She looks over her shoulder then back at me. “Only because that man is extremely hot and wealthy.”
I look the woman up and down. She’s probably around thirty and not unattractive with short dark hair and with a little make-up could be pretty.
“And married,” I add as I frown at her.
She makes a short laugh, and the sound comes through her nose in a little snort. “To a corpse. Thing is, I’m single and looking. He’s gorgeous and newly single himself. A man like that will get snatched up quickly once the news gets out that his wife is dead. I’d like to be at the head of the line. You know?”
I tap my foot and cross my arms. “I’m sure my boss will be in a period of grieving for a while. No women need to be thinking he’s ready to move on just yet.”
“So that’s a no then? You and he aren’t hitting the sheets? None of that is going on between you two? Cause he was pretty much wrapped around you when I came in here.” She looks down her nose at me as she’s a good foot taller than I am. “See, I’m a tall drink of water and it’s hard to find men who are taller than I am. I hate to see a nice tall man with a short woman. It goes all over me.”
“I’m not short,” I say as I tap my foot even faster.
“Average, I’d say. Anyone ever tell you that before?” Her brown eyes go up a bit as she looks me up and down. “You dress nice and all, but you’re very typical.”
I hold my temper. “You aren’t the first female to try to intimidate me. And my boss’s love life is none of your concern. If you want to ask him out, by all means have at it, lady.”
“I have your blessing then?” She smiles and takes off her white coat, revealing a strapless little dress and a killer body.
I run my hand over my face and stifle a groan. I trust Channing, it’s not that. It’s just that I know I can’t stand by while some woman throws herself at him. Especially at a time like this.
The poor guy’s just seen a terrible thing!
“Look, lady. I know you probably haven’t gotten laid in a long time and the cobwebs need to be dusted out of the furnace and all. But my boss has been through something very traumatic. I know you’re used to seeing gross dead bodies, but he’s not. So as his personal assistant I have to tell you that I can’t allow you to come on to him at this time. Give it a year and see if he’s still available and then you can make an attempt at him if you want. But for right now, he’s off limits.”
The door opens, and she winks at me. “We’ll see about that, kid. So, Channing. I can call you Channing, right?”
Channing stops and looks her up and down. “What?” His eyes dart to me. “Is going on here?”
I try to move in front of the pushy woman but she takes a couple of quick steps and is right in front of him before I can get between them. “My name is Samantha. They call me Sam. And I’m not one to beat around the bush. I think you’re attractive and I’d like a chance to get to know you better.”
He looks around her at me with his jaw hanging open. So I move next to him and wiggle my body between him and the woman who has my man pinned up against the wall. “Back off, lady!”
She looks down at me and I feel tiny between the two tall people. “What is she to you?” She looks back up at Channing.
“She’s the love of my life. If you must know. And as soon as you get that death certificate done, I’ll be that much closer to marrying this woman.” He looks down at me. “Isn’t that right, Baby?”
I run my hand over my face. “Channing, what are you doing?”
The woman steps back and her face kind of drops. “Not smart,” she says as she looks at me. “The media is going to have a field day with you two.”
I blink and my mouth drops open. “Lady, you’re something else! What the hell do you think they would do to you if he went out with your ass?”
“Well, that would be much different. I’m brand new to the scene. You’re his personal assistant. Wow! This is some juicy stuff right here.” She pulls her lab coat on.
“Do you always wear such skimpy clothes to work in?” I ask her.
She shakes her head. “No, but I always keep this dress in the closet in my office for those occasions when attractive men have to come in. You don’t meet a lot of men where I work.”
“Yuk,” I say as I grimace. Then I turn back to Channing. “You need to keep your mouth closed, Mr. Michaels.” I look back at the slutty coroner. “As for you. I expect you to keep your mouth shut. This is not to get out.”
Channing takes my hand, pulling me out of the little room. “Jana’s parents are going to be getting in touch with you very soon about the dentist she went to a few years ago. So, see you around.”
Her disappointment is obvious as she buttons up her white coat. “Bye.”
Channing pulls me along with him to outside the office. The reporters are all there and the lights go all crazy on us again. “Is it her?” the woman reporter from the arena asks him.
“We don’t know yet. The remains are not enough to be able to tell. If you want to know my opinion, I think it’s her. I think we’ve found the end to all this tragedy and now her remains can be taken care of appropriately,” Channing tells them all.
My gut is telling me to get him moving along. He shouldn’t be so hastily telling the press anything yet.
His arm runs around my shoulders as the woman asks him another question, “And is the young woman under your arm part of the affair that’s been rumored about?”
My face goes hot and I’m pretty fucking sure scarlet too. “No more questions,” I shout. “Mr. Michaels will not be answering any more questions. We will issue a press release as soon as we know the findings on the body.” I take his hand away from my shoulder and begin to pull him out of the crowd of reporters.
They spring into action with all kinds of questions as I pull Channing through the crowd at what feels like a snail’s pace. Then he stops me and pulls me to him in a warm embrace that’s making me nearly pass out.
His arms close around me and he sways back and forth with me. “This young woman has been a Godsend to me. She’s been the missing piece of me I never even knew was missing. The truth is my wife, Jana, and I had not been in a happy marriage for the last six months of it. She had an affair and while we tried to reconcile, it wasn’t working.”
“Channing, stop,” I say under my breath.
In rapid fire succession the questions come so fast I can’t even understand the words coming from the twenty-some-odd reporters’ mouths. Channing holds up his hand and they simmer down a little.
“Listen up people. I’m going to say this one time and then we have to get the hell out of here. The life I was leading with Jana was a lie of a life. I may seem like I don’t care that she’s been found dead. I do care. I never wished that on her. It’s a horrible tragedy that she fell overboard that day. I know she’s in a better place and finally has found the happiness she couldn’t find with me. And I have found the happiness that’s been missing from my life as well. This young woman is my life now. We will be married as soon as legally possible and we will get on with our lives as God intends us to.”
I feel as if I might faint as they all break into loud voices asking all sorts of things and Channing pulls me along with him to the car.
This is not going to go down the way he thinks it is…
Chapter 12
CHANNING
Her face is so pale as I drive us home. “Why are you so quiet, Beth?”
“Oh, just preparing for the shit-storm, Channing. That’s all.” Her hands are moving in knots with each other.
I reach over and take the one closest to me and pull it up to kiss it. “Baby, don’t worry about what anyone says. I’m not.”
Her head turns slowly toward me and her eyes are all twitchy. “Are you crazy? I mean it, Channing. Did your shrink do any testing on you? Because you seem to think life is this place where you can do whatever you want to and fuck what people think about it. It’s not that place. Not
at all.”
I laugh and smile at her then place her hand back down on her thigh as I keep mine wrapped around it. “Beth, you’re young. I know you think the world gives a fuck but they really don’t. The next thing will come along soon and blow my news out of the way. You’ll see.”
Her head shakes, and she looks out the window. “It looks like it’s going to rain.”
“We can build a fire in the fireplace and cuddle by it as we drink a little wine. You want red or white, Baby?”
“I want you to try to act as if you just had to look at the most disgusting and awful thing imaginable and deal with that. I want you to be normal, Channing. For just a day or so, be fucking normal!” She pulls her hand from mine.
I move my hand back to the steering wheel and think. Am I being abnormal?
Maybe I should call my psychiatrist and ask her. She seems to tell me more often than not that everything I’ve done and felt is normal.
I swallow hard and say, “Beth, I feel like you’re upset with me for not feeling the way you think I should. My therapist has told me over and over again how the things I’ve done and felt are normal.”
“Why would she do that?” Beth looks at me. “Witnessing what you just did should have you beside yourself with grief. I mean even if it was a person you never even knew, that’s horrible. Can’t you see that?” Her hand runs up to take mine. “I’m just so damn worried about you, Channing. You’re making awful decisions. You’ll see. The media will not make this some love story for the ages. They just won’t, Baby.”
“I don’t care what they make it. I just want us to get to hold hands in public and kiss when we feel like it. I just want what I want, Beth.”
“That doesn’t sound like a spoiled rich person at all,” she says with sarcasm laced words.
“I haven’t always been rich. You know that. I’m anything but spoiled. I lived a pretty average life up until I turned eighteen and inherited that money.”
My cell rings and I see my mother is calling me. “Hi, Mom.”
“Son, what have you done?” Her voice sounds worried.
“Mom, I’m in love.”
The sound of her crying meets my ears. “Channing, you are all over every station. Your grandparents are so upset. How could you do this to yourself? We didn’t raise you to be such a callous man.”
“Callous? Do you think I’m callous, Mom?”
I see Beth put her head in her hands and shake her head.
My mother speaks slowly and steadily as she says, “Channing, you just found out your wife is dead and minutes later you announce your engagement to another woman. That’s messed up, Son.”
“I love her, Mom,” I say. “How is it messed up to want to be able to walk around freely with her on my arm? I feel like I’m disrespecting her by hiding what we have.”
“If your love is so true, it can wait. She should never have let herself get involved with you like that. And your personal assistant, Channing. God, can’t you see, she has seduced you. She’s only after your money.”
Beth looks at me and shakes her head. “No, I’m not. Please don’t think that. I never wanted him to come out with this until maybe a year or so from now. I am no gold digger.”
“You’re a young woman with your whole life ahead of you. Quit and lie low for a while. At least until this dies down. When he’s out of the media spotlight then you two can reconvene this relationship. Once his mind is straight. The man just lost his wife for the love of all that’s holy, girl!” my mother shouts.
“That’s enough, Mom! Damn it! Beth didn’t start this, I did. She was very professional. It was me who initiated this whole thing. I won’t have you thinking badly about her.” I pull into the garage just as the rain starts to pour from the sky.
Beth looks shell shocked. “I probably should do what she’s said, Channing. They’re going to rip you apart if I stay around.”
“I have to go, Mom. This shit is about to make the one person who has ever cared for me leave me and that’s the last thing I want.” I hang up and get out of the car and grab Beth up as she tries to hurry into the house.
“Channing, stop!” She kicks her feet and wiggles in my arms.
“No! Stop squirming! I won’t let you run away. We’ll face this together.” I take her inside and put her feet on the floor.
“I don’t know how to fix this, Channing,” she says then starts crying and pounding her little fists against my chest. “You’ve made such a mess of things. Why couldn’t you be patient?”
I hold her tight to me and place my chin on top of her head as I rock with her. “Baby, being patient where you’re concerned has been something I just haven’t been able to control. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were the one for me. I knew the timing was terrible. But I suppose it could’ve been worse. I suppose I could’ve seen you the day I married Jana. I guess that would’ve had been worse timing.”
She laughs a little and I see that as a good sign. “Maybe we could just leave the country, Channing. Go where no one knows us or cares about us.” She looks up at me with red-rimmed eyes.
I kiss her cheek. “We don’t have to run away. This will die down. Mark my words, Baby. This won’t last long. People move on to the next thing. The next tragedy. The next crazy thing to happen. The next crazy couple.”
Her body feels so good against mine and she sighs as her arms move to wrap around me. “I suppose you’re right.”
I kiss the top of her sweet head. “I am right.”
She places her hand on my chest and pushes back. “Let me go wash my face and please make me a glass of red wine and meet me in front of the fireplace.”
I kiss her one last time and let her go. “I love you, Beth.” I watch her walk out of the room.
She looks back at me. “I love you too, Channing. Bring some crackers with cheese too. I’m starving.”
With a smile, I wave her on and turn to get the wine and cheese.
Everything will be alright, I just know it will!
Chapter 13
BETH
Looking at my face in the mirror as I toss cold water on it to aid in stopping my tears of embarrassment, humiliation, and complete panic, I see a woman with a lot on her shoulders.
A lot of weight is there now. I was this happy-go-lucky young woman with the world at my feet. Then I met this magnificent man.
Somehow, I made him fall in love with me without even trying. Somehow, I made him want to marry me. Even before he’s finished with his current marriage.
I don’t know how I’ve accomplished this. Yet, I’m going to be dubbed by society as a gold digger who managed to swoop in and take advantage of a grieving man.
How I will manage to keep my head up is a complete and utter mystery to me.
Against my better judgment, I turn on the television in the bedroom and have to try to catch a glimpse of the news on us.
What I see as soon as the television comes on stops my heart. I fall to the bed and stare at the screen.
I try to scream but nothing will come out. The remote drops from my shaking hand as I stagger down the hallway to find Channing.
In the den I find him starting a fire in the fireplace. “Channing.”
He looks back at me. “Fuck! Baby,” he says as he comes rushing to me and takes me in his arms before I fall down. “Baby, are you okay?”
I shake my head. “No, and neither will you be.”
His blue-green eyes look into mine with confusion. “Why is that?”
“It’s not her.” I look around the room which is now spinning. “That wasn’t Jana.”
And just before it all goes black I can only think of one thing.
Will this end us?
To be continued…
Book 3 The Flood
Chapter 1
CHANNING
Beth’s shaking in my arms as I run my hand through her hair. “Baby, it’s okay that it wasn’t Jana’s body they found. It doesn’t make anything different.”
Her eyes are wide and there’s a lot of shock in them. “Channing, your wife is not dead. She and your father were just on the news.”
My world stops. Tilts on its axis and turns the other way. “No!”
Her head bobs with a nod. “She’s alive, Channing.”
My cell phone goes off and I manage to stagger to pick it up off the table. The fire has lit up well and the room glows with the amber hue.
Perfectly romantic. And what a great time for Detective Radisson to be calling me at nine in the evening. “Hello, Radisson.”
“Have you seen the news, Mr. Michaels?”
I nod as if he can see me. The shock is settling in nicely now and my body is pleasantly numb.
She’s alive!
“I’m sending an officer to pick you up, Mr. Michaels. He’ll be there very soon. Just get in the car with him and give him no problems.”
“Why do I have to go with him? If you want to talk to me, I’ll come down in the morning,” I fall back on the sofa and Beth sits next to me and takes my hand.
“You’re being placed under arrest, Channing. Haven’t you seen the news?” he asks with a tired voice. As if he’s tired of this mess and dealing with me.
“I haven’t. Beth just told me Jana’s alive. She said Jana and my father were together on the news. Why am I being arrested if she’s alive? If you don’t mind me asking you, sir.” Beth looks at me with concern. Her dark brows furrowed and her foot taps nervously.
“She has accused you of attempted murder. And the murder of your baby.” His words I can hear but I don’t understand them at all.
“Baby? There was no baby, and I didn’t try to kill Jana. I swear I didn’t.” My heart’s pounding so fucking hard I think I might pass out. “I need a lawyer, don’t I?”
“You do, Mr. Michaels. See you down here soon.”
“What should I bring? How long will I be there?” I ask as Beth wraps her body around mine. Her tears are wet against my cheek.
“You don’t need to bring anything. Whatever you do bring will be taken from you, anyway. You’ll be booked and jailed and then I’ll come to your cell and see you. Bye now.” He ends the call as if he didn’t just blow my world apart.
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