“Glad you were able to make it in one piece.” He walked forward and extended his hand to Vanessa. “I’m Sebastian Reed, owner of Reed Security. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Right. I’m sure you’ll be saying that in another few hours,” she quipped.
Sebastian smiled and took a seat, gesturing for us to do the same.
“No thanks, I’ve had my ass in a car for the last week. I’ll stand,” I said.
“He’s here? Where?” I recognized Freckles’ voice immediately and turned to the door. I thought she would be happy to see me, but judging by the pissed off look on her face, I was wrong.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Uh..It would help if I knew what you were talking about.”
“It was all over the news in California!” she fumed as she walked further into the room.
“Cash called when it was on the news to let us know it might be a problem,” Sebastian supplied.
“We already knew your truck went into the lake, but then it was all over the news that an old man had to pull your ass from the water and give you CPR because you weren’t breathing!” Maggie continued.
I glanced at Cara who stared at me in shock. Yeah, I hadn’t told anyone the details of what actually happened. Maggie didn’t give me a chance to respond before she started yelling at me again.
“Seriously? What is the point of being all badass if you can’t even outrun a few mercenaries? Death by drowning? Seriously, Sinner. I’m disappointed. At least go out in a hail of bullets.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” I raised an eyebrow at her, questioning if she was done. She ran toward me and gave me a big hug.
“Stupid oaf.” She punched me in the shoulder and walked over to Sean. “And where were you? I thought you were some hot shot detective? You didn’t find the clue that someone would try to kill him?”
I had to laugh. Freckles was hilarious when she got pissed.
“Don’t you dare laugh, aquaman. You’re lucky you live on the other side of the country.” Then Maggie spun to Sebastian and shot him a glare. “We’re not done talking about that yet.”
“Freckles, we’re all fine, but I need to fill Sebastian in so maybe you could take Vanessa and Cara for some coffee.”
“Fine, but this conversation isn’t over.”
I nodded and gave Cara a quick kiss before they left the room.
“I’ll wait outside too. Let me know when you’re ready to go,” Sean said.
I faced Sebastian who looked more than a little uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and opened a folder. We went over the events of the last week and what it took to get Vanessa out here.
“Freckles brought up something that you should be aware of. People know that you survived the crash. I’m assuming it was your truck that went into the lake.”
“Yeah.”
“Then most likely, they’re already looking for you. It might be best if you stayed out here for a while. I could ask that you stay on here until this whole mess is sorted out. You’d basically be on loan to us until I deemed it safe for both you and Vanessa.”
“Gee, Cap. I didn’t know you cared,” I said with as much sarcasm as I could muster.
He threw his pen down on the table and grunted. “I don’t care, asshole, but if I want Maggie to stick around I need to make peace with you.”
“Cap, you and I both know that you don’t mess with Freckles. Now, she’s awesome and I’d take her to the shooting range or have her as back up any day, but there is no way on God’s green earth that I would saddle my ass to that woman. Mark my words, one of these days, you’re gonna wake up with a live grenade between your ass cheeks.”
Sebastian grimaced and flipped the folder shut. “You have two weeks to get your shit sorted out with OPS. If you’re not back by then, I’m finding someone else.”
“I don’t know, all that sunshine and the hot women that walk around in skimpy bikinis? Why would I leave that?”
He rolled his eyes, “Fine, I’ll go half and half with OPS to replace your truck.”
“And then I already signed the lease on my new place out there. Sure would be tough to break it.”
He sucked in a breath and clenched his fists. “And I’m sorry for what I said about Cara and you. Obviously, I don’t know her well enough to judge her state of mind and from what Sean tells me, you’ve been really good for her. Please accept my apology.”
I grinned a wolfish grin. “Shit, Cap. Don’t go all soft on me now. I’m gonna have to get a box of tissues for you in a minute.”
He glared at me as I held out my hand to shake his. He took it grudgingly and gave a swift shake.
“Two weeks, Sinner.”
I held up my hand and walked out of the conference room. Cara was sitting in the lounge having a cup of coffee with Sean, Vanessa, and Maggie.
“Let’s hit the road. Sean, I’m going to need a ride since mine is now at the bottom of a lake.”
“Sounds good. I can’t believe Lillian hasn’t been calling every five minutes wondering where I am. Where am I dropping you?”
“My apartment. I still have the lease because I couldn’t move my shit out to California yet.”
We drove to my apartment and when it was time to get out, Cara stepped out with me.
“Go on, Sean. I need to talk to Mark.”
He nodded, “Good thing you’re staying with him because there is no way I’m listening to you two fuck again.”
Cara slammed the door and then we headed up to my apartment as Sean took off. When we got inside, I immediately took her to the bedroom. I was beat and I needed to lay down.
“Can we talk for a little bit, Mark?”
I was already drifting off to sleep. “In the morning. I need to sleep.” I pulled her in close to me and fell asleep to the steady thrum of her heartbeat against my side.
✯✯✯✯✯
“What time is it?” I asked as I shuffled into the living room the next day. Cara was leaning against the kitchen island in a t-shirt of mine and panties. She looked fucking hot and my cock immediately noticed.
“It’s almost noon. You sleep like the dead.”
“Not usually. I was just wiped out.”
“Here, I made coffee.”
“Thanks.”
“So, what happened with Sebastian yesterday? Are you going back to California?”
She didn’t look at me as she asked. She stared at her coffee mug waiting for my response.
“Yes, I am.”
She looked up at me and nodded solemnly.
“I have to pack my shit and be back here in two weeks.”
Her face morphed to anger as she picked up a dishrag and threw it at me. “You ass. Why would you make me think that you weren’t coming back?”
“Maybe a little bit of revenge for how you dismissed me from your life,” I grinned.
“And you think that’s going to get you laid?”
“No, but I have no doubt my tongue will definitely get me there.”
“Be serious for a minute. What’s going to happen with us?”
“I want you to be my girlfriend or whatever it is when two adults are fucking and freaking out at restaurants together.”
“Well, I’m solving one of those issues, so it’ll just be fucking. Do you still want to be around for whatever happens in place of the throwing up and passing out?”
“Lollipop, you could be perfectly normal and do the things that every other girl did and I would still want to be with you. Your issues are just a small part of who you are. However, I have to say that I like you quirky.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
“Obviously, because you’re even more grateful in the bedroom.”
I earned a slap for that one, but then she pulled my pants off me and knelt down on the kitchen floor, stroking my cock.
“Damn, woman. I can’t take your lips around my cock right now. I’ll
blow inside your mouth.”
“You’d better make this good. Last I heard, you were shit in bed. What was it she said? Worst fuck she’d ever had?” She leaned forward and took me into her mouth, sucking and teasing me with her tongue. “Well, I can see you can get it up and it’s quite hard, so she was wrong about that at least.”
My hips jerked as she took me in her warm mouth again and sucked me so hard, I almost came seconds later. Pulling back from her, I hoisted her up and placed her on the bar stool and slid a hand in her underwear.
“Just as I thought, hot and wet for me.” I played with her pussy and watched her mouth part slightly as I slid a finger inside.
“Oh, God,” she moaned.
“Don’t you know by now that I’m the devil?” I whispered against her ear. I pulled out my cock and stroked it a few times as I thought of what it would feel like to be inside her again. I pulled her underwear to the side and slid into her heat, groaning as I bottomed out inside her. “Lord save me.”
I fucked her hard, grabbing her ass and pulling her into me with every thrust. The stool rocked every time I pounded into her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and held me as close to her as possible.
“I love fucking you, Lollipop. There’s nothing as sweet as your pussy.” She groaned and leaned forward, taking my nipple in her mouth. I cursed as electricity shot through me. My balls started to tighten with every stroke of her tongue across my nipple. I had no idea it could feel so good. I slammed harder and harder into her and finally came when I felt her squeeze me with her own orgasm.
She rested her head against my chest as her breathing slowed. I was so relieved to have her back in my arms that I didn’t give a fuck about what happened before. She had her issues and I would gladly take them on if it meant I got more moments like this.
“Mark, I know that I was terrible to you before and I just want to tell you that I’m so sorry that I said those horrible things. You’ve been so great to me through everything, but more than that, you showed me that I need to be fighting for myself. I never would have realized how much help I needed without you.”
“Lollipop, I’m pretty sure you knew already.”
“Maybe, but I never would have gone back to the doctor. I would have continued to hide out because it’s easier.”
“I know that it’s hard for you to go out in public and we’ll keep working on that when I get back. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.”
“I guess what I really want to say is, I love you.”
She waited for me to say something, but I was so stunned, I wasn’t sure how to respond. The obvious answer was to tell her I loved her back, but I just couldn’t say it yet. It seemed like it was too soon after everything that had happened. I thought I loved her and I really wanted to, but that wasn’t a good enough reason to say it.
I watched as the light slowly dimmed in her eyes as every second passed, knowing that I could bring all that joy back. We still had so much to work through before I was willing to say something like that. I needed to be sure.
“Cara, it’s not that I don’t have strong feelings for you, but I think we have a lot to work through. I mean, something great was happening between us and it all went up in smoke. I just don’t want to say something so meaningful arbitrarily. I need to be one hundred percent sure because I don’t want to fuck with your head or mine.”
She looked down and then adjusted her underwear that I had pulled aside when I fucked her.
“I think that’s a smart decision. If the words don’t automatically come then I think it’s a good idea to hold off. I wouldn’t want you regretting something like that.”
Now it was awkward. I wanted to stick around with her, but the sooner I got back to California and quit my job, the sooner I could pack and get back here where we could sort out our issues.
“Look, I need to get back to California. Cash will be expecting me and I need to give him a report of what happened. Then I have to quit my job and I don’t know how that’s going to go. I have to be back in two weeks, so give me that time to get my head on straight.”
She nodded and gave me a kiss. I felt like the biggest shit on the face of the earth. I had told her we would work things out when we got back, but now I was running off again. All we had really settled was that we would be together again. I wasn’t expecting her to tell me she loved me, so that just added another thing for me to work out before I got back.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Cara and Sinner
CARA
Mark left this morning to drive back to California. He couldn’t fly because he couldn’t leave any trace of having been here. He would be taking a more direct route since it was just him and he promised to call whenever he could. I was a little taken aback when I realized he didn’t feel the same way I did. When we were on the road, he had told me he cared about me a lot. I assumed that was his way of telling me he loved me, but I had screwed with his head when I kicked him out of my life, so maybe he just needed some time to let his head catch up.
I sat at my brother’s kitchen table looking for places to rent. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to live in an apartment. I was used to the peace of the country, but I didn’t have a whole lot of options since I didn’t have a job anymore. I had saved a lot of money living next door to Drew and Sarah, but I didn’t want to spend that money until I knew I could replace it.
“Whatcha doing, sis?”
Sean stepped up behind me with a coffee cup in his hand and looked over my shoulder.
“I’m trying to find someplace to live.”
“You can stay here. You know you don’t have to leave. Lillian’s fine with you staying here.”
“I appreciate that, but I’ve been living on my own for a few years now and I like the independence I’ve gained.”
“So, any good prospects?”
“There are a few, but I need to find a job before I commit to anything. I don’t even know if they would rent to me if I don’t have a job.”
“About that, how would you feel about taking a job as our nanny?”
“Sean, you don’t have to give me a pity job.”
“It’s not. Lillian wants to go back to work, but she’s been holding back because she doesn’t want to just hand our child off to anyone. You’re more than qualified to do this.”
“But would you be comfortable with me watching your daughter? I mean, with everything that happened?”
“Cara, that was one time in how long? You’ve been taking steps to make sure you get better. I have complete faith in you and so does Lillian.”
I didn’t answer right away, partially because I didn’t have complete faith in myself. What Drew and Sarah said had me questioning if I really could be trusted with someone else’s child. Sean took the seat next to me and took my hand.
“Cara, I know I didn’t always have faith in you. I thought that you were so broken, you would never recover. Mark showed me how wrong I was and I saw it for myself over the past month. I know that you’re going to get better. I also know that you’ll have setbacks because it’s just a part of life. I do have faith in you, though. Don’t let how all of us treated you keep you from doing something you know you can do.”
I felt tears form in my eyes and I tried to blink them back. “I can’t get their words out of my head. I keep thinking that they’re right. What if I had been watching the twins when I flipped out?”
“First of all, you flipped out like that because of an intense therapy session. I really doubt my little girl is going to be asking you to relive things from the past. It wouldn’t have happened just at any time. Second of all, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
My head snapped up at his tone. “Through everything, you’ve been a hard ass, not willing to take anyone’s shit. You have more attitude than anyone I know, yet you’re turning into some weepy mess because your friends were mean to you.”
“Wow, don’t hold back.”
“I won’t. When they said that shit to you
, you should have told them exactly where they could shove it. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life. Tell them they can go fuck themselves.”
I smiled at his suggestion. It was true, I’d always had more attitude than was good for me.
“Talk with Lillian and see when she wants you to start. She’s been bugging me to talk to you, so don’t wait too long.”
“Oh, thank God! I’ve been waiting for the past week for you to talk with her!” Lillian walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table with me. “Sean kept telling me that you might want to try to get your job back with Sarah, but I told him that their loss is our gain. All’s fair in love and war.”
“This isn’t exactly war, Lillian. Besides, she has a connection with those kids and I didn’t want to get in the way of that.”
“Well, she’s our daughter’s aunt, so we should have first dibs on her services anyway.”
“It’s not like you couldn’t stay home with her,” Sean said with a roll of his eyes.
“I want to go back to work. If I wait too long after my maternity leave, they’ll let me go.”
“You could have found a daycare-”
“With people that wouldn’t pay attention to my child-”
“Our child.”
“And God knows if they are even qualified.”
“The daycare ensures that all workers go through child care classes.”
“And who knows what they would feed her!”
“Probably liver and onions.”
“I wish you would take this seriously,” Lillian said as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Can you both stop?” I said as I held up my hand. “You two are completely nuts. I’ll take the job, okay?”
“Perfect!” Lillian smiled. “I want to go back to work in a few weeks, so you can start whenever you want and get used to the way we do things around here.”
“Well, first I need to find a place of my own. Let me get settled somewhere and then I can start.”
For the first time in a while, I felt like my life was coming together. I didn’t know what would happen with Mark, but I had faith that we would work it out. He was due back in a few days and then we would work it all out.
Sinner: A Reed Security Romance Page 19