Jem Holloway sighed as she walked in the direction of her apartment. It was dark, she was tired, and nothing ever seemed to change. She had wanted happiness, excitement, family, feelings of belonging. What she had was a one bedroom apartment that she lived in alone and could barely afford to pay rent on. Living on her own as a senior in high school had never factored into her life plans, yet here she was.
Her mother had run off with another man when she was just two, leaving her father to raise her. He had always provided her with clothes, food, and a house, but that was about it. A slave to his job, he had very little time for her nor did he spend time talking to her more than what was necessary. He had never said "I love you" or showed any emotion towards her. In reality she had been alone her whole life, so she wondered why she was feeling so sad about it right now.
She had tried so hard to please her father. She never got in trouble, had good grades, and she didn't drink or do drugs, but none of that seemed to matter to him. After her father was involved in a fatal car accident last month, Jem was left alone, just a week after she turned 18. She had sold the house and now had enough saved money to pay for college, and she rented an apartment which she was planning on paying for with the waitressing job she had recently acquired. She worked there on weekends and most days after school. She was walking home from her job now. She looked down at her watch: 9:45.
She needed to get home and go to bed so she would be rested for school in the morning. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, wondering when it had escaped from her tight ponytail.
Lost in thought the way she was, she didn't sense approaching danger until it was too late. She suddenly jerked her head up and saw a car cutting the turn in the road to fast. She watched as the driver lost control of the car, and it started coming right at her.
She didn't have time to react, she just closed her eyes and prayed, standing frozen on the street.
Her breath was knocked out of her as two strong hands reached out and grabbed her jacket, forcefully yanking her off of the sidewalk and into a dark alley. She breathed a sigh of relief, silently thanking God for sending her an angel. She was in shock when the strong hands went to her shoulder and spun her around, making her catch sight of her angel.
Holy shit.... she thought, then added a Sorry God, but you created this gorgeous hunk, so...She quickly glanced down.
Her eyes were level with his chest as she heard a deep voice growl, "What the hell were you thinking? Do you not pay attention? And why the hell did you just stand there?!"
Wow, he sure tosses that word around a lot, she thought. His large hands gently but firmly shook her as he spoke. One of those hands went to her chin, softly bringing her face up to stare at his. Sapphire blue eyes met emerald green ones, and they both gasped at the explosion of sparks that were flying between them.
"Finally!" He growled.
She looked at him, extremely confused.
"Finally what?" She asked.
He just stared at her, his eyes going over every singular feature on her face. It was like he was caressing her with his eyes, but that didn't make any sense to her. Maybe she was in shock, or in a coma. If he was what her brain was conjuring up, she could live with that.
He was so gorgeous, without a doubt the sexiest man she had ever seen.
His hair was the color of warm whiskey, and it fell in soft waves down to the collar of his worn leather jacket. His eyes were an unbelievably beautiful shade of green, his nose was straight and perfectly fit the strong, masculine contours of his face. His lips were amazingly, sexily kissable. As innocent as she was, even she knew that much. He had broad shoulders, strong arms, a defined chest and abs. Faded blue jeans hugged long, muscular legs.
