Just to be Left Alone (10 page)

“What’s
wrong?” He questioned.

I
whispered, “Jason’s here.”

I
felt him stiffen as he looked closer to the front entrance.

I
said, “By the front door, behind two ladies.”

When
I looked back Jason had vanished and the ladies were being seated a few feet
away.

“Are
you sure he was there?”

“I’m
positive. He was standing there staring at me and it felt like he was glaring a
hole in me.”

“If
that was him then he moved quickly. Did you see what was he wearing? Did you
see where he walked?”

“No
to both. He was just standing there and was gone too fast for me to get
details. I looked at you for just a second and now he’s gone.”

I
shivered.

“Hang
tight for a minute. I’ll scope out the restaurant and be right back.”

He
slid out of the booth, and I started to panic slightly.

“Don’t
leave me here. What if he comes back?”

“I’ll
just be gone a minute or two. Why don’t you call the detective and inform him
that Jason is in town so they can try to serve him again. If you see him before
I get back, just grab the waiter or yell for me.”

He
squeezed my hand before walking away in the direction Jason was seen. I got my
phone out and got Montrose on the second ring.

“Detective
Montrose, it’s Samantha Malone. I just saw Jason Strickland and was hoping
you’d already served him.”

“No
ma’am, we haven’t caught up to him yet. Where are you right now?”

“I’m
at the Bistro Italiano with Conrad.”

“Where
is Conrad right now?”

“He
went to check out where I spotted Jason. The bugger disappeared when I got
Conrad’s attention.”

I
scanned the patrons around me, looking for both men.

“I’ll
head out in the next hour and run by his house to see if he’s there. How far
are you away from Mr. Strickland’s residence?”

“About
forty five minutes, give or take some traffic on highway forty-two. Conrad’s
coming back and he doesn’t look very happy.”

“May
I speak to him?”

I
handed the phone to Conrad as he sat back beside me. I heard a lot of blunt
answers coming from Conrad before he hung up. He handed the phone back to me.

“Did
you see Jason anywhere?

“No
and no one noticed him either. The detective asked me to walk through your
apartment before leaving you there alone. He’ll call us when he reaches Jason’s
home.”

Just
then my phone rang and I yanked it up again.

“Hello.”

A
creepy whisper came over the line.

“I
thought I told you to stay away from him.”

I
looked around for Jason again.

Conrad
knew something was going on and mouthed, “What?”

I
mouthed who it was and Conrad reached for the phone. I moved away from his hand
as I spoke to Jason again. I wanted an answer and knew Conrad wouldn’t get one
by talking to Jason himself. “Where are you and why are you doing this?”

“I’m
very close and you know why I’m doing this. You’re mine and I’m not going to
let that change. You need to go home right now, don’t let that man touch you
again. I don’t want you tainted,” Jason ground out.

“Jason,
I’m not yours and never really was. Why can’t you just leave me alone?” I
questioned sternly.

“You’re
only saying that because you’re mad at me right now. I know the truth. You
can’t change my mind about how I feel. Now be a good little girl and do as
you’re told before something bad happens.”

Conrad
grabbed the phone from my still fingers and looked into my pale face.

“Hello,
hello?” He barked into the phone. “He hung up. What did he say to you? Don’t
leave anything out.”

He
slid the phone back to me. I relayed the conversation even though I didn’t want
to.

“What
did I do to make him feel as if he owns me? It’s as if a switch went off in him
the night that you and I met.”

“You
didn’t do anything wrong, so don’t feel responsible for his apparent melt down.
You are in no way to blame for any of this.”

“I
know, but he needs to understand he can’t keep acting this way. It’s insane.”

“I’m
going to call Montrose and let him know Jason called you. This will add fuel to
the fire and hopefully Montrose will be pulling up to Jason’s house in time to
catch him.”

He
used my phone to redial Montrose and the detective was furious at Jason’s gall
to call me with more threats. It needed to go in the case file for more backup
against his violent actions. This would ensure the reasons behind filing
charges.

“He’ll
call us when he gets there. For now I’ll take you home.”

He
flagged down the waiter for the check and some take-out boxes. I still gave a
backward glance to make certain Jason wasn’t looming in the dark to accost me.

I
gnawed at my lip all the way back to my apartment and mentally crossed my
fingers in the hope that the detective would catch up to Jason by the time I
was settled at home. Conrad walked into each room before I slumped onto my
couch. Bella came out of my room to meow at Conrad’s intrusion of her personal
space. The house phone rang and I jumped up to grab it. Conrad was there first.

“Hello,
hello?” He hung up. “How many times has that happened recently?”

“Only
a few these days. You think it’s him, don’t you?”
 

“It
might be him wondering if you went home as instructed,” he said gruffly. “Don’t
worry about it. I can stay tonight to make sure nothing weird happens. I’ll
sleep on the sofa and make myself handy.”

“You
don’t have to do that. I can call one of the girls if I feel that there is a
problem.”

“No,
you might need someone right away and none of us would be able to get here fast
enough. I’ll just wake up a little earlier so I can go by the house for a quick
shower. My boss is very understanding and knows I’ll show up even if I’m a few
minutes late. You can call the girls after Montrose calls with an update. The
girls will be mad if they don’t hear about this from you when it happens.”

Just
as he said that my cell phone rang from the coffee table, we both looked at it
for a moment before I picked it up. It was Raven.

“Hey,
Sam. I missed you earlier and wanted to check in with you.”

I
let out my breath and said, “Hey girl, I’m okay right now. Conrad and I went to
Bistro Italiano and Jason showed up while we were eating. We spoke with
Detective Montrose about it and the detective is heading to Jason’s home to try
serving those papers. Jason even called me to say I wasn’t supposed to be with
Conrad and to go home alone. He insinuated that something would happen if
Conrad even touched me. We’re waiting for the detective to call back on whether
Jason is home or not.”

“That
creep! What did Conrad do to him at the restaurant?”

“Nothing,
he disappeared after I spotted him. Conrad’s still here. He thinks I shouldn’t
be alone since Jason may try to show up here.”

“I’m
on my way over there,” she exclaimed.

“No,
it’s fine. Conrad is offering to sleep on the couch tonight so he can be here
when I get my phone call from Montrose. I don’t think it’s necessary for
everyone to form a wagon train around me just yet.

“I
don’t think he’ll show his face considering Conrad answered the phone when we
got here. He only likes to act like a bad ass when no one is around to counter
his actions.

“Call
me after you hear whether the detective has it taken care of. I won’t be able
to sleep a wink without some type of comfort on that issue. Tell Conrad that if
the idiot does show up that we all get a small piece of him.”

“I’m
going to get Conrad set up on the couch and will call you as soon as we’ve
heard something from Montrose.”

We
said our goodbyes and I looked over at Conrad who was sitting quietly on the
couch.

“Just
show me where everything is kept and you can get ready for bed while I fix up
the couch.”

I
took him to the linen closet and he took his pick of blankets before I walked
into my bedroom to retrieve a pillow for him. He was right behind me as I
turned away from the bed toward the door.

“I
like your bedroom. How’s the bed?” He asked mischievously.

“Check
it out, just don’t jump on it since I can’t afford a new one,” I said with a
small smile.

Just
thinking of him bouncing on my bed like a child was enough to break some of the
tension in my shoulders.

“I’d
rather jump on you while you’re in the bed, but that can wait a little longer.”

He
had that lusty look in his eyes. I grabbed the blankets from him and headed
back to the front room. I heard him laughing softly as he walked behind me.

I
made up the couch without looking his way, but when I finished he grabbed my
hands and turned me toward him.

He
gently pulled me up into his body. We were matched chest to chest and thigh to
thigh. I could feel the heat exuding from his body and the butterflies were
rampant in my mid-section. I hadn’t felt anything this intense in quite a
while. I don’t know how long we stood there like that. I definitely noticed
when he started lowering his head to mine.

Just
as he was a single breath away he said, “If I don’t kiss you right now, I just
might implode.”

The
next thing I knew, his soft lips were on mine and I was completely lost. My
arms crept up his chest and snaked around his neck before I had realized that I
was moving. That must’ve been the reaction he wanted because he let out a low
moan from his chest before tightening his arms around me. I liked the feelings
I was experiencing so I stood firmly on my tiptoes to increase the pressure on
our lips.

I
opened my mouth to him and felt his tongue slowly slide against my bottom lip.
I don’t know who moaned next, but it was like a green light on the race track.
I got more butterflies as he deepened the kiss and after several long, intense
moments his lips moved down my cheek.

He
made a brief stop at my left ear before moving further across the sensitive
skin of my neck. He kept sliding down until he reached the hollow of my neck
and my head was straining to allow him more access. My hands were clenched at
his shoulders from the feelings raging inside me. I hadn’t known how sensitive
my neck was until he drew a maddening path to my collarbone.

He
bent me backward for more room to explore my skin. My breath was uneven as he
traced the line of my v-neck shirt and into the hollow between my breasts.
Slowly his tongue crept back up the center of my chest, over my chin and slid
into my parted lips. This kiss was as tender as the first one. It almost made
me cry. I felt shaky as he slowly released my mouth and pressed his forehead to
mine. I tried to even out my shaky breath and noticed him smiling at me.

“I’m
glad to know I have affected you too,” he said with a husky little laugh.

“You
have no idea,” I whispered back at him as I bit on my bottom lip.

“Maybe
one day you can try to give me some of those ideas and we’ll see were it leads
us,” he suggested as he traced my spine with his fingertips.

“Maybe
I will,” I said with more confidence than I thought possible

“Just
not tonight,” he countered.

“No,
not tonight. Just definitely one day in the near future.”

It
was his turn to draw in a shaky breath as he straightened up with his arms still
around me. Just as the world came back to me my cell phone rang. Conrad grabbed
it up before handing it to me.

“It’s
Detective Montrose,” he said after recognizing the number on the display.

I
took the phone from him.

“Hello,
Detective, did you get to Jason?”

“No.
I’ve been to his place and he wasn’t there.”

I
felt immediately deflated while he continued.

“He’s
been here to get the mail and the grass has been cut. Sadly, the neighbors
haven’t seen him in a couple of days. They said they’d call me as soon as he
shows up. Ms. Malone, try not to worry too much because that’s exactly how he
wants you to react. We’ll get him soon I know it. And please call me if he
contacts you again.”

I
got off the phone feeling as vulnerable as I did in the restaurant. Conrad took
the phone out of my hand and asked me what had been said. I repeated what was
said and knew Conrad’s reaction would be stronger than mine. I heard him curse
before he pulled me into his arms again. I gratefully leaned into him while I
tried to soothe my spirit.

“Don’t
worry, honey. I won’t let him hurt you again.”

“I
know. You can’t protect me every minute of the day,” I whispered into his neck.

“Why
don’t we watch television or get out a movie to distract us from all of this
negativity?” He suggested as he kissed the top of my head.

“It’s
okay. We both need to get some sleep,” I answered with false bravado.

“Okay,
but if you can’t sleep I want you to let me know.”

“Thank
you, for everything.”

“What
are boyfriends for?” he said as he held up my face.

With
a lump in my throat I asked, “Is that what you are, my boyfriend?”

“Sure.
Why not? Have you gotten any better offers? I’d hate to have another fight on
my hands.” He smiled as his thumb traced my chin.

“I
don’t have any other crazy ex-boyfriends that I know of.”

He
winked at me. “Good. I saw how Parker looked at you that night at the bar. I
asked him about you. He said you wouldn’t take him up on any of his hints and
threw him at Chastity instead. I’m surprised that you didn’t go out with him.
He seems to be an okay guy, unless you know something devious about him.”

“I
wasn’t interested, so I passed him to my sexy man-eating friend,” I added as I
laughed.

He
leaned against my bedroom door and we gazed into each others eyes. There was a
special pull between us and I knew he would kiss me. The fact was that I didn’t
know very much about him, even if it felt as if we were meant for each other. I
didn’t understand it. I just knew. That’s more than I’d ever felt for any other
man and that seemed to be good enough for my heart.