Mine to Protect

by Sarah J. Brooks

  Of course, that quickly turned into trying to stop thinking about him, then thinking about him a little and then all the way back to thinking about him all the time again.

  I settled in with my preparations for my photography exhibit. Every time I thought I had my list of pictures complete, I kept changing my mind and looking through more and more pictures. This was my first big show, and I didn’t want anything to mess it up. Not even a broken heart over a one-night stand could distract me from my objective.

  Then, at about midnight a week later, I was developing pictures in my garage again, and I heard someone pull up outside. I ran to my garage window and looked to see who it was. Sure enough, it was Marcus.

  He pulled his Jeep into the driveway and then got out and went into his house. He was dressed in black. I could hardly see him in the dark, but he looked different. There was no smile and nothing about his demeanor seemed pleasant at all. He had a bit of a shaggy beard, and his hair was tussled and looked unkempt. He looked scary to me.

  Even though I was mad as hell at him for disappearing and not calling me, my heart still raced as I watched him. He had some power over my body that I just couldn’t put my finger on.

  After about thirty minutes, I went quietly back into my house. Surely now that he was home, he would reach out to me again. Perhaps he would stop by in the morning and tell me some elaborate reason why he couldn’t call me?

  Wait! What was I doing? I was already trying to give him excuses for why he wasn’t able to call me. How pitiful was I? I shook my head and tried to think about something else. When did I become this girl that cared so much about what a guy thought?

  Before I met Marcus, I was doing so well at building myself up to be more independent. But then I found myself sitting in the dark of my kitchen waiting to see if Marcus would come over. Even though it was the middle of the night, my brain actually thought he might come running over to say hello and apologize.

  I sat for about twenty minutes before finally deciding sleep was more important than staring out my window in the middle of the night.

  When morning came, the first thing I thought of when I opened my eyes was what Marcus was doing. I hurried and got dressed and went outside to do yard work that I absolutely didn’t need to do.

  I’ll be honest; I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know what internal urge drove me to want Marcus to come over, but I did. I desperately wanted him to come and find me and tell me a fabulous reason why he had been unable to talk to me.

  After about an hour working in my yard, I heard Marcus leave his house and make his way over toward me.

  “Have you been behaving yourself?” he said as he slapped my ass.

  I slowly turned around, and there he was in all of his handsome glory. His hard muscles tugged on the blue shirt he was wearing, and his gray shorts hugged him in all the right places.

  I tried not to take in every piece of him, but I couldn’t stop myself.

  He smiled at me with that mischievous grin, and my body reacted with excitement to every last nerve ending.

  “Yep, you know it!”

  I turned back to work on the weed pulling in my yard. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me ogle him.

  “Well, I’m going for a run, enjoy your day.”

  With that, he was gone. Off and running down the street like the last two weeks had not even happened. But there was awkwardness between us. He had to have felt that; there was no way around it.

  I threw my gardening tool down and stormed back into my house.

  How dare he just pretend like nothing was off? What an arrogant ass! He knows it’s rude to have sex with someone and then utterly disappear; he has to know that!

  He seriously just slapped my ass like nothing was wrong. It was amazing to me that he could even have a conversation with me and not mention that he had been gone for almost two weeks. It didn’t matter how hot he was. Any guy who wouldn’t try to at least make up some sort of excuse was too full of himself for me to worry about him.

  I went back into my house and tried to get rid of some of my anger. But the more I cleaned and organized the house, the angrier I got. In this day and age, how could any guy still be such a jerk?

  I just had to call Willow.

  “Hey girl what are you up to?” Willow said when she answered.

  “Guy trouble. I need you ASAP.”

  It didn’t matter what day of the week it was or even what time of day. The fact that I had a guy and there was trouble was so exciting to Willow that she was over to my house in less than ten minutes.

  She was practically in a full blown sprint when I watched her get out of her car and make her way up to my door. We were long past knocking in our friendship, and she thrust the door open with a force of excitement.

  “Who is he? How long have you known him? Have you had sex?” Willow said breathlessly as she fell onto the couch.

  “His name is Marcus; it’s that neighbor who moved into the house next door, known him about three weeks, although he’s been gone for the last two… and yes we did, right where you are sitting.”

  “Isabella! Eww!” Willow said as she jumped off the couch and moved over to a chair.

  Chapter 8

  “So let me get this straight. You fell down a mountain, he rescued you, you had sex, he disappeared, and now he’s back.”

  “Yep.”

  “So what’s the issue?”

  “He left for two weeks without even a call. You don’t think that’s a bit weird.”

  “Well, Isabella, I think the whole situation is weird. But I think you need to step back and stop worrying so much about it. Really, what’s the worst thing that could happen here? Are you actually considering him for a move in guy or something?”

  I thought about it. There wasn’t really a bad result. I mean the worst that could happen would be that we didn’t have sex again. But I surely would still try to be friends with Marcus. We were neighbors and all.

  “I don’t mind being friends with him. My issue is that he is acting like it is perfectly normal for someone to sleep with a girl and then disappear for two weeks. It’s not like he told me ahead of time that he would be gone. And why couldn’t he have at least called and just told me he was on a business trip or something? That’s what is bothering me the most. He didn’t even call.”

  Willow sat and pondered my dilemma for a moment before offering me her best solution.

  “Rob. That’s what we will do. Rob.”

  I sat there and looked at her with an obvious inquisitive look. I had no idea what she was talking about, but this wasn’t so unusual. Many of our conversations end with me staring at her and trying to figure out just what she was trying to say.

  “You know. Rob … the guy from my work that I told you would be perfect for you.”

  Willow was constantly telling me she met someone who would be perfect for me. It wasn’t unusual that I couldn’t remember this particular man. She had such a big heart and was just trying to help me find the happiness like I used to have. She and Marv were so great together, it did give me hope that someday I would find a man that was my equal. Someday I would be able to follow my dreams and have someone right by my side urging me on.

  “What exactly do you propose I do with this Rob of yours?’ I laughed.

  “Do him.” Willow started to laugh so hard she fell off of the chair.

  “I’m not going to have sex with some stranger.”

  But the second that sentence left my mouth, I realized that was exactly what I had done with Marcus. I didn’t really know him. Yeah, we had talked a little bit, but he wasn’t anyone I could say I knew. I really knew nothing about him. Well, except that he had the body of a Greek god.

  As we sat in the living room talking, Willow slowly stood and went to the window. Her mouth was slightly open as she watched Marcus stretching on his lawn after his morning run. I knew the feeling very well, Marcus had a way of distracting a woman.

&nbs
p; I watched as Willow devoured Marcus with her eyes. It was clear she was having the same physical response to the man as I was. I doubt there is a woman alive that wouldn’t find Marcus attractive. He was movie star pretty and delightful to watch.

  “You see what I’m talking about?” I said as I sat back down on the couch.

  “Oh, yeah, I can see how you gave into that. I’m married, and my body is telling me to give this guy a try.”

  Willow continued to look out the window and watch Marcus. She licked her lips several times subconsciously as she watched him out the window. It made me laugh to see her get so excited. She had spent most of her life without too much excitement; she kind of needed a little something interesting to add to her dreams.

  “So remind me who this Rob guy was again?” I said as I cringed at the thought of going on a blind date.

  “Remember, I work with him. He’s about your age and super nice. You should totally just go out on a date with him. You never know. He reminds me of that Sam guy you had living with you before. He’s nice, and I don’t know, but I think he might be into your lifestyle,” Willow said as a smile came across her face.

  I never did know who Willow was going to think was the perfect guy for me. She didn’t seem to have any criteria for choosing these men. Often, simply the fact that they were single was the only thing she looked for. Or she got a feeling that they would be okay sharing a woman with another man. There was no rhyme or reason to her thought process.

  “Alright. Give him my number. I’ll go out with him. I need to get my mind off Marcus.”

  Willow’s face instantly turned to delight as she looked just like a kid in a candy store. I could tell she really wanted to fix me up with this guy. She ran to her purse and pulled out her phone.

  “I’m going to text him your number right now. You are going to love him.”

  I raised one eyebrow at her and laughed. She said the same thing about every single guy she tried to match me up with. She always thought I would love them. Inevitably, they weren’t interesting enough to keep around.

  A boring guy was okay with me if they brought something to the table. Like Sam had been so amazing at oral sex that I couldn’t imagine not having him around. But there had to be something in it to keep a guy around. I wasn’t going to waste my time with just anyone.

  “Love. That’s a bit much,” I said.

  “Oh, you know what I mean. You will have a great date with him. He’s super nice. Before you know it, he’ll be moved in with you.”

  “You know that’s the second time you’ve said he’s super nice. Does that mean he’s really ugly, and you’re trying to distract me from that?” I laughed.

  “No. He’s cute. He is the total package. Just wait. It will be great.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to forget about all the previous, perfect guys that Willow and her husband Marv had tried to fix me up with. They certainly meant well, but their idea of perfect and my idea of perfect just weren’t the same thing.

  I hugged Willow goodbye and promised to keep her in the loop of anything and everything that involved my dating life. There was no turning back now; she was going to want to know all the details of everything about my date.

  Only a few minutes after Willow left my house, I received a text message from this Rob guy. He sent a picture and a sweet hello message. He was cute with blond hair and blue eyes. His tan skin made him look like a surfer, although Willow said he worked with her at the insurance agency. He seemed too young to be in the insurance field. Although Willow was also in that field, she had an old soul, and insurance seemed to fit how much she worried about everything all the time.

  We made plans to have dinner the following night. He asked to come pick me up for our date, and although I initial refused, I finally had to cave into him when he sent me a picture of Fred Flintstone’s car and said I deserved a ride in that. It made me laugh, and I needed a good laugh right about then.

  ***

  I felt like an old pro at going on first dates. In the last couple months I had certainly had my fair share of them. Unfortunately, first dates never seemed to correlate into second or third dates for me. Often there just was no chemistry between me and the guy. The guys who I had ended up keeping around had all started out as friends without the traditional dating start.

  Rob and I had a great date. He was funny and made me laugh. He was very handsome, his surfer boy looks certainly could get the ladies; I was sure of it. Unfortunately, there just was no chemistry between the two of us. Or at least, I didn’t feel the chemistry. Rob certainly felt fine about the two of us. He spent much of the evening flirtatiously setting his hand on different parts of my body. I couldn’t help wondering if my fixation on Marcus was really distracting me from enjoying this nice guy I was on a date with.

  When he arrived at my door and walked me out to his car, his hand was on my lower back. When he pulled my chair out for me at the restaurant, he let his hand sit on my shoulder after he pushed my chair in. Then on the drive back to my house, he let out a bellowing laugh at one of my jokes and just happened to let his hand land on my thigh as he finished laughing.

  I didn’t really mind. He was cute and really funny; I was probably going to take him to bed just to give him a test drive. Sometimes you just never knew about a guy until you had him naked in bed.

  All in all, it was a good date, though. We got along great and made each other laugh. It was better than most of my other dates. I could see myself actually being friends with this guy. It would be hard to tell him no if he asked me on a second date, though. I’d probably just have to say yes at first and then blow him off after he was gone unless he was good in the bedroom; that would change my entire view of the guy.

  When we pulled up outside my house, Rob jumped up out of his sports car and ran over to open my door. His car was hot, and I was really glad he didn’t have a old junk car like he had joked about in the picture he sent earlier. The black Chevy Camaro was a delicious piece of machinery.

  His hand quickly went to my lower back as he guided me to my front door. I didn’t mind him touching me. It was an expression of his desire for me.

  “I had a great night,” I said as I glanced over to the neighbor’s house.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could swear I just saw the light in Marcus’s back room turn off and the shade on the window moving. I couldn’t help imagining that he was standing at his window watching me.

  “Me too, I’m really glad Willow thought to hook us up. It’s really hard to find decent women out in the country. Most are either too young, too old, or married.” Rob laughed.

  I didn’t know for sure, but I thought Marcus was watching me from his window, and I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I could feel myself getting nervous, and although I wasn’t originally planning on kissing Rob good night, I decided it would be worth it if Marcus were watching.

  I’m not sure why I thought me kissing some other guy would be so awesome, but I just didn’t want Marcus to win this battle. I didn’t know if he was watching for sure or not. But if he was, I was going to make sure he knew I didn’t care at all about him disappearing. I was perfectly able to get my own date and didn’t need to worry about his arrogance at all.

  “Yeah, I’m glad too,” I said as I leaned against my front door.

  I gave Rob the look of seduction; it was a slight flutter of my eyelashes with a little biting of my lower lip. He couldn’t refuse me. Within seconds, he had moved in for a kiss. I did really like having a guy like Rob around, one that was easily controlled with my normal flirting ways.

  Normally, I wouldn’t get super devoted to a good night kiss. I usually liked them to be quick and passionate. Just enough to test out our chemistry, but not so much that the guy ended up getting excited and thinking that I was going to bring him inside.

  This time, I was going to have to go all out. If I was going to make Marcus see that I didn’t need him, I was going to have to really kiss Rob.

&
nbsp; I wrapped my arms around his neck and let my hands run through his blond hair. It was soft, and I couldn’t help enjoying this moment a little bit. Rob was an excellent kisser. His lips moved in perfect harmony with mine, and I could feel him readjusting his body and trying to stay just a couple inches away from me. Likely so I couldn’t tell just how hard he was with excitement.

  Slowly I let my hands go down to his back and then move back up. He was a very fit guy and built with plenty of muscles. Not nearly as many as Marcus, but certainly still in very good shape.

  As we continued to kiss, I couldn’t help imagining Marcus watching me and getting jealous. It served him right for being such an ass to me. I didn’t know for sure if he was watching, but I had a sneaking suspicious that he was. There was just a feeling that I had, and I wanted to make sure Marcus knew I didn’t need him.

  I was an independent woman; I didn’t need to wait around for Marcus to call. I wanted him to call so I could get to know him better. But since he didn’t bother to do that, I figured I would just get to know Rob better.

  “Best first date ever!” Rob exclaimed as we finally stopped kissing.

  I just smiled and tried to look over at Marcus’s house to see if I saw any movement. But it looked pretty quiet over there.

  “It was very nice. You make sure and call me sometime,” I said as I opened my front door. “Unless you’d like to come in for a nightcap,” I offered.

  Rob didn’t hesitate at all and quickly followed me into the house. I pulled him up the stairs to my bedroom and threw him onto the bed. Tonight I was going to be in charge, and I loved every minute of it.

  I teased and played with Rob for a few minutes before wrapping the condom around him and pulling him on top of me. He was so excited to be having sex with me that his thrusts only lasted a few minutes before he came. It wasn’t a miraculous evening of sex at all, more like a quickie that left me wanting more and had Rob longing to spend the night with me.