Clean Lines (Cedar Tree #4) (26 page)

"Mmmm..." she moans in my mouth and I tear myself away forcefully.

"Inside. Food first."

With a high flush on her face Naomi blows out air through her pursed lips.

"I'm thinking maybe a cold shower."

"Babe, no talk of showers, please. I'm trying to behave. Showers equal nudity. You and showers equals me coming in my jeans like a pimple-faced teenager any minute now. Have mercy."

The soft giggle as she slides out of the truck does little to relieve my situation, and I forcefully adjust myself getting out.

"You should've waited. I would've gotten the door for you."

"I know," she says, slipping her arm around my waist, "but I wanted to give you a chance to...calm the beast?"

"This is why you were gone all day." Naomi walks around the large living space touching the few pieces of her furniture the boys and I moved over here earlier.

"I didn't know where you would want everything so I just guessed, but it can be easily moved around if you like. We only brought over some basic stuff for now. The rest we'll do this weekend or whenever you want." I start rambling a bit when I see a deep frown appear on her forehead. Hadn't really considered she could get pissed. I'd been so focussed on getting her out on a date to a place she would love, but where I could make sure she was safe at the same time. Her new place seemed the perfect solution.

"I'm sorry if I—" I'm cut off when she suddenly turns and throws her arms around my neck.

"It's perfect," comes her mumbled voice from my neck.

I snake my arms around her waist. "Yeah?"

The furious nodding against my chin is my answer and I let out a sigh of relief. Thank fuck I didn't screw that up. I was worried there for a minute.

"Come. I have food." I try to step away before my body gets too distracted with hers again, but this time she holds on, her face tilted back; dark eyes full of emotion.

"Joe, I lo—"

I swallow her words, with my mouth on hers. Not gonna let her live the rest of our lives thinking maybe I gave her those words because I felt I had to. No fucking way. She'll hear it from me first and the right way. I pull back tentatively, replacing my lips with my fingers and when I see the hurt in her eyes, I know I have to be fast or this is going to hell in a hand basket.

"Beautiful, please... let me? Trust me?" I hold her chin when she tries to look away, trying to show it all in the way I look at her. Slowly I see the sting disappear from her eyes and the warmth returning. With a crisp nod, she concedes.

"Let's eat," I say leading her to the bar in the kitchen where I laid out two place settings earlier when I dropped off the insulated bag with the food from the diner. Appliances were not coming until this Saturday, otherwise I would've cooked something. Waiting till then wasn’t an option.

"Pretty." Naomi smiles when I light the candles I set up around the room. I'm a long way out of my comfort zone here, but I want to make her feel special.

During dinner I tell her a little about my parents, about losing them when I was still fairly young and about my strained relationship with my dad. One I never really had a chance to resolve. Give a bit of background on my friendship with Gus and then I ask her about her past. Though hesitant at first, she tells me she too was an only child and had a great childhood, but lost her parents in an accident shortly after Fox was born. She's happy they never knew how bad her marriage had been. We give some insight and tell stories back and forth, sharing anecdotes and memories and slowly get to see a more complete picture of the other. This is what I wanted tonight to be about. Well, that and getting in some skin to skin time. Well hell, I am a guy.

"Leave that. Come sit with me."

I'm lounging on the couch watching Naomi put shit away in the kitchen.

"Just a sec."

"Doc," I say firmly, "Quit stalling and get over here."

With an eye roll, but a small smile at the corner of her mouth, Naomi wipes her hands and slowly walks over to where I'm sitting and grabs the hand I'm holding out. When she goes to sit next to me, I give her a little jerk so she lands on my lap. Right where I want her. I push her back so her head leans against the armrest and I can look down into her eyes and touch her face. I trace the lines and edges of her face with my fingers.

"Do you even know how beautiful you are?"

She scrunches her face up at that and gives a small shrug. "I'm just average, Joe."

"Quiet. You're always beautiful. After pulling a twelve-hour shift you look just as beautiful as when you started it. When you first wake up in the morning, you're as stunning as when you are dressed to go out. It doesn't matter under what circumstances I see you, you're always knock-out gorgeous. But you know when you take my breath away the most? When you make my heart skip in my chest? It's when you're smiling. Happy. That's when the high beams go on. When all of you comes shining out all at once and it's damn near blinding. I want to be responsible for putting that smile on your face. I want to be the one who gets to make you happy. I love you, beautiful. So much it makes me crazy. Can't tell you when it started, but I know it feels like the most natural thing in the world."

Her mouth is half open and the eyes looking up at me are large and a liquid brown.

"You're gonna catch flies." With a finger under her chin I gently close her mouth and smile as she swallows and blinks. Leaning down I touch my mouth to hers, tracing her lips with my tongue before I slide my fingers into her hair and tilt her head for better access.  When I start kissing along her jaw and down her neck, I'm interrupted by the buzzing of my phone.

"Fuck." All too aware this could be important, I kiss Naomi on the nose before sitting up and fishing out my phone to look at the screen. Not quite believing what I’m seeing, I tap my finger on the screen to get a closer look.

"Is this some kind of joke?"

I
'm a puddle.

The lights, the date, the food; all of it, so thoughtful and ridiculously sweet. I almost lose it when he stops me from spilling my heart all over him. Almost run for the door then, but when he asks me to trust him, there is nothing but warmth and tenderness in his eyes and fighting down the urge to take off and hide somewhere, I stay. Fuck am I glad I stayed. Talking about our childhood, our life before we met is a little awkward at first, but nice...so nice. He doesn't run off when I tell him about my bouts of depression after the death of my parents, nor does he seem to make a big fuss about it. Same as with the panic attacks, he appears to take everything in stride. And I've been so worried that a man like that, one who had been marked once before by someone with mental health issues, would be at the very least sceptical or suspicious. Not Joe. He simply asks how I would deal with things or what some of my triggers could be and leaves it at that. Huh.

Now he gives me these words; the truth of his feelings visible in his eyes and spilling from his lips. Beautiful sentiments about me. His full attention so focused on my face, as I'm laying back on his lap. These things he sees in me, make my chest swell like a bubble about to burst. When he says 'I love you,' it fills me to the brim. I want to tell him...it's been on my lips so many times before, but just when I'm about to, we are interrupted by his phone.

"What's wrong? What is that?" I try to get a peek at the picture he is looking at on his screen, but I don't see much more than a blur. Before I get a chance to take a better look, he is dialing with one hand and grabbing my hand with the other.

"Neil. Good. Everything okay there?"

I raise my eyebrows in question and struggle to sit upright. Joe helps me up before pulling me against his chest, his arm wrapped firmly around me.

"Nothing then? No disturbances? Okay good. I'm forwarding a text from an unknown number I just received. Check the image and carefully ask Fox if that is his ball cap. If you have to obscure part of the picture, do it. I'm calling Gus next."

When he disconnects, I immediately try to grab the phone from him.

"What the hell, Joe? Show me."

"I will. I'm sorry, I needed to make sure first." When he pulls up the text, I can barely see. The image is so small, but then he clicks on it. A Coyotes’ cap. Covered in blood with a bullet hole right in the center. My hand goes up to my mouth, whether to stifle a scream or hold back the vomit that's threatening to come up, I don't know, but Joe grabs my shoulders firmly and gives me a little shake.

"He's fine. That's why I needed to call first. Fox is just fine. Now let me quickly send this off and then I'm going to call Gus to give him a head's up. Are you holding it together?"

I am. I am holding it together dammit, so I nod my head in the affirmative. Half listening to Joe's conversation with Gus, I hear Gus is coming here and catch that Malachi will head over to the motel to keep an eye out as well. That's good, but I still want to pick my baby up right away. So when Joe hangs up, I try to get up, but he holds me back.

"What? Let's go."

"Naomi, think for a minute. Why would someone send a picture like that when there is an easy way to check he's safe? What would be their objective?" He looks at me intently, and I'm struggling to sort through the possible reasons, when suddenly it hits me and I tense as my eyes wander to the window.

"We're safe right here, babe. Let Gus and Caleb do the rounds outside and find out what they can. Neil is with your son and Mal is keeping an eye on the motel, but I honestly think Fox is safer where he is right now."

"What kind of sick joke is this?" I manage, my emotions swinging between anger and panic. Such a different place from where I was just minutes ago when I was ready to lay my heart on the table for the man whose large hands are currently trying to soothe me. Somehow it spurs me toward anger. I don't cower. Not anymore. Been there, done that and I think I've had my fill, so I push off Joe's lap and get up holding my hand out.

"What?"

"I need your phone." With a pensive look on his face, he hands it to me and I immediately dial Fox's number. I don't care how many people tell me my kid is fine, I need to hear it for myself. After ensuring he is okay—he almost sounds charged with the evening’s excitement—I disconnect and start scrolling through Joe's messages. I want to find the picture of the ball cap for a closer look, but I can't help notice the substantial number of messages in the last few days. Messages that catch my eye because of their very
friendly
tone. Joe must see something in my face, ‘cause he holds out his hand for the phone right away.

"Something else come in? I didn't hear it. Let me see?"

I drop the phone in his hand and start moving toward the hallway. I need a minute to collect my thoughts. I don't want to overreact, but some of what I picked up from the messages is enough to rattle me. I mean
'can still feel your mouth on my cunt
' is pretty explicit, right? Could be anyone, though. A sick prank. Except
'lick my initials on your chest
' sounds pretty specific. And disturbingly accurate. I shouldn't have looked. I hear Joe say my name but I need just a minute.

I'm not quite sure what happened. One minute I have her in my lap and the next she's backing away from me and making a beeline for the washroom in the hallway. When I look down at the phone she dropped in my hand and look at the messages that were pulled up on the screen, realization hits me.
Fuck.
My ex and her occasional, delusional trips down memory lane popped right up. Every couple of months Brenda gets a hankering to see if she still affects me with her tawdry messages. I suspect when she was feeling particularly low, or lonely. I never respond, other than an occasional
'Stop'
in return when she won't let up after a few. Two days ago she started up again. God only knows why this time, and I hadn't thought much about it. It's par for the course for me, but I can only imagine what it looks like to Naomi.
Christ
.

"Naomi!" I try calling after her before the bathroom door closes but it's no use.

Should've blocked Brenda's ass a long time ago, but a sense of responsibility always nagged at me. Idiot. "Naomi, please," I try again, knocking on the bathroom door, just as there's a knock on the front door.

From the dark hallway, I can see the outline of a dark figure in the narrow windowpane beside the door. I cautiously approach, leaving Naomi safely in the bathroom for now, when I hear another rap and Gus's voice.

"It's me. Open up. Now."

I open the door to find Gus and Caleb standing just off the porch a few steps back.

"I think we've got a problem," he says, pushing me back into the house toward the basement door, Caleb pushing close behind.

Looking over his shoulder, I notice a glow coming from outside, but before I can act, a large explosion propels the three of us down the basement steps, landing at the bottom in a tangle of limbs. Dust, debris and smoke stir around me as I scramble to get up.

"NAOMI!!"

Blind and deaf to the sounds and impressions around me, I surge up the stairs I just flew down to find my way blocked by the basement door, now wedged the wrong way in the doorway. I claw and kick, trying to get it out of my way, but it isn't until I see another pair of hands coming up from behind me that we're able to create an opening large enough for me to slip through.