Keep Me Safe (3 page)

“Girl, wait until you have kids, you’ll wish you had the memory you have now!” Yoly said laughing and all the girls nodded their head in agreement.

“I feel like that’s what my high school students do to me. As much as I love my job, I’m glad to have my weekends back. So thanks for starting them off right!” I held my wine up like I was making a toast. “Beth, I would be at home unpacking and polishing off a bottle of wine by myself if you hadn’t invited me over.”

“Oh, don’t even mention it. It’s nice to see another friendly face around here. As long as you can get used to these three,” she pointed to the girls, “You’ll fit in just fine.”

“Parker!” One of the guys yelled behind me towards the backdoor. Everyone turned to see him coming from the house. He walked over to the far side of the fire and shook hands with all of the guys. He grabbed a beer from the cooler and took the last empty seat next to Matt. I continued to stare as I took him in. He was wearing dark jeans and a baby blue polo shirt which hinted at the answer to my question last night of what he looked like underneath his uniform.

He was tall, probably six feet and had broad muscular shoulders; which were a huge turn on for me. I could see a tiny bit of tattoo peeking out from under his shirt on his left arm and his entire other arm was covered in a sleeve. I’d never been with a guy with ink, but I considered it part of my “artsy” side that I found them to be extremely attractive. Tattoos usually made for great stories which made the guys more interesting. I don’t know how I didn’t notice the sleeve last night, but damn if I didn’t notice it now.   

“What took you so long, dude? You missed a killer dinner and me kicking Jeff’s ass at cornhole.” Matt stuck up his middle finger. What was so entertaining about cornhole? It was just trying to throw a beanbag into a hole in a piece of wood. It was a popular game in the south, but not one I had any interest in.

Parker sat down and threw his beer bottle cap at Jeff and laughed. “Everyone kicks Jeff’s ass. That’s the only reason we tell him to come over - good stroke to the ego,” he said then took a sip of his beer. “Anyway, I had a signal eight earlier this afternoon that I had to finish paperwork for. Captain Gates wanted it before I went home.”

It felt as if my heart stopped as soon as I saw him smile.  It was the first full smile I’d seen from him and he was gorgeous. I’d seen my share of really hot guys over the years living in Florida, but he was up at the top of the list. I didn't know if it was his hair – since I usually noticed the dark spiky hair on a guy before I even looked at his face – or the perfect smile. Hell, it was probably both. He was so authoritative last night, which I’d expect since it was his job, but he was so laid back and relaxed tonight.

“Do you guys all work together? That code stuff is confusing,” everyone turned to look at me before I even realized I said something.

“Yeah, we’re all officers at the police department. Well, except for Matt. He runs the IT department,” Parker said.

It explained why Beth only said he had coworkers coming over. We all sat in silence for a minute or two just listening to the music playing from the stereo. Finally Parker turned towards the house, “I’m gonna make some food. Did you assholes leave me any dinner?”

Beth leaned over her shoulder, “There are leftovers in the fridge. Plenty of steak, baked potatoes and corn on the cob.” I continued to stare until Parker disappeared into the house. I really didn’t want a boyfriend right now, but something about Parker was making me have second thoughts.

The guys got up to play another game of cornhole, which I heard them bet money on this time. The girls and I were sitting by the fire pit. I listened to them gossip about someone they worked with. It was nice to be around simple, down to earth, nice people. The last two years had been plain hell. I forgot how much I was missing from my life. I missed having a social life.

I caught Parker from the corner of my eye coming out of the house with a plate in his hand. I finished my wine and set it down on the table next to the grill. I was feeling pretty happy and wanted to enjoy the nice night and ocean breeze some more. I excused myself and opened their gate leading out to the beach. I walked halfway down to the water and sat down in the sand. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back enjoying the breeze on my face. I hadn’t spent a whole lot of time on the beach since I moved in, but sitting in this spot made me realize that the hellish drive every day and the new mortgage payment I wasn't sure I'd be able to afford were totally worth it.

I took enough psychology to know that sometimes we want people in our lives that try to fix us, not that I was against Parker being a part of that fix. I thought it would take me a really long time to want to be with someone else and here I was hoping Parker really did want to finish our conversation from earlier. There were a million reasons to be cautious of a new relationship and I wasn’t going to let my judgment be clouded by lust or romance. Why did I want to know more about him so badly? Was it the fact that he had a job that made him a protector of sorts?

I was so deep in thought that I didn’t hear the footsteps behind me, “Nothing like an after sunset breeze is there?” I heard Parker’s voice.

Before I could turn around, he sat down in the sand next to me. I could smell his cologne as the breeze blew and committed it to my memory. It had undertones of orange, lemon, and almost maybe lavender in there somewhere. I never paid a lot of attention to the cologne of the men who happened to be nearby, but this one was so appealing.

“It’s pretty good for stress relief. You don’t really realize how much until you’re sitting here.” I laid my cheek down on my propped up knees with my face towards him. “I haven’t really had a chance to find that out until now.”

“I probably didn’t help your stress last night by pulling you over. Everyone freaks when they realize they’re being stopped. I was in a shitty mood and was hoping to take it out on someone at work.” He flicked his flip flops off, leaned back on his arms and crossed his legs in front of him. “I’m sorry, probably not the best first impression you could have of me, huh? And shit, then I see you again and I take off to take a piss.” He leaned his head back a little and laughed. His hair blew slightly with the breeze and I had an immediate thought to crawl onto his lap and lay against his chest. He was in the perfect position.
Get your head straight, Sadie!

“It’s fine. I had no idea how fast I was going last night. It was probably for the best, because now I’ll think about you...well, not you, you know…the whole incident on my way home from now on.” He grinned at me and I could feel my face become bright red. Could I embarrass myself anymore?  “Damn it, you know what I mean.” I said as we both laughed.

“So tell me, what could a gorgeous girl like you be stressed about Miss Montgomery?” To some people, his question would be harmless. People stressed about work, money, kids; normal things.  I didn’t want him to look at me with pity like everyone else I already knew. My past already branded me enough. I refused to be that to him–if I were to be anything at all. What a stupid thought, I just met him twenty-four hours ago. I decided to give him the normal answer people give.

“Eh, the usual- work, bills, getting all my stuff unpacked. I’ve been in my house for three weeks and I still have a ton of boxes. It’s hard to get a lot done when you’re only off one day a week.”

“Is that day Sunday? I have to work tomorrow afternoon, but could I take you out for coffee in the morning? Maybe give you the extra boost to help you unload some more of those boxes?” Whoa, he just asked me out. Well, it’s just coffee…I can do coffee. He’s not asking me out on a real date or anything.
Doesn’t mean I’m not freaking out like it’s the first date I’ve ever been on.

“I happen to have a coffee obsession, so you’d be doing me a favor.” I winked at him and he grinned.

We both turned as we heard yelling from the house. It was one of his co-workers that I didn’t get introduced to. He was letting Parker know he was leaving, so Parker stood up, brushed the sand off his jeans and then held his hands out to help me up. As soon as I put my hands in his, he must have overestimated the effort it would take to pull me up. His hands slipped from mine and he fell backwards onto the sand. I tried so hard to suppress the giggle that was erupting from me, but it was too late. I covered my mouth and he smiled when he saw me trying to hide it.
      “It’s been a long time since a woman has laughed at me,” Parker stood up and dusted all the sand off of his pants again.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. It’s been a while since I’ve laughed like that. I guess it was overdue.”

“Well, I promise not to do anything embarrassing like that tomorrow. But you’ve already agreed to go so no backing out now.”

“I don’t know; this might be a deal breaker. Can’t have you making me look bad, can we?” I mashed my lips together to keep myself from grinning. “Are you sure you can behave?”

“Behave? No. Not look like a dumbass? Yes - if that means you aren’t changing your mind.”

“Alright, I guess I’ll take your word for it.”

“How’s ten? I can’t seem to manage for much longer than that without my caffeine fix. Plus, I have to be at work at one, so I don’t want to cut it too close.”

“Ten is perfect, that is almost my limit too. I’ve usually had two or three cups by then.” I smiled.

“My kind of girl. I’ll come get you, if that’s okay? I can bring Tyler his video game back before he has a hissy fit.”

“Okay, you know where I live,” I said pulling my hair to the side to keep the wind from wreaking havoc on it. I looked towards the house and everyone had disappeared.  “It looks like the party is ending without us.”

“Yeah, I’m sure we didn’t miss much. I had way more fun out here anyway.” He winked back at me and he held out his arm to signal me to walk in front of him.

We walked back to the house in silence. I saw everyone in the kitchen picking up their stuff and saying their goodbyes to each other. Yoly, Christa and Rachel all waved and told me they’d see me for the movie next Saturday. The guys were all throwing out their empty beer bottles and heading towards the front door.

Beth came up to me and handed me a plate of leftovers. “I’m so glad you came! I think it will be awesome with you next door,” she said as Parker walked past me. “Just stay away from that one. He’s a trouble maker.” She let out a tiny laugh and Parker gave her an embarrassed eat-shit-and-die look. “I’m just kidding. He wouldn’t know a good woman if she knocked him on his ass.”

Parker shot me a glance and I managed to not laugh this time. “Let me know if you need any help unpacking. I can come help you or I can send Matt if you need something heavy or tall moved.”

“Thanks for everything Beth! Tell Matt I said thanks, too.” I looked around to say bye to Parker, but I didn’t see him.

I walked out the front door and across our connecting lawn. When I got to my front door, I reached in my pocket and realized I didn’t have my keys. I patted my other pocket and looked down by my feet to see if I dropped them. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. I turned to see Parker running towards me.

“Kind of hard to get in without these isn’t it?” he said as he dangled my key ring from his finger.

“Ah, yes, thank you.”

“Tomorrow, ten o’clock?”

“Yup, I’ll be ready.”

“Give me your number, just in case?” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and I rattled off my number while he typed it in his phone.

“Do you want mine?”

“Call my phone. I might type it in wrong and I might call some other good looking guy by mistake,” I said with a flirtatious smile.

He called my phone and I immediately saved his number. I stuck with his name, even though I had an extreme urge to save it as “Officer Hottie”.

“We wouldn’t want that. Well… I know I wouldn’t.” He backed up and started walking away. “Oh, and Sadie? Wear your hair up?” he showed me that amazing smile again and he turned and walked off.

I opened my front door open and lay back against it once it was closed. Three hours and I felt like I had run a marathon. All the air had been sucked from my lungs, but it wasn’t anxiety. It was the gorgeous man I would get to see again in twelve hours. I put the leftovers in the fridge and turned on the overhead microwave light. I traipsed upstairs and went into the bathroom to take my makeup off. I put on my pajamas, turned my iPad on, and fell onto the bed.

I realized I’d left my cell phone downstairs; if I happened to sleep in and Parker called to cancel or say he’d be late, I wanted to make sure I heard it. I had already set my alarm, but I’d been known to turn it off instead of hitting snooze. I went downstairs and into the kitchen to grab my cell and the blinking red light of my answering machine caught my attention. Voicemail on my house phone? The only people who had my house number were my parents and the school. They could’ve just called my cell. I pressed the button to play my message and was greeted by silence. No talking, no voice- nothing. It sounded like someone breathing in the background. I gripped my stomach in a panic. “No fucking way.” Could he really be calling me? My number was unlisted, but that wouldn’t be difficult for him.
This can’t be happening.

I deleted the message quickly and instinctively went to double check the lock on the door. I ran upstairs and got back into my bed, curling up as tight as I could get my body. I thought about taking some Melatonin; I wanted to be alert, but there was no way I was going to sleep now. Today had been exhausting. After agreeing to have coffee with Parker Stevens and the unsettling voicemail, I decided on the lesser of two evils so I went to the sink and used some water to wash one pill down.

Three

My alarm went off at 8:30 and I popped straight up in bed. I hated having to take something to get some sleep sometimes, but I felt like I’d slept forever so I was thankful for that. I was immediately excited when I remembered I’d be going to meet Parker soon. I sat on the edge of the bed and stretched my arms out and looked at the night stand, remembering I brought my phone up here last night. Shit, I forgot about the voicemail. No, I wasn’t going to let that ruin my excitement for my coffee date. I picked up my phone to check all of my typical websites and to see if anyone sent me a text or anything. I unlocked the screen and saw that I had missed a call from Parker. Ugh, is he cancelling on me? He didn’t leave a voicemail. I hit call and he picked up almost right away.