustic voice from the waiting room.

  She was gloating at my bad luck, smiling smugly from behind her desk.

  “Sure was,” I mumbled to myself as I walked away.

  Megan

  "You'll never guess who came back today," I said to Ruby as I slid into my usual seat at the back of Flannigan's.

  She was singing along to a Jefferson Airplane song that was playing out the jukebox and sipping on a rum and coke.

  "I don't know. Who?"

  "Just guess."

  "Ugh. I hate this. Just tell me."

  "No, you have to guess!"

  " I don't know!"

  "Fine. It was Jared."

  She sucked on her straw, her eyes widening as she heard his name.

  "Really?"

  "Yep."

  I took a long gulp of my own drink. It had been an arduous day, and after working a twelve-hour shift followed by trying to file all the paperwork for my new practice, I was shattered and in desperate need of some fun.

  Looking up at the clock, I saw it was almost midnight already, and in less than six hours’ time I'd have to be back up for work. But the last thing I wanted to do was head home and lay in bed worrying about when Billy was going to strike next.

  "And?" Ruby asked, bouncing in her seat excitedly. "I thought he wasn't due back to see you until next week."

  "He wasn't. He came back to ask me out."

  "He did? So, when are you going out?"

  "I'm not going anywhere with that egocentric jerk," I said. "Seriously, the way he just turned up today as though I had to see him just because he said so. He just rocked right in thinking he was royalty and I should be honored to be graced with his attention.”

  "I think you're looking too much into it."

  "I'm really not. He's honestly the most arrogant son of a bitch I've ever met in my whole life."

  "So why are smiling so much?"

  "I'm not, am I?"

  Catching sight of myself in the streaky mirror behind her, I saw I was grinning like a schoolgirl.

  "Okay, I'm maybe smiling a little bit. I can't help it. He’s hot, all right? But that doesn’t change the fact that he's an arrogant bastard."

  "A sexy as fuck arrogant bastard."

  "Yeah, totally. The problem is that he knows how hot he is. I can't help but think he's expecting me to fall at his feet like other girls probably do."

  Ruby thought for a second as she sucked on her straw. I saw her eyeing up the jukebox and already planning what song to put on. Meanwhile, all around us, the bar was starting to fill up. I couldn't help but look over my shoulder thinking Billy might turn up, and I hated this new anxious side to me. I'd never worried about anything like this before. It felt so alien.

  "I really think you should have said yes," Ruby eventually said. "What's the worst that can happen? Besides, you could really do with some fun right now. Especially after last night."

  "Yes I could, but that’s not the point. I cannot ethically date a patient. I could lose my license. Besides, guys are bad news."

  "They're not all bad news."

  Deep down, I knew that, but I couldn't shake the feeling that if I blocked men out of my life altogether, I'd have less drama. Without a man I'd be free, and after being stifled by Billy, I wanted all the freedom I could grasp.

  "If you don't want him, I'll take him," Ruby joked. "Honestly, the things I would do to have a Navy SEAL in my bed."

  I rolled my eyes at her and turned around to face the bar. If Billy was planning on turning up, I wanted a clear view of the whole room.

  "What's up?" Ruby asked. "You seem so tense."

  "Just got a lot to think about. I should really be at home right now filing an absolute fuckton of paperwork for the new practice."

  "You need to take a break. Once your contract is up you should go on vacation or something. Go somewhere hot and let your hair down. Seriously, you need to relax."

  "Relax? I don't feel like I'll ever relax again after last night. I'm afraid to be in my own home, and the dogs were literally useless. The big slobbering idiots."

  "Slobbering idiot?" came a voice from beside me. "I hope you're not talking about me."

  I looked up and saw Alan struggling to carry an armful of empty glasses.

  "Aw, hey Alan. I was hoping to bump into you. I've been meaning to say thank you."

  "Thank you? Now what would you possibly be thanking me for?"

  "The way you threw Billy out on his ass the other night. It was really something."

  "Believe me," he said, flipping the sweaty hair out his eyes with a shake of his head. "The pleasure was all mine. I don't welcome cowards who hit women into my bar."

  "He hasn't tried to turn back up, has he?"

  "Turn back up here?" Alan laughed with another flip of his bangs. "Nah. He's an asshole, but he's not that stupid. He knows better than to come back and get his ass handed to him again. Why do you ask?"

  "Ah nothin'. I was just wondering."

  He must have seen the anxious look in my eye or noted how stressed I looked, because with a great big clatter he set all the glasses down on the table beside us and squeezed into our booth.

  "I hope you don't think I'm prying," he began, running his calloused hand through his longish black hair. "But you've been coming here for a long while and... well, I'd like to think of both of you as friends as well as customers."

  He paused for a second, looked at the queue of people waiting to get served at the bar and knew he didn't have much time to waste.

  "So I mean it when I say I care about you as much as I care about all my regulars," he explained. "If that asshole gives you any more trouble, I want you to tell me, you got that?"

  "Thanks, Alan. I'll be sure to tell you."

  "You better. But if I'm being perfectly honest with you, I reckon he's skipped town."

  "You really think so?"

  "Yup. This town ain't no big city. Everybody knows everybody here, and he knows he ain't welcome. This town ain't too kind to assholes like him."

  I so badly wanted to believe that he would have left, that I'd never hear from again, but something at the back of my mind was telling me I wasn't going to get away from him so easily. And it felt as though the damage done to my back door was just the beginning.

  "I've not seen hide no hair of him since I sent his ass tumbling out the door," Alan chuckled. "Believe me, he's well gone."

  He glanced back over to the bar where the throngs of thirsty customers were growing impatient.

  "Anyway, sweetheart, I better get back to work. I swear I'm the only sucker in this place that does a fucking thing."

  He placed his hand into mine and gave it a rough squeeze. Then he picked up all the glasses again, balancing them up his arms like a circus act as he snaked his way through the crowds of people.

  "See? There's nothing to worry about," Ruby said. "Alan's probably right. Billy's not going to stick around and show his face again. He knows there's only trouble for him if he stays around."

  "Then who was it who broke into my back door and stole my spare keys? Because it sure as shit wasn't just some random burglar. If it was, they would have taken something valuable. I mean my purse was on the kitchen table. My laptop was in the next room. I had a designer pair of sunglasses on the counter. There was all of that but the one thing they chose to steal was the keys that open my front door? Nah, it was Billy who broke in. It has to be. And if he's taken the keys then he's planning on com
ing back to my house."

  Ruby's face was scrunched up she contemplated the implications of what I said.

  "Shit," she replied. "You're right. If he has the key to the front door then he could-"

  "Be there right now. Hell, he could climb into one of my closets and hide there until I get home. And then what? He butchers me in my sleep because those dumb cops from last night couldn't do shit?"

  Ruby shook her head and sighed before sucking up the last of her rum and coke and looking out despondently over the busy bar.

  "You'd be better off telling Sheriff Baxter. He's a nice guy. He'd do something about Billy. Unlike that little jerkbag with the attitude last night."

  “Unfortunately, the one thing those asshats from last night were right about is that they can’t just take my word for it. I have to have actual proof that it was Billy.” I yawned as exhaustion set in.

  I couldn't remember the last time I'd slept a full eight hours, and I was really feeling the effects of my drink. The one thing I wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep the days away, but I knew I'd never feel safe in my bed again. Not until it could be proven that Billy couldn't get near me.

  "I don't like seeing you like this," Ruby said, rubbing my arm. "I've never seen you nervous before. It's horrible. You usually never let shit get to you."

  I didn't know what to say. Last night had shaken me up more than I cared to admit, and it had turned me into something I wasn't. I was nervous and paranoid, always looking over my shoulder. I wanted to feel like the old me again, strong and carefree.

  "You could always come stay with me,” Ruby suggested.

  "Really? You wouldn't mind?"

  "Why would you even ask me such a stupid question? No, I wouldn't mind. I'd rather you were with me and safe. Besides, I live in an apartment on the top floor with a secure entrance. There's no way Billy can even reach you up at mine."

  "But what about the dogs?"

  A petrified look flashed in her eyes for a second, then she said, "Bring Rolo and Reuben too. The cats will hate it, but we can maybe work something out."

  "It's going to be chaos."

  "Yeah, but at least I'll know you're safe. I'd rather you were living in chaos than fear."

  She had a point.

  "I don't know what I'd do without you," I said. "You're the best."

  I leaned over and squeezed her as tightly as I could.

  "I know," she croaked as I squeezed the air out her lungs. As I held her in my arms, I could feel her body tense up. Then she looked back out toward the bar and dug her nails into my arm.

  "Megan..."

  "What? Why are you staring like that? You look like-"

  I swung around to see what she saw. The first thing I noticed in the crowd were the familiar tattoos snaking their way up muscular arms. Then I saw the face I hoped I'd never see again. Saw the look in his eyes that told me he had nothing but trouble on his mind.

  “What the fuck? I told you all he wasn’t gone. He’s not going to let me go that easily. Especially now that his ego’s been bruised.”

  I was babbling nervously, trying to block out the fearful thoughts in my head.

  “Just chill,” Ruby said. “Ignore him. Focus on me.”

  But chilling was the last thing I was capable of doing. I searched frantically around the room for Alan or one of the bouncers, but the place was so busy they were all lost among the dozens of people.

  “Shit! This can't be happening.”

  “Just look at me,” Ruby said again. “Pretend you haven't even noticed him.”

  But that was impossible to do when all I could feel was his gaze burning into the side of my head.

  “I can't ignore him,” I said, my fear turning to anger. “And if Alan isn't going to hurl him outta here then I will.”

  “What do you mean?” Ruby asked.

  But I was already jumping out my seat, my heart beating in my throat and a bottle of beer in my hand as a weapon if I needed it again.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I raged as I walked right up to him.

  He looked shocked to see me so angry, but there was an amused glint in his eye, like he could pick up on some of the fear I tried so hard to disguise.

  “Just grabbing a beer,” he replied with a smug grin. “There's no crime in that, is there?”

  “No, but it's a crime to break into someone’s house.”

  His smirk grew wider and he crossed his arms and leaned back as though he was proud of his handiwork.

  “I have no idea what you're talking about,” he laughed.

  “You're a fucking liar. I know it was you.”

  “Then why didn't the police arrest me?”

  The rage bubbled up inside me.

  “Just give me back my fucking keys, you asshole. I'm not afraid of you. I swear to God if I see you around my house again, I'll put a bullet in you.”

  It was an empty threat and he knew it. I didn't even have a gun in my house.

  “You'll put a bullet in me?” he chuckled. “And just how are you gonna do that?”

  I looked back up at the bar hoping to see Alan, but he was busy serving a baying crowd of customers and barely had time to breathe let alone intervene on my behalf.

  “Just get the fuck out of here,” I told him. “If I see you again, I'm calling the cops.”

  I stormed away back to Ruby as he laughed at me. Somehow, his mocking tone and laughter angered me more than anything else.

  “That bastard!” I fumed as I took my seat. “That piece of shit thinks the whole situation's funny.”

  “Well it looks as though he got the hint. He's leaving.”

  “He is?”

  We both looked up to see him disappear back through the crowd toward the door.

  “What a creep,” Ruby said with a shiver. “Think he just came here to torment you then leave.”

  “That's what it looks like.”

  “Loser.”

  “But a dangerous loser. I swear to God, I've never seen that look on his face before. It was like he was enjoying every second of trying to scare me.”

  “Fucking psychopath.”

  Now that he was out of sight, I took a deep breath and let my shaking arms settle.

  “I'm going to the bathroom,” I said, standing back up.

  “You need some company?”

  “No. I'll just be a second.”

  Pushing my way through everyone, I burst into the bathroom where groups of girls crowded around the mirrors applying their makeup. Some of them looked barely old enough to drink, with their short skirts accentuating the youthful shape of their skinny legs.

  “Hey, did you seem him?” a blonde girl asked as she piled pink lip gloss onto her lips.

  “Who? David?”

  “No! Jared!”

  Another girl lifted her head from the mirror and jiggled her boobs inside her push up bra.

  “That hot guy who was on TV?”

  “Yeah, the one who took on the Mafia.”

  “Wait, he's here?”

  If my heart wasn't racing fast enough already, it was now. I stared into the mirror and ran the cold tap before dabbing freezing water onto my face.

  Jared's here... And by the way those girls are talking about him you'd think he was a rock star.

  “He's sooooo hot,” the blonde one said as she stroked another layer of thick mascara onto her lashes. “And I heard he's single too.”

  “I heard he lives up the mountain.”

  “Ooh, that's hot. I love a red-blooded mountain man.”

  “He could kidnap me and take me up to his cabin any day.”

  The all giggled in unison sounding like a bunch of squawking seagulls and I rolled my eyes.

  Did every girl in this town want to throw themselves at Jared's feet but me?

  Drying my face, I glanced down to the girls, then back to me. I looked nothing like them, and a sense of pride swelled up inside me.

  It's me he wants. Not you.

  I swan
ned past them with a smile. If only they knew.

  For second, I'd almost forgotten about Billy, and as I walked out the bathroom, I only thought about Jared. The nerve of him turning up like that today. I'd never known a guy with so much nerve.

  I went to the ancient jukebox and tried to pick out a song to get myself out of the funk I was in. I slipped a dollar in the machine, but nothing happened.

  “Oh come on, you’re going to give me shit today too?” I said aloud as I slapped the side of the machine.

  “Having some trouble?” asked a voice in my right ear.

  I jumped and spun round. There it was. That smug grin again and those stormy, mischievous eyes. I was instantly gripped by fear, but it soon turned to anger.

  “Can you not take a hint, Billy?”

  “Hey, I'm not doing anything wrong.”

  “You're stalking me.”

  “Stalking you? Don't be so over dramatic. I just wanted to talk.”

  “Did you just want to talk when you busted in my back door?”

  A wolfish smile spread across his face. Leaning against the jukebox, he traced his fingers down the side of my arm. I was instantly repulsed and recoiled from him.

  “Don't fucking touch me. Get out my way now or I'm calling the cops.”

  “What are you going to tell them? I'm not doing anything. Yet...”

  I looked back down to the table where Ruby sat, but she was bobbing her head along to the music, oblivious to where I was. In the distance, I could just about make out the top of Alan's head.

  Will someone just notice him!

  “I'm not going to tell you again,” I seethed. “Don't come near me.”

  I turned to walk away.

  Fuck the music, I just need to get outta here.

  But as I turned to leave, I felt a vice-like grip clamp around my wrist.

  “Where do you think you're going?”

  “Get your fucking hands off me unless you want another bottle smashed into your head.”

  But he just laughed and tightened his grip on me.

  “You think you're so fucking smart. Think you're so fucking special. You think you can just use me and discard me like I'm some plaything? Well you fucking can't. Because you can't get rid of me so easily.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”