Skin Deep (Skin Deep #1)

“Hey!” he whined. “That’s my dinner!”

Luke turned around and smacked him upside the back of the head, muttering, “Greedy pig,” before we all headed in to the living room to eat and watch some TV.

My cell phone chimed in my purse sitting on the counter and I got up off the couch, gathering up used paper plates, napkins, and discarded pizza crusts and carrying it all to the kitchen. I threw away all the trash and fed poor slobbering Doug the pizza crusts before I grabbed my cell and went back to sit with Luke. I slid my finger across the screen to open the home page of my phone to see that it was a text that had come through. I opened it.

Hey, its your favorite brother. Got a sec?

I laughed before replying, You’re my only brother, jerk off. What’s up?

Well, remember how you said that I couldn’t have a party at your house?

I groaned, knowing that this was probably gonna be bad. Yeah, I remember. But you didn’t listen, right?

Not exactly? You’ll get over it but I do have to tell you that I sent the carpet cleaner people over to clean the carpet where this chick Exorcist-ed the living room. I even paid for it myself. Just FYI. Later.

I sighed and called Leah, who picked up immediately and started talking before I could.

“I know that you said he couldn’t have the party and I told him no but then he came over and we were hanging out and he asked if his buddy could come and I said yes but my friend wanted to come hang because he was here and then it snowballed and the stupid bitch drank three bottles of red wine and Exorcist-ed the living room-”

“Leah!” I shouted, trying to get her to shut up. “Breathe for a second, geez. Calland texted me. Did the stain come out of the carpet?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Did anything get broken?” I asked.

“Ahh…nope? I don’t think so.”

“Okay. Its over and done with so…just be responsible.”

“Okay, Emma!”

I got off the phone with her and Luke reached over, snagging my phone so he could see the texts from my brother. He sniggered and passed the phone to the other guys before I jumped up and snatched it back. I swear, they’re like little kids.

Chapter 19

“Luke, I promise, there’s nothing for you to do, so don’t bother coming down here, okay? I’ll just see you when you pick me up from work. I love you.”

I hung up the phone and turned to the officer that had come back into my office at work. He handed me a report, which I laid on my desk with the other three already there.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Jensen, but beyond the reports there’s nothing else for us to do. No one knows who he is and he’s obviously masked his number so its not showing up on the Caller ID. You’ve done well with recording the conversations and I would watch it because it sounds like he’s escalating. Just call if you need anything, okay ma‘am?”

I nodded and thanked the officer again, smiling as he left the office. As soon as he cleared the door, my face fell. It was the week before Christmas and Creepy had decided to step up his game. He’s called me almost everyday, but today, not to mention the past three days, he’s become increasingly more agitated and vulgar on the phone. I’d made reports every time and was keeping a file on it. Floyd was going insane with worry, and I think he would have sent me away if I hadn’t talked him out of it.

As it was, the only reason I got to finish out the week was because next week was Christmas and the office would be closed. I just had to make it through Tuesday at noon, which is when we’d close the office. I’d get Wednesday (Christmas Eve), Thursday (Christmas), and Friday off next week, and then the complete following week, returning to work on the fifth of January.

I think we were all hoping that the time away would make him get bored and leave me the hell alone. It was driving me nuts that I had no idea who this guy was and how the hell he knew me, although every time I heard his voice it felt like something was niggling the back of my mind, something that I just couldn’t put my finger on. Luke was about five seconds away from locking me up in a tower somewhere and Brandon and Jackson were totally on his side.

Luke and I had gotten into an argument last night because he found out that I hadn’t told my family anything, and he assumed that I hadn’t told Allie. Noah was the only one who’d known, other than Allie, who’d already been threatened with death if she told, and I’d sworn him to secrecy. The only reason he knew was because the guys at the station knew I was his sister-in-law and had told him about everything. Luke had blown his top and actually called every single member of my family at quarter after eleven last night to tell them. My parents were pissed off at me, Leah had sobbed like I had died, Jenna had mother-henned me to death (Yes, apparently its even possible to do over the phone), but the one that got to me the most was Calland, who shockingly had been so sweet, asking if I was okay. Of course then he threatened, and I quote, ‘to castrate the mother fucker who decided to fuck with his sister.’

I managed to get by with promising to tell Allie today, and that’s only because she was coming out to the house tonight. God knows what he’d have done if he knew she already knew. I’d then tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to shift the focus from me by asking Brandon and Jackson point blank about what was going on with Allie. They’d steadfastly refused to take the bait, remaining stoic and brooding about my situation.

Oh, well. I sighed and picked up the pad of paper that I had stashed in my desk drawer. I’d made a list of gifts that I wanted to get everyone and had been marking them off as I found them. I only had three more people to buy for, and go figure, they were the ones I lived with. I had a few ideas about Luke and Brandon, but was completely at a loss at what to get Jackson. I’d even gone so far as to ask him, which was no help. Of course, teasing him that I was going to get him Allie in a big red bow didn’t help my cause.

Mom was easy; I’d gotten her a gift card to use to buy books for her Kindle and stashed it in the pocket of an oversized hoodie sweatshirt with her favorite NFL team on it. I’d also gotten her an adorable yellow lab figurine that looked just like Doug who, even though she refused to let him spend the night again unless he’d been people food free for at least two days prior, was still her favorite four legged grandchild.

Dad was pretty easy, too. There was a new war game that had come out and he’d wanted it to play on his Xbox 360 with all his buddies. I know, I know, he’s a little old for that, right? Well, my brother had gotten him hooked and far be it for me to tell him any different. I’d also gotten him a new tshirt that said, ‘The beatings will continue until morale improves,’ which, believe it or not, he’d said to us quite often growing up.

Calland had gotten the same game as I got Dad so they could play together, and I’d found Leah a really cute outfit and a pair of earrings that she’d been gushing over. Jenna and Noah were probably the easiest. I’d only had to print up a coupon book on the computer with vouchers for babysitting and a gift card to their favorite restaurant. The kids were spoiled by everyone, and I was no different, which is why I’d already bought them at least six gifts each.

I’d found Allie a few funky scarves that I knew she’d turn into a skirt, as well as a gorgeous silver necklace with a teardrop shaped black onyx and diamond accent pendant. Hell, I’d even bought Doug a few new squeaky toys, bones, and new collar!