Save the Date! (8 page)

The next morning, Gemma woke up and lounged around for a few hours. Since she didn't have a television
in her room, she read. Gemma was always reading when she was permitted to do so, and she wasn't the type of girl who only read one book at a time. She would read two, three books at one time, one chapter from each book before rotating. Her attention span preferred this way, but sometimes it was hard not to continue reading one book after a chapter, especially if such a chapter had a cliff-hanger. Music played softly in the background, but it didn't distract her from her reading. In fact, unless she was talking to someone, there wasn't a time when she
didn't
listen to music. That, and school, of course.

Gemma didn't have to look at her bulletin board to know she and Gillian had a lunch date that day. She knew why her mother pushed her to hang out with her friend, but she wished they didn't have to talk about wedding stuff. Gross. But… a smile littered her face. At least Gillian would make it fun.

The twenty year old padded over to her walk-in closet and picked out an outfit for the day. Though it was still technically summer, there seemed to be a breeze outside. She finally decided on a pair of navy blue shorts and a large orange sweater that was too big for her, but managed to reach an inch past her waist. On her feet was a pair of brown gladiator sandals that were probably the most comfortable pair of shoes she owned. She put up her hair in a messy ponytail that hung over her right shoulder, and after grabbing her purse, headed down the stairs.

Gemma probably shouldn't have been surprised
to see Dixon stretched out on the couch, watching – what else? - CNN. Boring. She rolled her eyes behind his back and headed over to her father, who was sitting into his armchair, still reading the Sunday paper.

"Daddy, I'm going over to see Gillian now for our lunch," she said, leaning over the back of the chair.
Dixon's blue eyes flickered over to her, particularly at her long waterfall of blonde hair that tumbled over her side. Gemma continued, completely unaware of Dixon's stare. "I'll see you later today, okay?"

"Of course, pumpkin," Brent murmured, looking up from the paper in order to kiss his daughter on the cheek. "Have a good time. And tell Gillian I say hi."

"Will do," Gemma agreed, nodding once. Her eyes flashed over to Dixon and she gave him a smile. "Good morning, Dixon," she said, with a slight mocking tone.

Immediately his ears picked up on it and he smiled cryptically at her. He glanced down at the watch he wore on his left wrist before glancing up at the young woman. "It's actually afternoon," he told her in his low voice.
"At least by my watch."

Gemma let a groan of annoyance slip past her lips and quickly headed over to the door. She grabbed her keys, hanging adjacent to her mother's key ring, her father's key ring, and now,
Dixon's own key ring, before heading outside and over to her car. Once she slipped inside and buckled her seatbelt, she turned up her radio. God, he always managed to get under her skin, even after only thirty seconds together. She wasn't sure why she was disgruntled about it. He hadn't exactly insulted her or anything like that, but…

"It's his eyes," she murmured, though the music drowned out most of the sound.
"Those eyes. It's like they see through me. Like they know exactly what I'm thinking when I don't know what I'm thinking."

Gemma tried to forget it, and instead thought about other things. She reached the restaurant, a small bistro known for its New England clam chowder bread bowls. It wasn't fancy by any means, but the food was delicious and it was located next to the beach so the patrons got a nice, cool sea breeze.

Gillian was already seated in their usual booth. They tried to eat here together every other week, and were successful at accomplishing the feat most of the time.

"What's wrong?" Gillian asked flatly, upon recognizing Gemma's frustrated look on her face.

"Oh, only the fact that Code Blue has moved into my father's home which means in closer in proximity to me," Gemma snapped before realizing what she had said. She was supposed to be in love with this man.
Okay, damage control Gems
. "I mean, I never thought my father would actually let him move in, especially since we're getting married, but Daddy insisted. I'm in love with him and everything, but I wasn't expecting to be living with him so soon, you know?"

"Can I ask you a question, Gems?" Gillian asked in an enigmatic tone. She pushed her brows together just as a waitress came over and took their order. Gillian ordered a coke and the bread bowl while Gemma ordered ice water and a grilled cheese sandwich. They had the best grilled cheese sandwiches.

"What's up?" Gemma asked, focusing back on her friend.

"Why do you love Code Blue?" The question had been bothering Gillian for a while now, and she hoped it wouldn't offend Gemma, but she wanted – needed – to know.

---

Dixon
idly wondered just how Gemma was going to answer this particular question. Okay, so maybe he shouldn't be there at this restaurant, pretending to read a menu so it covered the majority of his face. But he had sworn to protect the young woman and he was going to do so. Who knew what was out there, waiting for Gemma to be alone, and even if she was with Gillian… Well, Dixon would only say someone might not find Gillian as much of a threat.

Still… even though he was here for a job, he was still interested in hearing what Gemma had to say.

"Well," she began, furrowing her brow as she laced her fingers together. She was searching the surface of the table, looking for the right answers there. But she knew she wouldn't find them. "I mean, let's face it; he's very good looking. You can't disagree there. He's built, obviously. He has nice hair and piercing blue eyes. And when he smiles…" Here, her own smile touched her lips, and Dixon could tell she was being genuine which, for whatever reason, caused something in his stomach to twist together. "When he smiles, his whole face lights up. I mean, this sounds silly, but I feel like he's not content in his life, due to circumstances unknown. But when he smiles or when he laughs, it's almost like everything's right in the world."

"Oh please," Gillian said, smiling while simultaneously rolling her eyes. "Who would have ever thought that
you
would be romantic?" Gemma blushed but she didn't exactly respond to her friend. "And you didn't answer my question, by the way. Yeah, I mean we both know Code Blue is hot. But why do you love him?"

Gemma still wasn't sure how to respond. "I," she began before shrugging her shoulders, "don't know. The man is… infuriating and annoying. He's always there and his eyes penetrate me, as though he knows everything there is to know about me, even more than I know about me. But there's… there's
something
about him. I can't explain it, but…" Suddenly, Gemma's face broke out into a smile. "I'm sorry. This doesn't make any sense."

"Oh yeah it does," Gillian said, before taking a sip of her drink. "You have it bad for Code Blue."

Gemma rolled her eyes but blushed, not denying it.

The two friends continued to talk about the wedding, throwing ideas out about potential bachelorette parties, and Gemma, surprisingly, continued to defend
Dixon. He couldn't tell if she was being sincere or not, but he wouldn't deny that he didn't like it.

---

Gillian left first, hugging her friend but needing to head home in order to meet up with her parents. Gemma sat back in her seat, not willing to leave just yet. She needed to stool around with her thoughts, with everything she had discussed with Gillian, everything she had said about Dixon…

She had defended him, and what scared her was the words had come out of her mouth so naturally, it was as though she had
meant
what she had said.

Best not think about that now…

It was then she noticed someone very familiar mop of hair out of the bistro. But no… it couldn't… Could it? Gemma furrowed her brow and stood up, first quickly cleaning off the table before heading out the door. She glanced to her left, her right, and then managed to catch his broad frame disappearing through the crowd. Her whole face contorted into a scowl and she decided that right then, she would confront him.

It was easy to catch up with him, and when she did, she reached out and grabbed his arm, yanking him back.

He turned, completely taken aback.

Dixon
had spied on her, she realized. He had listened to the whole conversation, and she hadn't even known it.

The little
effer.

"What are you doing here?"

Her question wasn't as demanding as she had hoped it would be, but the look currently etched out onto her face surely made up for it.

For a moment, Dixon couldn't answer. He was transfixed by the way her eyes were bearing down into his. Flashes of honey bronzed into dark chocolate, but there was something there more than the obvious distaste for him she was feeling right then. There was… was that sadness? Maybe even a hint of betrayal in those orbs of hers? Dixon couldn't be sure, but he was highly aware of the fact that a good bout of guilt was creeping into the pit of his stomach as he regarded her. Sure, it was his job to look after her, but he didn't mean to hurt her, though he could clearly see why she might think that way.

"I can't just let you walk around without some sort of protection,"
Dixon told her, trying to mask his emotion with crispness. "It's my job to protect you."

"I had Gillian," Gemma said, surprising even
herself at how calm she sounded. Though random pedestrians walked around them on the sidewalk, she could only see Dixon standing in front of her. "I was with Gillian."

"Gillian is not going to save you from a bullet,"
Dixon told her, getting frustrated with her lack of fully understanding the damage she was in. "Gillian is not going to be able to fight off two, three, how many armed men when they try and capture you. Gillian is not going to protect you period."

"Fine," Gemma conceded, though her eyes flashed into his dangerously.
"Fine. So me and Gillian can't take men or whoever it is that are after me. But we're in public. Nobody would try and take me when I'm with my friend in a public place."

"Are you really this stupid, or are you just plain dumb?"
Dixon asked, losing his patience. "You don't think people get nabbed during the day? Are you kidding me? Gemma, do you realize these people, the people who threatened you, have sent things to your father at his home,
your
home? That they've contacted him at work? The CIA, Gemma. We can track anything, anyone, and these people have the balls to seek personal contact with your father, the head of such a secret but incredibly clever department in the organization. You think they won't take you in broad daylight, in a public place? You're living in some kind of fantasy land."

Gemma opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't formulate the words she so wanted to stay. When a tear slipped down her cheek, she realized she was crying. Immediately, she wiped it away, disgusted with herself for allowing her to be affected by what this man was saying to her.

Sticks and stones, right? Whoever said that was a fucking liar. Words hurt more than physical pain could even imagine. And it wasn't fair. She didn't even
like
Code Blue, and yet here he was, chastising her for wanting nothing more than to hang out with her friends.

"I hate you," she told him in a low voice.

Dixon didn't want to admit it, but the words she had just spoken to him affected him more than he actually expected. He immediately threw his gaze away from her so she wouldn't be able to recognize just what she had done to him, and he clenched his teeth in hopes that maybe he would be able to control himself.  His walls were back up, his eyes darker. But his pride was too great. He had to say something. He had to hurt her the way she had hurt him.

"I don't care what you think of me," he told her. "Do you honestly think that I do? You're twenty years old, a spoiled daughter of a wealthy man. The only reason I am here is because of my job. You're nothing more than a selfish
little school girl."

Without thinking, Gemma reached out and slapped him across the face. He couldn't feel the stinging in his cheeks because his eyes caught sight of the hurt littered in her eyes. He had never seen her look like this. She was usually so self-assured, as though she didn't care what anyone else thought of her.
But now…

She released her
grip on his wrist so suddenly, it was almost as if he had burned her. Then without a second's hesitation, she spun around on her feet and disappeared into the crowd. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew she had to get away from him. She couldn't be in his presence a moment longer, lest she say something she didn't mean, feel something she didn't want to feel. For a moment, she mused over the idea of getting into her car and driving somewhere, but that would not satisfy the frustration encompassing her body that needed to be released.

No. She would walk.

Her thoughts were muddled, and not even the sea-scented breeze could clear it. Maybe if she walked further…

Gemma crossed a street and then another one, not particularly paying attention to where she was going, but not seeming to care.

How dare he? How fucking dare he? To talk to her like she was a child.

Although… okay Gems, don't kill me
, a voice in her head mumbled,
but maybe he was right, at least in one respect. You're being selfish. Dixon definitely should have told you that he was going to come along, or at least be in the same vicinity as you, but you're being selfish and even slightly naïve. You can't just go running around thinking that you'll be safe from people who threatened your life. Your parents, Dixon… All they want is to protect you. This is life-threatening, for crying out loud. This is serious. And you're pushing them away!

"Maybe you're right," Gemma murmured, though her voice was still unsure. She paused, stopping in the middle of a deserted sidewalk.

It was then that she realized that she had no idea where she was. She glanced around, trying to ignore that slithering feeling of dread that began to creep up on the surface of her skin, but she couldn't find any recognizable building or business, didn't see any familiar street signs. Gemma couldn't exactly retrace her footsteps because she hadn't been paying attention to where she is going. "Fuck," she muttered underneath her breath. "I
am
selfish."

It was then that someone grabbed her wrist. It was gentle but sudden, and Gemma jumped. The man wasn't anyone she knew of, so her defenses went up despite the warm look he was giving her.

"You look awfully lost," he said, attempting a soothing voice.

"I'm not lost," she told him, though her voice didn't come out as believable as she wanted it to.

His brown eyes sparkled, almost though he knew she was lying to him.

Gemma noticed that he still had yet to release her wrist.

"I can lead you to wherever you need to go," he told her, and Gemma felt his fingers tighten.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…

Before anything drastic could happen, Gemma felt her body being pulled into the opposite direction so strongly that the man had no other choice but to release her. Her body hit another body, this one hard and masculine. When she tilted her head up to see who had rescued her, she came in contact with Dixon's face. If she had thought the man was angry with her, he now looked downright furious. His blue eyes were narrowed, though they were still quite bright, and his lips were pressed together in a thin, white line. His jaw was clenched, and he stood in a way that towered over the man. The muscles on his body seemed to make up for the lack of height.

She had never been so glad to see someone in her entire life.

And then, just like that, the man that had previously been a threat to Gemma had disappeared.

When
Dixon felt the two were safe, he relaxed his body and then looked down so he could lock eyes with Gemma. He didn't say anything, but Gemma felt compelled to.

"Thank you," she said, and though she didn't mean for it to come out so soft, it sounded similar to a whisper.

"You can't just go running off like that," Dixon said, though the curt tone he had used on her before was gone.

"I know," she agreed, nodding slightly. "I know. You're right. You're right about everything.
But
," she added quickly, causing Dixon to smirk, at least on the inside. Of course there would be a but. Gemma was just as proud as he was. He didn't expect anything less. "But can you just agree that I wouldn't have run away from you if you had just told me in the first place you would be there?"

Dixon
thought about it for a moment. His lips curled up, and he nodded once. "I suppose so," he told her.

They had just agreed on something.

It was a breakthrough.

"
But
," he added with a cheeky grin. "You had better get used to it. The risk to your life is too great, and I'll be damned if anything happens to you when I could have prevented it."