“So?”
“So, did you or did you not put water in my gas tank?”
“Why the hell would I do that, Tina?” He hung up and didn’t bother to cover a grin. It amused him that she was pissed.
From behind, he heard voices. Loud, boisterous voices. He glanced in the rearview and saw Reva and three guys headed down the street. They weren’t going to her house, but on past. She had dirty shorts on and one of the guys carried a baseball bat and glove.
“Hmmm, maybe she is playing ball. And fraternizing with the entire team, it looks like. Figures.”
He waited a while, then turned the key in the ignition. It took a moment for the truck to cough back to life, and he maneuvered it away from the curb. It tempted him to follow the group but he decided he’d skip that for now. Another time. Since she’s so social with those guys, maybe she wouldn’t mind if he dropped by some day.
He looked at the end of the 9mm he’d slipped under the seat. Maybe he’d go shoot a few rounds. Let out some steam.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Incredibly Loud, Super Fast, and Insanely Crazy – that’s all Reva could say about the Monster Truck show. It captivated Eric and she couldn’t help but be entranced as well. By the end of the evening she was exhausted and totally enthralled from watching Todd, Eric, the trucks, and all the craziness of the event. Mainly though, she just watched Todd. Covertly, of course. Sure, he’d caught her staring a few times; he just tossed a smile back and she went all mushy and hot inside.
When they walked out of the convention center, Todd grabbed her hand along with Eric’s. The three of them walked together still feeling the roar of the engines in their guts. She attributed some of the rumble to the chilidogs and popcorn. The night wind caught them as they rounded a corner to head toward his truck. Reva shivered. This was good.
By the time they’d reached her house that night, Eric was fast asleep in the back seat, hunched over against the door.
“Tired. I’m hellaciously tired.” She yawned and let her head drop against Todd’s chest as he stood in front of her at the door of her house. A monumental step for someone who carefully measured every movement around her. He smelled so good and warm.
“Hold on a second,” he murmured as he lifted his hands to her hair and fumbled. “You have some popcorn in your hair. There. Got it.”
Reva inhaled the scent that emanated from his neck. So. Incredibly. Yummy. She couldn’t stop it, her mouth just had to go there. And it did. She touched her lips softly against his throat. She thought he groaned softly. She felt the rumble.
“You sure you want to do that?” he said.
“Come in with me.” She opened the door and pulled his hand. An entire day of these two had her hormones in overdrive. Todd had lifted Eric easily to his shoulders to walk through the crowd. He’d dropped an arm casually across her shoulders periodically and she had felt the strength in it. He had no need to prove strength was there, it just was. He had no need to use it for any purpose other than to tighten the relationship between he and Eric, or perhaps steer her gently through the throng of people.
“I have Eric.” Todd nodded toward the car.
She nearly forgot about the child! “You have Eric.”
Todd ran his fingers into her hair, gathering it between a forefinger and thumb. He twisted it and watched in a trance. “I don’t want to go,” he murmured.
“But you have to. It’s okay.”
Todd pulled her to his chest and wrapped his big, thick, lift-anything arms around her. One of the perks of working with lawn and garden things obviously. “This has been the best day, Reva. I don’t want it to end.” He kissed her hair.
“I know. Me too.” She slid her fingers up his back.
“There will be other days. Lots of them.” He stroked her hair.
Would there? It had been a while since they were together. She registered the time since she’d seen him last and thought not. She wasn’t the best catch and he didn’t seem interested in anything too taxing. She understood that. Once burned, twice shy and all that. Admittedly, she had been a real piece of work.
“Like tomorrow for example. Unless something’s changed, you still have a pile of rocks in the backyard that needs to be assembled into a fountain. Seems like that’d be a good project for a nice, sunny day like tomorrow’s supposed to be. What about it?” He slipped a few fingers under her chin and lifted it so that she had no choice but to look at him. “Do you have plans already?”
Reva swallowed the knot in her throat, and shook her head. He was so gentle, and big and tall and so totally oozing with testosterone. He focused over her head, staring into the dark, and squinted. His arm tightened against her back.
“Tell me about this guy, Reva. The one that put the fear of God in you and made you afraid to run on sidewalks or pass people and cars on the street. What happened? Where is he now?”
“I don’t know really – how I ended up there, in that situation.” She really didn’t want to talk about it. He had already seen the crazy side of her family, now he wanted this too? No, he wouldn’t want to know this about her. “I always thought I was a strong and capable woman. No one could take advantage of me. I could handle anything.”
“You are, you know. You still are. I see it. You’ve had to make a few accommodations to adapt to what you learned, but you’re still stronger than most. You left, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t have any choice. I can’t believe I let it get that far. I hate vulnerabilities. I’ve always felt that if you prepare yourself adequately, you can deal with just about anything. I had no idea it was a contest of wills. He willed me to be the person who idolized and served his every need, even if I didn’t know what need he wanted served on any given day. I willed to be loved as I was. I thought what I was – well I thought I was all that, you know. Unfortunately, what I was didn’t seem all that loveable.” She stared down at Todd’s shirt.
“You realize that’s what he wanted you to think. Don’t you?”
She swallowed and shook her head.
“That’s how he kept you with him. By making you believe you needed him—that there was something wrong with you. That you didn’t deserve—”
“That I didn’t deserve the nice place to live, the nice things he bought. The trips.”
“Trips?”
“After the first time I disappointed him—the first time he had been angry at me for talking to one of his coworkers at a party, he took the dog leash and wrapped it around the neck of the puppy he’d given me. It was only six months old and I adored that dog. Nick pressed and pressed with the leash and watched me for a reaction. I don’t think he had a clue what he was doing. It was like he’d completely disengaged from reality, he was so consumed with anger. The dog died right in front of me and he looked shocked at first that he’d done it. He apologized and cried. Hours later he told me that I’d better not think I could get attached to anyone else because he’d never let that happen. Afterward, he felt so bad he bought tickets to San Francisco and we flew up and spent the weekend on the wharf. It was romantic, beautiful, and so…tainted. He kept apologizing about the puppy and said he just didn’t want to lose me.”
Todd closed his eyes for a second, then drew them back down to her face. “I’m sorry you went through that. You didn’t deserve it, Reva.”
“But I did. I shouldn’t have drank so much at the party and flirted with his friends. Sure it was harmless but it was still wrong. He had every right to be angry—”
Todd encircled her face with his strong, calloused palms and tilted her head upward. “Don’t try to rationalize it. I understand your need to empathize with others and understand their actions. In this case, though, what you’ve just said is way off base. If you want to drink and have a good time, there’s no harm in it. As long as you’re not doing anything illegal, you’re just enjoying yourself. Look at Tim and Ben. They have fun, but they never lay a hand on anyone.”
Reva arched a brow.
“Okay, they laid a hand on me, but only because of what this guy did to you. They weren’t going to let it happen again. I kind of admire that. And I’d bet my life that they’d never lay a hand on you, a girlfriend, a child, or a defenseless dog. Judging by what I’ve seen, I seriously doubt you did anything out of the norm with his friends.”
“I teased them mercilessly. It was all in fun, but one of them said something a little inappropriate and that was it. Just like that. He lost it.”
“And you’re supposed to have control over what someone else said? Reva, your whole family likes to tease and have fun. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s called ‘enjoying life’. Just because someone else can’t deal appropriately with it, doesn’t make you responsible for their actions.”
“Here we go again.” She sighed.
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“You’re acting like a counselor again.”
“Oh, sorry. I guess it’s in my nature. Okay, maybe not in my nature but you bring out that side of me for some reason. I just want to—”
“Fix me. You want to fix me. And you’re so damn easy to talk to which is really, really distracting.”
“Reva. You don’t need fixing and that’s sure as hell not what I’m doing here with you at the moment.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I need to ask you something.”
Reva met his gaze.
“Do you think there’s any chance that this guy would follow you here or try to stalk you?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Todd registered the look in her eyes and knew it wasn’t the first time the idea had crossed her mind. He hated to put it there himself but he needed to know the extent of the situation. The person sitting in the truck down the street in the dark seemed odd. There weren’t any lights on at the house and no one else in the vehicle. The person just sat there, a dark silhouette against the glow of the streetlight beyond. As soon as she was safely inside, he intended to take a closer look.
“Of course not. My dad had him arrested for what he did. He wouldn’t bother. Besides, I have a girlfriend there that calls every month or so. She told me he had already moved on to a new relationship. Another poor girl that will have the life beaten out of her and all her dreams crushed.”
“That’s a bit dramatic. You still have dreams, don’t you? And you’re definitely alive.” He ran his hands down her back, spreading the big fingers in a fan across her waist. “Alive and beautiful in this light.”
He looked over her head to monitor the person in the truck again. A hand lifted in the dark and adjusted the rearview mirror. Was he watching them?
“Look, Reva, it’s late.” Todd started. He wanted her inside. “I’m going to get Eric home and in bed but I’ll be here in the morning. We’ll be back, both of us. And we’ll get that fountain installed. Okay?” He gave her a tremulous smile.
“Works for me.”
“Good.” He dropped a kiss on her lips before turning her to the door. “See you then.”
Once the door clicked behind her, he turned and strode down the sidewalk. He faced the street, moved to the middle so there would be no mistaking his intention, and headed straight toward the figure sitting in the darkened truck.
“You there!” he shouted. “Get out of the truck.”
The vehicle roared to life, choked out clouds of smoke, and squealed away. Todd stepped up the pace to get a look, but couldn’t catch it before it turned the corner. Whoever it was, they were watching. Maybe not her, but someone on this street…and they didn’t want to be seen doing it.
Todd rested his hands on his hips and watched the glow of the taillights disappear around the corner. Well, whoever it was, he intended to make his life a lot more difficult going forward. The beauty of neighborhoods like this—ones where they call the fire department when you’re stuck in a tree and bring food to your door when you’re hurt—these neighborhoods stick together and watch each other’s back.
He looked at the front door of the house in front of him. “You have a teenage daughter, don’t you?” he said to the air. “If someone was lurking around the neighborhood, you’d want to know.” Todd stuck his hands in his pockets and whistled as he walked back to his sleeping son. If it were my daughter, I’d want everyone to know. He knew what he had to do. His mind was made up. He drove home, put Eric to sleep, and called Tim and Ben.
***
Adam had dozed for a second or two. When he looked up, there she was on the doorstep, with some guy. Geez, she had a steady stream of them around. They looked pretty intimate. He adjusted the mirror to improve his view. Did the guy see him? He sat still. Of course not, it was dark outside and his lights were off. What are they doing? He kept his eyes trained on the couple standing under the light on her porch. The glow of their bodies cast a single long shadow across the yard. Duh, he smirked, what else would they be doing? So, his prior assumption of her as a lonely spinster was off-base a little. Instead, she was more the opposite. How many guys had he seen around her house the past few days? Too many to remember them all. Ahhh. That’s it. She’s really into men, lots of men. That’s her thing. She uses them, then casts them aside.
He tsked softly. He liked that she wasn’t all prim and proper, had a dark side. She liked the chase. Made someone want her, then dumped them so that they wanted her more. Sort of an ego-thing, flitting from one guy to the next. She was the equivalent of a sexual harassment nightmare. She just kept it away from work. Or did she? Her actions toward him were subject for debate. Maybe not to that extreme but still— it reminded him of that movie, Bad Bosses.
Yeah, maybe she actually did make moves on him and he’d just read it wrong. He kind of liked that idea. Sure, it was a good way to excuse it all, or at least explain it. She didn’t hate him – she wanted him. That’s why she always looked down at his crotch when she spoke. He’d thought she meant to avoid looking at him or that he just plain bored her, but maybe not so. Okay, he could deal with that. Why wouldn’t she want him, after all? He was more than decent looking and had been pretty successful at seducing one or two of the girls at work when he wanted to. In fact, compared to some of the guys he’d seen at her door, he was a damn male model.
Oh CRAP! The man was walking toward him, shouting something about getting out of the truck. No way. Adam turned the key. Start, you piece of shit, start. The truck grumbled to a roar and he shoved his foot on the gas. Did the guy see enough of him to know what he looked like? Had he read the license? The tires screeched a bit as Adam shot from the curb into the street and careened away.
Adam threw a glance over his shoulder. Where was Reva? Was she there too? The guy is running after me? What the hell?
He punched the gas, flew around the corner and sped out of sight. That was stupid, moron. Sitting around her house, watching like a stalker or something! Really?
Still, it had given him information on what to do next, and that was good.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Reva’s eyes popped open around 7 a.m. on Sunday. She heard voices—not the supernatural kind but real ones. They came from outside the house. She slid from the bed, tiptoed to the closet and grabbed her robe. This had always been a quiet neighborhood in the morning. Voices outside her house didn’t make sense. She grabbed her softball bat from the bag and edged down the hallway. The sound came from the backyard. She tiptoed to the door to peek through the glass. Her shoulders bunched into knots as she listened to at least two definitely male voices mumble. She couldn’t make out the words.
Sliding the curtain aside, she peered over the windowsill with the bat raised and ready.
She smiled. Todd’s backside greeted her as he crouched to set rocks into place with Tim’s help. Nice way to start the day. They had started on the fountain. Judging by the extent of completion, they’d been at it for a while.
“You boys had breakfast yet?” She slipped the bat down by the doorjamb and stepped outside. Todd stood and turned. His eyes traveled down to her open robe hanging off her shoulde
r, and the tank and shorts beneath it. The expression on his face heated instantly.
“Don’t bother getting dressed on our account, Rev,” Tim chastised. He scooped another rock and handed it toward Todd. Todd didn’t budge. Instead, his eyes warmed Reva from the inside out, like an internal toaster. Tim shrugged and stepped behind him, shifting the rock into place. “Hello, the work’s down here—you can stop drooling any minute now.”
Reva stared right back at Todd. “Hungry?” she asked.
“Definitely.” He grinned.
“What do you feel like? I don’t have much.”
Todd arched a brow and said nothing.
“Where’s Eric?” She broke the tension and glanced around the yard.
“He’s mixing cement in the front with Ben.” Todd nodded toward the house.
As if on cue, she heard the boy’s voice asking a million questions of her brother. They navigated a wheelbarrow around the various yard adornments and stopped short of Tim and Todd. Ben was no stranger to this type of thing, having done more than the normal amount of yard work with his own children.
Reva turned to the two new arrivals. “You guys look very much in your element right now. I’m surprised you didn’t bring your crew along Ben.”
“They’re out shopping for school shoes right now. Benny blew a tire in gym this week.” Poor kid named after his Dad and nicknamed Benny. They could at least call him Benjamin. Not to mention he was small for his age—not a good combination.
“Okay then, I’ll make pancakes. It’s the least I can do,” she offered and stepped back inside.
Todd followed without hesitation. He glanced at the bat but said nothing, then ambled into the kitchen. He washed hands in the sink, dried them, and opened the fridge.
“Need something?” she asked.
“Thought I’d help.” He stood in the room, one hand propped against the wall, looking big and burly and so completely sexy. He had focused on her mouth, then on the pebbles peeking through her shirt. “You distracted me.”
Sassy, Sexy, and Stalked Page 11
