Chapter Three
Becca
The silky coolness of the satin sheets felt amazing against my skin. I slowly opened one eye and then the other as I regained my bearings of exactly where I was. I loved the feeling of waking up in a strange place, but feeling safe. Chance’s king size bed provided the perfect safe haven. My fingers lightly traced the thin wisps of hair that fell over his ear as I stared at him, still sleeping. He was the sexiest man I had been with, ever. I considered how a month ago I was in a dead end job where I was over-worked and under-appreciated. The only romance in my life had been a series of bad blind dates. I gazed out the window and to the park below. The yellowish-orange glow of the sunrise reflected off of the surrounding buildings and provided a perfect start to the day.
I saw Chance’s smile out of the corner of my eye as he leaned over and kissed me. “Morning, gorgeous.” It was crazy how sexy he looked in the morning.
“Good morning to you too.” I rolled over, wrapping my arm around his strong, tanned chest. “This is really amazing, I wish I could wake up here every morning.”
“Yeah,” he whispered. “I’d like that too.”
“Some of us have to get into the office this morning, so I guess I should get going,” I joked as I rolled out of bed and looked at my phone. It was dead.
“Well, you do know the boss really well.” Chance smirked. “You could always go in late, join me for breakfast.”
“I wish.” I laughed as I leaned in, giving him kiss. “I have a ton to finish today, and I need to head home first. I’ll see you at the office?”
“You will. I promise.”
* * * *
Chance’s driver pulled up in front of my building. Having access to his driver had started to grow on me. It definitely beat cabs and public transportation. I fumbled through my purse for my keys as I slid out of the backseat of the car. I shook my head as I stared at the cop car out front. Maybe my parents were right, the city was nothing but grime and crime. Now it was closer to home than usual.
I could hear people talking on the other side of the apartment door as I reached to unlock it. As I fumbled with the lock, Melissa pulled open the door and immediately hugged me. “Jesus, Becca, I’ve been trying to call you all night.”
“What’s going on? I’m sorry, my phone battery was dead. Are you all right?” My chest tightened as I looked at the two police officers over Melissa’s shoulder. “Why are they here?”
A tall, dark-haired policeman with a thick New York accent stepped toward us. “Rebecca Carson?” he asked.
“Becca. Please. What’s this about?” I begged for answer as Melissa freed me from our embrace.
“Christopher Dunn. Do you know him, ma’am?”
“Yes she knows him!” Melissa blurted out. “We’ve been over this already.”
“Ma’am, please, we need to hear from Ms. Carson,” the second policeman chimed in.
“Yes, yes. I know him. Is he all right?” I panted.
“We have him in custody,” the dark haired policeman answered.
“What?” I felt my mouth fall open. “Why?”
“He had been spotted by your neighbors outside of your apartment building a few times. At the time of his arrest he had been intoxicated and violent. Upon inspection of his car we uncovered some suspicious items. This prompted us to get a warrant to search his apartment.”
“I can’t believe this.” I felt the room spinning. Nothing seemed real. “What kind of suspicious items?”
“We thought it best that you know that upon entering his apartment we found pictures of you taken on many different dates. At the time we arrested him, he had a small caliber handgun as well as a camera.”
“That asshole was stalking you!” Melissa cried out. “That creep was going to . . .”
“There’s no way of knowing for sure what he was planning,” the police officer interrupted Melissa as he stared at her. “But we just wanted to make sure you were aware of the situation, and that you know that everything is now under control.”
“Y-Yes,” I stammered as I made my way to the couch and sat down. I couldn’t believe what I had heard.
“Ms. Carson, we assure you. Mr. Dunn is no longer a threat to you. If you have any questions, you can reach someone at this number.” The policeman placed a card on the kitchen counter as the two officers made their way to the door.
“I’m so sorry, Becca,” Melissa said softly as she joined me on the couch. “I can’t believe I set you up with such a creep. He seemed so nice.”
“It’s okay.” I shook my head. “He had me fooled too.”
“And I’m sorry about before.” She pulled away and looked at me with her vibrant green eyes. “I know I overreacted. I went a little bridezilla on you.”
“You had every right.” I smiled at her softly and squeezed her hand. “It’s your day, and I get wanting to have all the people you love there. Trust me, I’m not going to miss your wedding.”
“I do.” She looked down at her hands. “Honestly I’m beating myself up over even thinking you weren’t going to show. It was stupid of me.”
“Seriously Melissa, don’t worry about it.” We smiled at each other. I hated fighting with her.
“So…” Melissa began sheepishly. “You slept over Chance’s, huh?”
“Yeah.” I smiled. Even with the shocking news about Chris, the thought of Chance just had a way of pulling me out of my funk.
Right now, all I wanted was to crawl back into bed with Chance.