by Cass Sellars
“Want something to drink?” Taylor breathed the offer between the kisses she delivered near Darcy’s ear.
“I want you.” Darcy watched for Taylor’s reaction which came in the form of a low growl. She allowed herself to be led into Taylor’s bedroom. Darcy heard a whimper escape her throat as Taylor pushed her smoothly onto the mattress.
“We don’t have to…” Darcy couldn’t pull her bruised lips from Taylor’s mouth but wanted Taylor to be certain about the lengths they might travel on only their third evening together.
Taylor responded by smiling seductively at her before reaching for the bottom of Darcy’s T-shirt and pushing it over her head. Darcy grabbed the button on Taylor’s jeans, jerking it open.
She gave Taylor Westin free rein over her body.
Taylor skimmed her mouth over Darcy’s naked flesh. Darcy fought to maintain control over her building emotions, and over the writhing figure that was burning a path across every inch of her pale skin. Taylor locked eyes with Darcy as their tongues glided over each other hungrily, demanding satisfaction.
Darcy pushed Taylor’s hand lower as she was suddenly consumed by the need to be owned by the figure above her. “I need you to touch me now.”
Taylor wasted no time claiming her new lover. She drove her to a punishing climax until Darcy begged for a breath and then begged for more.
Darcy briefly considered the neighbors when she screamed Taylor’s name for the third time. How would she would tell Taylor about the calculated ruse that placed her in the bar and in Taylor’s life in the first place? Darcy further drowned the thought by greedily compelling Taylor’s surrender with her eager mouth.
* * *
A short five hours later, Darcy heard an alarm sound and pressed an unfamiliar pillow over her face. The smell of heady cologne found her nose and she moved sleepily toward the middle of the queen mattress. She shifted the pillow off one eye and found Taylor smiling down at her, propped onto her tattooed right arm.
“Morning.”
Darcy thought Taylor’s voice sounded like velvet and melted chocolate as she recalled the aerobic night of naked bodies and lustful proclamations.
She curled against Taylor and angled her head into her neck, noticing three parallel scratches her fingernails had undoubtedly left there. “God, you’re so sexy.” Taylor seemed to feel every syllable as Darcy brushed a lingering kiss over her smooth shoulder and pushed her body still closer to Taylor’s, skimming a teasing finger over Taylor’s breast.
Taylor combed her fingers through Darcy’s hair and returned the kiss lightly. “I’ll give you a year to stop telling me lies like that.”
Taylor’s smile made Darcy realize that she wanted to find herself in Taylor’s arms over and over. She hadn’t felt like this about anyone since Syd.
“Are you going to regret this later?” Darcy was cautious about letting herself hope this was more than a casual romp to Taylor.
“I’ll only regret not seeing you again when we both get off work tonight.” Taylor cupped her chin as she delivered a rough kiss below her ear making her groan into Taylor’s ear.
“Can we talk later, too?” Darcy was guarded as she hoped to stem the tide of a potential disaster as soon as possible. She had found her because she was the CacheTech inventory manager, but Darcy wanted to hold on to her for many different reasons, none having to do with stolen computers.
“Anything you like, Darc.”
Even the way Taylor casually shortened her name made her sigh a contented breath. She suddenly felt terrified by the impending conversation. But not enough to stop desire from overtaking her one more time as Taylor glided her naked body over Darcy’s willing flesh.
* * *
“So, do I need to help you move the body or does Sydney Hyatt still have a pulse?” Jenny sauntered into the office and plopped into her boss’s guest chair, waiting for what she knew was the rest of the story and having nothing to do with laundry.
Parker’s best friend and colleague let a black microsuede pump dangle casually from her tiny foot as she waited for the answer. Parker addressed her formally, “Well, I’ve decided to let her live another day, pending a regular review of the case and her commitment to never repeat such egregious acts again.”
“I see. Will there be punitive consequences?” Jenny looked just as seriously at Parker, biting her lip to keep from laughing.
“I’ve requested nightly groveling followed by mind-blowing sexual favors.”
“Well played, Ms. Duncan.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Foster. Shall we get some coffee?” The pair laughed at their inside joke until they returned from the break room together.
“So”—Jenny spoke carefully in spite of the earlier levity—“what’s going to happen with the sleazy Ms. Dean? I spoke to Mack on the way home and she thinks she can meet with her separately if that’s more comfortable for you.” Jenny crossed her legs and sipped her decaf coffee. Parker knew she longed for real coffee and an occasional glass of wine but she wouldn’t risk it as long as she was nursing her daughter.
“That’s not necessary, really, but thank you. I think it would be worse if it looked like I was so insecure we had to banish her from the house.” Parker chuckled but seemed far away for just a second. “Anyway, Syd’s going to talk to her about it, and if she agrees to stop, then we leave it alone. Sydney can be very persuasive when she wants to be.” She recalled the run-in with Bryce Downing at the ball. Sydney Hyatt could look dangerous and be dangerous in the right circumstances.
“She was just trying to protect you, Park. Mack says she still thinks about the Becky thing all the time,” she said quietly. “I think she still feels guilty about it and we all saw you that night. It was pretty terrifying, Parker. I can’t imagine what Syd saw when she came in. You were bleeding and shaking and…”
“I know. And I know what it was. I just wasn’t ready to hear it that way, not in front of Darcy. And that’s all it was.” Parker allowed the flash of memory when Syd had held a gun to Becky’s head. Parker had to drag her out of the blind rage to stop her from killing the woman who was intent on winning Syd at all costs.
“I told her that last night, after you walked out. She knew it was the way she said it, too.”
Parker pushed away the memory of the night they’d returned from the hospital. “Does she talk about it a lot with Mack?” Parker was suddenly worried that Syd had been hiding her demons too well.
“I don’t think they talk about it a lot, but Mack likes to check in with her, and she knows she still feels some responsibility.” Jenny sounded apologetic for betraying confidences.
“Jen, it wasn’t her fault. Syd didn’t know Becky was crazy. I don’t want her to be guilty about it forever.” Parker wished she could slide her arms around Sydney at that moment. The tender underbelly of her tough-woman persona broke Parker’s heart every time.
“Your knight takes her job seriously, you know.” Jenny smiled.
Jenny often referred to Sydney that way, and Parker thought it was incredibly accurate. She had seen Sydney make it her job to be there for her. As if it was as much a part of her as breathing.
“Yeah, I know.”
Parker smiled to herself as Jenny walked back to her office. She tapped out a text to Sydney who was unaccustomed to hearing from her during the workday. Both their schedules made it difficult.
Thank you for loving me like you do.
What did I do to deserve that? Syd replied.
Everything, all the time. I love you.
Love you, baby.
* * *
“Hi.” Darcy’s nerves were close to the surface when Taylor answered.
“Hey, you.” Taylor sounded very happy to hear from her new lover.
“I want to see you tonight.” Darcy spoke with her forehead on the steering wheel scraping her fingernails along her thigh nervously.
“I’m glad to hear it. I hated leaving you this morning. It was hard to pull myself away.”
Darcy took a deep breath and launched into what she needed to say. “You have no reason to trust me, Taylor, but I might need to ask you to take me somewhere tonight. Would you do that, if I asked?” Darcy now plucked at a tiny string on the seat upholstery in her car as she sat in the parking lot outside the lab.
“Should I be worried about this mysterious field trip?” Taylor sounded perplexed as she answered carefully.
“No, it’s nothing crazy. I just…want you to meet some friends with me, okay?” Darcy moved the phone away from her mouth so Taylor wouldn’t hear her heavy, anxious breathing through the microphone. She wondered if she should attempt further explanation but was fairly certain it would just make her sound crazy.
“Okay.” Taylor delivered the word slowly and cautiously.
“I really want to see you, Taylor. I really…I really like you.”
“Me, too. Are you all right?” Taylor was clearly worried.
“I will be when I see you.” Darcy thought it was absolutely true.
“What time should I pick you up?” Taylor asked.
“Give me an hour?”
“See you then.”
Darcy recalled the sensation of Taylor’s body pressed against hers just hours before and hoped her pending revelations wouldn’t dampen any burgeoning feelings she had for her, regardless of the puzzling request she was making.
“Bye, Tay.” Darcy was a combination of wistful and nervous as she threw the phone onto the passenger seat and scrubbed her hands over her face.
Chapter Fifteen
Darcy was the last to arrive at the studio when Parker opened the door for her. Parker looked at her judiciously, trying to assess what was different about the woman who until now seemed so focused on inserting herself in her relationship.
“Hi.” Darcy stared at the floor as she addressed the group, already assembled around the bar.
Sydney watched the uncharacteristically sedate Darcy Dean bring down the energy in the room with a single word. Syd slid the amber bottle of beer to her, and she picked at the label rather than suck down the alcohol.
Sydney found Parker’s ear. “Trust me to be right back?”
“I trust you with everything, love,” Parker said matter-of-factly.
“Excuse us for a minute?” Sydney pushed two fingers into Darcy’s back and directed her away from her intrigued guests and toward the end of the hall.
Darcy looked puzzled as Sydney turned her less than gently to face her.
“What are you doing?” Darcy spun away from Syd’s grasp with a smirk.
“Okay, Dean, here it is,” Sydney continued without further preamble. “I don’t know what’s going on with you right now but you need to listen to me carefully. I spent a lot of years working through our relationship. I can handle what happened. I fought the legacy of whatever that was a long time ago.”
Darcy looked shocked as Sydney continued pointing a rigid finger at her chin.
“I can manage you and whatever the little game is that you’re playing, but Parker isn’t going to be some collateral damage in the process. Do you understand that this isn’t some bar challenge to see who takes home the most women? It isn’t for me anyway.” Darcy stepped back reflexively at Sydney’s ferocity.
Sydney noticed Darcy’s reaction and broke her stare. She suddenly turned away, roughly grazing her hands through her hair before she turned back and allowed herself to continue. Her only thought was fixing the things she’d allowed to make Parker uncharacteristically insecure.
“Dean, I’ve truly loved one person in my life and she’s standing in that kitchen. If I ever have to choose, you won’t be any consideration at all, clear?”
Darcy nodded. The words had obviously stung. She looked at Syd as if trying to find an appropriate moment to enter the conversation.
“I hear you. I get it. I really do,” Darcy said quietly staring at the floor. “Honestly, Syd. I loved you and it took forever to not want you back. When I saw you again, I just felt the old feelings. But I get it. It was a shitty thing to do at the bar and I owe Parker an apology.”
Sydney was dubious.
“I’ll take care of it, really.” Darcy shifted her gaze and Sydney watched her gather her composure before she spoke again. “While we’re here—and believe me, I realize this may not be the best time to ask—but I might need your help. I know you don’t think I deserve it, but I feel stuck.” Darcy pushed the pieces haphazardly into place. “I spent last night with Taylor Westin. I think I really feel something for her. I’m terrified that if I tell her how we met or why, actually, she won’t wait for the whole explanation or believe that I really could care about her.”
Sydney paced along the narrow hall and played the scenario in her mind before she spoke. “Here’s the deal. I’ll help you. As long as you don’t ever ask me to hurt Parker or overlook you doing it again, deal?”
Darcy nodded and smiled at her old lover. “You really have it bad, don’t you?”
Sydney shook her head and fought the grin that sought to overtake her mouth. “You have no idea.” She hoped they had arrived at a place where they could begin again as friends.
The group was quietly offering theories and next steps to each other when Syd and Darcy walked through the kitchen. Darcy stepped over to Parker and urged her gently into the living room.
Syd watched them move toward the wall dividing the spaces. Darcy began what Syd hoped would be the last uncomfortable exchange with Parker. “So, I’ve been kind of an asshole, huh?” Parker shrugged, then flashed a wry smile at Syd. Syd nodded at Parker and hoped the awkward moment would fade quickly.
Darcy cleared her throat, and Syd gave her the floor.
She looked at Mack first. “I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and I think you need to talk to Taylor Westin. She can give us some help that we can’t get otherwise.” She rushed the words out when Mack started to shake her head. “I know she’ll help us. She loves her job and all this missing inventory is making her look bad. She wants the answers as much as we do.” Darcy glanced at Sydney as if hoping for some assistance.
Syd was speaking honestly when she backed Darcy’s suggestion. “I kind of agree, Mack. We don’t know who the players are over there and she does. I know it’s a risk, especially in light of Darcy’s new feelings”—she paused and watched the group focus collectively as a rare blush found Darcy’s cheeks—“but if we’re going to push this over, this might be the best way.”
Syd watched Mack process the latest risk to her career.
Mack absently fingered the relief carved into the brass of the badge clipped to her belt as she responded. “I suppose if you look at it from the outside, I have a picture of a truck and weak circumstantial evidence linked to it. Until I can prove that inventory is missing and that it was likely in that warehouse, then I have nowhere to even start. I couldn’t even report this. All the evidence I think I have wouldn’t get a second look from the DA. I know that, on its face, all this amounts to is speculation.” Mack sighed and sent a warning look to Darcy. “This would burn us both with the city.”
“I know, Mack. I trust her. I don’t know why, but I do.”
After a few seconds, Mack nodded. Darcy dragged her cell from her back pocket and walked out to her car.
* * *
The fateful phone call could end a lot of things that were just starting and Darcy secretly prayed she could stop a runaway train with her words. She sat on the concrete landing outside her door and watched the headlights from Taylor’s Highlander sweep over the lot. She felt a flush wash over her when she saw Taylor scan the building and smile over at her.
“Hey, sexy,” Taylor offered and Darcy wondered if she would have the chance to always feel Taylor’s voice the way she did now.
“Hi.” Darcy stood and fell solidly into Taylor’s embrace. She thought about how they fit together and struggled against the urge to drag her inside instead of having the conversation she dreaded starting. “Before we go, I need to expl
ain something. Please hear me out before you get mad, okay?”
Darcy folded back onto the step and patted the space of cement beside her. Taylor looked nervous as she sat next to Darcy and laced their fingers.
Darcy squeezed Taylor’s hand and launched into the speech she had practiced to herself all day. “I work for the city…in the crime lab.” She paused as Taylor nodded silently. “A cop was killed recently, and my friends, including a police sergeant, were friends of hers. They were finding some things that didn’t make sense. So they started working on it, you could say…unofficially.” Darcy watched as Taylor leaned into the railing reflexively creating distance between them. Darcy held out her hand for Taylor again and felt reassured to continue when she took it.
“So we got some evidence about a truck that was seen in the area on the night she was killed.” Darcy exhaled and felt Taylor’s hand close more tightly against her clammy skin.
“Darcy, I don’t understand what this has to do with me or us.” Taylor leaned in perhaps to study her and Darcy pressed her mouth onto Taylor’s quickly, musing that it could be her last opportunity.
“I know, I’m getting there. I want you to know how much I love being with you and want to see where this goes.” She took another deep breath. Darcy brushed her thumb over the back of Taylor’s hand.
“I do, too.” The question in Taylor’s voice still lingered.
“Okay.” Darcy began and squeezed her eyes shut as if she could summon extra courage if she didn’t have to look at Taylor. She spoke quickly. “I knew who you were before we met. I intended to meet you that night, but I didn’t expect to fall for you.” She forced the sentences out in a rush and winced when Taylor let her hand drop.
“How? I’m obviously missing something.” Taylor’s expression clouded as she processed the conversation.
“The truck at the scene of the shooting was delivering something. We believe that whatever was in it was stolen or somehow intentionally misdirected. Then we found out that the truck belonged to CacheTech.”