The Kick-off to the Heart - Chapter One

Chapter One

Victoria

I woke up gasping for air ,  hot and bothered , dripping wet with sweat.  Taking in the surroundings- a rush of relief goes through me.

“I am home, it’s all right I am  home, “ I mumble to myself. “ It was just a dream , just another dream.”  This dream was so real, like the others. it’s like I am reliving those moments again.  I haven’t had this particular dream in weeks, although I had it many times before �" it still haunts me to the core.

Forced to snap out of it -  Ragnar jumps on the end of my bed. He usually sleeps throughout the night by my bedroom door so no one , no  thing can trespass. Having an  ex-police dog in my home does have it quirks. Since I rescued Ragnar from the shelter he has done nothing but prove himself worthy to me and although he has nothing to prove , he really makes me feel safe in my own home.

 Ragnar crawls carefully to me, wiggling his tail. He’s breathing heavy, due to the humid weather; his mouth open and his tongue fully exposed.  It’s November and in Miami,  that’s when the ‘hardcore’ dry season starts. All around my house I have plenty of air conditioners and fans to keep me cool (most days), but unfortunately, Ragnar is a longed-hair German Shepherd and these type of conditions suck the energy and life right out of him.

He gives my elbow a nudge and lets himself drop flat on to the bed, then starts to roll on his back, giving me the opportunity to scratch his belly.                    I turn my head to the night table where my alarm clock stands,  it’s only a quarter to six. It’s my first day off since the renovations at the café and I am going to take full advantage of it. Unfortunately, after the dream I just recalled, going back to sleep is impossible. But the best solution to forget about the dream, about how messed up I am , is to go for a good long walk on the beach with my man. 

I jump out of bed ,  Ragnar following me to the walk-in closet. I hastily change my undies,  grab my  grey sweat pants and a black oversized tank top from the top shelf and put them on. I turn around checking myself in the large tall mirror, I brush my long, blonde hair back with my fingers into a messy pony-tail. Normally I spend more time on my appearance but today I just didn’t bother. It’s my first day off in months, I am not going to waste time fussing.                                                      I slide my feet  into my Adidas sneakers and walk past Ragnar, who is waiting in the doorway, wiggling his tail the fastest he can. I quickly use the adjoined bathroom. When I exited  Ragnar was turning around - already on his way to the front door.  I grab my phone from the night stand and followed him through the hallway. My home is not big, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, nice spacey kitchen and a large living room. It is more than enough for Ragnar and me. Although, I wish my yard is a little larger-so that Ragnar had more space to roam around freely. But it was still an average-sized yard with a few bushes he loved to play inside. Other than that, the location is perfect, it is a ten-minute drive or a short twenty-minute walk to the Café. The house is built just opposite the beach, just a silent road separating my home with the most beautiful coast. The first time I laid eyes on the house, two years ago, I knew that this was it. It was perfect - my little piece of heaven. It was on the market well above my price range, but because the previous owners were separating, wanted to sell ASAP and because I’m great negotiator - I got the price reduced to a reasonably one I could afford.  Even though my café is booming with business and money is rolling in, I remained very cautious with my earnings.

I attached Ragnar’s leash on to his red collar, and opened the front door. A rush of damp, moist air hit me in the face. It was six-o’clock; still misty and grey, but nevertheless it was hot. I quickly closed and locked the door behind me, crossed the street. When my shoes made contact with the coastline - I released the hound.

After a hour sprint-walk with Ragnar, we returned home. I quickly dried him off with a towel and let him go inside. I was following him  blindly - knowing where he was heading;  his own personal corner, where his doggie bed lays, with a basket of toys and of course his food bowl. It was all in perfect view of the front door and the kitchen. I gave him his breakfast, I walked to the kitchen, grabbing the last remaining Coco Pops and poured it into a bowl. Opening the fridge, that’s when I saw it was basically empty, it only contained: two eggs, small bit of milk , tomato ketch-up, yoghurt and some cheddar cheese… It was official , I needed to take better care of myself. It’s no wonder my clothes were looser than usual lately, I’ve been living on Coco Pops and yoghurt, losing weight unconsciously. Inhaling a deep breath, I clutched the last of the milk , poured it into the bowl and let the cereal sizzle on the bar counter. Grabbing a piece of paper and pen, I settled on the bar stool and silently ate my Coco Pops and made a grocery list.

It was already eight-o’clock. I decided to go grocery shopping early to avoid the busy peaks of today. Even though it was Thursday, I didn’t want to shop in rush hour.  I quickly stood up and shoved my wallet, phone and grocery list in to my shoulder bag.                  

“ Be right back Ragi. “ I told Ragnar, as I headed out the front door. I walked to my silver Toyota Rav, opened the door and climbed inside. 

It was silent in the grocery store , which was great because I could take my time choosing and fussing over the products without people breathing down my neck. It was nice and cool in the store. Fortunately almost all shops in Miami had air conditioners, the humidity could reach eighty-five here. It didn’t matter if it was winter, dry or hurricane season,  all year through there was humidity.  I looked down to my fully packed cart, it was only missing one more thing: Ben & Jerry Chocolate Fudge ice cream. When I arrived at the frozen-goods section,  I stopped in front of the various flavored ice creams and  spotted that the Ben & Jerry section hasn’t  been  newly stocked, there were only a few flavor choices left. Opening the freezer, I hissed when a rush of artic cold air shifted over me. I took my time trying to find my flavor, it was so nice, cool and very distracting - if only I could stand here all day. Finally my gaze found the Ben & Jerry flavor, it was the very last Chocolate fudge. As I was reaching for it , it was snatched from under me by a muscular hand.

My eyes snapped up to the man who now had my ice cream, and what I saw left me speechless. An enormously tall, strong-built man with light hazel brown eyes with a hint of olive-green in them met my stare. His jaw muscular, fierce and covered in thin , unshaven facial hair. His hair chocolate brown,  long and thick brushed back out of his face, it wasn’t long enough to tie, but long enough to tuck behind his perfectly shaped ears. He had light tan, which made me think he was from Hawaiian or maybe Australian descent. He looked familiar, like I’d met him before, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

  My eyes wandered down his neck to his very broad shoulders. My eyes were focused on his V-neck white shirt, it showed a tiny portion of his chest, which was muscular and tanned. A few chest hairs escaped and were visible. My mouth began to dry. My eyes travelled south, unconsciously, I licked  my lips when I reached his hard stomach. His white shirt was tight enough to see his stomach was rock-hard, not an ounce of fat visible.                       My eyes went back up  to his shoulders then back down his right arm �" he had huge biceps, his shirt was short sleeved which gave me an erotic vision of his naked skin. Moistening  my lips again, my gaze was now focused on his bicep where a black ink tattoo was sketched. It caught my eye, I studied the hunk’s black ink. It had to have some tribal meaning: it was about ten centimeters wide and wrapped around his bicep in various patterns. It was Hawaiian, I think.  My eyes continued to travel down his inkless lower-arm.  My eyes abruptly paused when I saw he was holding my ice cream… 

My eyes snapped to his. He met my stare and  suddenly turned around, ready to walk away. I quickly stole a glimpse of his ripped back and his finely shaped a*s.                                  Finally I burst out of my bubble, and managed to open my mouth and let words escape.  “Excuse me, that’s my ice cream,” I said to him with a slight annoyance in my voice. I didn’t like the way he affected me, not one bit.                               

He turned around and faced me, a smug smile on his face showing his perfect white teeth. Which made my heart skip a beat. Damn it.  ‘Focus Vicki,’  I thought to myself   ‘he has your ice cream.’  Snapping out of it, wanting to continue talking -  I was interrupted.           “Well, good Moring to you too,” He said,  still flashing his perfect smile. He raised the ice cream near his face to study the logo. “ Well it doesn’t have your name on it…  So technically no, it’s not your ice cream.”  he said with amusement in his voice.                                              That pushed my “wrath- of- fury” button… Seriously who did he think he is?   My ferocity started to build deep inside me. ‘ One-Two-Three-Four…’ continued counting to ten,  taking a deep breath, I flashed my smile and daggered my blue/grey eyes at him.

“ You don’t even know my name, for all you know it’s Ben or Jerry,“ I answered , trying my best to keep my voice steady.  I took a step towards him, closing the space.            ” So, be a gentleman and give my damn ice cream back.”  I was close enough to him that I could smell his cologne. ‘Damn, he smells so good. ‘  I hated that this nameless douchebag had this effect on me. Usually, I don’t let people affect me this way. But with him, it’s like all my walls and guards are down, which I unconditionally loathed. It made me feel ultra-exposed. And yet, the feeling, tempted me. Seduced me…    

“Mmm,  sassy. I like that.” he chuckled, while studying my body from head to toe. That’s when I realized I was still wearing my grey sweats, oversized black tank top and smelled like wet dog. ‘Great just peachy - Focus Vicki. ‘   I thought.   

 “You know, I am doing you a favor right?  Maybe you should cut back on the ice cream and change to low-fat yoghurt ? just a friendly tip…  Anyway I have to get going, you enjoy your day now. “ he said and winked at me.         My temper rising. ‘That’s it - no more counting to ten. He’s likes sassy, well,  he’ll get a lot more than just plain old sassy now!’ My wrath exploding inside me. 

 “Excuse me! How dare you call me fat!  You don’t even know me nor the body that is hidden beneath these layers of clothes. And even if I was fat you should not share that type of information unless I asked… And as for your comment wishing me a great day, you can shove it up your tight-A-hole and keep it there. ”  My voice was vicious and firm.  “ Enjoy my ice cream, a*s- face. “  As I turned around and started to walk away. I felt a hand on my elbow. It sent me shockwaves throughout my entire body. Turning to look at the beautiful nameless man. He was studying my face  like I was a science project. ‘Keep it together Vick, he’s jerk, don’t fall for his tricks.’                                                              “ I am sorry, that was rude of me,” he said, with a voice sincere. Which I found difficult to believe.  “But seriously, I basically call you fat and the best name you can come up with is ‘a*s-face’ ? ”  I was stunned by his comment. I was speechless by the sudden change in his voice;  it was soft and remorseful.   I wanted to say something, anything,  but my mind was blocked and my mouth was shut.  I only managed to hold my stare.

“Okay, I admit calling you fat, was a low-blow but. But come’on, what are you wearing? You know you’re in public right? “  And just like that, the fury-button was pressed again . Inside it was heating up  and it spread like wildfire.  

 “ Seriously?!! “  I blared. Finally my mouth was able to produce words again . My voice was so loud, I was almost yelling at him.  Savagely, I shrugged my elbow free from his hold.   

“ Firstly,  I called you a*s-face, because that’s what your face reminds me of! ”  Which was a complete lie, but I was so angry , so aggravated, it took control of me.                                               “ Secondly I am wearing this…”  My hands gesturing to my clothes. ” because it’s my first day-off in months, and I am not the kind of person who gets dolled up just because she needs to get some groceries.  It  would be a waste of my time but frankly, explaining and justifying my actions to you, is too; a waste of my time. Goodbye. “   I said, my voice confident but agitated. I was staring him right in the eye, before I turned around and walked away. 

Loading the bags of food in the car, I recalled the scene in the store.  He was definitely the  most beautiful man I’d ever laid eyes on,  but nevertheless he was a jerk. Not worth my time or my feelings. So I tried my best to put my mind at ease, and away from him.                                    But despite my best efforts, on my way home I couldn’t stop my mind wandering to the slightly familiar man: his beautiful hazel brown-green eyes , his tight jaw , perfect broad shoulders, his hard stomach,  his huge biceps and God, his fine a*s…  My mouth began to water.  ‘ Damn it. This is going to be more difficult than I thought.’

Author's Note

please ignor the grammar mistakes, this is the first rough draft. and my first attempt to write a novel. I have no one to help me along the way- i am doing this solo, so please - feedback is appreciated .