Unbound Faith (Bulletproof #1)

by J. L. Baldwin

  “Look there’s a spot right over there.” I point ahead to an empty parking space across the parking lot and Sarah quickly pulls into it before somebody else can snatch it. She parks the car and we walk around to the front to meet up with Gwen.

  “Heyyy, ya’ll made ahhht.” Gwen says, slurring her words when she speaks which causes me to giggle. “Jaydey boo, what’s so funnnyyy?” She asks. I have to look away to hide my laugh. Drunk people always made me laugh. “Nothing Gwen, let’s go inside before you fall over.” Anna and Sarah are right behind us as I help Gwen inside. They check our ID’s and we pass the bouncer who winks at me. I smile right back. We walk on inside and the first thing I notice is the DJ wearing a plaid shirt and a cowboy hat. Typical southern bar. There are lines of people out on the dance floor dancing to ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ and I shake my head. Gwen brought us to a country bar. Living in the south my whole life, this was actually the last thing I expected to see. The Southern Shore Club was not a high class club. This was a regular redneck, country dance bar.

  Anna walks up beside me and leans in, “this wasn’t what I was expecting honestly. I was expecting disco lights and people grinding all over each other. You know, a regular club atmosphere?” She says as I look around the club again. The bar is lined up with people but from the looks of the shelf, they sell more than just beer. There’s all kinds of top shelf liqueur lined from top to bottom.

  “Yeah it wasn’t what I was expecting either but I’m kind of digging it.” I say with a sly smile. I look around again and a few eyes are looking our way. This one cute guy who looks like a cross between Channing Tatum and Jamie Dornan is looking straight at me. God his tattoos are heavenly. That much I can see from this dim lighting. He’s sporting a backwards cap and holds a beer bottle up to his lips to take a giant swig and I watch closely as he swallows every bit.

  “Who you looking at Jayde?” Sarah says from behind me. The guy looks back over to us and smiles at me. Sarah nudges me playfully. Oops, I’m busted. “He’s cute, like really cute. Go say hi girl!”

  I shake my head. “No I don’t think so. Besides, he’s probably looking at Anna anyways.”

  Sarah turns around to look for Anna who has disappeared. She reappears a few feet ahead talking to a cowboy. “Umm not possible. She’s over there.” Sarah points to Anna who must have seen her point so she waved to us. Great, so he was smiling at me. It could have been Sarah but she says he was definitely smiling at me. The guy walks away from his buddies and starts over to us. Oh damn, oh damn, oh damn. Does my hair look okay? I mentally ask myself. Okay, stay cool. You totally got this.

  “Hey beautiful. Mind if I buy you a drink?” He asks in a thick southern drawl which makes my insides turn to butter. “I umm…sure I guess.” I reply back. God, could I sound any weaker right now? Sarah nudges me forward and we slowly walk up to the bar and the cute guy orders two beers. Normally, not my drink of choice but I’ll take it since I’m not paying for it.

  “I’m Chace by the way. Chace Bennett.” He reaches for my hand to kiss the back of it when the bar tender slams our beers down onto the counter. “Two beers for you two lovebirds.”

  I freeze right on the spot. I know that voice. I’ve heard that voice before. The voice I couldn’t get out of my head all day long. “Thanks man.” The guy hands me my beer but I don’t move. Slowly, my eyes glide over to the figure whose stare is pinning me to this very spot I’m in. Please oh please let it be him. When I finally lock eyes with the man, my heart skips a wild beat. Those blue eyes stare me down in a possessive glare. Oh, I am so screwed.

  Chapter 5

  Zac

  Taking into consideration that I didn’t even want this job, I’m so fucking glad I got it. There’s nothing stopping me from tearing into this asshole right here and right now. Jayde doesn’t even seem to be all that interested in him but he’s a persistent fucker. The whole night was going fine, everyone was having fun. The music was kicking and the dance floor was packed. I usually hated bars like this but I’m loving it now. The guy has leaned into Jayde and she’s smiling at him. Actually fucking smiling at him. Where she should be smiling at me. My head is about to explode.

  I can be an asshole now. “Two beers for you lovebirds.” I watch carefully as Jayde slowly turns towards me and I let out a ‘Ha, caught you’ smirk. But when her beautiful green eyes lock onto mine, I lose my shit. And any control over my dick because those eyes do something to the big guy. Down boy, not now.

  “Z?” She asks and I smile sliding the beers closer to her while attempting to maintain my cool.

  “Yeah it’s me sweetheart. Guess you found me, huh?” I look over at the douchebag who still has his arm draped around Jayde and quickly avert my eyes back to the beauty in front of me.

  “I guess I did.” She says. “How long have you worked here?” I smile at her innocence.

  “Oh, a while.” I lie. She takes her beer and chugs it at my answer and slams the bottle back down onto the counter top. That was so fucking hot. “That’s good. Umm Chace, would you mind getting me another beer while I hit the ladies room?”

  He nods. “Sure sweetcakes.” Jayde takes off to the bathroom and the jerk is still standing there, looking down into his beer bottle. I have to fight the sudden urge to knock him off the bar stool and make his ass hit the floor. This guy does not look like her type.

  “So, how long have you known Jayde?” I ask, not caring if it’s crossing a line. This guy never showed up in the file so I’m at a loss.

  Jayde said his name was Chace so we’ll go with that. “I just met her dude. I have to say, she’s a rather nice piece of ass for being a bit on the larger side if you catch what I’m saying.” Chace mocks. I don’t hesitate at all before leaning across the bar and grabbing him by the shirt collar and pulling him right to my face within inches. I’m going to beat the ever loving shit out of this bastard.

  “Let me tell you something you dirt bag, Jayde is a nice girl. You talk about her like that again and I’ll kill you where you stand. Now I suggest you get your ass out of this bar before I make good on my promise right now. You got that?” Forcefully pushing him back, Chace falls backwards off the barstool then decides to smart up and scatter across the bar and is out the door in a flash.

  Jayde comes back a few minutes later and looks around confused. Oh, she’s looking for that jerk. “Oh, where did Chace go?” She asks all sweet and innocent. God, I like that about her. “He had to leave. A prior engagement called.” I say, trying my best not to sound like a complete asshole.

  Jayde frowns slightly then sits up into one of the bar stools. “I guess it was too good to be true.”

  I smile non-chalantly. “It usually is.”

  Jayde nods then turns when three girls come running back over to her, and start to pull her onto the dance floor but she refuses. “No guys, I think I’m going to head on home. This night has been a whirlwind of emotions for me.” The darker skinned girl is drunker than anything I’ve ever seen. “Ahhh come on. You’ll have fun. Jussst wait and seeee.” She refers to that one as Gwen and the other two go unnamed.

  “No I think I’ll grab a taxi and head on home. You guys go have fun, I’ll see you later.” Shit, she’s really going to leave. And this is my first day in my new job. I don’t know how I’m going to find out shit about her now. Jayde turns back to me with a sad smile. “Well, I’ll see you around Z. I guess text me later.” She stands up without a single smile and walks over towards the door. Luckily, there are cabs waiting out front so she can grab one to get home safely.

  I watch her as she walks out the door and I’m left standing there thinking. Should I go after her? Should I stay here and wait for her to come to me? She was right here in this bar and I did nothing but look like an asshole in front of her. I don’t need a fortune teller to tell me Jayde is probably not going to be in my future if I keep that shit up. I pull out my phone to tell her to text me when she gets home safely.

  About an hour later a
text comes across the screen. “Okay, I’m home now. Goodnight.”

  I reply back a few minutes later with an ‘okay’ and slide my phone back into my pocket. The bar is about to close for the night so I take that opportunity to think if I want to stay here or just work on Jayde’s case some other way. Chief will be pissed if I quit my undercover job but what choice do I have? Without thinking about it, I send Chief a quick text telling him I’m quitting this stupid second job. I’ll figure out a way to get through to Jayde. Someway, somehow I’ll figure it out. I always do.

  Chapter 6

  Jayde

  I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life! Z was there, and he was so..so…there were no words to describe the messed up situation I was in. It was great he was there but did he have to do that? Right in front of Chace? My phone flashes with a new message and I’m thinking its Anna but it’s not, it’s Z. Or whatever his name was that began with a Z.

  “Text me when you’re home safe and sound.”

  Yeah, right. It will be a cold day in hell if I text him back. Another message comes through and it’s Sarah asking me if I’m okay. I reply with a yes to reassure her that everything is fine. Even if I can’t convince myself of that. The taxi cab drops me off at home and I quickly pay him then retreat inside. I want to crawl into bed and pretend this whole night never happened.

  I crank up some music and grab my laptop to update my blog. This night was going to be one for the record books. A Brunette Bibliophile was starting to make a huge name for itself and I loved every second of it. Due to my lengthy and detailed reviews, people were always bringing me new books to read then review. I took them all and usually had them read within a few days. Television was a thing in the past for me. I hardly ever watched it. Well, if Netflix counted then I watched ‘some’ television.

  After my review was up of the latest book I read, I shut the laptop down and settled into bed. My kindle laid beside me on the nightstand and being too tired to do anything else, I picked it up and flipped to the latest book I was reading. An hour has passed and I am so lost in this book, I completely forgot to text Z back. Hmm, I should make him wait. Since I’m not a bitch, I’ll just send him a quick, short message. “Okay, I’m home now. Goodnight.” And I hit send and left it at that. He doesn’t need a lengthy long message about how he acted tonight. I barely know him. So how he acted shouldn’t surprise me.

  A couple hours go by before Sarah and Anna finally walk in the door. Anna is drunker than all get out. I laugh at Anna’s attempt to walk down the hallway to the spare bedroom. She yells out my name, probably noticing my bedroom light was on. “Jaydeeeey! You still awake girrrrrl? If you’re busy, no need for details. I’ll wait til you’re finished.” Scrunching my eyebrows together, I toss my kindle aside on the bed and jump up, fully ready to confront her about her ridiculous notion. “Are you fucking serious? I’m not masturbating you asshole. That’s what you do.”

  She giggles in her stupid drunken giggle. “Hehe I know. Yoush should trys it. It’s sush a relief!” I laugh at her very intoxicated vocabulary pronunciation.

  “No thank you. I’ll wait for Mr. Right.” I say a little annoyed at her butting into my personal life…again!

  “Ohhh you mean Mr. Tall, Dark and Yummy at the bar? He was soooo hooooot!” She giggles again before Sarah grabs her and heads down the hallway to the spare bedroom. “She wanted to come here to stay the night. Didn’t want to go home.”

  Anna turns in Sarah’s arms and smiles. “I want to knoooow about Mr. Hotnesh at the bar. Ya know, the cute one? Not the bartender.”

  I roll my eyes then shake my head. “There’s nothing to tell. He’s a jerk for leaving. That’s the end of that.”

  Sarah nods in understanding before pushing Anna towards the bedroom. “Come on sunshine. Time for beddy-by.”

  Anna groans when she’s forced inside the bedroom. I smile then go back into my room to continue reading my book. The whole house goes quiet as I become fully engrossed in this book I’m reading. A Brunette Bibliophile followers will love this one. Grabbing my phone, I type out a quick reminder to write a review in the morning then place my phone back on the nightstand. Sarah knocks on my bedroom door just as I’m getting comfortable. Sighing, I call out. “Come in.” She walks in with a sad expression on her face. I know that pity look anywhere.

  “Hey sis, I wanted to check on you before I went to bed. You alright? You left the bar really quickly and I saw what happened. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine but I wanted to see how you were doing.” She settles onto my bed and I give her a quick hug, happy to have her in my life to care and fuss over me like she does.

  “I’m okay, just a little hurt. But I’ll be perfectly fine.” I say, smiling.

  “You don’t have to put on a brave face. It’s okay to hurt. That guy is a jerk for leaving you when you went to the bathroom. If I had it my way, he wouldn’t have a dick.” Sarah says with a sly smile. I gasp and nudge her playfully. “You’re horrible!” But I laugh it off.

  “Hey, these guys have to learn, don’t they?” She says patting my knee. “I think I’m going to head off to bed but you’ll be fine.” I stand up to give her a hug goodnight. “Yes I will be. Thanks for checking on me.” Sarah nods and walks out of my bedroom without another thought. I flip by bedroom lamp off and curl up in bed, fully ready to take on the world tomorrow. I hope that a pair of strikingly blue eyes are the first thing I dream about tonight, as well as the beautiful man attached to them.

  Chapter 7

  Zac

  Dammit! Fuck! Dammit! I inwardly curse myself over and over again. I am such a damn idiot. That job had to be the worst undercover job Chief ever came up with. Maybe one day, I’ll get it through my thick skull that I can’t go screwing every beautiful new client that I meet. But instincts pushed me to meet her. Then fate brought her into that bar last night. Maybe meeting her was a bad idea but I couldn’t help myself. I probably shouldn’t have left work earlier than usual but I had to get out of there and clear my head.

  Running along the beach seemed to do the trick. And dammit if I didn’t enjoy every second of running, especially when the end result was running into her. That was completely coincidental and totally unexpected that I would see the woman that I can’t stop thinking about running along the beach. Or I stalked her file and found out she loves the beach. Yeah, my job does have its perks. After our little ‘run-in’ I got a little text message from Chief, practically yelling at me for me to get my ass back to the office or it’s my ass. Or job. Or both. Yikes, I didn’t want to piss off Chief any more than I already have.

  I pull my phone out of my pocket to call up Craig to get a read on Chief. Since I quit my undercover job yesterday after only one day, he’s going to be pissed the fuck off. Having her at that bar was a close one. I should have never agreed to that.

  “Hey man, how pissed is he?”

  “You better get your ass back to the office as soon as possible. He is fuming mad. I don’t know why you quit your undercover job like that. .” He says.

  “I had to in order to take care of things. I’m on my way to work now. I’m about ten minutes away.”

  “Alright, hurry. You know how he gets when you quit your undercover work like that.”

  As soon as I hang up the phone from Craig, I get this horrible feeling that I should text Jayde. But as soon as that feeling comes, it subsides. I have only just met this chick and I feel some possessive pull towards her. Something that is gravitating me towards her and it’s odd. The pull I feel for her is strange.

  The remnants of the other night are still scattered everywhere. Clothes, ties, everything still lays all over the floor. Courtney’s scent still lingers in the air and it makes me sick. That chick wore entirely too much perfume. I make a mental note to buy some air freshener spray on the way home from work later. Turning on my heels quickly, I make my way out of my apartment and jog on down the street towards the office. Luckily, my office is so close I ca
n walk there, if it’s nice weather. Before my feet even enter the office front door, I can sense the tension in the air. It’s like a foul odor and it needs to be fumigated immediately. Sneaking in without being noticed was out of the fucking question but that was a pussy thing to do anyway. Craig catches me as soon as I walk inside.

  “Go on, do the walk of shame.” He jokes, smirking in that snarky way he always does. Usually Craig is nice but sometimes he can be a complete asshole. It takes one to know one I guess.

  “Shut the fuck up man. I need to protect her, without that stupid pissy ass job.” He shrugs his shoulders and goes back to whatever bullshit case he was working on prior to me walking in here with my tail tucked between my legs. Someone cleared their throat behind me and I knew that deep voice from anywhere. Chief stands behind me and the heat from his anger fills the space around us. Oh he’s fucking pissed.

  “Marshall. Get your ass in my office…NOW!” With that final blow, he storms back into his office and I’d be a dumbass not to follow. I follow him and before I can say a thing, I settle into the seat opposite of his desk without breaking eye contact. He strums his fingers a few times on the wooden desk before clearing his throat to speak. This lecture is not going to be a fun one.

  “Listen Marshall, this agency has a reputation to uphold. We’re known for our excellent detectives and good work. You better not fuck that up because you got the hots for some random client which by the way, you better not expose yourself to her as a Private Investigator otherwise the whole thing will be ruined. You did a stupid thing by quitting your undercover job and if you don’t do something to show you’re just an ‘average’ person, you’re fucked. And she’ll be in even more danger. You got me?”

  I nod. “Yeah I understand Chief. Don’t worry, I’ll keep my distance. It’s nothing…well, she has this pull on me that I’ve never felt before with anyone else. I can’t explain it. That job wouldn’t have been any help. Girls were throwing themselves at me all night. I couldn’t keep an eye on her. ”