Eye Candy

“How long did he hurt you for?”

I don’t really like talking about this, but with Oliver, I’ll tell him because, for some reason, I trust him. He’s the kind of man you trust, because you can feel it in your gut, right down deep in your belly. He’s a good guy. He’s put together right. That radiates off him. It never radiated off Terry, but that didn’t seem obvious to me until this very moment.

“A couple of years. It all started when I tried to break it off with him. He stalked me, followed me around, and begged and begged until I came back. It only got worse from there. Going back was the worst mistake I ever made.”

“It always is,” Oliver agrees. “People always say they’ll change, and sometimes I think they do try, but with something that severe, I don’t think there is a chance of true change. When someone is that intense about something, there is usually something psychological going on and because of that, change is very difficult to do.”

“Yeah, I see that now,” I admit. “But at the time, I thought I’d give it a chance, I believed him when he said he’d changed. When he started getting physical with me, I knew there was no chance of it getting better so I left again, for a final time.”

“Guessin’ that didn’t go very well?” Oliver asks.

“No, it certainly didn’t. It was twice as bad as it was the first time, and I honestly couldn’t shake him for a while there. Finally, I managed to free myself from him and get my life together. It’s been two years now, but yeah, it wasn’t a great thing to endure.”

“No, I don’t imagine it was. I’m glad you broke free of it.”

“Yeah, me too,” I whisper.

His hand keeps circling on my belly, sliding lower, just a little, and my entire body lights on fire. I honestly don’t like feeling so much passion at a time like this, but what else are you supposed to do when you’re trapped in a closet with a man and a bunch of crazy people outside? My breath hitches and he must notice, because his mouth grazes my earlobe and he whispers there, “I’ve been watching you for so long, wondering how in the hell I’d find the courage to talk to you. I am so fuckin’ happy you fell into this closet the other day, because it gave me a chance to get to know you.”

“Why would you possibly notice me?” I whisper as his mouth moves down my neck, gently grazing the skin.

“You’re beautiful, Jade. You have this softness about you that so many women lack. It’s like it’s smashed out of them now. When I found out what you had been through, it only made that softness even more beautiful. I admire your strength and I admire that you’ve fought through it and come out the other side still so damned kind and gentle.”

I swallow the thick lump in my throat, and smile at him. “Thank you, it’s nice to know my experience didn’t destroy me. For a while I honestly thought it would.”

“Jade?” he asks.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

Goddamn.

“Okay.”





Chapter 7


Oliver gently moves me around so I’m facing him, and then he dips his head and he kisses me. Soft at first, just a grazing of his lips, but slowly the kiss deepens. Little by little, he coaxes my lips apart with his, gently running his tongue over my bottom lip, sparking my entire body to life. I curl my fingers around his biceps and pull myself closer, loving how his muscles flex in my palms. He’s perfect. So damned perfect.

The kiss turns passionate, growing deeper and deeper with every passing second. My hands slip to his chest, kneading at the muscles there, and one of his hands goes down to my bottom, pulling me closer until I’m forced to straddle him. I kiss him with everything I have, tongues and lips colliding, the small space heating up very, very quickly. His rigid erection presses hard between my legs, causing a whimper to escape my lips.

“Goddammit,” he growls, pulling his lips from mine and dropping his head into my shoulder. “As much as I’d love to do this, as much as I’d love to see how incredible you’d feel, I can’t keep going right now. It’s not the time or the place.”

He’s right, but dammit, stopping almost physically hurts.

“You’re right,” I whisper, sliding my face to the side and kissing his cheek, loving how the hair on his face scratches my lips just a little.

“Don’t think I don’t want it, though. I do, sweetheart. So bad. But I’m not here to use you. I like you. I really like you.”

Goddamn.

Could he get any better?

“I respect that, thank you. Really, thank you.”

“You better get off my lap, honey, or I won’t be able to keep my word.”

Laughing softly in the quiet space, I slide off his lap and sit down beside him. He reaches over, clutching my hand and curling his around it, then we sit in silence for a minute, both of us panting, both of us no doubt wishing we were in a different situation right about now. I know I wish that, yet at the same time, him wanting start this right makes my heart swell.

So big.

“Do you think they’re okay?” I finally ask into the silence.

“Been a while since I’ve heard anything, so I’d say yes. I hope so.”

We sit in the silence a little longer. Then, out of the blue, the lights outside and inside the closet switch on. We have power back. I glance over at Oliver, and he squints. We’ve been in the dark so long, it takes our eyes a moment to adjust. When they do, I study his face. His lips are swollen and full. I have no doubt mine are the same. I’ve never been kissed like that in my entire life. Not once. It was absolutely incredible.

“That’s got to be a good sign,” he murmurs.

“Oliver? Jade?”

We hear Marlie’s voice in the distance. If she’s calling out, it must be safe for us to call out, too.

“We’re in here!” We both yell at the same time.

A moment later, the door opens and Marlie steps inside, looking down at us. She smiles a little, her eyes scaning over us. “I’d ask if you got locked in here by choice, but I know you’d deny it.”

Oliver grunts. “It wasn’t by choice.”

He stands and pulls me to my feet.

“Well, it certainly wasn’t a bad thing by the looks of it.”

I flush and say, “Did they find who did this? What happened?”

Her face loses a little of its light. “Come downstairs, the police are here. We’re figuring out what the hell happened now, but I just wanted to make sure you guys were safe first.”

“Was anyone injured?” I ask her, following her down the stairs.

“Not majorly. A few panic scrapes, Kenai got tripped up, but everyone is mostly okay.”

Thank. God.

We arrive downstairs to police officers, people standing everywhere, media—how the hell did they get here so fast?—and three people handcuffed. I look at the three people, studying them. They’re young, maybe seventeen or so, and there are two boys and one girl. They’re half dressed in Halloween costumes and all of them are just staring at the officers, scowling. Are they the ones who did this? A bunch of teenagers?