Life Next Door (Love Not Included Series Book 2) (16 page)

Whelp…
definitely
didn’t see that one coming.

All at once, Cassie freezes. I freeze. The creepy guy freezes. “Oh my God, what are you doing?” That’s Cassie. I’m too busy trying to get air down my throat into my lungs. First name calling, now blood splatter in the sanctuary. This is not good.

I have to do something.
Use your words, CeCe.
“Okay, we get it now. Please put the gun down. You do not want to hurt anyone, sir.” I try to move forward but that causes him to flinch, which makes Cassie flinch and brings me halting to a complete stop.

“Don’t move. I don’t want you to move,” he says, pressing the gun harder into Cassie’s forehead.

“Okay okay! I’m not moving, please. Don’t hurt her. Whatever you want, you can have. Just please, put the gun down.” This doesn’t sit well with our new, unstable friend, and he starts getting more agitated. He pushes Cassie and she trips and falls backwards. He then takes his gun and points it directly at me.

“Do not tell me what to do. DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” Yep, he’s screaming. I specialize in cupcakes, not psychos, so I just nod and stay quiet. I know that Trent is supposed to come back here any minute. He’s a badass detective. He will take this guy out. I look down at Cassie and she is clearly shaken up. I don’t know what to do at this point. Clearly moving and talking are not on the okay list with this guy, but he is also not saying what he wants.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to upset you. Please. Tell me what you want and I will go get it for you.”

“Money. I want money. I know you have it. All people talk about is how fucking lucrative this place is. Where is it? And don’t try to fucking lie to me.” He gets all fidgety again, waving his gun all over the place. I can’t help but duck because this guy is a ticking time bomb and I really don’t want to die today.

“Okay, yes. Go to the register in front. It’s open. Take whatever is in there.”

He looks at me and debates leaving us in the back. His urge to grab the money wins out and he runs up front. At that moment, I dash to Cassie and help her up.

“Are you okay?” 

“Oh my God. Is he going to kill us?”

Again, I specialize in sugar, not tarot card reading, so I give her the only honest answer I can.

“Depends on how happy he is with what’s in the register.”

“What does that mean?” she screeches.

“Well, we had a good day, so maybe he is okay with what’s in there and just takes off.”

I hope that is the case, because my adrenaline can only keep me together for so long before I completely lose my shit.

“Cassie, do you have a phone on you?” I ask her. Mine is in my purse below the register, which does me no good. She fumbles, around feeling around at her front and back pockets. She pulls her phone from her back pocket.

“I do! Oh God, what if he comes back here and catches us on the phone calling for help?”

“He won’t. Just dial 9-1-1 and put the phone back in your pocket. We will talk so they can hear us and if he comes back here, he won’t see the phone.”

“Okay...okay...” She looks at her phone, and with shaky hands, she slides the bar open and dials 9-1-1. As the call connects, she jams it back in her pocket and our intruder hustles back into the room.

“Where is the rest of it?” he yells.

“That’s all that’s in here. I swear.”

“Don’t fuckin’ lie to me, bitch!” he comes barreling toward me, pulling his gun out and sticking it straight between my eyes. I don’t see it because I am squeezing my eyes shut, but feel it.

“I swear. We do nightly deposits so no money is kept at the store.” My voice is starting to shake.

“Bullshit. I don’t believe you. Every place has a safe. Where is it? And if you don’t start cooperating, I'm gonna put a fucking bullet in your friend over here and then one in you.”

That gets a sob from Cassie. “Please, CeCe, give him what he wants,” she begs.

Using that line in the movies never works, so I'm not sure why I thought it would work for me. Everyone does have a safe, and of course our whole week’s gross income is sitting in it. I was hoping to avoid this part, but this guy doesn’t seem to be getting any less agitated. As much as I would like to see Cassie in pain, there will be no blood in the sanctuary.

“Okay, okay...please don’t hurt anyone. Please just put the gun down and we can go to the safe.”

He takes that moment to raise his hand and side-punch me with the gun. And man does that shit hurt. It sends me off balance and I trip over the power cords and fall backwards. I land on my ass, and before I know it, Mr. Crazy Pants is on top of me with his hand wrapped around my neck.

“I'm not gonna tell you again. Don’t fucking tell me what to do. I have the power here, NOT YOU!”

I try to answer but he is quickly cutting off my air supply. I nod instead, and when he feels like he’s made his point, he jumps off me.

“Get the fuck up. Where’s the safe?”

I sit up and things get a little blurry. Between the choking and the face punch, I’m a bit dizzy. I get to my feet and sway. He grabs at my arm and pulls me forward.

“Where is it? I’m not going to ask you again.” He lifts his gun and begins to point it at Cassie.

“Okay! It’s in the back, under the desk.”

“Good girl.” He pushes me toward the back desk and I stumble at least a billion times. I’m just not good under pressure and I can tell I’m slowly starting to panic. This guy is just not right. We make it to the desk and he pushes me forward, causing me to stumble and drop down, scraping my knees against the cold cement surface. “Open it.”

I am trying to turn the lock, but my hands are shaking so bad I keep missing the numbers. Losing his patience with me, he grabs a chunk of my hair and pulls me backwards, sending shooting pain throughout my scalp. He pushes me to the side and I fall over.

“You’re fuckin’ useless, bitch. What’s the fucking code?” He kneels down in front of the safe, waiting for me to give him the code.

“It…it’s...3, 32, 5, 13—”

As I stutter out the numbers to the safe, I definitely do not see Cassie coming from behind, with my metal blender. In one swift swing, Cassie takes my state-of-the-art metal blender to Crazy’s head, knocking him completely out.

“Holy shit,” I say and scoot back so his unconscious body doesn’t fall onto mine.

“Holy shit is right,” she says. Sounds like she is just as stunned as I am at her heroic actions. Just then the creeper moans and we both scream and start kicking him like two crazed women.

Without even registering our new audience, we are both pulled away from our attacker. A uniformed officer is on Cassie and Trent is on me.

“Jesus Christ, what did you do to that guy?” the officer asks.

We both look at our attacker; he is out cold with a growing knot on his head and a bleeding nose.

Trent doesn’t stick around to hear our explanation. He turns to Cassie and the officer. “Take her out back and check to make sure she is okay. Then take her statement. Don’t let her out of your sight until I get back to her.” He sounds mad. I am suddenly lifted off the ground when he carries me from behind, back up to the front and sits me down on the front counter. He begins checking me out, searching for injuries.

“Are you okay? Where are you hurt?” His hands are all over the place, touching my ribs, hands, legs. He catches the nice lump I have on my head and I wince. His facial expression turns almost deadly.

“I’m okay, I swear. It’s just a bump. Now I can cross off being clocked in the head by a gun off my bucket list.”

“CeCe, this isn’t funny,” he growls at me. I know it’s not, but if I allow what happened to sink in, I might possibly freak out. Even worse, I might cry. And I really do not want to cry.

“I’m fine. I promise. Just a little shaken up. But you’re here, so I’m better.”

His strong features turn soft as he brushes his hands up and down my thighs. “Jesus Christ, CeCe, I was at the station when the 9-1-1 call came in. The dispatcher connected the call to us and we heard everything. I saw nothing but red as I listened to that motherfucker talking to you like that.”

“It’s okay. I’m fine. Seriously. Just another day at the office.”

“CeCe,” he returns in warning.

“Okay, yes, it was really scary, but it’s over. Please, let’s just go home.”

He stares me down, deciding if I am truly alright. “Why was my sister here?” The question of the hour. Probably also why, once he makes sure that she isn’t hurt, he is going to lay into her.

“She was here to apologize.”

“Apologize?” he questions.

“Yep, and right before she was going to beg me for my forgiveness, we were rudely interrupted. So be easy on her. Don’t scare her off before she grovels.”

At that, he laughs. Then kisses me. Then kisses me some more. “I love you, CeCe Westcott.”

“I love you, too, Trent Walker.”

“I might have to have sex with you before we do any talking.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“Good.”

Then he kisses me again.

Before Trent is able to take me home, I’m questioned by the police and checked over by the medics. Eventually our intruder comes to and is roughly walked out of the shop and into a waiting police vehicle. Turns out he’s just a poor, homeless guy who has an expensive addiction. He openly admits that he heard talk around town about the success of May’s and so he thought he was going to hit the jackpot with a simple armed robbery. I guess what he didn’t expect was a stubborn owner and a crazy she-devil.

All limbs intact and a bit of a headache, Trent takes me home. He doesn’t let me walk into the house; he walks to my side of the car and carries me inside. He walks me down the hallway to the bedroom, where I notice Jake on my bed.

“How did Jake get here?”

“Like I said, babe, he belongs here. Brought him back after I came to set you straight.”

“How did you know I was going to take you back?” I ask stubbornly.

“I didn’t. I took a chance knowing this thing between us is bigger than the bullshit that has been going on.” He lays me on the bed so delicately, then climbs over me and dips his head to press his lips softly to mine. “You feel it, right, CeCe? This pull that surrounds us any time we’re close. It’s like our bodies are in sync and have this special connection.” He dips again, kissing the side of my mouth. “I know we have some shit to talk about. But I also know that this”—he puts all his weight on one arm, then takes his other hand and waves it around, indicating us—“this is something I didn’t know existed, and I never plan on letting it slip away from me.” He ends his poetic speech with his lips meeting mine and kissing me so passionately I can feel every word he just poured out through his touch and his lips.

His beautiful mouth covers mine as we connect, not just in a physical way, but emotionally. I am feeling so full with love that I just want to wrap my arms around Trent and never let him go. I feel love and loss at the same time. Loss for all the time we missed due to a misunderstanding, caused by something that we could have communicated about and moved on with. I also realize there is still that gap that needs to be fixed before we go any further.

I push him away from me—not in a harsh way, but enough for him to understand. At first he meets my push with resistance, but he knows we need to stop and talk before we go any further.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

“Don’t be. I know we need to talk.” He sits up and moves his body so he is still on top of me but his legs are straddling mine.

“Is this how we’re going to talk?” Not sure this is the best position to have a serious conversation.

“Yeah, we are. Because when I talk to you, I want you to see me. I want you to see the truth in my eyes when I tell you my side. Then, when I do, and I see that understanding in yours, I want to waste no more time in showing you what I’ve been waiting to show you the past week.”

I choke out my emotion-filled words. “And that is?”

“That I love you, CeCe Westcott. Down to my goddamn soul.”

Oh my…

He sure does make it hard to be mad at whatever we are about to discuss.

“Okay,” I say, giving him the floor to speak.

Taking a deep breath, he begins. “I didn’t know anything about you or your situation until the morning your ex showed up. I swear to it. I want you know that.”

“Alright,” I reply.

“When I accepted the job transfer from Colorado, Cassie told me that she needed out of her place, quick. Told me that the market was shit, and if I took the job transfer here, I could just rent her place. Killed two birds with one stone. She’d have a renter and I didn’t have to search high and low for a place. My position was getting a bit too intense and it was time I took a step back from the front line, so I took her offer. At no time did she explain to me that her situation involved cheating with a married man, then taking off with him. She gave me the basics. She met a guy. They were in love and she was moving out with him. That’s it. I swear. I don’t really pry into my little sister’s love life, so I didn’t ask any questions.”

Still uncertain on how to process what he is saying, I reply back with a simple “okay” and allow him to continue.

“I didn’t even catch it when Jeff asked me if I told you who I was. I was so mad he was even touching you, I didn’t even question why he would say that to me.”

“Okay.” I can’t say that at the time I caught wind of Jeff’s comment either, but now it makes sense.

“That night, when we were lying in bed, when you admitted who Jeff was and your story, that’s when I figured it out. When you talked about the neighbor, I knew then it was my sister. It was a good thing you were laying on my chest and couldn’t see my face because I probably would have scared you with the look of rage I was wearing. I wanted to destroy your ex for treating you like that, but even more, I wanted to whip my sister for being a part of any of your suffering. I was shocked she would have taken things that far. Our parents did not have a happily ever after. My father cheated on my mother throughout most of their marriage. Cassie didn’t take it well. Rebelled a lot. Eventually my mother did the right thing and divorced my father, and he left. I’m not sure either of us have seen or spoken to him in years. For Cassie to do the one thing she so much resented my father for shocked and hurt.”

This information actually surprises me. Trent barely ever spoke about his family; after hearing such a sad story, it makes sense why he chose not to disclose it.

“Anyways, the next day, I went in search of my sister but she made it real hard to get to her. She was dodging my calls and I can only assume it was because Jeff had told her what he saw that day he came by. She knew I would not be happy to hear how she ended up with him. She was sneaky and time started to just get away from me. The more time that passed, the more I felt the weight of what I knew. I tried to bring it up or tell you, but then the timing wouldn’t be right. You always looked so happy, and to take that away from you just made me want to ignore it. I kept telling myself that the time would be right another time.”

I understand why Trent wanted me to see his eyes while he told me his story; the honesty shadowed by sadness that is pouring from him feels real. I believe him.

He continues on. “Unfortunately, the first time Cassie and I were face to face about to have it out, was when you walked into my kitchen. Without me confessing my relationship with you, she figured it out. Gonna assume Jeff kept quiet on that part. She said some hateful things, and for that I am sorry. If I could take back all the hurt I saw in your eyes that day, I would. Once you left, I blew up at her. I yelled at her for the way she spoke to you. I asked her how she could have done what she did to someone. How could she turn around and become the one thing she hated so much? A cheater. The fight got ugly and we both said some things we probably shouldn’t have. Obviously, at this point you and Jeff were divorced, so it’s not like I could tell her to stop what she was doing. She cried and told me how ashamed she was but she loved him. Not sure why. Once a cheater, always a cheater in my book.”

I feel so solemn at his admissions. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” It’s the question that echoes in my head. I think about all the times we’d lie in bed, sharing stories. All the opportunities he had to just spit it out. “You let me share with you my troubles, my pain, and never once did you stop me to say you knew.”

He sighs. “She said you and Jeff had been over way before they started what they did, and that I didn’t understand. But, CeCe, I did. All the times you talked about your marriage, I could tell you were never happy or in love with him. I thought about how I was giving all that back to you and I just couldn’t be the one to take it away from you. I thought if I told you who I was, you would associate me with my sister and distance yourself from me.”

Would I have? I was always so stuck in my ways on hating the neighbor because of what she did. Would I have just listened to Trent explain and had been okay with it?

“Trent, I would not have blamed you. You didn’t do anything wrong. That’s on them. But I trusted you to be honest with me. When everyone else was lying to me, I expected you to be truthful.”

Trent takes my hand and places it against his heart. Surely enough, I can feel his heart beating erratically.

“Do you feel that?” he asks desperately. “That’s my heart going nuts over what you might do or say. I know that right now I do not have the upper hand with you. I know I fucked up. I should have told you in the beginning, but this”—he presses my hand harder into his chest—“this stepped in and chose to protect you from something and love you instead. I can’t change what happened, Ce, but I can just love you. I’m sorry for what my sister and Jeff did to you. Shit, I’ve thought if maybe I had been closer with my sister and gotten wind sooner, I could have put a stop to it. I didn’t know what to do with the information that was thrown at me. But know that through it all, I’ve been so messed up. You can hate me for saying this, but it’s the truth. I’m glad that asshole of a husband cheated on you and is gone. Cause that means it gave me the chance to step in. You make me happy, Ce. I just wanted to be happy. And by Christ, you make me that way. Would I have done things differently if I had the chance, knowing you might have left me? Probably not. Because I would take any time I’ve been able to spend with you over having nothing at all.”

I go to open my mouth but nothing comes out. Again. I think he broke my vocal cords with his confession.

“Ce?”

“Yeah?” I croak out.

“I love you.”

Shit. That was the final push of the arrow right into my heart, sealing the deal. Up until now, I never realized how silly I had been acting about something so unimportant. I lost time with a man who loves me because of a past of lies and betrayal. Looking into the eyes of the man who truly loves me, I know he would never intentionally lie or hurt me. I lift my shaky hand and graze his cheek. Our eyes are locked on each other and his love is burning into me, straight to my heart.

“I love you, Trent Walker.”

“I love you too, babe.”

“Thank you for bringing Jake back.”

“You’re welcome.” He chuckles in response. “So, we good?”

I smile. “We’re good, babe.”

“Good, cause I really need something sweet right now.”

And with that, Trent got something really sweet, and in return I got an explosive firework show.