Baby Girl Ch. 02

A thin line formed across lightly tinted lips, eyes narrowed slightly, her head turned to face forward again. Of all the nerve!

It seemed she had acquired the knack for making the men she met laugh at her expense. And although her line of profession sometimes called for her to be engaging, entertaining even, she really didn't consider herself to be all that funny.

"You do remember where you parked this time?" The words suggested that he was mocking her, although there was a throatiness to the quality of his voice, a resonating rumble she could feel that began in his chest, emphasizing how close they were, making her shiver in spite of herself. And if he hadn't been so successful in evoking her ire, she would have gotten the distinct impression that he was flirting.

It was unclear to her why she seemed so mortified, so afraid to answer his simple question. At the moment, she didn't trust her own voice. There was a high probability that it would be shaky, unstable, betraying all of her insecurities. For whatever illogical reason, she was embarrassed beyond belief. He might as well have accidentally seen her naked, all of her womanly charms exposed to his critical eye.

Kerri glanced down to her right, helplessly, seeking someone to come to her aid. The only other person in the car that was paying any attention to her was a little girl who appeared to be about five sitting astride her mother's lap. Two long braids sat neatly on the side of her round, cherub face, fastened at the end with pink ribbons. Her brown eyes were big and bright, the tiny nose slightly upturned. No doubt, Kerri would have thought of her as absolutely adorable if it wasn't for the fact that as soon as she realized Kerri was indeed watching her, she smiled impishly and stuck out her tongue.

Bad ass kids, she mused, jerking forward, praying as hard as she could that the next stop would indeed be hers. Her bearings were completely shot.

"Yes," she managed to get out, refocusing on the situation at hand. "Yes," she repeated, risking a peak at him over her shoulder once more, "I...I remember where I parked."

There was a brief pause while he continued to look down at her, while it appeared that he was allowing her words to sink in. It was as if he were studying them, turning them over in his mind and taking them apart, trying to find the significance behind what she spoke. Or, it could've been the fact that he liked knowing he unnerved her, that he knew his gaze was penetrating to her very core, leaving her completely rattled.

It would've been so easy, so natural for him to drop whatever items that were trapped in his right hand and use that hand to capture her waist instead, to pull her body flush with the rock hardness of his chest. So easy...

Stop! She had to make herself stop. If she tried hard enough though, she could recall the way it felt, his arms, his abdomen, the way he held her...

"Hmm," he replied, the corner of his mouth rising to form a crooked smile. "That's too bad."

She was supposed to start her next sentence off with, 'I,' as in, 'I can't believe you would have the audacity to imply...well, whatever the hell it is that you're...implying,' but Kerri squeaked, actually squeaked in response, her eyes growing wide at his insinuation before turning back around. She was beginning to make herself dizzy.

All the blood in her body pooled in her face and neck making her blush and uncomfortably warm.

The train began to slow, the car jerking erratically as the breaks were applied to the metal wheels causing her to bump against him. The seconds between the train coming to a complete stop and the opening of the doors stretched out for an eternity in her mind. Moving with haste, she tried to push her way through the other passengers, attempting to get away from him as quickly as possible before she made in absolute fool of herself, even more so then she already had.

It donned on her that this too was his stop and he probably lived somewhere nearby. The sudden realization flashed across her mind in bold red letters. The probability of his close vicinity made her more than a little weary, the self inflicted fear nipping at her heels. Her fast pace didn't waver – out the doors, down the escalator and past the gates –only risking a look back when she made it out to the parking lot. He was no where to be seen, but she continued towards her car as swiftly as her pumps would allow.

Why she was running from him couldn't be rationalized. She had no idea, none at all. It made no logical sense, not even in her overactive imagination.

However, she didn't seem to relax until she got to her car, her heart beating a mile a minute within her chest once seated in the driver seat. While catching her breath, she let her head rest on one of her hands that tightly gripped the stirring wheel, panting as if she had just ran a marathon. It annoyed her that any person, any man would have this much affect on her, and all he did was ask a question.

As soon as her body calmed, Kerri sat back and flipped down the visor to view the vanity mirror that hid underneath to look at her reflection. A thin sheen of perspiration had settled on face, making her caramel skin glow. Reaching over the passenger side, she opened glove compartment and grabbed a napkin to dab at the wetness on her forehead and nose.

After discarding the tissue, she caught a glimpse of hazel eyes staring back at her.

"You are so uncool," she grumbled before closing the visor and starting the ignition to make her way back home.

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