“Did you check the security cameras at my building?” I rubbed at the sharp pain darting up the back of my neck.
“Yes. They haven’t worked for months.”
“Shit.” My head throbbed. “Somebody is setting me up.”
Leland rubbed his thumb up and down the handle of this mug. “I believe so. The pieces are coming together too smoothly.”
“Why?” What the hell had I done to anyone? “I don’t understand.”
His eyes saddened. “Tatum, there’s another piece to the puzzle that makes you look guiltier than sin. Wallace Cruse left his earthly belongings to you. Including Cruse Investigations.”
* * * *
I wrapped the bandage around my finger and flexed to test the blood flow. Leland dropped the last pieces of the shattered ceramic into the trash.
“Thanks.” I dropped my butt into the chair.
He grabbed a new mug from the cupboard and poured me a fresh cup. “Sorry, I should’ve dropped that bomb when your hands were empty.” He shook his head in fatherly disapproval.
I plopped my elbows on the table and my chin into my palms. “Why, in the name of all that’s holy, would Wallace leave anything, let alone everything, to me? It doesn’t make sense.”
Leland’s chair creaked when he sat. “I wondered the same thing. Obligation, maybe?”
“Could be. He kissed dad’s ass like nobody’s business. He has family. A sister somewhere on the east coast. Why not her?”
“I checked into that. They’re estranged. Have been for twenty years or so. Listen Tatum, you have any idea who would want Mr. Cruse dead? Angry clients? Jilted lovers?”
I knew zilch about his love life. Yuck. “Nobody I’m aware of. Have you questioned Nan Cummings? She was closer to him than anyone.”
He blew a puff of air. “That woman had plenty to say.” He didn’t elaborate. I didn’t push.
“When’s the funeral?” I asked.
“This weekend. I’ll do my best to keep you out of jail if you want to attend.”
“My mother would like to be here. It’d be nice to keep her out of the loop. She’s under enough stress taking care of my grandfather. I don’t want her to worry about me.”
Leland nodded in understanding. “Franklin asked me to look into Jay Masters. I’ve dug up a bit of information. It’s disturbing to say the least.”
I wrapped my fingers around the warm mug to chase away the sudden chill. “Okay, spit it out.”
“The kid was in and out of psychiatric hospitals from high school on. Claims he’s been shadowed by a ghost since he was fifteen. He finished a long stint at Western State nine months ago. There have been several sexual assault charges filed against him, but they never went to court.”
Rich kid like him? Mommy and Daddy probably swept his shit under the rug and made it disappear. “His parents are wealthy. I’m sure they persuaded the girls to settle.” Crazy house, huh? Jay had always been one of the more aggressive boys at school. I’d assumed it was his football player mentality. “So, why me? I haven’t spoken a word to him since ninth grade.”
Leland tapped his sugar spoon against his cup. “Not sure. I’ll keep digging.”
“What happens when Franklin returns and I’m no longer on lock-down?” I already knew the answer. Didn’t like it, not one bit.
Leland rose and buttoned his corduroy blazer. “We wait for the DNA results.” He looked at me with reassuring eyes. “I don’t want you to worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
I wanted to hug him but it didn’t seem appropriate. So, I settled on a handshake. “Thank you, Leland.” I believed him. I did, but there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I would wait around for others to clear my name.
I watched until Leland and his escort disappeared down the long gravel driveway. When they were out of sight, I explored the large house. There wasn’t much to it. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms. A simple, yet large kitchen and…ooh! A freezer full of ice cream. Oh, that man of mine was going to get lucky. I performed a happy dance in front of the fridge. Then I got busy hunting down a bowl and spoon. Nothing like chocolate, almonds, and marshmallows to drown your troubles.
My heart dropped to my toes when the doorbell chimed. I scurried to the front door and peered through the little hole. One of the men in suits waited outside. I yanked the door open. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“No, ma’am. Mr. Reed asked that we give you this.” He handed me a disposable cell phone. The guy was all business. Not a lick of warmth on his face or in his tone.
“Um, thanks.” Would it hurt him to smile? “Want to come in for coffee or ice cream?”
“No, ma’am. We’ll be right outside if you need us.” He returned to his post on the bottom step of the porch.
I barely made it back to the kitchen before the phone buzzed in my hand. “Hello?”
“Hey, Killer.”
“Hey,” I whispered.
“Do you miss me yet?” he asked in a low gravel.
Oh, yes. I did. “No. Not yet,” I teased with a devil-may-care tone. “I’ve been busy. Did you get the bad guys?”
“I’m about to. I needed to hear your voice.”
I swallowed hard and pictured his face. Magical eyes, carved lips, the small bump on his nose. “Franklin.”
“Yeah, baby.” That voice. Even through the phone it held the power to turn me into a puddle of goo.
“Don’t get shot.” I wanted to say so much more. I wanted to travel through the phone and kiss him hard. “It’d be a shame to mess up your gorgeous face. I hate you, but I do love your face.”
His low chuckle made me miss him even more. “I love you, too, baby. See you soon.” The call ended and I exhaled.
He did love me. I could feel it. Even from miles away. The mystery man loved me. He was, at that precise moment, throwing himself into the line of fire to save my ass. With nothing but an afternoon full of waiting ahead of me, I grabbed my bowl of creamy heaven, turned on the Lifetime Channel and curled up on the couch for a chick-fest of cheesy movies.
* * * *
I woke with a start, heart pounding, eyes searching for something familiar in the dark void. Franklin’s scent lingered but I didn’t feel him near.
I sat up for a good stretch and heard the shower running upstairs. Like a cat on the prowl, I tiptoed up the steps, removing my clothing as I ascended. I entered the bathroom and stopped dead.
Franklin stood under the water, palms pressed to the wall, head hung low between his arms. His torso stretched taught, revealing impossible layers of muscle. I’d never tire of the sight of him. The more I absorbed his beauty, the more I craved.
Water cascaded down his back, drawing my perusal to his rear. The flex and stretch of his butt and legs were the worst kind of temptation, inciting dark and dirty urges that made me blush.
I wiggled free of my panties and stalked toward the man who’d reduced me to a wild animal in heat. I slid the glass open and stepped into the wall of steam.
He didn’t look up, but his gravel reached me from between his arms. “Killer. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“You didn’t.” I slid my hands up his back, danced my fingers over the dips and curves of his muscles. Working my way around his ribs to his chest, I pressed my breasts against his back, marveling at the heat he radiated.
With a loud sigh, he turned and enveloped me. I raised my chin and nibbled from his neck to his square jawline. He lowered his face, capturing me with a heady gaze before drawing his lips to mine.
I melted into him and submitted to every prod of his tongue, every stroke and suck. Putty in his hands, or lips rather. He kissed me soft and slow, trailed fingers up and down my frame.
Aching to be filled by him, I broke our kiss and bent to my knees, gripping his buttocks on the way down. Before he could react, I licked the length of his erection from base to tip, triggering a groan that set my blood on fire.
I’d never performed oral sex. Hadn’t a clue what to do. But something about Franklin and what he did to my body, inside and out, made me want to pleasure him in every way. It just seemed natural and necessary. I kissed the tip of him, wrapped my lips around the shiny crown and, one slow stroke at a time, took him deeper inside me. His length and girth made it nearly impossible to find a rhythm. Or maybe it was my lack of experience.
Franklin slapped a palm against the tile and twisted his fingers through my hair with the other hand. “Goddamn. Yeah, baby,” he groaned. His hips rocked with a palpable restraint. He wanted to pound my mouth. Thank God he held back. I wasn’t ready. Fingers pressed to the back of my head, he pushed deep, slow and controlled, all the while watching, gauging my response.
When he eased off, I slid a hand between his legs and played with the heavy boys hanging below his sex. My ego bloated with a potent sense of empowerment when I squeezed and his cock jerked in my mouth. I wrapped my other hand around the base of his penis and stroked in sync with the pulls from my mouth.
Franklin stopped me. “I want you in bed, not here.”
He helped me off the floor, shut off the water, and wrapped me in a towel. Drying himself in record time, he scooped me over his shoulder and carried me to our room. I disposed of the towel the moment he laid me down. Franklin studied my naked body with a wicked grin, then crawled over me. “Tell me you missed me,” he ordered.
“But I didn’t,” I teased, batting my lashes.
“Not even a little bit?” He prowled up the length of me.
I shook my head no.
On hands and knees, he braced my shoulders and tickled my chin with the head of his penis. “I missed you so fucking bad.” He leaned forward and rubbed the silky head on my lips.
Oh, God, what was he doing?
“Open for me, love,” he whispered.
I did. I parted my lips and raised my head to envelop him. Salty moisture danced across my taste buds, setting off a chain of fireworks in my belly. I relaxed my jaw and Franklin pushed himself between my lips, never breaching the limit of what I could take. My head was pinned to the mattress and he filled me so full, I couldn’t even roll my tongue across his flesh. Helpless to do anything else, I raised my arms and dug my nails into his ass.
“God, baby, your mouth. Fuck,” he grunted between thrusts.
I wiggled and writhed beneath him. Blood pumped so fierce between my legs I feared I would explode. I could swear, my pussy was jealous of my mouth, and if given a voice, would’ve screamed in protest.
Franklin pushed in one last time and rested there for a long moment before pulling out. He scooted down and claimed my lips, in that dominant way that assured me he was mine. Then he slid lower and kissed between my legs. I arched into him. The moment his tongue stroked my nub, I came hard, pinning his head between my legs. He latched on and sucked with heavenly, lethal purpose until my body slumped into the mattress and my knees fell open.
Franklin wasn’t finished. He probed my slit with his expert fingers. His other hand slid up my torso and rubbed across my belly. “You’re so perfect, baby.” He kneaded the flesh just above my pubic area. “Soft, in all the right places.” He pulled his finger from between my legs and pushed two back in. “Tight where it counts.” He worked me until I writhed with want. “Tell me you missed me,” he ordered again.
I playfully shook my head no.
Franklin pushed himself off the bed, taking all the warmth in the room with him. “That’s a shame.” He strutted to the door, giving me a good view of his backside, and disappeared down the hallway. I heard the patter of bare feet travel down the stairs, then loud static as the television roared to life.
I expected him to return with his devilish grin. He didn’t come back.
Oh. Well, I could play that game, too. I slunk down the stairs and sat on the third step from the bottom. “I wasn’t finished with you. Are you coming back to bed?”
He sat with arms stretched across the back of the couch, knees spread wide, and a throw blanket draped across his waist. It did nothing to hide his arousal. His eyes remained focused on the television. The smirk he wore reinforced my suspicion that his thoughts remained solely on me. “Did you miss me, Killer?”
I leaned back and rested my elbows on the step behind me, then crossed my legs. “Hmm.”
He raised the remote and turned up the volume.
Bastard.
I uncrossed my legs and let them fall open. I shook with nerves, because I’d never done anything so lascivious. What had I become? Slut? Check. Horn dog? Check. Nympho? Check, check, and check.
He didn’t look my way. I slid my hand down the length of my body, resting it above the naughty zone, and let my fingers linger in the tuft of hair. Was I brave enough to go through with this?
Franklin’s eyes widened but never moved from the screen. I smoothed my index finger down the moist crease between my thighs, then drew it back up. God, it felt so good and so damned risqué. I did it again. Franklin’s nostrils flared.
I stroked myself once more, resting on the sensitive nub, then rubbed in slow circles. Oh shit. Yes. That was good.
Franklin slid the blanket off his lap and dropped it to the floor. His gaze darted to mine then back to the screen. He smiled wide then grabbed his erection.
Damn. He did play dirty.
I stroked. He stroked.
I moaned, hoping to make him look my way. He let his head fall back on the couch and fisted himself harder. I was turned on, but the sight of his hand wrapped around his sex nearly had me begging for mercy. Thick veins running up his forearm. The flex of his bicep as he pumped. Truly, a thing of beauty.
I spread my folds and pushed two fingers inside myself. It didn’t have near the effect his fingers did, but the knowledge that I behaved so wantonly had me wet and ready for more. With my free hand, I massaged my breast then pinched a pink peak.
Franklin’s strokes sped up. I circled my clit harder and faster. This was so not what I’d planned, but damn it was fun. His lips parted and lids lowered. He was going to come. I was dangerously close to orgasm myself.
No. This was not what I wanted. I wanted him in me, not across the room.
I pulled my hand off myself and slapped it on the step. “You asshole. Okay, you win. I missed you,” I panted. “I missed you. I missed you.”
He stopped pumping his sex and was on me in two strides. I leaned back on my elbows. Franklin grabbed my hips and raised them to meet his. “Say it again.”
“I missed you,” I whispered, trembling under the force of his touch.
His cock stretched and filled me with perfect, painful bliss. “That’s my girl.” He pulled out and slammed back into me. “Hell yes, you missed me. No way you can hide it. You’re so damn wet, baby.”
I gripped his forearms and held on while he pounded into me, again and again, each time driving deeper, grunting with unbridled, feral claims over my body. I whimpered, fighting back the painful surges of my oncoming release. When I could fight no longer, my head fell back and my hips tilted, seeking more. He held me tight against him while I came undone, until my last spasm. Only then did he pump again and let himself go.
He collapsed next to me on the stairs until we caught our breath, then led me to the bathroom to wash up before crawling into bed. I lay on my side and Franklin snuggled behind me, pulling me tight into the folds of his frame.
He twirled a piece of my hair in his fingers. “We can go home tomorrow.”
I sighed and my shoulders relaxed. “Can you talk about what happened?”
“No, love. I can’t”
“Will they come back?”
“They got the message loud and clear. Tony Wood has not risen from the dead and you are off limits.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, for lack of anything else to say.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.” His body stiffened against mine. “How was your visit wit
h Detective Waters?”
“Someone is setting me up, but at least Leland believes me.”
“I didn’t leave him much choice. You won’t go to jail. I can make the evidence disappear. We can vanish.”
“I don’t want to disappear. I want to know who’s doing this, and why me?” I told Franklin the details of my discussion with Leland. He listened without interruption, although I had a sneaking suspicion he already knew everything. When I finished, he kissed my head and rolled onto his back.
“This is so messed up. I can’t wrap my head around it. Dad was a lying adulterer.”
“Baby.” He turned toward me and spread his fingers over my heart. “Your dad was a good man.”
“Good men don’t cheat on their wives,” I snapped. “Or lie to their daughters.”
Franklin huffed. “I understand your hurt. If he had extramarital affairs, aside from my mother, I didn’t know about them. He worshipped you. That’s the one thing I know for sure. Okay?”
I rolled away from him in protest and curled up on my side of the bed. It was cold, lonely and too far from the skin-to-skin I craved, so I rolled back over and snuggled in.
“When we get past this shit-storm, you better start talking.” I couldn’t shuffle through the piles of lies that were my life, and I didn’t want to try, not yet anyway. I could, however, hold on to Franklin and remain grounded—at least for now.
* * * *
Franklin shoved his cell back into his pocket and stretched his arms over his head, gripping the molding above the kitchen door. “The funeral is on Saturday.”
I sat on the couch and admired the view. “Detective Waters told me. He arranged a flight for my mom. She’s arriving Friday night. Will you go with me to pick her up?” Mom knew nothing about Franklin yet. There hadn’t been time to tell her, or anyone.
Franklin’s forehead wrinkle did its stress thingy.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
How to Kill Your Boss Page 18