A Christmas Surprise (4 page)

Danny sat uncomfortably on the couch, thinking about what had just happened. He saw at the table where her mind finally allowed her to visit the place where one sees what 'could have been', and he saw the panic in her eyes as she realized the situation could have been more serious. He couldn't resist taking her in his arms and comforting her as she let out all the fear and pent-up emotion from the day's events. He would never admit that while he held her, he loved the feel of her back in his arms again. The familiar scent of her surrounded him, and he felt like he had come home.

Then when she began to wiggle on his lap, his thoughts turned erotic and as much as he wanted to lean in and kiss her, he knew she needed a break from the deep emotions she was going through. He chose to taunt her instead, knowing that would snap her out of it. Back when they dated, he’d had a one-track mind, getting into her pants. Now, as he sat there on her couch, still hard as a rock, he couldn't help being happy that they hadn’t had sex.
Yet
. Their time was not then, but he could see it coming soon. He would have her. He knew it, and so did she.

Chapter Four

The next morning she woke early, got dressed and snuck out of her room. Danny still lay sleeping on the couch, dead to the world. She decided to look her fill. He had taken off his shirt, and the blanket had fallen down to his waist. She loved his chest, all bronze with rippling abs with a smattering of hair that led in a trail all the way down under the blanket. She would give anything to remove that blanket. He sighed and rolled over in his sleep. She decided this was a good time to make her escape and go buy him his favorite coffee at the coffee shop across the street.

She went out of the door silently, snuck down the steps, and quickly avoided the squeaky one at the bottom. She headed across the street and went in the shop. She ordered Danny his Grande Columbian dark roast, black, just the way he liked it and herself a five shot ice latte. She also ordered some of the fresh apple turnovers they had just put out. She was Jade's biggest fan when it came to desserts, but she loved the icing they put on those turnovers.

Danny woke up with a stiff back from sleeping on Sandi's lumpy couch. He sat up, folded the blanket, pulled on his jeans, and went to the bathroom. Once finished, he went to her room where he saw that she had left her door slightly ajar. He couldn’t resist temptation and pushed it open a bit more, only to find her bed empty. He knew then that he was alone in the apartment. He let out a curse, pulled on his t-shirt, slipped on his boots, grabbed his coat, and stormed out of the door. He was either going to strangle her or spank her ass, when he found her.

Just as he rounded the corner and looked around for her, he saw her exit the coffee shop. He started to go across the street, to give her what for, for leaving the apartment when he heard the squeal of tires.

She was heading back across the street with her purchase as she looked up to see Danny coming from the opposite side.
Good thing I got him his coffee
, she thought,
he does not look happy.
As she was about to get to the center of the street, she heard a screech of tires and looked around. There, coming straight for her was a black SUV, and it didn't seem to be stopping. She heard Danny shout her name as he plowed into her, knocking her back onto the sidewalk she had just stepped from, the coffee and turnovers flying in all directions.

She lay on the ground stunned by what had just happened. Danny was on top of her, trying to get his breathing under control.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he shifted to take his weight off her, so she could take a deep breath.

"That is the second time I have had the breath knocked from me," she said. "What the hell is happening, Danny?" her voice quivered as her eyes filled with tears.

"I don't know, sunshine, but we are going to find out." For a moment or two, they stared into each other's eyes.

About that time, Jared came to a screeching halt in his cruiser, jumped out, and strode over to them. Danny was just helping Sandi up off the sidewalk. One of the workers from the coffee shop came out to help, cleaned up the spilled coffee, and ruined turnovers. Then they brought out a fresh batch and more coffee, even handing Jared his usual. He went inside and spoke to the workers, while Danny checked Sandi for scrapes or burns from the spilled coffee.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Jared raged. "You were supposed to stay inside the apartment, how did this happen?"

Danny put his arm around Sandi and said, "Bro, let's go back to Sandi's and talk."

He turned and led Sandi carefully across the street, cautiously looking both ways with Jared following close behind. They entered the apartment, and Danny suggested to Sandi that she go lay down in her bedroom while he and Jared talked. He told her he would come and check on her in a little while. For some reason Sandi couldn't explain, she agreed, went to her room, and shut the door.

"Tell me," Jared barked.

"Black SUV, older model, tinted windows, single driver, male. He came out of nowhere and just floored it. He was gunning straight for her. If I hadn't gotten there when I did..." Danny didn't have to say more, both of them knew what would have happened.

"Plates?" Jared asked.

"There were none on the front, didn't get a look at the back. One minute he was there, the next he was gone. Any witnesses?"

"No, no one was out this early. The coffee shop had just opened, and they were the ones who called it in. No one inside the shop saw a thing except you two flying through the air, and then they heard a car speeding away."

"Now what?" Danny asked. "Someone is out to get her for some reason. We have to figure this out."

"First and foremost, she is not to leave your sight. I will start digging around and see what I can come up with," Jared said and stood to leave. "I will call you when I find something." He let himself out of the apartment, and Danny bolted the door.

He walked over to his bag and checked his nine-millimeter to make sure it was loaded to keep his mind occupied, of course, it was loaded, it always was.

Now he had to go talk to Sandi.

Sandi walked into her room and shut the door. She was shaking all over, why was this happening to her? Why would someone want to hurt her? She shrugged out of her jacket, and it dropped to the floor unnoticed. She crawled onto her bed and curled up in a ball. She reached up, grabbed her pillow, and began to sob into it. She was terrified.

She heard her door open, but she kept her back to it, trying to hold back the emotion that was spilling out of her. The bed dipped as she felt strong arms envelop her from behind and pull her against a solid wall of muscle. He laid his head alongside hers, and she could hear his breathing in her ear.

"I'm here, everything is going to be okay. We will get this creep and make this right," he said comfortingly.

Her breath caught in her throat as the silent tears ran down her cheeks. She put her hands on top of his and squeezed gently. They laid there for some time before he shifted and brought her around to face him. His hand reached toward her, and he wiped away the tears from her cheek with his thumb. She looked into his eyes preparing herself to see the pity, but all she saw was sympathy and understanding. Danny had always had the gift of reading the emotions around him, knowing when someone was upset or in trouble. Jade had always said he was the one brother she could go to and talk to about her problems or woes. Now, as Sandi looked into his eyes, she realized that she truly loved this man. In that moment, she did what she wanted, had wanted to do for some time. She reached up and placed her palm on his cheek, leaned forward, and laid a gentle kiss on his lips. Danny seemed to freeze for all of five seconds before he took over the kiss. His tongue touched her lips, working his way inside of her mouth.
He was the master of kissing,
she thought as he took control of the kiss. His mouth demanded that she respond, and she did. She thought he would try to take it to the next level, but he seemed content with just kissing and petting her. His hands ran up and down her back while he took her mouth. God, his kisses were so potent she could have had an orgasm from just kissing the man. Just when she thought he would take it further, he pulled back and looked into her eyes.

"Sandi, you are going through a lot right now. I know that if we don't stop now, I won't be able to, and I know that’s not what you want right now," Danny said gently.

She sighed and snuggled under his chin so that he wouldn't be able to see the hurt in her eyes. She knew he was right, but that still didn't stop the pain in her heart, knowing he didn't care for her the way she did him. Mentally she shrugged it off and thought,
I am going to enjoy this while I can, soon he will be gone, and I will only be left with memories
.

"I know, thank you," she said as she pulled back and began to sit up.

"As much as I enjoyed that, we need to get to work. We are going to need to make a list of people you think would come after you. Anyone, ex-employees of the restaurant, ex-boyfriends. Do you have any family left anywhere that you can think of?" Danny stated as he rose up off the bed and sat on the edge.

"No, there is no one left. The only ex-employees I have had to let go have moved on, there were only two. As for ex-boyfriends, well, you are it. I haven't had a lot of time for extracurricular activities lately," she told him and watched the surprise on his face as she made the statement.

"Okay then, I want you to keep thinking about it. In the meantime, we are going to hole up here, and I am going to make some phone calls. Do you need anything?" he asked as he got up and walked toward her bedroom doorway.

"No, I am going to go out and make something to eat. We missed breakfast," she said as she made her way to the bathroom to wash her face. She must look a sight, what, with all her crying.

"I will come help you in a few. I want to get the ball rolling on the two ex-employees and talk to Jade and Traci to see if they can think of anyone as well."

She nodded and shut the door on the bathroom. Danny continued into the living room to make his calls.