Married Or Not?: Married or Not? / Ian's Ultimate Gamble

She was a little short on date clothes. She spent her time on campus hanging out with other students and had never worried about what she looked like.

Tonight she did.

She opened the door and her knees went weak. He grinned at her. She fought to regain some composure. “Please come inside.”

He wore a sports jacket over a pair of khakis. The jacket looked custom-made and he looked delectable. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and dramatically cry, “Take me, take me. I’m all yours!”

He stepped inside her apartment and looked around. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

She looked at it more objectively and said, “Goodwill stuff, mostly.”

“Did you do the refinishing on this table?” He rubbed his thumb along the surface. She was rather proud of that one.

“I’ve refinished and reupholstered most of the furniture I own.”

He turned and looked at her. “You’re quite talented.”

She swallowed. “Thanks.” Seen through his eyes, the place must look like a typical college girl’s room, with the big colorful posters and some watercolors she’d painted once for a class. He was very much a sophisticated man about town, while she felt awkward and flustered.

He glanced at his watch and said, “Ready to go?”

Without a word she picked up her purse and turned to the door.

“How long have you lived here?” he asked, helping her into his car.

“Since I was a freshman. I preferred to get a smaller place that I could afford rather than have a roommate.”

Sherri finally began to relax with Greg during dinner. He entertained her with various stories, all amusing, about work and his coworkers, but she idly noted that he didn’t talk about himself at all.

They did compare their favorite movies and musicians and laughed about how diverse their tastes were. He liked thrillers and war movies while she preferred something light, like romantic comedies. However, the movie they decided to see was one she’d heard a lot about, and she was more than willing to see it with him.

“Just don’t be surprised if I suddenly hide my face in your shoulder.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll put my arm around you so you’ll know you’re safe.”

Her dream popped up in her head and she recalled that she had run to him in her dream and felt safe in his arms. She felt she could trust this man who was more stranger than friend. It seemed almost as though she’d known him from somewhere long ago—a past life or something—and they had found each other again.

Sherri didn’t dare say any of that to him; he’d think she was crazy. At the moment she couldn’t swear that she wasn’t a little insane to think they might have known each other before now.

They got popcorn and drinks and went inside the theatre. Sherri noticed that Greg caught every female’s eye from little girls to octogenarians. She could certainly relate.

The movie was excellent, a thriller with one of her favorite actors in it. Greg had placed his arm around her when the movie started.

Once the movie was over, they left the theatre hand in hand and strolled back to his car.

“Would you like to stop somewhere for coffee?” he asked.

Okay. She’d been practicing and hoped she sounded casual when she answered, “Why don’t we go to my place? I’ll make coffee and I’ve got some bakery cookies if you want something more than coffee.”

“I’m not going to touch that one,” he replied wryly.

She laughed.

They pulled up in front of her apartment building and climbed the stairs to the second story. Greg was teasing her about staying in shape because of the climb when he came to an abrupt stop and grabbed her wrist.

She looked at him in alarm. “What?”

He nodded toward her door. She hadn’t noticed that the door of her apartment was slightly ajar until he pointed it out. She froze. He put his finger to his lips and pulled her behind him.

She had no idea when he’d pulled a pistol. She didn’t even know he carried one but there was one in his hand now.

“Stay here,” he said next to her ear.

She nodded.

He moved closer and listened. After several moments he pushed the door open and waited.

Nothing happened.

Greg found the light switch just inside the door and flipped it on. She peered around the door and gasped.

“I told you to stay back there,” he said gruffly. “I need to check out the rest of the place.”

She nodded mutely, her fist to her mouth.

Someone had come in and destroyed her apartment. There was no other word to describe it. Every piece of furniture had been broken or ripped apart. Curtains hung in shreds, dishes were smashed and when she followed Greg into her bedroom, she saw that her closet had been emptied and her clothes ripped into pieces. She didn’t need to check her drawers because they were broken and on the floor, their contents cut up.

Her bed had fared no better. Mattress stuffing littered the bed and floor, along with the remains of her pillows and linens.

Without a word Sherri stepped around Greg, who had put his gun away, and stepped inside her bathroom.

“Be careful,” he said from behind her. “Shattered glass and pieces of the mirror are on the floor.”

She didn’t want to see any more. Sherri turned away and saw Greg using his cell phone.

“Get the forensic team over here now.” He rattled off her address and hung up before looking at her. “We’ll wait outside until they get here. I don’t want to contaminate the scene.”

Sherri looked around her. She felt violated. Someone had broken into her apartment and deliberately and systematically destroyed it. She had nothing left: no clothes, no place to sleep, nothing. The whole apartment had been defiled. She wrapped her arms around her waist and shivered.

Greg touched her shoulder. “They’ll be here in a few minutes. Let’s get some air.”

Only then did Sherri notice the heavy scent of cologne from the broken bottles in the bathroom. Once out in the hallway he pulled her close to his side and continued to hold her as they walked outside and back to his car.

He opened her door and waited for her to slide inside the car before he carefully closed it and walked around to the other side.

The man who had taken her to dinner and a movie was gone. In his place was a frowning, tough and formidable cop.

Greg got into the car and turned toward her. “I would say that someone left you a very strong message.”