Surviving Valentine (7 page)

I slept ok; I think my body craved the nook.  My body and mind was already addicted to him.  I got up and walked downstairs to let the dog out and fill up her bowl.  I went back inside to fix a cup a tea when my phone beeped. It was a text message from a number I didn’t recognize. It said.

My nook was feeling very lonely last night. –Darien.

I couldn’t hold the grin off my face. I missed his nook too.  I typed back

Poor little old nook, will it survive? ;)
.

It could use a little loving ;) ;)

I bet it could use a cold shower instead :P.

Didn’t help : (

What time are we heading out?

I’ll pick you up around 2 sound good? It’s not that far away.

Cool, I will see you then :P

Yes you will.

I went back to my morning routine with a big smile on my face.  My mood for the rest of the day was fantastic.  After work I came home, took a shower, and then tried to decide on what to wear. I decided on a pair of jeans and a nice long sleeve sweater than showed my shoulders. I put on a little make up and my necklace. I braided my hair off to the side to show off my shoulders more. Once glance over in the mirror and I decided I looked cute. I walked down the stairs just as Darien knocked on the door. I went over and opened the door. He stood there in all his sexiness wearing jeans slung low, and a buttoned up green shirt.  He looked at me from my toes up. He coughed then spoke “You look amazing. Ready to go?” I nodded and said goodbye to Roxy. I made sure she was set up with a nice bully stick to keep her entertained for the rest of the day. I grabbed my stuff and we headed over to Aunt Tara’s jeep. “She left you the jeep too huh? Nice.” 

“Yeah since I have been a Seal I haven’t needed a car, so it was pretty cool of her to leave it to me.”  We talked through the 30 minutes to his parent’s house. We pulled into a driveway of a very beautiful 2 story brick house with blue shutters. “It’s so beautiful.” He smiled at my approval.  We parked, got out and walked up towards the door.  Beautiful roses lined the sidewalk to the door. It smelled so good. I just wanted to pick a flower from each bush to put in a vase back home.  As soon as we knocked a beautiful black haired woman opened the door. She had to be related to Darien, they looked so much alike. “You’re need to lay off the steroids little girl before they kick you out of the girl scouts.”  That is one hell of a hello.  “Sammy, good to see you too.”  Sammy laughed and jumped to hug Darien. “Punk! I didn’t know you were in town! When did you get home?”  She squealed, then pulled back and smacked him on the arm. “I just got in a few days ago; I needed to settle in the house before I came here.” She nodded like he meant something else. “Well I’m glad you are back.” She finally noticed I was there and her eyes widened, then she threw her hand out to introduce herself. “Hi there, I am Samantha, Darien’s big sister.” I took her hand gladly. “Scarlet Barnette, his neighbor.”  She looked at Darien then back to me and smiled. “Well come on in you guys, mom was just took out some goodies.” She turned and walking into the house somewhere. “Yeah, this is going to be fun.” Darien said as he shoulder bumped me then gestured for us to walk inside.

Inside his family’s house was very comfy. It felt like a happy family lived here. Beautiful leather couches with patchwork quilts hanging on the backs. Pictures plastered to every wall. I haven’t even met the family besides the sister and I already could tell they loved each other more than anything.  “Mom you are never going to guess who just walked in the door.” I heard Samantha say in the around the corner. “Who? Is it that girl next door asking about our boy again? She needs to give up already.” I giggled. I looked at Darien, he just shrugged. As we rounded the corner, a woman, that I guessed was his mom, screamed.  She stopped what she was doing and ran over to hug him and then smacked him on the arm. Goodness he was going to have one bruised arm after this visit. I couldn’t help but laugh about it though. “How come you didn’t call your mother? I always worry to death about you!”  He cowered a bit. “Geez mom, I had to get settled before I came over for your abuse.” He teased. “Oh poppy cock, you could have called your mother.” He shrugged and gave up. “You’re right, But I am here now, what are you cooking?” she walked over and opened the oven. Bless this woman’s heart. I think I love her. “Is that a carrot cake?” I asked. She nodded and said “Yes mam it is my specialty. I’m so sorry hun I forgot to introduce myself. I am Olivia this little devil’s mother.” I just waved. “I’m Scarlet Barnette, his new neighbor.”  Recognition grew in her eyes, then the glazed over with a glassy sheen. She came over and hugged me. “Oh Scarlet, I have heard so much about you from Tara. You have no idea how much I appreciated you being there for her.” When she pulled back tears looked to be brimming her eyes and at any moment they would spill over. “Thank you, She was a really kick ass old lady.”I said.  She laughed and walked away. It looked like she wanted to compose herself from getting to emotional. My mom got like that too. She always wanted to be strong for everyone.

A high pitched squeal came from the stairs, a little child about 5 years old and a toddler came running full speed towards Darien. “Oh no! The little heathens!”  Darien took off towards the living room area and let them tackle him on the couch. It was very amusing seeing him play around with them. My chest tightened at the sight. I envisioned him playing with his own kids like this. He would be the perfect family man.  I had to look away before I started dissecting that thought. His sister came over and started conversing with me. “So you got a thing for my brother huh?” I knew this would come up. I never told a lie and I didn’t plan on it now, but I also was not going to confess how deep I was in. “He is pretty cool.” Was all I said. “Yeah, he is pretty cool.” Then a little louder she said “Especially when he watches my kids so I can have a date night with my husband.” Darien chuckled from the room. I watched as he whispered something into the kid’s ears with a shit eating grin on his face. Then suddenly the kids scrambled off of him and ran at me screaming. It was terrifying! His sister laughed. “Oh, sorry sweetie, even I can’t save you now.” I took off running towards the couch as well so I would have a soft landing when they got me. Little arms grabbed my legs and I just barely missed the couch and hit the floor. Damn I thought I had that in the bag.

Chapter 10

Darien

Scarlet is officially the most graceful clumsiest person I know.  When my niece and nephew took her down, I knew she was aiming for the couch but totally missed. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to piss my pants. Scarlet was looking at me like she might attack me if I kept laughing. I introduced them to Scarlet.  My 5 year old niece Riley then screamed “let’s get him!!”  They all joined in on trying to tickle me. I got a hold on Riley and tickled her sides. She was the most ticklish there. The littlest one Alex was 2 so I let him get away with thinking he was tickling me, I laughed and screamed for help.  Scarlet decided to go for the kill and actually tickle me. Her feminine hands grasped the spot between my ribs and hip. My hips bucked, my fake scream for help turned into a real one, and I had to get off that couch. I grabbed Riley and threw her over my shoulder and took off running. Scarlet grabbed Alex and headed after us. I stopped behind Sammy “Big Sister I need your protection.” She laughed and grabbed Riley then pushed me towards Scarlet and Alex. Alex squealed in joy. Scarlet laughed. I swear nothing hit me in the chest more than seeing Scarlet laughing with my family, and holding my nephew. Sights like that will kill you. I couldn’t get the image of her with a kid out of my head. She would be the coolest mom ever. Just then my mom came back and thankfully interrupted my thoughts from going further.              

“Alright children, let’s go have some cake.” Scarlet set Alex down and the kids ran off towards the table. We all walked over and sat down. Scarlet and I kept stealing glances at each other. As she took bites of her carrot cake she would moan slightly, and the things it did to me. Damn it fourteen year old Darien was back, sitting right in front of my family for Christ’s sake. I had to shift to make room for big D down there. Yeah,yeah. I call him big D. It’s the best name in the fucking world. “So Scarlet, Tara told me you had your own.. How did she put it?  Kick ass studio.”  Mom asked.   The grownups laughed. “Yeah I kick ass in my studio. I own a business called Scars. I teach self defense and kick boxing. I feel it’s really important for people to know how to defend themselves.”  She was always so proud of her business, and she should be. “That is very cool.” Sammy said. Mom looked at us and I could see her trying to see us together. I knew she would be a little forward with me bringing Scarlet here. “Darien, how are you settling into the house?”

“I love it, trying to man it up a bit, just ordered a few things, you know flat screen, the works.”  Mom laughed. It was nice seeing her laugh; I know she was having issues with Aunt Tara passing. They were 10 years apart, so they didn’t really get close until after mom graduated high school. They became best friends after that.  We had an endless amount of conversation flowing. Every once in a while Sammy or mom would try and bait us to see if we were together, but we told them we were just friends. Which might I add is awesome to hear Scarlet say I was here friend, one step closer to having her as mine.  After a few hours with my family we decided to head out, Dad was working, so I didn’t get to see him. But I promised I would come back another day this week and that I would call first.  On the ride back I broke the silence first. “Thank you for coming with me, you really helped lighten the mood a lot.” She looked at me, like she was very happy to have been helpful. “It was no problem, I had a great time. Plus I can never say no to carrot cake.” She giggled. She was too freaking cute. Carrot cake, I would buy her that shit everyday if I got to hear the noises she made when she ate it. Oh god it was so hot. 

Once we got home I walked her to her door. She stopped and looked at me. “Thank you again for inviting me, I had a nice time.” She turned towards me.  “It was awesome, thanks for going.  What are you doing tonight?”  She smiled, god I love that smile. “Candace and I are going out tonight, going to have a girl’s night, You?” Girls night huh?  “Ross and I were thinking about going out for a beer.” She moved a bit closer. I felt a little paralyzed, had she changed her mind? “Well I hope you have fun.” She started fiddling with her keys. Wait! Shit I saw this movie. Hitch where he says if a chick fiddles that means she wants a kiss. Fuck yeah! I want that so bad. My body was already coming to life over the thought of touching those lips again. I wanted to take that chance. I pushed back a piece of hair that had come into her face and curled it behind her ear. Those beautiful emerald eyes lifted, her face blushed, and her lips parted. I could tell she wanted this just as bad as I did. I leaned in and brushed my lips across hers. Her breathing grew more rapid and heavy. My heart kicked up, felt like it was going to burst through my chest.

My name came out on a whisper and I couldn’t wait any longer. I pressed my lips to hers; her hands came to my arms and gripped. We continued the soft kisses, and then she pressed into me. Mashing her bountiful chest into mine, I deepened our kiss. Her body shivered, a little moan came from her lips. I ran my tongue over her lower lip; she parted giving me the access I needed. I sucked in her bottom lip, she tasted like heaven. Our tongues caressed each other. GOD! I could do this all fucking night. My hands ran over the curves of her waist, she felt so good in my hands. I slowly moved her up against the door; her body was trapped in between mine and the door. Her lips were so sweet, fitting so perfectly with mine. Much, much to my regret my seal senses kicked in once I heard the bushes by her driveway move. I stopped the kiss, and turned my back to her while keeping my hands on her sides I scanned the yard. “Darien, what is going on?” she whispered, sensing something off. My eyes narrowed, I saw nothing, but I knew something/or someone was out there somewhere close. I turned back to her. “Nothing, I thought I heard something.” I didn’t want to freak her out. I would definitely be keeping more of a protective eye around our houses more. “Oh, ok.” I grazed my hand across her cheek. “You should go get ready for your girl’s night. Have fun.”  I was so hoping having fun in her eyes wasn’t hooking up with some guy. Especially after that hell of a kiss! I was starting to think we were pulling back layers here. “Oh yeah, girl’s night. Alright, will I see you tomorrow?” she asked with desperately.  “Already wanting to see me again huh?” she blushed, and I chuckled a bit. It made me thrilled to be affecting her so much. I softly kissed her again, needing my fix until tomorrow. “Goodnight” I started heading back out towards my house. She said goodnight but very softly and went inside. I glanced back to make sure she was inside and ok. Yep. Now time to scope out what that noise was. I went into complete seal mode and went over to those bushes. A few twigs were snapped, and the dirt had been moved around a bit. Someone was out here. But why?  Where they watching me or Scarlet? Looks like I will not be getting much sleep for a while, it’s going to be night time scoping for me.  Knowing no one was around now, I headed back into my house. Everything looked ok, so at least no one tried to get inside. I texted Ross seeing what he was up to since he wanted to go out tonight.  We decided to meet at a place called The Machine. My stomach growled. Food sounded pretty good. I went into the kitchen and found some leftovers and ate that while I waited till it was time to go.

The Machine was a pretty relaxed place where you just go hang out and have a beer or dance a little on the floor. They usually played all different types of music.  Ross was telling me all about Candace while we were sitting with our drinks, when a female body suddenly was in my lap. I found the face of the body and groaned in disappointment. “Hey baby, I didn’t know you were back in town. You should have called me! I would have welcomed you back properly.” She wiggled in my lap, definitely not getting the reaction she was wanting. Normally a little play time with Randy would be just what I would want. She was one of the usual women that ended up in my bed while I was on leave.  But not now, now I wanted a tall, sexy brunette with emerald eyes, and nothing fake on her. Randy was 5’4 fake blonde with just as fake boobs. “Thanks Randy but no thanks, I’m not interested this time.”  She pouted those big lips at me. “Baby I wouldn’t mind having another girl with you if you are already playing with someone else. It could be fun.”  She wiggled a little more. There was never anything more for me with her than someone to keep my bed warm. I was starting to get annoyed real fast. “Randy, it ain’t going to happen. Now if you will excuse me I’m going to the bathroom.”