Protect Me (19 page)

“Earth to Ryan, come in Ryan.” She laughed at his blank stare.

“Sorry, you uh, you got a little something on your face there.” He nodded towards her cheek.

“What? Seriously?” She squirmed as if to get down from his arms.

“Oh here let me get it.” He leaned in placing quick feather like kisses on her cheek. She giggled and squirmed as he changed sides and did the same to the other before leaning back. “Yep, I think you’re good now.”

“Well thank you for that.” She smiled before sniffing the air. “I think your bacon is burning.”

He placed her down on the ground before rushing into the kitchen. He shut off the heat to the stove as he collected the barely burnt bacon strips from the pan placing them down onto a paper towel to cool. He fixed her a plate with a good spoonful of eggs, a few strips of bacon, and some orange slices. He placed it down in front of her before getting her a glass of orange juice from the fridge.

“Thank you, this looks great. It’s only partially burnt.” She took a bite and smiled.

“Well, that’s why I have Trish cook all of my meals nowadays.”

She coughed a bit on her first bite before swallowing. “Uh, who’s Trish? Am I going to have an angry wife showing up on my doorstep or something?” She looked a bit shocked.

“Oh, Lord no. Trish is a dear family friend and for lack of better terms my house keeper. Her husband was killed in action. We were in the same platoon in Afghanistan. When I retired from the Army and moved out here, I moved her out here as well to keep an eye on her. That woman went through hell and back and I wanted to make sure that she had everything she needed. Her daughter actually goes to school out here at UCLA.”

“Oh, ok. Well, I guess I can put my .357 back in its holster.” He saw relief flood into her face. “So what did you do in the Army? Like your job title?”

This was one of the things that scared him, the personal talks. She wasn’t exactly an open book, but she was better at sharing her stories about her life to him than he had been about opening up to her. He felt at times, that it wasn’t because she was ashamed or embarrassed; she just hadn’t had as many life experiences as he had. There were things he hadn’t talked to anyone about and he didn’t think that most of those things were ones that would be appropriate to share over breakfast. A part of him felt the urge to purge it all from his system, but he usually kept his answer short and generic, with just enough information to suffice without causing further interrogation. That was partly through habit and years of intense training.

“I was an Army Ranger. We did a lot of different things.” He took a bite and watched her from across the island. She seemed satisfied enough with his answer. “So, how do you feel today?”

“You act like I am a china doll.” She looked at him sideways. “I am fine. I actually feel about as good as new. I wonder if Trent will let me come back to work.” She looked off to the side as if not really wanting a rebuttal.

“Well, I wasn’t thinking about you going to work, but I was thinking about taking you out for a surprise.” Her eyes snapped back towards him and he could see the excitement building. That worked well, all thoughts of going back to that damn bar fleeting from her mind. He was going to have to think of a more permanent way to keep her away from there. After what she had been through he just didn’t think it was a good idea for her to be working at a night club, with a bunch of random people, who knows what the hell could happen next. But he would take one mission at a time. For now, he would just focus on making Abbi his.

“Really? What is it?” Her eyes were glowing like it was Christmas.

“I can’t tell you, that is what makes it a surprise.”

“I hate surprises.” She said matter-of-factly.

“Well, too bad.” He smiled. “Finish eating your breakfast and then you can go get some clothes on.”

“You mean I don’t get to wear my pajamas to this surprise?”

“As beautiful as you look in the mornings, what do you say we change it up a little? Don’t worry about getting dressed up, just jeans and a t-shirt will be fine.”

He could see the flash of heat flood into her cheeks. For someone so attractive, in every aspect of her life not just appearance, she sure wasn’t accustomed to getting compliments. After finishing breakfast and cleaning the kitchen he sent Abbi off to get dressed. He grabbed his duffle bag from the far side of the room and carried it into the bathroom. He didn’t want to leave her today to go home and get dressed since he wasn’t going into the office, so he packed a change of clothes into a duffle bag just in case she felt up to getting out. His stomach turned, was this considered a date? Hell it had been years since he had been on a real date, most of the women he had been with were a one-time deal. Then again, this was the first time he had ever been interested in taking someone out. Everything in him just wanted to make her happy, and he knew that no matter what, he would go to the ends of the world for that alone.

*****

Abbi stood at the door to her closet, sliding the hangers left, then right, and then left again. Ok, so since when was it hard choosing a pair of jeans and a shirt to go with it? Here is a man that had been waiting on her hand and foot, had seen her at her worst and had seen her at her best. Yet she was nervous about not looking good enough for him to take her out in public. Maybe it was the reality of it all sinking in. After all, the two of them had been holed up in her tiny apartment for the past few days, in their own little world. Only with the exception of Ashley and Judy’s visit, it had been the two of them for the past three days. With every day she got better she kept expecting him to take off, but he didn’t. Every day after he had got done working, he had been back to get her dinner and then they would spend the evenings talking or watching some ridiculous show on TV. Maybe, just maybe, Ryan was interested in her. She would only linger on the hope of it for now, because it wasn’t until they both got back into the “real world” that they would be able to see how this would all play out.

She eventually settled on her favorite pair of slightly tattered jeans, a white tank top, and a coral scoop neck shirt layered over the top. She didn’t bother with jewelry and finished the ensemble with her tennis shoes. Brushing through her hair she left it hanging loosely down. She made her way back downstairs to find Ryan sitting on the couch waiting for her. He was so handsome. Her stomach did a small flip as his dark eyes gravitated to her on the stair well. He stood smiling at her.

“Ok beautiful. You ready for some fun?” He made his way over taking her hand as she took the last step down to the floor.

“About as ready as I’ll ever be.” She smiled back up at him. “So where you taking me?”

“Ahh, subtlety suits you well.”

“Can’t blame a girl for trying.” She made her way over to her purse, depositing her phone into it as they headed out the door. Locking it behind them, she dropped her keys into her bag.

They walked hand in hand down the hallway towards the elevator, after recalling it up to her floor they stepped inside and turned to face the doors. Silence settled between the two of them, but throughout her body she could feel the buzzing from his touch. It was small tiny electric sparks that covered her from head to toe. She glanced slightly from the side of her eye and saw him smiling as he looked towards the door. She turned her eyes back forward thinking he hadn’t noticed her silent stares, but as he squeezed her hand she knew she had been busted. She heard the familiar ding of the elevator announcing their arrival on the first floor and he led her off the elevator. They headed towards the front doors of the lobby as the doorman opened the door ushering them out.

“Your car is waiting Mr. Dixon.” The doorman said as he motioned towards his left to the black Toyota 4Runner.

“Thank you Steven.” Ryan handed the man a folded up bill as he pulled Abbi along towards the truck.

“You know my doorman? I don’t even know my doorman.” Her mouth slightly hung open in astonishment. She had been living here for a while and yet she didn’t know any of the employees that worked there.

“Well you know, I’m a likeable guy. People just want to get to know me.” He smiled back at her before opening the passenger door.

“Yeah, or you’re just nosey and need to know everything.” She laughed.

“Well, what do you expect? Do you think I want my girl around a bunch of people every day that I don’t know?” He helped her up into the truck before shutting the door.

His girl? What was that supposed to mean? Excitement bloomed in her stomach as the goofiest of grins formed across her face. Did this mean that he was considering himself her boyfriend? She felt almost as if she were in middle school again. It all seemed so childish, but honestly she had never really had a boyfriend before. Yeah she had dates to the prom and had been taken out to the Waffle House a few times; but this would be new territory. She watched him as he climbed into the truck, taking in the goofy look on her face.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m just happy that’s all.” Happy hell, she was melting in excitement. She had no idea what to expect next and she was beginning to like it.

“Good, because that’s all I ever want you to be.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Now, for this surprise.”

“You would make me really happy if you told me what it is.” She grinned evilly over at him.

“Man, you’re playing to wound aren’t you? Thank goodness I have thick skin and can take it. You will find out soon enough, I called and made all the arrangements while you were getting dressed.” He chuckled as he pulled off into the LA traffic. Oh yeah, she could tell he was enjoying torturing her.

She glanced out of the window taking in the sights of LA. It was such a huge city. There were so many people, stores, and roads. It was a beautiful clutter of objects and bodies everywhere you turned.  She was mesmerized as they turned from one road to another and then they came upon the ocean. She sat up looking out the window into the beautiful Pacific Ocean. The rays of the sun shooting off in every direction as the white peaks of the waves crashed down along the sand.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Ryan’s voiced hummed out against the music on the radio.

“Yes it is.” She smiled towards him before turning back to the view out of her window. “Can we roll the windows down?”

“Of course babe, anything you want.” He reached over and hit the buttons on the arm rest of his door labeled “auto” and in sync all of the windows in the vehicle rolled down including the far back window as well.

 She squealed as her hair spun around her face like a tornado, as he pushed a button on the roof opening the sunroof. She gathered her hair that flew wildly around her and fastened it into a bun on the back of her head. Ah, the fresh warm salt air was so relaxing. She watched as people on the beach ran around chasing Frisbees, a few people scattered throughout the waves on surfboards, and some tanning in their skimpy bikinis. She had been to the ocean before, once as a kid. Her mother had taken her to the beach on vacation and she played in the sand and slues of water left over by the outgoing tide for hours. It had been too long since she had felt the sand between her toes. She now decided that on her next day off she would be going to the beach to spend countless hours soaking up the warm rich sun.

“It’s beautiful Ryan, thank you for getting me out of the house.”

“You’re welcome, but this is just an added bonus. We aren’t quite to your surprise yet.”

She glanced over as he made a turn leading them away from the water. He made his way down a street lined with small shops and boutiques, before pulling up in front of a small store front labeled “The Sweet Shoppe” and parked. “I sure hope your sweet tooth is calling out.”

She sat glancing into the store front at the array of tasty looking treats as he came around to her side of the truck opening her door for her and helping her out.

“How did you know I loved sweets?”

“Well, considering that I ran into you at the bakery that day I assumed that you had to like some kind of dessert.”

“What woman doesn’t like dessert?” She laughed as they made their way into the front of the store.

The sweet sugary smell flooded into her nose. Every wall of the store was covered with shelves and each shelf was lined with every kind of tasty treat you could imagine, dipped in chocolate. This is what she imagined heaven to be like, when she died this is where she wanted to go.
Mental note God, when I die send me to this chocolatier please.
  They made their way towards the counter as a petite dark haired man made his way to the front.

“Mr. Dixon, it is so good to see you. I was thrilled when we got your call this morning. Welcome to the Sweet Shoppe. I hope we will be able to help you two have some fun this afternoon. And who do we have here?” The man turned towards Abbi after retrieving his hand back from Ryan’s grasp.

“Hi, I’m Abbi.” She blushed as the man took her hand. Ryan immediately wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him. It was cute how possessive he was of her. Like a child who didn’t want anyone else to touch his things. She glanced up at him and smiled.

“Well, Ms. Abbi. I am George Patton, master chocolatier and owner of this beautiful little store. What do you say we go play in some chocolate?” He said looking back and forth between the two of them clearly respecting Ryan’s claim on his territory. George turned and motioned towards them. “This way, follow me into the back please.”

They made their way around the small counter and into a large white kitchen filled with stainless steel appliances and shelves. In the center of the room stood a large round marble island with two large bowls, mixing spatulas, and two pairs of metal scrapers sitting on top.

“Ok, you two love birds. What kind of chocolate would you like to use today? We have our own special blend of milk chocolate, dark, and white. I also have an assortment of different goodies for you to cover today, and while you two have your fun I will be mixing up a batch of chocolate mousse for you to taste when you’re done.”