Long, Lonely Nights (7 page)

“You’re mine. I’ll come back for you.”

Then he ran out the door and down the stairs. She heard the pounding of his feet as he ran. She screamed and screamed into her gag until the police found her after what seemed like hours. When they finally removed the gag, she was hoarse and sobbing. Nothing had been the same since that night. Finally, with therapy, she had been able to think of it as happening to someone else—except in her dreams.

“Tina?” Jenna shook her. “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” She hugged her.

“It’s all right. I’ve been thinking about it a lot unfortunately.” She went back to working on the potato salad.

“So you said your neighbor checked out your locks and everything. He said they all looked fine. That’s good. I think it’s really nice of him to give you his numbers. He must like you to do that.”

“I really don’t think he does. He’s still rude to me. I don’t know why he cares.” She mixed up the ingredients then washed her hands.

“I think he really does like you but is hiding it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t care,” Jenna decided.

“I think you’re wrong, but that doesn’t matter. Let’s go sit outside on the deck and enjoy the day.” She shoved the potato salad into the fridge to get cold.

“Grab a wine cooler for both of us. I’ll meet you outside. I need to run to the bathroom,” Jenna said.

Tina pulled out two wine coolers and got two cozies for the bottles. The deck was in the shade, thanks to her tree-covered back yard. There were four chairs and several tables along with pots of flowers along the railing and on the deck floor. It faced part of Logan’s back yard. She smelled smoke and noticed he had a grill going on his back deck. He was cooking out. Jenna returned and sniffed the air.

“Mmmm, someone is cooking out.” She turned to Logan’s side of the house and smiled. “It’s your neighbor. Why don’t we invite him over with his food, and he can have some of ours?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Besides, he won’t do it. I’m telling you the man doesn’t like me.” Jenna took a drink of her wine cooler. The cool taste of grapes washed over her tongue.

“You won’t know till you try? Come on, Tina,” she all but begged.

“No. Now sit back and enjoy the breeze while we have it.” Tina leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

They talked about work and mutual friends. The sound of a motorcycle jerked Tina’s eyes open. So, Logan’s friend was coming for the cookout. She really liked him, for a biker gang leader.

“Who’s that?” Jenna asked pointing across the fence where Logan and Riley were talking.

“That’s a friend of Logan’s. His name is Riley. Nice enough considering how he looks,” Tina said.

“He looks good. Really good.”

Leave it to Jenna to like the look. That was why she ended up with abusive men so much. She went for the tall, dark, and dangerous ones.

“Leave him alone. I don’t know anything about him.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve sworn off of men temporarily. I need some time to come to terms with my choices.’ Jenna turned up her wine cooler.

Tina smiled and closed her eyes again.

“Uh oh,” Jenna said.

Tina’s eyes popped open. “What?”

“Don’t look now, but they are walking this way.

* * * *

“Who is that?” Riley nodded towards Tina’s house.

“Hell, I don’t know. One of her friends, I guess.” He hadn’t even noticed she had company, since he was making it a point to ignore that she lived next door to him.

“Good looking woman. Let’s invite them over to eat.”

“No. Not no. Hell no! Besides, we don’t have enough for them. Leave them alone, Riley.” But Riley was already walking towards the fence that divided their yards. He cursed and followed his soon-to-be-deceased buddy.

They reached the fence and Riley leaned against it with his hands.

“Hey ladies. How about joining us for a cook out?” Riley said.

“Hey, that is really nice of you to ask. Sure,” Jenna said standing up.

“Jenna.” Tina hissed through clenched teeth. “We are cooking here.”

“So, we can share what we have.” She looked over at Riley and Logan. “I’m sure they will share what they have.”

“We sure will. Especially if it means some pretty company like you.” Riley smiled.

Logan was going to kill him. He didn’t have any business getting chummy with either of the women. Riley wouldn’t be staying around long, and those two were way out of their class.

Aw, hell. Nothing he could do now but live with it. He wondered how Tina felt about the situation. He risked a glance her way and winced. She was obviously not happy by the look on her face. She was shooting lightning bolts at her friend.

“Well now, I’m Riley. Old friend of Logan here.” Riley poured it on thick as far as Logan was concerned.

Riley was in flirt mode, and that didn’t bode well for the afternoon. He was going to have to watch his friend. The flirt would have Tina’s friend eating out of his hand. Tina, too, if he let him. Logan sighed and resigned himself to dealing with the three of them the rest of the day.

“I’m Jenna. Nice to meet you.” She jumped down from the deck and walked over to shake his hand.

He got a good look at Jenna. She was Riley’s style if it weren’t for the fact that she was Tina’s friend. Long blond hair that was either natural or she kept her roots colored, lay straight down her back. She wasn’t quite as curvy as Tina, but she wasn’t a beanpole either. He figured her to be a couple of inches taller than Tina so maybe five-five or five-six. Bright sky blue eyes smiled at Riley from where she stood with her hand still in his. Time to break those two up.

“Might as well come on around. I’ll find something else to throw on the grill,” he groused.

“Oh, we have our own. Got BBQ chicken in the oven and baked beans.” Jenna smiled. “Oh, and potato salad, too.”

“I’ll come help you bring it over,” Riley said and vaulted over the fence.

“Show off,” Logan said under his breath.

“Come on, Tina. Let’s pack up our stuff.”

Tina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Logan wanted to laugh at her obvious exasperation with her friend, but he wasn’t in any better disposition with Riley at the moment. They were both stuck.

Logan walked back to the grill and checked the coals. They looked ready. Might as well throw the steaks on, he said to himself. It looked as if they were having company whether he liked it or not. Riley and the women disappeared inside her house. A few minutes later, the three of them returned with two pans, a bowl, and a cooler. Probably full of those wine coolers they were drinking on the deck.

“Hey, Logan. We’re going to put the baked beans in your oven.” Riley nodded towards the house. “How about putting the chicken on the grill for a few minutes to give it a good taste?”

“Yeah, sure. Bring it over.”

Jenna handed the chicken over to Tina who set the cooler down on the deck and handed off the potato salad to her. He watched as she made her way over to where he stood next to the grill.

“This was not my idea. Just so you know,” he said as soon as she was within hearing distance.

“I figured that out all on my own, thank you.” She pushed the platter towards him.

He started to grab it, but she jerked it away.

“It’s hot. I just took it out of the oven. Use the potholders.” She indicated the potholders she was using with a nod of her head.

He frowned, but reached over to take the pan from her using the potholders. Their fingers touched, and he nearly dropped the pan when she suddenly let go.

“Whoa! Careful. I almost dropped it.”

“Sorry.” She took a quick step back.

Damn, was she afraid of him? Why? He hadn’t hurt her. He was damn sure she had enjoyed the kiss, at least at first anyway. Riley and Jenna returned from inside the house talking as if they had known each other all their lives. The afternoon couldn’t get any worse, he decided. The two walked up where he and Tina were standing.

“You going to hold the chicken or put it on the grill?” Riley asked with a knowing smirk.

“Open the grill, and put them on. I was waiting for you. I didn’t want Tina to get burned.”

“Right.” Riley opened the grill and added the chicken to the steaks.

“Turn the steaks while you’re in there,” Logan said.

Jenna took the pan from Logan. “I’ll run this back over to the house. Be right back.”

Tina was left standing between them looking a little uncomfortable. Riley noticed and started talking to her.

“So, how long you known Jenna?”

“Oh, maybe ten years. We’ve worked at the same company for that long. She’s a really nice person.” She looked at Riley like he needed to back off.

Logan wanted to smile and knock Riley on the back. He wasn’t the only one who thought they weren’t for each other.

“Yeah, I get that. I’m not going to hurt her. Just a little harmless flirting.”

“As long as you remember that,” Tina said.

Logan was impressed. She was obviously intimidated by Riley, but she stood up for her friend. Good for her. Riley nodded once, and then turned and popped Logan on the arm.

“She’s got spunk, man. Watch out.” Then he left them alone and headed for the deck where Jenna had returned and was getting a drink out of the cooler.

“I’ll make sure he behaves,” Logan said.

“Are you saying I can’t trust him to keep his word?” She looked worried.

“No, I mean yes, you can trust him. He won’t hurt her. But he will flirt.”

“I guess a little flirting wouldn’t hurt her. She could use the attention.” Then as if realizing what she said, Tina changed the subject on him.

“If I decide to get a dog, what kind would be best? I am not really that comfortable around big dogs.”

“If you aren’t going to be comfortable around one, you don’t need to get one. They can sense your fear. You get a little dog, and it’s going to yap all the time so you won’t know when someone is actually around the house.” Logan hoped like hell she didn’t decide on some yapping miniature mutt.

She heaved out a sigh. “What do you suggest then? I don’t know what more I can do to be sure I’m safe.”

“Why wouldn’t you be safe?” Riley and Jenna had just walked up in time to hear the last part of her statement.

“Someone tried to break in on her the other night,” Jenna explained.

“You need good locks and a security system. Logan, why haven’t you set her up?”

“She already has the best there is. I made sure when I checked it out yesterday.” He risked a glance at Tina and found she was blushing. It looked cute on her.

He realized his friend noticed as well. He raised his eyebrows at Logan. Logan shook his head. Now was not the time for the man to play around. The glint in Riley’s eyes told him things could definitely get worse.

* * * *

“I think the food ought to be ready by now.” Riley nudged Logan. “You need a platter to take that up?”

“You turn them one more time while I go find one,” Riley said.