Anchor Line

by Dawne Walters

  “I wasn’t planning on doing anything else but helping you.” Conrad walked closer so that he stood in front of her now.

  Addie’s mouth opened and closed not sure what to say. “If you’d like to stay, I’d appreciate the help.” She smiled up at him.

  Conrad’s only response was to grab her by the hips and pull her close, then lean down in her face and look into her eyes.

  Please kiss me, please kiss me, please kiss me. That was the only thing running through Addie’s brain as Conrad’s hazel eyes took in hers. He was so close, she could feel his breath on her face.

  “I’ll stay.” Then he shook his head slowly. “What are you doing to me?” He whispered.

  “I’m just me.” She whispered back.

  Conrad leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You’re killing me Addie Marshall.”

  “Sorry?” She shrugged. “I think that being teased last night was enough for me thanks though.” Addie whispered, remembering the times that he’d touched her and when she asked about him he’d only said that he told her not to worry about him and to go to sleep.

  “You think I was teasing you Sugar?” He chuckled and nuzzled her neck, kissing her softly. “I don’t think you getting off three times was teasing you.”

  “But you didn’t finish.” She sighed.

  Conrad stopped kissing her neck. “Addie, I can’t give you what you want.”

  “And just what is it that you think I want?” She walked into the apartment, standing by the bar and turned around to face him with her hands on her hips.

  “A relationship.” He answered simply with a smirk on his lips, following her.

  “Is that so? Well, I’m glad that you think you know what I want.”

  “Girls like you don’t do one night stands.” He took a step closer, wanting suddenly to touch her again. “And girls like you certainly don’t do the Messo.”

  Again within reach, Conrad grabbed Addie by the waist and brought her up against him and stared into her hazel eyes that were almost green with frustration.

  “So, all you want from me is a one night stand?” Addie’s voice was laced with annoyance. “I can do a one night stand.”

  “No you can’t.” He shook his head.

  Conrad was actually struggling. Not with her statement, but with how he was actually feeling about her. She was nothing like the other girls that he had been with at any other time, including the girls at the Messo. Because he had to face facts…he didn’t do relationships and she did. Period. He had so many friends that were in love, got married, popped out a few kids, went through deployments, only to divorce. He didn’t want that kind of life. It was a complete waste of his time and someone he’d just drag through the proverbial Army mud. Hell, half the time, he didn’t know where he was going and when. Why the hell would he want to drag someone though that shit with him.

  But Addie, she was different. She’d grown up in the Army. Moving around with her father. She knew the sense of loss of control over shit the Army had put her father through. She’d understand that. Not that other women didn’t go through it with their significant other, or didn’t go through it growing up, but even though she knew what it was like, he couldn’t do that to her. And then there was the uncertainty of war to bring into the mix. He didn’t want to make her a war bride, much less a widow. There were still a lot of casualties coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan. He was infantry, he knew the risk.

  Still, she had this sassy attitude that he craved from her. Just from the emails that they had passed at work after the second appointment he’d had with her. They’d hit it off, yes. She challenged him constantly. Tested his resolve constantly. And after giving her orgasms last night, he knew that he’d be seeing her in his dreams and fantasies more often than not. And he’d be beating off to her image constantly.

  Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

  “Let me put it out there Sugar.” He didn’t break away from her eyes, but he did pull her tighter to him so that she could feel how much he wanted her. “I don’t do relationships. I don’t know where I’m going to be one day to the next. I have soldiers that count on me to make the best decisions for them whether we are training or while deployed.”

  “So…you’re essentially telling me that you don’t have time for women except for the quick fuck that you get from girls like Susan and that other hooker when you go to the Messo.” Addie was being snarky on purpose. She had to defend herself against him.

  “I have the time. I just don’t want to go through all of that shit only to end up divorced and paying child support or some shit.”

  “Oh well there is positive thinking.” She twisted her lips in frustration. “Not all relationships end in divorce.”

  He didn’t say anything. He just nuzzled her neck and started leaving light kisses on her neck until he reached behind her ear. There his lips stayed and his tongue came out and he licked his way to her jaw.

  “Conrad.” She whispered, “What are you doing?”

  “I thought it was obvious.”

  “Well, if you can’t give me whatever it is that you think I want, then stop. Please.”

  “I don’t think that I can.” He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth.

  “Why is that?” Her voice sounded rather breathless to her.

  “Because I want you.” He brought both hands up to undo her hair from the bun that she’d twisted her hair up in. Letting her still damp hair fall down her back, he fisted his hands in it. “I want you more than a one night stand Sugar.”

  “Oh.”

  “But I can’t give you what you want Addie. So, we’ll just do this, and it’ll have to be enough.” Conrad took her mouth in a carnal kiss. Delving into her mouth with his tongue, he took from her and tasted her, and let her explore him too. He was going to show her just how much he wanted her.

  “Ahem.” A voice sounded by the door. “If we need to come back, we can.”

  Addie blushed down to her toes as she pulled from Conrad’s lips. His hands were still in her hair, so she couldn’t get far. But, holy hell, her father had just caught her kissing one of his old soldiers. Shit on a stick. She was very careful to never let her parents see her kiss anyone since that one time she was caught in high school. It was a humiliating experience. And her family never let her live it down either.

  “No Sergeant Major. We were just finishing up.” Conrad chuckled, letting go of Addie’s hair. He handed her the two scrunchies that he’d taken out of her hair. She took them and ran all the way to the master bathroom and slammed the door.

  Samuel lifted one eyebrow at Conrad.

  Conrad shrugged with a smile breaking over his face.

  “We caught her on the porch while she was in high school with her date’s tongue halfway down her throat. Never let her live it down.” Samuel came over to Conrad and slapped him on the back. “Just be good to her.”

  “That I will, Sir.”

  “Come on then son, let’s get our girl moved in.” Samuel slapped a hand on Conrad’s back and smiled.

  It wasn’t lost on Conrad that the Sergeant Major said ‘our girl’. So, he followed Samuel down to the moving truck while Addie was hiding in her bathroom fixing her hair. Between the five men, they had everything in Addie’s apartment with an hour. She didn’t have a lot, so it was easy. With all of the boxes in the appropriate rooms, the three movers were paid and went on their way. Conrad had started hooking up the washing machine and dryer in the laundry room, and then moved on to the bed in her bedroom.

  Samuel had started to unpack a box in the kitchen after the movers left when his phone rang and his wife bid him to come help her with a last minute catering job that started tomorrow which meant prep work was to be had tonight. Addie had offered to go with him and help, but he stayed her offer and told her that she needed to get her apartment together, that they could handle it. With a kiss to her cheek and a hard hug, he father left her and Conrad alone.

  “If you’re sure that you don’t have to…have to
get ready for your…your thing tonight. You don’t have to stay.” Addie offered again as soon as her father left.

  “It’s okay. I’ll stay and help.” Conrad answered as he moved to the kitchen, putting one of the smaller boxes on top of the counter. “Where do you want your dishes and such? I know you women are very particular with this shit.”

  “Oh, I put some stickies in my bag.” Turning around, Addie dug in her bag and pulled out a pen and sticky pad and started writing where she wanted silverware, plates, mugs etc.

  Conrad watched her as she put the little notes on the different cabinets and drawers.

  “What are you going to work on?” Conrad asked, opening the box in front of him.

  “My closet.”

  “Need help with the panty drawer?”

  “I don’t wear panties.” Addie retorted, tossing the sticky pad and pen on the counter.

  Conrad just looked at her with a shit eating grin when she looked up at him. “Underwear then.”

  “Are you sure you don’t have to go wax your ass to get ready for your debut at the club tonight.” Addie turned started to walk out of the kitchen ignoring his comment, when Conrad grabbed her arm, but she didn’t turn around.

  “I’d rather help you unpack, than wax my ass for anyone else.”

  “How sweet” Addie said with saccharine sarcasm. “Stay and help the chubby, non-blonde with small tits. How charitable.” She pulled her arm from a laughing Conrad.

  “I like your tits just fine.” Conrad retorted back at her, then turned back around to the kitchen to unload the boxes.

  Chapter Eleven

  After almost four hours of unpacking, Conrad had Addie’s cabinets filled with her kitchen stuff. Her small TV and components were set up on the console in the living room where she had all the main pieces of furniture placed by the movers. He’d put her iron bistro set on the patio as she had requested and unwrapped all of her larger pictures and decorative iron set against the wall. Then, he went into the guest bedroom and set up the guest bed and set up her computer on the desk.

  Addie had her closet all sorted and her clothes in the dresser and the bathroom set up. Complete with the towels hanging on the towel bars. The few hair products that she had were in the shower and she had her decorative things out in the bathroom. She had put her gray iron bed together herself and it was now made with fresh linens and her comforter stuffed into a matching duvet cover. Her necklace tree was set up on dresser as well as some decorative pieces. Looking around her room, it was ready to go except for the pictures she wanted to hang.

  Walking down the hallway to the study, she watched Conrad as he finished hooking up her computer speakers and plugging everything in and making sure it worked. She noticed that he’d put the bed together and smiled to herself. Pulling her phone from her back pocket, she looked at the time. It was just after four and she felt like she had a lot more to do, but she didn’t. Just hanging pictures and making up the guest room really. She was only one person, and in the scheme of things, didn’t have all that much.

  But to have Conrad helping her was something she was not only grateful for, but she had to admit, she did have a little crush on him. And what he’d done to her last night…holy shit! Yet, he warned her off him constantly, and it it was disconcerting. That was fine, if he wanted to warn her off of him, then she’d just go back to being snarky and give him hell.

  Constantly.

  “Well look at you.” Addie commented, just as he hit the power button on her computer and it chimed as it turned on. “You’d make someone a fabulous husband.”

  “Bite your tongue.” Conrad swung his head quickly to where she was standing and smiled brightly.

  “Okay fine. Moving buddy or whatever.” She waived her hand around in the air.

  “You don’t have to put a name to it sugar.” He shook his head.

  “Thank you moving buddy.” Addie responded making air quotes.

  “You’re welcome.” He answered as he tucked the desk chair in. “The only thing you have to do is hang up your pictures in the living and dining room. I left your appliances on the counters, not knowing where you wanted them.”

  “You did the whole kitchen?”

  “Yeah. It’s not like you had a ton of shit.” Conrad answered. “I even hooked up your TV in the living room and made sure that the cable box worked too.”

  “Wow moving buddy, you are the shit.” Addie giggled as she ran from the room when Conrad gave her a mock look annoyance at the nickname.

  “We’ll have enough of that.” Conrad shook his head following her into the kitchen. “Hungry?”

  “Famished.” Addie answered while looking around the kitchen.

  “What do you want to eat?”

  “Mmm, Thai.” Addie answered grabbing her purse and keys. “Can you drop me off to get my car?”

  “No.”

  “What?” Addie followed Conrad to the front door. “Why not?”

  Conrad opened the door and stepped through, waiting for Addie.

  “Um, hello?” Addie said.

  Shrugging, Conrad explained, “I want to keep you captive a little longer.” And with that he walked down the stairs to his truck as Addie locked up the apartment.

  “How long do you plan on keeping my captive?” Addie asked as she closed the door to the truck.

  “Holy fuck…do you always ask this many questions?”

  “Yes.” Addie smiled.

  “Just go with it sugar.”

  Dinner was just a quick ride to the same Thai place that they’d gone to only the night before. He took tonic that she ordered the same thing she did last night and a Shirley Temple while they sat and waited at the bar. It was the little things about her that he was falling for. And that couldn’t happen. He wanted simple, not messy. But it was Addie’s comments and the way that she talked incessantly that he was falling for. She kept him on his toes, not knowing what was going to come out of her mouth from one minute to the next. He wanted her. He wanted her bad. And for her, he’d try a conventional relationship if she asked him to.

  It was this revelation that hit him as Addie was explaining her training that was coming up this next week that he’d be in the field when a soft hand slid up over his shoulder and stopped there. He was watching Addie’s fingers slide up and down the glass through the condensation and stopped. When he looked up into her face to see that she’d stopped talking as well, he smelled the perfume that was surrounding him and it was suddenly nauseating.

  “Waiting for me long lover? You look so bored. Sorry I kept you.” The voice purred into his ear.

  “Is that so?” He answered, still looking at Addie’s shocked face.

  “Sorry honey. This one’s mine. Go get your own.” The woman said pointedly.

  Addie stared at the beautiful blonde that had a hand possessively on Conrad’s left shoulder. She had brown eyes with the longest eyelashes she’d ever seen. Her lips were covered in a glossy red, makeup done to perfection, as was her waist length hair. She was wearing a red wrap dress that covered her obviously fake tits. Addie’s eyes went down the woman’s long legs to her black heels, then back up into the woman’s eyes.

  “Well, I wouldn’t have made him wait if he was mine.” Addie said standing up.

  The leggy blonde in red didn’t say anything. Instead she just looked Addie up and down and snorted. Her hand moved over Conrad’s shoulder, down his side to stop at his hip as she took the few steps to turn his stool and stand in front of him, effectively cutting off Addie’s view to Conrad. Even without the heels, the blonde was still taller than she was.

  “So baby.” Blondie purred, “How long have you been waiting?”

  Conrad laughed. But, before he could say that he was with Addie, blondie slid between his legs and wrapped her arms around his neck and laid one on him. Addie stood there with her mouth open for a second, but not more, as she watched Conrad’s hands slide to the woman’s hips, but she didn’t wait long enough to see if he was goi
ng to continue to engage blondie, or push her away.

  She grabbed her purse and ran out the door into the busy parking lot. Luckily, she saw a bunch of Soldiers pile out of a minivan taxi, so she ran down and just as the last guy was going to slide the door closed, she grabbed his hand and he let go. Sliding the door closed, breathing heavy, she looked back at the main doors to the Thai Palace and didn’t see Conrad, so she gave the driver her old address to get her car and sat back in the grungy tan fabric of the taxi.

  The ride to her old apartment was a quick one. Tossing the driver a twenty, she didn’t ask for change, so she slipped out and looked around the parking lot knowing that if Conrad was a smart guy, she’d come here first to get her car and that’s where he’d come. Not seeing him, she decided to go in the apartment and once inside, locked and bolted the door and ran to each of the windows and made sure that all of the blinds were closed on the windows. Tossing her purse on the floor next to the kitchen doorway, she grabbed her phone and put it on vibrate, then realized that she didn’t give Conrad her number. Either way, she didn’t want her phone ringing if he was going to come over to find her.

  Turning some of the lights on so that it looked like her father might have done it when they left, she went into the kitchen and bagged up the little bit of refrigerated stuff from there into a few grocery bags and put them by her purse, then wiped down the cabinets and then the floors in the kitchen and washroom. Then she went through each bathroom and wiped everything down and cleaned out the tubs and toilets. Walking down the hallway from the master bedroom she heard the pounding begin on her door.

  “Addie!”

  Shit!

  “Addie, I know you’re home. Open the fucking door!”

  He’s mad. Good.

  The pounding started again. “Addie!”

  After a minute or what seemed like an hour, the pounding didn’t start up again, so she started to make her way down the hallway when she heard knocking on the glass on the sliding glass door, then the handle being worked from the outside. She prayed that it was locked. Waiting, she heard the knocking on the master bedroom window. Then the window in the guest bedroom. She leaned against the wall in the hall not moving. Then the front door again.