Lawfully Freed Read online

  Mortified, she remembered how she’d turned him down each time he’d asked her to study or go to a school event. He’d never stopped trying and was persistent. Now, here he was again in front of her. Karma had a sick way of being cruel. In her mind, she was certain that he was married, and she’d missed out on getting to know a really nice guy that blossomed into an incredible heartthrob.

  Maybe she could wish/hope/pray for that split pair of pants instead of him being married. Or better yet, she could just start her period now like some unknowing young girl. Rebecca grimaced thinking of some of the most horrible things she’d lived through growing up and crossed herself quickly. If you are listening, let’s forget the period comment... okay? Once was quite enough, she prayed silently.

  “Need some help?”

  “What? No. Uh, yes actually,” she said, embarrassed, as she realized that the name badge was stuck to her shirt upside down. The sticker had also folded over on itself and pleated her blouse just over her breast, drawing attention to her chest or lack thereof. Rolling her eyes at her stupidity, she reached up to yank off the offending sticker only to bump into his hands as he was trying to correct it as well.

  “Sorry,” he muttered and flushed as his hand made contact with her chest. Rebecca’s face was as beet red as her high-heeled patent shoes.

  “It’s okay. I’ve got this handled, but I appreciate you trying to help.”

  “Yeah, I’m a bit nervous at being here and seem to be all thumbs.”

  “You? Nervous?” Why was he nervous? He might have been the geeky guy, but that boy didn’t walk in tonight. Tonight, a man from the pages of a magazine did – and all the girls were staring at him.

  “Yeah, aren’t you?”

  “A bit,” she answered honestly. “Well, a lot actually.” They must have walked in between music sets because, just as she was getting ready to ask why he was nervous, the loud music started up again. Looking around, she saw several people get up from the tables and realized that none of them resembled the kids she’d gone to school with. She didn’t recognize anyone. They all looked, well, normal. Everyone had changed, and nothing was the same.

  “Want to have a seat or dance?” Gabriel yelled over the music. There were so many people scooting through the throng of people to get to the makeshift dance floor. They stood awkwardly in the way, trying to decide which direction to go. Dance floor or having a seat at one of the tables decorated with slap bands, plastic sunglasses and hair scrunchies.

  “Sure.”

  “Which one?”

  “Whatever you choose,” she shouted and shrugged in case he couldn’t hear her.

  Gabriel took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor. She was stopped a few times as people recognized her and said hello. They were nice and polite to her. She was ashamed that she didn’t recognize any of them. Apparently, Gabriel wasn’t recognized either by her classmates. Oh yes, people had changed over time. But few were as impressive as Gabriel James’ transformation.

  Pulling her through the throng of couples dancing towards the center of the undulating crowd, he grinned at her. His hand cupped hers and it surprised her at how nice it felt. She found herself looking around to see if anyone was staring at them. He was certainly easy to spot and had to be well over six feet tall. She was wearing heels and barely hit five and a half feet.

  “What?”

  “You know this is the first time you’ve ever danced with me?” he hollered and smiled as the music faded away to start another song. This melody was a lot softer and not quite as boisterous. “This is the first time you’ve danced with me,” he repeated in a quieter tone.

  “I’m sorry about that. I guess I should have accepted back then.”

  “Nah, it’s okay,” he admitted with a smile and then grinned. “Actually, it was rough on my confidence to get up the nerve to ask you out back then. But being shot down repeatedly toughened me up.”

  “Okay, now I am really, really sorry about it.”

  “I’m teasing you.”

  “Is your wife okay with you dancing with another woman?” She tried to be casual about it. But the moment the words were out, she saw the knowing look in his eyes and quickly looked away.

  “You could’ve just asked me if I was married,” he said with a smile, holding her hand. She noticed that he was ever so polite with her, keeping a distance between their bodies. His hand barely rested on her hip. It was like he was afraid of being too forward with her and she liked that.

  “I could have,” she retorted with a grin, “but it’s not as sophisticated.”

  “You do look pretty darned polished, Miss Becky Tulle.”

  “It’s actually Dr. Tulle,” she breathed, catching a whiff of his cologne as he gave her a quick twirl on the dance floor. Her shoes pinched unmercifully, but she could have sworn that her toes curled regardless of space at the heady scent that teased her nose.

  “Nice. No ring and a maiden name, too?”

  “No ring.”

  “Hmm, I’m glad,” he said with a shy smile that curled up at the corner of his lips, revealing a slight dimple in his cheek. For a brief moment, she saw that gangly boy that had asked her out so many years ago. The shell of the man had changed, but he was still the same. “One might think we were supposed to meet again then, huh?”

  “You could say that.”

  “Gabriel, scoot over. I’m cutting in,” Brent interrupted, tapping on Gabriel’s shoulder, pointedly interrupting their dance. She was quite enjoying the way they seemed to fit together. Each step she took was in line with his. It was effortless.

  “No, sir. You’ll have to wait your turn. This dance has been coming for a long time,” he said firmly towards the other man. His face softened perceptibly as he looked back at her. “It’s long overdue.”

  “Yes, it is.” She couldn’t help the feeling of happiness that suddenly curled in her stomach. He’d just run off her imaginary monster and she liked it. She disregarded the angry look that Brent gave them both as Gabriel whirled her around a few more times further onto the dance floor.

  “This dance and maybe dinner or coffee?”

  “I do believe you are right about it being overdue,” she grinned. “Dinner, a movie, going to the skating rink and study hall are all waaaaay past overdue. I should probably make those up sometime soon as well.”

  “Definitely the skating rink,” he chuckled. “I still have two left feet, you know.”

  “I didn’t know that and, honestly, I couldn’t tell,” she whispered softly. By the look in his eyes, she saw that he’d heard her words. She was surprised at herself and how she was flirting with him.

  “I’m glad you are back in town.”

  “Me, too, I think,” she replied honestly. She couldn’t help flirt with him. She was incredibly attracted to the man and how he looked now compared to how he looked then. She blushed, feeling incredibly shallow right now.

  “Are you staying long or just visiting?”

  “I actually just moved back to set up my practice.” She liked the fact that he kept her talking and there weren’t any uncomfortable silences between them. He was easy to talk to just like he had been then. He’d always been nice, just not incredibly gorgeous. Ugly duckling, eat your heart out!

  “And you? What department do you work in?” she asked, looking pointedly at his uniform. He was dressed in complete black from head to toe, his badge shining proudly on his chest. She’d always liked a guy in uniform on television and seeing it in real life cemented it firmly in her mind. Uniforms were completely a plus in her book.

  “SWAT for the D.P.D., Dallas Police Department.”

  “SWAT? That’s dangerous, you must be good at what you do there.” Cool your jets there, Becky. That sounded like you are spreading it on thick, she thought to herself. Gabriel seemed to preen under the attention and looked a bit surprised at it.

  “One of the best snipers in the area,” he admitted. The man didn’t brag or boast about the fact. He sounde
d like he was stating a fact. If he’d have said the sky was blue, it would have been with the same inflection.

  “I guess that is good, isn’t it?” she asked with an unsure smile. Why would he not brag on himself? If he was that good, he should be proud of it. If she was the best psychologist in the area, she’d be telling everyone and making sure it was on her business cards.

  “I guess if you needed one, you’d want me on your side.”

  “I think I’d like you on my side at any time.” That was a corny pickup line, geeeezzz! she chastised herself mentally and felt herself blush as his sharp gaze stared at her. He missed a step in their dancing together and she accidently stepped on his toe. Jumping back, she apologized quickly.

  “I’m pretty sure you didn’t used to think that.”

  “No, I didn’t,” she admitted. “You were always there though, and I should have given you a chance.”

  “It’s okay. You made something of yourself by getting out of this hick town. Not many people can say that. Look at Brent,” he teased with a sad smile. “You dated him and now you can’t stand the guy.”

  “I never dated him!” she shrieked. Her voice raised an octave at the imagined horror that dating him would have been. “I never went out with Brent,” she whispered hotly. “Never, ever!”

  “You didn’t?”

  “No. He asked but I turned him down, too. I didn’t date anyone from school.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really. He spread some pretty heinous rumors about me just before I left for college.”

  “No posse of his ‘love children’ then waiting for you at home?” he asked, looking quite relieved.

  “Oh, that was my favorite whopper of them all,” she laughed angrily. “That I was pregnant with his lovechild. Who calls it that? And a posse of them? Really?”

  “I was pretty crushed that you had such bad taste in guys,” he teased happily.

  “Well, we’ll have to see if we can un-crush your poor ego. I happen to think my taste in guys is pretty particular nowadays.”

  “Do tell?”

  “I’m partial to blond officers that hold a crush for me longer than ten years,” she admitted shyly, looking up at him. Her face heated with a blush at her very candid words. There was no mistaking her sentence. She liked him and was flat out telling him. Gabriel whistled appreciatively with a tender smile.

  “I bet I might know a guy.”

  “Do you know if he is still interested after all this time?”

  “He is definitely interested.”

  “Hmm, then, perhaps we should meet sometime.”

  “How about dinner tomorrow night?”

  “Only if he’s available,” she teased.

  “There is no way I’d miss it.”

  Gabriel escorted her out of the gymnasium when the music got loud again, and the slow song was over. It was hard to talk over the bass and synthesizer music as they played some hit songs from their decade. “I’m glad I got to see you again.”

  “Me, too. We’ll have to catch up.”

  “Tomorrow over dinner?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Are you leaving the reunion then?”

  “I saw who I wanted to tonight.”

  “But you just got here.”

  “Exactly,” he said pointedly with a wide grin. “You want to grab some coffee?”

  “Another first?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Smiling, she got out her keys as he walked her out of the building. They didn’t say much but she noticed that he’d not released her hand. He held it in his own between the two of them as they walked together. Regret burned through her at the thought of how much time had passed. As she got to her car, he politely opened the door for her.

  “Don’t stand me up, Dr. Tulle,” he said firmly. For a moment, she realized that he was seriously concerned that she would. Guilt washed over her again. He was insecure and thought that she was toying with him. This would not do.

  “I won’t. Would you feel better riding with me?”

  “It’s not necessary, as long as you’re there.”

  “Just get in the car, Officer,” she laughed. “I don’t want you wondering where I am. And honestly, the town has changed and grown quite a bit. If I show up at the wrong Starbucks, I don’t want there to be an arrest warrant out for me.”

  She heard him chuckle and smiled to herself as he circled around to the other side of her car. Opening the door, he slid into the seat and Rebecca realized how small the car was with him in it. “Trust me yet?”

  “Getting there slowly,” he said with a smile.

  “I’m not the same person, you know.”

  “Me, neither.”

  “But you are the navigator,” she teased. “So where is this coffee shop at?”

  “Remember the bank at the corner? It’s there.”

  “Seriously? They remodeled the bank and turned it into a Starbucks?”

  “Yep. It’s pretty cool.”

  “Do you take all of your girls there?”

  “No,” he admitted, and Rebecca saw that he blushed again. They drove silently down the streets. She glanced out of the corner of her eyes at his profile, only to find that he was studying her. He quickly looked away as if embarrassed to have been caught staring at her.

  Pulling into the parking lot, she didn’t press the subject of his history with women. After all, it was a chance to get reacquainted, not run him off. He didn’t owe her anything and, over the course of ten years, she was certain there was a past to him. She could use a friend or two on the force and in town. He leaped out of the car the moment she turned it off and moved quickly to open her car door. It was genuinely sweet that he was doing so and going out of his way to impress her.

  Walking in, she was impressed that while some things changed, some had stayed the same. The bank looked almost identical, except now you could sit in recliners in the vault. Gone were the safety deposit boxes and, instead, there were shelves lined with bags of coffee beans. Ordering, they waited silently at the end of the counter for their cups. Both of them looked around, almost as if unsure what to say. Accepting the cup and saucer, she smiled as he headed towards the open vault.

  “Is this all right?”

  “It’s fine.” She was happy that it was semi-private for them to talk. The walls of the vault were illuminated with accent lights that came down from the ceiling, shining on the wall of security boxes that were still present. “It’s actually pretty cool because I always wondered what this looked like inside of here.”

  “Me, too,” he admitted, “When they opened this up, I came here right away out of curiosity.”

  Sitting down, she set her purse on the ground beside her chair and sipped on the coffee. She noticed that he sat forward in the seat right at the edge. He was holding his cup in his hands and staring at it, lost in thought.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” he admitted with a shy, endearing grin that reminded her of the boy he once was. “To be honest, I keep waiting to wake up and find that you aren’t here.”

  “I’m not that great,” she stammered, blushing.

  “Then maybe you’ve changed. Or maybe my idea of who you once were is better than reality. So far, my memories have stood up pretty solid.”

  “Stop, you are making me nervous. I’m blushing like a school girl.”

  “I know that I am every time you look at me,” he chuckled. “It’s like I am seventeen again with braces and pimples. I wasn’t fond of being a teenager.”

  “Oh, goodness no,” she muttered. “I would hate to be that age again.”

  “Was it that bad?”

  “For me it was.”

  “None of it was true, was it?”

  “I told you it wasn’t, remember?”

  “I knew it, but I can’t help the doubt that nags at my mind. You were gone so fast and no one ever heard from you. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe there was something to it.”
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  “I had to get away, to distance myself and grow up some. You know?”

  “Yeah, I do,” he answered and then hesitated. He set his cup down on the small table between them. “Stand up.”

  “Is something wrong?” She set her cup down and joined him.

  “Nothing is wrong.” Gabriel took her hands and put them on his shoulders. “It’s just that its finally quiet around us and I hear some elevator music playing. I wanted a chance to dance with you again before the night is over. I really liked holding the girl of my dreams in my arms earlier at the gym.”

  “Awww,” she said with a shy smile and happily put her head on his shoulder, stepping into his arms. “How is it you are still so sweet after all these years? That some girl hasn’t jaded you yet or broken your heart?”

  “Oh, I’ve had my heart broken,” he murmured, smoothing her hair as it lay on her back. “It was broken about ten years ago. I just want to make up for some lost time.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” he whispered against her hair. “I’d like the chance to get to know you now, like I wanted to back then.”

  “I’d like that, too. Shall we sit down and talk or keep dancing?”

  “I’m not keeping you out too late, am I?”

  “Nope, I’m a big girl now and don’t have a curfew,” she teased. Laughing, he smiled at her sarcastic comment.

  They stayed there for several hours talking about the past and things they remembered. It was nice to reminisce with him and to enjoy talking about the memories. It felt therapeutic, like a weight had been lifted off of her. Honestly, it was the most lighthearted conversation she’d had in a long time. Something she’d not expected at all.

  “Sir? We are closing up soon,” the young barista interrupted, causing them both to smile at how fast the night went by. They walked outside to her car and got inside. She drove the few short blocks back to the high school where his car was parked.