Chapter 41

"Caden, no," Jocelyn whispered. "Let's go."
"Yeah, do as your woman says and get out of here, why don't you?" Henry catcalled as Mona cringed.
"Jocelyn, take the popcorn and wait for me in the lobby," Caden instructed.
Just then, a skinny, teenage usher with bad skin walked up the aisle and then looked back and forth between the four of them.
"It all started when I threw a piece of popcorn at my- friend," Jocelyn tried to explain, "and then he threw one back at me without looking. But he missed, and accidentally hit that obnoxious jerk." Suddenly, the obnoxious jerk was standing on the other side of her.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Henry roared, disturbing everyone in the theater.
"Yes, he's drunk, and he verbally attacked my friend," Jocelyn explained.
"If I wanted to attack him--" Henry began, but Mona cut him off.
"Henry, stop!"
"Mona, I've got this!" He turned around and accidentally knocked her back into the seats.
"Okay, mister," the skinny usher with bad acne said, his voice starting to shake. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"Now, wait a minute!" Henry's voice bellowed throughout the theater. "I wasn't the one who threw the popcorn! This asshole here--"
"Okay. That's it," Caden cut him off. Within a second, Caden's military training kicked in and he wrapped his arms around Henry in a full Nelson hold and started walking him down the aisle toward the exit. "Okay, mister. We can talk about this in the lobby." The other patrons in the theater cheered.
"Let go of me, you bastard!" Henry yelled at the top of his lungs. "You were the one who threw popcorn at me!"
Outside, tears streamed down Mona's face, carrying both hers and Henry's coats. Jocelyn looked over at her apologetically as Henry continued to yell profanities.
Within minutes, the police arrived. A big burly police officer stepped up beside Caden and tapped his arm. "Let him go. I'll take it from here."
Caden released him and stepped back, positioning himself between Henry and Jocelyn.
"How dare you!" Henry yelled as he took a swing at him.
Caden could have taken him down in a heartbeat, but the police officers beat him to it. In the course of a second, they had him on the ground and handcuffed.
"Yeah, yeah," one of the officers said as he pushed him into the backseat of the squad car and shut the door. Then he turned to Caden and Jocelyn. "Okay. What happened?"
He took the statements first of Caden and Jocelyn, and then Mona. By that time, she had finally got hold of herself. After she gave her statement, a female police officer approached. Luckily, she said exactly what had happened, telling the officers that her husband was drunk and that, yes, they had thrown one piece of popcorn at them, but it was an accident and her husband had overreacted.
"I don't know where I'm going to go! What I'm going to do!" Mona sobbed, tears streaming down her face again.
"Why don't you step over here and we'll talk about it?" the female police officer said as she led Mona off to the side.
Turning to Caden, the male police officer let out a deep breath. "Technically, you shouldn't have engaged him, but waited until we arrived."
"I needed to get him out of there before he harmed anyone." Caden stood straight. "I'm a Navy SEAL and my military training just kicked in."
The police officer nodded. "A Navy SEAL, huh?"
"Yes, sir. I'm currently on leave."
"Okay, you can go." The officer leaned in closer. "If I were you, I'd get my money back and see another movie."
Caden nodded once. "Thank you, sir." He placed his hand on the small of Jocelyn's back and led her back into the movie theater. With her out of harm's way, he asked, "So, you want to see another movie? There's a romance-."
"If you want. It's up to you." She bit her lower lip and released it. "We shouldn't let a man like that ruin our evening." The way she bit her lip and released it was so sexy and she didn't even realize it.
"Let's exchange our tickets and go to the other movie." He winked at her before he could stop himself. "I'm not ready to take you home just yet."
She giggled and let him guide her to the ticket booth. Unable to resist, he exchanged their tickets for the romantic comedy "Time and Time Again" then he leaned over to Jocelyn. "After what happened, I think we need to laugh."
She shook her head in disbelief as he followed her into the theater.
This time, there were no antics with throwing popcorn, and soon they were immersed into the romantic comedy about a time-traveling couple who ended up missing each other. Even though Caden wasn't usually a fan of romance, he found himself involved with the story- and thinking of Jocelyn.
During the movie, he kept glancing over at Jocelyn and caught her glancing over at him, too. If this would have been a real date, he would have reached over and held her hand. But he knew he had a lot to consider first before he could take their relationship to the next level. He made a mental note to speak with Mallory as soon as possible. He owed her that much.
Caden also wondered how Jocelyn felt about him, too. Did she care for him romantically, or was he just deluding himself? Soon, the movie came to an end, but he couldn't explain how it ended or the fine points of the movie because he was so engrossed on focusing on Jocelyn.
"Well, that was interesting," Jocelyn replied when the lights came up.
Caden stood and stretched. "Did you like it?"
Jocelyn walked from the theater and into the lobby. "It was good. Did you like it?"
Caden shrugged as he opened the front door for her. "I'm not really into romance, but it was good." The cold wind blew white puffs of snow sideways, causing him to pull his coat around him.
Laughing, Jocelyn rolled her eyes. "If you're not into romance, then why did you want to see it?" She shoved her hands into her coat pockets as they walked toward his car.
He unlocked the doors of his Corvette and opened the passenger side door for her. "Well, I thought you might enjoy it. Plus, we needed to laugh."
"So, you picked a romance?" she asked.
He shrugged. "What can I say? Romances humor me." He closed her door and then walked around and slid into the driver's seat. He started the car and then steered it toward her house, hoping that he could catch Mallory. After tonight, he didn't want to put off the conversation with her any longer.
Within minutes, he made a few expert turns and pulled to a stop in front of Jocelyn's house. "Wait here," he instructed. Within a minute, he was on the other side of the car and helped her out.
"I can walk myself to the door," she said.
"I'm nothing if not a gentleman." He smiled as he placed a hand on the small of her back and walked her up the stairs.
"Thank you for a wonderful evening. I had a great time."
He smiled. "Sorry about the guy and the popcorn."
Jocelyn raised an eyebrow, smiling. "It was interesting, but it wasn't your fault. You saved people from getting hurt tonight." She let out a deep breath. "Hard telling what he may have done if you hadn't escorted him out."
"Thank you for saying it so kindly," he replied. "And thank you for spending the day with me." He let out a deep breath. "May I see you tomorrow?"
"Caden, I--"
"Please, don't say no." Then he wrapped his arms around her waist as she slid her hands over his shoulders.
"Caden-." she said, looking into his eyes.
At that moment, an overwhelming sense of urgency and protectiveness washed over him. His lips descended upon hers and all of the memories of her rushed to him. He had never realized it before, but she was the one that had always been there for him. She was in just about every memory he had. His lips descended upon hers as passion and warmth filled his chest. He pulled her close, letting her soul touch his as no one else's had.
Suddenly, the front door flew open and Mallory was standing in the door.
"How could you?" she asked, looking right at Jocelyn.
"Mallory, I need to speak to you," Caden said, pulling Jocelyn behind him.
But Jocelyn pulled away with tears in her eyes. "Caden, no. I can't. She's my sister. You need to go."
"Jocelyn, please, don't do this-."
Jocelyn's mouth opened as if to speak, but no sound came out. Tears sprang to her eyes and she pushed past him and Mallory and headed up the stairs.
"Jocelyn!" Caden called after her but she was gone. He turned to Mallory and his eyes flared. "Mallory, I need to speak with you- now."
"Not tonight." Before he could say anything more, she slammed the door in his face. "Jocelyn!" he beat on the door, but no one answered.
A few minutes later, he walked toward his car. When he looked up at Jocelyn's bedroom window, she was standing there, but quickly pulled the curtains closed, leaving him standing on the front lawn alone, hoping that things could be different.