HE’S MINE! (Excerpt) Miles yelled, “What happened, Tam?!” “Patrice whipped her down on the ground with one of those karate moves and stomped down on her throat. Not hard enough to do any real damage; just enough to let Crystal know she could if she had wanted to. Other than Carm’s smart remarks, there was nothing else left to be said. If Crystal bothers Patrice again, she’s crazy.” Miles heard different versions of the same story, for the next half hour. The only point they all agreed on was the flip and throat stomp. That really made an impression on all of them. Sipping a beer, Miles watched Patrice unwind with the children. He had his first hint of his little heartthrob’s ability to take care of herself. That’s why she was not afraid to live where she did. Feeling Patrice had handled the situation sufficiently; Miles relinquished his thoughts of injuring Mark. At exactly five o’clock, all of the men picked up a screaming, kicking woman and threw her into the pool. Then, they chased and collected the squealing, screeching children and threw them in. Finally, turning on each other, there was not one dry person left. Everyone played in the water for another half hour. The house, except for Miles, Patrice and Roman was empty by seven. Showered and dressed, they sat side-by-side on the sofa in the recreation room. Patrice had relaxed, but she never completely bounced back. Miles did not know what all Crystal had said to her, but he knew something had honestly upset her. Miles tried to pull Patrice back on the sofa, so he could wrap his arm around her shoulder. Her body locked and she would not budge. Wanting to look into her eyes, he decided to get down on his knees in front of her. She looked at him vacantly. He asked, “What’s the matter, Patrice?” Wearily, Patrice said, “Nothing. I’m just tired. Ready to go home.” “I’m going to take you home, as soon as you tell me what’s the matter. What did Crystal say to you?” An angry glint flashed in Patrice’s eyes when she said, “I don’t want to talk about Crystal, or any of your other old flames, Miles. I’m extracting myself from this tug-of-war now; before someone really gets hurt.” Realizing he had lost a lot of ground today, Miles asked fearfully, “What are you saying, Patrice?” “I’ve said it, Miles. How would you like me to put it for you?” Hoping this would pass and not wanting her to put that any way for him, Miles said, “Okay, Patrice. Come on. I’ll take you home.” She collected her overnight bag and purse. Miles led the way out to the Jeep. They rode back to Patrice’s apartment in silence. For his own peace of mind, Miles and Roman followed her up the two flights of stairs and inside the apartment. Patrice did not invite or object. She just did not want to argue with anyone else. Arguing was never her strong suit. As if they were not there, Patrice carried her bag into the bedroom and sat it next to the bed. Something out of place on her bed attracted her attention. Without touching it, Patrice called, “Miles, come in here please.” He came in and stood next to her. She pointed at the piece of paper on the bed. Miles leaned over and read the writing. It said, “He’s Mine!” Miles quickly walked back to the door leading to the hallway. He examined Patrice’s lock. There were no jimmy marks anywhere. Right then, Miles knew someone had used a key to get inside. Coming back to the bedroom and finding Patrice still standing in the same spot, staring at the paper on the bed, Miles said, “You’d better check to see if they took anything.” Patrice gave a cynical laugh and said, “They don’t want anything I have, Miles. They just want me to leave you alone . . . and they’ve got that. Goodnight.” He’s Mine (Excerpt) amazon/HES-MINE-Bernadette-Y-Connor-ebook/dp/B00MSXFQEW/ref=sr_1_1/188-0230038-6231332?ie=UTF8&qid=1411402779&sr=8-1&keywords=bernadette+y.+connor
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 02:18:28 +0000