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  Just a Little Embrace | Tracie Puckett

  Just a Little Series Part II

  Just a Little Embrace. Copyright © 2012 by Tracie Puckett. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the author.

  Chapter One

  Wednesday September 12

  “Up and at ‘em, Little.” Luke’s voice rang through my ears. He ripped the sheets from the bed and flipped on the lights. “You’ll have plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead. Now get up.”

  I rolled over and checked the clock.

  4 am; just as I’d suspected.

  I buried my face in the pillow and prayed my pink satin pajamas would be enough to keep me warm. Whether he liked it or not, I was sleeping in. And I didn’t need the sheets. Joke’s on him.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he said, stomping to the side of the bed. He tucked his arms under my body and pulled me up. He swung my legs over the bedside and backed away. “You have five minutes. Use them wisely.”

  And with that, Luke marched out of my bedroom, closing the door behind him.

  Across the room, I noticed the white sports bra and shorts I’d laid out the night before.

  Right.

  Our run.

  With ten hours to go before completing my job shadowing requirement for the Oakland High School senior project, my Uncle Charlie suggested I forget about patrolling the streets and start living the lifestyle required of any man—or in my case, woman—in uniform.

  To me, that meant sitting around the Oakland PD break room all morning eating donuts and sipping coffee. To my mentor Luke, it meant waking up at an ungodly hour to get in a five-mile run to jump start the day.

  I hadn’t known Luke long—two weeks to be exact—and each day we spent together came with its own set of surprises.

  When it came to Officer Lucas Reibeck, there were only two things I knew for certain. One, there was no one in the world who could hold a candle to his physical assets. His dark hair, brown eyes, and strong stature only laid the groundwork. And two, the crush I’d developed during my first ten hours of job shadowing hadn’t subsided. If anything, it had only grown by leaps and bounds.

  “Three minutes, Little,” Luke said, tapping on the door.

  I mustered the energy to stand and traipsed across the room to my workout attire. I stripped my pajamas to the floor and slid into the sports bra and workout shorts before completing the ensemble with a pair of bright, pink tennis shoes.

  I stopped at the mirror and ran a brush through my hair, meticulously styling it back into a ponytail. With a quick application of lip gloss and a single brush of mascara, I dubbed myself acceptable.

  Yes, it was only a run. But it was a run with Luke, and I couldn’t squander a single opportunity to catch his eye.

  I left the room and reminded myself that just down the hall, my cousin Matt was sleeping soundly. Lucky for him, he had another two hours of beauty rest before he’d have to get up and be ready for school.

  I took each step down the back staircase a little slower than the one before. When I finally reached the kitchen, Luke and Charlie looked up from the table with wide eyes.

  “What are you wearing?” my Uncle Charlie asked, shielding his eyes. “For the love of God, go upstairs and put some clothes on.”

  I looked down at my outfit and back up to the men. “I thought we were running—”

  “We are,” Luke interrupted, standing up and taking a step closer. I caught his eyes wondering down my torso for a brief moment before he looked up to meet my gaze. “I guess you’re ready then?”

  “Guess so,” I said, turning to Charlie. “You comin’ with us?”

  Still shielding his eyes, he shook his head and motioned for us to leave.

  “He’s not comfortable with you baring so much skin,” Luke said as we walked out of the kitchen and through the living room to the foyer.

  In his running shirt and black shorts, Luke looked just as irresistible as he did in his uniform—if not more. The way the material clung to his muscles made my heart flutter a bit off beat. And as I stood in front of the door, assessing his shoulders and tight chest with a mindful eye, I caught him gazing at me yet again.

  “Is it that bothersome?” I asked. “Would you like me to go upstairs and put a shirt on?”

  He closed his parted lips and shook his head. “I’m not sure we really have time for that now, Little. I guess I’ll have to suffer.”

  With a quick wink and a light smirk, he walked out the door, leaving me stunned in the doorway.

  Was Luke flirting with me?

  The morning sky was dark as night, and the sun hadn’t yet begun to show. I followed close behind Luke and met him on the sidewalk, where he was already bent over at the waist, touching his toes, and stretching to prep himself for the run. I stood and watched as he stretched, appreciating his loyalty to everything he did.

  “You need to warm-up, Julie,” he said, glancing up. “You’ll pay for it if you don’t—”

  “I’m young,” I said. “Stretching is for the elderly—”

  “How old do you think I am?”

  “Old enough,” I said, not disguising my disappointment for a single moment.

  Luke was old—every bit of twenty three, give or take a few months, making him six years older, and in his opinion—six years too old for me.

  I watched as he finished his stretch, using each moment he was bent over to my full visual advantage. He finally stood and looked up at me, the street lights dancing off his brown eyes.

  “You’re really not going to stretch?” he asked.

  I smiled and shrugged, hoping that would be answer enough.

  It was a five-mile run. How hard could that possibly be?

  And before I had time to register another thought, Luke set off on his run. I watched him from the sidewalk, knowing I’d be scolded if I didn’t soon follow, but took a brief moment to appreciate the alone time we’d spend together… even if that time was limited to complete exertion.

  As I took my first step forward, a light inside the neighboring house came on, attracting my immediate attention, and the face of a teenage girl appeared behind the curtain of the downstairs window. I turned to watch her for a moment, looking on as she stared at me intently from inside the house.

  It was odd to see her there in the first place, let alone at this hour. The neighbors had moved out months ago, and last I heard, the house still hadn’t been sold. But there was definitely someone there.

  And if I didn’t know any better, I’d think she was watching me for a reason.

  Wednesday September 12, 8am

  I was ready to die one mile into the run.

  Luke hadn’t taken kindly to my complaining, especially when I whined about the pain in my legs and back. You should’ve stretched, Little, he’d said over and over.

  Who knew running could be so difficult?

  Now, at school, the memories of the morning were still far from behind me. The aching in my legs served as a constant reminder that Luke expected only the best from me—and that required full dedication to each and every task he threw my way. If I wanted to earn his respect, I’d have to start taking him—and his tasks—seriously.

  I slid into the first desk and threw a sideways glance at my cousin Matt.

  “Rough morning?”

  “You have no idea,” I said.

  A sympathetic look crossed his face as he leaned over to pat my back. “Trigger’ll have you whipped into shape in no time.”

  Trigger: the official Oakland PD nickname for Lucas Reibeck. And yes, it had everything to do with
him accidently shooting himself in the foot last year during target practice.

  “I only logged an hour with him this morning,” I said. “That’s nine more hours of doing… whatever in the world he comes up with. He’s killing me—”

  “Because you’re letting him,” he said, pushing his fingers back through his dusty blonde hair. “Just go along with his plans for the next few days, and before you know it, he’ll be gone and out of your life. You’ll never have to worry about him again.”

  I didn’t need the reminder. I could only foresee another nine hours with Luke, and it pulled at my heart in ways I couldn’t even describe. After the shadowing was over, would I ever see him again? Would he ever want to see me again? How would I make it through each day knowing I wouldn’t get to see him, if only for a moment? It killed me to know that Luke and I were so close to slipping through each other’s fingers.

  I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t breaking my heart.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Mrs. Brown said, standing in front of the class. “I’d like to introduce you to our newest addition.” Standing in the front of the room next to our teacher was a small, petite redhead with eyes of emerald stones. She watched over the class with a freckled smile, somewhat mischievous, and somewhat familiar. “This is Hannah Jones.”

  Hannah, the redhead, nodded to the class before her gaze fell on Matt. The two of them stared at one another for what seemed like forever, but Mrs. Brown finally spoke up, assigning Hannah to the empty desk in the back of the room.

  By the end of the class period, Mrs. Brown had explained our latest current events project and assigned two-person teams across the board, but Hannah’s addition brought about an odd number. And while Mrs. Brown didn’t think it would be fair to let the new girl work alone, she gave her the opportunity to pick which group she’d like to work with. Of course, given her glazed-over staring match with Matt earlier, she chose to work in our group—making us the only three-partner team in class.

  The rest of the day went as smoothly as any other, and after school, Matt and I met up with Hannah at her locker as promised.

  “Thanks again for letting me join you,” Hannah said, looking past me and at Matt.

  Matt grinned sheepishly. He was never one to get nervous around a girl, especially since he spent his days fighting flocks of potential suitors, but Hannah seemed to affect him in ways even I couldn’t understand.

  “I’m sure you’re still busy with the move and getting settled in, so we completely understand if you aren’t able to start working right away,” I said, making my presence known.

  “Oh no,” she said, wearing her mischievous smile. “I think it’s best that we get started right away. What do you say, Matt?”

  “I’m with Hannah,” Matt said, turning back to me. “We should put in as much time as we can as soon as possible. It’s always smart to stay ahead of the curve.”

  Fortunately for them, I hadn’t scheduled any shadowing hours for this evening. That 4am run this morning was all the Luke I could handle for one day; at least in that capacity.

  Chapter Two

  Wednesday September 12

  “This is where you live?” Hannah asked, assessing the two-story brick house on the corner of Linden and Main.

  Matt smiled proudly and nodded. “Home sweet home.”

  Hannah turned and pointed to the neighboring house. “Then I guess we’re neighbors,” she said. “My brother and I just moved in next door.”

  I stared at Hannah, realizing that she was indeed the same girl who’d watched me this morning as I set off for my run. An eerie chill ran up my spine as I looked at her and then back to her house; something about Hannah Jones didn’t rub me the right way.

  Once inside the house, Matt and Hannah spread this morning’s newspaper across the dining room table and began assessing the latest articles. As I struggled to fit between them in order to contribute to the assignment, Hannah moved back and looked at me straight on.

  “Julie,” she said with an edge to her voice. “Two newspapers are better than one, wouldn’t you say?”

  I nodded as if the answer should have been obvious.

  “We don’t use our paper next door,” she said. “It might be easier if you just run over and get it from the driveway. That way we’ll have two.”

  “Good idea, Hannah,” Matt said, putting an arm across her shoulders. “Isn’t that a good idea, Julie?”

  I rolled my eyes at how quickly he’d taken to her and turned on my heel.

  “I’ll be back,” I said, taking her order, but not doing so happily.

  As I reached the edge of the neighboring driveway and picked up the paper, a loud voice called over.

  “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

  I looked up to find a man—somewhere around Luke’s age—perched against the porch railing and looking down on me with a grin. His short, strawberry-blonde hair moved slightly in the wind as he shook his head. And though he was close to Luke’s age, the similarities ended there. This man was thin and cute, not rugged and handsome. He wore silver square-framed glasses, and a grin that that pulled ever so slightly to the left. In the simplest of terms, he was as adorable as a dorky man could be. He was adorkable.

  “You go around stealing everyone’s newspapers, or you just targeting the new guy on the block?”

  I half-smiled and stood tall as the man stepped off the porch and met me mid-driveway. He reached forward, took the newspaper from my hand and nodded in thanks.

  “I’ll take that.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, looking back at our house. “You must be Hannah’s brother?”

  I extended my hand to shake his, but he didn’t return the gesture.

  “That depends,” he said. “How do you know Hannah?”

  “Oh,” I said, mentally smacking myself. “She’s in my current events class. She’s working on a project with me and my cousin.” I nodded at our house. “We started working right after school, but only had one paper and… well, I guess three was a crowd. She suggested that I come over and take yours.”

  “I’m glad she’s getting involved on her first day,” he said. “She’s never been much for socializing.”

  “Ah,” I shrugged. “I don’t think her will to work has quite as much to do with the assignment as it does my cousin Matt.”

  “Oh, boy,” he said, shaking his head. “She doesn’t waste time, does she?”

  I smiled.

  “So, between school and robbing neighborhood driveways, what do you find yourself doing for fun in Oakland? Any tips for a newbie?”

  I shrugged. “Sorry to report, but there’s just not a whole lot going on around here. It’s such a small town.”

  He looked down the street and back at his house, and then back to me. “It sure is.”

  As I stared into his blue eyes, something vaguely familiar about his appearance struck me… almost as if I’d met him before. There was a strange connection between us, and yet I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.

  “What brings you to town?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine it was a job offer, because Oakland’s economy had fallen in the toilet in recent years. But it couldn’t hurt to be polite… or nosey, and ask. “Job transfer?”

  “No,” he said. “Just needed a new place for a fresh start. Hannah threw the dart on the map and we landed here in Oakland.”

  The man nodded, still smiling. His round eyes glistened beneath his glasses, and as the wind picked up, he finally extended his hand to shake mine.

  “Derek.”

  “Julie,” I said, shaking his hand. “Julie Little.”

  Derek’s blue eyes widened as he stared down on me, his strawberry blonde locks whipping in the wind. His mouth hung ajar as I stared back at him.

  “Julie,” he said, acting as though my name left a sour taste in his mouth. He stood taller and pushed his hands into his jeans pockets. “Well, Julie,” he said, backing a couple steps away. “It was nice to meet you, but I
’ve gotta get back inside.”

  He tossed the newspaper back to me and turned to walk away as a police siren bleeped on the curb and the sight of blue and red flashing lights came into view from the corner of my eye.

  Derek stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, looking from me to the cruiser, and then down to his feet.

  The cruiser lights flipped off and Luke stepped out of the car, dressed in full uniform.

  “Here to arrest me?” I called over.

  With a small grin, he looked past me and his eyes landed on Derek. “Who’s your friend?”

  “Oh,” I said, looking between the two men. “This is our new neighbor, Derek.” I lifted the newspaper a little higher. “He’s letting me borrow his paper. Derek,” I turned to my neighbor. “This is Luke. He’s my… he works for my uncle.”

  “Officer.” Derek nodded before turning back to me. “It was nice to finally meet you Julie. If you could, please tell Hannah not to be too long. She and I have some things to square away before the end of the day.”

  Derek took his porch steps quickly and disappeared behind the door.

  Luke looked at me with wide eyes.

  “Squirrelly guy,” he observed.

  “Yeah, well… we were having a perfectly fine conversation before you turned the corner and scared the daylights out of him with your lights, siren, and pompous attitude.” I smacked him in the chest. “What’s with you?”

  “Just making sure you were alert,” he said, still looking at the house next door. “Learn anything interesting about the new neighbors?”

  I shrugged. “Nothing.”

  I traced his facial features with my eyes, taking special notice of the way his scarred lip curved up, as if he was lost in thought.

  “What’s up?” I asked. “Are you still on duty?”

  “I am,” he said, shaking his head as if to wave off fog. “I was just passing by and thought I’d stop and see how you were feeling. How’re your legs?”

  After all the complaining I’d done after our morning run, I’m not surprised he found it necessary to check in. It thrilled me in ways that I couldn’t explain that he’d been considerate enough to extend such a courteous gesture.