The Encounter

Title Page

Dedication

The Difference of Opinion

A Helping Hand

Juggling Life and Death

The Man Speaks

Unexpected Guests

The Eyes Have It

Following Your Heart

An Interesting Day

About The Author

Publishers Notes

THE ENCOUNTER

CHANCES TAKEN SERIES

A ROMANTIC ACTION TRILOGY

BOOK 1

KELLY KATHLEEN

Copyright ©
2014 by Kelly Kathleen

All Rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Her Second Love Series

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Vampire Alpha Awakens Series

Jerry
: Hello. I'm looking for my wife.

.....but our little company had a good night tonight. A really big night. But it wasn't complete, it wasn't nearly close to being in the same vicinity as complete, because I couldn't share it with you. I couldn't hear your voice, or laugh about it with you. I missed my wife. We live in a cynical world, and we work in a business of tough competitors, I love you. You complete me. And I just...I…..

Dorothy
: Shut up. Just shut up. You had me at hello.

“Jerry Maguire” (1996)

To those who have found the love of their lives:
May you never stay out of love, taking every effort to rekindle the magic moment when both of you first held hands.

To those who are waiting for the love of their lives:
May you never lose that belief in love, that magical moment when all that really matters is to fall in love.

ONE

* * *

“I should be home in time for supper and do you want me to pick something up or are you going to make something from scratch?” I was in the process of putting on my makeup, straightening my long blond hair and making sure that my clothes were just right. I had a big meeting with a corporate executive that could mean millions of extra dollars pouring into the bank every month. “I don’t want to put you on the spot, Mike, but I haven’t had your homemade lasagna in some time. I know that you have been busy with the case, but now that it’s wrapping up, maybe we can have a few moments to ourselves.”

“Cecily, if the jury comes back at a reasonable time, I should be able to get back home and put something together.” This was his way of saying that I may as well just get a pizza on the way home, because most likely he would be under the gun to put this case to bed. It was a well known fact that juries don’t usually come back within the first few hours, which meant that he was going to be in the office till well after 7:00 PM. “I know that this hasn’t been fair and I do plan to make it up to you. Believe me, I miss you as much as you miss me and I can’t believe we haven’t been together in over a month.”

It was actually a month and a week, but I didn’t want to shine light onto that fact. I was wearing a white leather skirt that barely went above my knee with a slit in the side just to indicate a brief peek at my supple thigh. The black blouse was freshly ironed and I had to admit that I did look pretty good going on 30. High heels were my secret weapon, because being at 5 foot 5, 110 pounds, I needed the extra lift to give my legs that long lean and luscious appearance. With these 4 inch heels, they made my legs look like they went to heaven and beyond.

Hearing the door to the bathroom open, I turned to see that my handsome boyfriend was once again looking quite dapper in his gray pinstriped suit. He had on the power red tie to indicate that he was no one to be messed with. His once-long hair had been shorn to a more professional look, although sometimes I do miss curling my fingers through his long locks. I went over to him and placed my hand on the tie, straightening it and looking him in the eyes at the same time. We went through the same monotony every day and I really did believe that he had my best interests at heart. There were times that I really did love him, but there were also other times that I felt that there was something missing.

He leaned down with all of his 6’1, 175 pounds and kissed my lips without much passion. I missed the first time that we kissed, when it was new and different and not like two ships passing in the night. I didn’t know when we actually sat down and talked and mostly we just saw each other in the morning, after one or both of us has passed out from exhaustion at the end of the day.

“Cecily, I hope you know that I care for you deeply and that I don’t purposely try to put you through any of this. I told you when we first got together that my work might get in the way and you told me that you understood. We’ve been together for the past three years and I’m not sure about you, but my biological clock is ticking. I’m not saying that we should have a child right away, because both of our careers are very important and we have to plan this down to the minute detail.” He had been talking about having children for as long as I could remember, but he was also analytical and to the point, which meant that nothing was going to happen until we had the time to really devote to the child.

“Mike, there is time for this later and I really do have to get to a meeting before 9:00 AM.” We embraced at the door, hugging and holding each other for a few solitary seconds before separating in the driveway. He went to his black Tahoe with his customary black briefcase swinging in his right hand, while I went and jumped into my silver Corsica. It was a gift to myself when I got promoted to manager at the bank a year ago and I still get a giddy thrill every time that I open up the door and climb behind the wheel.

It was almost better than sex, as I felt the engine come to life underneath my feet. Sitting there, I watched as Mike turned the opposite direction and sped down the street towards the interstate. Once he was gone, I pulled out and turned right and instead of going towards the interstate, I went to the center of town. It might have been shorter to take the highway, but the side streets at this time of morning was a little less congested with traffic.

“We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a live broadcast. A man with a gun has been seen in the area, wearing what appears to be a tattered army jacket. There’s not much more information to go on, but authorities request that you call in with any tips about his whereabouts. You’re not to approach him by any means and he is considered dangerous. When we have more information, we will break in and tell you immediately.” The news broadcast ended and my customary easy listening came back to life through my speakers.

My mother died when I was very young and my father disappeared shortly after, leaving me to fend for myself. Even though my aunt did her best, she was a little bit too strict for my liking and I rebelled the only way I knew how. I was a very good student, but underneath I smoked, drank heavily and hung out with a bad crowd. My hair was not the golden blonde that it is today, but instead a purple and red streaked, punkish look that made me feel unique and one of a kind.

The music that I was listening to back then was more heavy metal, like Judas Priest and Twisted Sister, not to mention some relatively unknown bands that had gotten a cult following. It was my way of standing outside of the crowd, although it didn’t make me a whole lot of friends and I kind of felt ostracized.

It didn’t matter, and before long I was going to college and cleaning up my act. Come to think of it, that was when I found Mike, but he was already in a relationship at the time. We stayed friends and somehow he had bumped into me at the market of all places a couple of years after getting out of college.

I was coming to the last intersection and then it was clear sailing the rest of the way to the bank. Stopping at the flashing red light, I was listening to a Britney Spears tune that really made no sense to me, when the light turned green and I started to pull away.

A figure jumped in front of my car and I slammed into it, thankful that I wasn’t going all that fast at the time. A man was now splayed out over my hood and he raised his head long enough to show me that he was desperate. There was a weapon in his right hand and he was waving it around without much conviction.

Stumbling to the side, he came over to my passenger door and before I had a chance to automatically lock it, he was pulling it open and climbing into the seat.

The first thing I noticed was that he was unshaven, unkempt and he didn’t appear to have washed in days. It was then that I saw the tattered green army jacket and remembered the news broadcast a few minutes ago.

“Trojan Horse… coming…Trojan Horse… coming.” He was holding his side and I could see that he was grimacing with some sort of pain. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell against the headrest, unconscious. The jacket splayed open a little bit more and that was when the sight of blood accosted my vision. The wound was pretty deep and I had my fair share of first aid training to know that he needed a doctor immediately.

“Hang in there… we are only a few blocks away from the hospital.” I don’t know why I cared, but there was something in his eyes that told me that he was trustworthy and not a threat. It might’ve been just my imagination and this overwhelming feeling of adrenaline that was shooting through my veins. Whatever it might be, I knew that he still needed medical attention, even if he was wanted by the law for some reason. They never did say on the news broadcast what he was wanted for, only that he was suspicious and carrying a weapon.

Instead of going directly to the office, I was going to take a short detour, but even looking at my watch, I could see that I was going to be a few minutes late. It shouldn’t take all that long to drop him off in front of the hospital, get some help and then make my way back to work in time for the big meeting.