Married to the Devil

Chapter 24

Derek left the house to buy groceries and I was sitting in the living room alone, flipping through pages of a new online book that I'd been obsessed with. It was a chicklit genre of a crazy woman who transferred her job to Las Vegas and found love.

I smiled when I got to the part where she pronounced her love to her boyfriend, Gregg, and reminisced over the day Derek and I had done that during our two month anniversary. It felt like ages ago now but it was clear that I still loved him.

And he loved me back.

My smile grew as I thought about the multiple times we'd gone back to the barn since then. Sometimes we brought ice cream and other times we didn't. It was becoming a ritual of ours every weekend.

Derek told me that he'd been planning the anniversary for a long time. After about a month together and the unacknowledged way we treated our first anniversary he decided that doing something special for the second one would be perfect.

So he left every so often to help with the construction and hired some of his friends to help out. Another friend cooked the meals on the day of, and lastly, he ordered the twinkly lights and had them put in the night before. Aparently, Derek was so anxious about it that he forgot to turn out the lights, letting them shine for an entire day before the anniversary.

I snickered as Derek told me about how nervous he was that maybe the lights had burnt out and the moment wouldn't be special anymore.

But it was fantastic and I loved him for it.

The barn was a special connection that we shared between us and sometimes we'd bring out a projector to play a movie on the newly painted barn walls.

The barn itself was completely refurnished too and that had taken a couple of months. Apparently he'd been in town for a lot longer than when I'd initially seen him running across his father's lawn.

Even though it still had its rustic charm, it was now complete with insulation, sturdy joints, and a solid metal ladder that didn't make me feel like I was going to die everytime I climbed up it.

He clearly put in a lot of effort in the barn.

A thought struck me, could all that work and planning really be accomplished within a few months?

It was a miracle as to how quickly it had been done and just in time for the anniversary too.

The doorbell rang and I smiled to myself. My love was back. Derek Carter was back at my door, the husband that I loved.

After tossing my phone down on the bed I scrambled up to the door to open it, already planning my welcome-home kiss.

"Derek I'm so happy that you-"

Two solid hands circled my forearms and pushed me inside my apartment, forcefully shutting and locking the door behind me.

Panic floods me. I'm being kidnapped.

The thing about kidnappings is that everything is overwhelming and strange. Like this huge shock that only has you thinking, 'Omigod, it's happening.'

And the feeling doesn't get better when you figure out that it's someone you know.

Josh's hand tightened over my mouth to cover my muffled voice. My eyes were wide and surprise was all over my mind.

Okay, maybe I wasn't really being kidnapped.

Josh's blue eyes looked into mine, deep concern lay there. I squirmed and twisted, trying to get away from him but he held firm and shook his head.