Emma and Leo Chapter 1-4
Hey everyone!PLEASE keep the comments coming. Chapter 5 needs some of your marvelous input.
As always, let me put a disclaimer in here.1. I have no idea if this is going to work. 2. This will be raw and unedited. You will see all my ticks and flaws that drive my editors crazy! 3. See #2. This can't be stressed enough. 4. I reserve the right to re-write any previous parts if needed.
Copyright 2015All rights reservedThis is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.CHAPTER FOUREmma stumbled to the door and pulled it open to stop the incessant knocking, and blinked at the site that greeted her.“Hey, You’re Dr. Matthews aren’t you? I recognize you from that special you did on Great Whites. Cap didn’t say it was you that needed a security upgrade.” Tiny knew with only one, why Leo put a rush on her order. She was a looker and in her pajamas, which he bet was only a t-shirt and panties, she looked positively delicious. He couldn’t blame Leo for getting him out of bed to be here before she left work.Emma had to blink again, this was Tiny? Leo was right, his name was very deceptive. Nothing was “tiny” about him. He looked like a life size teddy bear, and she had an incredible urge to hug him. “Tiny?” She asked, and couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Tiny had to be at least six foot two. A red ball cap sat on a head full of shoulder length chocolate brown hair which blended in nicely with his full red beard. How was that even possible? Brown hair, red beard?His blue plaid shirt buttoned over a very broad chest, and tucked into the tapered waistband of blue denims. He was just as massive in girth as Leo, but where Leo was intense, Tiny just made you want to cuddle up with him. How this man could ever be considered intimidating…Emma just didn’t see it. “Yep, that’s me. Cap said you have to leave for work at five thirty. I didn’t want to miss you.” Tiny wiped his feet on her door mat.Emma stepped back to make room for Tiny to enter. Her foyer had always seemed to be adequately sized until Leo and Tiny entered. “But it’s not even five?”“Wasn’t sure how long it took you to get ready ma’am.” Tiny answered sheepishly and tried to keep his eyes on interesting items in the room, instead of on the second best looking woman he had ever seen. His wife, and love of his life, being the first.“About five minutes.” Emma looked at the clock on the wall longingly, she could have slept for another thirty minutes. “Come on in. Would you like a cup of coffee?”“Sure, if it’s not too much trouble.” “Oh!” Finally her brain woke up enough for her to realize what she was, or rather wasn’t wearing. Her mother would have a cow if she knew she had been entertaining guests in nothing more than a t-shirt and her underwear. “I’ll be right with you. Go on in the kitchen. I think there’s some leftover cake in the fridge. Help yourself.”Emma raced to her bathroom, took care of business, brushed her teeth, cleaned her face, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and pulled on a pair of cut off denim shorts over her one piece black swim suit, and in under ten minutes was back in the hallway.When she walked into the kitchen Tiny already had the coffee going and a cup set out for her. “I hope you don’t mind, I went ahead and started the coffee. It was the least I could do since I woke you up and all.” He poured them both a cup.“No problem, I appreciate it.” Emma took the offered cup. She served them both a piece of the leftover cake, and they sat around the kitchen bar.“My daughter is going to flip when I tell her I met the Dr. Matthews.” Tiny said before he consumed half the piece of cake in one bite.“That’s very kind of you to say. How old is your daughter?” Emma broke off a small bite of cake and watched in amazement as Tiny wolfed down his piece in two bites. She even cut his piece twice the size of hers. Oh, the grocery bill he must have.“She’s twelve.” Tiny wiped his mouth on his sleeve and took a gulp of hot coffee. “Shark Week at our house is a special event. She looks forward to it all year long. She even follows along on your website tracking the sharks through the year.”“That’s wonderful. I’m glad she enjoys it. Is she interested in a science career?”“At the moment, but who knows what will happen in six years time.”“I always knew I would do something that involved the ocean. It has always called to me. I’m never comfortable away from it for long periods of time.”“Isn’t it scary? I mean what you do. Tagging live sharks. I’ve seen you on your television specials. You jump right in the water with them.”“I don’t fear any marine life Tiny. I understand and respect that I’m a visitor in their world. Would your daughter like to come out with us on a tagging mission sometime?”“Wow! Would she ever, I may be father of the decade.”“So, you and Leo are friends?” Emma asked casually.“Yeah, I’ve known Cap since his seal days.”Leo was a Navy Seal? Cap must be short for Captain which would mean he was used to being in charge. One piece of the Leo puzzle fell into place. “Do you work with him now? In security?” “In security…” Tiny quickly covered by adding, “yeah, I do. Well, I better get started. Thanks again Dr. Matthews for the coffee and the invitation for Sammi,” at her confused look he added, “my daughter. I will lock up when I leave.”“Sure, leave your phone number on the kitchen counter and I will call you to set up a date for Sammi to join us. You and your wife are invited as well.”***Emma pulled into her driveway close to dark, put her jeep in park, cut the engine, and then sat to regain enough energy to get out. There wasn’t a bone or muscle in her body that wasn’t screaming at her. They had hooked a Great White early in the day and fought for hours landing him, only to have him slip the hook at the last possible minute. Emma estimated he would have been at least a sixteen footer.She looked down at her hands, blisters had already began to form. She grimaced when she tried to close her fingers. She rotated her shoulders to alleviate some of the stiffness. Everyone on the team took turns at the lines. She had opted for a double shift giving the others a breather before the tagging process began. She knew they would need to be fresh for the strenuous activity of tagging, gathering bio data, after landing she shark. One slip up could mean serious injury. But then the shark had gotten away. Some days were like that. They had trolled around the area hoping to pick him up again, but once hooked they rarely got a second chance with the same shark.Emma sighed and made her trembling legs step out of her jeep. She unloaded her equipment with a groan, and made her way wearily to her front door. A bath, a glass of wine, and bed were the only things on her mind. Well, and Leo. He had been on her mind all day long. She had been thinking about their kiss when the shark had gotten away. It had taken her a few moments before she had realized the shark wasn’t on her line any longer, and that had never happened to her.She had gotten a very cryptic text from him around three in the afternoon. Only four digits. Eight, two, six, nine. What did they mean?With her key out and ready to unlock her door his text finally made sense. A keypad was in the place of her door lock. In fact, she had a whole new doorknob. She bent and looked for a place to put a key. There was no place to put a key. She reached for the door knob and the keypad lit up. She punched the numbers in that Leo sent her and a red light appeared at the top of the panel.She grumbled as she dug in her pack for her phone. She must have gotten the numbers wrong. With her phone in one hand she punched the numbers in again. This time a green light appeared and she smiled when she heard the click as the door unlocked. This would be cool to never need a key to get into her house. She would need to remember those numbers. Two, six, eight, nine. She could do that. She had a doctorate degree, she could surely remember four numbers. Leo had gone way overboard. A lock, she had told him he could replace her lock. She pushed the door open and froze.A loud beeping sound came from a panel mounted on the wall in her foyer. A panel that hadn’t been there that morning. She dropped her bag, and ran to the panel, her heart beating rapidly. How did she make it stop? She quickly read every menu option but nothing said “off”. A keypad appeared on the panel screen. She started pushing numbers trying to get it to turn off. Nothing was working. Was it the same numbers the door used?She was in such a panic from the noise she couldn’t remember the numbers. Her shaking fingers punched in the numbers she thought were correct, but the stupid screen said error. She tried again. Error. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself, and tried again. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to delete and start over twice before she got the numbers entered. Error. Emma groaned, the numbers must be wrong. She lunged for her pack and dumped the contents searching for her phone. The deafening beeping making her shake with terror.Before she could locate her phone the panel spoke. “The police have been alerted of an intrusion. Your picture is now on file. Exit the premises immediately.” Emma jumped up and ran back to the panel screaming, “NO! NO! Stop! Don’t call the police! It’s me, I live here! Hello?! ***Leo pulled up as a police vehicle pulled out of Emma’s driveway. Another cruiser sat empty with the blue light flashing silently. Leo didn’t have a good feeling about this. In fact, if Emma ever spoke to him again, he would be one very lucky man. Tiny had called when her alarm went off and had sent him the video. She had been struggling to disarm the system. She was not going to be happy. The one thing he had to remember was no matter how funny he thought it was…show no amusement. Emma wouldn’t appreciate the humor at the moment.In his defense, he had been trying to contact her all afternoon, and had even been sitting in her driveway at five fifteen. He was going to teach her how to use her new security system, but she hadn’t been home like she said she would be at five thirty. Finally at seven he had gone to get them takeout for dinner. He knew she would be too tired to cook after putting in such a long day at work.While he was gone, she had gotten home, and then…it happened. With Chinese takeout in hand as a peace offering he swallowed and decided to get it over with. He met an officer coming out of Emma’s door. “Again, Dr. Matthews, I’m very sorry ma’am. I hope you understand we were only following procedure. Handcuffs and body searches are standard protocol for home invasion suspects.”Leo didn’t hear what Emma said but the officer left quickly excusing himself as he breezed by Leo. When Leo stepped onto the porch, and saw Emma in the doorway he knew he was in trouble. Big trouble. He made a quick decision and hit her with his killer smile. Through the years his smile had gotten him to more bases than he could count. He would apologize and explain what had happened. It was an honest mistake. He was only trying to be nice.Emma’s eyes silenced him before he could get the first word of his apology out. Leo thought he actually saw steam rise from her hair as she stood seething in the doorway. One hand on the door and one hand on the door frame. She was breathtaking. Her eyes made contact with the bag of food in his hands. “I hope you like Chinese?” He offered the bag up to her.Without a word, Emma grabbed the bag of food from his hands, gave him a final scorching look, and slammed the door in his face.
As always, let me put a disclaimer in here.1. I have no idea if this is going to work. 2. This will be raw and unedited. You will see all my ticks and flaws that drive my editors crazy! 3. See #2. This can't be stressed enough. 4. I reserve the right to re-write any previous parts if needed.
Copyright 2015All rights reservedThis is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.CHAPTER FOUREmma stumbled to the door and pulled it open to stop the incessant knocking, and blinked at the site that greeted her.“Hey, You’re Dr. Matthews aren’t you? I recognize you from that special you did on Great Whites. Cap didn’t say it was you that needed a security upgrade.” Tiny knew with only one, why Leo put a rush on her order. She was a looker and in her pajamas, which he bet was only a t-shirt and panties, she looked positively delicious. He couldn’t blame Leo for getting him out of bed to be here before she left work.Emma had to blink again, this was Tiny? Leo was right, his name was very deceptive. Nothing was “tiny” about him. He looked like a life size teddy bear, and she had an incredible urge to hug him. “Tiny?” She asked, and couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Tiny had to be at least six foot two. A red ball cap sat on a head full of shoulder length chocolate brown hair which blended in nicely with his full red beard. How was that even possible? Brown hair, red beard?His blue plaid shirt buttoned over a very broad chest, and tucked into the tapered waistband of blue denims. He was just as massive in girth as Leo, but where Leo was intense, Tiny just made you want to cuddle up with him. How this man could ever be considered intimidating…Emma just didn’t see it. “Yep, that’s me. Cap said you have to leave for work at five thirty. I didn’t want to miss you.” Tiny wiped his feet on her door mat.Emma stepped back to make room for Tiny to enter. Her foyer had always seemed to be adequately sized until Leo and Tiny entered. “But it’s not even five?”“Wasn’t sure how long it took you to get ready ma’am.” Tiny answered sheepishly and tried to keep his eyes on interesting items in the room, instead of on the second best looking woman he had ever seen. His wife, and love of his life, being the first.“About five minutes.” Emma looked at the clock on the wall longingly, she could have slept for another thirty minutes. “Come on in. Would you like a cup of coffee?”“Sure, if it’s not too much trouble.” “Oh!” Finally her brain woke up enough for her to realize what she was, or rather wasn’t wearing. Her mother would have a cow if she knew she had been entertaining guests in nothing more than a t-shirt and her underwear. “I’ll be right with you. Go on in the kitchen. I think there’s some leftover cake in the fridge. Help yourself.”Emma raced to her bathroom, took care of business, brushed her teeth, cleaned her face, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and pulled on a pair of cut off denim shorts over her one piece black swim suit, and in under ten minutes was back in the hallway.When she walked into the kitchen Tiny already had the coffee going and a cup set out for her. “I hope you don’t mind, I went ahead and started the coffee. It was the least I could do since I woke you up and all.” He poured them both a cup.“No problem, I appreciate it.” Emma took the offered cup. She served them both a piece of the leftover cake, and they sat around the kitchen bar.“My daughter is going to flip when I tell her I met the Dr. Matthews.” Tiny said before he consumed half the piece of cake in one bite.“That’s very kind of you to say. How old is your daughter?” Emma broke off a small bite of cake and watched in amazement as Tiny wolfed down his piece in two bites. She even cut his piece twice the size of hers. Oh, the grocery bill he must have.“She’s twelve.” Tiny wiped his mouth on his sleeve and took a gulp of hot coffee. “Shark Week at our house is a special event. She looks forward to it all year long. She even follows along on your website tracking the sharks through the year.”“That’s wonderful. I’m glad she enjoys it. Is she interested in a science career?”“At the moment, but who knows what will happen in six years time.”“I always knew I would do something that involved the ocean. It has always called to me. I’m never comfortable away from it for long periods of time.”“Isn’t it scary? I mean what you do. Tagging live sharks. I’ve seen you on your television specials. You jump right in the water with them.”“I don’t fear any marine life Tiny. I understand and respect that I’m a visitor in their world. Would your daughter like to come out with us on a tagging mission sometime?”“Wow! Would she ever, I may be father of the decade.”“So, you and Leo are friends?” Emma asked casually.“Yeah, I’ve known Cap since his seal days.”Leo was a Navy Seal? Cap must be short for Captain which would mean he was used to being in charge. One piece of the Leo puzzle fell into place. “Do you work with him now? In security?” “In security…” Tiny quickly covered by adding, “yeah, I do. Well, I better get started. Thanks again Dr. Matthews for the coffee and the invitation for Sammi,” at her confused look he added, “my daughter. I will lock up when I leave.”“Sure, leave your phone number on the kitchen counter and I will call you to set up a date for Sammi to join us. You and your wife are invited as well.”***Emma pulled into her driveway close to dark, put her jeep in park, cut the engine, and then sat to regain enough energy to get out. There wasn’t a bone or muscle in her body that wasn’t screaming at her. They had hooked a Great White early in the day and fought for hours landing him, only to have him slip the hook at the last possible minute. Emma estimated he would have been at least a sixteen footer.She looked down at her hands, blisters had already began to form. She grimaced when she tried to close her fingers. She rotated her shoulders to alleviate some of the stiffness. Everyone on the team took turns at the lines. She had opted for a double shift giving the others a breather before the tagging process began. She knew they would need to be fresh for the strenuous activity of tagging, gathering bio data, after landing she shark. One slip up could mean serious injury. But then the shark had gotten away. Some days were like that. They had trolled around the area hoping to pick him up again, but once hooked they rarely got a second chance with the same shark.Emma sighed and made her trembling legs step out of her jeep. She unloaded her equipment with a groan, and made her way wearily to her front door. A bath, a glass of wine, and bed were the only things on her mind. Well, and Leo. He had been on her mind all day long. She had been thinking about their kiss when the shark had gotten away. It had taken her a few moments before she had realized the shark wasn’t on her line any longer, and that had never happened to her.She had gotten a very cryptic text from him around three in the afternoon. Only four digits. Eight, two, six, nine. What did they mean?With her key out and ready to unlock her door his text finally made sense. A keypad was in the place of her door lock. In fact, she had a whole new doorknob. She bent and looked for a place to put a key. There was no place to put a key. She reached for the door knob and the keypad lit up. She punched the numbers in that Leo sent her and a red light appeared at the top of the panel.She grumbled as she dug in her pack for her phone. She must have gotten the numbers wrong. With her phone in one hand she punched the numbers in again. This time a green light appeared and she smiled when she heard the click as the door unlocked. This would be cool to never need a key to get into her house. She would need to remember those numbers. Two, six, eight, nine. She could do that. She had a doctorate degree, she could surely remember four numbers. Leo had gone way overboard. A lock, she had told him he could replace her lock. She pushed the door open and froze.A loud beeping sound came from a panel mounted on the wall in her foyer. A panel that hadn’t been there that morning. She dropped her bag, and ran to the panel, her heart beating rapidly. How did she make it stop? She quickly read every menu option but nothing said “off”. A keypad appeared on the panel screen. She started pushing numbers trying to get it to turn off. Nothing was working. Was it the same numbers the door used?She was in such a panic from the noise she couldn’t remember the numbers. Her shaking fingers punched in the numbers she thought were correct, but the stupid screen said error. She tried again. Error. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself, and tried again. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to delete and start over twice before she got the numbers entered. Error. Emma groaned, the numbers must be wrong. She lunged for her pack and dumped the contents searching for her phone. The deafening beeping making her shake with terror.Before she could locate her phone the panel spoke. “The police have been alerted of an intrusion. Your picture is now on file. Exit the premises immediately.” Emma jumped up and ran back to the panel screaming, “NO! NO! Stop! Don’t call the police! It’s me, I live here! Hello?! ***Leo pulled up as a police vehicle pulled out of Emma’s driveway. Another cruiser sat empty with the blue light flashing silently. Leo didn’t have a good feeling about this. In fact, if Emma ever spoke to him again, he would be one very lucky man. Tiny had called when her alarm went off and had sent him the video. She had been struggling to disarm the system. She was not going to be happy. The one thing he had to remember was no matter how funny he thought it was…show no amusement. Emma wouldn’t appreciate the humor at the moment.In his defense, he had been trying to contact her all afternoon, and had even been sitting in her driveway at five fifteen. He was going to teach her how to use her new security system, but she hadn’t been home like she said she would be at five thirty. Finally at seven he had gone to get them takeout for dinner. He knew she would be too tired to cook after putting in such a long day at work.While he was gone, she had gotten home, and then…it happened. With Chinese takeout in hand as a peace offering he swallowed and decided to get it over with. He met an officer coming out of Emma’s door. “Again, Dr. Matthews, I’m very sorry ma’am. I hope you understand we were only following procedure. Handcuffs and body searches are standard protocol for home invasion suspects.”Leo didn’t hear what Emma said but the officer left quickly excusing himself as he breezed by Leo. When Leo stepped onto the porch, and saw Emma in the doorway he knew he was in trouble. Big trouble. He made a quick decision and hit her with his killer smile. Through the years his smile had gotten him to more bases than he could count. He would apologize and explain what had happened. It was an honest mistake. He was only trying to be nice.Emma’s eyes silenced him before he could get the first word of his apology out. Leo thought he actually saw steam rise from her hair as she stood seething in the doorway. One hand on the door and one hand on the door frame. She was breathtaking. Her eyes made contact with the bag of food in his hands. “I hope you like Chinese?” He offered the bag up to her.Without a word, Emma grabbed the bag of food from his hands, gave him a final scorching look, and slammed the door in his face.
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