spicy aftershave flooded her nostrils, and she was filled with the sudden desire to taste him, all over.
“Enjoy your bubble bath.”
Rachel ate her soup, which was delicious, and filled the tub with hot water and bubbles as she sipped her coffee. It was incredibly strong but very flavorful, and she sipped on it as she soaked in the tub. She added warm water a couple of times, and after an hour or so, she finally let the bath water out. Her head felt much better, and she knew Eli’s remedy must have helped.
All the peppers in the soup did open up her sinuses, and the
extreme caffeine jolt had her feeling ready to take on the world.
Rachel placed the vase containing the sweet smelling roses on the nightstand then settled in bed. She thought about Eli as she looked at
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Heather Rainier
the flowers and wondered at the significance of the single red rose in the center.
She recalled there was an old poem that spoke of the different
sentiments behind rose colors and wound up googling the meanings of each color. A florist’s website provided the answer and she felt her cheeks warm as she read it. Orange roses symbolized strong passion.
Orange was a blending of red, which signified love, and yellow,
which symbolized friendship. Orange roses could serve as a bridge between the two, signifying the desire of the giver for more than friendship with the receiver. Then there was the single red rose amongst the orange ones. Rachel could only use her imagination
about what message he was sending with it.
After working on her manuscript until late into the evening,
Rachel fell asleep. She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone woke her from a sound sleep pounding on her front door.
Her Gentle Giant, Part 1: No Regrets
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Chapter Two
Eli felt like his head had just hit the pillow when the cell phone on his bedside table began whistling and vibrating. Rubbing his eyes, he looked at the display before he answered. Mike Esparza, close friend and fellow bouncer at The Dancing Pony, was calling him at three in the morning and that couldn’t be good. He answered as he sat up and flung the sheet and blanket back.
“Yeah.”
“We’re headed to Rachel’s. She just called. Her apartment building is on fire.”
Eli went cold. “Shit! Is she all right?” He turned on his lamp and reached for his leathers.
“Yeah, she was warned in time by neighbors. Her parents are out of town, and she hasn’t been able to reach them. When I talked to her, she asked me to call you. Bring your truck.”
“I’ll be there in three minutes.” He ended the call, zipped his pants, and slung a T-shirt on. Shoving his feet in his heavy leather boots, he was out the door in less than thirty seconds. He jogged past his Harley parked under the carport and jumped in his truck. He backed out of the duplex’s driveway and laid a track of rubber, not worried about waking any neighbors. The other side of the duplex was vacant at the moment.
He turned the corner and saw the source of the orange glow he’d been watching in the sky for the last couple of minutes. Fire trucks and ambulances lined the street in the residential neighborhood. Hoses crisscrossed the barricaded street, so he parked along the curb behind Mike’s pickup truck. The firefighters and police were keeping residents and onlookers from getting too close, and most stood in the yards across the street.
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Being six-nine and 275 pounds paid off again because he could see over every head there. Everyone got out of his way instinctively as he moved through the crowd looking for Rachel. He found Mike and Rogelio Flores, the other bouncer at The Dancing Pony, where they stood with her on the curb. She seemed so tiny and vulnerable, standing next to the two very large men, and her beautiful, sooty face was strained with tension as she watched the flames lick from her living room window. A draft stirred ash in the air, and he felt the heat of the fire on the wind as it ruffled her long, tousled hair.
He stepped off the curb and blocked her view momentarily as she looked up at him, and her lower lip trembled.
* * * *
A parade of emotions flashed through Rachel’s mind as she looked up at Eli. She had steeled herself for what was happening as much as possible. If she fell to pieces, how was she going to capably deal with the aftermath of the fire?
She fought her tears as she looked up at Eli, his eyes partially hidden in shadow when the flames leapt into the sky behind him. He looked down at her with tenderness and compassion as his fingers wiped at the soot on her cheeks. He looked like a dark avenging angel with his long coal-black hair loose behind his back. Her view of the burning building was completely blocked by his massive, muscular shoulders and extreme height. Backlit by the glow from the fire raging across the street, he seemed even larger.