Gavin (A Redemption Romance #3) (6 page)

It would be a busy one, as most Saturdays were at Indulgence. It was a good thing, as I worked on commission. It would also help me to pass the time until my dinner with Gavin the next night.

I got to the store first, thanks to my too early wakefulness. Amber arrived just a few minutes after me and we went inside together. Aurora was late coming in, which was unusual. She made her schedule to coincide with Luke’s as much as she could, but planned it ahead, so her tardy arrival today caught us by surprise.

Aurora walked in, and she was accompanied by a puffy eyed Hope. Her demeanor was subdued, I wanted to ask, but didn’t feel comfortable doing that, since Hope and I weren’t that close.

When Hope walked into the back to sort some new inventory, Aurora explained that Hope and Jake had a huge fight and she’d had left him. She was staying with Aurora and Luke until the situation with her stalker was resolved.

I was worried for Hope, of course, but for Jake too. It was obvious to all of us that he was completely gone over her, I wondered if he’d show up here today and try to talk to her.

I didn’t know Jake well, but what I could tell, he wasn’t one to take no for an answer. I hoped that he wouldn’t make a scene with customers in the store.

As selfish as it was, I also wondered if things between Hope and Jake were permanently over, if Gavin would move in. I didn’t think that he would, after all, he and Jake were close friends, I couldn’t imagine him encroaching on a buddy’s girl like that, even if she was an ex. Tyler was right, I had to get those kind of thoughts out of my head.

I felt like shit, thinking about the situation that way, guilty for dreading seeing Gavin’s interest in Hope again. Gavin having feelings for anyone would be difficult; just as it had been when we were kids. I wished I was more mature than that, and I hated that about myself.

At some point, he’d probably couple up with someone. The only good thing about that was, I wouldn’t see it, at least not much. I’d never really spent much time with the group as a whole, I’d be sure to keep it that way. Fuck, I really didn’t like that either. I liked these people. I didn’t want to act like some bitch, because I couldn’t grow up and deal with Gavin dating and eventually marrying someone.

“Good afternoon, gorgeous ladies.” Tyler chirped as he walked through the front door of the store later that day. Thank god, he was just the man I needed to see today.

“Hey, Tyler, how are you?” Aurora asked just as Amber walked over and gave him a hug. The girls knew him, since he came in to take me to lunch at least once a week.

“I’m going to whisk this lovely creature to lunch, if you all don’t mind.” Hope smiled for the first time all day, which was great to see. “Can we bring anything back?” He asked, kindly. They all smiled and declined.

“I’ll grab my purse,” I called, walking toward the back of the store.

Walking the three blocks to the deli, I held onto Tyler’s arm, as I usually did. We talked and laughed about our week, though we talked most days, we only caught up like this when we got together, face to face.

There was something underlying though, something in his eyes that I couldn’t read. I wanted to ask, but decided to wait until we had our lunch.

“All right, cookie, spill it.” Tyler said as we settled into the table.

“Spill what, my cookies?”

His raised brow and smirk was enough incentive to get me going, so I told him. I went through everything that had happened the day before, starting with my mom’s call, Zach, how Gavin had acted and even our plans for dinner the following night. Tyler sat and listened without interrupting, though when I told him how Zach had acted, Tyler’s jaw had tightened and I could sense the anger bubbling just under the surface.

“Sounds to me like Gavin wants more than just friendship.”

“You think? He texted me last night too, it seemed a little more flirty than friendly, I guess.”

Tyler agreed, but was distracted by something at the front door. When I turned to look, I saw Gavin’s smiling face as he led a beautiful woman with dark hair outside. I didn’t see her face, but with his hand on her back, guiding her, they seemed very friendly.

I stared toward the door for a few seconds, without saying anything. Tyler’s finger touched my chin and moved my head so I was facing him again.

“I guess it was just friendship.” I said, not feeling excited for our upcoming dinner anymore.

“Maybe, or, maybe there is a good explanation,” he responded, challengingly.

Shrugging as if I didn’t care, I moved the subject back to Tyler and what was going on with him.

As he told me how he and his new boyfriend, Marc, had talked about moving in together. I worked hard to focus on him and ignore the nagging pain in my heart from seeing Gavin.

Tyler thought that moving in together was a little too quick, he worried that the giant step would put a strain on their relationship that was only months old. I had to agree, I liked Marc, a lot, but he was a bit of a drama queen.

He’d already made up his mind to wait, to put Marc off for a few months, so now, he was just venting, which I was good with. Tyler was the type to need to talk things through, even if he’d already decided something and I was his favorite sounding board. Our friendship had lasted all these years because we were able to talk about everything.

Walking back to Indulgence, a sense of dread swept over me as I thought forward to my dinner with Gavin the following evening. I considered finding a way to cancel, but I wouldn’t do that.

Tyler wanted me to tell Gavin that we’d seen him, and see what he said. There was no way in hell I was doing that either. It wasn’t my business who he spent time with and I wouldn’t come off as jealous or immature, not ever again.

Having Gavin back in my life was great, I wanted to be friends with him again, but was worried about my feelings that were already rekindling, even with the little amount of time we’d spent together. I’d just have to wait and see if I could handle a completely platonic relationship with Gavin.

Walking out to my car that night, a man sitting on a Harley caught my attention. I didn’t know why my gaze flew to him. He seemed to be looking my way, but with his dark shades on, I couldn’t be certain. There was something really familiar about him, a distant memory teased my mind, it was really vague though, and I couldn’t get that old mental image to sharpen.

Gavin

Leaving Dawn’s house Friday, I headed back to mom’s and allowed the rage to fill me, if just for the few minutes of drive time. Pulling up into the driveway, I noticed that Zach’s rental car was gone. I was able to stow my anger, just barely; I couldn’t put that kind of stress on my mom, she didn’t need to see that.

Sarah was still visiting, so I greeted her as benignly as possible, then asked to speak to my mom alone. I felt bad for taking her away from her friend, but needed to get to work later and didn’t have time to mess around.

The conversation was difficult, to say the least. I told her what I’d heard, and how Dawn had reacted. I was exceedingly proud of her for standing up for herself. She’d grown into a strong, self-possessed woman.

Mom cried as I explained about Zach’s behavior and the horrible things I’d heard him say. I hadn’t heard everything, which was probably for the best, but I’d heard enough. It looked really bad.

Mom and I were both concerned about him, and she was worried that he was behaving how my father did, before his death. I’d been almost six when Franklin McNeil had died, but Zach had been ten.

Zach had more years living under the unforgiving tyrant that our father was. He’d obviously been molded by the man, in more ways than either mom or I had realized.

She told me that Zach had packed his things and left, saying that he was going back to base. He was currently stationed in Northern California, and neither of us knew if he’d fly back there or stay here for a while longer. Apparently, he hadn’t told her how long his leave was, he’d been evasive, which in hindsight, worried us both. The military was nothing if not completely rigid. Obviously, there was more going on with him than we knew.

***

Then I pulled up to Dawn’s house Sunday night, she stepped out onto the porch, shut and locked her front door. She was stunning, in tight jeans, a black sweater that hugged her ample curves in all the right way and the sexiest heels, I’d ever seen, it took every bit of my control to not throw her to the lawn in front of her house and fuck her right there.

I slid out of my truck, and moved to her, helping her into the passenger side. She probably didn’t need my help, but putting my hands on her for those few seconds were worth the strange look she gave me. My dick was hard as a post, and as I walked back to the driver’s side, I adjusted myself, hoping she wouldn’t notice.

I was annoyed that she hadn’t let me come to the door and pick her up, like a proper date, but I had to keep reminding myself to go slow with her. Friendship, that’s what I wanted, for now. Then, after our relationship was strong again, I would press her for more. Hopefully, that wouldn’t take long, because my resistance was all but gone.

Once we were seated in the restaurant, I noticed Dawn studying me. I let her for a few minutes, before I broke the silence.

“What’s up?”

Shaking her head, seemingly coming out of a trance, she said “I was wondering what happened with your mom on Friday.”

Fuck, that was not what I wanted to talk about tonight. My douche of a brother was the last thing I wanted Dawn to think about.

“I told her what Zach did, or at least the part I saw. He left before I got back, mom, said he went back to base.”

“Is she upset with me?”

My brow furrowed in confusion, “No, of course not, why would she be?”

“I didn’t know what Zach had told her, if he tried to blame it all on me. He told me that it would be my word against his.”

Reluctantly, I explained the rest of the conversation and she seemed to accept all I’d said. I even told her of our concern for Zach’s behavior, and how it resembled my father’s when we were young. Dawn’s concern diminished, thankfully and we were able to move on to easier topics.

Dinner passed quickly, far too quickly for my liking, but by the end of it, I knew I had to talk to her, to tell her what had happened when we were young.

“Dawn, the night of your birthday, I couldn’t -”

“No, Gavin, it’s okay. I don’t want to talk about that. We don’t need to rehash it.”

Completely confused, I wanted to press, wanted to explain the truth, just like I’d wanted to back then, but she wouldn’t let me. Maybe this wasn’t the time for that, but I felt that it was the time to press her for more, just a little bit.

There was an awkwardness between us after that, and I wondered why she didn’t want me to explain. Was she still angry with me? Maybe I shouldn’t have let it go back then, she wouldn’t see me, but I could have called or written to her. I could have, should have explained it to her. If I had, I imagined we’d be in a very different place now.

Would we be married? Maybe with a couple of kids? It was possible that she would have been willing to wait for me. Sadly, though, it was probable that things would have gone very wrong between us and we wouldn’t have anything, not even this now. I’d seen plenty of good relationships go bad, with the stress of multiple deployments.

Bringing up our jobs seemed to be the salve to tamp down the unsettled feeling between us. We talked for a long time, stilted at first, but it eased and we were able to be casual with each other once again. I was glad that we’d been able to turn it around before I took her home.

Dawn didn’t invite me in, so I walked her to the door, and when she reached up to hug me, I held her for as long as I could and kissed her cheek. Striding back to my truck, I felt eyes on me, once inside, I looked up and saw that she was still on the porch, staring at me. She hadn’t moved, and that gave me hope that things were moving in the right direction.

I watched her as she went inside, and flashed the porch light, which made me chuckle. That had been the universal sign when we were kids. It either meant, it’s late, get your butts in the house, or I’m in and the door is locked. Even after she was inside, the feeling of being watched didn’t leave me.

Starting the truck, I looked around, trying to figure out what was causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. I saw a few cars and trucks, lining the street and parked in driveways. I couldn’t see inside very many, so I had no way of knowing if anyone was in there watching, but why would someone be looking at me, or watching Dawn?

Jesus, if it was Zach, being some kind of creepy douche, I’d lose my shit. I put the truck in drive and drove away, slowly, watching for any change. It looked like a shadow moved near the entrance to the green belt trail, about five or six houses down.

Deciding to be safe, I circled the block, but when I came back around, I didn’t see anything to worry about. One good thing, I didn’t see Zach’s rental car.

Later that night, I lay in bed, unable to get Dawn and the eerie feeling I’d had when leaving out of my mind. Rolling over, I grabbed my phone and sent her a text.

Gavin: Thank you for tonight, beautiful, sleep well.

I lay in bed, waiting for her reply for a full five minutes, wondering if she was ignoring me or already asleep. Finally, giving up hope, I set the phone down and almost immediately, it dinged with an incoming text. Thank god, because I was about to get my ass out of the bed and drive over there to check on her.

Dawn: Goodnight, thank you for dinner.

Well, it wasn’t much, but I’d sure as shit take it.

I couldn’t explain the feeling, but I didn’t like it, not one bit. Maybe it was the uneasy feeling left from Zach’s odd behavior and his questionable departure, but there was something going on, and if I had to guess, I wouldn’t have bet on it being Zach. I was actually worried that Hope’s ex, who was still outstanding, was now going to stalk one of the other girls, who weren’t so carefully protected, which could only be Amber or Dawn. Though, I knew if Amber would let him, Trent would be protecting her every night.

***

Wednesday night, I walked into the bar where I met the other guys for drinks almost every week. Jake was missing, which wasn’t a surprise. I knew that he and Hope were on some kind of a break and he was in the middle of a huge case.

After seeing her Saturday night, taking her to the hospital and Freedom House, I knew that she was torn up over all the shit swirling around them. I hadn’t seen Jake, but I could only imagine how he was doing. He’d be a mess without that girl.

Trent slid onto the stool beside me, we were all in the back corner of the darkened bar and I’d been sitting back, drinking my beer and observing, which was my normal style.

The strange niggling feeling crept up the back of my neck again, the same as I’d had Sunday night, after dropping Dawn off at home. Casually, I glanced around the bar, taking stock, but not making any sudden movements. If someone was watching, I didn’t need them to know I was on to them. I’d seen an old picture of Hope’s ex, so if it was him, I assumed I’d be able to pick him out well enough.

Aside from our group, there were a few people sitting at the bar, mostly regulars, old timers and a few men stopping in for a beer before heading home to their dreary lives. A group of early twenties guys, sat in a group near the front door. They were boisterous and drinking a bit too much, but no one looked around, or seemed out of place. A few more of the after work crowd were scattered around at tables, as well as the standard hook ups, cheaters and general asshole types. A lone biker sat in the other back corner across from us.

He was alone, and as I watched him, he didn’t look up, never looked my way, but there was something oddly familiar about him. His beer rested on the table, and one meaty, tattooed hand, held it loosely, while the other traced the edges of a cardboard coaster over and over again. The movement seemed nervous, somehow out of character for him, though I didn’t know him and had no way of knowing what was
in
character.

Dragging my attention back to the group, Reed asked about Hope and we all listened with rapt attention.

Every one of us was worried about her, and the crazy stalker who was following her and leaving her creepy ass notes. Assuming it was her abusive asshole of an ex, I was especially worried about her and what would happen to her if the guy got ahold of her. I glanced around the bar once more, remembering the strange feeling I’d had earlier. I didn’t see anyone that resembled her ex, the biker was gone too.

I’d seen what my father’s abuse had done to my mom, even after he died, my mom was jumpy and fucked up for years. I never understood how a man could treat a woman like that.

Hope had done well in the self-defense class that Trent taught with Christine Gates. I helped out when I could, empowered women were breathtaking, and I would do whatever I could to help get them to that point. Regardless of their age or fitness level, a strong, self-assured woman was an amazing sight.

That was one thing I loved about Dawn. She was fierce, she didn’t cower when Zach cornered her, she was angry and let it fly. I didn’t know what had happened in Dawn’s life over the past eight years, but she had grown into a glorious creature. I could sit at her feet and be enraptured with her beauty and strength every day for the rest of my life.

Wait,
loved
? Did I, no, I meant liked, of course. I had barely seen her, what, like four or five times now, in eight years. I didn’t love her.

Luke talked a little about Hope too, about his run-ins with Jake and how fucked up he was. Since Hope with staying with Luke and Aurora, Luke saw her the most and was the one who was most active in her protection. As a group, we discussed things we were looking for from the law enforcement angle, measures we could take to ensure the safety of the other girls, and how fucked up Jake would be if he didn’t get back into Hope’s good graces.

A while later, Trent turned to me. Reed and Luke were talking quietly across from us, not paying us any attention, which apparently was the perfect opportunity for him to interrogate me.

“So, what’s up with Dawn?”

“What do you mean?” I hedged, having no idea how much to tell him.

Trent had been my best friend since basic, so it was impossible for me to get anything by him. He just waited, knowing I’d crack eventually. We’d been in some serious shit together, both in the sandbox and at the SO. He was the one person I’d told all about Dawn. He knew better than anyone how I’d felt back then, and could most likely guess how I felt about her now.

“Fuck,” I grumbled after a few minutes of weighted silence. Trent chuckled, but waited a little longer.

“All right, fucking fine.” My tantrum was like a toddler’s at this point, but I didn’t give a shit.

“I don’t really know. We had dinner Sunday, we’re supposed to have lunch tomorrow. There really isn’t anything going on.”

Trent’s raised brow challenged me. Cocky bastard, he knew too damned much. Deciding to turn the tables on him, I shot back, “what’s going on with you and Amber?”

I watched as Trent’s cheeks colored. He actually blushed. My best friend, six-foot-five, tattooed, pierced, bad ass, blushed over talk of the sweet Amber. That shit was so funny, I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. Of course, that caught Luke and Reed’s attention, stopping their hushed conversation and directing their focus on us.

Reed’s questioning look made Trent squirm, which again, made me bust out with a laugh. Being the good friends that they were, a little ribbing was in order.