Authors: Liza Kline
Cuffed: A Novella
A Novella
By Liza Kline
Copyright © 2016 by Liza Kline
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise) – except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles or reviews – without permission in writing from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or
locales is entirely coincidental.
First Printing: April 2016
I put my car in park and let my head fall
back against the headrest, exhaustion taking over as I finally gave my body a
moment to rest. Working a double at the hospital, on three hours of sleep, the
day of one of my best friend’s parties was not my brightest idea. A look in the
rearview mirror revealed the back seat of my car was filled with two boxes
containing assorted bottles of wine and a bag of cocktail napkins.
Opening my eyes, I stared at the white clapboard home my
best friend Steph Williams and her brother Shane had inherited when their
grandmother had passed away two years earlier. Steph had taken over the top
floor while Shane had converted the basement into a space of his own. The two
shared the living areas on the ground floor amicably.
There was no sign of activity coming from the house, and a
quick glance at the driveway showed neither of their vehicles. Great, looked
like I was lugging the party supplies in on my own. Three trips later I slumped
against the kitchen door ready to curl up and nap right there on the floor.
There was no way I was going to make it until 7pm when the party started, let
alone 3am when Steph’s parties normally ended. It was five now, if I made it up
the backstairs before Steph got home I could get in an hour nap before I had to
be back down to help her with the final party preparations.
Sighing to myself I pushed off the door and made it two
steps before I walked into something solid. Hands grabbed my arms to prevent me
from falling on my butt. Blinking sleepily I looked up, right into the piercing
gaze of Shane.
Oh my god! I’d just walked into Shane. Don’t stare, whatever
you do don’t stare into his eyes.
I was losing the battle as I continued to
look up at him.
Shane had been my crush all through junior high and high
school. It was only when I had gone to college that I had come to the
realization that my dark hair and curvy build couldn’t compete with the svelte
blondes Shane preferred. I had come back the summer after freshmen year with a
fewer stars in my eyes where he was concerned and had come to accept the
friendship that had developed between us. Although, in moments like this it was
hard to ignore the fact that I was still attracted to him.
“Where are you hurrying off to?” He asked with a smirk, the
dimple in his cheek making a brief appearance. God how I loved that dimple.
“Grabbing a nap before Steph’s party starts,” I said finally
pulling my eyes from his and taking a step back, forcing Shane to release his
grip on my arms. I rubbed my arms unconsciously where his hands had been.
“You know after you don’t answer her call, the first place
my sister will look for you is the spare bedroom.” Damn, he was right and I
couldn’t turn my phone off or my alarm wouldn’t go off. What the hell was I
going to do?
I stood there for a moment stumped.
“You can nap in my bed if you want. It’s the last place
she’ll look.” Shane said leaning nonchalantly against the counter as if he
hadn’t just said something outrageous, looking better than any man had the
right to. His white v-neck tee looked painted on and his jeans clung to well
muscled thighs.
Nap in Shane’s bed, would I even get any sleep? Did it
matter? I would be in his room, surrounded by his things. In his bed.
Earth
to Alexis. You’ll be alone in his bed
, I chastised myself.
It’s not like
he’s inviting you to go to bed with him. Now that would be something to get
excited about. Stop it! You left high school and this ridiculous crush eight
years ago.
I glanced over at Shane and saw him staring at me
expectantly. Crap, he was waiting for an answer.
“Sure, that would be great,” I said trying to control my
excitement.
He gestured for me to follow him with another sexy smirk,
and I couldn’t help but appreciate the way his ass looked in those faded jeans.
I was so lost in the thought of following Shane to his room in the basement
that I completely missed the first step.
I stumbled as I landed hard on the second step and for a
moment I thought that I was going to pitch forward into Shane’s back. I grabbed
a hold of the railing at the last second, wobbled and then stood perfectly
still. Shane continued down the stairs completely unaware of our near
collision. I sighed silently in relief and watched my feet as I continued down.
That was close, it had been difficult enough to keep my hands to myself when we
were in the kitchen. If I’d fallen on top of him, I wouldn’t have been
responsible for where my hands might have wandered to in all the confusion,
like those delicious abs of his.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts I blinked at the sudden
brightness as Shane turned the overhead lights on. His space was neat and
organized, much like his appearance. Even when we were growing up Shane had
never been a messy teenager. The walls had been painted an off white and
featured several poster size black and white prints of landscapes. The light
grey carpet was plush and complemented the simpleness of his room.
There was an oversized sofa and recliner directly across
from the stairs in a slightly darker grey than the carpet facing the right
wall. Mounted to the wall was one of the largest TVs I had ever seen. Turning
to my left Shane’s bed took up most of the remaining space. It was neatly made
with a dark grey comforter that had two pillows encased in pale yellow cases
peaking out from underneath. Apparently Shane’s favorite color was grey and not
blue like I had believed growing up.
“I washed the sheets yesterday,” he said when he caught me
eyeing his bed. “Go ahead and make yourself at home.”
I yawned as I toed off my shoes by the stairs and made my
way over to his bed. “Thanks for letting me borrow your bed,” I said sitting
down on the edge.
“You’re welcome. You know you can get under the covers,” he
said with a grin, this time both dimples making an appearance.
“What?” I asked fighting back another yawn. “Oh, I know I
was just waiting for you to leave. Wait, I meant I didn’t want to be rude.”
Crap I was babbling.
Shane just laughed at me and walked back to the stairs. At
the foot of the stairs he turned back to me, “I’ll wake you up in time for the
party.”
I waited until I could no longer hear his footsteps on the
stairs before standing up and pulling back the covers. I crawled into his bed
and pulled up the covers. Mmm, they smelled like him. Falling asleep surrounded
by the scent of Shane was going to be difficult.
It must not have been too difficult because the next thing I
knew I was waking up in a warm cocoon of covers and masculine arms. I snuggled
deeper into the pillows, wait I went to sleep alone. Who was I cuddled up with?
I rolled over slowly in the arms wrapped around me. Looking
down at me was Shane. When the hell did Shane slip back into bed with me? And
why was he cuddling me? Did I really care about when or why? Shane was in bed,
with me!
My frantic thoughts cut off abruptly as he slowly leaned in
closer. Shane was going to kiss me.
Don’t freak out!
His warm lips
pressed gently against mine and all thoughts vanished. My hands drifted around
to caress his back, pulling him closer to me.
This close I could feel his muscles ripple as he shifted
against me. One hand dropped to my waist and the other slid around to cup the
back of my head, his fingers sliding through my hair. I moaned in delight as he
kneaded my hip and deepened the kiss.
“Are you okay with this Lex,” he asked pulling back
slightly.
Was I okay with this? Was he kidding? I’d been waiting for
this moment since 8th grade. Okay, so maybe I had only wanted to hold hands
back then, but this was a thousand times better than that.
“Lex?” Oh yea, he was waiting for an answer.
“Hey Lex, time to wake up.”
What? Wake up? Why would Shane be telling me to wake up?
Shane shook my shoulder, “Come on Lex, you gotta get up.”
“Just one more kiss Shane.”
“Umm, what did you say Alexis?”
“Shane?” I blinked up at him sleepily, as he leaned over me
with his hand still on my shoulder. “What are you doing out of bed?”
He gave me a weird look before replying, “Come on Lex, the
party already started. Steph’s starting to get worried that she can’t reach
you.”
“Why did you let me sleep so long?” I asked grumpily hopping
out of bed and heading toward the stairs not waiting for his response.
“Don’t you want that kiss, Lex?” Shane called out as I
slipped my shoes on and quickly scurried up the stairs, deciding it was safer
not to answer him.
The party was in full swing when I reached the kitchen. I
grabbed an open bottle of wine from the counter and then made my way into the
living room. The overhead lights were off, but Steph had turned lamps on in
each corner of the room, draping sheer scarves over them to give the room a
relaxed ambiance. Not bothering with a glass, I took a swig straight from the
bottle as I made my way over to a group of friends sitting in the back corner
laughing, probably gossiping.
My thoughts strayed to the scene in Shane’s room.
What
the hell had that been about? I hadn’t dreamt about Shane in years, and then to
have him wake me in the middle of it, could this day get any worse?
I took
another long drink and tuned into the conversation flowing around me. My plan
was to stay here for the night, catch up with my friends and get drunk, not
necessarily in that order. I plopped down in an empty spot on the sofa when
that nasty internal voice chimed in,
you’re hiding...coward!
I chose to
ignore it and focused instead, on my friend’s ribbing me about not using a
glass.
“I’m helping save the environment,” I declared with a stray
hiccup as I glanced toward the kitchen, my eyes automatically drawn to Shane as
he entered the room.
“Slow down there Captain America,” Steph said joining our
little group. “You’ve killed half a bottle in under five minutes.”
A quick look at the bottle in my hands confirmed her words, shit;
this night was not going as planned at all. I wondered briefly where my phone
was. I had been planning on texting Toby, the guy I had met on an online dating
site the previous week, and inviting him over, but it was probably best if he
didn’t meet me for the first time when I was chugging wine from a bottle.
“I’m good,” I told Steph after I took another long drink and
placed the now empty bottle on the table.
My drinking habit was soon forgotten as Marie asked Steph
about her man of the hour. I loved my best friend but I didn’t understand how
she changed men like I changed my sheets, weekly. Having already heard about
Brad I leaned back and let the sounds of the party wash over me. My fingers
felt slightly tingly and I knew it was from the wine, at least my lips weren’t
numb like they got when I was drunk. I could handle this relaxed state of
tipsiness.
A loud shout of laughter from the front of the room where
the guys had congregated drew my attention. I looked over to see Shane in the
middle of the group facing me. He was gesturing animatedly as he talked, probably
telling another work story. Shane had graduated from high school two years
before Steph and myself and had gone into the police academy three weeks after
receiving his diploma. After ten years on the force, he usually had an
entertaining story or two to regale friends and family with. I sometimes
suspected he spiced up some of his stories to impress his buddies.
Tuning back into the conversation going on around me I
discovered that they were now gossiping about people from work. We all worked
at the same hospital. Uninterested, I decide to hit up the bathroom and find
something else to drink. The door was closed to the bathroom off the kitchen so
I decided to take a chance that no one had ventured upstairs yet. Luck was on
my side; the bathroom at the top of the stairs was vacant.
Having completed my mission successfully I made my way back
down to the party. I grabbed another bottle of wine from the table in the
kitchen and was searching for a glass, determined not to be a complete lush,
when I heard more boisterous laughter coming from the living room. Curiosity
taking over, I peeked in to hear Shane boasting.
“I’ll show you the proper way to arrest someone. Not that
shit they taught you in security guard training,” he said gesturing toward a
blonde guy I’d never seen before with a red party cup.
“Who wants to volunteer?” He called out to his now captive
audience. And that was my cue to exit the room. But I wasn’t fast enough.
“Alexis looks a little drunk and disorderly over there,”
Steph called out.
Shit! There was no escape now. I tipped the bottle to my lips;
some things didn’t call for a glass. This was one of them.