Sweetest Sin: Bad Boy Bundle (34 page)

CHAPTER TWO

I couldn't believe he left. Just left. I didn't even know his name. I didn't know if I should be angry or grateful for the way he handled that asshole. But still. My mind raced with all the force of a thousand paranoid freaks. What if the asshole came back? What if he had a gun? Why didn't that guy stop to give me his phone number?

That last one confused me. I had always been attracted to the nerds. The underdogs. The guys who would never get into a fight with a stranger on the side of the road. And yet here was this man...this Adonis of a man in leather. He came to my rescue and I was angry at the thought I would never see him again.

I wondered what would happen if I peeled that leather jacket right off his broad shoulders. Feeling his large, warm hands wrap around my waist and pull me into him.

Tapping on my window pulled my out of my fantasy.

Damn it.

I glanced over. The police had arrived. Tears immediately followed. It was as if the officers' arrival gave my emotions permission to explode out of control. Now I couldn't stop.

"Ma'am. I need you to step out of the car, please."

I complied and continued crying. The rain plastered my hair down to my face and neck. The three police officers spit out question after question. But I couldn't seem to get my answers out straight. I spoke in a tone so high pitched only dogs could hear me. And my words slurred into cries as I pointed at the two cars.

"Okay, Ma'am. Calm down." One of the younger officers walked up and placed an arm on my shoulder. "Take a deep breath, okay?"

I nodded and followed her instructions.

"Now take another."

Another deep breath.

My trembling slowed and my words started to fall together the way in a more coherent way.

"Okay, so you want to tell us what happened? On the phone you said you were being attacked. Did the attacker leave?"

"No. Not really. Someone stopped. A man, on a motorcycle."

"A man on a motorcycle stopped you?"

"No. Stopped him. Okay, this man, the man driving that car, cut me off while I was driving down this road." I pointed as I tried to explain everything. "Then he started slamming on his brakes. Like he was trying to make me hit him."

"Were you in a car accident, Ma'am?"

"Kind of, I guess. I turned my head for a second to grab my phone and he slammed on his brakes. And I couldn't stop in time. Then he got out of his car and started yelling at me. He said he was going to kill me."

"And where is he now?"

I pointed to the ditch on the side of the road where I saw him fall.

"You threw him into a ditch?"

"No," I said and shook my head. "He. I'm sorry. He got out of his car and started yelling at me. And he was pounding on the windows and he kept telling me that if I didn't get out of the car that he was going to kill me. I managed to lock all the doors to my car before he could get them open. Then some guy pulled up on a motorcycle and told him to leave me alone. But he didn't listen and instead he attacked the guy from the motorcycle. They fought and then the guy fell down the side of the road and the guy from the motorcycle left. Then you got here."

I stopped talking. Their eyes were wide by the end of my story. The two men sauntered over to the ditch and leaned over. They talked on their radios to some unseen listener and whispered to each other.

The female officer stayed with me.

Rain continued to pelt at me, soaking through this uniform and making me wish, yet again, that this had happened on any other night. Any other night when I wasn't working in this uniform.

My nipples hardened in the cool air, scratching against the cotton of my uniform. I tried to fold my arms across my chest, hoping it might calm them down.

"All right," one of the officers said as he walked back up to me. "We have to give you a ticket for the accident. By your own admission you looked away from the road and ran your car into him. Regardless if he was trying to provoke you or not, you hit him and for that we have to give you a ticket."

I took another deep breath. More tears welled up behind my eyes. How could I be getting a ticket for this?

"Now, you're going to get a citation in the mail." The female cop whispered. "That citation will list your hearing date. Go to the hearing and you can fight the ticket. Depending on the judge, you might be able to get the ticket dismissed because of the weather."

"Then why not just skip giving me the ticket?"

She shook her head. "We're doing our job. You hit another driver, the state says we have to issue a ticket for that. You can choose to pay the ticket if you like. And if you do that, the case will just be dismissed and you won't have to go to the hearing. But I think you should go ahead and fight it. You never know."

"I've never gotten a ticket before. It doesn't seem right that I should get into trouble because of him." We glanced over. The two men were helping the asshole up out of the ditch. He was walking and rubbing his head. Trying to describe the man who beat him. "What happens to him then? He just gets away with everything?"

"We don't have enough to charge him with anything. You said he threatened to kill you, so we have to bring him in for questioning. But that's mostly to separate the two of you and give you a chance to leave. More than likely, we'll hold him for a couple of hours, ask him some questions, and then he'll be released and they'll just cough it all up to road rage or something like that."

"But I get a ticket."

She took a deep breath and forced a smile at me. "I know it doesn't seem fair. But he didn't actually attack you. Didn't damage your car. Verbal threats just aren't enough to go on."

I nodded and waited for my ticket. Once the officers told me I could leave, I got in my car and turned over the engine. I couldn't believe this was happening!

If I had know that asshole would be getting off free and clear while I was given a ticket with a date at court, I would have followed that man on the motorcycle and taken off before the cops got here.

***

The rain was really starting to come down hard by the time I got to Grams's house. And I was pretty pissed off for being late. But I knew it wasn't going to end there.

My heart pounded in my chest and my stomach twisted into knots as my eyes fell on all the cars there. I knew exactly who they each belonged to. Even the new cars carried the same lame window decals. "Zombies ate your stick family." Just lame.

I took a deep breath and parked my bike off to the side of the house. Now I would have to make nice with the rest of the family.

And making nice wasn't something I typically liked to do.

"Timmy!" Grams cheered as I walked into the house.

"Hi Grams." I smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey. Timmy." Gary mocked.

"Hey dad."

"I guess you were absent on the day God taught everyone not to ride a bike in the rain, huh?"

"Shut the fuck up Gary," Grams said.

This was why I loved her. Four foot spitfire who would put Satan in his place if he said something she didn't like.

"It's fine, Grams." I said.

My dad and I never got along. It bothered me that it upset Grams though. I wished it didn't. I hated to see her upset.

"Tim, honestly. You couldn't have dressed just a little more appropriately for this? You're soaked through!"

"Sorry, mom." I replied and kissed her on the cheek.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Well, at least you're here. And there's something to be said about that."

"Yea."

"Timmy would you like some coffee?"

I hated coffee. "Yes, Grams. That would be great."

I followed her into the kitchen and she got to work scooping grounds out of the canister and pouring water into the carafe.

"This has always been one of my favorite pastimes, Timmy," she said.

"What's that?"

"Coffee. You're the only one who will drink it with me."

I couldn't help but think that it might have been because the coffee she brewed looked more like murky water. But I dare not say it out loud. I just smiled and grabbed a couple mugs down from her cabinets.

"I wish you would let us buy you one of those single cup coffee brewers," said Gary as he snuck into the kitchen behind us.

"Nonsense. Those things are just a waste of money. I looked into them once before. They say you have to use bottled water to keep the filter clean. What kind of a water filter only works if clean water runs through it but not tap water? They're probably in league with the bottled water companies."

"You don't have to use bottled water, Ma. You can use tap water. It just says that if you use tap water then you have to replace the filter more often."

"More money. It's a never ending racket. The whole thing. Run by politicians and big pharma. Just trying to convince us that our tap water is not good for us. No thanks. I'll stick with what I know."

I smiled. Somehow Grams always managed to blame things on what she called
big pharma
. Of course, when most people said
big pharma
, they meant the major pharmaceutical companies that produce and distribute prescription drugs. Not Grams. When she said
big pharma
she meant anyone tied to any pharmaceutical knowledge. Doctors. Pharmacists. Nurses. College students learning to be doctors. It didn't matter. If you tried to convince her that a particular drug was good for her, you became a part of the beastly
big pharma
.

Gary rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to me. "So, why are you late, anyway?"

"There was an accident on the road."

"An accident? Are you okay, Timmy?" Grams asked.

"I've warned you about those stupid motorcycles. They aren't safe. And in the rain."

"Relax. It wasn't me. It was between two other people. Some lady rear-ended some guy and he was bullying her. When I pulled up I helped her out a little and then I left and came here."

"By helped her out a little bit, I assume that means you got her phone number?"

I rolled my eyes at my brother's need to jump into this conversation. "No. That's not what I meant."

"Well, was she pretty?"

I gazed over at Grams and blinked. Did she really just ask me that? "I don't know. I guess. I didn't really think about it because I was trying to get here. I just stuck around long enough to make sure she was okay and that the guy left her alone and then I came here. I didn't even talk to her."

"That's my Timmy. Always the hero. But I wish you would find someone nice. You should have stopped to talk to her. We wouldn't have minded waiting for you a bit longer. The clock's ticking."

I smiled. No need to let her know that I took off because the police were on their way. Still, the thought of settling down with some nice woman made my stomach twist. My parents had a horrible marriage. Why would everyone want me to sign up for something like that?

And then there was my cousin Marti getting married in Grams's backyard later this weekend. The house was huge. A mansion, really. So it made sense. We could all fit here easily.

Wanting to fit here with each other was another story.

The echo of a sputtering engine drifted into the house.

"What the hell is that?" Gary jumped over to the window to investigate the noise. "It's Angela," he answered himself a couple minutes later.

"Who's Angela?"

"She's your cousin, Timmy. You remember her don't you?"

I wanted to tell her that no, if I had remembered who she was then I wouldn't have needed to ask who she was. But I bit my tongue and walked over to the window.

Oh crap.

***

Finally. Grams's house. And judging from the parking lot, I was one of the last people to arrive.

My car sounded like a sick animal, sputtering. Ever since that stupid accident. But I was starting to wish that had been my biggest problem.

I crawled out of the car and popped the trunk. The slippery ground made me regret that decision almost right away. Instead of being able to slip around the car, grab the dress, and gracefully walk into Grams's house with some dignity, I was forced to slip and slide, covering my legs in mud. I grabbed onto the lip of the trunk to regain my balance, knocking my chin against the trunk door.

More tears.

I finally got my hands on the dress and slammed the trunk closed before making a dash toward the door.

At the last step, I slipped again and fell in the mud. Thank God the dress was still wrapped in plastic. But still, I just knew I was going to be yelled at for this.

I stood up and grabbed the dress again and headed for the door.

Everyone was there.

Laughing.

I took a deep breath and tried to get my tears under control.