Married Or Not?: Married or Not? / Ian's Ultimate Gamble

Eight

Sherri really didn’t need the car on her way home. She could have floated there.

Greg Hogan had kissed her! He was practically a stranger and he wasn’t one to talk about himself much, so she really didn’t know much about him. Common sense told her that she needed to get to know him better before feeling so swept away by him.

She’d never responded to anyone the way she had to Greg. Of course, it could be a result of her dream. She certainly felt she knew him much better than she actually did. She got hot just remembering the dream.

What should she do? She’d said yes to seeing him again, but was that wise? She thought about it for a while until she came to a conclusion: she had no idea. All she knew was that she didn’t intend to cancel their date.

He’d graduated from Harvard? He’d chosen police work for a career? Greg Hogan was definitely a complex man…and so very fascinating, as well.

Once home, she forced herself to think about the homework she needed to finish before Monday. She was scheduled to work at the pet store this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon. Her plans had been to study after dinner last night, but her study schedule had been abandoned while she dealt with the horror of what she’d seen.

Once she got home, she immediately focused on her schoolwork. All week she could enjoy the anticipation of knowing that she would see Greg next Friday.

She began to hum as she opened one of her books.

He tapped on her apartment door the next Friday at seven o’clock. Sherri hurried to let him inside. She’d had a crisis when it came to deciding what to wear. She didn’t want to dress too sexily in case he got the wrong idea about her. However, she did want to look attractive.

She was a little short on date clothes. She spent her time on campus hanging out with other students and had never worried about what she looked like.

Tonight she did.

She opened the door and her knees went weak. He grinned at her. She fought to regain some composure. “Please come inside.”

He wore a sports jacket over a pair of khakis. The jacket looked custom-made and he looked delectable. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and dramatically cry, “Take me, take me. I’m all yours!”

He stepped inside her apartment and looked around. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

She looked at it more objectively and said, “Goodwill stuff, mostly.”

“Did you do the refinishing on this table?” He rubbed his thumb along the surface. She was rather proud of that one.

“I’ve refinished and reupholstered most of the furniture I own.”

He turned and looked at her. “You’re quite talented.”

She swallowed. “Thanks.” Seen through his eyes, the place must look like a typical college girl’s room, with the big colorful posters and some watercolors she’d painted once for a class. He was very much a sophisticated man about town, while she felt awkward and flustered.

He glanced at his watch and said, “Ready to go?”

Without a word she picked up her purse and turned to the door.

“How long have you lived here?” he asked, helping her into his car.

“Since I was a freshman. I preferred to get a smaller place that I could afford rather than have a roommate.”

Sherri finally began to relax with Greg during dinner. He entertained her with various stories, all amusing, about work and his coworkers, but she idly noted that he didn’t talk about himself at all.

They did compare their favorite movies and musicians and laughed about how diverse their tastes were. He liked thrillers and war movies while she preferred something light, like romantic comedies. However, the movie they decided to see was one she’d heard a lot about, and she was more than willing to see it with him.

“Just don’t be surprised if I suddenly hide my face in your shoulder.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll put my arm around you so you’ll know you’re safe.”

Her dream popped up in her head and she recalled that she had run to him in her dream and felt safe in his arms. She felt she could trust this man who was more stranger than friend. It seemed almost as though she’d known him from somewhere long ago—a past life or something—and they had found each other again.

Sherri didn’t dare say any of that to him; he’d think she was crazy. At the moment she couldn’t swear that she wasn’t a little insane to think they might have known each other before now.

They got popcorn and drinks and went inside the theatre. Sherri noticed that Greg caught every female’s eye from little girls to octogenarians. She could certainly relate.

The movie was excellent, a thriller with one of her favorite actors in it. Greg had placed his arm around her when the movie started.

Once the movie was over, they left the theatre hand in hand and strolled back to his car.

“Would you like to stop somewhere for coffee?” he asked.

Okay. She’d been practicing and hoped she sounded casual when she answered, “Why don’t we go to my place? I’ll make coffee and I’ve got some bakery cookies if you want something more than coffee.”

“I’m not going to touch that one,” he replied wryly.

She laughed.

They pulled up in front of her apartment building and climbed the stairs to the second story. Greg was teasing her about staying in shape because of the climb when he came to an abrupt stop and grabbed her wrist.

She looked at him in alarm. “What?”

He nodded toward her door. She hadn’t noticed that the door of her apartment was slightly ajar until he pointed it out. She froze. He put his finger to his lips and pulled her behind him.

She had no idea when he’d pulled a pistol. She didn’t even know he carried one but there was one in his hand now.

“Stay here,” he said next to her ear.

She nodded.

He moved closer and listened. After several moments he pushed the door open and waited.

Nothing happened.

Greg found the light switch just inside the door and flipped it on. She peered around the door and gasped.

“I told you to stay back there,” he said gruffly. “I need to check out the rest of the place.”

She nodded mutely, her fist to her mouth.

Someone had come in and destroyed her apartment. There was no other word to describe it. Every piece of furniture had been broken or ripped apart. Curtains hung in shreds, dishes were smashed and when she followed Greg into her bedroom, she saw that her closet had been emptied and her clothes ripped into pieces. She didn’t need to check her drawers because they were broken and on the floor, their contents cut up.

Her bed had fared no better. Mattress stuffing littered the bed and floor, along with the remains of her pillows and linens.

Without a word Sherri stepped around Greg, who had put his gun away, and stepped inside her bathroom.

“Be careful,” he said from behind her. “Shattered glass and pieces of the mirror are on the floor.”

She didn’t want to see any more. Sherri turned away and saw Greg using his cell phone.

“Get the forensic team over here now.” He rattled off her address and hung up before looking at her. “We’ll wait outside until they get here. I don’t want to contaminate the scene.”

Sherri looked around her. She felt violated. Someone had broken into her apartment and deliberately and systematically destroyed it. She had nothing left: no clothes, no place to sleep, nothing. The whole apartment had been defiled. She wrapped her arms around her waist and shivered.

Greg touched her shoulder. “They’ll be here in a few minutes. Let’s get some air.”

Only then did Sherri notice the heavy scent of cologne from the broken bottles in the bathroom. Once out in the hallway he pulled her close to his side and continued to hold her as they walked outside and back to his car.

He opened her door and waited for her to slide inside the car before he carefully closed it and walked around to the other side.

The man who had taken her to dinner and a movie was gone. In his place was a frowning, tough and formidable cop.

Greg got into the car and turned toward her. “I would say that someone left you a very strong message.”

She returned his gaze, her eyes dry. “I think I got that. It looks like every Friday is the thirteenth to me.”

“Do you have any idea who might have done this? A former boyfriend, a jealous female?”

“I have no former boyfriend and if anyone is jealous of me, that’s news to me. “

He took her hand and she saw a flash of the Greg with whom she’d spent the evening. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this.”

She looked down at their clasped hands. “Me, too. It really is a bit much. Everything I own is destroyed as though a fire had swept through. Nothing is salvageable. The only clothes I have at the moment are what I’m wearing.”

“I know. We’ll deal with that a little later.”

A couple of cruisers arrived and Greg got out of his car. He walked over and spoke to the driver of one of them. Two others got out of the second car and joined him. She recognized one of them whom she’d seen last week investigating the murder.

She shivered. What if— No, she didn’t want to go there.

After several minutes the two men and a woman followed Greg back into the apartment building.

How did whoever had done this know she’d be gone this evening? Was she being watched? She glanced around the parking lot and quickly locked the doors.

Greg returned shortly and she unobtrusively unlocked the doors.

He got into the car and started the engine. Once out of the parking lot he headed away from the university area.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you home with me,” he said softly. “You’ll be safe there, I promise you that. You can use my other bedroom until we get all of this settled.”

She had no intention of arguing with him. “There is one thing,” she finally said.

“Yes?”

“I need to stop at a store and get a few things.”

“We can do that.” He changed lanes and signaled to turn left. After a few miles, he turned into the parking lot of a large store that stayed open late.

There were few cars around. Not too many shoppers at close to midnight on a Friday night.

Greg parked across from the entrance and stopped.

“Thank you. I won’t be long.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m coming with you.”

“Oh, that isn’t—”

“Yes, it is. We’re going to be joined at the hip until this thing is put to rest.”

“You think it has something to do with the murder,” she stated, suddenly feeling exhausted.

“That’s one of the theories I’m working on. We hope to find some prints in that mess. If not, we’ll continue to follow other leads. I don’t want to take any chances where you’re concerned. The men you saw could very well believe that you saw them and reported it.”

“So they’ve been watching me?”

He nodded. “Has anything unusual happened to you this week? Besides your apartment being destroyed, I mean.”

“Well, I don’t know how unusual it is, but I’ve gotten several hang-up calls. Probably wrong numbers.”

“Or checking if you’re home.”

She stared at him in surprise. “I suppose.”

“My guess is that they’re trying to scare you.”

“They have definitely done that.”

He groaned. “And I’ve made it worse by showing an interest in you. They think you’re giving me additional information.”

“That’s a logical assumption.”

“But we both know that isn’t the reason I asked you out.”

She bit her bottom lip. She refused to cry in front of him, but it was tough because he was being nice to her. It had been easier to hide her emotions when he was in his cop mode.

“Let’s go shopping,” he said, opening his door. She got out and met him in front of his car.

“From now on, you wait until I open your door.”

“I’ve been opening my own doors for years. I’m sure I can handle it.”

“So if a car happened to pull up beside you as you were getting out of the car, and a couple of men grabbed you and threw you into the back of their car…or van…you could cope with that?”

“Are you trying to scare me?”

“If it makes you a little less independent for a while.”

“I’ve never been the damsel-in-distress type.”

He took her elbow and guided her across toward the front of the store. “We’ll have to do something about that.”

Nine

Greg lived in a quiet, residential area, made up of several apartment buildings that looked so much alike Sherri wondered how anyone would know which one was his or hers.

He pulled into a covered parking area. “We’ll get your car in the morning. I have two parking spaces.”

Sherri had so little energy left she had to force herself to get out of the car and gather the sacks in the backseat that contained all of her worldly belongings.

Greg gathered the ones she couldn’t reach from her side and, once the doors were closed, locked the car. Without a word, he led her across the driveway to one of the buildings, climbed two stories to the top floor and strode to the door of one of the apartments.

“Talk about getting your exercise,” Sherri said in a strained voice.

“I like it up here.” He opened the door and waved her inside. Once he had turned the light on, Sherri looked around. The apartment was much larger than hers and had a nice view of the hills west of Austin.

However, the place was definitely a bachelor’s pad. Newspapers were scattered around on tables and the floor, a pair of sneakers sat beneath the coffee table, a few dishes sat on the kitchen counter and more were in the sink.

“I could make excuses for the way the place looks,” Greg said. He must have noticed her looking around. “But the truth is, this is cleaner…and less cluttered…than usual.”

He continued toward the hallway and she followed him. He stopped midway and opened the door to a bedroom. “I’ll get some sheets and stuff.” He pointed to the door opposite. “That’s the bathroom. It’s yours. I have one off my bedroom.”

Sherri walked into the room and looked around. The bed had no headboard, but there was a bedside table and a chest of drawers.

“I’m not sure what’s in the closet, but whatever’s there, shove it aside.”

She turned and looked at him. “I doubt that I’ll need much space.” She laid the sacks on the bed. He dropped his beside hers and put his arms around her. He rocked her gently and after a moment she slipped her arms around his waist.

Sherri had no idea how long they stood there. When he eventually let go of her, all he said was, “I’ll get the bedding for you.”

While he was gone, she hung up the few clothes she’d bought, placed her underwear and a couple of sleep shirts in a drawer and took her toiletries across the hall to the bathroom.

When she came out she almost collided with Greg.

“Sorry,” she said.

“No problem.” He made short work of making the bed with her help.

He glanced over the room before looking at her. “If you need anything, just let me know.”

She nodded.

“Good night,” he said and closed the door behind him. He had turned on the lamp beside the bed when they’d first walked in and now it was her only source of light.

By now, she was too tired to think straight. She got her sleepwear out of the drawer and went across the hall. A warm shower helped to revive her a little. Once she’d brushed her teeth, Sherri stumbled back to her room, closed the door, turned off the light and dropped onto the bed.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee woke Sherri the next morning. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost ten. She didn’t think she’d moved all night.

She quickly dressed and visited her bathroom. When she came out, she followed the scent of coffee.

Greg sat at the counter reading the paper, but looked up immediately when she walked into the room. She’d made no sound that she knew of. He wore battered jeans that clung to him like a second skin and an old sweatshirt with the arms cut out of it. The outfit on anyone else would look ratty. On him, it was sexy as all get-out.

“Mornin’,” he said. “Ready for coffee?”

“More than ready,” she replied, still standing in the hall doorway. “I didn’t mean to sleep this late.”

“You obviously needed it. Shock works that way on people sometimes and you’ve definitely had your share of that during the past week.” He poured her a mug of coffee from the carafe by his elbow.

Sherri walked across the room and slipped onto the bar stool next to him, feeling his body heat beside her. She shivered and picked up the cup of coffee, inhaling the tantalizing scent.

“I’m afraid I don’t have much here for breakfast…or any other meal, unless you have an addiction to sandwiches. I thought we could go out a little later for breakfast…or lunch…and maybe do some grocery shopping.”

“Okay,” she said softly.

They sat there in companionable silence. He offered her a piece of the newspaper and she took it.

When they were finished with the paper and coffee, Sherri asked, “How did those men find me?”

“A good question. We’re looking for an answer to that.”

“Did they think I’d leave town after last night?”

“At the very least, they were hoping to frighten you.”

“Then their plan worked. Just thinking about what they did to my place gives me the creeps. I don’t understand people like that. The destruction was so brutal and personal. Why would they destroy my clothes?”

Greg shook his head. “Once we know who did it, we’ll find out why it was done.”

“So you think you’ll be able to find out who they were?”

“Generally speaking, people hired to do that kind of destruction aren’t the sharpest blades in the drawer. Even if they wore plastic gloves there’s a chance we can pick up a shoe print. There’s always evidence to be found when we sift through everything. There’s no need for you to be frightened. You’ll be safe here.”

She nodded and tried not to look at him. How was she going to make herself immune to his presence? She was already attracted to him more than she’d ever been to any man. Seeing him the last thing at night and the first thing in the morning, could become addictive and would play havoc with her peace of mind.

“So what next?” she asked after a long silence.

He looked at her and smiled. “What do you usually do on Saturdays?”

“Clean house, go shopping, pay bills, study.” She shrugged. “I guess I don’t need to worry about cleaning.”

He laughed. “If you’re afraid you’ll get out of practice, you can always do something around here.”

She glanced around the room before meeting his gaze. The teasing glint in his eyes was adorable.

“Ah, now I get it. I pay for my room by keeping the place clean, right?” She couldn’t hide the amusement in her voice.

He sobered. “No, of course not. There are no strings attached to my offer, I promise.”

“I have a hunch I’ll get in plenty of practice getting my apartment cleared out and cleaned up.”’

“I hired a crew to go in and clean up the place and told the owner about what had happened. He agreed to let you out of your lease, given the circumstances.”

“You’ve already done that this morning?”

“Yes. I also had one of the men tow your car over here. I didn’t want it sitting over there any longer than necessary.”

“I’m not helpless, you know,” she said, feeling exasperated. “I’m perfectly capable of cleaning my apartment and of retriving my own car.”

“Okay. Sorry. I wanted to save you some of the grief. If you want to keep the apartment, you can let the manager know before he rents it out again.”

She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. I would have liked to at least save anything that was salvageable.”

“The cleaners figured as much and will see what is fixable, which they will save, and what isn’t worth trying to put back together will get tossed.”

“There’s really nothing worth anything, even when it was whole.”

As though unaware of what he was doing, Greg placed his hand at the back of her neck and massaged the bunched muscles there. The relief was immediate.

“Why don’t we go get something to eat,” he said after a while. “We both need some fuel.”

“I think you’re right. I’ll need to go to the library afterwards. I need to replace some of the textbooks that were damaged so I can finish up my assignments.” She got up and walked over to the window. When she turned around, she said, “I appreciate your offer of a place to stay more than I can say. You were right. I don’t want to stay in that apartment, and your talking to the landlord in your official capacity no doubt saved me a great deal of hassle.

“I need to find my own place, though. I’ll check the newspapers and see what I can find. You’ve been such a help and I don’t want to take advantage of your kindness.”

“Of course the decision is up to you. I have no problem with having you here. Until we get to the bottom of all of this, I’m a little worried about your living by yourself. If they found you so quickly once, they won’t have any trouble finding where you’ve moved.”

She allowed herself a small smile. “If they trace me here, they’re going to wish they’d never bothered me.”

He stood and stretched. “I almost wish they would. I’m getting hungry. Shall we go?”

“Let me get my purse.” She hurried down the hall and into her bedroom. Tears filled her eyes. What would she have done without Greg these past several hours? He had stepped in and done what needed to be done.

She hadn’t had anyone help her that much in years. The longer she stayed with him, the more susceptible she would become. Let’s face it. She was already halfway in love with him.

Sherri grabbed a tissue and quickly wiped her eyes, checked her hair and lipstick, grabbed her purse and returned to the living room.