Page 13 of Laying it Bare on the Run

A few tears slipped down my cheeks when I thought about Vincent. But thankfully, all of the wetness wasn’t signifying my grief but rather a small part was filled with my love for him.

“Thank you. I still miss him dearly but the grief isn’t trying to swallow me whole right now. I believe being here with you is a huge reason why.”

“Well, I’m glad I can be here for you.” His eyes fell briefly to my mouth before he switched his attention back to his food.

Smiling to myself and hoping I didn’t imagine that, I finished eating and then helped him clean up the kitchen. After everything was wiped down and put away, I changed into a t-shirt and yoga pants. Then I met Cannon out on his small deck which overlooked a small creek that ran through his back yard. He was sprawled on a wooden swing that hung from the ceiling. He patted the spot beside him and gave me an inviting smile. Maybe I hadn’t imagined his earlier interest in my lips. That thought gave me delightful little shivers that I had no business having, but I couldn’t help myself. I wouldn’t act on them, but what was the harm in dreaming? I’d been plagued by nightmares for so long it was a pleasant change in my brain activity.

He had traded his lounge pants for a pair of low hanging jeans and thankfully – or who was I kidding, much to my disappointment – had put on an army green colored t-shirt. But even though I could no longer gaze at his awesome abs I still had a nice view of his impressive biceps.

After I sat down beside him, he slung his arm around my shoulders and began pushing the swing with his long legs.

“You have an awesome view back here.” Along with the small creek that also ran down into the neighbor’s yard, he had a nice grassy area on the side closest to us, and on the other side of the creek trees grew thicker the farther they traveled into the surrounding woods.

“And it is calming out here. That’s one of the reasons I had us sit on the swing rather than inside on the couch. I figured you could use some serious relaxation. It’s not a good yard for someone who has kids but I don’t need to worry about that right now. Instead it’s really nice to be able to come out here and chill.”

His comment made me think of something. “You had told your friends you’d see them tonight. I don’t want to ruin your plans with your buddies. I hope you are still planning on going out with them. I can just hang out here if that’s okay with you?” I really didn’t mind too much being left alone. It was such a slim chance that Waik would find me here. He knew I was on the run but even if he figured out the direction I took off in, what were the odds he’d be able to pinpoint my exact whereabouts unless I started showing my face in town. Which I had no intention of doing. But when I really thought about it; I didn’t exactly like the idea of Cannon going out to a bar where he might run into a girl who carried less baggage than me, which would make her more desirable. And it would definitely be easier for him to be with someone who didn’t have the kind of shit storm I had pounding down on me. And then he’d become interested in her. And then . . .

“Why don’t you come out with me?” Cannon’s question brought me out of my thoughts.

“I can’t. People are going to be looking for me after that news clip. I don’t want to draw attention. I can’t chance them recognizing me.” I wished my situation were different so I would have the courage to go. It would help guarantee he wouldn’t meet another girl, because he was too great of a guy to do that if I were sitting there with him.

“Let me call my sergeant.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, clicked on it, and then put it up to his ear. “Hey, Greg it’s Cannon.” A pause. “No I don’t miss you so much I had to call and hear your voice, you fucker.” He chuckled. “Listen, did you see that segment on the news earlier about Vincent Key?” He listened for a moment. “Yeah, that’s the one. It’s a bunch of bullshit. I can fill you in on everything when I come in on Sunday but for now if someone calls in about the girl, Harper, can you just table it? She’s not a suspect.” A longer pause. “I’ve spoken with her at great lengths and have some things I’ll want your help on to look into this.” Cannon nodded and then he smirked. “No, it’s not payback for those long ass shifts you put me through. We’re looking at something really big here, Sarge.” Cannon grimaced. “Thanks, Greg. I’ll see ya later.”

He offered me an enchanting smile. “So if anyone reports anything, they won’t be coming for you. You don’t have to worry over that. Although, I don’t want you worrying about anything. I’ll protect you. And I’ll help you with this.”

“But I still don’t want the attention of people recognizing me. I need to stay under the radar. If they come by the table and start saying something, word could get back to Waik. I’m positive he has eyes and ears across quite a few states. I’m not sure how far his reach goes.”

“What if you wear your hair in a ponytail and wear a ball cap? No one is going to look closely because I doubt anyone really paid much attention to that news segment. And you’re going to be sitting with a bunch of cops.”

I grimaced.

“Hey, what was that face? They aren’t complete assholes. I promise.” His lips twitched.

“They tackled me the first night they met me.”

“That’s because you attacked me. And at first I thought you were a guy so I’m sure they did too and figured they’d need to use all of their strength to hold you. I’m sorry about that.” He gave my shoulder a quick squeeze. “I’ll make them apologize to you. Unless you don’t want them to know it’s you. I’m okay with that. We don’t have to tell them anything you don’t want to. We can make up a story about how we met.”

“No, I don’t want to lie to them. And I’m so over being embarrassed by anything. I don’t care if they know it’s me from last night. Besides, I look and smell a hell of a lot better now so there’s that.” I was trying to be witty and hoped I didn’t come off as flirtatious. But I was finding it to be increasingly easy to do so with him.

“Well, I could see your beauty even last night.” He cleared his throat. “But you are definitely more presentable now for going out in public.” He shot me a teasing grin.

Too late, his words gave me shivers again even though he then tried to go for playful. But one thing at a time. Could I handle going out tonight? I had been hiding in the shadows for two months and the thought of someone seeing me sent a wave of panic stabbing into my chest. But I worried he wouldn’t go out if I chose to stay here. “Okay, since you think it’s a good idea. I’ll try the hat thing. Hopefully your sister left something other than yoga pants, like a pair of jeans or something. This is nice for around the house but not for going out to a bar.”

His eyes held a few emotions as he gazed at me. But I needed to get to know him better before I could start sifting through my own feelings and be able to talk about them. “So, you’ll go?” His voice was full of excitement.

“Sure. It’s not like I had any other big plans for tonight. What night is it anyway?”

“It’s Thursday.”

“Yeah, Thursday nights I usually don’t have anything special planned.” I couldn’t help but tease back. “But I also don’t feel right about you paying for me. It’s not an embarrassment thing it’s an ‘I don’t want to take advantage’ thing. You are already giving me a place to stay and food. You have no idea how grateful I am for that.”

“I can see it in your face. Last night, you weren’t looking for anything from me except to leave you alone. But I chose to help you. So it’s not taking advantage if I want to do it. You’re my guest and I hope my friend so I’m treating my friend to a night out.”

As much as I wasn’t sure if it was really right to agree to his offerings, it was nice to have someone take care of me. I’d been so alone and full of fear and grief that I couldn’t help but jump at the chance to have someone provide for me a safe haven. Even if it was only for a brief amount of time. And a chance to be normal for a night, yes sign me up. “Okay, you make good arguments. Maybe you should have been an attorney instead.”

“Then I wouldn’t have met you.” He pulled me a little closer to his side, allowing his warmth to surround me, providing an additional feeling of being protected. And the motion of the swing helped calm my racing nerves and soothed my troubled soul.

We spent a couple of hours outside, enjoying the warmth and serenity, before we headed inside for dinner. Cannon made chicken parmesan while I convinced him to allow me to cut up vegetables for the salad.

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