Deadly Love

CHAPTER ONE

Santa Ana in August was hot and dry. The sun baked the streets, sidewalks, and anything else in its path. Sweat was inevitable, even in the refuge of shade or with the assistance of a fan. The city's citizens were either cooped up inside with their air conditioning on full blast, or at th beach in the cool water. I was one of the copped up ones. Three fans directed toward me and my shirt still clung to my chest and back with perspiration. A tall red head skipped past my room sporting a pair of jean shorts and a bikini top.

"Jada Hernandez, where are you going? " I yelled after her, unwillingly to get up from my seat in front of the rotating fans."I'm heading to the beach, Jay and Jax are picking me up. Want to come?" She popped her head into the door frame of my room just in time to catch me shake my head in response. "I figured; see you in a couple hours!" The front door slammed behind Jada and I sprung up, pulling off every item of clothing I had been wearing. Now fully naked, I was free to let the fans cool off every part of my body.

My fingers scolled through a playlist on my phone and settled on "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot. My silly choice of music couldn't and wouldn't be mode fun of by my bestfriend now that she had left, so I wasted no time in letting lose. My hips moved to the beat of the song, matching each phrase, loop, and hook. I used a toothbrush as my microphone, rapping along with the voice that spilled through my speacker system.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and my heart lurched from my chest. Quickly pulling on my robe, I tied it tightly around my body and scrambled toawrd the door. With the music playing quietly in the background. I opened the back door and sucked in a fearful breath. The man in front of me towered over my small stature by at least a foot, making my body tremble with intimidation. But it wasn't just his tall and muscly physique that led to my trembling knees, it was his good damn gorgeousness. His brown hair was slicked to the side, mirrored aviator sunglasses shielded his eyes from me, and he wore a blue police uniform tha clung to every countour of his body.

"Sorry to disturb you Miss." He smiled charmingly down at me and I forced a girlish giggle back down my throat.

"I-It's no problem, Officer. What can I do for you?" I bit my lip, moving some hair awat from my face. His penetrating stare was hard to match, so I settle for looking at his name tag.

Officer Mondaro

"I'm just going around the neighborhood introducing myself. I'm moving in next door to you." His voice echoed with a hint of a austrailian accent as he pointed to the old Jones's house that had been sitting for sale for almost a year.

"Oh, well, welcome to Ophelia Avenue." I smiled sweetly and moved from one leg to the other awkwardly. "I'm Alyssa Kingsley."

"Derek. Derek Mondaro." He smirked down at me, bringing his fingers to the collar of my robe. "Did I interrupt something?" His thumb moved across the soft, plush fabric of the one clothing I was wearing. My breath caught in my throat as I fumbled around for an excuse.

"Um," I swallowed hard. "I was about to take a bath." Lying was never one of my specialities, which he quickly caught onto.

"After a performance like that, I'd assume you'd woke up quite a sweat." He bit his lip to suppress a knowing smirk, his cheek indenting with a dimple. With my brain coming up blank on a response, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"O-Oh, I-I-."

"Don't worry, I'm a big fan." He winked, stepping backward down the steps of my house's patio. "By the way, Alyssa, I'd close your curtains from now on." The officer skipped down the stairs and down the sidewalk to the next house. My jaws was practically on the floor. Slamming the door, I ran to my room and pulled on some clothes.

My new neighbor saw me nekad.

My new cop neighbor saw me nekad.

Despite the temperature, I buried myself in the blankets of my bed, wanting to escape the deeply embedded embarrassment in my stomach. Jada came home a few hours later, as promised. She disappeared into the kitchen, making her fresh fruit smoothies and preparing her organic-based dinner. Curtains now tied closely, I sauntered into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"What's for supper, Wifey?" I waggled my eyebrows at her playfully. Jada smiled and shook her head, lating the food and placing it in front of me.

"Rosemary chicken with cherry salsa." She stuck a fork into the chicken breat and started plating her own food.

"What would I do without you?" I quesioned, digging in. Jada was culinary major and being her roomate backlash bestfriend, definitely had its perks. I debated on telling her about wheat happened with the new neighbor, but decided against it.

"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" She questioned as she cut into her chicken. Biting my lip, I shook my head.

"Nope. Boring , like always."

CHAPTER TWO

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of Jada's melodic yoga music. Stumbling out of bed, I made my way Jada's room where she was streched into some kind of weird flexible move. Ending up in the bathroom, I made sure the curtains were closed before stripping off my pajamas and hoping in the shower. Because of the California heat, my showers were often on the cooler side, but nevertheless felt amazing against my tanned skin.

I worked at a bakery called 'Get Baked' before and after school, and on weekends to keep myself busy. Because I loved the smell of fresh baked goods, I always volunteered for the opening shift, But since the opening shif was at five AM, I rarely had any customers. I pulled on a pair of black leggings and the bakery's signature shirt with a big dopey looking muffins on the front.

"if you have any strawberry frosted doughnuts left over, bring me one back?" She batted her eyelashes at me and I rolled my eyes.

"I'll see you at school." I pulled on my white and black Adidas sneakers and shut te front door behind me. The drive to work was quiet, the only sound being the soft hum of the radio that was on its lowest volume. When I got to the bakery, I unlocked the oor and turned on the lights. Display cases lit up, the kitchen illuminated and I set out to work. Dozens of muffins, cookies, and doughnuts were baking and frying within a half hour. I was frosting the last blueberry glazed doughnut when the entrance door jungled. "I'll be right with you!" I called from the kitchen, setting the doughnut down on a rack and wiping my hands on the apron I was wearing. "You're my first custom-"

There he was, in all his glory. Now wearing a pair of black jeans and a grey t-shirt that read 'Santa Ana PD,' Officer Mondaro stood beautifully behind the counter. His green eyes were trained on me, a smirk on his lips.

"Good morning, Ms. Kingsley." He said slowly, his mouth wrapping against my surname sensually.

"M-Morning." I stuttered, my cheeks heating up again at the memory of our last talk. "what can I get yo-"

"I didn't peg you for someone who worked at a bakery." He interrupted, looking me up and down observantly. I frowned slightly, unintentionally crossing my arms over my chest. He noticed and chuckled. "Not that that's a bad thing, it's cute." My cheeks heated up again and I cursed him for having this affect on me.

"Well I didn't peg you for a pervert." I shot back, a small amount of confidence seeping through my coyness. He smirked; there was that dimple again. It was then noticed his arms were tattooed into sleeves of art that danced across his skin.

"I like it when you're mouthy." He leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest as well. My brow furrowed in frustration.

"What can I get you." I started rather than questioned. He chuckled softly and looked through what I had put into display cases. Biting his lip, he pointed to the doughnut rack.

"I'll have one apple fritter and one French cruller." I nodded and pulled out a bag, gently placing the two sweets inside.

"That'll be three dollars." I mumbled, avoiding his emerald colored eyes. He pulled out three bills and handed them over to me. "Thank you."

"Baking sweets fits you, Alyssa." He whispered softly, taking the bag from my hand and softly running his thumb over my knuckles. "I can only imagine you taste just as sweet as your work." He turned and walked out of the shop, the loud jingle from the door leaving me feeling lonely.

-

My shift was over seven hours later nd right on schedule, I pulled up yo University Calfornia. My hands trembled nervously as I walked into my animal anatomy class, knowing a veavily weighted test about to be given. I missed my mom at times like these, she always knew what to say when I was stressed. The professor ranted on about the importance of doing well and that this test could either make or break this semester's grade.

"Begin." He said gruffly , scooting into his desk and correcting our projects from last week. I started by writing my name neatly above the questioons and then gulped at the sight of the lengthy test. Ten pages, back to back, of questions relating from the anatomy of goldfish to the anatomy of a horse. Glancing at the clock quickly, I but my lip with knowledge that I only had an hour to complete this.

I breezed through the dog and cat questions, because frankly, they were the easiest. It was easy to remember the anatomy of animals that actually interested you. I could have done without the cows, the birds, and the pigs. After I had finished, I hesistantly walked up to the professor's desk and handed in my test. When the last person had finished, he dismissed the class annoyed wave. As I was walking out, someone gently tapped my shoulder.

"You're Jane, right?" I turned, finding a boy around my age with tousled dirty blonde hair. His blue eyes watched me playfully as I nodded in response. A few freckles peppered his deeply tanned skin, his toned arms sticking out from the loose royal blue tank he was wearing.

"I'm Riley. Marine animal veterinarian to be." He stuck his hand out to me and I shook it politely.

"Nice to meet you." I smiled softly and began to walk away before he caught my wrist.

"Sorry, it's just-" He paused, rethinking his word choice. "I've seen you around and I've seen how passionate you are about this. I guess I was just wondering if we could go grab a coffee sometime?" He grimaced even before I replied, probably anticipating a rejection.

"UH, yeah." I nodded, biting my lip. "What's your number, I'll message you when I'm feww." After exchanging number, Roley and I parted ways. Riley was cute, polite, and sweet, which was everything I was looking for in man. But somehow my mind wandered back to Officer Mondaro and what he said.

"I can only imagine you taste just as sweet as your work."

What had he meant by that? I tried to talk myself into rationally believing he was a cannibal and was interested in me purely because I was his next victim. But I knew better and the worst part was, part of me wondered what he tasted like, too.