Tennessee Heat Read online

  He might’ve been wanting her for the better part of a year, but who says she felt the same? The thought made him sit up in his chair and for a few miserable seconds he imagined the worst. Had he been fooling himself all this time?

  She wasn’t exactly acting like a teenage girl in love. If anything she seemed more distant now than ever before. The sudden pain in his heart, brought on by his thoughts, was almost unbearable.

  No! He shook his head inwardly. He refused to believe that. Hadn’t he sensed the same interest in her a time or two? Hadn’t he weaved dreams around the look in her eyes more than once?

  It didn’t matter, he wanted her and he meant to have her even if he had to break down every last one of her barriers.

  Besides, the thought of dating her was very appealing. It had been a while since he’d played that game. And now he could feel the heat of excitement warm his blood in a way it hadn’t in way too long.

  It seems like once he left high school the world had changed. Everything moved faster these days, and not many people seemed to take the time needed to learn about the person they planned to spend the rest of their life with.

  He liked the idea of wining and dining her, showing her the places he enjoyed and sharing more of who he was with her.

  He’d been so preoccupied with her that he’d almost forgotten what day it was. “Oh shit, it’s Sunday.” He looked at his watch a little crestfallen.

  “I have to go in a little bit. Please stay. I’ll try to hurry back…”

  “No, it’s okay I have to get going anyway.”

  She said that as if she didn’t believe him, like she thought he was just trying to get rid of her.

  He was pretty sure that the only way to convince her that he was serious was by showing her, so he left it for now.

  “I don’t think I like the idea of you going back there.”

  “It’s my home, where else would I go?” She felt a little testy because, sure, the place was a dump, but it was the only home she had.

  She reminded herself that he hadn’t meant anything by it and calmed down as she got up to get dressed. He was torn between leaving her and taking care of his responsibilities or spending the rest of the day with her.

  It was a hard choice to make but the kids who depended on him had to come first before his own needs. He was loyal if nothing else. But for the first time that loyalty was being sorely tested.

  There’ll be other opportunities to spend time with her, he told himself he’d make sure of it. He had another problem now though. Her home was in the opposite direction from where he needed to be and he was already running late.

  “I’ll call you a cab.” She didn’t bother telling him that no cab would go to her neighborhood, so when he called she gave an address a few streets away.

  She ignored his questioning look when he realized that it wasn’t her home address and went to find her shoes, which she’d left at the door.

  “I really wish you’d stay.” He wished there was someone he could call to take his place with the kids, but then he felt guilty for his thoughts.

  He’d made a commitment and if there was one thing he was good at, it was following through. That struggle went on inside him as he watched her beautiful face, still soft from sleep.

  The thought of her, being in that place, left him cold. He was mad at himself for moving so slow in claiming her.

  The sooner he makes her his the faster he can get her out of there. Her little face was so precious when she looked at him with her shoes in her hand.

  His heart squeezed in his chest, and not for the first time he wondered how the hell people survived this love mess.

  “I should be getting home anyway my mother will be worried.” She looked away after uttering that lie.

  Seeing him and his family together, she could only imagine his disgust if he knew the truth about her strained relationship with her mom.

  He looked back at his watch again, wondering if he should risk driving her home and getting back to the other side of town.

  It would make him almost two hours late, but… “Dammit!” He swore and ran his hand through his hair roughly. “I’ll call you later.”

  He didn’t realize the anger in his voice was misleading, that the young insecure girl before him might think for one second that it was aimed at her.

  She couldn’t get out of there fast enough since he seemed to be in a hurry to be rid of her. “I’ll wait for the cab downstairs.” She rushed out the door ignoring his call for her to wait. He flew out of the door behind her all the same.

  “Here, you’ll need this to pay the cab. I’m going to call you when I’m done, answer the phone.” He pushed the money into her hand and she felt a little sick.

  She hadn’t done anything immoral, but somehow it felt wrong taking his money. He seemed to read her mind as he folded her fist around the bills.

  “Don’t be an idiot. I brought you here didn’t I? It’s only fair I pay for you to get back home since I can’t take you myself.”

  Before she could move away again he pulled her into his chest. She braced for the effect of his kiss on her senses but all he did was brush his lips gently against the corner of her mouth.

  It was still enough to make her weak and she walked away on trembling legs. She was afraid to look back to see if he was still standing there. And even more afraid that if she did she might be tempted to stay.

  Chase was mad at himself for the way things had ended. He’d forgotten last night when he brought her home with him that he had other pressing obligations, and though she was coming to be the most precious thing in his life, he wasn’t one to shirk his responsibilities.

  Especially not when it meant disappointing some young kids who’d already faced more than their fair share of that wasted emotion.

  He went back inside, missing her already, and got dressed for the day. Before he left he walked into the guestroom and found the shirt he’d given her to sleep in. He lifted it to his nose, still warm from her body and inhaled her scent. “Soon!”

  He forced himself to put her out of his mind for now as he headed down to the car. A quick look when he drove by the front of the building showed that she was already gone and he felt a little disappointed that he wouldn’t get one last look at her.

  On the other side of town Annabelle climbed out of the cab after paying the driver. She stashed the rest of the money in her purse intending to give it back to him later.

  She felt very conspicuous and exposed as she walked down the street in her party dress. She might’ve been better off in the tee shirt.

  It was still relatively early in the morning and not that many people were out and about, but she felt sick when she turned the corner and saw just who was roaming the streets. I guess drugs mess with your sleep schedule, she thought.

  She tugged at the bottom of her dress trying pointlessly to make it longer. She hoped against hope that she wouldn’t come to anyone’s attention, but knew it was too much to ask.

  She kept her head down and averted in the hopes of making it to her door without incident. Somehow home seemed much farther away than usual and she couldn’t shake the nasty feeling that grew in the pit of her stomach at the first whistle.

  With each step she was beginning to regret her decision more and more. It would’ve been so easy to accept his offer and stay with him, and that’s exactly why she’d left.

  She was convinced in her mind that if she didn’t jump into his bed first chance she got, maybe he’d stick around a little longer.

  And that made her sound like the most horrible person. Like she was stringing him along somehow, and that was not her intention.

  She saw the shadow fall across her path before the hand came out to stop her. It all happened so fast she didn’t have time to avoid his filthy touch.

  She didn’t have to look up to know who it was; his scent gave him away. It was Dirk of course, the bane of her existence.

  She opened her mouth to blast him but he gr
abbed her arm and tried pulling her into him. “Let go of me.”

  She tried tugging away from him while his hand started to travel up beneath her skirt. “I told you we were gonna have some fun,” he tried kissing her neck.

  “Get off of me!' said Annabelle, pushing him away, none too gently. He stumbled and almost fell on his ass, but at least he was no longer touching her.

  “You bitch.” He made a grab for her, but she evaded his hands, only to end up in the path of yet another asshole.

  “Yeah, let’s teach this bitch a lesson she won’t soon forget. Thinks she’s better than us.” That accusation came from yet another one, who came running up to her.

  “I'll knee you in the balls!' said Annabelle, forcefully, as she dodged him. “Hold her Sammy” cried Dirk, “I’m through playing with this bitch.”

  “Get away from me, leave me alone!” She screamed, beginning to run, her heart in her lungs as fear threatened to slow her down.

  “Come on, you assholes, she’s getting away.” She dodged their outstretched arms, as she ran full out or as much as she could in heels. She couldn’t stop long enough to get them off or she’d be caught for sure.

  But if she didn’t take them off she wasn’t going to make it to her door. Why hadn’t she listened to Chase and stayed put?

  She threw a quick look over her shoulder to judge the distance between her and the closest of her would be attackers.

  She took a chance and pulled off one shoe while still in motion which wasn’t the easiest thing to do. She dragged off the other one and then, with one last look over her shoulder took off running.

  She could hear the pounding of their feet on the pavement as they chased after her, shouting, yelling and calling her names in between bouts of wild laughter.

  A few people peeped out their windows from behind curtains and some brave souls even opened their doors. But not one of them made a move to help her.

  Tears filled her eyes when she realized that there was no one to save her. The thought of them catching up to her and doing who knows what seemed to give her needed strength.

  With one last look back she picked up speed and ran like the wind. Don’t look back; don’t look back. For the first time in her life she was glad her neighbors were drug-addled deadbeats, the drugs seemed to have slowed them down.

  Suddenly someone came at her from the side and darted into the middle of the road. The person stood in her way, and she’d made up her mind to mow him down before she realized it was Tim.

  She almost jumped shrieking into his arms her body close to giving out. He lifted her against him, and before she could stop him tried to kiss her. Was he insane?

  “You bastard let go of me.” She growled as fresh tears of frustration fell from her eyes.

  “Play along Annabelle unless you want them to take you.”

  She didn’t know why she trusted him but she did. Although he had a silly crush on her, he’d never done anything to make her wary of him.

  “Where you been girl? I told you about keeping me waiting? Get your ass home.” There was a shout of laughter from some of the women who were now standing in their doorways, and the thugs who’d been chasing her stopped their mad dash to reach her.

  Annabelle, looking up, mouthed a silent thank you before trying to extricate herself from his hold. Tim had grown up here and though he was nothing like the others, he and they were friends.

  She wasn’t sure how well his little ploy had worked or how long it would last, so she didn’t risk hanging around to find out.

  She kept her head down as she walked the few steps to her door. Once inside she crumbled to the floor in front of the closed door, no longer able to move.

  Her body refused to obey her and she just sat there and cried at how close she’d come to being assaulted. Chase was right; it was no longer safe for her to be here. She had to get out some way somehow.

  But what about her mother? The woman might not be much of one, but she was all she had. She couldn’t just leave her here, and she knew her mother would never leave.

  She’ll have to come up with something though, because she was pretty sure next time she won’t be so lucky. She didn’t trust them not to see through Tim’s ploy sooner or later.

  10

  Annabelle eventually picked herself up off the floor and made her way to her bedroom. She’d risen earlier than was the norm for a Sunday morning, and that, added to the stress of the chase she’d just endured, had her climbing back into bed after changing out of the dress. She was fast asleep in seconds.

  When she finally roused from slumber only a couple hours had gone by, and it was still relatively early. Mrs. Scacci was in the habit of sleeping in on Sunday mornings, or she would not have been allowed to go on sleeping as long as she did.

  She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes to gather her senses together and gradually she remembered having gone to the party the night before; seeing Chase, and then suddenly everything came back to her.

  She stretched out her legs and gave a long sigh of pleasure. Her heart was full as she thought of Chase, and the most amazing feeling of love in bloom came over her.

  Closing her eyes, she imagined again the feel of his warm kisses, and the way it had felt to have his arms around her. She remembered how it felt when he wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his cheek along hers; she almost felt the slight roughness of his five o’clock shadow against her soft skin, and his strong muscular arms around her body.

  She smiled to herself and took a long deep breath; then as she felt the slight sting in her arm she pushed back the sleeve of her nightdress. How could she have forgotten being grabbed hard enough to leave a mark?

  She got out of bed and looked at herself in the broken glass of the bureau that was older than she was: with one hand she brushed back her hair and tried to see what Chase did when he looked at her.

  Her face was very fine featured she thought, but her olive tan complexion wasn’t too bad with her black hair and dark eyes. Her lips were wide and naturally pink but she had to admit that they’d looked very nice with the red lipstick she’d worn the night before.

  Her eyes fell once again on the marks on her arm and some of the joy went out of her day. I’m gonna have to do something, she thought. It felt suddenly like her worlds were colliding.

  There was the person she was when she was around Kimmy and Chase, and then there was this other person; the girl who lived in one of the worst cities in the country and who had to dodge attackers on her way home.

  Chase was right; no matter how it burns her to have him think that way about where she lived, his assessment was spot on. And after what she’d faced this morning, it might be worst than either of them thought.

  Annabelle and her mother were having breakfast the next day. It was the only meal they ever shared together, and that rarely. In short, it was as much time as the two could stand to be that close to each other.

  The mother because she was wary of being judged by her daughter’s very lofty standards, and the child, because she was ever conscious of her fear of becoming a replica of what she saw sitting across from her at the table.

  Stella Scacci looked older than her thirty-six years. She was short, and going soft around the middle, with a worn face, and greying hair, which she wore, pulled back in a ponytail.

  She had been a real beauty once, but since her last boyfriend had ran off with one of her good friends a few years back, she’d just given up on life, and on herself. At least that’s how it seemed.

  She’d moved with Annabelle to the dingy ground-floor apartment in the rundown old house when the girl was about eight years old.

  Annabelle’s dad had been long gone by the time she was old enough to know what one was, and from an early age she’d pretty much taken care of her mother and herself.

  Her mom had done odd jobs to make ends meet here and there as long as she could remember and in the old days usually made enough to keep them from starvation.

&nbs
p; But, after the last guy ran off when Annabelle was about eleven or twelve, the older woman had just stopped trying. It was as if that last insult had been too much in a long line of life’s disappointments and she’d basically just given up.

  These days she still cleaned other people’s homes and did little odd jobs wherever she could find them so she could earn a little extra to keep her well supplied with liquor.

  It was the only thing she had any interest in and the reason she could never hold down a job for long. It was a vicious cycle that her daughter was desperate to escape from.

  Annabelle was able to make her own living by working at a grocery store where she’d been lucky enough to get a job by lying about her age a few years ago. And though she hated lying and would rather chew off her tongue, it was either that or dying of starvation.

  Though at the time she didn’t look any older than her age of fifteen, that was nothing a little bit of makeup couldn’t fix. And even though she’d been terrified that day of being found out, and even more of the repercussions she might face in the case of that happening, she’d had no choice but to try.

  The family who owned the grocery had long since realized that she’d lied, but by then they knew about her home situation and was very sympathetic. Not to mention, they had a genuine fondness for the hardworking, honest young girl who showed a lot more promise in life than most of her peers.

  She could’ve probably found something better by now, but her sense of loyalty wouldn’t let her. The Smiths have always been kind to her, and where else was she going to get a week’s supply of fruits and vegetables for free every payday?

  Granted the produce wasn’t always in the best condition, but it was better than nothing and she’d learned to make do, as she always did.

  Her mother was acting kinda pissy this morning and the young girl waited to hear what fresh hell she’d gotten herself into now. “Where were you yesterday Annabelle?” She asked.

  “I was with a friend, we had a party on Saturday remember?” She tore the toast into pieces instead of eating it because her tummy felt weird.