Spoilt (23 page)

He walked nervously to her front door and laughed again. He
was actually experiencing first date jitters.

* * *

Chelsea had been waiting anxiously for her date to arrive,
repeatedly asking herself why was she so nervous. Finally judging
her apprehension to be ridiculous, she sat down to stop herself
from pacing. His familiar knock sent her darting out of the chair
to answer the door.

* * *

Nothing could have prepared Lucas for the sight that met his
eyes when Chelsea answered the door. The vision before him reduced
him to abject silence and wonderment.

* * *

Lucas looked incredible.
He was wearing a black suit she hadn’t
seen before. His shirt was also black. His tie, patterned in
different tones of blue, contrasted wonderfully. When she gazed
into his face, his expression was unreadable and she feared she’d
been right about the dress after all. “I told Charlotte this dress
was all wrong. I’ll just go and change.” She turned to
leave.

“
No, wait!”

She looked at him again, puzzlement furrowing her
brow.

“
You look beautiful and incredibly sexy. Please don’t change
it.”

“
You were looking at me kind of weird.”

“
Yeah, I guess I probably was.” He blushed and she smiled.
“I was trying to get control myself so we could still go to dinner.
You have no idea how beautiful you are.”

“
Oh.”

He kissed her tenderly.

“
Shall we go?” He took her hand and she nodded.

His choice of restaurant surprised Chelsea - expensive and
romantic
,
or
so she’d heard. Anton’s reputation spoke for itself.

“
Lucas, you don’t have to go to so much trouble and my budget
doesn’t quite stretch this far.”

“
Chelsea, let me do this for you.”

“
Okay, I’ve heard the food is good. Have you been here
before?”

“
Yes, I eat out a lot. Well, at least I did.”

They were greeted by the maître d' who directed them to a
small private booth in the corner. The dim lighting glowed from
candles on each table, setting the mood. The furniture, in deep
dark wood and varying shades of red, surrounded her with instant
warmth. Waiting for them was champagne in an ice bucket. Their
waiter placed menus in front of them, filled their glasses and then
discreetly disappeared.

“
I can see why this place has such a good
reputation.”

“
Hmm.”

She studied the menu for a moment before speaking again. “So
you said you’ve been here before?”

“
Yes.”

“
Oh.”

“
I love it when you get jealous. I came with Carrie and
Nathan.”

“
Did I ask?” She peered at him over her menu.

“
You didn’t have to. You get this tone when you are trying to
find out things you think I haven’t told you.”

“
I’m sure there are lots of things you haven’t told me. You
know everything about me and I don’t know anywhere near as much
about you.”

“
You know all you need to. The things I don’t tell you are
better kept that way. I ... don’t want the past to get in the way
of our future. If there is anything you really want to know, all
you have to do is ask.”

“
Since we met, you’ve only stayed with me. How come you
haven’t invited me to your apartment?”

“
I like your house better - you’re there.” She glared at him.
“Because my place is ... part of my old life and you are part of
the new.”

A waiter came to take their order. Once he was gone, Lucas
turned to find her frowning.

“
Babe, this is why I don’t want to talk about this stuff,
because you look at me that way. I wanted tonight to be special and
I don’t want to ruin it with my blemished record.”

“
Lucas, I don’t care about before because I understand why you
were so closed off from everyone, but I want to see where you live.
It is a part of who you are.”

“
If I take you there, will you stop asking
questions?”

“
Maybe.” She smirked. “I’m sorry if I’m being too
pushy
.
I
tend to do that ... you ... I ... like being with you.”

“
I know. Me too.”

They ate in companionable silence, Lucas’ eyes pouring into
hers. It took all his restraint to control his overwhelming desire
aroused by her stunning little red dress. Over coffee he
intentionally kept their conversation light to stop his mind from
drifting. He wanted love not lust to be the dominant emotion, at
least for now.

The quiet continued on the short drive to his apartment. After
he showed her in, he watched her as she wandered around. Once her
inspection was complete, she came to sit down on one of two chairs
in his small living room.

“
I told you there wasn’t much to it. I don’t spend a lot of
time here.”

“
It’s not what I expected.”

“
More furniture perhaps?”

“
Yes, but you’re neat.”

“
Mostly. See, now you’re here, it really does feel like an
empty space, not a real home like you have. It suited my life,
simple and empty, but I guess you couldn’t call what I did before
living really - just existing.”

“
I know I’m probably moving too fast for you and I still can’t
believe I’ve only known you a week, but my life was pretty lonely
before too.”

“
I want to show you something.”

She watched him go into what she’d guessed was his bedroom and
returned carrying a book.

“
Carrie gave me this journal for my eighteenth birthday. I
started writing in it from that day, just before I was accepted
into the force. There are entries in there up until last week -
twelve years of my life. Writing everything down, well it helped
keep me sane. I don’t think I need to write in it anymore. I have
you now instead.” He passed it to her. “I want you to have it. Now
that sounds crazy,” he mumbled.

“
Lucas, this is personal
.
I couldn’t.”

“
Please take it. Maybe you won’t ask me so many questions. I
just hope you’ll still look at me the same way after you have read
it, but it’s a chance I’m willing to take because I want you to. I
need you to know the connection we have. I’ve never felt it
before.”

“
Okay.” She took it from him and he stood awkwardly next to
the chair opposite hers.

She opened it to the first page to find the same neat
handwriting she had seen in his note that morning. She read the
first entry before skipping along and choosing a few random pages
to skim, vowing to read it all when time permitted. He trusted her
with his most private thoughts and she would value every word. The
few entries she read were filled with confusion, angst and
loneliness.

The Lucas she saw within the leather bound book was a
shattered man and different from the one man who stood waiting for
her to accept him faults and all. He was revealing all of himself
to her and he now feared she wouldn’t accept him. Her heart broke
for him and then swelled. Allowing her into his life this way, she
knew was something he’d sworn never to do but still did regardless.
Lucas had taken a huge step this evening and he was terrified. She
gazed up to find his eyes downcast and his face contorted in
embarrassment and anticipation. He was waiting for her
acceptance.

She placed his secrets carefully on the small table in front
of her and walked over to him, removing her shoes on the way. She
stood on tiptoe and cupped his face. He lifted his eyes but the
tortured look remained.

“
Thank you for trusting me with your life. I know how
difficult this is for you.”

“
Even if I wanted to stay away from you, I don’t think I
could.”

He scooped her up, sat down in the chair and settled her in
his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder and he played with the
curls tumbling down from the twist in her hair.

She didn’t know how long they sat there together, content with
each other’s silent company. Loneliness had lived with them both
for too long. When he cleared his throat, she waited for the
serious detective Lucas to speak.

“
Babe, I don’t want to break the moment but I need you to
promise me something.”

“
Anything.”

“
Please be careful.”

“
I promise. What is it?”

“
We think another girl has been abducted by ... him and she
...” He stopped.

“
Let me guess, she looks like me again.”

“
Yes, that is why the officer will stay watching your
house.”

“
I just don’t understand why this is happening.”

“
Neither do we, which isn’t good.”

“
I think for bringing up work, it’s your turn to be
punished.” She poked him in the ribs until he giggled.

“
You’re in trouble now.” He stood up and carried her to his
bed.

* * *

When she woke surrounded by darkness, it took her a moment
to orient herself. Accustomed to either moonlight or the morning
sun lighting her room, it was strange to wake in Lucas’ dim
apartment. Chelsea waited for her eyes to adjust to the night and
then
,
with caution, made
her way to the kitchen.

She searched several empty cupboards until she found a glass
for water. How does he live in such a vacant home? There wasn’t any
food in the cupboards and the fridge only contained a jug of water,
a few bottles of beer and food not fit for human consumption. It
was little wonder he’d dined with her every night, he really didn’t
cook. Her heart ached at his lonely life and she resolved to ensure
he didn’t live this way any longer. Lucas had been closed off to
the world long enough.

She tiptoed back to his room and found she hadn’t disturbed
him. She lay close to him so she could watch him sleep. His
handsome face appeared untroubled as he slept and she hoped his
fragile heart was finally healed. Her own heart lurched and fear
seized her chest for a brief moment. Would he stick around or leave
like Wes? Would his fear overcome him?

She thought back to her Pa’s words about knowing when you’d
found the one, and she realised his words were true. She did know
and Lucas was it. Did he feel the same? Was he as in love with her
as she was with him? Her answer to this question was the leather
bound journal which meant he trusted her with his life, which in
turn meant he trusted her with his heart. Cuddling in close, she
breathed in his scent as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Although waking up to Chelsea sleeping in his bed was strange,
it was also wonderful. Sleeping in his bed from here on in would be
a pleasure, and his unpleasant, empty past would be erased and
replaced with her. He kissed her gently to wake her up. Her eyes
fluttered open and she smiled.

“
Time to wake up, babe. I want to get an early
start.”

She groaned and buried her face in the pillow. She turned to
look at him again with desire in her eyes.

“
Your bed smells delicious, like you.”

This time he groaned. “Have a shower with me.”

Chapter 26

Loss

Thursday

After reluctantly depositing Chelsea safely at home, Lucas
drove to work in a dream and smiled at his whimsical behaviour. He
never thought he could feel this wonderful.

At the station he read through the thick file of calls
received on the hotline over the past few days to see if any of the
information was of any use. As always, they mostly revolved around
anonymous callers either falsely confessing to the crime or ratting
out someone against whom they held a grudge. All calls would be
followed up but, once he’d read through the entire file, experience
told him that the majority of them were a total waste of time,
again.

He noted down what he thought were potentially legitimate tips
and placed them onto Peterson’s desk for follow up that afternoon
when he arrived for his shift.

He was on the phone with the ME when Maggie came in. She’d
called him earlier that morning asking him to cover her for a few
hours as the return favour. He decided to use the time to get up to
speed and organise the day.

“
Dave’s finished with Lindsay’s autopsy. He found a hair in
the rape kit and it’s being processed as we speak, we should have
the results by tomorrow.”

“
Anything else new?’

“
No, the rest was the same. I went through the tip line stuff
but there isn’t much there. Still no file on Robinson and I cannot
find anything on Chad Wilson. I placed a few calls but he’s not on
any systems, so it has to be an alias.”

“
Did Chelsea recognise him?”

“
Dammit.”

“
What?”

“
I meant to do it this morning but got distracted. Sorry, my
head hasn’t been in the game. I’ll show her tonight.”