Every Monday I had lunch with Mike. We got along very well and he always made me laugh. Other than that night at the movies he had tried nothing more than a peck on the cheek. I had thought he was interested, but I had either read him wrong or he had changed his mind. In the grand scheme of things it really didn’t matter. I needed his friendship, and anything else would have interfered with work.
What did matter was Sean — and he was driving me nuts. I thought about him at the oddest times. In particular, I remembered the kiss that had bruised my mouth and made me want more. I dreamed about Sean every night. On top of being exhausted from training, studying, and helping Tommy out when it was busy, I was now losing sleep too. Sean hardly had more than five words to say to me on a daily basis and when I was in the same room with him he either left the room or started an argument with me. Mike and I had been running all over the city as I learned how to install the alarms I had been studying, and also bypass them. By the end of the fourth week my get up and go had left me dragging.
Finally, I had a Sunday to myself. Tommy and Molly were off to Mass and to see some friends for the day, so after I managed to get myself out of bed and showered, I wandered over to their house and into their oh-so-well-stocked kitchen. I knew Molly would have left something yummy for me. She still felt sorry for me, having basically no cooking skills whatsoever. I did figure though that it was just a matter of time before she chained me to the counter and made me learn basic cooking 101.
I was just sitting down to a plate of my favorite — blueberry pancakes — when Mr. Arrogant himself walked in. Molly had mentioned that Sean was only temporarily living there while his apartment was being fumigated. I had hoped to avoid him altogether. He grunted at me and headed to the coffee pot. I decided the best way to deal with him was to eat and get out of the kitchen as soon as possible. But instead of leaving the kitchen as he usually did when I was in it, he sat down. Great; and I was so looking forward to a quiet breakfast. Well I might as well try and be friendly. “Good morning.”
“It’s noon,” he said pouring cream into his cup.
I took a deep breath. “Good afternoon, then.” I even managed a smile.
“Why are you so damn happy this morning?” He grumbled and took a drink of coffee.
Another deep breath. I reminded myself that I was going to try and be nice and I was eating as fast as I could so I could get out of there. But my ambition was slowly drifting away and the pancakes were now starting to taste like cement. I sighed.
“Look, Slick. I came here to eat my breakfast and to enjoy my first day off in four weeks.”
“Oh, waaa, first day off? So you don’t count your extra-long lunch with Mike the other day as a day off?”
I had to think for a moment; extra-long lunch? Lately my lunches with Mike had been working lunches on the run if we even had time to eat at all.
“My extra long lunch? I … ” Sean didn’t even give me time to finish what I was going to say.
“Sure. I guess you being Chase’s new darling that no one notices when you go off fooling around on company time.”
A lovely shade of red mist filled my head and I counted to ten. Then I counted to ten again. Nope it didn’t work. I took the remainder of my breakfast over to the garbage can and threw it in. I counted to ten again. Nope. Still not working. I cleaned up my plate and counted again. No, not yet. Sean stood up. Maybe he sensed I was near complete and total annihilation. Maybe he wanted more of a fighting chance if I decided to deck him again. But I could tell he knew he had pushed too far. I’d like to think Chase would have been proud of the way I held my rising temper in check. I counted to ten again and quickly thought of my choices. Upending the bottle of syrup on his head or walking out. My hands itched to pick up the bottle and pour, but somehow I saw my way clear to actually smile at him.
“I hope you have yourself a real nice day, Sean. I truly do. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a date.” I didn’t really have one, but I’d like to think that maybe — just maybe — that last little dig did some damage.
Monday arrived with rain and my mood mirrored it. I had spent the prior day being thoroughly and totally pissed off at Sean. So much so, that I must have walked ten miles of the city before I managed to regain some sense of calm. Chase, being the calm and astute man he is, must have sensed I was in a pisser of a mood because as soon as I sat down at my desk he announced that I was going to be tested.
“Tested? You didn’t say anything about a test.”
“No I didn’t. Go get your sweats on. This one is physical.”
Great. I’d had my brain tested all last week so why not test the body too? I headed to the locker room and found Mason already there, changing out of a gorgeous, dark blue skirt and jacket. Her silk shirt looked like fresh cream. Now, far be it from me to notice clothes or what other women wore, but on the few times I had seen Mason, the woman had dressed in style.
“Mason, I normally don’t care squat about clothes but you have some of the prettiest things I have ever seen.” I looked down at my new jeans and sighed. I must look like a rag mop next to her.
“Thank you. I don’t mean this to sound condescending and it probably will, but anytime you want to go shopping you let me know.”
Mindy walked in at that point. “Shopping? Who said shopping? Are you going to Madame Elise’s again?” Mason laughed at Mindy who was bouncing up on her toes. “I think we need to take Laney on a girl’s day out.”
Warning bells went off in my head. Danger. There lies madness. “Oh, no. Really that’s okay.” I backed away from them but Mindy came up behind me and stopped my escape. “After work today. You’ll thank us. Besides, it will drive Dallas nuts.” What the hell did Dallas have to do with it? Did he go too? I know the guy was strange and all, but he liked shopping?
Mason, now dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, laughed harder at my reaction and headed out of the room.
I lay down on a bench and groaned. Girl stuff. How did I get into this? Okay, I know I’m a girl but somehow I missed out on all the girl stuff that girls do. Maybe it was because my two girl cousins had made my life a living hell with constantly tormenting me and making me feel three inches tall.
Mindy stood over me and smiled. “Laney. Trust us. I think you’ll be surprised how much fun you’ll have.” Mindy left me to myself as I finished getting changed. Could the day get any worse? I really knew better than to ask that question, I really did.
When I walked out onto the gym floor I saw that not only was Chase waiting for me but Mike, Mason, and Sean were there as well. Oh lovely. I quickly understood just what kind of test this was going to be. Chase turned away from me and nodded to Mike. I wasn’t even given a chance to go on the offensive. I was on the floor in the blink of an eye.
“Come on, Laney. This isn’t playtime,” Mike said, as he tried to pin me. It took me a minute to fully understand what was expected of me. I had to fight. I had to do whatever it took to either gain the upper hand or get away. In real life you are rarely granted a minute to think. Reactions have to be quick. I couldn’t get my brain to grasp what was expected of me immediately as I hit the mat again, hard.
This wasn’t Mike the gentleman, the man I had been hanging out with. This man was hard, and seemed to be enjoying my discomfort with a maniacal gleam in his eye. I had heard rumors about Mike. He had been a bounty hunter before he was a bodyguard. I had heard that he’d even tracked down Mason once. I also heard that he never walked away from a fight. In fact, the general consensus was that he was a bit touched in the head. I didn’t buy it. Not then and especially not now. What I did buy was that he had a raw, channeled anger that had probably kept him alive a lot longer than anyone would have given him credit for.
Stop thinking! Start reacting, I told myself. I still didn’t get it until I tasted blood. My blood. Then the training took over. Training for defense or offens
e has to be mind, body, and soul. You have to have all three parts in one. I had the three parts now — granted, they were running off in different directions right then — but I managed to plant a nice punch on Mike’s chin. He stepped back, shook his head and laughed. Damn.
But before I could think of a plan B, Mason stepped in. She and I were about evenly matched in weight but she was a good three inches taller than me. I had no delusions that she wasn’t far superior when it came to fighting as I let the reflexes take over. I felt the hits and either rolled with them or blocked them. By the time I was wearing down, Chase motioned to Sean. I moved back and forth, trying to keep my guard up and ready and catch my breath. I had no idea what Sean was capable of.
He looked at Chase. “I can’t do it.” Chase just looked at Sean. “Look, get someone else, Chase. I won’t do it.”
I stopped pacing and looked at Sean. “Why not, Slick? Are you too good for this? Don’t want to get your hands messy?”
Sean glared at me. “Cut it out, Laney.”
“No. You’ve been wanting to push me around ever since we met, Ace. Since the moment you thought I was after Tommy’s money you’ve done nothing but glare at me. Come on, Slick, now’s your chance.” I walked up to him and got in his face. “I bet you felt real good after I decked you, huh? Boy, let me tell you, I think I was almost made a national hero around … ,” Sean shoved me back and tried to walk away, but I got right back in his face. “Well let me tell you something else, Mr. High and Mighty.” All the anger from Sunday boiled back up. “I’ve been taking long lunch breaks with Mike not to fool around, as you so delicately put it, but to learn alarm assessment and installations. If I was eating lunch, it was on the road. I don’t know what your problem is with me, Slick … ”
I never saw it coming. I was on the floor in a heartbeat and he had me pinned but instead of being angry he lowered his head to mine and just looked at me. Those beautiful green eyes looked into mine and I was lost. “The problem is, Laney, I find myself wanting to kiss you more than hit you and I don’t like it!” He quickly stood up and walked off.
“Happy now?” he snapped, as he walked past Chase and out of the room.
I just lay there. I had no idea for how long. My whole body hurt and I was sure I had bruises on bruises, but at this point I didn’t care. I had absolutely no idea what to say. Eventually I sat up with a loud groan. Chase was sitting a few feet away watching me. “I hope I passed your damn test?” I wiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt.
“Yes.”
“Yes? That’s all you have to say? Yes?” This was unbelievable.
“Uh huh.”
I slowly stood up and tried not to groan again at the pain. I looked at Chase and then flipped him off. He could fire me for insubordination if he wanted. I couldn’t care less. I stopped about half way to the locker room. One might say I was hit with an epiphany, or maybe a rock. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you? You set Sean up?”
Chase stood up. “Yep.”
I shook my head, “You’re a son of a bitch.” Chase looked at me with a faint smile and a nod.
“Yep.” He walked out.
Once in the shower I stayed there for a while. The hot water felt good and it gave me time to think. Okay, so the guy wanted to kiss me. This made him grumpy and unhappy. Part of me found this amusing and somewhat satisfying. Another part of me didn’t want to know this bit of information. Hell, I knew I was attracted to him. That one damn kiss rattled me even after a month had gone by. Like me, it appeared Sean was afraid of wanting more than just a kiss. Kissing didn’t always lead to love but it sure opened up the possibilities for it. I had grown up in a loveless household and I suffered for the so-called sins of my parents but somewhere in the back of my mind I had known that I was loved at one time. I didn’t like to remember it, but I could remember the love and laughter that my parents had for me and for each other.
I knew that my father had left and that my mother was very sad. I also knew that when she had found out he was dead she told me the truth of his passing and never spoke of it again. We went to live with her sister and Mom died a year later. The doctors said it was cancer. I believed it was from a broken heart. Sounds melodramatic, but it was true. She never smiled again after Dad died. I think she just walled herself off and counted the days that she had to remain on Earth without him. I guess in some respects the fruit didn’t fall far from the tree. I had essentially done the same thing after losing William.
I had loved my parents. I tried to love the family that I was left with, and it was slapped back down every time. I had loved William. Devastatingly so, but I also felt betrayed by him. He had neglected to tell me some important things about himself. I’d like to think that he was protecting me when he didn’t tell me that he came from money. William had known about the way I had been “brought up” by my aunt. Maybe he hadn’t told me because it didn’t matter to him. Maybe he had run away from it too? I didn’t know and there was no way to find out now. In the grand scheme of things it didn’t matter. The problem was how to deal with Sean. I wasn’t ready to get involved with anyone. Maybe I wouldn’t ever be ready again. I didn’t like the price that had to be paid for love.
So how to get Sean past this? Maybe if we just sat down and talked about it reasonably. Then we could make it go away. As I said before, I like my delusions. And this one — this one was a doozy.
When I got back to my locker, Mason was sitting on the bench waiting for me. “I got mad at Chase the day I was tested.” Mason said as she stretched her legs out. “I had no warning at all. I was ambushed on my boat and let me tell you that bay is damn cold.”
“You had no warning?”
“None. So be thankful you got some warning.” Mason stood up and grabbed her briefcase. “I understand the reasoning that goes along with the test. I have seen firsthand what happens to someone who goes into this job with not enough knowledge to save the life of the one they are protecting, and/or themselves. We put our life on the line because we are asked to. Sure we get paid for it. Nonetheless, we take the risk because someone needs us. Chase has seen too many things go wrong from lack of knowledge. He does whatever he can to narrow the margin of error.”
I stood there not quite knowing what to say. Mason stopped just at the door. “You did real good out there today. Better than I expected. Right now it may not feel like it, but you did well. Keep it in mind, you got a warning this time for a test. This time.” The door swung closed behind her as I sat down on the bench and put my head in my hands.
This time? There would be more? Wonderful. “Welcome to Woo,” I said aloud and got dressed.
Chapter Eight
At five o’clock, Mason, Stacey, and Mindy showed up at my desk. I’d spent the last few hours trying to concentrate on a diagram for an alarm layout. I say “try,” since every time I moved I discovered a new place that hurt. I looked up at them as they gathered around me.
“What?”
“How soon they forget,” Mindy said, as she reached over, saved my program, and then snapped my laptop shut.
“Hey!” I yelled. “I wasn’t done.”
Mason sighed and arched an eyebrow at me. “Now, tell me the truth. You’d really rather stay here and read this boring stuff than go out with us?”
“Is that a trick question?” I played tug of war over my jacket with Mindy.
“Laney, don’t make me call Mike,” Stacey said with an evil grin.
“No, I think you should call Sean,” Mason said, grabbing my arm and pulling me up.
“Come on. Trust us, it will be worth your while.”
I gave up. “Fine. Just don’t call Sean. I’ll come along quietly, for now.”
They laughed as we headed out the door. Mike and Dallas were in the lobby as we exited. “Mike, I’ll pay you to make them stop.” I pleaded.
“S
orry, kid, you’re on your own,” he said with obvious enjoyment of my extreme discomfort. Dallas’s eyes lit up. “Are you going to see Madame Elise? Can I come? Please?” The three women said a most resounding “NO!” in unison. I said “yes,” but I don’t think he heard me as I was dragged out the door.
Our first stop was at a small store near Macy’s in Union Square. This place even had a doorman. “Guys, I can’t shop here.”
“Girls, and yes, you can,” said Stacy. The doorman opened the door for us and bid a good evening to Mason by name. I felt like something one drags up from the bottom of the barrel. This place said money and luxury. I had neither. I was a Sears, Target, K-Mart kind of gal, not this.
A tall, older woman with glorious white hair in a perfect chignon approached us with a smile of delight and embraced Mason warmly.
“Mason, bonsoir. Comment allez-vous?” She held Mason at arm’s length looking at her.
Mason motioned to me, “Je suis de bons mercis. J’ai amené un ami qui pourrait utiliser votre avis d’expert.”
The woman looked at me with a critical eye. Mason placed a hand on my arm, understanding I didn’t quite care for the appraisal.
“Madam Elise, I would like you to meet Laney Murphy. She is almost family to Tommy and a new employee at Woo. Laney this is Madame Elise, the best lingerie designer in the world.”
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