Marlboro Lights

"What's the special occasion?"

The voice behind me caused me to jump and I nearly lost the manilla folder filled with the papers that I'd been working all morning on collecting. Gripping it tightly against my chest, I turned on my heel and came face-to-face (face-to-chest, rather) with my father, who was grinning down at me like he'd busted me doing something bad. He kind of had, but I'd never tell him that.

"You know me, police stations are my haven," I replied through my teeth, a forced smile curling my lips upward in a way I knew my father would see through.

He narrowed his eyes at me in his best intimidation stare and I held my breath. Now was the moment of truth...

"Are you in trouble?"

"No."

"Is your boyfriend in trouble?"

"He is not my boyfriend," I replied all too quickly, "And no. I'm just...doing some research."

With a raised eyebrow, "For school?"

"Nah, I was thinking of committing murder. Just wanted to study up on the laws. Want to know my chances."

After a pause, my father cracked a smile and I knew I was off the hook. "I don't know who raised you to be such a smart ass."

As he turned away from me and began the walk down the hall away from the file room, I instinctively laughed aloud and skipped after him. "You know it was you, and you know you're proud."

"A little," he shrugged casually, "Are you staying for lunch?"

I hadn't thought about it, as I'd only snuck into the station to raid the file room of everything I could find involving Officer Porter and Zayn - if there had been anything there with his name in it (which there hadn't been). I'd found a hefty file of Porter's, but I really didn't like the idea of spending the day with my father with an illegally obtained file in my purse. So I shook my head, then verbally answered because his back was still to me as we crossed the building to the block of offices where his desk was.

"Can't, I've got a late class today."

That was a lie. I was just hoping to lock myself away and investigate the sketchy officer in peace.

"Wanna grab dinner after? There's a place in the city I wanna try."

"Sure, I'll call you when I'm out."

As we reached the threshold of the office block, my father opened the door and I stood on my toes to press a light kiss to his cheek. "Later, pops."

With a smile and a wave, I was turning and gliding down the hall. I had barely made it past the file room when I crashed into a very solid chest because, well...I never really looked where I was going, especially when I was leaving the scene of a crime.

Flailing just enough to keep the folder from spewing it's contents all over the hall, I twisted until everything was secure, then looked up into the smirking face of none other than Officer Porter. Of course.

"Marwood, right?" He asked, his low voice rumbling. Any other time, I would say that I loved deep voices, but now...it made me uncomfortable. Something about this guy was not right. The Spidey-Senses I picked up from being raised by a Detective were tingling and I wanted away from him as quickly as possible.

"Right. Porter?" I responded, pressing the file folder to my chest with my arms crossed over it.

"Right," he drawled, which struck me as odd because nobody from Boston drawled. Not like that, anyway. Either this guy had a bad case of Madonna or he was a lot more familiar with Georgia than he was letting on.

"I'm running late," I finally said, turning to move around him, but a strangely cold hand on my elbow stopped me and I froze solid. Silently, I said a prayer begging God to send my father into the hallway after me for some reason; any reason.

"I was thinking, I'm pretty new 'round these parts--"

Lies.

"--And you seem to be quite the local. Think you could show me around sometime? I'd ask somebody else, but...well, I haven't met anybody else. I don't get out of the station much."

I was silent for a long moment because I wasn't at all convinced that this was really happening. Did he really expect me to 'show him around'? Why on Earth would I ever agree--

"Sure!"

Now wait, before you assume that I'm entirely bonkers and remind me that he creeps me out (or remind me of Zayn), let me explain: I was going out of my way to dig up dirt on this guy and was risking my father's job and my future job - why not use this tour guide opportunity to dig up dirt without the risk of getting arrested for breaking into a police file room?

Terrible idea, I know. I've seen the movies. But I still agreed.

"We can talk about it soon, I really am running late."

With a broad grin that made my skin crawl, I waved and ducked around him, disappearing down the hallway before he could say anything else. I kept my speed up until I had reached my car and once inside, I locked my doors and pressed my forehead into the steering wheel. My breathing was heavy and was bordering panicked gasping. The longer I thought about what I'd just agreed to do, the worse I felt about it. Partially because I was terrified of this guy, and partially because I knowguys like him - he was going to think I was interested in more than touring and I definitely was not. Worse yet, he expected me to show him around Atlanta... Zayn spent an awful lot of time in Atlanta.

With my head on the verge of exploding because of my poor decision making, I drove all the way home in the dead silence of my car, my mind racing and my fingers tapping an unrecognizable beat into my steering wheel.


As I turned the last corner before I reached the solace of my Hardware store, I noticed something behind Grant's car. It was abnormally shiny and it took a moment before I realized that I was seeing the side of Zayn's motorcycle that was parked sideways. My heart sped up instantly and without even realizing it, I reached to the passenger seat and began struggling to stuff the file folder into my purse. As I came around to my hill and pulled down, I waved to Zayn who was resting against his bike, a cigarette between his lips and his leather jacket draped over the seat of the bike. He looked upsettingly good and as I parked my car and turned the ignition off, I was struggling with my seatbelt because I was suddenly feeling very anxious about seeing him so soon after our date.

But when I got out, he was descending the hill to meet me, stubbing the cigarette out beneath his combat boot. I paused at my car door, my purse pinned between my arm and rib cage, and just sort of waited for him to reach me. Whatever I was expecting him to do wasn't anywhere near what actually happened.

As soon as he was within arms length of me, he reached out and caught my free hand, tugging me to his chest. In one swift movement, he was kissing me softly, with a hint of aggression buried somewhere deep. I lost my breath immediately, but reached up and gripped his shoulders for support. He broke the kiss shortly after, but the tingling in my lips remained, my head spinning from oxygen deprivation.

"A little warning would be nice," I gasped, my hands slipping to rest on his chest, which I noted wasn't bulky so much as rock solid. I dropped my hands in an instant; I wasn't ready to feel him up quite yet.

He chuckled softly, looping an arm around my waist as he turned to join me in leaning against my car.

"I wanted to apologize for last night," he said quietly, his eyes everywhere but me. Something tightened in my stomach and I thought I might be suffocating.

"Don't. I was nosy," I replied, turning my face up to look at him. He was biting his lip absentmindedly, tugging the pink flesh between his teeth and causing the tightening in my stomach to intensify. I stared up at him until he finally lowered his eyes back to me, his face in a tight but genuine smile, long eyelashes fluttering.

"I've just been... alone for so long that I'm not sure how to handle being asked about my life. Especially by someone so good at interrogating," his voice was low, accent thick, and I so desperately wanted to hide at his last comment. His hand resting on my waist squeezed softly and I couldn't help but bring my hands up to cover my blushing cheeks.

"I really need to stop doing that," I groaned into my hands, peeking out at him to see his smile was loosening, his tongue now visible behind his perfectly white teeth.

"Don't. I like it," he replied quickly, pulling me tighter against his side. "Are you doing anything tonight?"

He looked down to me expectantly and I scrambled to find the words to answer him.Was I doing anything? Did I lie and say I was busy so I could focus on Officer Porter, or did I forget the sketch and focus on the incredibly handsome man beside me who for some reason wanted to spend time with me.

I took the typical Jette route.

"I have to study," I lied, my voice small and unsure - which I hoped he would assume was because of disappointment and not take it as a sign of dishonesty.

"Oh," his face fell, "Tomorrow then?"

I nodded up at him, immediately wishing I hadn't lied. I still had a chance to save the evening, but I didn't. I stayed quiet and just watched his face. He was chewing on his lip again, before seeming to snap out of a daze and smile down at me. "I like you, Jette," he said suddenly, with a tone of amusement in his voice.

I could feel my face burning. Damn him and those eyelashes. I coughed before I could speak, but managed to squeak out a reply, "Thank you?"

He laughed, the breath puffing out his chest. "You're welcome. But I mean it...you're an interesting girl. You like your dad more than anyone I've ever known, and you proper study. It's just... refreshing. I think you're going places."

I felt my face twist into something I'm sure looked like I was smelling something awful, but it was really because I was reminded of how terrible I was as a person. Zayn was praising my dedication to my family and school and the truth was - I blew my dad off for lunch by telling him I had class when I was really sneaking around behind his and Zayn's backs to snoop on a probably completely irrelevant officer. I didn't deserve those eyelashes. I deserved an empty apartment and a bottle of room temperature wine.

I couldn't respond so I just shrugged like I was graciously accepting his compliment but was too shy to vocalize anything. Which was actually true, but there was so much more that he never needed to know. So I detached myself from him, immediately longing for the warmth of his side.

"Hey, wait a second... I wasn't done yet," he chirped, reaching out and catching my hand again. He lifted it and pulled himself to me, catching my waist with his free hand again, this time pulling me so tight against his solid chest that there was no chance of escape.

He crushed his lips down on mine and I whimpered. I actually whimpered, and despite my immediate embarrassment, his grip on me tightened. I was tighter against him than I'd ever been and I had no choice but to cling to him, my fingers tugging at his t-shirt as he tilted my head back, deepening the kiss that seemed unending.

The kiss broke for a split second of breathtaking relief, before he resumed it, his teeth grazing my lips. I desperately tried not to whimper again, but at that point - I wasn't even positive where I was, let alone what I sounded like. The heat between us was unbearable and his hand was burning into my back, holding me so tight I wasn't sure I'd ever detach.

In a surprising effort from yours truly, the kiss broke when I pushed off his chest, audibly gasping for air as Zayn chuckled quietly above me. He was enjoying this. What a jerk.

I palmed my face, keeping him at arms length.

"What did I say about warning?"

I didn't see him, but I felt him push my arm away from his chest, bringing me in again before I could protest. "Fine. Warning, Jette: I am going to kiss you one more time."

I barely had time to prepare myself and I swore that once I was able to regulate my breathing again, I was going to curse him out. But he was kissing me again and this time it was gentle and so sweet and I was mad because how many different ways could one man kiss in span of five minutes.

He finally stepped away and I didn't even try to hide the blush flooding my skin from head to toe. Still holding my hand as he moved backwards toward the hill, he stretched his arm out, letting go of my fingers painfully slow. "Go study," he directed, "I'll be back tomorrow. I can't make any promises about those warnings though... your surprised face is too perfect."

I wanted to sink into the ground, but I simply held a hand up in a lame attempt to wave. "Goodbye," I practically wheezed, and Zayn grinned as he finally turned and disappeared up the hill.

I slipped in through my unlocked apartment door and fell against it, still clutching my purse to my side that I'd forgotten was there. Sighing in a puff of hot breath, I straightened my shoulders and moved into my apartment, pulling the folder from my purse. I needed to get serious really quick, or I was liable to lay on the floor all night reliving the last five minutes of my life.

Notes

Next chapter is a wild one, and after that - only one chapter left before you're all caught up!

xx Katie