“She’s not perfect, you know,” her mother said.
Angela patted her mother’s hand. “I appreciate that you see the best in Kenny, Mom, but he’s not good boyfriend material.”
“Speaking of which,” Misty said, as Elias appeared at their table with a bottle of champagne, trailed by her sour-faced sister.
“Evening, ladies,” he said, holding the bottle above their heads. “Bottle service?”
Angela giggled as he winked at her. “Please.” She watched as his clever thumbs inched up the cork, imaging how her clit would feel under similar treatment. Her thighs went liquid at the notion. Luckily she was wearing a very sturdy bra so her pebbled nipples didn’t show.
Expertly, he caught the dribble of champagne in a glass, poured a fresh round into the glasses at the center of the table, then set down the bottle.
“Enjoying meeting everyone?” her mother asked him.
“Very much, but I need a consultation with my fiancée,” he said.
“Oh.” Angela jumped up and wriggled her fingers at her friends. “Later.”
Elias put his hand on the small of her back and escorted her behind the bar. Her father was busy talking to his cronies, people who were in almost every day as soon as they opened for coffee and gossip.
Elias pushed open the door into the empty kitchen area. They’d catered the party with appetizer trays from the bulk-foods warehouse. Steve never worked Sundays, too busy with church duties.
“It’s funny how it always has an echo in here when it’s empty,” Angela said. “All it takes is one person getting some food out and turning on the stove and it goes away.”
Elias winked. “Hello hello hello hello.” He dropped his voice with each repetition.
“Very funny.” She curved her body into his and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Did I tell you how much I like my ring?”
“You told me, but you haven’t had time to show me yet.”
“Follow me.” She released him and crooked her finger, leading him into the pantry.
A dark, windowless space, filled floor to ceiling with racks covered in stable goods, it had a door that closed. Elias pulled it behind him, casting them into total darkness.
“Wow,” he said.
“I know. You think you know dark, but even in your hotel room, the blackout curtains have chinks around the edges, and the smoke alarm flashes.” With her vision temporarily extinguished, her hearing sharpened. She heard Elias exhale. He took a step.
“Where are you?” he asked.
She giggled and he caught her around her waist, then flipped her against the door. “Oh,” she said. “You’ve never taken me from behind before.”
“I like kissing that pretty face too much,” he murmured in her ear. His breath tickled her cheek. “But I don’t want to mess up your makeup.”
“We don’t have much time.” The thought that they might be discovered added spice to the moment.
“No worries.” A zipper went down. Her dress lifted. “Hmmm. You really need to stop wearing panties.”
“It’s just a thong.”
“Aha.” He lifted the slim lace, moving it to one side.
“Not messing around,” she commented breathlessly.
He pushed a foot in between her knees. “Widen up, honey.”
She did as he asked, and was rewarded with his fingers tracing her labia. “That feels nice,” she whispered.
He stroked down, then speared her with his index finger. Juices coated it and he added another. She tilted her pelvis, taking him deeper, her cheek pressed against the rough door. Though the storeroom was chilly, her skin was heating fast. She felt sweat beading under her breasts.
Behind her, he adjusted something, then she felt his cock rub down her ass cheeks. He pulled out his finger and set his cock at her entrance. She went up on the balls of her feet, angling toward him as he thrust home. They both groaned their pleasure.
“I can smell you,” he said. “You’re so wet, baby.”
“I really, really like my ring,” she teased.
“I’ll get you a new one every anniversary,” he promised. “Bigger each time.”
“No, I like this one too much.”
“A mother’s ring, then. A new stone for every child.” He reached around and slid his fingers through her curls, then began to stroke her clit. Her legs trembled.
“You’d better come fast,” she said. “I can’t wait.”
“So come for me,” he rasped.
She fell apart, milking his cock, the door holding her up. He moved his hand to her belly and held her tight while he slammed into her, over and over again, until she could feel the damp fabric of his shirt against the open back of her dress. Finally, he gave himself to her, emptying so completely that she didn’t know where she ended and he began. She leaned against the door, panting, feeling his cum drip down the insides of her thighs.
When he pulled out, he said ruefully, “I think I still managed to make a mess of you.”
“It’s okay. We’re supposed to be happy and horny. We just got engaged.”
“It’s too bad not everyone is happy about it.” He turned on his cell phone and lit up the space, making a noise of satisfaction when he saw the case of paper towels. Grabbing a wad of them, he handed them to her so she could clean up.
“Who isn’t happy?”
“Kenny.”
Her brother again. “Don’t worry about him. Nothing makes him happy.”
“But he’s your only sibling. I want to win him over.”
“Why? We aren’t going to be living here.”
He straightened out his jacket. “Just seems important to me. He’s got a kid, right?”
“A daughter in Idaho.’
“Yeah, so she’ll be our children’s cousin. That’s important.”
“We don’t have any contact with her. Kenny really screwed up. It’s fine if you can be friendly with him, but you can’t expect much. He has his little group of friends who’ve been around since kindergarten, and they’re the only ones who can stand him. I get it. I don’t expect miracles.”
“I take it you gave up a long time ago.”
“I see him almost every day,” she pointed out. “It’s not like we aren’t speaking, but I’m not going to ask him to take me to the movies either. Anyway, I appreciate that my parents are happy with you treating Kenny well. That’s the important thing.”
“Do they know you’re going to move back east with me?”
“I don’t think anyone is worrying about it yet. We just met.” She straightened her dress and made sure the clasp of her necklace was at the back of her neck.
“Yeah, but we’re doing this. They need to understand. I’m not having my baby born out of wedlock.”
The fierceness of his voice sent a little thrill through her. She couldn’t wait to tell him happy news someday, but this was not that day. “Not pregnant yet.”
He turned off his cell phone. “You don’t know that, honey. I bet you have a little bean in there just waiting to say hello.”
“I’ve never met someone as confident in their baby-making potential,” she teased.
“I just know it’s so right between us. How could we not have started a baby?”
~
On Tuesday, Elias went to the post office to pick up his latest package from DC. He didn’t have a meeting scheduled with Justice or Carla, but he did have to go into a secret clinic at the local VA hospital to have his leg checked out.
By eleven, he was done with his appointment and debating what to do with himself. Not surprisingly, the burner phone rang before he’d even turned out of the hospital parking lot. He pulled into a parking spot just before the exit and answered.
“Flash here.”
“It’s Justice. What did the doctor say?”
“He’s happy with my healing. I should be ready to move on. I can give Dale a call and see if he’s satisfied with the condition of the database.”
“Ah, if on
ly it were so,” Justice said with mock wistfulness.
“The feebs aren’t happy?” Elias growled. “I’ve put a lot of time into gathering information. I could win a world championship darts competition at this point.”
“You’re too good at your job.”
Elias flexed his feet. He’d been sitting too much today, and his leg muscles had stiffened. “What do you mean?”
“Or too bad at it,” Justice replied.
“Pick one, buddy.”
“You’ve done a great job with the database. You even managed to build a good set of photos on the mail-order bride,” Justice said. “The bad news is that chatter is on the rise.”
His senses prickled. Showtime in Woodland. “Here locally?”
“Yes. Have you hooked up with any of the locals on social media?”
“No, they aren’t a friendly bunch online. I’ve focused on person-to-person communication, getting to the point where they’d welcome me to sit next to them, play a game of darts, you know.”
“I’m going to send you some screen shots,” Justice said, not commenting. “Look them over and call me back.”
Elias adjusted his seat so that he could stretch out his leg, sore from being prodded by the doctor, and waited for the phone to ping. A few seconds later the first text came through. He played with his screen until he could read what appeared to be a private social media group. Inside a larger conversation, full of misogyny and hate-filled comments about a recent women’s demonstration in Portland, he saw a photograph of an electrical substation.
His phone notified him of another text. When he pulled that up, he read it over then shut his eyes. “Morons,” he muttered. He pulled up Facebook on his phone and did a search for John Miller of Woodland, WA. The photo on the account was a decorated American general, clearly not the account holder’s real photo as Elias recognized the man. The account was two months old and set to private. He suspected, given the account’s comments, that it belonged to a terrorist recruiter. He called Justice back.
“So,” he said.
“You can't leave town yet,” Justice said flatly.
Shelly would be happy, at least. “Do you think anyone is planning an action? Are there dates in play? Or is this just chatter?”
“What do you think? You’re on the ground with these people.”
“They aren’t the lovers of women that we are, that’s for certain. My Shelly is honestly a bit suspicious about my friendliness toward her brother, but given that her parents are so pleased that I’m bonding with him, I don’t think it is too much trouble.”
“Of course you thought you were leaving soon. And taking your woman with you.”
“Sure did. I haven’t had the sense any of these men do much. Kenny, for instance, only seems to work one day a week. He almost never helps out at the bar, just sits around all day chatting and playing darts.”
“What about this Connor Blake? His wife is likely to be one source of the problem.”
“He’s a welder. Works full time, is in the bar in the evenings sometimes. The wife keeps to herself, for whatever reason. I saw her at the grocery store. Shelly was with me and said hello and I managed to get the shots.”
“What can you do to get closer to these guys? Get in on the conversations?”
“They were all at my engagement party two nights ago. They don’t know I’m planning to take Shelly back east. I can start asking about housing, see if I can get into anyone’s home. The problem is Shelly doesn’t like any of them, so there has been no reason to really befriend them. She wouldn’t be interested.”
“You may have to act now and apologize to her later.”
“I know,” Elias said. “Curse of working undercover. Poor girl. I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do. I just hope the stress doesn’t affect the baby.”
Justice let out a chuckle. “She’s expecting?”
“Maybe. Why not, right? I have made a point not to be careful, and she doesn’t seem to mind. You got my request for a desk job, right?”
“I sure did. We’ll be sorry to lose you from the field, but your woman comes first.”
Elias thought fast. “Thanks, man. I’ll start complaining about Shelly to this group, see if I can get them to commiserate with me and see what they start spouting. Try to socialize outside of the pub.”
“Yes. Anything short of destroying your relationship. I wouldn’t ask that of you.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” Elias said. “Anything else?”
His voice lost that business edge. “No. Take care, Flash. Hopefully you can sort it all out and be on your way soon.”
Elias signed off and took the battery out of the telephone. He’d find somewhere more secluded to destroy it. Before he could start up the truck, his other cell phone rang.
“Hello,” he answered.
“Hi, honey.”
The sweet voice brought him back to real time. “Shelly! What are you up to, honey?”
“I just wanted to know how your appointment went,” she said.
“Not what we were hoping for,” he lied, knowing this was the best way to explain his continuing local presence to her. “I guess we’re spending the holidays in Woodland.”
She made a sympathetic noise. “You didn’t get cleared to go back to work?”
“No, afraid not. I need to hit the gym and rebuild my leg. Does your brother or anyone belong to one?”
“Well, I belong to one,” she said. “But it’s just for women.”
“Do we know anyone else that goes to a gym?”
“I know Steve does,” Shelly said. “But not Kenny. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What about Connor? He’s buff.”
He could tell she’d lost interest. “I don’t know. Talk to Steve.”
“You don’t like Connor? I thought he was a pretty cool guy. Why don’t we try to have dinner with him and his wife? Since we’re going to be here for a while, we should have couple friends.”
“They don’t socialize together.”
“That’s odd. Have you ever tried? You didn’t have a fiancé before.”
“You seriously want me to try to plan a dinner with them?”
“Why not? She’s not Christian, right? She’s not going to care that it’s the holidays.”
“I don’t even have their phone number,” Shelly said. “When do we actually want to get married now that we're engaged? Should I buy bridal magazines and start planning?”
He had a moment of panic. His life and plans weren’t entirely under his control at the moment. “Why don't we just enjoy being engaged? What a great party, huh?”
“Sure, but everyone was asking me when the wedding date was. This stuff takes time.”
“The party took less than a week to plan,” he pointed out.
“We’re not getting married at the bar, Elias,” she snapped.
He laughed. “No, of course not, but maybe the reception. Now that your father put up lights it’s actually pretty nice.”
“Are you going to hate me for wanting to do Las Vegas? Maybe a combined bachelor/bachelorette party and wedding there?”
She sounded so hopeful that he already knew she’d just revealed her dream plan. “It never even occurred to me. How would your parents feel about that?”
“Well, you don’t have any family.”
“I suppose I thought if we married here that wouldn’t be so obvious. But I want you to be happy, honey. We can absolutely do Vegas.”
He could hear the smile in her voice as she said, “Fun. I’ll buy bridal magazines on the way home. Vicki and Misty can’t wait to start pouring through them with me. Misty said she already bought a package of pink heart Post-it notes for us to mark pages.”
Females. “Our wedding color is pink?”
“Pink and white,” she said with an authoritative tone. “Ummm, do you have any idea about budget? I have about four thousand dollars in my savings. I don’t get paid much but I don’t pay rent either. And my
parents always said they’d buy my dress.”
He thought quickly. His finances needed to sound realistic for his cover story. “I’ll triple that. Let’s call the budget twelve thousand.”
She squealed. “Really?”
Poor girl had no idea she’d bagged a millionaire. He’d always had bizarrely good luck in the stock market. “Absolutely. I’m not going to argue with you on the colors, honey. Whatever makes you happy. And don’t worry about calling Connor if you aren’t comfortable. Just give me his number. I’ll ask about the gym and invite Connor and his wife to dinner.”
Since he’d completely distracted his woman with wedding talk, she gave him Connor’s phone number without a word of protest. She’d be so busy planning her Vegas extravaganza that she wouldn’t even notice him getting close to the losers who hung out at the bar.
Chapter Four
The pub closed for Christmas and the twenty-sixth. Angela found herself back to work the next night. Most people were still busy with family, and her parents were out of town, visiting her aunt’s family in Roseburg, but Kenny and his perpetually disgruntled group of friends were sitting around the tables in front of the dartboard as usual.
“What did Elias give you for Christmas?” Vicki asked, turning away from the pass-through window where she was sending orders for buffalo chicken sliders through to Steve.
Angela waggled her wrist in her cousin’s direction.
“Oh, pretty,” Vicky cooed, checking out the diamond bracelet.
“It is, but it’s not very personal,” Angela said. “Should I be worried about that?”
“What would be personal?”
She shrugged. “Shells, maybe.”
“But you have so many already. You don’t have diamonds.”
“So not true anymore.” She pointed at her ears.
“Oh. My. God. That to-die-for bracelet and diamond studs?”
“For our one-month anniversary,” Angela said proudly. “That was yesterday.”
“Wow. If this is what you get for one month, I can just imagine what one year is going to be like.”
“It’s worrisome. I mean, he hasn’t been working the entire time I’ve known him.”
“It was an on-the-job injury, right? Maybe he’s still getting paid.”
Sex, Vows & Babies: Wedding with a Baby Bump (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 5