She wasn’t that naive and quickly put everything together. “Well thank you for that,” she said gratefully, coming closer to the car so she could lean on it to reach over and extend her hand. “I’m Diamond Peterson, but most people call me Michelle.”
"Rob Nixon,” he said, treasuring the handshake not believing he was actually touching her silky warm skin. She was like a drug and just a little made one want more.
Before more could be said, the bus was coming. She pulled her hand away gently, waved goodbye gratefully and got on her bus.
Rob’s heart did a back flip at her perfect smile she graced him with before disappearing on the bus.
Part Four
All fricking night long, Rob’s mind was a million miles away. Even when his co-workers ragged him about his past, he didn’t flinch. He was too occupied with how he was going to strike up another conversation with Diamond.
He tested her name out on his lips since he’d driven away.
Even though others called her Michelle, he liked the name Diamond. He’d never owned one and the idea of making her his, incited feelings he hadn’t felt in a long time.
This was more than just physical for him and he knew meeting her couldn’t be a onetime thing.
But the past. . .
That thought lingered with him in the back of his mind, but that still didn’t stop him from thinking of possibilities with her.
With Saturday arriving, he knew there was no possibility of seeing her, yet still found himself looking at the corner where her bus stop was as he arrived home Saturday morning.
After getting a couple of hours of sleep, he showered and dressed to go into his appointment he had every Saturday. For the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel uncomfortable or confined as he sat in the lobby with everyone else who most likely was either like him or even worse.
Nick greeted him as he walked in the office and frowned. “You look different Rob,” he noted. “Are you feeling well?” Nick was a tall slim white man. As always he was dressed casual and looking as if he had just finished watching a football game.
As long as Rob had known Nick, he’d never seen the man get upset about anything and he hoped to have Nick’s casual calm that seemed to come too easy.
Being calm had never been Rob’s forte in the past.
To answer Nick’s questions, Rob could only shrug his shoulders. Nick couldn’t possibly know about the things going on in his head. “I’m fine.”
“How’s the job? The guys still bothering you since they found out about your past?”
Again he shrugged nonchalantly, “It’s fine, plus they didn’t find out about everything. Just the last shit I was sent up for and not even the whole explanation. I just let them believe what they wanted to believe. I don’t have to explain myself to anyone.”
“Now I’m worried,” Nick said seriously. “You’re never fine with anyone even speaking to you about the past. You even have problems talking about everything that happened. Sit down and tell me what’s happened?”
Rob didn’t mind telling Nick at all how his week had gone, but he did worry about what Nick would say about Diamond. In a way, Diamond had become Rob’s private joy and although sharing his first memory with Nick about Diamond, Rob felt really protective of her.
As if Nick was the parent and could take Rob’s new coveted toy away if he chose to and Rob couldn’t do anything about it.
After he finished, Nick drunk his coffee and raised a brow for a moment. Rob didn’t speak, but watched Nick’s facial nuances.
Nick’s deep blue eyes were real pensive for a long minute and he pushed his long fingers through his thick dirty blonde hair before speaking again. “This is the first time in a couple of years I’ve ever heard you speak about a girl.”
Rob corrected him. “She’s a woman.”
Nick wrote something down in his file. “Did you feel you could protect her from this big guy, Rob?”
“I wasn’t thinking about what that guy could do to me. But I didn’t think I was angry enough to hurt anyone. Not like…” He drifted off in what he was going to say because speaking of the past was still difficult. A sour taste always came into his mouth and he felt like someone was squeezing his heart real tight.
Nick wrote some more notes down in the file. “Are you taking your medicine?”
Now Rob felt a little uncomfortable. “Yes, I’ve been taking them.”
“On schedule?” Nick verified.
Trying to suppress his irritation, Rob shifted his weight uncomfortably. “Yes, I have Nick. I know it’s a part of my probation and I wouldn’t mess that up. I’m not going to do anything to go back to jail.”