New Love

by Alyson Reynolds

  “Oh no, Norma,” he cooed. “We’re going, but you’re not ready yet.” He tugged me back to the bedroom. Everything in me wanted to pull away, to fight and run, but I needed to trust I hadn’t misread the situation. I might only have one shot at this escape. I couldn’t blow it by fleeing too soon.

  Once inside the room again, he motioned for me to sit in the chair. The very idea of being locked in again terrified me, but I simply swallowed and sat. The other option was the bed and I definitely didn’t want to give him the wrong idea. Then I crossed my legs seductively and hoped he’d forget to cuff me.

  For a moment, Herman paused and shook his head as he stared at me much like I stared at desserts in the bakery case. Then I nearly heaved a sigh of relief when I watched him disappear into the closet. Seconds later, he returned with a blonde wig and pulled it onto my head. I sat still while he adjusted it and finally stepped back to admire his work. “You’re perfect,” he murmured, his eyes alight in wonder.

  With some effort, I managed a smile.

  Chapter 6

  All of ten minutes later, we were settled into his car and were driving towards NoDa for the art crawl. It ended at nine and we were closing in on eight. Worse, I’d never been before. Would I run into anyone I knew? Would there be police around? Would I somehow be able to manage an escape? How the hell was I supposed to balance keeping Herman happy and comfortable enough to let his guard down while finding a way to live? These were the thoughts I struggled with as we finally reached our destination.

  Surprisingly enough, we had no trouble parking. The biggest challenge would be hiding my excitement, trying to remain calm when really I wanted to run screaming from the car into the arms of the nearest person. So when Herman stepped out of the vehicle, I waited patiently, since he had me handcuffed to the handle. As he opened my door, I slowly found my footing and waited patiently for him to secure the cuff to his wrist.

  When I glanced about, I realized the streets were all but vacant. We needed to get onto North Davidson and join the art crawl before I’d have a shot at running into someone. Still, I tried to act casual as we walked to the first venue.

  “I’ve never done this before,” Herman commented as he squeezed my hand.

  I forced a smile. “Me neither. This will be fun.”

  “Then we’ll go back to the house.” This time he rubbed his palms together which jerked my arm around and made me shiver. “Are you too cold?”

  Cold was the very least of my problems. I’d be dead and cold if I couldn’t find help. Shaking my head, I murmured, “Nope. I’m great.”

  We came upon a couple who were so engrossed with each other, no matter how long or hard I stared, I couldn’t seem to get their attention. What must it be like to be so lost in someone the rest of the world melts away? Tears stung my eyes. This might be harder than I anticipated. We took a few more steps and literally ran into a couple coming out of a nearby building.

  “Sorry!” The girl giggled as she bounced away.

  Reaching out with my free hand, I tugged on her coat. Her eyes met my face and I mouthed, “Help me, please.”

  Her face scrunched up as though she were considering what I’d said. Then she glanced at Herman, and broke out into laughter. She nodded and walked away. Yeah. I suppose she thought it was a bad first date. This was getting me nowhere. I had begun to lose hope. My spirit was broken. My stomach was grumbling, yes, even at a time like this.

  Overwhelmed with sorrow, I kept my head down as we walked a block. We were about to enter Peddler’s Post when I saw a car I recognized. My eyes narrowed in on the lime green Kia Soul. Even in a city the size of Charlotte, there couldn’t be too many of those around. I peeked at the license plate as we walked by: RONZRYD. What the hell was he doing here? This time, I might actually be happy to see him. My heart raced as I imagined throwing myself into his arms. Then we turned a corner, and I froze, stumbling slightly as Herman tugged me along.

  Roan already had someone in his arms. They were kissing. As I stomped my foot and cleared my throat, he saw me, grabbed the girl’s hand, and bolted in the opposite direction crossing the street to avoid me. The lousy bastard. I balled my hands into fists at my sides and took a deep breath, filling my lungs with all the oxygen I’d need to shout and out him as he scampered away. Before I could let out so much as a squeak, Herman had leaned in and plastered his lips to mine.

  “What are you doing?” I spluttered as I pulled away.

  “I thought you wanted a kiss,” he explained weakly. “You stopped walking. You were staring at the couple making out.”

  I sighed angrily. “My hands were balled up at my sides and my face was contorted in rage, but somehow you thought this translated into desire? Jesus, Herman. No wonder you’re so fucked up. You can’t read body language at all!” I stomped away, yanking him with me as we entered the building I’d seen Roan rush into. “Try to keep up,” I snapped.

  We had moved several feet inside the door of Amelie’s Bakery when I planted my feet and scanned the room. Sure, there was a possibility Roan hadn’t recognized me, but he was still cheating, dammit. Suddenly, I’d forgotten all about my precarious situation with the psycho attached to my wrist and remembered everything about what was wrong with my relationship with Roan.

  “He’s cheating on me. He’s been fucking cheating on me. This is why our sex sucks and he has all the ugly excuses,” I grumbled as I charged toward Roan.

  “Slow down,” Herman hissed. “You’re making a scene.”

  My eyebrow shot up. I didn’t know if it was the public place or my anger which had given me this sudden burst of courage, but I’d use it to my advantage either way. Swinging my arm, I whipped my captor around in front of me and grabbed him by his lapels. “You think I’m making a scene now?” We were practically nose to nose. Herman wasn’t a big man and in my platform heels, we were pretty evenly matched. He whimpered and shook his head. “I didn’t think so. Stay out of my way.”

  “It’s gonna be hard with the cuff,” he whispered.

  “You should’ve thought of that earlier.” My words were barely audible through my gritted teeth. I released him suddenly and he stumbled slightly as he found his footing. “Drug me, kidnap me, threaten to rape and murder me and think I give a fuck if I make a scene. Goddam moron dressed me up like some Marilyn Monroe lookalike and then worries I’ll attract too much attention,” I muttered angrily under my breath.

  As we approached, Roan had his back to me. Angrily, I tapped him on the shoulder while his girl stared at me, her perfect little lips forming a giant ‘O.’ He whipped around, a frustrated look on his face. “What?”

  Instantly, my hands were on my hips. “What? We’ve been dating over a year and all you can say to me when I catch you with someone else is ‘what?’ Seriously, dumbass.”

  Roan’s brow furrowed as he studied me. “Delilah? Is that you?” A new understanding dawned and he grinned at me. “It looks nothing like you!” He ran his hands down my arms while Herman shifted uncomfortably. “New hair. Different makeup. Unfamiliar dress…”

  “Fancy jewelry,” I interjected as I lifted my arm and pointed out I was handcuffed to the douche beside me. “More importantly, who’s your arm candy?” I glared at the girl beside him who had the good sense to shrink against the wall. Let’s face it, I was behaving like a crazy lady and it was no act.

  “Excuse me, but you’re going to have to take this outside or we’ll be forced to call the police,” a woman murmured quietly. She wore a name tag and obviously worked for the bakery.

  My eyebrow arched again and I crossed my arms awkwardly over my chest, which had Herman’s hand touching my boob. In frustration, I shook my fists and dropped them to my side. “Call them,” I responded angrily. She shrugged and started to slink away, but I stopped her. “I’m serious. This guy tried to kidnap me. Call the police.”

  By now, Herman was in a panic. He had reached into his pocket to find the key. It was almost painful to watch. Involuntarily,
my eyes rolled. When he pulled out the key and started to work the lock, I kicked him in the shin. He doubled over, yelping in pain, and I grabbed the key and stuffed it in my bra because I’m classy like that, but mostly because I refused to let him get away.

  “Oh no. You’re staying,” I warned him. Then I turned my attention to Roan who had started to sneak off while I was distracted. “Get back here now, Roan.”

  “Babe,” he began nervously, “you have a lot going on. Why don’t I leave you to it and we can talk later?” He turned, and nodded for the girl to start walking.

  “I have a better idea. Why doesn’t she leave and we can talk now?” I glared at her meaningfully. Her eyes widened and her chin bobbed. She seemed quite happy with my suggestion. Then I tapped her on the shoulder. “For the record, I’m not mad at you. I’m not dating you. It’s him I have a problem with.” I jerked my thumb at Roan. The poor girl visibly heaved a sigh of relief and rushed out of the building.

  Roan leaned against the wall and groaned. “Now what?”

  “Now we’re through.” I shrugged.

  “We’re done? Just like that?” His hands flew up in the air. “You want to throw it all away?”

  “Well, you did cheat on her,” Herman muttered. Then he glanced at me. “I’d never cheat on you.”

  I shook my head with my eyes closed before I stared him down. “That’s very kind of you, Herman. So you’d rape and murder me, but not cheat on me. Glad to see you have a code.”

  Moments later an officer came over to us. “What seems to be the problem here?”

  For a second, I was speechless. The second he looked at me with those deep blue eyes, I was at a loss for words. Plus, he was wearing that uniform a little too well. I reached out with my free hand and tugged at his pants to see if they would break away. He backed up hastily and unsnapped the holster of his gun while his hand hovered over it.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled as I shrugged. “I had to be sure. It has been one crazy night.” My stomach grumbled loudly and a laid a hand over it. “Could be my blood sugar.”

  “Could be her cheating boyfriend,” Herman offered.

  “Could be the guy who kidnapped me didn’t feed me, asshole!” I glared at my now meek captor.

  The cop’s lips twitched. I could tell he didn’t know what to make of the situation yet. “And who’s this guy?” He jerked his head toward Roan.

  “Her boyfriend,” Roan replied.

  “Ex.” I sighed. “He’s my ex-boyfriend.”

  “Babe, we can work it out.” His pleading, whiny voice hit a nerve.

  “You call me ‘babe’ one more time and you’ll be working your testicles out of your throat. Got it?” Then I slapped my forehead. I’d just threatened him in front of a cop. This was not going well. Still, I preferred jail to death. Staring at the cop, I frowned. “So are you going to arrest me?”

  “Ma’am, I don’t even know why I’m here yet. I was called for Marilyn Monroe disturbing the peace.” He looked me over a moment and his gaze rested on my shackled wrist. “What’s that about?”

  Before I could respond, I heard a commotion behind me. “Delilah! Oh my God. Are you okay? Carter called me to check on you. Said you’d gone rogue and were all over the place.” Denzi rushed over and wrapped her arms around me as best she could given the handcuff. “Hey. What’s this?” She lifted my wrist.

  “Denzi, thank goodness you’re here. Never leave me again...as soon as you come back with a Napoleon and a chocolate croissant.” I pushed her toward the counter as she eyed me curiously. “Seriously. I’m dying. Go.”

  Slowly, Denzi walked away and the officer snapped his holster and crossed his arms over his chest. “Ready to explain?”

  “I’m a decoy.” I frowned at Herman. “His wife hired us because she thought he was cheating. Instead, it was much worse. He’s a murderer and rapist.” Roan gasped and started to close the distance between us. I whipped around and glared at him. “Don’t. Don’t touch me.”

  “Sir, please back up.” The officer held out his hand to show Roan needed to keep his distance. Then he stared at Herman who suddenly looked really small as he dangled from my wrist. “This guy?”

  I nodded. “Yup. Drugged me. Dressed me. Planned to rape and murder me.” From behind him, Denzi rushed over with the food I’d requested. Holding out my hand, I grabbed the croissant from her and took a huge bite. My eyes closed as I savored the first bit of nourishment I’d had since lunch time. “I love you, Denzi.”

  “It’s the hunger talking,” she joked.

  “No, you saved me. I was dying of hunger.” I grinned as started to take another bite.

  “Ma’am?” The officer struggled to get my attention.

  “Right. Shouldn’t you be taking my statement at the police station or something? Oh, and I really need to pee too.” My eyes widened as my bladder warned of impending doom.

  “Okay. Well, let’s get you free.” The officer reached for his handcuff keys, but I beat him to it, grabbing the one from my bra.

  “Gotcha covered,” I mumbled with my mouth full.

  He shook his head. “How do you have those if you’re the victim?”

  I swallowed and slapped my chest as the food went down hard. Man, did I need a drink. “I stole them when he tried to escape. I wasn’t letting him get away.” I shrugged.

  There was an indecipherable look in his eyes. “You’re really something,” the officer noted. “Let me call for backup and we’ll get this all sorted out.” Taking my keys, the officer uncuffed me and secured Herman’s wrists behind his back.

  With two hands free to eat, I felt much better. “Hey Denzi, I’ll love you forever if you get me a drink.”

  She chuckled. “I thought you already loved me forever.”

  “Yeah, but this time I mean forever forever.” I giggled. “I have no purse. It’s in his car, I think, along with my phone.”

  “Carter’s gonna shit a brick when he finds out about all this.” She shook her head as she walked away.

  “Why?” I wondered. “He still hasn’t lost a decoy yet. Perfect record. Plus I foiled a serial killer. I should get a damn medal. And a raise.”

  “I’ve always hated your job,” Roan complained.

  “Go away Roan. I’m kinda hating you right now.” I didn’t even look at him, I just kept eating my croissant. “This is amazing,” I gushed as I held the pastry out to the cop. “Try it.”

  He grinned, showing perfect white straight teeth and I think I fell in love. “Can’t do it.”

  “Because it’s not a donut,” I teased.

  “No…” He stared at me a moment. “The timing is all off.”

  “There’s never a wrong time to eat.” I eyed him meaningfully.

  His head tilted and he gave me a lopsided grin. “You know what? At some point, when this is all over, if you want to share a meal, I’ll ask you. Right now, we have all this going on.” He glanced between Roan and Herman, both of whom were shifting uncomfortably.

  I nodded sadly. “I get it.”

  Denzi rushed back with a sweet tea. “What’d I miss?”

  “The cop won’t share my croissant with me because of Roan and Herman.” I shrugged.

  The officer threw his head back and laughed. “That’s not exactly how it went down.” He smiled at me and we shared a moment as more officers flooded the scene.

  One officer pulled Roan aside to take his statement. Another took Herman and exited the bakery. The crime scene unit had arrived to process the car. For a moment, Denzi disappeared when her phone rang. A second later she returned, holding it out for me. “It’s Carter,” she warned.

  “Delilah,” he growled, “you broke the rules tonight.” There was an edge to his voice that had me instantly on the defensive.

  “Which rule is that?” My confusion was genuine.

  “No secondary locations!”

  “Seriously? He drugged me. I woke up passed out in the car. It’s not like I did this on purpose.” I waited for
his response, but for once, Carter was silent. “Are you going to try to fire me for this? Are you kidding me? I could’ve been killed working a job you assigned me and you’re going to not only blame me, but punish me for it?” I held the phone out for Denzi. “Take it before I say something I mean.”

  Denzi put the phone to her ear once more. “If she goes, I go, Carter. Think about it.” Then she ended the call and dropped the phone in her purse.

  “Cute,” I commented as I pointed to her bag. “New?”

  “Yeah. Bought it last night after work.” Denzi yawned. “Can you come home now?”

  We both looked at the hot officer who frowned. “I’m afraid not. I still have more questions.”

  “Is one of them if she’ll go out with you? The answer is ‘yes,’” Denzi shoved me toward him.

  His lips twitched. “I’ll need a contact number.”

  “Dammit. My phone is in Herman’s car.” I threw my hands up in the air.

  “Use mine.” Denzi nudged me.

  “Please, so you can steal my new would-be boyfriend with your hotness and adorable ways? No, thank you.” I shook my head.

  “Delilah Morgan, you wound me. I’m not that kind of girl.” She glanced over at the officer. “I’m really not.”

  I sighed. “She isn’t. I’m insecure.”

  “Too many bad relationships,” Denzi explained while shaking her head.

  “You do seem to be attracting the wrong kind of guys lately.” He agreed.

  My cheeks went up in flames. “And what are you?”

  “I’m the right kind of guy at the wrong time.” He grinned.

  I licked my lips as I stared at him. My cheeks couldn’t get any redder so I decided to go for it. “Will tomorrow be better?”

  He looked at me in a way that sent goosebumps all over my skin. “You can go,” he said to Denzi even though his eyes never left mine. “I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”

  Without saying a word, Denzi took a picture of him with her phone. Then she glanced my direction. “What the hell?” She shrugged and took one of me too. “Trust no one is my new motto.”