by Deborah Camp
“Dear, you’re a lovely girl who has learned the art of saying ‘no’. Levi, on the other hand, is a sexy beast who is used to taking what he wants when it’s offered. ‘No’ is not something that will come trippingly off his tongue. Call me when he lands in Tulsa and give me a rundown on how our beast is doing.”
“Will do.”
“Tell Sadie hello for me. ’Bye now.”
“Wait . . . how did you—?” Trudy stared at the phone. “She hung up. She said to tell you hi, but I didn’t tell her you were here.”
“She’s weird . . . like you,” Sadie said. “She sensed I was sitting here with you.” She wiggled her fingers and widened her eyes in mock fright. “OooAHHHooo!”
Trudy slapped playfully at her. Mouse jumped into her lap and she stroked the Chihuahua’s velvety ears as she ruminated on Quintara’s advice.
“Are you worried he’s going to cheat on you, Trudy?”
She started a little. “Uh . . . well . . . this is new to him and he’s, well, he’s –.”
“So drop-dead gorgeous you want to lick him all over,” Sadie finished for her, then widened her eyes in mock shock and giggled. “But if it were me . . .”
“What?” Trudy asked, wanting her older, married sister’s advice. When it came to men and relationships, Sadie knew the score. She’d been head cheerleader and Homecoming Queen in high school and there had always been at least two or three guys chasing her before she’d met shy, man-of-few-words and evidently a stud-muffin-in-bed Bryce Wilcox, and had settled down.
“I’d be sure I was with him on his birthday. Trudy Lou, he’s a hottie, so you know he has women offering to blow him and know him in the Biblical sense.” Sadie pulled her sunglasses down and glared at her with big, hazel eyes. “You get me?”
Trudy nodded. “If he isn’t in Tulsa by tomorrow, I’m booking a flight to Atlanta.”
“Atta girl,” Sadie said with a definitive nod. She pushed her sunglasses back up to her eyes and settled into the chair more comfortably.
Trudy did the same, but her comfort was short-lived as the inky, oily thoughts slipped into her mind again. She shivered. It felt as if someone was watching her. She looked around the tranquil backyard and chided herself for giving in to the willies.
I won’t fucking let him get away with this again!
The thought sliced through her mind and she winced. Oh. No. Trudy glanced toward Sadie and was glad that her sister was blissfully unaware of what was going on in Trudy’s head and shredding her nerves. Breathing slowly and deeply, she thought of good times with Quintara and with Levi.
I’ll take what’s his like he tried to take what’s mine! The pussy.
Trudy squeezed her eyes shut behind her sunglasses. Mouse must have felt her emotional seesawing because she whined and jumped down from her lap.
“You ready to go in for some lunch?” Sadie asked, sounding as if she were far away instead of sitting right next to her.
Trudy nodded and swallowed the ball of nerves that had lodged in her throat.
“Hey. Are you okay?” Sadie asked.
“Sure.” Trudy forced a smile to her lips. “I just miss Levi.”
Sadie groaned. “There she goes again, Mouse. Your mommy is downright dopey over this guy!”
Trudy rolled her eyes and she couldn’t stop herself from grinning.
###
On the afternoon of November 12, Trudy stood beside her luggage and watched the taxi drive away. She looked up at the office building’s façade and counted the floors – eight. It was constructed of red and white bricks and ivy grew in big, round white planters at either side of the walkway leading to the glass front doors. Large white letters marched between floors five and six and spelled out WOLFE ENTERPRISES, INC. and a prancing wolf was positioned within the letter O. A courtyard separated the building from the one next door – identical, except it had WOLFE TOWER blazoned across it.
Trudy’s mouth went dry as she gripped the handle of her wheeled luggage and hoisted the strap of her carry-on and purse higher onto her shoulder.
“Surprise,” she whispered, and hoped Levi would be glad to see her and not be irritated that she hadn’t let him know she was Atlanta-bound. But if the mountain won’t come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain, as her father was fond of saying.
She pushed open the double doors and smiled hesitantly at a nice-looking man in a black suit and blue t-shirt, who stood behind a tall counter. He looked like a former football linebacker with his broad shoulders and slim hips. His brown hair was thin on top. She guessed him to be in his mid-thirties.
“Good afternoon, ma’am. May I help you?” His voice was deep, coming up from his toes.
“Is Mr. Wolfe in?”
“Do you have an appointment with him, ma’am?” He was already reaching for a phone receiver.
“No, I don’t. I was just hoping to catch him in.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but Mr. Wolfe doesn’t see people without an appointment. Your taxi has gone. May I call another one for you?” He eyed her luggage.
Trudy glanced around at the white marble floor and black marble walls of the lobby. Behind the man and to the left was a café and to the right . . . was that a hair salon and spa? Two elevators with stainless steel doors were straight ahead. Old and new, seamlessly joined, she thought, recalling Levi telling her that he had made his fortune refitting older office buildings for modern use.
“Could you please tell Levi that Trudy’s here?” She removed her large sunglasses and tucked them into her purse.
The man froze and his eyebrows shot up. “Trudy? Of course! You’re Trudy Tucker.”
She nodded, wondering how he knew her full name.
“Miss Tucker, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m Guy Reynolds.” He glanced at the phone receiver he held. “I’ll let Mr. Gonzales know.”
“Mr. Gonzales?” She recognized that name. Oh, right. Gonzo. “So, Levi isn’t here?’
He held up a hand, asking her to wait. “Trudy Tucker is in the lobby asking to see Mr. Wolfe.” He glanced at her. “Yes, and she has luggage with her. She came in a taxi.” He nodded and hung up the phone. “He’s on his way down.”
“So, is Levi here or not?” Trudy persisted.
“Mr. Gonzales will address that with you, ma’am.”
Her shoulder ached and she let her heavy carry-on slip off it to join her other luggage. She folded her arms and stared at the elevator, wondering why he couldn’t just tell her if Levi was in the building. Leave it to Wolfe to have a staff wreathed in secrecy. The man loved being a mystery. Or maybe he was still spooked over the stalker incident.
She exchanged smiles with Guy Reynolds. He seemed nervous, but very curious about her. She caught him checking her out from the corner of his eyes. What if Levi were here, but not alone? What if one of the “beast tamers” had already entered the ring? Panic bubbled up inside her, quickly followed by a burst of fury. Why else would the doorman be so jittery about her showing up? She sent a flinty glare at the sentry and thought that he even looked a little guilty . . .
One of the elevators binged and the doors slid open. A tall, muscular man with a closely cropped mustache and shiny head emerged. His coffee-colored eyes sparkled when he spotted her and his white teeth flashed with his smile. He held out his broad hand to her.
“Trudy Tucker, at last we meet!” His handshake was firm but gentle as if he’d learned how to temper his strength. “I’m Pete Gonzales.”
“Gonzo, I presume,” Trudy said, smiling as his gaze swept her from the crown of her head to the toes of her shoes. There was mischief and curiosity in his expression and she could tell that he was delighted to meet her.
“That’s me. He’s talked about me, has he?”
“Yes. You handle security for him.” She glanced at Reynolds. “I’m told that only you can tell me whether Levi is here or not.”
Gonzo winked at the other man. “Reynolds is following orders. We don’t give out informati
on about Levi’s comings and goings to just anyone. Especially these days. But you’re not just anyone, are you?”
“I hope not.” She smiled, but wondered what he meant by these days.
Gonzo grinned. “We’ve all been pumping him for information, but he’s been tight-lipped about you.”
Sounds like Levi, she thought. No trespassing. “I’m anxious to see him.”
“He’s not here.”
Her hopes plummeted and she almost cursed aloud, but managed to bite it back. “He didn’t tell me he was leaving Atlanta.”
“He knows you’re arriving today?”
“No. I’m surprising him.”
His black eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t know he liked surprises. Well, he’s still in Atlanta. He’s downtown doing some business, but he should be back here in an hour or so.”
Relief flooded through her and she almost went limp. “Good. I’ll wait for him. Maybe I could sit—.”
“How about a cup of coffee? Reynolds, have someone take Miss Tucker’s luggage up to the executive floor.” He cupped his hand around Trudy’s elbow. “The little café here has great cheesecake. My treat, of course.”
“But, I—.”
“Don’t worry,” Gonzo said, setting off with her in tow. “His driver will text me when Levi’s finished with his business and they’re heading back here. You can still – surprise him.”
Trepidation tap-danced down her spine. Okay, okay! So, Levi wasn’t crazy about surprises! Well, it was too late now. “Today is his birthday, you know.” She glanced at Gonzo, catching the widening of his eyes. “You didn’t know.”
“I . . . no. He didn’t mention it.”
“He wouldn’t. We’d promised each other we’d be together on his birthday, but then he told me last night that something had come up and he had to cancel his trip to Tulsa. That’s when I took matters into my own hands and here I am.”
Gonzo pursed his lips as if he were trying not to laugh. He guided her toward a table near the front of the café and held out a chair for her. He took the other one. “I’m glad you’re here because I’ve really wanted to meet you.”
She waited, sensing he had more to say.
He sighed and spread out his hands. “Here’s the thing, Trudy.” He paused, smiling at her again. “May I call you Trudy?”
“Only if I can call you Gonzo.” She had noticed his wedding ring and imagined he’d been quite the ladies’ man in his bachelor days. He had a great smile and a playfulness about him that was infectious.
He winked. “It’s a deal. Okay. So, while you’re here, you’ll be escorted by a security guard and I must insist that you don’t go anywhere without first running it by me or Levi.”
“What?” She blinked at him, shaking her head, but then sensing his deep concern. “What’s going on? Please, tell me.”
“The stalker . . . Heather Asher? She was in a psychiatric center in Ohio, but now she’s gone missing from there. She’s in the wind, which means, Trudy, that being around Levi places you squarely in the danger zone.”
###
Sitting in the leather wing chair in Sissy Franklin’s office, Levi drummed his fingers on the arms and waited impatiently for Sissy to join him. Having wrapped a taping of a segment for her show, he wrestled with his restlessness and anxiety. They needed to talk about Trudy and he was more than ready to get this over and done with – and get back to the office. He had stacks of work, and with the shit-storm of aggravation and fuck-ups happening in his life, it seemed as if nothing of any importance was getting done.
And then there was Trudy . . . she’d made it blatantly clear yesterday that she was mad as hell at him for postponing his trip to Tulsa again. She’d even hung up the phone without saying their usual “See you soon, but not soon enough.” Everything seemed to be unraveling and he could feel himself shutting down – stuffing his feelings where he couldn’t retrieve them – just like he used to do in the bad, old days.
The door swung open and Sissy breezed in, smelling like gardenias, her face still heavily made-up for the camera. She flicked her gaze over him, blew him a kiss, and plopped into her office chair with a dramatic sigh and roll of her blue eyes. She crossed her legs and swung one foot back and forth, drawing his gaze to her shapely limbs, exposed by her tight skirt.
“Thanks, hon. That’s going to be a great segment for tonight’s show. It’s about damn time you talked about the Key West case! Hell’s bells, you come on my show and use me to find that vicious killer and then you vamoose!” She feigned an angry expression that was gone in seconds. Flipping her platinum hair back over her shoulders, she puffed out a long sigh. “By the way, how’d it go in Las Vegas?”
He yanked at his tie to loosen the knot. “Okay. The money’s good, but it’s not easy money. Two shows a day for eight straight days. That’s a bitch. And now I’m buried in Wolfe Enterprises work. Tomorrow I have back-to-back meetings.”
“Meetings. Your favorite part of the business world. Poor Levi,” she cooed, making a pouty face. “I know how to make you feel better though.” She held up her hands and wiggled her fingers. “Come to mama, baby.”
He ignored her. “Why did you keep downplaying Trudy’s role in the capture of Jay Yardley during the taping? I’d say how she was instrumental in figuring out that Zelda and Jay were the same person and you kept saying I was being too modest and that I’d been the one to crack the case. I was this close –.” He illustrated by almost touching his index finger to his thumb – . “To giving you a good, swift kick under the desk.”
Her spate of laughter grated on his already frayed nerve-endings. “I kept saying it because nobody wants to hear about what she did. My audience only cares about you because they know you. She won’t come on my show, so she can go to hell.”
Anger, quick and hot, engulfed him and he clutched at the chair arms to keep from launching himself up and out of her office. “Her name is Trudy and I want to talk to you about her.” He was proud of his cool tone of voice when he spoke.
“Well, I don’t want to hear anything about her,” she said with a flounce of her head.
“We’re a couple.”
Her gaze whipped to him. “Who? You and me?”
It was his turn to chuckle. “Yeah, right.”
Tense seconds passed as she stared at him, her sky blue eyes narrowing slowly. He shifted in the chair and yanked at his tie again, feeling like an animal that had been cornered . . . collared. He knew he shouldn’t feel that way, shouldn’t think of being part of a couple as being leashed to someone, but that’s how it was beginning to feel to him. Like he’d been shackled, and for what? What exactly was he getting out of this new arrangement, other than his friends and associates looking at him as if he’d lost his fucking mind? Oh, and no sex for weeks. For weeks!
“A couple? How did this happen? I’m simply dying of curiosity.” Her Texas drawl was more pronounced than usual. “Did you see another way to make more money, get more attention, and upgrade your seat on the fame train?”
He sent her a hard glare that wiped the disingenuous smile off her face. “She’s special. She’s good for me. I wanted to tell you before, but I’ve had a lot going on.” He shoved up from the chair, ready to leave now that he’d dropped his bomb.
Sissy sprang up from her chair and was in front of him in a flash, gripping his lapels and focusing her big, blue eyes on him. “Hon, what’s going on with you? Is it the stalker? Is she wearing you down? You’re not yourself. ” She rose on tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips. “You need some tender, lovin’ care, darlin’.”
Her hands slipped down his body and pressed against his fly. His cock stirred and he gritted his teeth. Fuck! He was as randy as a teenager!
“You aren’t the kind of man to be hobbled, Levi,” she whispered, rubbing him, her lips smoothing along his tensed jawline. “You’ve made a mistake . . . you can rectify it. I can make it better, hon.” She bit his earlobe as she unzipped his trousers and slipped her hand
inside to free him.
Levi shut his eyes. Goddamn, that felt good. The times he’d spent with Sissy here – with his cock in her mouth, inside her, and her hissing at him to fuck her harder, faster. She liked it rough. The rougher, the better.
“Tell her you cheated on her with me and she’ll gladly remove the ball and chain,” Sissy said, smiling as she pumped her fist up and down his shaft and hitched up her skirt with the other hand, preparing to sink to her knees in front of him. “She’ll kick you to the curb and I’ll be there to dust you off, hon.”
Cheat. On Trudy.
Levi caught Sissy by the shoulders, holding her in place. “No, Sissy.” He pushed her away. Turning sideways, he tucked and zipped up. “Hell, no.”
“Don’t say no to me, Levi,” she said, making it an order. “You know I don’t like that word.”
Her brusque, commanding tone was like ice in his veins and he felt the starch go out of his cock. He ran a hand through his hair, anxious to get the hell out of her office. “I wanted to tell you in person about Trudy. I owe you that much.” He jerked at his lapels to straighten his jacket. That’s when she slapped him – slapped him hard across the face. The sound reverberated in his head and his cheek stung like a swarm of angry bees had descended on it. Instinctively, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her against him. Pleasure sparkled in her eyes and he knew she was baiting him, wanting him to lose it and fuck her. He pushed her away again and let go of her. “I’m not doing this, Sissy. We’re not doing this anymore. From now on, we’re friends. That’s it.”
Sissy shook her head and propped her hands on her hips. Her red blouse and black skirt fit snugly, hugging her curves, the scooped neck allowing a tantalizing glimpse of the top of her breasts. She was a looker and he’d had his fun with her. They’d been a panacea for each other – a stress reliever after shitty work days. But she wasn’t Trudy. Nothing they did together had ever touched him deep down or caressed his calloused heart like Trudy somehow had managed to do. He still didn’t know how or why or if he should trust the feelings he had for Trudy . . . he just knew that he wanted to.