The party starts at two in the afternoon and I really hope you can find time to come. It wouldn’t be the same without you, but with you there it would mean everything to me. It’s my eighteenth birthday wish that you come.
Yours,
Destiny
Oh, I can come all right little girl, I’m damn close right now after reading your letter.
I bring it to my nose and inhale deeply. Instead of smelling like paper or cardboard, it smells like it’s been doused in perfume, her perfume. I’d recognize that scent anywhere despite never having smelled it before. It’s just as unique as she is. Just as elegant as her word choice, which is very clearly carefully done. She says that she lives in the senator’s house when you’d expect her to say ‘my home.’
She doesn’t mention the burglar that the media is telling everyone about, yet she does mention saving her life…despite the fact she was the one holding the gun, which she was pointing at her adoptive father.
And she’s definitely not mincing words about wanting me to stop by. The main question I have now is when in the world did she have the time to stop by and drop this off? Why would she expose that she knows where I work, despite the fact that I already know she was in here on what apparently is her actual eighteenth birthday.
And why don’t I feel like a dirty old man for lusting after her, on the very day she became legal? Maybe it’s because I never even saw her, or knew of her existence before she was an adult in the eyes of the law.
First thing first. I need to get some more information on her dad. I highly doubt this is some sort of elaborate setup, mostly because I can’t think of a motive at this point, but it could be. If it is I’m still going to find a way to make it work and take his daughter in the process, although I don’t even like thinking of her as attached to him in any way, especially as his family.
I lean forward, my index fingers pecking the keyboard as I look for more information about the senator. In all the pictures I can find of them together something is just…off. I can’t quite put a finger on it, but everything looks so forced. I understand that he’s a public figure, so she’s become one by association, so they’re getting photographed enough to drive a reasonable person insane. Then again, it almost looks like he’s the insane one, parading her around to make himself look more human.
Is this prick trying to use her to get more votes? Maybe, but I can’t quite nail it down to that yet. But if I do go to her birthday party then maybe I’ll get some more information which will help me get to the bottom of this. That’s exactly where I need to go because she’s on top of my mind and I need more information. I need to know everything about her and what the hell’s going on.
Because I know what’s going on with me. She came into my world, flipped it completely upside down, and I’ll never be the same without her as mine. Always.
And it’s time to find a way to make that happen. Now.
5
Dylan
The next evening
Not forty-eight hours ago I was jumping the fence to enter this property, and here I am today being greeted by what looks like a security detail full of Navy SEALs, although in reality, these guys appear to lack any sort of military or police training, which I find odd considering the senator should have those kind of connections.
“We need to pat you down, Mr. Dean. Can’t be too cautious after the burglary incident,” the main guy says.
“If I was the burglar then why would I risk my life trying to stop him the other night?” I ask, pushing my way right past and the security detail wisely doesn’t ask me again.
I’m tired of all this nonsense. All I want is her. To see her. To thank her for her invitation and the card.
To tell her what she means to me. Everything.
I never understood all those sappy love songs until I laid eyes on her. Now they all make sense, despite none of this situation making sense to me.
I don’t care at this point. I just need to get in and get closer to her, to be in the same room with her. To put my eyes on her and look at those blue eyes sparkle with happiness as she celebrates a milestone birthday in happiness.
I make my way through the house, avoiding all the political types and intellectuals discussing things I know nothing about. Maybe this is why dating and the small talk that goes with it never interested me. All those years I was just looking for someone who I could protect, keep safe, and support in all ways. I just never knew it until now.
“Your attention please,” her father says, just as I step into their huge back yard. “A moment for the birthday girl to have the floor.”
I freeze, my eyes tracking her as she steps up onto a small podium where a DJ stops playing and hands her a microphone.
The afternoon breeze catches her white, lacy dress and kicks up a corner of it. Thank God it barely moves above her knee because if any other man got a glimpse of any more of her skin I’d be damn near tempted to rip their eyes out. That body belongs to me and only me.
My palms squeeze into fists as possessiveness shoots through me. Running my hand across my shoulder before grabbing the back of my neck, I squeeze hard trying to release some of the mounting tension that’s coursing through my body. I should be calm now that I made it inside, now that I’m close. But in reality, the tension has only grown worse.
Now I can see what I don’t have, a constant reminder that there’s more work to be done. A gnawing that she hasn’t been claimed yet, by me and only me.
I want to move closer to the stage but the place is jam packed, and I’m not about to push through people when she’s speaking. I want to latch onto every word and it’s better to stay rooted where I am in order to do that. Not to mention to hide my already throbbing need.