Zoey And The Nice Guy (Big Girl Panties #1) (13 page)

She took a breath, squared her shoulders, and marched through the crowds to the nearest children’s clothing store. She shopped for a couple of cute outfits for each of them then moved on to the bookstore and loaded up on books for the kids and a few novels she thought Maya might like. After that, she made her way to the toy store. Her Everest.
 

People weren’t flowing through the store so much as they were being squeezed in and out of the doorway as the room reached capacity. In this store, she had specific needs. Matthew wanted a junior chemistry set and there was a certain doll that Sophie wanted.
 

Zoey shifted her bags, slung her purse strap over her head, so it wouldn’t get knocked off her shoulder, and braced herself. “I’m going in,” she mumbled.

She’d never considered herself to be short, but there were a lot of people in the world taller than her. She saw a toy that was on the list and had to grab it before the crowd moved her forward. She tucked it under her arm and then saw the chemistry set. She tucked it with the other toy. And then….

There was the doll. And oh, shit, there was only one left. She shoved past a large woman with too much makeup on. A man in a flannel shirt and beanie had a head-on collision with her. She shoved him out of the way and jammed her elbows into anyone who got in her way. Five more steps. Four. Three. Two.

“Yes!” she shouted, as she put her hand on the box.
 

Then she looked up into the eyes of a balding, middle-aged man with crooked teeth. “I’m sorry, miss, I got to it first.”

His hands were on the doll. She grinned. “No, sir, you didn’t. This is for my niece, I’m sorry.” She pulled, but he didn’t let go.

“Everyone wants this doll,” he observed, “but I got here first, and you need to back off.”

“Sir, you do not know who you’re fucking with. If you don’t let go of this goddamn doll, you’re in for a whole world of pain.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“You’re damn right. Give me the doll.” She pulled. He pulled back. She pulled again.

“Listen, bitch, I’m not letting this go.”

She was fed up with being called a bitch. “Let. Go. Asshole!”

The guy let go with one hand, but then he wound his hand in her hair and yanked. She screamed and instinctively jammed her knee into his crotch. Zoey taken self-defense classes and had no fear of fighting back. She swung her elbow into his face. Finally she was free of him. She stumbled back toward the checkout counter. By the time she arrived, she’d regained her composure, if not her breath. She glanced back, looking for the guy, but he was gone.

She’d intended to have the store clerk call the cops, but since the guy was gone, she decided it was pointless.

She bought the toys and then made the long, painful trek out of the store.

“That’s her.”
 

She instinctively knew this voice was talking about her. She turned to find the man she’d allegedly assaulted hunkered over his damaged balls and holding a tissue to his bleeding nose. Mall security was next to him.

Zoey rolled her eyes. “Come on, man, you started it.”

“I want her arrested.”

“What?”

“I’m going to have to go to the emergency room.” And then the man fell to the floor in a faint. Zoey was pretty sure it was all a big act, but that thought didn’t alter her present circumstances.

She found herself ushered to a bench where one of the mall security guys hovered near her, detaining her for the police.

EMTs arrived ten minutes later, with the police shortly behind them. The guy was conscious, not that she’d been worried. He’d only passed out from the pain. A policeman came at her with handcuffs.

“Seriously?” she said. “I’ll cooperate.”

“Ma’am, you’re under arrest. You have the right to remain silent….” He recited her rights.

She could only laugh at the absurdity of it. Then she looked around and saw other policemen taking interviews from witnesses.
 

By the time she was pushed into the squad car, she’d stopped laughing. “Are you fucking serious?” she asked.

The cop driving didn’t say a word. She slammed back into the seat. “This is ridiculous. He had hold of my hair and was pulling hard.”

“Ma’am, you’ll be given a chance to make a statement at the station.”

She huffed in silence. She was taken to the station, finger-printed, and photographed. Then she was shoved in a cell with eight other seedy looking women. Zoey wasn’t particularly a glamour girl, but next to these women, she looked like royalty. She immediately turned, grabbed the bars, and shouted, “When do I get my phone call!”

It was an hour before someone came. They took her to get her statement. Then she was allowed to make her phone call. She called her house. Maya answered.

“Maya, I need to speak to Addy.”

“Oh, Addy’s having lunch with her mom.”

“You’re home alone?”

“No, Kellen’s here.”

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”

“What’s wrong?”

She took a calming breath. “I need to talk to Kellen.”

There was a shuffling as the phone was handed over. “Hey, Zoey.”

“Okay, don’t judge me, but….” She paused, not sure her pride was going to back down long enough for her to finish the sentence.

“But what?” he asked.

“But I need you to come to St. Louis and bail me out of jail.”

Silence.

“Kellen?”

He was laughing again. “I’m sorry,” he said, still laughing. “Are you serious?”

“I kneed a guy in the balls in a toy store.”

More laughter.
 

She sighed and waited. A police officer gave her a wrap-it-up signal. “Seriously, Kellen, I have to stay in a cell with some very hostile looking crack-whores, so will you just hurry up?” She mentally prayed he wouldn’t ask her to say ‘please’ because, in this circumstance, she might just have no choice.
 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be there in an hour. Try to stay alive. And don’t rack up anymore charges, okay?”

She hung up. A policeman escorted her back to the cell. She rested her forehead on the bars and counted the seconds.

Kellen laughed off and on all the way to St. Louis. He found Clark Street and parked in the Justice Center garage. The building was plain, eight levels, with windows on the front and sides. Kellen had never been before. He’d bailed Jayce out a time or two when they were younger, but that was a small town jail, where he knew the Sheriff by name.
 

He quickly located the bonding window and asked after Zoey. He paid her bond and was directed to a visitor’s waiting area. The room was full of people. Some looked despondent and worn down by life. Others looked like him, upstanding citizens there to visit their black sheep acquaintances.

Over an hour later, they brought Zoey out. When he stood, she nearly knocked him down as she threw her arms around his neck. “Aw, it’s okay,” he said, still finding the whole situation funny. He stroked her back with one hand and then took the bags being handed to him by a police officer with the other. “Looks like you had a successful shopping trip.”

She punched him on the shoulder, but there was no fire in it. He slid his arm around her waist and led her out to the garage. He put her bags behind the seat of his truck and turned to find her standing almost against him. Her face was pale, her hands clenched together in front of her, her whole body shaking.

“Oh, sweetheart, come here,” he said and took her into his arms. If she cried, she did it quietly, although she was shaking and clinging to him. Not so brave and badass after all, his Zoey. In that moment she’d looked like a scared little girl.

“I’m such an idiot,” she said.
 

Kellen didn’t answer her; he wasn’t going to offer her false encouragement. What she’d done had been stupid and dangerous.

“The consequences could have been so much worse, you know?” she murmured into his coat.

He knew. He didn’t want to think about it, but they could have been miles worse.

“Nobody’s ever fought back. Nobody’s ever used physical force against me. I’ve never felt so…vulnerable. And getting arrested? That was fucking humiliating, Kellen.”

“I know, Zoey. I know.”

She stepped back and shook out her arms. Her cheeks were red and her eyes, bright. “I’ve been a child. Throwing tantrums everywhere, assuming I would always get my way. What if I’d seriously hurt that man? What if he’d hurt me? Jesus.”

For a moment, he watched her wrestle with reality. He waited for her to look at him, and when she did, he smiled. She poked him in the chest. “You’re coming Christmas shopping with me next year.”

“I insist upon it.”

She smiled and climbed in the truck. He closed the door and kept his hand against it for a moment. Next year. He wondered if she meant it.

He went round to his side.

Once they were on the road, Zoey finally seemed to relax.
 

“You know,” he said, “just this morning, when Maya told me you were in St. Louis doing last-minute shopping, the first thing I said was, ‘I hope she doesn’t assault anyone.’”

“You’re a funny guy. You need to start heading west. My car’s in the lot at the Chesterfield Mall.”

“I’m taking you to dinner.”

He heard a huff of breath. “It’s too early for dinner.”

“Nah, we’ll just beat the rush. I wouldn’t want to expose you to another large crowd of people.”

“Ha ha. I don’t want to have dinner with you, Kellen. I just want to get my car and go home.”

“I think you do wanna have dinner with me. And if your offer still stands, I think we should get a hotel room.”

“What?” she shrieked.

“You know—get this out of our systems—like you said. I think you’re right. I haven’t been able to eat or sleep right, and it’s probably just this chemical reaction between us. We should just fuck, so we can forget it and move on. Don’t you think?”

He smirked, proud that he’d shut her up. It had taken his ego a while to settle down, but then he’d recognized her words for what they were: a bluff. Or so he hoped. This was the perfect chance to call her on it.
 

Kellen swung down toward the river to a burger restaurant he’d been to once before. Inside were two, long tables that spanned the room. There were old-fashioned milk cans painted in various colors hanging over the table. Being an off hour, it wasn’t too crowded. Still, it was the Saturday before Christmas, so they definitely weren’t alone.
 

Kellen and Zoey sat across from each other. He watched as she concentrated on taking off her mittens and scarf. They browsed their menus. Everything here was local, down to the sodas and beers. A waitress came and they each ordered a burger and a beer. And then Zoey sat back and finally met his eyes.

“It’s fine,” she said. “If you want to get a hotel, let’s do it. Did you bring condoms?”

He forced himself to keep cool. She was just bluffing. He was sure of it. “Yeah, I always have condoms,” he said with a wink.

She rolled her eyes.
 

At this point, he wasn’t worried about her going through with it. He was worried that she was going to make him actually pay for a hotel room before she finally gave up. Not that he couldn’t afford it. He just hated to waste money if he wasn’t really going to get laid.
 

The waitress brought their food and drinks. Zoey dove in like usual. He supposed this time she was probably genuinely hungry, given that she’d been shopping or in jail most of the day.
 

“So, I have a criminal record now, right?” she asked around a mouthful of burger.

“That’s right. Unless you’re found innocent.”

She let out a laugh and shook her head.
 

“When’s your court date?”

“Two weeks. I’ll pay you back for the bail money.”

“Don’t worry about it, just make your court date so I don’t have to send bounty hunters after you.”

She flipped him off. It didn’t even sting anymore. She flipped people off so often the gesture had lost all of its sharpness.
 

“Have you ever considered anger management?”

“I’m Irish; I don’t think anger management works for us.”

“You could give it a try. I know where to find a contact for you, if you’re interested.”

She frowned in thought.
 

“Zoey, you know those news stories you hear every Christmas about some crazy person doing some crazy thing? You do understand, don’t you, that today you were that crazy person?”

Irritation and then shame. She sighed. “I did a few months of therapy not long after I emancipated,” she disclosed. “Maybe I’ll go back. If nothing else, it’s a safe outlet to express my anger.”

He smiled as she chomped into her burger.
 

“Awesome burger, huh?” she mumbled over the food in her mouth.

He grinned and watched her, taking in her little movements: shoving her hair over her shoulder, licking her fingertips, dabbing at the corner of her mouth with her napkin. Her cheeks puffed out when she took too big of bites and she looked like a freckle-faced chipmunk. When her blue eyes met his, though, time stood still. “What?” she asked.

He shook his head. There were no words that he could think of. Maybe ‘unrequited,’ because he wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to make his way into her heart. She’d put up roadblocks everywhere.
 

But then her eyes softened and she gulped down the bite of burger she’d been chewing. “Everyone says I’ll hurt you,” she said.

Thank God. A real conversation. He leaned forward, so he could talk more quietly. “I’m a big boy, Zoey. I see you. I understand what I’m in for. And you…you can try, can’t you? Your life doesn’t have to be controlled by your anger, does it? Tell whatever voice it is that’s trying to talk you out of this to shut the fuck up.”

She almost smiled. But then her eyes went sad. “I don’t want to get hurt. I mean, that kind of hurt. I’ve never met a guy I thought had that power, but looking at you, Kellen…well, you could definitely hurt me.”

He shook his head. “I can promise you it’ll be worth it. Just think about it. How great is this?” He gestured back and forth between them.