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  I punched him in the face in return and immediately felt warm blood trickling down my hand.

  Allison was screaming, “Stop, please just leave, Nate…please.”

  Nate? She knew this guy? Who the fuck was Nate?

  The last punch I threw at Nate, seemed to stop his resilience.

  He was lying down on the floor for a few minutes and I wasn’t sure if he was injured from the punch or whether he just passed out from all the booze he drank.

  I stood staring at him on the ground and then moved my stare toward Allison.

  She had mascara running down her cheeks and was trembling. I wanted to go to her, but I had to keep my eyes on him in case he got up again.

  A few more minutes passed with Nate lying on the ground.

  Allison and I just stared down at him in shock.

  The sound of distant police sirens got closer and closer by the second and then came the sounds of running footsteps from the hallway.

  Three officers with guns drawn burst through the door.

  “He’s there, officer. That’s the man who attacked me. His name is Nate Hutchinson. He is my ex-boyfriend. He is an alcoholic,” Allison said.

  Wow. So, Allison actually dated this asshole. Up until now, I had no idea who this guy was.

  While two officers lifted Nate off the floor, a third large man approached me for questioning.

  “I’m Officer Derin with the Boston Police. I am going to have to ask you some questions,” he said.

  “Sure, ask me anything.” I sat down on Allison’s sofa, only realizing now just how much my hand was bleeding.

  “You may want to wrap that. Feel free to take care of it and come back here,” Officer Derin said pointing to my obvious wound.

  I quickly got up and grabbed a wad of paper towel from the kitchen and temporarily wrapped my right hand tightly, noticing that one of the officers was now taking a groggy Nate away in handcuffs.

  Allison was on the other side of the living room answering questions for the third cop and I could hear her sobbing.

  I returned to Officer Derin and told him the story exactly as I saw it happen. He assured me that no charges would be filed against me for the injuries Nate sustained, since I was acting in self-defense.

  When my questioning wrapped up, I looked over and saw Allison still tearfully relaying her side of the story to the officer. She nodded her head slowly and thanked the policeman for his help.

  “We may need to call you in for additional questioning, depending on Mr. Hutchinson’s recall. I am hoping that is not necessary, though,” Officer Derin said.

  “Thank you so much, officers, for your help,” Allison said as she shook hands with the two men.

  I sat on the couch staring down at my bloody hand. Everything happened so fast and I felt like I was just starting to process it.

  Allison closed the door after the policemen left and rushed over to where I was sitting on the couch.

  “Cedric,” she said as fresh tears fell again.

  “Allison…what the fuck did I walk in on tonight?” I said, my voice hoarse. I was still in shock.

  Before answering me, she rushed up and went to the bathroom, bringing back a first aid kit.

  Tears fell from her eyes. “Cedric, you are hurt because of me. I am so, so sorry. I don’t know how to thank you enough for getting here tonight when you did.”

  She took my injured hand and began pouring peroxide on it. I looked down silently at it and back up at her tearful face. She was crying harder now and it killed me to see her in so much pain.

  “Allison, please stop crying. Please, it really hurts me to see you cry,” I said. It did. It really did.

  Allison started to wrap my hand in gauze while she spoke.

  “Cedric…that man…Nate…he was my ex-boyfriend. We broke up months ago as soon as I realized he had a serious drinking problem. He was a good person for a long time, taught music at Berkley and everything. I had no idea he was an alcoholic until the very end of our relationship. He hid it well from me for most of the time we were together. One night, he came home drunk and hit me and that was the last straw. I never wanted to see him again and I never did after that. Tonight was the first time I saw him since that night almost six months ago. I opened the door without checking, because I thought you were early.”

  Allison shook her head, crying and repeated, “I thought it was you…I thought it was you.”

  My heart was breaking as more tears fell from her eyes. I wanted to touch her, comfort her, but resisted. To think that I had something to do with him gaining access to her tonight made me physically ill.

  “Did he…do anything to you?” I asked. I needed to know.

  She sniffled. “He forced himself on me, but only kissed me and groped me, but he wasn’t able to do anything more. You came in right when he was…about to, though. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here, Cedric.”

  It made me sick that he even got that far. And to think, I sat there and witnessed some of it through the window first hand before I realized she was actually being assaulted.

  Allison finished wrapping my hand and kept her hands on mine when she finished.

  The will I had to resist her moments ago disappeared as I took my hand from her grip and wrapped it around her shoulder pulling her into me with my forearm.

  Her head leaned against mine and I just held her there and closed my eyes, listening to her heart beating rapidly against my chest. She must have been able to feel mine too, because it was absolutely racing.

  We stayed like this for about five minutes before I pulled away to look at her.

  She looked up at me with those beautiful green eyes and I noticed a small bruise on the ride side of her face and pushed back suddenly.

  “That fucker hit you too?” I seethed.

  “Yes. Right before you walked in,” she said never looking away from me.

  “Mother fucker,” I said, taking my good hand and gently caressing the area.

  My feelings were so strong for this woman. It hurt me so much to see her physically harmed.

  Allison closed her eyes as I held her face with my hand and rubbed my thumb gently across the bruise.

  “I am so sorry this happened, Allison,” I whispered.

  “Thank God you were here. I can never thank your mother enough for sending you tonight. And I’ll never be able to repay you,” she said.

  My emotions were running wild and I pulled her head back toward my chest, holding her there.

  I didn’t know if I could ever let her go tonight. She had been through hell, but she still looked so incredibly stunning, even with mascara running down her cheeks and a bruise on her face.

  Looking down, for the first time, I realized she was wearing such a hot little outfit and wondered if she had dressed that way for me. But instead, she got Nate showing up. That thought made me sick all over again.

  After many minutes passed while I held her head to my chest silently, listening to her heartbeat, she looked up at me with those beautiful green eyes again and we continued to stare into each other. But this time instead of pulling her face back into my chest, I placed my hand on her chin, pulled her mouth straight into mine and buried my tongue down her throat.

  CHAPTER 17

  ALLISON

  Lying in Cedric’s arms felt like home. He was cradling me as we both tried to process what had happened with Nate. I had expected to get close to him in some way tonight, but the circumstances that got us here, were far from what I could have ever predicted. His saving me from Nate’s advances forced a quicker and more intense connection.

  As he held me in his arms, I thought about how much this man’s mere existence had consumed my mind over the last two months.

  I had imagined being touched by him for so long, but never could have predicted exactly how amazing it felt actually being this close to him. I couldn’t quite understand my unusual obsession with him that began from that very first time I laid eyes on him
at the diner. We haven’t even been together for any significant amount of time, but I feel so attached to him, like he was always mine in some way. But that’s the problem…he isn’t.

  I wanted so badly to kiss him, but couldn’t muster the courage to make the first move. I closed my eyes and prayed that he wasn’t turned off by what happened tonight and that he understood that Nate was a distant part of my past and not a reflection of me.

  His heart was beating against mine and I looked up at him. I didn’t say anything, but the voice in my head silently willed him to kiss me.

  Please kiss me.

  We stared at each other for what seemed like minutes and then he gently put his warm hand on my cheek. I thought he might pull me close to him again, but this time he pulled my face into his and our lips smashed together.

  I immediately opened my mouth and let his warm tongue slide into my mouth, blasted by the heat of his intense breathing.

  At first, he kissed me slow, alternating between burying his tongue into my mouth and kissing me softly on the lips, his teeth gently brushing against my chin.

  I wanted more.

  I opened my mouth wider and kissed him harder and fast. He immediately reacted and grabbed my face and kissed me harder too, plunging his tongue as far in my mouth as it would reach. Our tongues danced roughly and when he moaned, the vibration sent shivers throughout my body.

  He stopped kissing my mouth abruptly and moved his lips down to my neck kissing me gently, but stopping just short of my cleavage. This felt so good, but I licked my lips missing the feel of his mouth on them. I wanted his mouth everywhere and closed my eyes, relishing every warm breath on my body.

  I wanted him to go lower onto my breasts, but he immediately worked his way up my neck again but this time his kiss was rougher. Our lips met again and I returned his kiss feverishly, grabbing his shiny, thick hair running my fingers through it as I pressed my mouth firmly into his.

  As our tongues circled one another, his hot mouth tasted like sugar and wine. The taste mixed with his musky scent was driving me mad. The heat of his chest pressed against mine was too much to bear. I sighed into his mouth as we continued to kiss hard and he responded with a louder moan that I felt at the back of my throat.

  I had never wanted anyone more in my entire life and felt like I was about to lose it.

  I pulled back never turning away from his electric blue eyes, which were now darker with want. Breathing heavily, he continued to hold my face and stare at me.

  My feelings were too strong. I had to do this. I had to know. It was killing me.

  “Cedric,” I said, my voice raspy. I could feel my armpits sweating.

  “Yes?” he whispered, smiling softly at me.

  “Your girlfriend…where is she?” I asked, clearing my throat.

  Cedric’s face turned beet red, but his eyes never moved from mine. He shook his head back and forth as if to snap himself out of a trance. “What? What do you mean?”

  “Your girlfriend. Karyn. Karyn Keller.”

  Cedric moved back suddenly as if taken aback by my knowledge of her name. The sudden absence of his touch and the seriousness of his expression scared me.

  Was he mad at me for asking?

  “What? How…how…what about Karyn?” he asked, looking confused and a little furious at the mention of her name.

  “I saw a picture of you with her in the newspaper,” I said.

  “The paper? What?” His eyes squinted in confusion.

  I nodded. “Yes…in the gossip section. It was taken a few days before Thanksgiving at some fundraiser.”

  He turned away from me as if to process something and then closed his eyes for a moment, opening them and looking back up at me.

  I turned away in discomfort, moving my gaze down to the floor and felt his hand on my chin slowly directing me to look at him.

  “Allison. What you saw was me and my EX-girlfriend, Karyn, attending a fundraiser a few days before I ended the relationship for good. I haven’t been with Karyn since the day after Thanksgiving.”

  My heart pounded at his revelation.

  “So, you…don’t have a girlfriend?” I felt so stupid having confronted him about something that I was apparently misinformed about.

  “No. I don’t,” he said firmly.

  Relief washed over me, when his intense look turned into a crooked grin.

  I shook my head fast, placing my hands over my face. “Oh my gosh…I feel so stupid. I just assumed…I mean, what are the chances it was taken just before you broke up? I am sorry for prying.”

  “Please…you had every right to ask. I just mauled your face…if I had a girlfriend, that would obviously make me a real jackass.” He laughed.

  I laughed nervously, too, noticing that his ears had turned red as a result of my sudden confrontation.

  Our signature awkward silence returned for about a minute and Cedric took my hand in his, rubbing it gently with his thumb, looking down deep in thought, until he was ready to speak.

  “After that night that I drove you home, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, Allison. I did have a girlfriend then…Karyn and I were still dating at that time.”

  A lump formed in my throat remembering my strong feelings that night, touching his hand as he wrote on mine. Hearing that he did have a girlfriend then upset me immensely. I couldn’t help being jealous of anyone that had him in more ways than me.

  He continued, “The more days that passed, the more I couldn’t get you out of my head, Allison. Karyn and I…we weren’t meant to be together regardless of my feelings for you. Some stuff happened over Thanksgiving and I knew I needed to end it, sooner rather than later, so I did.”

  I stared in silence at his beautiful face as he continued to speak.

  “I went to the diner that following Monday hoping to ask you out. But you didn’t seem to want to talk to me. So, I decided not to.”

  Oh. God. Shit…I was so rude to him that day. The whole thing was making total sense now. I sure had fucked that up.

  “Allison, I was floored to see you at my sister’s. I was so happy, though, to have another chance to get to know you.” He beamed.

  After he said that, I really wanted to open up to him. “Cedric…I felt it too in the car that night. When you came into the diner that Monday after Thanksgiving, I had just seen the photo in the newspaper and well…that’s why I was cold. I thought you had a girlfriend. I still thought you had a girlfriend up until you told me tonight, but for some reason—” I paused not knowing how to explain my sudden change of heart in that matter.

  “So, wait, you kissed me thinking I had a girlfriend?” Cedric’s eyes turned dark again as he gave me a mischievous smile.

  I felt flush and was sure my face was red. “I guess I did. But technically, you kissed me first.”

  “You bad girl.”

  “Cedric—”

  “I’m just kidding, sweetheart,” Cedric said, squeezing my knee.

  I shivered at his use of that term of endearment. We both laughed and he pulled me toward him and that turned into another round of passionate kissing.

  I was on cloud nine after realizing that this man was available and had just confessed that he had been thinking about me, like I was thinking about him all of these weeks. I didn’t want to ruin this and if I continued to kiss him like this, it would certainly turn into more because I had very little willpower when it came to him.

  So, I reluctantly pulled myself away from him.

  “Cedric, I think we should take this slow,” my brain said, while my body swore at me, continuing to betray me, still rubbing against him.

  He immediately stopped kissing me and placed his forehead on mine, closing his eyes. He said nothing, but I knew this meant he agreed if we kept kissing, there was no turning back. Our attraction was just too strong.

  “I think I should go,” he said, still leaning against my forehead. “I don’t want to, but I need to.”

  I instinctively looked down and
noticed the bulge in his pants illustrating that point.

  I wanted him to stay so badly. I couldn’t stand to be alone tonight. I especially couldn’t stand to be away from him.

  “Ok,” I said, pulling away as he stood up, knowing it was the right thing for tonight.

  “Promise me you’ll lock your door and you have my number if you need me,” he said.

  “I do.” I smiled.

  We walked to the door and stood facing each other, as he put his hand on my cheek.

  “Listen, I have to fly to L.A. tomorrow night to meet with a consulting client this week. I won’t be back until late Thursday. Can I take you out Friday night?”

  “I’d love that,” I said.

  “Great.” Cedric said as his eyes shined.

  “Good night, Cedric.”

  “Good night, Allison.”

  Cedric gave me a peck on the mouth and he hugged me squeezing me tightly for a few seconds.

  Then, without another word, he turned around and walked swiftly down the stairs.

  I heard the front door shut behind him.

  I closed the door to my apartment and leaned against it, my eyes closed and my heart still beating from the elation I was feeling. Elation then turned to emptiness. God, how I wished I just asked him to stay. I can’t bear being alone tonight and wanted to feel his warm body against mine just one more time. I must have stayed leaning against the door like this for a few minutes until I heard footsteps coming back up the stairs.

  CHAPTER 18

  CEDRIC

  As the cold night air hit me, I was over the moon. Snowflakes were starting to fly and it was well past midnight.

  God help me, I was crazy for her.

  I managed to put all of my anxiety about my past away for a while. I couldn’t think about anything beyond tonight and how she made me feel in the moment. And she returned my feelings.

  All this time she had thought I had a girlfriend, which is why she shied away and I finally had an explanation for her earlier distant behavior.

  I scurried to my car across the street and got in. I immediately noticed that I had left the wrapped gift from my mother—my supposed reason for coming here in the first place—on the passenger seat.