Second Chances (16 page)

Stacy wasn’t sure what caused her to wake, but as she laid there she realized she was draped across Dustin’s chest. She lifted her head carefully as to not wake him. He looked beautiful even when he was asleep. Dustin’s lips were slightly parted and he was snoring lightly. She was bending over him when she heard the distinct sound of a door closing. Her heart beat a rapid staccato in her chest. Stacy tried to be quiet as she could as she woke Dustin up.

He gave her that sleepy smile that made her heart melt, but now wasn’t the time to get all sappy. “Dustin, I just heard a door shut.” In a matter of seconds Dustin went from smiling to frowning.

“Are you sure?” he asked as he sat up.

“I swear. What do we do?” Stacy went to stand up, but Dustin halted her. He put his fingers over his lips, telling her to be quiet.

She watched as he slipped out of the bed, throwing his pants on. Dustin pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. He mouthed,
call for help
. All she could do was nod. He held out his hand, Stacy grabbed it as he pulled her out of the bed. Dustin opened her closet door and put her inside.

“Stay here, and no matter what, don’t move.”

Stacy felt herself begin to tremble. “Please don’t leave me,” she begged.

He kissed her quickly and closed the door on her. Stacy turned on his phone and dialed 9-1-1. When the operator answered, Stacy gave the man her name, address, and told him there was a chance that someone was in the house. She assured the operator that she was hiding in the closet and that her boyfriend went to check the rest of the house. He stayed on the line with her while she waited for the police to arrive. Not more than five minutes later the lights of a patrol car illuminated her bedroom. The flashing lights were so bright she could see them under her closet door.

Stacy thanked the operator for staying on the line with her and promised she’d wait in the safety of her closet. She was terrified to find out if indeed there was someone in her house. To keep herself from freaking out, she began to softly hum.

Chapter 12

Monday morning Dustin made his way to the office. He was disappointed the weekend was over. It was one of his best weekends in a long time. Even with everything that happened Saturday night, he still had a great time. There had been no signs that anyone had been in Stacy’s house. She’d been extremely embarrassed by it all. The officers were very nice about the whole thing and assured Stacy that it was always good to err on the side of caution.

They laughed about it as they got back in bed. Dustin told her that she’d probably been dreaming and it blended with reality. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she told him. They wanted to sleep in, but Stacy was watching his niece the next morning at ten.

Sunday morning he’d woken Stacy up bright and early at seven by kissing his way down her body. They’d made love, ate a quick breakfast, and then showered. He’d brought a bag with him, but had left it in his truck so he had clean clothes to change into. Stacy asked him to come with her to babysit. Dustin had agreed without even thinking about it.

When they’d gotten there, Stacy had barged in, hollering for her baby. Luke sent her to the nursery and then pinned Dustin with a look. He confessed everything that had been going on with Stacy. Dustin even told his friend that he’d said those three little words. Luke had looked at him, shocked, but then announced, “It’s about damn time!” Dustin rolled his eyes and then turned away from the idiot. A picture above their fireplace had drawn his attention. It was three separate photos. The first was a picture of Bellamy and Luke at their wedding. They were facing each other and were smiling.

The second photo was of Bellamy towards the end of her pregnancy. They were both in white button-up shirts with the sleeves rolled up. Bellamy’s shirt was unbuttoned to right above her belly so it was sticking out. Luke stood behind her with his hands resting on her belly.

The final picture was of the beautiful little family. Dustin wasn’t sure how old the baby was in it, but she was smaller than she was now. Luke was lying on his back with no shirt on. Carrington was lying on his stomach, and Bellamy was lying on her side with her hand on the baby’s back. The photos were all in black and white and were framed beautifully in a cherry oak frame.

He’d found out that Stacy did that for them for their anniversary. The girl was truly an artist with a camera.

Dustin had enjoyed watching her take care of Carrington. Sure he helped, but most of the time she shooed him away. She was a natural. Whenever the baby got fussy, Stacy would softly sing to her until she quieted. At one point Dustin had fallen asleep on the couch with the baby snoozing on him. The click of a camera had woken him up. Of course there Stacy was, looking naturally beautiful with that damn camera in her hand. She gave him a sheepish smile.

His sister and brother-in-law got home around seven. He, Stacy, and the baby had been curled up on the couch when they came in. All he had to do was look at the smug smile on his best friend’s face to know what they had done all day…bastard. His sister was a giggling mess. Dustin watched Stacy kiss the baby goodbye and then Luke and Bellamy. His sister stopped them from leaving to hand Stacy an envelope. “What’s this?” Stacy had asked.

“It’s just our way to thank you for watching our girl today, and for the beautiful picture and frame.” Dustin watched his sister wrap her arms around Stacy and squeezed her tight. She’d whispered something in Stacy’s ear that had her tearing up. Stacy had pulled away, kissed Bellamy’s and then Luke’s cheek, and finally let Dustin lead her out of the door.

When they had pulled up in front of Stacy’s house he could tell she was exhausted, so he walked her to the door, kissed her, and watched her walk inside. When he heard the snick of the lock, he headed back to his truck and went home.

***

Dustin pulled into the parking lot and saw that he was the first one there for a change. He unlocked the door and made his way back to his office. After throwing his stuff on his desk, he went to the kitchen to start coffee. Dustin then went back to his office, where he went over to his drawing board and started reviewing some designs that he had finished up the week before. He was meticulous with his work and was constantly checking and rechecking it.

By midmorning he’d finished his plans, had a staff meeting, and was getting ready to go to lunch when his phone rang. When he didn’t recognize the number, he figured it was a customer, so he answered with his formal greeting.

“You need to stay away from her, Dustin. She belongs to me.” Dustin felt his body stiffen. How the fuck did he get Dustin’s number?

“That’s really not your business anymore, is it?” He couldn’t hide the disgust in his voice. Dustin didn’t even want to give him a chance to respond, so he just hung up and stuffed his phone is his pocket. He knew better and had no plans to tell Stacy about that call. She’d blame herself and start to pull away from him. There was no way Dustin could let her do that.

He made his way out to his truck to grab lunch for his dad Patrick and himself. Dustin just made it to his truck when he noticed a big scratch that ran along his tailgate. “What the fuck,” he muttered.

Dustin walked back into the building to find his dad. He’d told him what was wrong and then went over the security tapes of the parking lot to see if it happened there. Unfortunately, it didn’t, which meant it happened at Stacy’s, Bellamy and Luke’s, or at his place. If he had to guess, it was more than likely kids. Sure, for a brief moment he thought about Mark, but keying someone’s car seemed too immature for even him. “Oh well,” he sighed. It was just his truck and could be easily fixed.

After he grabbed lunch for everyone, he dropped it off before he went to talk to the owner of the apartments that they were renovating up in Hilton Head. James, the owner, met him in the parking lot. “Mr. Martin, how are you?” Dustin said, shaking the other man’s hand.

“I’m good, Dustin, but please, call me James. Mr. Martin makes me feel old,” the older man said with a laugh.

Dustin grabbed a composite of what the complex would look like when they were done. James seemed very happy with what Dustin had shown him. James walked Dustin around the whole complex, throwing in ideas of his own. Dustin loved when a client knew exactly what they wanted. It made it easier to get it right the first time. When they reached the courtyard, Dustin was in awe. There was a large pond with water so clear you could see the fish swimming around. There were flowers everywhere and every color you could imagine. Towards the back was a gazebo enclosed by trellises with flowering vines all over them.

James led Dustin around the rest of the complex and then took him to his office to discuss the plans.

An hour later Dustin left, feeling excited about the job and how amazing it would look when they were done. He headed back to town to finish up a few things before heading to Stacy’s for dinner. She’d invited him this morning via text. They weren’t going to see each other for a few days due to previous engagements they both had. She was going to be teaching a couple of classes and he had a late meeting that he couldn’t reschedule. The next night, Dylan would be home and they had a lot to talk about.

He was looking forward to his brother coming home. Dylan and he were extremely close and always had been. He wasn’t only his brother, but Dustin’s best friend. They were so different but not. Dustin had always been the more laid back of the two. Dylan was always high-strung, but loyal as the day was long—they both were.

Dustin got back to the office and closed himself inside his small workspace. He wanted to finish so he could get out of there and to Stacy’s. She’d flitted in and out of his thoughts all day. Her smile, her laugh and that beautiful body of hers floated in and out of his mind. He offered to bring dessert, but Stacy reminded him that they had their dessert from Saturday night. Dustin focused back in on his work.

After an hour Dustin was ready to get out of there. He shut down his computer, said goodnight to their secretary, and made his way out to his truck. The sun was still high enough in the sky that he needed his sunglasses. He slipped them on and drove to Stacy’s place.

***

Stacy ran around her house like her ass was on fire. Dustin was going to be there soon and she’d just popped dinner in the oven. She’d taken a shower earlier, so all she had to do was her hair and makeup. Stacy had straightened her hair so it hung just a little bit longer than normal, the mink colored locks shining as she looked it over in the mirror.

Her makeup was just enough to give her a healthy glow. She opted for casual, so she wore khaki shorts and a dark lavender peasant top with a white camisole underneath. Stacy slipped her feet into a pair of white flip-flops. After that she sprayed some body spray and was ready.

Stacy was making chicken lasagna. She already had the salad tossed and sitting in the refrigerator. All Stacy had to do was add the salad dressing and toss it one more time. She’d bought Dustin’s favorite beer, which was chilling. Underneath Stacy’s outfit she felt the reminder that she wasn’t wearing anything. She couldn’t wait to hear what he thought of that.

They weren’t going to see each other again until as early as Thursday. They both had stuff going on. Wednesday she was using the gift certificate from Bellamy and Luke and spending the day at the spa for a full pampering day; hair, facial, full-body massage, mani and pedi. She’d been excited to receive something so wonderful from her friends. They really hadn’t needed to do that, but she was grateful for it anyhow.

She was just making her way down the hall when she heard the front open and Dustin call out. When she rounded the corner, she smiled and greeted him with a hug and kiss. Stacy let Dustin deepen the kiss as they stood in her entryway. Dustin broke the kiss first, looking her over from head to toe. “Damn, baby, you look beautiful.’

“You don’t look too bad yourself, mister,” she said as she patted his cheek.

Stacy watched him sniff the air. “Whatever it is you’re making, it smells delicious.”

“I’m making your mom’s chicken lasagna. You told me once it was your favorite. I don’t know if it’ll be as good as hers, but it does look mighty good.” She led him into the dining room and grabbed him a beer as he sat down at the table. The timer said there was still fifteen minutes left, so she didn’t fight when Dustin pulled her down into his lap. Stacy buried her nose in his shirt, enjoying the scent that was purely him. It was a clean-woodsy smell that enveloped her as she snuggled up on his lap.

While they waited for the timer to go off, Dustin told her about his productive day. She loved listening to the sound of his voice. He didn’t have a real deep voice, but he spoke in an almost lazy manner. Like he had all of the time in the world to be sitting there. Stacy, in turn, told him about her planned spa day in the morning.

When the timer went off, Stacy kissed Dustin and hopped off of his lap. She pulled the lasagna out of the oven, letting it rest while she prepared the salad. Stacy already had the table set, so she was able to just place everything on the table and sit.

***

Dinner had been perfect. Dustin had given Stacy a raving review for the lasagna. Stacy promised not to tell his mom he said hers was better. She quickly cleaned up and made Dustin go sit in the living room and wait for dessert. Little did he know that she had a surprise for him. Once she heard the television click on, she grabbed her kiss the cook apron and undressed as fast as she could, throwing the apron on over her naked body.

She never would’ve done something like this before. After the other night in front of the mirror, Stacy felt a little more confident. Especially after Dustin had told her he loved her. She had wanted to say it back, but she was scared. Did she love him? Of course she did, but Stacy wanted to wait for the right moment to say it back.