When I'm Gone(30)

The slick black BMW was hard to miss as it pulled into the parking lot. Even without seeing the wheels or the blond guy in the driver’s seat, I knew it was him. No one in this apartment complex drove a car like that. I pulled my backpack up onto my shoulder and took a deep breath. Jimmy wouldn’t send someone to get me who was dangerous. I could do this. I could.

The driver’s-side door opened, and a tall guy with blond hair that curled just below his ears smiled at me. He had dark sunglasses on, so I couldn’t see his eyes. However, he seemed safe. His smile was friendly, and again, Jimmy trusted him.

“Are you Reese?” he asked.

I nodded and stepped off the sidewalk and toward his car.

“Only Jimmy,” Thad said, shaking his head and chuckling.

I didn’t ask him what that meant. “Thanks for driving me. I’ll pay for your gas,” I told him as I got into the car.

Thad frowned. “Uh, no, you won’t. I can give a beautiful girl a ride to work and back.”

I didn’t tense when he called me beautiful. That was a positive sign. I was progressing. Not all men were bad. Jimmy, Mase, and Dr. Munroe had taught me that. Then there was the way Grant Carter adored his wife and child. My thoughts about men were changing. The longer I stayed in Rosemary Beach, the more I saw the good side of humanity.

“Did Jimmy tell you to take me to the Kerrington Club? I can walk to work from there.” Lately, Jimmy had been taking me to the houses I worked at instead of letting me walk. It was something I knew Mase had mentioned to him.

“I was told you needed to be taken to Nan’s today. I hear she’s coming back in the next two weeks. Oh, joy,” Thad said, looking at me like I understood what he was talking about.

I had never met Nan, but from what everyone, including her brother, said about her, I wasn’t sure I wanted to. I liked cleaning her house. I needed that job. But she was beginning to terrify me. I would have to tell her about the mirror when she returned. I dreaded that. “I don’t think I’m looking forward to meeting her,” I admitted to Thad. “No one seems to like her very much.”

Thad let out a bark of laughter. “Understatement of the year.”

Oh, wow. I wished she could just stay in Paris.

“You heard those shots last night?” Thad asked, changing the subject. “Seeing the crime-scene tape is freaky shit.”

I nodded and pushed the memory of last night out of my head. “Yeah,” was my only response. Then I focused my attention out the window. I didn’t want to talk about the shooting.

“Sorry. If she was your friend or something. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”

I continued looking out the window. “I didn’t know her,” I told him.

He was quiet then. I should probably have spoken up and not made it so awkward, but I wasn’t sure what to say.

When he pulled up to Nan’s gate and followed the curve of her driveway, I was relieved. I was looking forward to cleaning and enjoying my quiet time alone.

“I’ll pick you up here around three.”

“Yes, thank you.” As weird as it was taking a ride from a stranger, it was nice to get to work faster.

Thad gave me a crooked grin. “No problem.”



That night, I told Mase about Jimmy leaving and Thad giving me a ride. He didn’t seem thrilled by this, but I didn’t ask him about it. We were friends, nothing more. Instead, I read two chapters to him. Just before we hung up, he asked me if I was in my pajamas yet.

“Yes,” I replied, looking down at the cutoff sweats and tank top.

He sighed, then chuckled. “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. Good night, Reese.”

“Good night, Mase.”

“Sweet dreams.”

He had no idea how sweet they would turn out to be.





Mase


My coffee was brewing, and I hadn’t put on anything other than a pair of jeans, when a knock on my door disturbed my morning routine.

Annoyed, thinking it was Major here an hour early, I went and jerked open the door, ready to scowl at him. Instead, it was Cordelia.

She hadn’t called or shown up since I had sent her home almost a month ago. I didn’t step back and let her inside, because in the past, all our business had to do with sex, and I wasn’t doing that anymore. Not when I was getting in deeper with Reese every day.

“I’m in love with you,” she blurted out, as her eyes filled with tears.

Holy fuck, I did not need this today. Or any day. Cordelia was not ever supposed to fall in love with me. We’d had sex. That was it. Never any cuddling or kissing, just fucking.

Dammit.

“Cordelia, I’m sorry. But we went into that relationship knowing it was just a sex thing. I didn’t know you had deeper feelings or were developing them. I would have put a halt to it a long time ago.”