Takedown Page 16

  Kiki smiled at the text. He was persistent in a loveable way. If today hadn’t been so horrendous, she might have considered it. He was wearing her down.

  Kiki: I’m too tired. But how about another day? We could get that lunch you were talking about?

  Him: Hell yes! You just tell me when and where and I’ll come pick you up.

  His response warmed her heart and made her smile. She loved how excited he got over a simple lunch, and how with such simple text messages it felt like he was putting in a lot of effort. It really was the little things in life that mattered.

  Kiki: We’ll figure it out. I have some things I need to do, but we will talk soon.

  Him: Look forward to it. Night, baby.

  Tingles ran up Kiki’s body at the cheesy text message sign off, but she lived for that kind of stuff. It was what she liked, and he knew it. He knew everything about her. It was him who was holding back. It made her curious if this new Wade was ready to open up. She didn’t expect him to spill everything, but at least be open to the idea of sharing parts of himself with her.

  With a heavy sigh, Kiki turned off the lights and headed to bed. She was too tired for the glass of wine that a day like this called for. She just needed the solace of her own bed.

  Chapter 22

  Wade’s heart pumped with excitement as he took the elevator up to Kiki’s floor. She’d finally agreed to let him take her out. He’d been relentless in his pursuit, because she was worth the fight, and it was paying off. She’d only agreed to a lunch date, which was typically a ‘friend zone’ kind of outing, but he wasn’t about to push it.

  Exiting the elevator, he walked with determination toward Kiki’s door. This would be the first real time that he’d seen her since the wedding. He’d seen her in passing at the gym, but she was keeping herself busy, and locked away. Part of which he thought was on purpose to avoid him. But once he heard about some drama with her friend Joshua he thought that might be the reason for it.

  Wade gave the door a light knock, and was taken aback when it promptly opened. Kiki stood in the doorway looking like a goddess. His gaze wandered over every part of her, taking in what he had taken for granted. She was more perfect now than she’d ever been, and he’d been a fool for letting her go.

  “Kiki, you’re beautiful.” Wade leaned in, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

  “You’re sweet.” She blushed. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yep.” Wade gestured for her to lead the way.

  He took it as a small victory when she didn’t swat his hand away when it caressed the small of her back as he guided her down the hall.

  The lunch outing wasn’t about convincing Kiki to get back together, but to remind her how much they had in common, how much fun they could have together. Maybe a little bit of wooing; he liked to be the gentleman in her old-fashion love story.

  An anxious Wade got them to the laid-back sushi restaurant they used to frequent in record time, scolding himself for not savoring the time they had together. He pulled out the chair for Kiki as she took a seat. Today they sat at the counter with the conveyer belt that brought the sushi around.

  “Thank you.” Kiki smiled as she settled into her seat.

  “How’s school going?” she asked, pulling a plate off the turn table.

  Wade wasn’t bothered by the light conversation that Kiki was making. Talking about them wasn’t going to help anything, they’d already had that conversation. It was time to put actions behind the words.

  “It’s going really good, but I’m ready to be done, and I still have two semesters left. It will be nice once I have my own clinic.” Wade shrugged.

  “That is so exciting.”

  “How’s work?”

  When Kiki sighed, he regretted asking. There had been so much drama, he should have known better.

  “It’s gotten better, which is a relief. I think people are starting to respect me as manager.” Kiki paused, nudging Wade’s arm with her elbow. “And thanks to you I have to hire a massage therapist.”

  “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

  He was only sorry that he’d created more work for Kiki, but everyone has a line in the sand and that was his. There was no way he was going to run the risk of working on Jessica. And it sounded like Vi wasn’t going back to that position either.

  “How are the guys? Did they have fun at the wedding?”

  “Oh yeah! Lots of pretty girls to chase after. I hardly saw them. But they knew the prettiest girl there was off limits,” he said, winking at her.

  Wade liked the way Kiki bit her bottom lip, trying to keep a smile from taking over her face.

  “She’s definitely off limits, she’s married now.” Kiki shook her head at him.

  “You know that’s not who I was talking about.”

  “I know,” she said bashfully. “But come on, you know I’d never date your friends. They aren’t my type,” she countered, playfully making a sick face.

  “And what is your type exactly?” Wade gave her a sly grin, raising an eyebrow in question.

  “Come on, Wade... Surely it’s obvious.”

  “I like to hear that.” Wade winked. “So, what’s new in the life of Kiki?”

  “Just work. I’m a pretty boring person.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You made me exciting.” Kiki blushed.

  “As long as there isn’t anyone else making you exciting.”

  Wade couldn’t stop the words as they poured out, but he needed to know that he was the only one. Kiki was amazing, and there was no better man for her than him, but there was a sea of wrong men pretending to be Prince Charming.

  “Wade. Come on now. It’s not me with a shady reputation.”

  Ouch! That one hurt. He knew who he was in the past and he knew who he wanted to be in the future, but he needed Kiki to help him figure out who he was in the now.

  “I assure you there’s only one woman who’s held my interest for a long time. And I made her a promise and I won’t break that. Not to her.”

  Kiki met his eyes, looking at him like only she could; like she was seeing a part of him that no one else had. And in that instant, he knew what his friends, what everyone, had been saying. He’d never deeply connected with anyone, someone to help him when life got to be too much. He’d always been that person for other people.

  She considered him for a minute, he could see it. She wanted to fall back into what they had before, but he was still stumped on how to prove to her that he’d changed. Sort of. He wasn’t ready to blurt out every painful memory, but the idea of sharing that with her didn’t scare him. If he was going to confide in anyone, it should be the woman he loved more than anything.

  “How about you let me take you out on a real date?”

  “Okay,” she agreed easily.

  “Okay then,” Wade said with enthusiasm. “When?”

  “Oh, uh... I don’t know.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Gosh. You work fast.” Kiki giggled.

  He wanted to ask her to go out tonight, but he didn’t want to push it. She was already giving so much more than he deserved. The way he’d talked to her was unforgivable, yet here she was.

  “I don’t want to miss out on a good thing. Let me take you out somewhere nice.”

  “I’d love that.”

  Kiki reached her hand up, gently touching his face as she planted a sweet kiss on his lips.

  Wade was taken aback by the loving kiss. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms, holding on to the moment, making the kiss last all day. But they were in a public place, and while she’d given him more than he expected, he needed to play this cool. He wasn’t going to fuck up again.

  “Thank you.”

  Kiki rewarded him with a big smile and eye roll as she started to work on the food in front of her.

  * * * *

  Kiki stood at the kitchen sink filled with dishes and suds as she recalled the details of her earlier lunch with Wade. Going out with him
had always been easy, never a lull in the conversation as they laughed and joked. She wasn’t sure what compelled her to kiss him, maybe it was the effort she could see him making? But she drew the line at letting him walk her to her door.

  “I can see myself up,” Kiki insisted as Wade held the car door open for her, lending a hand as she stepped out, before shutting the door behind her.

  “I don’t think so. What kind of guy doesn’t walk a girl to her door after a date?”

  “This wasn’t a date. This was just lunch,” Kiki said, hoping that wouldn’t hurt his feelings.

  “You can call it what you want, but you kissed me, and to me that’s a date.” Wade took a step forward and Kiki allowed him to pull her into his embrace.

  She gently placed her hands on his forearms, looking up at him with a smile. “No, tomorrow is our date. A fancy date if I recall correctly.”

  “Anything for you.”

  “Good. Then you’ll let me walk myself up,” Kiki said with a serious tone.

  It was hard to forget how dangerous that hallway could be for them. The sexual chemistry was still just as strong as it had ever been, at least for her. If he came up, resisting him might prove impossible, and she wasn’t ready to move back to that yet.

  “You win,” Wade conceded, “but I am going to kiss you.”

  Kiki only realized his words once his lips were on hers, his hands holding her gently, his arms cradling her body with tenderness. She could feel his love in the simple kiss; no demands, just emotions. It was enough to have her eyes gloss over. She so wanted Wade to win her back, but more than that she wanted him to win himself back. He had some baggage he needed to work out before they could move forward. And maybe tomorrow night would be the night he could show her some of that. She hoped.

  A heavy knock hit the front door, startling Kiki enough that she dropped the pan, splashing water in the sink. She swiftly turned toward the noise, frozen with shock as she watched the door shake with each pound from the outside. Quietly, she scooted against the counter, reaching for her cellphone, clutching it hard, waiting to see what was going to happen next. She hoped that the person on the other side had the wrong apartment. She’d feel foolish for calling the police for an innocent mistake, but the way her heart pounded she knew in the back of her mind that this was not good, even if the visitor was looking for someone else.

  “Kiki, I know you’re in there. We need to talk!” Joshua’s sharp words seeped through the door.

  Kiki hadn’t talked to Joshua since his exit from the gym. All text messages from him had ceased and she thought that he’d finally gotten the message. Rex insisted that she talk to the police that day, but she downplayed the whole thing, mostly for her sake. If she believed it wasn’t a big deal, maybe it wouldn’t be. But when Leena caught wind of what happened she freaked out, insisting that Kiki get pepper spray and take a self-defense class. Kiki had rolled her eyes at Leena’s overreaction, but now, in this moment, regret hit her.

  “Open the fucking door!” Joshua demanded. “You’re making me look like an asshole again, and I don’t like it,” he said, now in a much lower tone. Kiki must have taken too long to respond, feeding into his irritation.

  “I’ll be right there,” she called, trying to give herself a minute to gather her wits. The Joshua who was her friend was a nice guy, and it was obvious that he was going through a difficult time, maybe that’s what caused the change in his attitude. Maybe he just needed a friend?

  She opened her phone. The idea of calling the cops seemed absurd, but she did need some advice on how to handle the situation.

  Kiki: Hey. Joshua is here. At my door. I don’t know what to do.

  Leena: What do you mean you don’t know what to do?

  Kiki: He seems angry. He’s banging on the door and shouting.

  Leena: Call the cops! I’m on my way over now.

  Kiki: Isn’t that overkill?

  Leena: I’m calling the cops. Don’t let him in. We’ll be right there.

  Kiki’s heart thudded against her ribs, painful with fear. Leena’s text wasn’t reassuring. Then again, Kiki wasn’t sure what advice she had expected to get from Leena. Walking over to the door, she peeked out to see Joshua pacing, his fists clenched.

  “Are you all right?” Kiki called from her side of the door. “You’re kind of scaring me,” she said with honesty, hoping that her candor would calm him down.

  “No. I’m not all right. I need to see you. Don’t make me ask you again. Open the god damn door!”

  “Joshua, maybe you should go home and cool down a little first, then we can talk. How about lunch tomorrow?”

  Kiki jumped back quickly as something heavy hit the door, rattling the hinges. By the third noise she realized that he was kicking in the door. The dead lock ripped off the door as it swung open. Kiki’s heart fell into her stomach, her mouth went dry, and she was sure that she was going to be sick. She’d heard of fight-or-flight, but with Joshua’s wild eyes on her she wanted to fall to the floor and ball up and pretend this wasn’t happening.

  Kiki shook her head, clearing her throat as she tried to find her voice. “Talk to me. What is so important that it couldn’t wait?”

  Joshua paused, running his hands over his head, seeming to calm himself down. “I’m here for you. I love you, and I have ever since I met you. I have to make you see. You kicked me out the other day before I could prove it to you.”

  Kiki scrunched her face in disbelief. She took a deep breath. She realized that the more she kept talking the less angry he seemed.

  “If you love me, then…then…” She froze at the hard eyes leveled at her. If she just asked him to leave, he was going to lose his shit. “Then how about you take me to dinner tonight?” She smiled. “Just give me some time to get ready, and you can pick me up at eight.”

  Joshua closed the distance, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her hard against him. “I knew it. I knew you loved me.”

  Kiki tried to take a step back, but he held her tighter, sending a fearful chill up her back.

  “You’re hurting me.” She hoped her plea would appeal to the softer side of him.

  “Well, you’ve hurt me. Over and over. You’ve made me look like a fool. And you’re the biggest cock-tease I’ve ever met.”

  Kiki had lost him again. Something she’d said triggered him, and she scolded herself for not calling the cops like Leena had told her to do. Leena! Leena was on her way over. Kiki just had to hang on until she got there, hopefully with Gav or mace.

  Disgustingly strong hands moved hard down her body, caressing her ass. Tears pooled in Kiki’s eyes. She knew where this was going. Every woman’s deepest fear. It made her feel sick, pathetic, and weak.

  “If that jerk hadn’t come back from school early, we wouldn’t have wasted so much time with this cat-and-mouse game. I knew he would hurt you. I’d never let you go. And now that I have you...”

  Kiki tried again to take a step out of his embrace. “You’re hurting me.”

  “Just kiss me.”

  “No!” Kiki screamed at him. Joshua was over powering her, and his face descended on hers. His repulsive lips tainting hers mouth caused her fight to kick in. She wasn’t helpless, she’d trained in some MMA. She was stronger than she had ever been, and now was the time to show that. She had to try.

  She considered the situation, assessing what she could with Joshua’s tongue violating her mouth. The height difference was too much, and they were too close, for her to knee him in his junk or throw a punch, but she lifted her foot as high as possible and stomped down on his foot with all 115 pounds of her small body. It may not have hurt him, but it did startle him enough to loosen his hold.

  She stepped back, wanting to get as much room between them as possible, but there was nowhere to run in the tiny apartment. Discreetly, she pivoted to the left, trying to get herself closer to the open door.

  “Joshua, no. This isn’t going to happen. You need to leave, now.” She tried to
sound confident, but she was terrified. Her night had gone from merely bad to a nightmare. The situation had become something she could never fathom.

  “You know what your problem is? You’ve been spending too much time with Leena, you’re turning into a cock-teasing bitch. You flirt with me all the time. You call me and text me. You like leading guys on, don’t you? Is this a game you and Leena play, making guys look like jerks? You think it’s funny?” Joshua’s eye narrowed at her with a hard look.

  His dark eyes grew wild, and they held no sign of the Joshua that she’d spent time with in the past. There was no humanity behind them. The only thing keeping Kiki together was the thought that Leena could be there at any minute, but time was something that evaded her. It felt as if Joshua had been there for hours, but it could have only been minutes.

  “I’m so sorry I gave you the wrong idea. I would never want to hurt you. You’re one of my best friends.” Kiki tried to calm the nerves in her voice, trying to placate him.

  “It’s time to prove just how sorry you are.”

  Joshua’s eyes raked over her body, causing a shudder up her spine. The innuendo didn’t escape her. The severity of the situation was becoming more apparent, and with that she took another step to the left, leaving herself steps away from the busted-open door.

  “Joshua, listen, I don’t want to lead you on any more than you already think I have. This is never going to happen with us. I care about you, but not like that.”

  Whack. The heavy open hand hit her square on her cheek in lightning speed that she didn’t see coming. Her eye felt like it was going to pop out of the socket, and her cheek was hot and throbbing. Her head spun as little lights speckled in her eyes, before rapid tears started. She’d never in her life been hit. The pain was bad, but it tore something inside of her too. Breaking a piece of her soul.

  “You fucking whore. All you women are the same. You just tease us men. Keep us on the back burner until something better comes along, and then you leave us. You leave us good men for those jerks who are just going to cheat on you.”