Overflow: The Carpino Series

by Asher, Brynne

  She grabs my arm and pulls it down. Running her hand down my arm to my hand, she threads her fingers through the back of mine and turns my arm to tuck it into her chest. I have to come down on a hip to the bed in back of her and lean on my elbow to not fall on her. “Gabby?” I call to her.

  Before I know it, she snuggles in so her back is against my chest and wiggles her ass tight into my lap. Pulling my arm in tighter, she mumbles, “I like you in my house, Jude.”

  I still and ask, “What?”

  “I like you and I like you here, my house has been so quiet and lonely for so long. Thank you for being here and taking care of me,” she says softly with her eyes still closed.

  “It’s okay, sugar,” I whisper into the back of her head. Pulling her thick hair out of her face, I go on, “I think I like being here with you, Gabby.”

  “I can’t believe you’re thirty three. You look thirty,” she mutters, all of the sudden getting talkative.

  “Good to know,” I say, dryly.

  “And everyone is right, you’re way hotter than James,” she goes on.

  “That’s good to know, too.”

  “But you’re way nicer and you were happy that I had fun with my friends and then you came and got us and then you were nice to my friends and you let me pick the music in the car,” she mumbles on and on. “So you’re way better than James and I’ve only known you…well, I don’t know what day it is, but not very long.”

  “It’s Wednesday, Gabby.”

  “Huh…then I’ve known you for…five whole days and it’s been way better than the one year and three months I was with James.”

  I just squeeze her and kiss the back of her head and whisper, “It’s been a good five days, babe.”

  “Wait!” she says tightening her grip on my arm but not moving otherwise. “Where are you from? Are you from here?”

  “No, babe. Colorado. Denver.”

  “Denver?” she asks and I just give her a squeeze. All she has to say to that is, “Oh, I get it. Broncos.”

  “Go to sleep, Gabby,” I say.

  Gabby snuggles in closer, pulls my arm up her chest to her neck and mutters, “You’re so bossy.”

  Smiling to myself, I settle in until she goes to sleep and I finally feel her weight fall back against me. I detangle from her, head out into the house, let the dog out for the last time, check the doors and arm her security system. I head to the guest bath to get ready for the night.

  Then I walk right back to Gabby, in her pink room with her stuffed animals and bad boy band posters. Stripping down to my boxers, I climb in, flip the covers over us and pull Gabby back into my chest like she was earlier. In her sleep she leans back against me and tangles her long legs with mine. This time her dog jumps up and cuddles into the front of Gabby. I bury my face into the back of her head, smelling her hair and feeling it against my face. Searching for sleep, I can’t help but think about how I thought tonight was going to end differently. But lying in her tiny bed, in her pink room with her fucking dog and Gabby tucked close against me, I wouldn’t have it another way.

  Well, for tonight anyway.

  Chapter 8 - Free Fall

  I’m hot. And my pillow is super hard. What is up with my pillow? I try to push back, find some cool air and I am immediately pulled back into a vice grip. My eyes fly open. All I see is sculpted abs and lots of skin. My eyes move up and I see Jude’s kickass tattoo again.

  Holy shit!

  I jerk back, surprised by my current surroundings when I hear Jude boss me in a delicious sleepy rasp, “Be still, sugar, it’s early.”

  “Ohmygoodness!” I whisper. I still my body, telling myself it isn’t because Jude told me to, but rather because I am freaked way the hell out! Again! Trying my best to take stock of my current situation, I feel like I still have on my panties and a top at least. My leg is hitched, tucked over Jude’s thick muscular thigh as I’m pressed to his side and I’m pretty sure I can feel material there, so I hoping that means he’s not naked. Not that I haven’t thought about being naked with Jude Ortiz, especially since the other night when we were almost half naked, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet. I haven’t even known him a week and I’m not that kind of girl! James was my first (not to mention my only!) plus, we were together a long time before I gave it up. James said it felt like forever, which clearly it was not but still, I’m not slutty and never have been. Even though I’ve had lots of thoughts about being naked with Jude, I didn’t want it to be last night and I especially don’t want to be drunk for the experience, either! So, as I’m making a mental list of pros and cons in my head, I’m putting it in my pros column that at least we are still dressed, although the clothing is minimal, it’s still a pro! I also, surprisingly enough, don’t have a headache. Definitely one for the pros column.

  I can see a little light coming through the drapes, so it can’t be that early. I peek up over Jude to look at the clock on the nightstand and its seven forty five. I don’t know why Jude said it’s early, he’s been leaving here in the mornings no later than seven thirty. I decide to whisper, “Jude, it’s seven forty five, don’t you need to go?”

  Jude, lying on his back, his arm around me in a vice grip starts to roll into me and onto his side to face me. His other hand comes to my waist, slowly slides down over my ass, my leg and catches the back of my knee yanking it over his hip. As he hitches his thigh tight between my legs at my core, his mouth goes straight to my ear and he rasps, “No.”

  Okay. As much as I don’t want to admit it, this new position was really nice. So nice, it’s going into the pros column. Still, my mouth feels like cotton and if it smells as bad as it tastes, I don’t need to be anywhere near Jude’s face, hence, one for the cons column. “Jude, I need to get up, brush my teeth. I never go to bed without brushing my teeth. Can we get up now?”

  “No,” he repeats, giving me a squeeze as his mouth dips under my ear and I can feel his lips working their way down my neck. He makes his way down to the dip in my collar bone and I lift my head because it feels really great with the added bonus of getting my mouth far away from his face.

  Licking my dry lips and trying to swallow away my bad breath, I whisper slash plead this time, “Please, Jude, just let me go and brush my teeth.”

  Now, with one arm angled up my back and the other hand on my ass, he says firmly into my neck, “Babe, I don’t care about your teeth. Now that I’ve got you here, if you think I’m gonna let you go just to brush your teeth, you’re fuckin crazy.” He gives my ass a squeeze as he pulls up and I look into his amazing face with those melty eyes. My hands plunge into his sleepy hair. His eyes flare, he rolls me to my back, his hips falling between my legs and his mouth slams down on mine. Still worried about my breath, I refuse to open my mouth. Wearing me down, he nips my lower lip and I finally give him the opening he wants as he dips his tongue in, clearly not caring what my mouth smells or tastes like. Again, I’m liking our new position so I pull my legs up to wrap one around his waist and the other around his big strong thigh. He presses into the core of me and his weight feels as good as it did the other night.

  He slows down our kiss and as his head comes up he rasps, “Baby, you fit perfect.”

  Wow.

  Forgetting about my breath, forgetting that I’m not that kind of girl and definitely forgetting that I’m not slutty, all I can think about is fitting perfectly. I lift my hips and dig my feet in to get even closer to him. His mouth slams down on mine again and something on the floor starts ringing.

  He stops mid kiss and doesn’t move his head, saying against my lips, “You’ve got to be shitting me!”

  “That’s not my phone,” I say, defending myself from our latest interruption. I feel him grin against my mouth and the ringing keeps on.

  “I’m sorry, sugar. That’s work, I’ve gotta get that.”

  “Okay,” I breathe, as he pushes up and I lose his heat and weight. He stands up and I get a look at his back side in boxers as he bends over t
o grab his phone out of his jeans.

  Standing, he turns to me and puts the phone to his ear and says, “Yeah?”

  I sit up on the side of the bed and grab my skirt. Looking up to him, I appreciate the view of Jude in chambray blue boxers and nothing else. The evidence is plain to see why he’s so upset by our latest interruption. I can’t help but grin at the sight. He runs his hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. I stand to slip my skirt up and feeling brave, I move to put my hands flat on his abs fitting myself to him, reach up on my tip toes, I kiss the underside of his jaw. With heated eyes on me, he says into the phone through gritted teeth, “Fine, I’ll be there in an hour after I swing by the office. Have you checked the transcripts from last night?” I come back down to my feet and turn to the door but he grabs my hand pulling me back him. “Gotcha. See you in an hour,” he hangs up and tosses his phone to the bed.

  “I told you we needed to get up.” I say, but he wasn’t done, he pulls me into him and his mouth hits mine. With his hand in my hair and the other at my back, he kisses me deep and long, showing me how much he didn’t want to be interrupted.

  He brings his head up again and he says, “I’m sorry sugar, I gotta get to work. We thought we had a line on Harper last night, but it went cold. Mac has an informant that gave him some new intel this morning and we gotta follow it.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “What do you have going today? I still want you texting me.”

  “I have to work here at my office for a few hours and this afternoon I have some shopping to do.”

  “Shopping?” he asks, like this is some foreign notion, only performed in faraway lands.

  “Yes. Shopping,” I answer, speaking slowly.

  “For what?” he presses.

  “Ac-ces-sor-ies. Remember, I’m a dec-or-a-tor?” I reply, raising my eyebrows while annunciating every syllable to get my point across that his questions are ridiculous.

  His brows come together and he says, “No need to be a smartass, Gabby. I really don’t want you in and out of places all day, not until we get Harper. Although we didn’t get any prints off your door or deck area, it’s too much of a coincidence for it not to be him. You need to be cautious.”

  Well aware that I was being a smartass, I respond, “I won’t be a smartass when you stop being ridiculous. I told you I’d text you when I come and go and I will. I’ll do it so much you’ll get sick of hearing from me. I’ll carry my gun and watch my surroundings. I’ll be fine,” I give him a smug smile. I feel his fingers press into my hips, he looks down at me and just shakes his head.

  I realize I’ve won.

  Yay!

  I beat Bossy Jude!

  Not wanting to be a poor sport and gloat because that’s just not nice, I run my hands up his chest lightly to trace his tattoo with my index finger while saying, “Jude, as much as I’m enjoying having this conversation with you in your boxers, I need to make us coffee and you need to go.”

  He pulls me closer and shocks me by saying, “I brought clothes, I’m showering here.”

  I hear myself gasp and not feeling smug at all anymore, I ask, “What?”

  Proving he can still boss me around, he replies, “Make coffee, I gotta get goin’.” And with that, he leans down to kiss me quick, lets me go and heads for his jeans on the floor. Still shocked that Jude is going to be wet and naked in my house, I walk to the guest bath as I really have to go to the bathroom. I look up into the mirror and let out a scream!

  “Gabby?” Jude yells back for me.

  I put my hand up to my face and wince. I wore heavier makeup last night and it is not looking good now. My Charlie’s Angels curls which looked fantastic now look like a rats nest! Double con! I pull my hair away from my face, realizing Jude has not only been looking at me like this since we woke up, but kissing me and I say into the mirror, “Oh shit!”

  Jude walks in behind me and looks at me in the mirror. “Gabby, what’s wrong?”

  With one hand in my hair and one over my eye and cheek, I whisper, “I can’t believe you kissed me like this, I look awful.”

  Jude puts his arms around my upper chest and yanks me into him again. He leans down and kisses my head and simply says, “Sugar,” and walks out in his jeans and bare chest.

  I hear the security system beep off and the garage door open and shut. I go to let Mia out and head to my master bath to wash my face, make some semblance of my hair and brush my teeth. With the toothbrush in my mouth, Jude comes in to my master bathroom with a gym bag, still wearing just his jeans. I spit, rinse and turn to him. He moves close to me putting his hand on the back of my head tipping it back and whispers, “You going to join me or make coffee?”

  My eyes get big and he smiles even bigger. All I can say is, “Towels are in the drawer. I’ll make coffee.” I can hear Jude chuckling as I skedaddle out of the bathroom.

  The coffee is brewing, I hear the water go off and all my thoughts are on Jude in my shower, so I’m not paying much attention to details when I hear my purse ringing from the island where I dumped it last night in my state of drunkenness. Not thinking clearly, I dig my phone out and slide my thumb across the screen. “Hello?”

  “Gabby? Why haven’t you called me?”

  All of a sudden I’m whisked back to reality by the voice on the other end. “Megan?”

  “Yes, it’s Megan! Have you forgotten who I am? That you’re my friend? You were at my house with police barged in and you haven’t even call to check on me?”

  Even this level of drama is a bit much for Megan, so I try and calm her down, “Megan, are you okay? I’m sorry, Tony didn’t think it would be a good idea for me to contact you--”

  “So you’re abandoning me? My life is upside down! They are accusing Trevor of terrible things that aren’t true. He can’t even come home for fear of what they will do to him!”

  “Megan, do you know where Trevor is?”

  “No! He says he can’t tell me where is. He’s trying to clear his name, gather evidence he needs apparently to convince all those agents he’s not doing what they’re accusing him of doing for some reason!”

  “Megan, slow down. He won’t tell you where he is? Don’t you think that’s strange?”

  “This whole thing is crazy, Gabby! All of our funds have been frozen! Trevor’s not here and I have zero access to any money!” she screams.

  “Megan, maybe he should just talk to the authorities, explain what he--” then, for the second time this week, I feel my phone being plucked out of my hand.

  “Megan Harper?” Jude starts. “Yeah. This is Special Agent Jude Ortiz with the FBI. That’s right. I was at your house the day the warrants were served. You are not to contact Gabrielle Carpino, do you understand? No, I don’t think you do understand. You are not to contact her again. Gabrielle has nothing to do with this and until everything is over, you will not see her or communicate with her in any way. Do I make myself clear? Good.” With that, he slams my phone down on the counter.

  “We told you not to talk to her, Gabby,” Jude warns me in a serious voice.

  “I just answered, I was distracted and didn’t look at my phone, I’m sorry,” I say, feeling a little petulant. “You didn’t have to be mean to her. I was just asking about Trevor and where he was for you.”

  “Gabby, I don’t need your help, but more importantly, I do not want your help on this. You need to stay out of it.”

  “What’s going on, Jude? Megan said their funds are frozen and he hasn’t come home, something about him needing evidence he’s not doing what you think he’s doing. I know Trevor Harper isn’t a good guy and I need protected from something. Just tell me what he’s done.”

  Jude doesn’t say a word. He stands there assessing me. Assessing me with wet hair, in a clean pair of jeans that are old and faded but fit like a glove topped with a black ribbed V-neck t-shirt. He’s not touching me but I can smell my soap and shampoo on him. Something about him standing in my kitchen with wet hair smelling like
my stuff feels more intimate than ever. So I take the step separating us and fit myself to the front of him, placing my hands flat on his chest, look up and him and say quietly, “Please don’t keep this from me. I’m a bigger girl than you think I am, Jude.”

  He sighs, puts his hands on his hips and looks at my ceiling. I guess finding the answer he needs up there he looks back down at me, puts his hands on both sides of my neck and lays it out, “Harper is a transporter, a smuggler and a big one. He manages it through different companies he uses for cover. His network is big and he’s tied to top level cartel members.”

  “Smuggler?”

  “Of guns, Gabby. Massive amounts of them,” he explains. “His network is wide and varied. He sells guns and high powered ammo to cartel members in Mexico and Central America. Omaha is centrally located in the middle of the country. It’s no coincidence this is his home base. He’s not from here, but he chose a wife who was as cover. He’s from Michigan. We’ve been working this case with the ATF for months now. We didn’t know he was into guns to begin with, his communication with cartels gave him away and that’s how we found out about his gun smuggling operation. Now it’s a combined operation with both agencies.”

  I’m standing with my mouth hanging open, not because Jude just verified that Trevor is an even bigger jackwagon than I thought, but because my friend Megan, as high drama as she is, is being used for cover. His wife who loves him and has given him three children is just a pawn to him in a game of underworld gun distribution. I look up at Jude and breathe, “Megan?”

  He can tell I’m sideswiped. His face gets soft, he dips his head close to mine and looking right into my eyes, says, “You cannot talk to her right now, Gabby. It’s important for your own safety, you cannot get in the middle of this. I’ve known you for five whole days, sugar, and last night you told me that even though it’s only been five days, what’s happening here means something to you. Well, I’m telling you it means something to me too, so I’m trusting you with this information. I need to trust that you will do what I say to keep yourself safe. I don’t want anything to happen to you, so please help me out here and do as I say until I can prove that you’re safe. Can you do that for me, Gabby?”