Red Red Rose

by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

  A branch snapped and I heard his muttered, “Shit,” over the wind. I half expected to hear a thud hit the ground, but it didn’t follow. I did use the moment to duck my head out and search the trees.

  There you are.

  His gun was lowered and it looked like he was trying to regain his balance in the tree. I smiled, aimed my gun and fired. I hit him in the abdomen and then, too late, hoped it wouldn’t knock him out of the tree. It didn’t, and it only took him a second to return fire, but instead of running for cover and giving him the chance to move again, I ran backwards ducking and swerving and firing off random shots at him. Paintballs pelted the ground around. His shots became less and less accurate and then I made it to a small clearing just before the road where more trees had been taken out by a storm. He wouldn’t be able to tree hop, he’d have to pursue me on the ground. At that point I turned and headed in the direction of the Raynes’ to another area where the trees were too spread out for him to take to them again.

  I found a tree wide enough around to offer protection and close enough to the road that he’d have a hard time trying to come up behind me. I kept a constant watch in the direction I’d come from, scanning and listening and waiting. After a few minutes, I got the sitting duck feeling again and knew I had to move. He wasn’t going to play into my hands. Seemed he was always three steps ahead of me.

  I made a quick dash for another large tree close to the road back in the direction I’d come from. Keeping my footsteps as light as possible, I continued to move from tree to tree, circling back, my eyes scanning ahead and above. I reached the first partial clearing I’d come to and quickly found cover. I waited there a moment, still listening and searching, my frustration growing with each passing second.

  I didn’t know where to go from here. He could easily be trying to lure me in to a trap, or circling around at this moment, planning to come at me from behind. It seemed no matter what direction I headed into, it could play right into his plans. He could still be up in the trees for all I knew. I looked up at the tree I was using for cover, trying to decide if I could take a page out of his book, but those branches were too high and too spread out for my much shorter reach.

  Nope, climbing wasn’t going to work for me, but I wasn’t anxious to forge back into the denser wooded areas. I thought about screaming and then hiding to see if that would draw him out, but I quickly discarded that thought. It seemed a little too devious, and if he was close by he would know what I was doing. I also didn’t want to chance someone else hearing and coming running.

  I decided to circle around toward my original point of defense, planning to cut through all the way to the far border and work from there. My gun was at the ready and my eyes were doing constant sweeps, high and low. Still, I missed the pile of fallen branches until it was too late. By the time my eyes had registered that there was something odd about them and I started to spin back around and aim my gun, he’d already uncovered himself and was sitting up, gun pointed, finger on the trigger, and then a paintball drilled me right between the eyes of my mask.

  I lowered my gun in defeat and he rose up and started brushing off the needles, twigs and dirt. We both tugged off our masks at the same time, only where he wore a pleased expression, I knew mine was anything but.

  “That was fun, and now I’m starving.”

  “Why don’t you eat a banana, freakin’ monkey,” I grumbled.

  “Hey, nowhere in the boundaries did you say I couldn’t go up a tree.”

  I let out a defeated sigh, “I know. I’m just bitter. I’d hoped to put up more of a fight, not make it so easy for you.”

  He stalked toward me slowly, and then grabbed me by the waist. “I wouldn’t say you made it easy, sweetheart. It wasn’t exactly a walk in the park climbing through the trees.”

  I tipped my chin up. “How did you know where I was?”

  “You were easy to track most of the way. I followed your trail right to where the ground started sloping up, and I could tell you’d tried harder to cover your tracks. I knew you couldn’t be too far and were probably set up, lying in wait for me to charge after you. I climbed the tree to scope things out, and that’s when I spotted what looked to be the perfect hideout. I knew that’s where I’d go if I was you, because it offered the best advantage. That’s when I decided to move through the trees and wait for you to pop up. And you did.” He grinned.

  I gave him a light shove and stepped out of his hold. “Next time, I’ll be prepared for your damn jungle ninja skills.”

  He let out a soft chuckle and hooked me around the waist again. He hauled me flush against him. “I look forward to hunting you again, but right now I’d like my prize.”

  “Then let me go and I’ll buy lunch as promised.”

  “Not that prize,” he said slowly, letting his gun fall to the ground. His arm tightened around my waist and I could feel every hard ridge of his body pressing into all of my softer curves. He knocked my mask from my head entirely, and tossed his in the dirt beside it. The cocky, playful grin was gone and I could see desire pooling in his eyes as he lowered his mouth to take mine in a hard kiss.

  His other hand knotted in my hair and I let the strap of my gun slip from my shoulder and join his on the forest floor. I reached my hands up to grab onto his biceps as my heart rate spiked and he coaxed my lips open with his and deepened the kiss. My fingers curled around his arms, digging in, and he crushed me to him, kissing me so hard that my back arched and I bent slightly backward. He was the only thing holding me up, and then both of his hands were sliding down my back, caressing over my bottom and grabbing the backs of my thighs. He scooped me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist, lifting my hands to cradle his face.

  I gently nipped at his lip and then bit down harder tugging and releasing. A soft groan slipped from the back of his throat and his hands slid along my thighs and backside, sampling a feel of my body over my pants as he returned the favor, biting at my lips, and then scraping his teeth seductively along my jaw to my neck. I tipped my head back and he began kissing and biting and all I knew was lips, tongue, teeth and heat.

  I wound my arms around his neck and breathed deeply through the pleasure he was stirring up inside of me. One hand came up and tugged at the collar of my hoodie, exposing more of my neck. He bit down harder and I squeezed my legs around him as a shudder rocked through me. His mouth broke from the sensitive flesh at my throat and then his lips found mine again and everything intensified.

  One hand snaked up the back of my sweatshirt and shirt, his rough fingers pressing into my spine as if he was my puppet master and I could do nothing but let him own me. My heart thrummed louder and louder inside my chest, I could feel each beat as it threatened to burst free. I craved to feel his warm skin beneath my fingers, but was denied that touch, and instead wove my fingers in his hair, knocking his beanie off and pulling strands free from the tie that held his locks back.

  I met each thrust and stroke of his tongue with my own. It was one hell of a kiss and as we both neared that breaking point where it wasn’t going to be enough, he brought us down slowly. The kiss became softer and lighter, less needy and desperate. His fingers gently trailed down my spine, sending another shudder through me, and then he slipped his hand free. Both hands went to my waist and his lips stilled over mine. He rested his forehead against mine, and we stayed like that for a moment, our eyes closed, just breathing each other in as we came down from the kiss.

  My chest rose and fell rapidly and my senses spread out, letting the rest of the world back in, and then when I thought he’d keep me there forever, he gently set me back on my feet. His hands came up and curled around the back of my skull, his thumbs caressed along my jaw and he brushed his lips over mine a final time before he let out a deep breath and took a small step back. His eyes still held me captive.

  “Remember this moment. If you ever start to doubt me or doubt what this is between us, just remember this right here.” He took my hand and set it over his chest
, holding it there. “Remember that it was real, that what you felt was real, and that it was sure as hell real for me.” His voice was softly pleading, and the tiniest bit of sorrow and maybe even fear slipped through the cracks in his words.

  Uncertainty tugged at my brow. “Why would you say that?”

  “Just please, no matter what happens after today, or how messed up things might seem, just don’t doubt that what I feel for you is very real.”

  “Okay,” I muttered, still not understanding, but as soon as I said the word, Spencer seemed to relax. He let go of my hand and then bent to grab our discarded gear. He slung both guns over his shoulder and held onto the masks and his hat.

  I remembered Em’s jacket, which I’d left back at the fallen trees. “I need to go back for Emily’s coat,” I told him and we both hiked back to that spot, only the jacket wasn’t where I’d left it.

  I looked all around, thinking I might have kicked it or tossed it without realizing in my hurry to escape when I was under fire. Spencer helped me to search the area, but after a minute I knew it was gone. “I know I left it right here,” I insisted.

  Spencer took another look around. “It’s possible something dragged it off. Maybe a raccoon. Or,” his features darkened, “there could be vagrants out here.”

  That seemed the more likely explanation, and as pissed as I was about the jacket, I really didn’t want to bump into any tweekers. My eyes darted around, not seeing anyone, but still not trusting that we were alone out here.

  “Let’s just get out of here. I’ll buy her a new jacket.”

  If she comes back.

  No. When.

  Eighteen

  It was late in the afternoon when Spencer pulled his truck into my driveway. I glanced at my house, my empty house, and thought about how much I didn’t want to spend the rest of the day in there by myself. I flicked my gaze back to Spencer who was watching me, probably waiting for me to make some kind of move to get out of his truck. When I just sat there, he picked up on my reluctance.

  “What’s up?”

  “It’s so quiet in there. Too quiet. I can turn the TV on or have my music playing and it does nothing to break it up.”

  He looked like he understood, but he didn’t offer to come in with me, or invite me home with him. I knew he wouldn’t. He’d wait for me to ask, to make sure it was my choice, what I wanted. And it was.

  “Do you have to be somewhere?”

  “No,” he answered.

  “Would you spend the rest of the day with me?”

  His answer was to shut off the truck and slip the keys into his pocket. Then he climbed out and came around to my door, pulling it open for me and offering his hand to help me climb down. “Go ahead and I’ll grab your stuff.”

  I got inside and shut off the alarm and then he came in carrying my bag of gear. We both kicked off our dirty boots, and I told him he could set the gear by the closet and I’d worry about cleaning and putting it away later.

  I abandoned him in my living room while I changed out of my combat clothes and cleaned up. We wasted the rest of the day on the couch playing cards and watching TV re-runs. I killed him at cribbage but then he regained his dignity at poker and rummy. When dinner time rolled around and he still hadn’t gotten up to leave, I offered to make us something to eat. He insisted on helping. I pulled out everything to make tacos, but when he saw my jar of salsa, he took it from me and put it back in the fridge.

  “You can’t have tacos without homemade salsa.” He proceeded to rummage through my fridge and came away with just an onion. He pulled his keys from his pocket. “I’ll go to the store, is there anything else you need?”

  “You don’t have to do that. The jar stuff is fine for tonight,” I tried to protest, but he just kissed me on the forehead and said I’d thank him after I’d tried his life-changing salsa. I rolled my eyes, but let him go. While he was gone I started prepping everything else. When he returned with his supplies, I observed the master at work while the meat cooked. He didn’t use any form of measurements, just threw bits of this and that in the food processor.

  When he was done, he reached in one of the grocery sacks and pulled out a bag of the best tortilla chips. He tasted the salsa first and then dipped a chip and brought it to my lips. I opened and let him place it in my mouth before biting down.

  I’d doubted him. I shouldn’t have. It was good. Really, really good. I couldn’t remember having ever had better salsa, not even at my favorite Mexican restaurant.

  “Damn, you should be bottling that stuff.”

  “It’s even better when you cook it first, but it’s good even prepared quick.”

  I didn’t have a dining table, so we dished up and sat on the stools on the backside of the island counter. After dinner he helped me with all of the clean-up and then we retreated to the living room. He settled onto the couch, stretching out all six feet and some odd inches of raw, masculine beauty before my hungry eyes. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down with him, my back against his chest. I relaxed into him and he grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over us, before snatching up the remote and finding a movie on. We watched Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. He’d never seen it, and I’d never heard him laugh so much as he did during the scenes with Betty White, especially when she and Sandra Bullock were dancing in the woods. His laughter vibrated through the both of us and I hoped we’d have more nights like this one.

  “You’re like a heated blanket,” he teased after a while, sitting up and stripping off his sweatshirt before letting me snuggle back into him, where I fell asleep during the second movie.

  I didn’t wake until I felt him shift beneath me and then scoop me up into his arms. I let out a sleepy little sigh, and he kissed my forehead and then carried me to my bedroom. He laid me on the bed and tucked the covers around me.

  “Go back to sleep. I’ll set the security system on my way out and I’ll see you tomorrow.” He briefly kissed my lips and then left me in bed. I heard the beep that meant he’d armed the system and the front door open and closed. The red lights of the alarm clock on my night stand told me it was just after midnight. I drifted back to sleep and slept until the alarm clock woke me at five.

  I went through my usual morning routine, but my mind kept playing over the day before, putting a smile on my lips that was usually absent until several cups of coffee kicked in and worked their magic. I found myself wanting to text him good morning, but restrained myself. I didn’t know what time he got up in the mornings, but it probably wasn’t this early. I remembered I hadn’t gone to bed with my phone last night because Spencer had carried me to my room. Usually I charged it at night, which meant it was probably dead. I found it on the coffee table in the living room at twenty-two percent. That was enough to get me to the shop where I could plug it in.

  I also noticed I had an unread message from an unknown number. I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t from Spencer, but then reminded myself it was doubtful he was awake. I opened the message and then snorted a short laugh, because whoever sent the message had clearly intended for it to go to someone else.

  I’m thinking of you tonight, baby.

  I thought about shooting a reply to let them know they had the wrong baby, but decided not to. Whoever it was would probably be embarrassed. I deleted it and finished getting ready so I would have time to swing by Sweet Indulgence and pick up this morning’s order.

  I hadn’t even made it out the door when someone knocked. Before turning off the security alarm, I peeked out the skinny strip of window beside the front door and saw Clint with Shep standing outside the outer porch door. I disengaged the alarm and then opened up the doors.

  Clint took me in and Shep immediately started nuzzling my hand with his nose until I showed him some love. “Good, I was hoping I wouldn’t be catching you on a morning off and waking you up.”

  “Nope, I’m up. What do you need?” I rubbed behind Shep’s ears.

  “D
o you have a minute or are you in a rush?”

  “I’ve got a minute if you and Shep want to come in.” I held the door open and Shep wasted no time brushing past me, and his master followed. I led them to the kitchen where I finished brewing a cup of espresso and filled my travel mug. “Can I make you one?” I offered.

  “No thanks. I don’t want to keep you. I just wanted to stop by before I head to work to let you know that I was coming home late from Seattle last night, and when I passed by your place I noticed someone was parked out front. I circled around the block but by the time I passed by again they’d left.

  “Oh, that was just a friend who hung out late.”

  He visibly relaxed. “Oh good, I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to come over here and wake you if it was nothing, and I wasn’t sure if I should call the police and have them come check out the neighborhood. I decided not to since whoever it was had left, but I just thought two o’clock in the morning was a strange time for someone to be out. I had a hard time falling asleep last night worrying about you over here.”

  I frowned. “Two o’clock? Are you sure about the time?”

  “Yes, like I said I was coming home from Seattle and I didn’t get out of the city until midnight.”

  “What kind of vehicle was it? A big black truck?”

  “No. A car. Black and sporty looking. I didn’t get a good look.” Dammit, that sounded like Nathan’s car.

  “And it was in my drive?”

  He started to pick up on my worry. “No, parked on the street in front of your place. It wasn’t your friend was it?”

  I shook my head. “No. He drives a truck and he left just after midnight.”

  “I knew I should have called the cops. At least reported it and had them do a drive-by of the neighborhood.”

  “It’s okay. I think I know who it was. I’ll take care of it.” I was beginning to think James was right and that I did need to get the police involved. Sitting outside my house in the middle of the night was definitely crossing a line, and he’d already crossed a few.