Darkness Falls (Darkness Series Book 3) (8 page)

Three days later, after a lot of questions, I was handed a small book bag of clothes and one stuffed animal and was told I had to stay with my grandmother. This was not okay. Grandmother was just like Daddy.

Jims gave me a quick hug. “I’ll be back, Alexander.”

I grabbed his arm as I started to panic. I didn’t want him to leave me. He was all I had left. “Jims, please,” I sobbed to anyone who might listen, “I don’t want to go with Grandmother, please, I’ll be a good boy. Please take me with you!” My heart raced, and sweat broke above my hairline. “I just wanna go back to the treehouse! Please please please,” I screamed as someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me away from him. “Nooo!”

I kicked into the air, but before I could break free, I was carried outside and placed in a car where I was taken to Grandmother’s.

A knock to the door found my head in a swarm of thoughts. I dried my face. I hadn’t realized I had been crying. I forgot how much I looked up to Jims. Funny how things changed. I awkwardly got out of the chair and dragged my drugged body to the entryway. The fucking dog barked sharply from the patio. I threw Grandmother’s Bible at the glass, but it only made him bark louder. Stupid dog! I flipped on the light and opened the door without thinking.

“Wow, dude, what the hell happened to your eye?”

Fuck me!
I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him inside. Without hesitation, I stuck my gun to his neck and pulled the trigger twice.

CHAPTER THREE

Emily

This was the best, when I woke up before Seth. It gave me a moment to study his features without him aware of it. Just Seth without his guard up so he couldn’t hold back or be closed off, only my love sleeping peacefully next to me.

I loved his dirty blond eyebrows, his long lashes, the way his nose aligned with his cheekbones. His hair that was long enough to run my fingers through. The morning scruff that made him look like an ad for Calvin Klein. I tugged the sheet away gently to admire his strong muscles that dipped, curved, and sculpted into perfection. My fingers tingled with the idea of tracing his six pack down to his pelvis.

“My body’s your playground.” He grinned with his eyes still closed. “Let loose, McPhee.”

“Just looking.” I shrugged and rolled onto my back. He grabbed the sheet as he quickly rolled on top of me. He hid us both from the morning light.

“Well, I’m not.” He laughed as he dipped down and kissed me. His hand roamed down my leg but stopped when his alarm went off. “To be continued.”

I grabbed his arms and held him in place. “You wanna tell me what happened last night?”

He smiled, but I could see something bothered him. “Not yet.” He kissed the tip of my nose before he rolled off the bed and headed for the shower. He gave me a grin over his shoulder; he knew I would admire the view. I chewed my lip and thought how much I wanted to bite that fine ass of his. “Such a dirty girl,” he teased.

“You have no idea.”

After I got ready, I met Seth downstairs, where he poured me a cup of coffee, then eyed my dress. I looked down and thought maybe I skipped a button.

“Damn, baby, you look mighty fine in lace.” His voice was still hoarse. “I’d hate to be your professor. No doubt I’d end up in jail.”

I cut up an apple and bit into a piece. “Professor Dean is four years older than me, and I’m over sixteen. No jail time is needed.”

“Is that so?” He crossed his arms, which made him look larger than he already was.

I leaned over and patted his arm. “I meant if you were the professor.” I rolled my eyes. “How could you ever think I’d love anyone more than I love you?” I glanced at him. “Besides, you’d scare anyone who dared talk to me. I’d be single for life.”

He came up behind me and trapped me with both hands against the counter. His lips hovered at my ear. “Damn straight, baby, no one will have you but me.” I turned my head up toward his lips just in time to see that possessive look that made me weak in the heart. It was a look I’d loved since the day we met at the party. “I love you.” He kissed me and ground his hips into my back, leaving me breathless as he swiped an apple and headed for the door.

“Hey,” I called out, and he turned around.

“We still on for our date tonight at Franco’s at seven?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” He looked me over once before he shook his head. “Have a good day, baby.”

Saturdays were my favorite lately. I met up with Erin to go over some notes, study a little, then have lunch at the beach and go to our yoga class. I headed back home to get ready for dinner, then showered and changed into a new dress Seth hadn’t seen yet. It was red, tight, and hugged my hips perfectly. I paired it with black heels and a long black sweater. I left my hair in long, big curls, just a little makeup, and a tiny spray of his favorite scent—Vanilla by Victoria’s Secret. We hadn’t had a date since, well…I guessed since he told me he loved me. That was a year ago. Wow, where did the time go?

I was pleased with my appearance, then turned to inspect the bedroom. I had a bottle of champagne chilled, roses on the desk, candles waiting to be lit. I didn’t care if it was cheesy. I wanted cheesy romance tonight. We deserved it. I closed the curtains and made everything just so. I pulled out the gift I got him and set it on the night stand. I knew he’d love it. He’d mentioned several times before that he wanted to know what happened to his grandfather’s watch. After a huge hunt and Martha’s help, it turned out it was passed down to his uncle who had no use for it and said it’d been in his safety deposit box for the past few years. He was more than willing to pass it along to Seth. So I had it cleaned and polished, and now it sat in a navy blue box. I sneaked a peek at the Hublot Big Bang. I couldn’t wait to see how excited he’d be. I had no idea watches could be so expensive. I nearly had to pay the man a fee just to touch the damn thing before he’d even consider cleaning it. I carefully closed the lid. One last look at the room, and I decided it was perfect.

***

I checked the time again—seven forty-five. I smiled at the waiter who brought me another glass of wine. Thankfully, I took a cab. We were supposed to drive home together. I sipped my second glass and started to worry. I called again, and for the fifth time it rang and rang, then clicked to voicemail. I cleared my throat and decided to leave a message this time.

“Hey, umm, I’m here in a booth wondering where you are.” I swallowed down my worry. “I’m just checking in, making sure you’re all right.” I fiddled with the napkin and watched the candle burn around a puddle of wax, evidence of the length of time I’d been there. “All right, well, I’ll be here waiting. Call me when you can. I love you.” I hung up and saw the waiter glance over at me. The restaurant was busy and I was embarrassed that it looked like I got stood up. I could only imagine what the wait staff would say. I shouldn’t care, but I did.

When eight fifteen rolled around, I asked for the check and flagged down a cab. I nearly made it home before the tears started. I finally gave in and texted Garrett.

Emily: Hey, is Seth with you?

Garrett: Yup, he’s helping Ronnie out with some paperwork. You good?

I stared out the window as the cabbie parked. I dried my tears and handed him a twenty.

Emily: Yeah, all good.

I sat on the porch stairs, stared up at the moon, and watched the clouds hurry by. My head fell to my hands, and I let the tears fall. I allowed myself an ugly cry. I was so hurt he forgot our big date. I spent a long time and a lot of prep work to make it just so. For what? For him to forget? I stopped my pity party and told myself I was sure there was a reasonable excuse.

Seth: I’m so sorry, baby, I totally forgot! I’ll come home ASAP.

He forgot. Just forgot. Okay.

Emily: Don’t bother.

I shook my head, but stopped when I saw Travis walk across my lawn. I set my unfinished, unsent message on the step and quickly dried my face.

“Hey,” he waved as he came to the stairs, “I’m sorry, but I saw you over here, and you sounded upset.”

I tilted my head back to stop the tears. “I’m all right.”

“Well, where I’m from, when people are dressed like that,” he pointed to my outfit, “and are crying on their doorstep, it normally means they either got into a fight, or got stood up.” He sat next to me but kept his eyes on the ocean.

“Yeah,” is all I said as he handed me a tissue from his pocket. “Thanks.”

He smiled over at me. “Of course.” He held up his hand to show me his intent. I didn’t really register what he was doing until his thumb swiped under my eye to clear a tear. It was an incredibly intimate act, and it left me feeling like I’d done something wrong. “Anyone who can stand up such a beautiful woman is a fool.”

I turned my head away. I didn’t like his words. Seth might have been an ass for forgetting, but… “I love him,” I said to make sure he knew where I stood.

“I know.” He gave me a reassuring nod. “But the question is, is he worthy of it?”

I felt confused, and a little lost in my emotions. Sure, this wasn’t the first time Seth had stood me up on something, but it had always been for a legitimate reason. It wasn’t like he worked a desk job from nine to five. Things happened. I stood, needing a moment to think.

Travis stood as I did, then came up behind me. “Em, sometimes we can be overshadowed by what we
think
we have rather than by what we
really
have. If you’re second guessing yourself, maybe you should be second guessing your relationship.” He gave me a little pat on the shoulder. “You know where I am.” He walked away.

“Thanks,” I suddenly called out. I thought I owed him that much.

“That’s what friends are for.” He waved right before he disappeared into the woods. Was that a friendly conversation? I wrapped my sweater around my shoulders and convinced myself it was. Travis had always made it clear he was my neighbor and nothing more.

I went inside and lit the fireplace; I was cold. I curled up on the couch and rested my head on the pillow. I watched as the flames crackled and popped across the log. It wasn’t long until I closed my eyes and fell into a stressful sleep.

***

Seth

Asshole
was all that came to mind when I thought about myself. I couldn’t believe I got caught up at work. It was a curse to be good at IT. Shit, I was always the first person they called when something happened. I parked and saw all the lights were off. I raced up the stairs and cautiously opened the front door.

The fire was on and Emily was asleep on the couch. She looked beautiful in a new red dress. I set the alarm and ran upstairs to change. My stomach dropped when I saw the room was decorated with flowers and candles, and champagne was in a pool of water. I sank down onto the bed and covered my face.

How on earth would I be able to make this up to her? My hands dropped when I saw a box on my nightstand. I opened the lid and my insides twisted in a knot. She got me my grandfather’s watch! My hands shook as I pulled it free and slipped it over my wrist. Emily must have done a ton of searching to get her hands on this. I loved it; it was just how I remembered. After a small amount of gawking, I returned it to its box, changed, and headed downstairs to an empty living room.

Emily’s back was to me as she washed the last of the dishes. She was barefoot and looked tired.

“Hey.” I came up next to her and leaned against the counter to face her. Her hair was all around her face, so I couldn’t see her very well. “I’m sorry about tonight.” She nodded. “I got caught up with Ronnie and some paperwork. The computer wasn’t working, so I had to fix that first. Anyway, the night got away from me, and when Garrett said you texted him, I couldn’t believe the time.”

“Was your phone broken too?” she asked quietly. I could tell she was crying.

I closed my eyes. I knew this was about to sound bad. “Ronnie’s was, and I loaned mine to make some calls. I didn’t know you called.”

“Yeah.” She turned to walk into the laundry room, reappearing moments later. “I’m going to head to bed.” She went to leave, but I blocked her path.

“Hey, I really am sorry. You know I’d never purposely hurt you.”

She took the corner of her sweater and dried her eyes. “I know that. I was more worried than anything.” Her eyes dropped away. “I was just looking forward to it.”

I pulled her close and rested her head on my shoulder. “I know. I was too.” I kissed the top of her head and took a moment to breathe in her scent. “You smell good.” She pulled out of my arms. I thought she was going to walk away, but she didn’t. Instead, she took my hand and led me upstairs.

***

The ring of my phone pulled me out of a deep sleep. I untangled myself from Emily and snatched it off the side table.

“Yeah,” I choked into the phone. I wished I had checked to see who it was first.

“Connors, you should come down to the station.”

I squinted at the time. “Ronnie, it’s three thirty in the morning, and I don’t work tomorrow. I don’t appreciate being called this—”

“Trust me, you’ll want to be here for this.” The line went dead. I flopped back down and wondered why Ronnie called and not Garrett. Ronnie was new to the force and was pretty ballsy to have called me this early when I wasn’t working. I sent Garrett a quick text saying I was on my way in ten.

Emily tucked herself into me, and her hot skin warmed mine. My fingers ran along her side and the curve of her soft breast. I allowed myself a few more moments with her. I started to move, but Emily slid her body over of mine. She straddled herself over top of me, then bent down and started to kiss my chest. Her silky hair fell all around her.

“Where are you going?” she asked between kisses.

My hands gripped her hips as I dug the tip of my erection into her wet folds. “Work,” I grunted as I teased myself at her opening. Her lips moved up to my neck with a playful bite on my shoulder.

“You have the day off. You’re mine to do what I want.”

I groaned. She was so right. I wanted to lie there, spend the whole damn day naked with her. Show her countless times how sorry I was for last night.