Scarred (Book 1, #1) (8 page)

“Good morning,” Lexi almost sang out. Chloe couldn’t help but smile at her. She seemed almost giddy.

“Good morning,” she said to her roommate. Then she looked at the man who Lexi had introduced her to last week and said, “Good morning Brett.”

“Good morning, Chloe,” he said as she went over to pour her coffee. She heard him rise behind her and when she turned back around, he’d left the room. She looked questioningly at Lexi and her friend said, “He went to put on his shirt. Do you mind if he comes with us today?”

“To the playground?”

“Yeah, I told him this was our weekend to help and he said he’d love to lend a hand. We never have enough men to do the heavy lifting and he has tools...”

“He can come,” Chloe laughed, “I’m not going to be responsible for turning down help. This playground has been closed down for almost a year. It’s a mess. Did you tell him that?”

Lexi shrugged, “He’ll be fine with it. Are you working tonight?”

“No, Roxi gave me this weekend off since I worked the last three. Are you?”

“Yeah, but I don’t have to go in until seven. I’m just covering for Callie for a few hours.”

Brett came back in then, dressed in a Hawaiian print shirt and a pair of jeans. He looked like a tax guy...on vacation. Chloe excused herself and went to take her shower. She dressed in a pair of faded cut-off jean shorts and a pink t-shirt and tennis shoes. Today was her day of the month that she volunteered for Hannah’s hearts. She was looking forward to it more than usual. They’d be working on cleaning up a playground on the west end of Providence that needed a lot of work and TLC. It would give her mind a much needed break from dwelling on Derek. She pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck before slipping the blue contact lenses she’d taken off before her shower back on to cover her own brown irises. She grabbed her back pack that she’d filled with odds and ends she buys for the project when she has a little bit of extra money and went out to let Lexi and Brett know she was ready.

Brett insisted they ride in his pick-up to the park in case Liz...the lady in charge of the project needed anything hauled in or out. Chloe could tell that he was trying hard to impress Lexi, and it was working. That was okay though, he seemed like a nice guy and after having to put up with creeps all week, Lexi deserved some time with one of those.

There were already quite a few volunteers there when they got to the park. Chloe went on ahead and found Liz.

“Hey,” she said, “Where do you want me to start?”

“Hi Chloe, thanks for coming. How about you help Donny and his brothers with trash detail for a while until we’re ready to start hanging up swings and painting. Is that okay?”

“Sure,” Chloe agreed.

Donny was a sixteen year old kid who had a huge crush on her. He was sweet though and always respectful, so Chloe didn’t mind. His brothers on the other hand were ten year old twins and if she suspected right they suffered from ADHD...or she should probably say that everyone on the west end suffered from their ADHD. They weren’t bad kids...they just had way too much energy and it usually got them into trouble.

“Hi Donny,” she said as she walked up behind him. He was picking up trash next to the dirty little man-made pond and his wild little brothers were chasing a goose behind him.

“Oh hey, Chloe,” the boy said with his face coloring instantly. “How are you?”

“I’m good. What about you?”

“Ah, I’m okay. Mom made me bring the boys today. She had to work.” Donny’s mother worked for an escort service. Chloe knew that because Liz told her. She wasn’t sure if Donny knew it or not.

“At least they have lots of room to run around,” she said with a smile. “You have an extra bag?”

“Yeah, here you go.” He handed her a bag and then said, “Here, I made these for us.”

He handed her a stick that had been sharpened to a point on the end. “That way we don’t have to touch some of the more questionable things. Even with gloves, it can be kind of gross.” Chloe put on her gloves and thanked him. She completely agreed.

They found a little bit of everything when they did these clean-ups and sometimes that thin rubber barrier didn’t seem like enough. She picked up her bag and with the chatter of the twins in her ears she began picking up trash. It never failed to amaze her how little respect people had for their own environment. She had been working for about a half an hour when she suddenly heard Donny say, “I’ll be damned, I wonder what that guy did.”

She looked in the direction that Donny was looking and couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Derek Stark, stepping out of a sleek, black SUV. He was wearing a white t-shirt that stretched nicely across his hard chest and biceps and a pair of blue jeans. He looked just like the rest of them, except for the shiny car and the fact that he was probably the most gorgeous thing this little old park had ever seen. She could actually feel her face go pale as the blood drained out of it. What the hell was he doing here?”

“You think he’s a rock star or something doing community service?”

“Um...I don’t think so,” she said. She held out her bag and said, “Hold this for me for a sec Donny, I’ll be right back.”

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C
hloe walked quickly, wanting to catch him before he made it over to where Liz was at. When he saw her, he started to smile, that was until she took hold of his massive bicep with two hands and swung him around so his back was up against his vehicle.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

It took him a second to get his bearings back. That obviously was not the greeting that he was expecting. “Well good morning to you too, Chloe,” he said with an amused look when he realized that she’d just body slammed him.

“I’m serious, Derek! What are you doing here?”

“I signed up to help out today.”

“You promised the next move was up to me,” she said.

“I’m not breaking that promise. I had no idea you would be here today. I called Hannah’s and talked to Liz the day after our date. You had just gotten me thinking about it...”

“Bullshit! This is a blatant stalker move.”

Derek laughed, “Stalker? You’re the one who challenged me to do more than write a check. I’m trying to do my civic duty. You being here I will admit is a bonus.”

He let his eyes run across her body taking in the tone, tan legs showing underneath the cut-off shorts. “I’m not stalking you, Chloe. Trust me, if I wanted to do that I’d spare no expense doing it and it wouldn’t involve me picking up trash.”

She thought about that for a second...he had a point. He had plenty of money and undoubtedly contacts that could track her down in a heartbeat. If he was a stalker it was doubtful he would show up in such a public forum...wasn’t it?

She rolled her eyes and started to walk away and that was when she felt his hand on her arm. She froze and looked down at it and then up at his face. “Please don’t touch me,” she said. He let go of her arm but didn’t break her gaze as he said, “I’m sorry.”  He could have thrown the fact that she touched him first in her face...but he didn’t. Instead he looked her in the eyes and said, “I apologize if I caught you off guard. I really do only want to help.” Damn him for being so polite!

“It’s fine,” she said, “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. Liz is over there.” She pointed out the team leader and then just left him standing there and went back to her post. Her body was in turmoil. That simple touch of his hand...firm, but not aggressive in the least had all but melted her insides. This guy was too much. When she reached Donny he gave her a curious look but he didn’t say anything. She took the bag he held out to her and got back to work, trying not to look back where she knew Derek was at.

She began stabbing at trash right and left and after a few minutes she heard his smooth, silky voice say, “Wow, I wouldn’t want to be that trash.”

She turned around to find him holding a trash bag and one of Donny’s sticks. He smiled and said, “I’m on trash detail too, but don’t worry, I’ll stay out of your way.”

With a frustrated sigh, Chloe went back to her work and left him to his. She tried to work her way away from the little pond and put some space between them. She spent the next twenty minutes or so with her head down and nothing but the retrieval of trash on her mind. She picked up the empty food containers and soda cans that littered the dirty sand between the monkey bars and the swing set and watched Lexi and Brett start hanging the swings. When Lexi started in her direction, she wanted to run. She knew exactly what her friend was going to want to talk about, the one thing she was trying like hell to keep her mind off of.

“You didn’t say tall, dark and dreamy was coming.”

“I had no idea,” Chloe said, not disguising her annoyance.

“Really? So he’s really just here to be a Good Samaritan? That’s even sweeter.”

“Oh stop it! He’s here because he knew I’d be here. It’s not sweet at all.”

“I still think it’s sweet. Look at him. You know how many other opportunities he must have today...yet here he is, picking up trash and playing with two of the meanest little boys I’ve ever met...just to be close to you.”

Chloe looked over then. What she saw made her heart swell to at least twice its original size. One of the twins had something in his hands. It looked like a big nest. The other twin and Derek were gently placing eggs inside of it. When they finished, Derek put one of the boys on his shoulders and the little boy...who usually had too much energy to stand in one spot for more than a minute, was gently placing the nest back into the tree. “That son of a bitch,” she muttered.

Lexi laughed and said, “Why, because he’s showing you his human side?”

Chloe didn’t answer her friend. She didn’t have to. They both knew that she was right.

Derek held true to his word once again. He spent the entire day either working or playing with the boys. He’d even had lunch with them under the tree they’d found the nest in. It was obvious to see on their little faces how much they appreciated his attention. Chloe tried to keep her attention on task, but it was hard.

While he moved, bending up and down picking things up or stretching across the monkey bars as he painted them, each muscle in his torso would ripple underneath that t-shirt he was wearing and make her fingers tingle with the longing to touch him. By the end of the day she was more sexually frustrated than she ever remembered being in her life. As they were packing things up she felt someone at her elbow and looked up to see him standing there.

“Thank you for suggesting this,” he said. “I had a great day.”

He was covered in sweat and dirt and a big swipe of yellow paint that one of the boys had swiped across his chest. Chloe had never seen him look so appealing. She smiled, trying to conceal the unadulterated lust that she was feeling inside.

“You did a good job. You should get some kind of bonus for keeping those crazy boys in check.”

He smiled; a genuinely happy smile and Chloe had to mentally hold herself back. “It was fun playing with them. I don’t get much of a chance to be around kids. They made me feel like a kid again myself. It was nice to take a break from being a grown-up for a while.”

“Well again, thanks for coming,” she said. “I’m sorry again about what I said when you got here.”

“It wasn’t your words so much that troubled me,” he said, with a serious look, but he couldn’t maintain it as he said, “When you threw me up against the car I was a little bit afraid.”

Chloe had to laugh. When she stopped laughing she said, “Sorry about that...”

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, “It was hot, the biggest thrill I’ve had in a while.”

Chloe felt her face start going hot and she knew she was blushing. Shit! She didn’t blush! Jesus, this guy turns her into a simpering school girl. She looked over where Lexi and Brett stood alongside his pick-up and she said, “I guess I should go. Lexi and her guy are waiting.”

“Sure...hey Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“I understand if you’d rather not...since you haven’t called me, I’ve had to assume you decided dating me wasn’t something you were interested in...but I was thinking about going to see a movie tonight. I was wondering if you’d like to go.”

Say no...say no...say no... “Yeah, a movie sounds good,” she said. “Where should I meet you?”

He grinned, “Meet me? You won’t let me pick you up?”

She let herself fleetingly recall what he said about how many resources he had if he wanted to stalk her. Not telling him where she lived did not make her any safer if he was a threat. “Oh, okay. Yeah, you can pick me up. I live at 622 Ocean Drive number four.”

His smile broadened and he said, “Great, I’ll be there at seven.”

She watched him ruffle one of the twin’s hair and shadow box with the other one on the way to his car and wondered when the aliens had taken over her body and began to control her words and impulses.

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D
erek knocked on the door right at seven p.m. Chloe was glad that Lexi was already gone. Her friend was already giving her a hard time because it was becoming more and more obvious that she was having feelings for this guy. It wouldn’t be such a novelty for any other woman, but Lexi had known Chloe for two years, and Derek was the first man she’d seen her friend show any interest in.

She took a deep breath and smoothed down her hair before pulling open the door.

God Damn he was gorgeous. He was wearing a white shirt that buttoned up the front. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbows and the top two buttons were undone, leaving just a tiny peek-a-boo look at his chest. His jeans probably cost as much as she makes in a month but Chloe could plainly see by the way they fit his sexy hips and thighs that they were well worth it.

“Hi,” he said with a smile.

“Hey,” she said. She had her purse and keys in hand. He glanced down at them, getting the hint that he wasn’t invited in and said, “Are you ready?”

“Yep.” She locked the door behind them and then shivered as his hand once again found the small of her back and he led her over to the SUV he’d been driving earlier in the day. He opened her door and helped her up inside and she took three deep breaths and let them out slowly before he made it around to his side and got in.