He rolled his window down to see who was interrupting him in the middle of the night. He almost hoped it was a robber so he could have an excuse to pound his frustrations out on someone.
“What are you doing parked out here son?” a stern voice asked him. Derek had to suppress the smile that wanted to rise to his lips. Only in this type of area would an officer approach and call him son.
“Sorry officer, I got lost and was looking at my blackberry to figure out how to get turned around,” the lie rolled off his lips.
“Let me see your license and registration. You can shut the motor off while I check things out,” the officer said, suspiciously. Derek had to admit he did look suspicious, sitting in front of the home, in the family neighborhood. For all the officer knew, he was some robber, or stalker. He was a little uncomfortable, considering he was actually stalking Jasmine right then.
“Here you go,” Derek said, as he passed his information through the window. The officer looked at him again and then sidled back to his car. Derek was grateful the lights weren’t flashing. He was praying Jasmine was asleep in her house and would never know of this.
Derek was still angry with her but he didn’t need a confrontation in the middle of the night, with an officer as a witness and all the neighbors’ porch lights flashing on.
The officer was gone about ten minutes, enough to make him squirm a bit, like he was back in high school and had just stolen the mayor’s car, or something. What was wrong with him? He had nothing to worry about; he was a successful and respected business man.
“Looks like everything checks out. Can I give you any directions?” the officer asked, as he silently approached the window once more and shined his far too bright light inside the vehicle once more.
“No sir, I have it all figured out,” Derek said, just wanting to get on his way.
“Okay then, I will wait here while you get going,” he said, almost like a threat. It was definitely time for him to get going. He’d be back in the morning and hoped like hell there had was a shift change because he was sure if the same officer came by he was going to be a lot more suspicious.
Derek drove off and soon hit the main roads. He was wide awake and not thrilled to walk into his empty place. He lay down and hoped he could at least manage to get a few hours of sleep.
Chapter Seven
Jasmine woke up to the sound of pounding coming from somewhere. She wasn’t ever a morning person but the insistent pounding was putting her in a far worse mood than she normally woke up in.
She climbed out of her bed and stumbled down the stairs, not bothering to put on a robe to cover up her old t-shirt and short boxers. If the person was rude enough to wake her up early on a Saturday, then whoever it was could deal with her bedtime apparel.
She knew her hair would be frightening and her eyes still only half slits. Perhaps she’d scare the unwanted visitor enough to never call so early again. She yanked open the door, “What do you want at this ungodly hour?” she snapped before looking up.
She gasped at the sight of Derek standing on her front porch. He didn’t look too happy. She had no clue what he could possibly be doing on her front doorstep at any time, much less so early on a Saturday.
“Is that how you greet all your guests?” he asked, with a mocking smile.
“Number one, you’re not my guest and number two, most people are smart enough not to show up at my doorstep at the break of dawn, on a weekend,” she snapped back at him, not even caring she was being rude.
She inhaled the scent of coffee and her eyes widened as she sought out the wonderful aroma. He was holding two large cups and she was fighting with herself on whether to shut the door in his face, or make a grab for the cup. She was awake now and she wanted that coffee badly.
Derek had to fight the smile from coming across his features at the pure look of lust that came into her eyes as she spotted the coffee he was holding. He’d made a last minute decision to swing by and grab it. Even after only a week of working with her, he already knew she wasn’t a happy person until she’d downed her first cup. He’d learned to wait to speak to her until she was at least half-way through the mug.
He held it out as a peace offering, forgetting for a moment he was there to demand answers from her. She greedily grabbed the cup and took a large sip with a sigh.
He felt the sigh all the way down to his toes. Damn she could go from almost frightening to downright exotic in a split second. He wanted that look on her face as he slipped deep inside her body. His pants were getting far too tight, the more his thoughts strayed.
“Um, thanks for the coffee, now go away and come back at a descent hour,” she said and began shutting the door in his face. He was so shocked at being dismissed so completely he almost allowed her to slam the door. At the last second he put his foot in the door, stopping her progress. He looked at her like she’d lost her mind.