Stalking for Dummies ~ Part 3

(Final Part ~ 3)

He nodded. “You can check the public records.”

She took his hand in sympathy. “I’m sorry. I presumed you were the evil one.”

“I am.” Her boss groaned as he touched her cheek.

“Would you like a glass of water?” She put his hands at his side.

Zephaniah dropped onto her sofa and pulled her with him. “I can’t pretend anymore, Charlotte.” Lovingly, he caressed her face. “Don’t leave me.”

“What makes you think I’m leaving?”

“I saw it in your eyes when you realized how I felt about you this afternoon. Tonight I told Lori not to come back to the office and to stay with her husband, who happens to be my brother.”

“You were sleeping with your brother’s wife?” Outraged, she jumped to her feet and contemplated slapping him.

Frantically, he tried to grab hold of her. “No! My brother suggested I use his wife who wants to be an actress to make you jealous.”

“So, for two years, you’ve been pretending to have a fiancée in an attempt to woo me?”

“It sounds so stupid when you repeat it. But yes.” He went down on his knees as he pleaded, “I will do anything you ask, just please give me a chance.”

Grudgingly, she admitted, “I don’t know how you knew, but I did plan to look for another job.”

“No, no, no, no, no. You can’t. I promise I’ll do my best to go back to a professional relationship. Just don’t leave me. I mean the company.”

“You didn’t let me finish.” She kissed him.

Overwhelmingly pleased, he jumped up with her then swept her off her feet. As he laid her on the sofa, he inquired, “Is it too soon for us to—”

“Much too soon.” A furious voice replied. “Get off of her!”

“Daniel?” Zephaniah questioned as he tried to focus.

Awkwardly, Charlotte turned to see the intruder. “How did you get in my house?” There was a look in his eyes that sent shivers down her spine.

“She’s my wife, Zephy.” Daniel ignored her as he glared at his boss. “I knew something was going on between you two after you came back from your bathroom tryst.”

“We’re not married, Daniel.” Charlotte threw at her co-worker. “I barely speak to you at work.”

Getting the picture, Zephaniah stood up as his opponent produced a knife. Instinctively, he pushed Charlotte behind him before he put up his hands. “Tryst? What are you talking about, Mr. Woods?”

“You confused my wife and you’re trying to steal her from me. And today I discovered you were the one who arranged for my wife to purchase this mansion, which isn’t far from yours! How convenient for you.”

Mr. Langshore muttered over his shoulder to Charlotte. “Run as soon—”

The front door was kicked in and drowned out the rest of Zephaniah’s words. “Freeze!” A male and female voice shouted.

In that moment they noticed the police sirens and lights.

“Dwayne? Jenn?” Overjoyed after the shock of her best friends busted through her door, Charlotte leapt toward them.

“Wait!” Her boss shouted as an officer’s gun fired a shot.

Frozen to that spot, she turned her head toward Daniel as time slowed down. Her co-worker had been poised to throw the knife that slowly fell from his hands. A hole was in his shoulder as Officer Jennifer rammed the intruder and seconds later Daniel was handcuffed while Officer Dwayne radioed for an ambulance.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to make any sudden movements when someone is holding a weapon meant to harm you?” Zephaniah scowled suddenly sober or he was certain he was very close to it. “This could have ended with both of us in the hospital or dead.”

Blankly, she concurred as Dwayne hugged her.

“Are you alright?”

She nodded. “Just thinking. But what I’m curious to know is how did you get here so fast? How did you know?”

“Remember when you wanted me and Jenn to stalk you?” After she nodded, he added, “After we started to get into the stalking spirit, we discovered you were keeping secrets from us. Creepy emails, suspicious phone calls . . . not to mention someone else had already gone through your trash by the time I got there.”

“Wait. You and another officer stalked my secretary because she asked you to?” Zephaniah asked in puzzlement. “Why?”

Dwayne shrugged. “I have no idea. But after we decided to come into her house while she slept, we heard someone was already ahead of us, so I made the call for back up.”

Jenn hugged Charlotte. “Intruder is secured. How’s my lylas?” she pulled back. “You’re shaking. Is it just starting to sink in?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I can’t believe you have to deal with this on a constant basis. Thank you.”

Tenderly, Jenn moved Lottie’s dark brown hair away from her face. “Give it a few weeks and we’ll be laughing about this. Like the time Dwayne got shot and I admitted how much I loved him because I thought he was about to die.”

Charlotte smiled weakly. “That was funny. Not the shooting part.”

“I still laugh that he got shot by his ex.” Jenn winked. “That’s what he gets for trying to be Mr. Nice Guy.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mental issues. Stalkers don’t hear anything except what they want to hear. Don’t waste any sympathy on them. Harsh and to the point is the only way to protect yourself and them, believe it or not. And I know you want this to just go away, but you have to press charges for him to get the picture. Even then, he may not, but if you let it go, he’ll take that as you definitely want to see him again.” Jenn hugged her again then kissed her cheek. “Okay, I’m through lecturing.”

“Perhaps you should stay the night with your boss.” Dwayne commented as he held Jennifer’s hand.

Zephaniah agreed. “I’ll take her home with me.”

“See you in the morning, Lottie?” Jenn winked when Charlotte nodded.

The ambulance finally arrived and nearly an hour later, Charlotte and Zephaniah were alone in a house not far from hers. He walked her to his sofa then held her tight.

“Too soon for what?” She shuddered off the last of the ‘deadly could have beens’ from her mind.

“I’m sober now and I’m sorry for even considering being intimate so soon, especially while I was drunk. But don’t misunderstand me; I do want to be with you intimately.”

Nervously, she faced him and touched his chest. “Now?”

“Is it the right time for me to make a confession?” He smiled hesitantly.

She nodded.

“I’ve dreamed and fantasized about you since you came to work for me. And I’ll take it as slow as you need me to go.” There was a short pause then he added, “But the sooner I get my scent on you the better I’ll feel.” He jerked and laughed when she tickled his side.

“I saw you trying not to laugh with that last part.”

“It was a joke.”

A few seconds later, she pinned him to the sofa.

“Marry me,” he pleaded between the onslaughts of kisses.

“No.” She gently bit his neck. “But I’ll be your fiancée for the rest of our lives.”

“I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give me. But why did you want to be stalked to begin with? Was it just to make me crazy?”

She sat up. “It was my version of a course on stalking. I thought that if I could experience it then I could have a plan of attack if it should ever really happen.”

“Well, do you feel prepared?”

Charlotte felt the shivers of anger come back as she nodded firmly. “I realize it isn’t how prepared a person is, but rather how much power you give the stalker that makes or breaks an individual.”

“I think I set him off by being with you, which means he was watching your house.”

She felt a chill race down her spine. “I feel so brainless for ignoring all the signs Daniel sent.”

Wisely, he refrained from further comment and pulled her mouth back to his then their bodies intertwined in celebration of what could possibly have been the last night of their lives.