Chapter 5
The Unexpected
Katelyn
The slamming of a car door pulled Katelyn out of a deep, dreamless sleep. She started, shifting so rapidly that she sent Missy flying off her lap.
Her heart slammed against her ribs, her pulse spiked and her breathing went wild. A cold sweat broke out over her entire body. She leaned forward at the corner of the window and parted the blinds with a shaking hand, peeking out discreetly.
She breathed a sigh of relief. It was only a cab, parked just behind her car. Surely John wouldn’t take a damn cab there to come and find her. That wasn’t her ex-husband’s style. If he didn’t have the latest, newest, flashiest of anything, he was doing something wrong, and that included his car.
The back door of the white and red cab opened and the tall, broad, familiar form of her neighbor appeared. The man whose name she didn’t even know though she’d been living next to him for almost a year.
One big black, shitkicker of a boot, probably steel toed in a size thirteen, hit the pavement. He followed that up with the other and shut the door. Hard. Hard enough to make an echo. She wondered which car door woke her in the first place. Had the driver got out for something or was it someone else entirely?
She glanced down guiltily at her cat, who stared up at her, a ruffled expression on her face. “Sorry, girl. I didn’t mean to throw you off me like that.” She patted her lap, but Missy snubbed her, walking off in favor of the kitchen and her food bowl.
Katelyn glanced back out the blinds. Her index finger rested there, parting them as though peeking out at her neighbor in the middle of the night was a perfectly ordinary occurrence for her. She was about to let go, let those blinds fall back into their closed position, shutting off the outside world, but she just couldn’t. Something was off. It captured her attention and held her frozen, locked in place like a peeping Tom.
The massive guy was clad in his normal leather jacket and jeans. Only the black leather chaps were missing since his bike was parked in his stall adjacent to her car. He’d obviously been at the bar. Drinking, if the sway in his step was any indication.
He stumbled across the asphalt parking lot towards the sidewalk which led to his front door. Katelyn held her breath. Good lord, he’s a mess. She’d gladly put down a bet of sizable amount that he wasn’t going to make it to the front door.
And damn it, she would have won that bet.
The guy took a halting, sideways leaning step onto the sidewalk. He didn’t quite hit it at the right angle. His foot turned sideways, catching on the lip and he went down. Hard. Katelyn winced.
What the hell do I do know? Shut the blinds and pretend he’s not out there? She waited, sure he would pick himself up. Guys like him, they didn’t need any help. Certainly not from the likes of her. He’d get up. Get up and get into his house. It was only another fifteen feet or so.
Get up. Come on. She leaned forward, her hand cramping on the blind. He’d get up. He’d get up and get on with it. Chances were if he was hammered or on something, he’d been on it before. He could take care of himself. He looked scary as hell. People would stay away.
Except, what if they didn’t? What if the guy passed out and someone mugged him? What if he rolled onto his back and choked on his own vomit? What if he died right there on the sidewalk and she could have done something to stop it from happening? She could just imagine the ambulance showing up in the morning, the black corner’s bag.
Okay, this is getting out of control.
A violent chill traveled up her spine. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had to do something.
She was still wearing her work clothes from earlier. She’d shed the blazer, but she had on her black dress pants and the red, flowy blouse. It was sheer, with gold buttons down the front. She’d paired it with a black camisole underneath. It was both professional and airy enough that she wouldn’t die in the sticky Miami heat.
She couldn’t say why, but she felt the need to throw on another layer. To cover up the sheer parts of her blouse, as though one chance look of that man’s eyes on her skin underneath would change her, alter her, in ways that she wasn’t at all prepared for.
Enough. This is beyond ridiculous.
Katelyn stood slowly. Her shoulders squared into a forward set position. She clenched down on her teeth so hard her jaw ached. Her hands formed into tight little fists at her sides. It was a resolute stance, and she knew it.
As she walked to the front door, slipped into a pair of flip flops and stepped outside, she just hoped no one else was watching. She didn’t want people to think she was mixed up with her neighbor in some weird, middle of the night, cover of darkness kind of way.
Her neighbor still hadn’t moved. He was kind of on his side, one arm thrown out to try and block the blow to his head. The other was draped haphazardly over his waist. His hand trailed down his leg.
Up close, he was even larger. The size of him was astounding. He wasn’t that tall, although he was over six feet, she’d bet. It was the width of his chest, the breadth of his shoulders, the biceps under that jacket that probably bulged with muscle. His hands were the size of hams.
Katelyn bent next to the guy’s face. She was more than a little unnerved to realize his lips weren’t as thin as they looked from her window. No, those lips were the kind that should smile. They’d look beautiful that way, turned up, a light pink, a tone that didn’t exactly belong on a man. His square jawline sported the shadow of a beard, thick and dark black, like his hair. That hair was mussed and overhung his forehead. It looked a little boyish, messy and out of place like that. His eyes were closed and long, thick lashes rested against his cheek. Those kind of lashes also had no place on a man. Any woman would kill to have them.
Why the hell am I thinking about any of this? She reached out, hand trembling, and placed it on the guy’s shoulder. The leather of his jacket was warm from the close heat of the night. No. It’s warm from his skin right below it. Katelyn took a deep, steadying breath, which was entirely a mistake. The rich, dusky scent of the guy’s natural smell mingled with a light cologne, something woodsy, and stale whiskey. The combination should have been nauseating, but it was far from it. Instead a strange heat pooled low in her belly and thighs.
She closed her eyes tight, ashamed of her visceral reaction. She understood what it was, excused herself for it even. Who could possibly be this close to a man like him and not be affected? It was just biology. Just sheer, annoying, aching biology. It meant nothing.
Katelyn finally pulled herself together enough to realize she was gaping at the guy, which was doing nothing at all to actually solve the problem of getting him off the sidewalk and into his condo. Her hand still rested on his shoulder and she applied pressure, shaking it gently. Of course nothing happened. She shook harder. Nothing. Finally she clamped her hand over what little she could reach of the guy’s shoulder. She dug her fingers deep into the warm, supple leather and shook with all her might.
The guy’s deep groan, pulled from the bottom of his chest or belly and squeezed out his throat, startled her. She gasped, falling away.
Those long lashes fluttered hard, as though it took a herculean effort to unglue his eyes. They were dark, nearly as black as his hair, but bloodshot and bleary. She could tell it was a struggle for him to focus them on her face.
“Who… where the hell?” He slurred, clearly trying to figure out what was going on.
Katelyn sighed. “You got out of the cab. It woke me up. I looked out the window and saw you stumbling around. You- uh- looked passed out right on the sidewalk. I’m your neighbor. I live right next door to you.” She pointed. He made a futile effort to follow her finger and winced. “Do you think you can stand up? This place is pretty respectable. People won’t like it if you’re drunk on the sidewalk here in the morning.”
“Saving my reputation- a true- true… hero,” he finally slurred out. Even messy, sloppy, whiskey soaked, his voice was beautiful. Deep and firm, but somehow almost musical.
I am insane. She was even more ashamed of the heat spreading over her face than she was of her wayward thoughts. It’s just biology.
“Do you think you can get up? Really I don’t care what people think. I was more worried you’d puke and choke on it and I’d be responsible for your death since I did nothing to help.”
“Guilty by association.” The words flew out, garbled, running into each other. It took her a second to realize what it was he’d said. She was a little shocked that he had a sense of humor. Maybe it was just the whiskey. She knew people were different when they drank. “Where you from? I like the way you sound.”
She realized he was talking about her accent. People either loved or hated it and she knew it was going to stick with her for life though she’d been gone from England for three years.
“London,” she muttered. “Can you please just try and get up?”
“Don’t… know.” The guy did make an effort to shift upwards. He tried to get his arm underneath himself and propel his body into an upward stance. He got about half way, to his knees. He paused, breathing heavily. She watched as beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.
“Are you okay? Do you want me to try and help?” She reached out anyway, though he didn’t respond, and braced her hands on his shoulder. He was all soft leather and damp heat under her fingertips and she liked it in an elemental way. In a way that she’d remember and want more of. No. Don’t even go there.
She knew her help was pretty much useless. She was like a trembling leaf trying to move a massive tree. She pulled anyway, trying to get the guy to his feet.
Once he was up, after long minutes of pulling and panting, struggling and sweating, wavering and nearly falling again, he paused. Her hands slid away from his shoulders, to his lower arm, though she knew she was doing almost nothing to support him.
“Do you think you can manage now? Where are your keys?”
“Keys?”
“Yah. Keys. You know, to get in your condo?”
“The door has a keypad.”
“Oh.” She flushed, feeling slightly archaic. “Okay. Do you know what the code is? Maybe I can help you?”
He rattled off a set of numbers she didn’t quite catch. Katelyn decided to let it go. They still had fifteen feet to go before they even reached the door. At the rate they were going, it seemed like a very long way.
“Here we go,” she slowly coached, encouraging him to take a step. He did put one foot out, then the other. He was making forward progress. She was just about to get hopeful when he stopped. Her eyes swiveled to his face in question. Sweat was literally pouring off his hairline and running down his face. His face was gray, pallid in that sickly sort of way.
She realized he was going to be sick. Luckily when he bent, he bent in the opposite direction. The sidewalk was bordered with white rock and a few shrubby bushes trying to survive under the hot summer sun.
Ugh. I was so not wrong about the whole vomiting thing. What if he’d done that when he was on his side or worse, his back? She shuddered. Some people couldn’t stand sick people, but she’d never been particularly bothered by it. That or blood. She should have been a nurse.
When it was over, the guy straightened. He wavered a little, spat and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Are you alright?” It was a stupid question. One she didn’t expect an answer to.
Oddly enough he turned to her, those dark eyes of his filled up with an emotion she knew all too well. Pain. Pain laced with sorrow, grief, regret.
She’d never been a drinker. She never could drink to forget. She’d tried it once or twice. It didn’t work out. All the alcohol did was accentuate her problems.
“Okay. Let’s just get you inside.” Her voice was warmed by compassion. She hadn’t expected there to be any sort of vulnerability or even humanity in the guy’s eyes. What is wrong with me? Do tattoos and leather make someone less human? She was ashamed of herself. She was just like everyone else, the people she couldn’t stand, making snap judgments based on appearance.
The guy was intimidating, that much was certain. His size alone and massive bearing could strike fear into most hearts, but she was helplessly drawn in to the softness he probably never meant to reveal.
After he’d ejected what looked like a couple of gallons of whiskey onto the rocks and bushes, he seemed a little better. At least he took his next few steps without falling over, though he did waver a little.
Katelyn stayed by his side, supporting him. The two steps up to his door were a challenge. The guy leaned heavily on her, using her like a crutch. It was a good thing she was stable and strong enough or he would easily have pushed her over.
“Six, two, three, nine.” He rattled off the numbers, letting her punch them into the code pad. The door whined for a second then clicked.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she tried the handle and it turned. The door gave way. The guy stepped over his threshold, propelling them both into the front entrance.
Katelyn tried not to look around. The place was dark. It had pretty much the same layout as hers though it was laid out in reverse. Entrance, kitchen to the right, living room after that. She knew where the hall would be that led to his bedroom and the bathroom.
“Are you alright if I leave you from here? You’re not going to pass out and choke and die?”
His not so thin lips actually quirked up in the ghost of a smile. He looked no worse for wear for having just been sick outside. He’d done so as neatly as he could, sparing his clothes and shoes.
Something bleak and awful passed over his face. A shadow that told her, at least in that moment, he wouldn’t exactly have cared. “No. I think I’ve endured enough humiliation for one night.” He tried to use dry humor to mask his pain, but she didn’t miss it.
She knew all about that hopeless feeling, that bleak, gray horizon that seemed to go on forever. She was no stranger to pain or heartbreak. She got the impression, and god knew she might have been wrong, that it was worse than that for him. That whatever he was going through trumped the hell out of her divorce and her crazy ex who just couldn’t damn well leave her well enough alone.
Katelyn wanted to say something, but what was there to say? He was drunk. He probably wouldn’t even remember any of it in the morning anyway. She wasn’t exactly the one who could offer reassurances.
“Alright then,” she whispered, her voice far softer than she intended. Her heart clenched hard in her chest, for the first time in years, bleeding for someone other than herself. “I’ll leave you to it then.” Although to what, exactly, she wasn’t sure.
“Thanks. Sorry about the sidewalk.” He stepped away and lifted a hand to his mussed hair, running his fingers through it, wrecking it further. It stood out at odd angles, draping over the closely cropped parts.
“I’ll never look at it the same way again.” Her softly spoken joke hung in the air between them before she turned and left. She let herself out awkwardly, shutting the door behind her.
I’ll never look at it the same away again. No, I’ll keep seeing those damn pain filled eyes, those lips, those long lashes. I’ll keep feeling his heat in my palm… Her hand stung just thinking about it. She stumbled down the steps, walked away from the nasty area by the sidewalk and finally made it to her front door. She felt as wobbly and drunk as her neighbor had been.
All that and I still don’t know his name.
As Katelyn slammed her front door behind her and leaned heavily against it, shoulders heaving with hard, heavy breaths, she realized it didn’t matter. She was banking on the fact that the guy wouldn’t remember anything at all.