Begin to Begin (3 page)

"Are those two ever going to bite the bullet and just do it or what?" Almost choking on my water, I cover my mouth and laugh.

"I don't know. But I wish they would already. I'm sick of having a front row seat to their sexual tension tango they do every time we are together."

We're still laughing when Amelia happens to walk in the door. Gwenn and I give each other a funny look and burst out laughing again.

"What the hell is so funny, you two?" Amelia asks as she flings her mammoth purse onto the counter.

"Joey's not here," Gwenn replies to her question, and we burst out laughing again.

"Shut it." She combs her fingers through her long auburn hair. "I'm not here to see Joey, I was here to talk to you, Marin. I wanted to make sure we were still on for tonight and just to see how your day was going."

Hopping down off my stool, I walk around the counter. "I'm fine, and yes we are still on for dinner. Seven, right?"

"Yeah, I'm bringing Chinese from Little Chinatown, if that works."

"Yep, works for me."

"Is Joey coming? He didn't text me back earlier." Gwenn tries to muffle her laughter from behind the counter. "What is so damn funny, you guys?"

Grabbing Amelia's hand and trying to look at her without laughing, I answer, "We were just discussing how we wish you and Joey would just do the deed already."

Amelia smirks at me and then wiggles her eyebrows at Gwenn. "How do you know we haven't?" Then, she grabs her bag and walks out the door yelling over her shoulder, "See you tonight!"

Gwenn and I stand there with our mouths hanging open and then start laughing again.

I don't think I have laughed this much on this day in a very long time.

Right before the dinner hour, Cole showed up to start his shift. He works until close and is a master at closing down the store. He likes to read, but not nearly as much as Gwenn and me. He is more into the organization aspect of the business. It’s not uncommon to find him deep within the shelves making sure everything is in order and where it is supposed to be. He is in his mid-thirties and also does freelance graphic design work. His boyfriend, James, is a chef that works in the evening at one of the upscale restaurants in town so Cole took on this job to keep him busy in the evening. It didn’t take long for him to quickly become part of the Chapter Fifteen family. I rely on him for so much, even if it’s just his ear to listen to me vent.

Between Cole, Gwenn, and Joey, we keep this place running on all wheels. I would be lost without them—hell, without them, there wouldn’t be a Chapter Fifteen

"Hello, ladies. How are you two tonight? Staying out of trouble?"

"Of course. I always stay out of trouble," Gwenn answers with a toss of her hair.

Cole laughs and turns to me. "I'm heading in the back to get anything ready for stocking that came in today. I will pull out tomorrows new releases and set them to the side for Joey to put in the window in the morning."

"Sounds good, Cole. I'm going to cut out of here soon. Amelia and Joey are supposed to be coming for dinner tonight."

Cole makes his way over to me and grabs my hand. I know what he's getting ready to say. "How are you, sweetheart?" He pulls me into his arms and envelopes me in a tight hug.

"I'm good. I'm getting used to the monotony of it all, I guess."

Leaning back, he brushes a stray hair off of my cheek. "I love ya, girl, and I'm always here for you." Cole kisses me on the cheek then rushes to the stockroom in the back of the store.

I glance around the store to take a mental count of how many people are in here and if Cole will be OK if I leave about an hour early; Gwenn will be leaving shortly as well. We haven't been busy much today so I am pretty sure he will survive his shift on his own. Even though I know he’ll be fine, I start cleaning up the coffee area—one less thing for him to worry about—when Cole pops back out from the stockroom.

"Hey, my lovely little Mare Bear, we have a problem." Groaning, I turn around and give him the evil eye.

I heave out a big sigh. "Don't say that, Cole. I really, really wanted to get out of here a little bit early tonight."

"Well, it seems that the warehouse sent us the new releases that released a month ago. Not the ones due to drop tomorrow."

"You have got to be kidding me." As I'm saying this, he is nodding, saying that he is most definitely not kidding. "Jesus … There are going to be a ton of pissed off people that were expecting to get their books they have been waiting for what seems like forever tomorrow. That means they will most likely buy them elsewhere."

I throw the coffee-stained paper towel into the trash bin. "I will go make some calls. What a damn mess."

Cole sticks his bottom lip out and pouts. "I'm sorry, Mare. Do you want me to try and take care of it?" There is no use having him do it because in the past he hasn't been able to get anywhere with the office at the main warehouse. They will only speak to who signs off on the orders, and that would be me.

"No, I'll take care of it. But can you call Amelia and let her know I may be running late and that I will call her when I leave?"

"You got it, doll face."

He hands me the paperwork, and I trudge back to the office to make all the calls.
This is going to be a long night.

******

Two hours later, I have finished making all the necessary calls and figuring out what happened. Apparently, the warehouse sent us someone else's order. They told us to keep them as they have already contacted the other bookstore and ordered the books they needed and they are expediting the new releases to us. They still won't be here for another day or two, though, so in addition to straightening this mess out, I needed to contact the people that preordered the book for pick-up on release day. Some were fine with it. Some … not so much.
Oh, well
.

Grabbing my phone, I shoot a quick text to Amelia that I am cleaning up my previously clean desk then leaving. I want to make sure that Cole doesn't need a quick break before I leave as well.

I walk out and notice the store is pretty dead and he is sitting behind the counter scrolling through his phone and eating an apple. Most bosses would frown upon that, but I know him well enough by now to know that he wouldn't even have it out if there were customers in the store.

"Hey, Cole, I'm going to head out," I call across the store to him. He looks up and smiles at me. "Do you need a break before I leave?"

"Nah. I'm good. You go and have a nice dinner with Joey and Amelia."

"OK. If no one shows up in the next thirty minutes, go ahead and close. No sense you sitting here bored."

"You got it, boss lady. It's a bit cool out tonight. Make sure you bundle up."

It's really not that cold, just cold enough to warrant having a coat on is about it, but I wave to Cole in acknowledgement anyway and walk out the door.

Pausing, I breathe in the crisp, cool air. I kind of like it. The bite of it clears my mind and makes my insides feel refreshed. Making my way down the street to the lot that I park my car in, I hum a song I heard on the radio this morning but can’t remember the name of. After a few minutes, I see the lot in the distance; it's a pay-by-the month lot, and it's not as expensive as some of the others around. The only disadvantage is that I have to walk a little further. Luckily, it's only seven o’clock and hasn't quite reached complete darkness and the streets are well-lit.

Before another thought enters my brain, I'm knocked to the ground and feel an immense pressure on my back.

"Don't scream, don't say a word, and I won't hurt you," is whispered in my ear. I am too stunned to speak so I only whimper and nod. As I try to lift my head up to scan my surroundings, I notice his dirty hand on one side of my head. He pushes my head back onto the hard, rocky pavement and starts to push my skirt up the backs of my thighs.

What is happening right now?

Am I going to be raped?

Frozen by fear, all I do is focus on Benji’s face in my mind.

But as soon as the nightmare starts, it comes to an end.

The weight that was pushing me down into the ground, that I could only assume was him kneeling on me, is gone. I flip over to see what happened, assuming he must have heard someone in the distance and took off, but that’s not what I see.

There is a man punching another man. I have no idea which one of these guys was hurting me until I see their hands—then I am certain who is who. I can’t really make out the attacker’s face very well so I look back to his dirty, disgusting hands.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?” the stranger screams, and he continues to punch the awful man. I must have let out a small whimper or some sound because my rescuer halts his attack and turns briefly my way.

My breathing hitches.

It was the only break the attacker needed to get away. He scrambles to his feet and runs in the opposite direction.

I look between the two of them, not sure what to do. The stranger turns to follow the attacker and then changes his mind and turns his attention to me.

"Oh, my God, you're bleeding." Rushing to my side, he lifts my face to get a better look at me.

His hair is the color of a dark moonless night and eyes as green as an emerald pasture in early spring. He is day and night combined; light but dark and he quite possibly just saved my life.

"Can I call someone to help you?" he asks, his voice rough and labored from his attack on the horrible man, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

"Um, can you just walk me back to the bookstore on Fifteenth?" I ask softly.

He helps me to my feet, and I stagger a bit from the pain in my knees.

Looking down at me, he brushes the hair from my face to look at the wound on my forehead. "This is pretty deep." He pulls off his long-sleeve shirt and presses it to my head. Leaving him in only a plain t-shirt. No coat. "You should probably get it checked out. You may need stitches, and you may have a concussion. You should probably file a police report, too. That fucker needs caught."

"Yeah, maybe. I would really like you to walk me back to my bookstore so I can call my friends." I'm not sure where that guy went and I really only got a good look at his hands. I definitely don't feel safe at all. I'm not even sure how safe I am with this guy but he saved me, after all, so he can't be that bad, right?

"Sure. Are you OK to walk?"

"Yeah. I think I am." I look up at him while holding his shirt to my head. He's very tall. Well, I'm very short so maybe he's not really tall but compared to my five-foot frame, he’s a giant. "Thank you … For helping me." He doesn't smile at me but gives a swift nod as his response, which I find odd.

Clearing his throat, he asks, "So, what's your name. I'm Dalton." He holds his hand out for me to shake it. Placing my hand in his, a rush of warmth courses through my body as he squeezes softly.

"Marin," I tell him softly.

"So you own a bookstore, huh?" he asks on the way back to the bookstore.

"Yeah. Chapter Fifteen; it’s fairly new. We opened a little over a year ago."

He finally smiles, and it's definitely a sight to be seen. Bright and beautiful, a definite contrast to his dark demeanor. "I get it. Fifteenth Avenue, Chapter Fifteen."

I laugh as we reach the door. "What can I say. I'm not very creative. Well, here we are."

"Let me at least walk you in."

Nodding, I open the door. Cole jumps up from behind the counter as soon as he sees me.

"What did you forget …" he trails off as he takes a good look at me. "Oh, my
God
. Marin! What the hell happened? Who is this??"

Dalton doesn't miss a beat. He reaches his hand out to shake Cole's and explain what happened.

"Hi, I'm Dalton. I was walking down fourteenth street when I noticed a man attacking someone, and I rushed over. Marin asked to come back here, and I wasn't going to let her walk back alone."

"
Attacking
you? What the hell! Are you OK?"

"I'm fine, Cole. I'm just going to call Amelia and Joey to come pick me up and have one of them drive my car home." Cole glances between Dalton and me.

"Well, I'm glad someone was there. Thank you for saving her, Dalton." He reaches over to shake hands with my savior.

"Hey, it's not a problem. I wasn't going to let someone hurt her,” he says as if he already knows me.

“She may need to see a doctor, though. She took a hit to the head and her knees are a bit scraped up."

"We'll make sure of it, thanks."

It’s a strange feeling listening to the two of them talk about me like I'm not here.

"Well, I better get going. I'm glad you are OK, Marin."

"Thanks to you. Let me walk you to the door." I turn back to Cole. "Can you call Amelia and Joey?"

"Sure thing, Mare bear."

Waiting, I watch Cole walk back over to the counter before I turn back to Dalton. "Really, thank you again. I don't know what else to say." Since the bleeding seems to have stopped, I attempt to hand him his shirt back.

"No, you keep it." I laugh, because why would he want his shirt back all bloody? "You don't have to say anything. I did what anyone would have done." He glances around the store again. "This is a pretty awesome place. I never even knew it was here."

"Yeah, well, we are still pretty new so …" I trail off, not sure what to say to him. He's so handsome it makes me a bit uneasy. His light eyes against his dark hair is such an intense contrast.

"Do you happen to have books in here on how to run a business?"

What a strange question.
"Well, I suppose I do."

"I might stop in again. I have recently acquired a business, and, to be honest, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I'm a mechanic, that's it. I'm not a business guy."

I have no idea what makes me say what I say next. "Well, I could pull a few books and we could sit down together. I can give you a few pointers … if you're interested, of course." I have to force myself to stop talking before I start rambling.

"I'd like that." He smiles down at me. "Are you here every day?"