Forgotten

Chapter 2

2

Kelsea could not believe she said that to so many people and never realized just how dirty it sounded.

Her cheeks heated instantly, and she sputtered for something to say to make it better, but there was nothing. She just had to run with it.

“Well, we smile and ask nicely, so people tend to give us lots of money.”

Then it was his turn to choke on his cheesecake.

Cecelia looked at the two of them like they were crazy.

Kelsea finally felt better. When she turned off the light in her room and saw a flashlight outside her bedroom window, she freaked out. She snuck out of her room, tugged on her sneakers, and ran like hell to Cecelia’s house. She didn’t have her purse with her or anything, just her keys. Which was really stupid because if someone really was out there and they killed her, the police wouldn’t be able to identify her body.

But she was operating on pure instinct when she left her room. Terror raced through her, and she knew she wasn’t being paranoid or crazy. Cecelia was the closest neighbor to her that she’d gotten to know, so she sprinted the three houses down and panicked when a man opened the door.

But Jaymes was funny and sexy and kind. She’d forgotten that he was kidn*pped months ago. If anyone understood how terrified she was, it was definitely a man who’d been there.

And instead of continuing to freak out, she was flirting with him.

His brown hair was neatly trimmed, but his beard was a little long. She’d always been attracted to men like him, men who were a little scruffy and a whole lot of sexy, but with a nerdy side that came out in small ways. The way his t-shirt stretched across his pecs had her mouth watering even as she shook with fear. He definitely had a nerdy side, as evidenced by his wire-rimmed glasses and bright white socks, not to mention the career working with computers, if she remembered correctly. But she was a psychologist who chose to teach others how to be psychologists, so she was no stranger to being a geek.

Jaymes took a drink of his water and smirked at her, tipping his glass in her direction.

“Are you two all right?” Cecelia asked, tossing her gaze between the two of them.

Kelsea and Jaymes exchanged a grin and nodded.

Cecelia rolled her eyes. “I swear, it’s like having two children again. What is going on between the two of you?”

Jaymes recovered faster than Kelsea did. “Nothing, Mom. We’re just talking about Kelsea’s work. I’m guessing you teach at Erie University?”

She nodded. “I do. This is my second year.”

“Wow. And you have a PhD, I’m guessing, if you’re teaching grad students?”

She nodded, a little impressed that he would know that. “I do. In psychology. The neuroscience part of it wasn’t all that common when I was going to school, but I was a premed major for my undergrad and planned to be a neurologist.”

“Well, damn. That’s impressive.”

Kelsea grinned. A lot of people were shocked when she told them she wanted to be a neurologist, but not as many thought psychology was quite so fascinating. There was definitely something about brain surgery that was sexy, but she was learning how the brain controlled what a person did. She thought that was pretty damn sexy, too.

“I decided going to medical school, then getting into a residency program, and having to do a fellowship, and then studying under someone for years was too long for me to wait. It wasn’t as important to me to be able to cut open a brain and fix it as it was to understand everything about how it works. So, I gave up neurology and went into psych. I love it.”

Jaymes smiled at her. “It’s better to love your job.”

She sensed something in him, something that said he used to but it changed. She wanted to ask, to push, but before she got the chance, he turned to his mom.

“My mom was telling me about the dirty old man at church that felt her up the other day.”

Kelsea gasped and met Cecelia’s gaze. “Tell me he’s joking.”

She rolled her eyes. “My son likes to pick on me. The man grabbed my ass.”

Jaymes scraped the last of his cheesecake off his plate and licked the spoon. Kelsea’s n*****s tightened watching the very tip of his tongue clean the fork. Damn, she really needed to get laid.

“Mom thought getting felt up meant she got her a*s grabbed. It was a concerning few minutes. I figured I’d share with you.”

Kelsea chuckled at the glint in Jaymes’s chocolate eyes. He winked at her, as though they shared a secret. She looked back at Cecelia, who scoffed and got up, carrying the cheesecake back to the kitchen.

“Where are you taking that?” Jaymes asked.

“To the fridge. You’re done.”

“Mom! I wanted another piece.”

Jaymes jumped up and followed her. He begged and pleaded with her until their voices dropped too low for Kelsea to hear what they were saying.

She sipped her water and her mind wandered back to whoever was following her. It had been six weeks, since just after Thanksgiving, since she started thinking someone was following her. She was sure she was crazy at first, but seeing that light outside her window, and all the times she heard someone behind her, felt someone watching her… She wasn’t crazy.

But she was alone.

Her parents still lived in Ohio where she grew up. She wasn’t close to them, and hadn’t been her whole life. She didn’t have any siblings, and her coworkers mostly all thought she was crazy anyway. Her only friends weren’t human, but she loved the furry friends she made at the shelter every day.

And Cecelia. She met Cecelia the day she moved into her house. She came over with a casserole and homemade cheesecake and introduced herself. She offered her son, Jaymes, to help Kelsea move in, but Kelsea denied the help. She was used to doing everything on her own. She always had, and always would.

But Cecelia kept coming back. Once a week, she’d stop by with food in a plastic container with the excuse that she made too much and didn’t want it to go to waste. She slowly wore Kelsea down until they became friends.

Jaymes and Cecelia came back into the room, Jaymes wearing a triumphant smile as he carried the cheesecake back to the table. He cut himself another large piece and plopped it on his plate, then offered her one.

“Oh, no. I can’t. I’m trying to lose weight.”

“Kelsea, you’ve been trying to lose weight since I met you. You’re beautiful. You don’t need to lose weight. Tell her Jaymes. Maybe she’ll believe you.”

He looked at her, his dark eyes going even darker as he scanned her body. She felt his gaze over her like a lover’s caress, touching every inch of her curvy figure. She’d always hated that she wasn’t smaller, that her hips were too wide and her boobs too big and her belly wasn’t flat. But the look in his eyes made her feel stunning. Like if she changed one thing, lost one pound, it would be a mistake.

“You’re perfect,” Jaymes said, his voice husky. “You definitely don’t need to lose any weight.”

Kelsea trembled at the l**t in his voice. She clenched her thighs together to stop the pulsing between them. Just the sound of the man’s voice had her ready to go off. What was wrong with her?

“See, Kelsea,” Cecelia interrupted her thoughts, “I told you. That Maxwell doesn’t know what he’s missing breaking up with you. He was lucky to find a woman like you, kind and smart and beautiful. And it’s not like he was a real catch. With his scruffy face and all those muscles. Did he think he could do better than you? That he was really that perfect?”

Kelsea sighed. She thought he was that perfect. When she met him at least. It baffled her that a man like him wanted to be with her. A man who rippled with muscles when he moved. He was confident and strong and smart. And he wanted her. He was perfect, until he wasn’t.

“Who’s Maxwell?” Jaymes asked quietly.

She avoided his gaze. It was bad enough that Cecelia told Jaymes she got dumped. She was thankful she never shared the real story with her friend. She hated lying about why they broke up, but Kelsea needed a shoulder to cry on when things ended between them. She never expected Cecelia to tell her hot son she got dumped.

“He was this guy Kelsea met over the summer and dated until a couple months ago,” Cecelia supplied. “You wouldn’t have liked him. I didn’t like him. He was cocky and arrogant and never talked much.”

“Sounds like a few other people I know,” Jaymes said with a half-grin for his mother.

“Your brother is not like that,” Cecelia argued.

Jaymes laughed. “Really? Because he’s living with and engaged to my best friend, so I see him an awful lot. He’s pretty damn cocky, and he’s never talked much.”

There was something deeper in his comments that Jaymes wasn’t saying. The best friend comment set Kelsea on edge. She didn’t know who Jaymes’s best friend was, but she was pretty sure he wasn’t happy his brother was with her.

“You know the cocky is because he’s a SEAL and the not talking is because of your father. Trust me, he’s nothing like Maxwell.”

Jaymes shrugged, but it was clear he wasn’t buying it.

“Well, I find it hard to believe you could raise a man who is anything like Maxwell. Jaymes is very kind, and I’m sure your other son is, too.”

“You haven’t met Archer?” Cecelia asked.

Kelsea shook her head.

“Oh, we all need to get together sometime. And he can bring his… well,” she glanced at Jaymes, “Lily.”

Jaymes gave her a tight-lipped grin that said a lot. Lily used to belong to Jaymes, but she was with Archer. And he was still upset about it.

Guess the flirtation between them was all in her imagination. And if that wasn’t real, maybe her stalker wasn’t either.

A grandfather clock chimed, telling them it was already ten o’clock. Cecelia looked at it and gasped. “I didn’t know it was so late. I have to get to bed. Jaymes, make sure Kelsea gets home, okay?”

Jaymes nodded and got up. He carried the cheesecake to the kitchen while Cecelia grabbed plates and cups from the table. Jaymes helped her put everything away quickly, then she shooed them out the door and into the cold January night.

Jaymes looked around for a second, then back to her. “Where’s your car?”

Kelsea shook her head. “I only live a couple houses down. I, uh, I walked here.”

He looked down at her feet and nodded slowly, like he knew exactly what happened. “Why don’t I give you a ride?”

Kelsea shook her head and ducked her chin into her sweatshirt. She walked down the steps and started to the sidewalk.

Before she got more than a few steps away, his hand landed on her shoulder and startled her. She jumped and spun on him.

He stepped back, staring at her.

One more person who thought she was crazy.

“Are you okay?” he asked slowly.

There was fear in her eyes. Just like when he opened the door an hour ago. That fear went away when he told her who he was, but this fear? This fear had hooked into her and wasn’t letting go.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I was… you startled me.”

“Kelsea, it’s cold, and you’re clearly upset about something. Let me drive you home, check out your house, make sure everything is okay.”

She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.”

He smiled. “I know, but you’re a friend of my mom’s. She asked me to make sure you got home. And I know how it feels to worry if you’re safe in your own home. Let me check it out, Kelsea.”

She stared at him for a long minute, then finally nodded.

He unlocked his truck and waited for her to get in before he joined her. He cranked the engine and blasted the heat so she’d stop shivering. After a minute, he backed out of the driveway, but her shivering got worse.

Terror, not cold.

“Which house is yours?”

She pointed to a light colored ranch three doors down. Jaymes pulled into her driveway and put his truck in park, then turned it off.

“Kelsea, let me come with you.”

She held his gaze, then nodded again.

Jaymes hung back and let her go first. He looked around, checking for footprints or anything suspicious as she walked to her door.

He thought he saw something, but instead of scaring her, he followed her inside.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she said immediately. “I think I’ve been working too many long hours and I’m starting to lose it.”

“What happened, Kelsea?” Jaymes asked softly.

She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

He moved closer to her and reached for her hand. She stiffened for a minute, then sank into his chest, surprising him.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her. She trembled, clinging to him. It had been a long time since he felt able to take care of someone else. He ran his hand down her back and held her close, hoping he could take some of her fear away. She smelled like cherries and fresh air, and he couldn’t resist a whiff of her.

“Are you okay?” he asked after a minute.

She nodded and stepped back, meeting his gaze with her own troubled one. “I’m sorry. I… I thought I saw someone outside my house earlier, and I’ve been thinking someone was following me, and I just worked myself up over nothing.”

Jaymes shook his head. “When I was kidn*pped, I thought someone was following me for a couple days. I brushed it off as nothing, but they took me anyway. From outside my home. Don’t discount your feelings and your fears.” He looked around. “Let’s check everything out inside, then you can show me where you thought you saw someone outside. It hasn’t snowed in a few hours, so we might find some footprints.”

She shivered and looked up at him. “You don’t think I’m crazy?”

He shook his head. “No. Not even a little.”

She nodded and walked him around her home. The kitchen was simple and clean, all white. The clutter on the counter told him she enjoyed cooking. The living room had a very lived-in feel to it, with books on the coffee table, a TV above a short fireplace across from the couch, and a bookshelf nearly overflowing with a variety of books. They passed a hallway bathroom, where he checked behind the shower curtain, and a spare bedroom, where he checked under the bed, before she walked into her bedroom.

The walls were a steel blue color with light gray curtains breaking up the dark color. Candle holders filled with half-melted candles, pictures of different places around the world, and dogs and cats lined her walls. He smiled, enjoying the peek inside her.

What struck him was that nowhere in the house did he see a picture of a person. Family, friends, even herself. No pictures existed. Which told him something, too.

She was a loner. Kind of like him.

“Sorry,” she said, moving to the corner of the room.

He watched her, wondering what she was apologizing for. She snatched a b*a off the coatrack in the corner and shoved it in a drawer, then slammed it shut.

Too bad he got a damn good view of the purple lace. Now he was picturing her in it. And only in that.

He cleared his throat and turned away from her bed. He hadn’t ever had the urge to throw a woman down on her bed and ravage her like he wanted to do to Kelsea. But he would be an asshole if he actually followed through. She was scared, and there was no way in hell he could take advantage of her.

With her room clear and the house empty, Kelsea led him outside. Jaymes stopped her on the driveway and pointed to what he’d noticed earlier.

“Are those footprints?” she gasped.

He nodded. “Yeah, and unless you were walking around your house earlier today, you weren’t crazy. Someone was definitely here.”