The Stranger - Unexpected Love: Keri's Story #1 (Short Story) (3 page)

“What happened?” he asked with a hint of desperation. “Did I do something wrong?”

Keri bit into her bottom lip, as she was still so easily swayed by his presence. “No, I'm just not interested,” she said firmly.

“You're lying to me,” he said, his jaw rippling as he tried to hold back his frustration. “I know you are.”

Keri looked down at the top of the bar, not trusting herself to look directly at him.

“Keri please,” he said and reached for her hand. Leo was there in a flash to grab his wrist before he could touch her.

“She said leave, pal,” he growled and hoped the man would give him a reason to be more aggressive.

“Fine,” he said shortly and jerked his hand away from Leo. “Fine,” he turned and stalked out of the bar.

Keri spent the rest of the afternoon trying to ignore her regret. She had not even given him the chance to explain, but what explanation could there be for the arrests? She was certain she didn't want to be with a man that violent or with such a checkered past. She just about had herself convinced when she recalled the way he had held her in his arms. She had felt so safe, so secure, in his grasp. She did not even have the slightest twinge of fear. When her shift was over she decided to visit him at the hotel. She would give him a chance to explain his past. What harm could that do? She would soon found out.

Chapter 6

When she arrived at the hotel and stepped off the elevator on his floor, she was surprised to see him in the hallway with another woman. She was very pretty, but wearing very little clothes. She looked more like a prostitute than a model. Keri felt sick to her stomach as she realized he had not bothered to wait a day before conning another woman. Only the woman he was standing so close to, wasn't being conned. In fact, Trevor suddenly turned her roughly and pinned her against the wall.

“Trevor!” Keri cried out as she rushed to the other woman's aid. “Get your hands off of her!” she demanded, as Trevor wrenched the woman's hands behind her back. He glared in Keri's direction.

“Stay out of this,” he barked. With the fury in his eyes it was easy for her to see why he had so many arrests on his record. She really had not gotten to know him at all. Keri was never one to stand aside when she saw someone being harmed. Growing up, Marilyn and Leo had always taught her that no one should turn a blind eye to a person who was in trouble, and this did not feel any different to Keri. She was not just going to ignore him assaulting this poor woman.

“Let her go,” she growled, and lunged at him, ready to strike out at him. She did not notice at first the flood of cops that began to pour off the elevators, out of the stairwell, and even out of some adjacent rooms. Before she knew it there were guns drawn all around her.

“Hands in the air,” a gruff voice commanded, and Keri knew this meant that someone was pointing a gun directly at her. She froze. Keri's heart was in her throat, as she slowly raised her hands into the air. She watched with surprise as Trevor accepted a pair of handcuffs he was handed, and cuffed the woman he had pinned. He wasn't the criminal at all, but the one making the arrest. Keri was mortified as she realized she had gotten in the middle of what must have been a sting operation.

“It's okay,” Trevor insisted as he gestured for the other officers to lower their weapons. “She didn't know, she was just confused,” he explained swiftly. Keri nervously lowered her hands. She could not look directly at Trevor.

“Keri,” Trevor tried to get her attention once he handed off the woman to another police officer. “I need to take care of a few things, just give me a chance to explain, okay?”

Keri was too embarrassed to even look at him. She fled the hallway milling with cops, hoping she wouldn't be reprimanded for interrupting the arrest. She found herself outside near the marina, trying to calm herself down. She had been through so many emotions in such a short span of time that she could barely take a breath without panicking. One moment she was expecting Trevor to be a criminal, the next an abuser, and now she was faced with the knowledge that she had been wrong the entire time.

“Keri,” his voice reached her when he was still a few feet away.

“Why didn't you just tell me?” she demanded as she turned to face him. “Why would you lie about something like that?

When he started walking toward her, his green eyes imploring, she backed away. She still was not sure what exactly had happened, but what she was certain of, was that he had not told her the truth about anything.

“Okay,” he said, and paused where he was. “It was an active investigation,” he explained calmly. “I couldn't risk telling you the truth, I never expected that I would actually meet someone here, someone like you.”

“Were you undercover?” she asked with surprise.

“Yes,” he replied and dared to take a step closer. “I'm a detective, and sometimes I do some undercover work.”

“So your name's not Trevor?” Keri assumed as she watched him move a few steps closer to her.

“That is my cover name,” he said honestly. The operation was over, the arrests had been made, he could tell her the truth.

“And the arrests?” she asked when he paused right in front of her. The heat of his body so close to hers, made her ache for him to pull her into his arms.

“That's what this was all about?” he asked with a grimace. “Did you run a background check on me?”

Keri shrugged and nodded, still trying to avoid his penetrating gaze. “My cousin did,” she admitted sheepishly. He smiled faintly as he brushed a tendril of her hair away from her eyes so he could easily meet them with his own.

“No arrests,” he promised in a whisper.

“But you did lie,” she reminded him, intoxicated by how close he was.

“Not about what mattered,” he promised, letting his fingertips linger on her cheek. “Never about that.”

“Are you really just visiting?” she asked and took a sharp breath as he slid his arm around her waist.

“I'm here to stay,” he replied firmly. “I was just staying in the hotel for the investigation, I actually live across town.”

Keri shook her head as she stared up at him. “I guess I was wrong,” she sighed, regretting that she had jumped to such a conclusion.

“Not about what mattered,” he said softly, letting his lips drift closer to hers.

“Never about that,” she replied and touched her lips to his. The moment Keri felt the caress of his kiss she knew there was no use fighting it. She wanted to resist, she wanted to remind herself of how tragic her relationship with Daryl had been, but this man, whose name she did not even truly know, had crept deep inside of her, and found that place she had built a wall around. He had slipped inside when she was trying so hard not to let him, and she was certain, that he was there to say. Perhaps her cousin had been right, love will always find you when you least expect it.

“Unexpected Love: Keri's Story” is a short story series with the remaining titles to be published on a regular basis.

Sign up for the free mailing list at the website below to be notified as soon as the next title becomes available.

http://JadeRyan.com

I’d really love to hear from you!

I very much appreciate your reviews and comments so thank you in advance for taking a moment to leave one.

Also be sure to join me on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/jaderyanbooks

Sincerely,

Jade Ryan

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and locations portrayed in this book and the names herein are fictitious. Any similarity to or identification with the locations, names, characters or history of any person, product or entity is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

- From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

No responsibility or liability is assumed by the Publisher for any injury, damage or financial loss sustained to persons or property from the use of this information, personal or otherwise, either directly or indirectly. While every effort has been made to ensure reliability and accuracy of the information within, all liability, negligence or otherwise, from any use, misuse or abuse of the operation of any methods, strategies, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein, is the sole responsibility of the reader.

Any copyrights not held by publisher are owned by their respective authors.

All information is generalized, presented for informational purposes only and presented "as is" without warranty or guarantee of any kind.

All trademarks and brands referred to in this book are for illustrative purposes only, are the property of their respective owners and not affiliated with this publication in any way. Any trademarks are being used without permission, and the publication of the trademark is not authorized by, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owner.