Caught in the Middle

Chapter 18

Dane's words shocked me to the core that I didn't know how to respond to him the moment he told me.  He left me to take a shower alone but he carefully instructed me to make sure the hot water collide between my thighs.  He assumed I would be sore from the extra sex we had after his first time taking me.  I didn't realize how sore I was until I ran soapy hands around my vulva area.  The muscles in my thigh stiffened.  I winced as my stomach squeezed inward and my vaginal muscles clenched.  There was no way I going to allow Dane to take me again.

I desperately needed to return home.  Staying with Dane at his place would prove detrimental, sexually.  Then, I needed to find a lawyer, to gather evidence and to work to make money.  I yearned for my independent life and I missed the jaded life I had before meeting Nathan and Dane.

Everything wouldn't be so complicated.

It was rather funny that if two weeks ago someone had predicted my life was going to turn into a nightmare, I would have wagered everything against it because I believed I would live the same routine daily; work, sleep, pay bills to only do everything again.  Now, my life was a mess.  Two wealthy business men were against each other and I fell in the middle of it.

I shook my head, trying not to lose my train of thoughts.  We were now sitting in his Grand Cherokee SUV as he drove me to work.  Somehow I convinced him to take me to work.  Since he found a reason to trust me, I persuaded him to let me continue to work in Thorton's Bookstore.  But there was a catch.  I had to hang out by the window where he could watch me from Lava Java Cafe across the street.  He believed that Nathan would attack me while I was working.

And I couldn't blame Dane for his over active imagination.

Surreptitiously, I peered at him through my long locks of hair.  He had one hand clutching at the steering wheel while his other hand closed around the gearshift.  He drove with confidence and speed that had me wondering how the heck he could maneuver the SUV without it threatening to topple over or get a speeding ticket from the police.

"Thank you," I said.  I clasped my hands at my lap as I glanced down at the black pencil skirt I wore.

"There's no need to thank me," he replied silky.  But his voice made me think of black satin sheets and his larger frame covering me.  I shivered and tightened my hands together.  I squeezed my legs together.

"I do," I said.  "You're letting me work for my own money.  And if everything goes well with work, you may allow me to go home."

"That's only if you can prove Nathan isn't up to something at work."

''At least I'm lucky to have a job to go too.  There was a time my friend Irene didn't work for a few months.  She had to live off her savings until she found a job.

"Has that happened to you?"

I nodded my head.  "After my parents' death, I used the money they left for me to pay my college tuition.  I roommate with a stranger while I sold what I could from my house.  With the extra money, I purchased items for my room and food.  It took me awhile to find some jobs but I finally found the ones that can help me support myself.  I can even afford to have my own apartment.  I prefer not to roommate with strangers."  I shook my head at my last roommate.  When she wasn't at work, she slept in during the day and at night she brought random strangers home.  Maybe, she strengthened my phobia.

No wonder I avoided good looking men.

Then I made the mistake of going on a blind date.

Why didn't I listen to my instincts the way I had when I first met Dane?

Perhaps, I didn't think an ordinary girl like me would get mixed up with dangerously, wealthy, arrogant, handsome men.  Nor did I ever fathom catching the fancy of Dane Cole. But the feelings were mutual, because he sparked something restless in me.