Swept Away (The Escape Series Novellas Book 1) Page 5

  “All men?”

  Cassie snickered, “Every one of them.”

  Wyatt shook his head, “I knew you were a heartbreaker.”

  Cassie started to laugh. “That’s me, I’m a little ole heartbreaker. Love taker...don’t you mess around with me.”

  Wyatt tossed his hair back. “I dig that song.”

  “Me too.”

  “Are you friends with your ex?”

  Cassie knew she had to tread this water well. “Yes, we grew up with one another. High school sweethearts.”

  Wyatt pushed back his plate and got comfortable in his chair. “Us too. I met Dawn in junior high.”

  Cassie felt a lump in her throat. And there it was...that twinge of jealousy. Her name was Dawn. An original name. She wanted to know more! “Oh yea? My best friend met her husband, well, now her ex-husband back in junior high as well.”

  “Do you like to camp?”

  Cassie noticed he changed the subject. Good work. “I love the outdoors. We go on a camping trip at least twice a year.”

  “Who is we?”

  “Me and the kids mostly...and Damon, my ex, when he’s in between girlfriends,” she guffawed.

  Wyatt stayed quiet. “Damon is your ex?”

  “Yes,” Cassie said, pausing. He seemed suddenly green-eyed of her past. Why? Boy was he confusing.

  Wyatt shook his head. “I wanna get away.”

  “Okay,” Cassie said, wondering where this conversation was heading to now.

  “I wanna get you outdoors.”

  Cassie shrugged her shoulders and waved her hand out in front of her. “We’re out right now.”

  He grew agitated by the second. “What I mean is,” he let go, shushing down and leaning into her. “...Is I wanna fuck you under the stars.”

  Cassie looked up above her, “I think we already did.”

  Wyatt let go a seductive grin, “And the night is not over.”

  “Thank God for that.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Cassie sat at her desk in her office and watched the typesetting on her school ledger start to blur. On her one and only date with Wyatt Zander, she had sex with him three times, had a nice steak and shrimp meal by the ocean, had some laughs then hadn’t heard from him again. He had suddenly vanished. It had already been several days, nearly two weeks in fact, that she hadn’t seen him at work, receive a text or even an office visit. What gives?

  Cassie gazed out her office window in the hope of seeing him. She didn’t. And she wondered if he had quit.

  She got up from her desk and walked out of her office and towards the Office of Administration. She would have to involve Paula Garcia again and that would be painful. She didn’t want to bring any concentration to her already complicated relationship with the custodian, therefore having Paula know about it would be unhelpful.

  Walking down towards Paula’s office she noticed a group of seniors discussing the recent pep rally Regal High put on. Gesturing, displaying moves, laughing, and throwing their hands in the air caused Cassie to focus on only them when just beyond in the distance, Wyatt had been picking up trash with a poker.

  Cassie stood immobile for the moment when she realized it was him and watched Wyatt from afar, unaffected by recent events or the fact that he hadn’t seen or touched her in days.

  What the heck was going on?

  Was she in over her head? Did she already have feelings for the guy? Sadly, yes. Yes, she did have feelings for him. Figured she must have had feelings for him the moment his eyes met hers over a bucket of spilled water. Was it love?

  Cassie was just about to turn around when Wyatt looked up from his duty. He gazed over at the kids first then saw her standing there. Their eyes lock and hold until Wyatt motioned with his head to meet him in the corner of the outdoor cafeteria. Lunch had been over for several hours and there were no other kids in sight.

  Cassie met Wyatt under the cafeteria awning, by a concrete table and sat down. She on one side, he on the other.

  “How are you?” He asked, shoving his hands down his pant pockets.

  There were a few things Cassie suddenly noticed in that moment. One, his beard was a little unruly, like he hadn’t combed it in a while or used a beard trimmer; two, his hair had been pulled back in his normal ponytail, only this time a few strands came loose, and long hair framed his face; three, he wasn’t happy to see her. In fact, he looked a little...sad. And to sum things up...yes, she was in love with him. “Curious,” she ended up saying, feeling a tad bit pissed.

  Wyatt closed his mouth and then gazed away for a moment. His long hair got into his face and had to brush it away.

  Cassie had to sit on her hands she wanted to embrace him so badly. Every move he made felt like torture to her spontaneity and freedom to do so.

  “I had a run-in with Dawn.”

  Cassie lifted her chin up to swallow in her anger. Annoyance was now replaced with concern. “What happened?”

  “We had a difference in opinion regarding Jennifer.”

  Cassie’s smile grew thin. Was an argument over parenting really an excuse to halt seeing someone? But she gave him the benefit of doubt. “What did she do?”

  “She caused her typical scene,” Wyatt said, waving one hand in the air.

  Cassie felt the hatred for her in his voice. “Like how?”

  “Her typical theatrics!” Wyatt shouted out suddenly. “Yelling and screaming at me like I allowed her to play with guns --she’s just a fuckin’ bitch now.”

  “How old is your daughter again?”

  “She’s five,” he let out angrily. “And I allowed her to watch me play a Rated M game on my Xbox and Dawn went all psycho on me.”

  Cassie wanted to sympathize with him, she really did but all she could think about was him ditching her. Yes, it was selfish thinking, and she really should be concerned for him and his plight, but dammit! He abandoned her—and, WTF? Why did he allow his five-year-old little girl viewing privileges to a graphic video game? She would be livid too. But… “So,” she let go, sounding a little condescending. “Let me get this straight.”

  “Before you start too,” he said, cutting her off. “I’m sorry I didn’t reach out to you after the beach, it’s just I needed some time to cool off.”

  Cassie closed her eyes then gazed away. Off in the distance she could see a few kids running towards the chain link fence. Were they ditching? “Shit,” she suddenly said, standing up. “We’ve got a situation.”

  Wyatt turned to where Cassie was looking and noted the kids now climbing over the fence. Standing up as well, he said, “I’ll notify security--I have a walkie-talkie.”

  “That’s right,” Cassie agreed, walking away from him. “Tell them, four,” she said, counting the bodies over the fence now. “No, five all together. Sprung near Everton Road, east.”

  “Got it,” he said, walking away from her as well.

  Cassie watched the kids all scramble to their feet and then run away as fast as they could. Security wasn’t going to locate them now as they all quickly dashed into a getaway car already waiting for them on the other side.

  She then gazed over at Wyatt speaking into the walkie-talkie. Their heart-to-heart wasn’t over yet, not by a long shot. She waited until he was off when she yelled out, “Am I gonna see you again?”

  Wyatt hadn’t realized they were several feet away. He began his descent towards her when the school bell rang.

  Inches away now, he gazed down into her eyes. “Every day, if you let me.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Well, that was a big fat lie. Wyatt hadn’t called, hadn’t texted, and hadn’t come by to pay a visit to her in the office for three whole days. What the heck was going on? What a player he turned out to be! Cassie hadn’t felt this frustrated about anyone since Damon.

  Speaking of…

  Damon came knocking on her door the other night. Tristan was out with his friends and Kendra spent the night with her girlfriend, Toby.

  Da
mon was depressed that his lady friend, Tonya broke up with him after six months. Half a year was starting to be a good duration for Damon, most of his lady friends split after just a few.

  Not that he was a bad person or anything, he was just very self-centered and occasionally callous. Never any time for the other person, Damon just didn’t give a damn and Tonya was--unfortunately--on the other end of that cold attitude.

  Cassie lie in bed and watched the sun come up. Normally she would get up, brush her teeth, make some coffee and sit in the living room with her laptop on a Saturday...but on this Saturday, she lies in bed. Gazing up at the ceiling, she focused on a cobweb in the corner of her ceiling fan. She would have to clean that later. Now, she had to figure out how to get Damon out of her bed before the kids saw them together.

  Yes, she slept with him.

  She didn’t want to, but she did.

  It was just one of those things, really. He was depressed, she was frustrated and they both made each other feel better by making matters worse. It was a temporary fix--never the best solution--but considered to most a spontaneous cure.

  Cassie sat up in bed now and leaned over to nudge Damon on his shoulder. “Wake up, Damon,” she said, gently pushing his body back and forth. “Wake up, the kids.”

  Damon opened his eyes and then smiled, “It wasn’t a dream.”

  Cassie brought the bed sheet up over her naked breasts. “It wasn’t, now get out.”

  Damon rolled over on his back, “Do I have to?”

  “Yes, you have to,” Cassie demanded, pushing his body again.

  Damon fought hard to stay on the bed. “Okay, okay, I’m getting up.”

  Cassie leaned over and grabbed her nightgown off the hardwood floor near her bed. Opening it up by the bodice, she quickly pulled it up over her head. Standing up suddenly, she looked over a Damon, pulling his jeans up over his bare ass and then turning around to see the grimace on her face.

  “What?”

  “I don’t want to talk about last night, at all...do you understand?”

  Damon nodded his head ‘Yes’, but then asked, “Why?”

  “This was a mistake, Damon, it always is with you.”

  Damon let go a huge sigh. “I know, I agree,” he said, scratching his head. “But did you have fun? Was it good?”

  “It was sex!” Cassie yelled, grabbing her pillow and throwing it at him. “Now, get dressed!”

  Damon grinned again and found his shirt and began putting it on. “Was that the doorbell?”

  Cassie turned towards her closed bedroom door. “I didn’t hear anything.”

  “Are the kids up this early? What time is it anyway?”

  “Six-thirty,” Cassie said, putting her robe on.

  The doorbell rang again.

  “See,” Damon said, as a matter-of-fact. “I knew I heard the doorbell ring. You stay there, I’ll go see who it is. Probably some UPS driver or something. You expecting a package?” He asked, opening the bedroom door.

  Cassie thought about it for a moment. “I think Kendra ordered some music CD’s from Amazon, it could be those.”

  Damon nodded his head again and walked down the hallway towards the front doorway. Cassie, just a few feet behind him, watched Damon open the door to her worst nightmare.

  Wyatt Zander.

  On her doorstep landing...at six-thirty in the morning?

  Holy Fuck.

  Damon was oblivious to what was going on. “You’re not the UPS guy, can I help you?”

  Wyatt looked Damon up and down. Damon’s disheveled look and bare feet screamed he had spent the night. “I’m here for Cassie.”

  Damon turned around intending on yelling for his ex when Cassie came into view.

  “I’ve got this,” Cassie said, swallowing her embarrassment. She motioned for Wyatt to come in and the three of them stood immobile and silent in the foyer.

  Damon looked Wyatt up and down. He had been dressed for a motorcycle ride. Black leather jacket, thick, heavy cycle boots, jeans and a bandana covering his long hair. He reached out to Wyatt and extended his hand for a shake, “Damon.”

  Wyatt extended out his hand and shook his, “Wyatt.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Damon said, sort of half-smiling.

  Cassie sighed heavily, there was no trying to pretend or hide. But the look on Wyatt’s face? Oh, the torture! He looked as if Damon had stolen his favorite toy. “What are you doing here?”

  “What’s he doing here?”

  Cassie cocked her head, intending on telling him when Damon beat her to it.

  “I had a few too many last night,” Damon said quickly, shoving his shirt down the front of his pants. “Cassie often lends me her couch.”

  Wyatt took a glance at Cassie’s pristine living room sofa. “Right.”

  At that very moment, the door opened and a good-looking young man stepped into the foyer.

  Cassie’s mouth flew open wide. Wyatt stood his ground and crossed his arms across his chest. Damon just smiled.

  “Noah, what are you doing here?”

  Noah gazed around at all the eyes staring at him, but he spoke to his mother first. “I texted you last week I was coming home for a few days. What's all this?”

  Wyatt grinned, then looked away.

  "Never you mind," Cassie spurted out to Noah. She then grabbed Wyatt’s arm and began detouring his body away into another room. Pointing her finger out at Damon and Noah, she demanded, “You guys stay there.”

  Damon waved both his hands up in the air to surrender and did what he was told. Noah looked over at his dad in question.

  Cassie closed the door behind them. Stepping away from Wyatt for the moment, she contemplated her next move.

  “He spend the night?”

  “Who Noah?”

  “Don’t play stupid.”

  Cassie tried to swallow her guilty look. “Yes, he did.”

  “Does Damon often spend the night here?”

  Cassie bit down on her lower lip. “Yes, I don’t want the kids to worry.”

  “In your bed?”

  Cassie blinked back her surprise. The jealousy in his eyes was overwhelming. Intoxicating...almost. He did care. “Not always,” she truthfully said, “Sometimes he does sleep on the couch.”

  “So, you fucked him last night,” Wyatt angrily stated.

  Again, Cassie let go a deep sigh. “Where have you been? You don’t have the right to appear and disappear and show up out-of-nowhere unannounced. At least he’s here when I need him!”

  Wyatt grabbed her to him, “Why you little!”

  The desire in his eyes was just too much to bear. Cassie could feel him wanting her right then and there. “Say it,” she tested him.

  He wanted to call her a bitch, he really did but he wanted to kiss her lips even more. Leaning down, he did just that and bussed his soft lips across hers. Careful at first, then hungry and impassioned. “I wanted to whisk you away on a bike ride,” he said, pulling away. “But you had better plans.”

  Cassie lifted her chin and gave him a quick peck. “It is customary to keep in touch every now and then to make better plans.”

  Wyatt laughed and stepped away from her. Surveying her dining room first, he said, “Not when you thrive off spontaneity.”

  Cassie reached out to touch his leather jacket. “I like spontaneity, more than most girls.”

  Wyatt nodded his head, “Yes, I know.”

  Cassie leaned in again and kissed his devilish look. “Yes, I know you know.”

  “So, you coming or what?”

  “You’re not mad or upset about Damon being here?”

  Wyatt shrugged his shoulders, “Am I mad? No, shit happens, we’re all human. Am I upset? A little. Are you coming or what?”

  Cassie started to hoot. “What if I had something to do today? With Noah? Or a hair appointment? Nails? Grocery day?”

  “Do you?”

  Cassie’s mouth shut. “No, but what if I did?”

  Wyatt shrugg
ed his shoulders. “I like to fly by my moods,” he quipped easily, “I don’t like being stuck in a groove.”

  Cassie wrapped her robe tighter across her body. “I appreciate that, I do, but--”

  Wyatt reached in and grabbed her body back to his, “But what?”

  “I need to hear from you every now and then, Wyatt.”

  Wyatt tried to unravel her robe’s knotted belt. “To make sure last night never happens again, you’ll hear from me,” he whispered close. “Are you naked under there?”

  Cassie smiled then pushed his body away. “Damon is in the other room!”

  Wyatt let go a naughty grin. “I’m up for him watching--are you?”

  “No!” Cassie smiled, walking away from him.

  “You gonna get dressed or what?”

  Cassie blinked back her amazement and thrill of him showing his constant interest. “Let me get dressed.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  He disappeared...again.

  After their motorcycle ride up to Big Sur and back, Wyatt stopped calling or texting. Yes, she would call his cell only to hear voicemail. Yes, she would send him numerous text messages--all unanswered. Cassie had had enough.

  She knew it was devious, but she did it anyway. She knew it was breaking Human Resources regulations, but she did it anyway. She slipped into the Office of Administration when Paula was at lunch and stole Wyatt’s personnel file.

  Rushing back to her own office, she shut the door behind her and thumbed through the unknown. He lived in Ojai. Didn’t he take her once to Ojai? The cliff overlooking the beach?

  724 Bluffside Road

  Ojai, California 93023

  That’s an expensive neighborhood, she thought, feeling it odd. She once had a girlfriend who lived in Ojai, in a million-dollar home way up on the mountain...is that where Wyatt lived too?

  Cassie gazed up at the clock, it was three o’clock in the afternoon. She had to clock out, drive all the way across the valley, up towards Ventura, stake out Wyatt’s home and then come back down again to get home to cook dinner by six.