by Kari Lemor
Dread flooded his veins, leaving him chilled. That left only Tina.
* * * *
“Good morning.” Chris greeted cheerfully.
Meg groaned, her dream interrupted. In it she and Chris had been passionately rolling around on the sand, the waves tickling their overheated skin as they caressed every inch of the other.
She awakened fully as she recognized his voice. Better than any dream. He was the real thing. And he smelled like bacon.
“Morning,” she mumbled, her word lost on a yawn. “Am I needed on balcony duty?”
“Nope, Wednesday, remember. Moreno does the books today,” Chris answered and she finally pried her eyes open. He stood near the bed, a tray in his hands. A plate of food, coffee and a single rose rested on it. This was different. He’d been remote the last few days except when they were in public. Ever since she’d stumbled upon his nightmare.
She pushed herself into a sitting position looking dubiously at the bed tray as Chris settled it around her legs. “Okay, what’d you do?”
Confusion crossed his face. “What do you mean what’d I do? I brought you breakfast in bed.”
Her eyebrows rose. “So you must have done something I wouldn’t like if you’re treating me to this. Oh, God, you didn’t throw me into the pot last night when you were playing cards, did you? I already owe Moreno way too much. I can’t do anything else.”
He sat next to her as she cautiously picked up a piece of toast spread with blueberry jam, her favorite. The look on his face warmed her insides. What was he up to?
“It’s your birthday today,” he reminded her. Meg blushed. She hadn’t actually forgotten but she didn’t imagine anyone else would know. She’d spent last year sitting on the beach alone then serving drinks for the entire night.
“Thanks, I didn’t think anyone would…” she trailed off feeling ridiculous. Of course he knew when her birthday was. He probably had a whole case file on her. He’d run her fingerprints after all to find out who she was before he asked her to help him.
He snitched a piece of fruit, smiling at her. “I didn’t make a cake like we did last week for your mom. I don’t have the touch for baking either. But I can do breakfast and I’ve got a few other things planned, so eat up.”
Shoveling the food into her mouth, she looked up appreciatively. “It’s good.”
“I try. The bacon’s crisp, eggs not runny, coffee with extra cream and extra sugar. Just the way you like it.”
She chuckled as she took a sip of the sweet liquid. “Maybe you’ve been cooking me breakfast too long, huh? Or I might need to add to my repertoire.”
“No, no need to change,” he assured her. “I like you the way you are. Now finish up so we can go.”
He left the room and she thought of what he’d said. ‘I like you the way you are’. Did he mean that? And in what capacity did he like her? As a friend? As someone to work with? As a potential lover? She wished she knew where she stood with him but their relationship was one of pretense. It wasn’t real. Well, except their desire to put Moreno in prison for a very long time.
She enjoyed her birthday breakfast wondering what else he had in mind. No hanging out by the pool listening in on Moreno’s conversations. But what? She quickly cleaned up, dressed in her nicest shorts and a pretty summer top then went looking for Chris.
He led her to the car and as they drove she peppered him with questions.
“Where are we going? What are we doing? Am I going to like it?”
Laughing he said, “You’ll see where we’re going in a few minutes. You’ll see what we’re doing when we get there and I’m hoping you’ll like it. I only have one request for today.”
“What’s that?”
“No talking about the club or Moreno or anything work related,” he told her. “It’s going to be a happy birthday.”
“I like it already,” she said settling back to enjoy the ride.
When they pulled up to a fancy spa, Meg’s eyes popped out of her head. “Is this where we’re going?”
“This is our first stop,” he said cryptically, but wouldn’t divulge any more no matter how much she bugged him.
Within minutes though, she didn’t even care. She was whisked away for a full body massage then facial, manicure and pedicure, and even had her hair deep cleansed and conditioned to remove all the chlorine build up from the pool.
Chris disappeared during this time. Now as she sat with her hair being styled and her toenails being polished, she could see him through the large front windows. He stood across the road talking to a street vendor, chewing on a hot dog.
Damn, was he handsome. He wore a pair of khaki pants and an untucked navy blue t-shirt, maybe the one she’d cried on last week. At least she hadn’t ruined it. It sure did fit him nicely. But then he wore everything nicely. The man had a physique that women drooled over. Broad shoulders, trim waist, slim hips, long muscular legs. Her temperature soared thinking about all the times she’d snuggled with him while he’d been in a bathing suit.
Enough. He’d said no thinking about work. Their undercover roles were considered work, right? So did that mean today they were truly friends? She’d have to wait and see.
When her hair had been brushed to a silky sheen and her fingernails and toenails decorated, she found Chris standing in the doorway waiting for her.
“Here she is, Mr. Martin,” the proprietress practically cooed at Chris as Meg was led forward. “All primped, pampered and completely beautiful.”
He kept his eyes on her, eyes that were letting her know he liked what he saw. “She’s always been beautiful. You had nothing to do with that. But I do thank you for the primping and pampering. Time to go now, sweetie, we have another appointment.”
She tucked her hand into the elbow he extended, holding the bag of complimentary shampoos and toiletries in the other. “Where are we going now? We can’t stay too long. I need to go to work in another hour.”
He waited until they were on the sidewalk before he spoke again. “Actually you aren’t going into work tonight.”
“I’m not…wait did you get me fired?” No, that didn’t make any sense. You couldn’t get fired from being a slave and she hadn’t paid Moreno back yet. Although Eddie had. She pushed that thought aside remembering it was her birthday and it was supposed to be happy.
He chuckled. “No, although you weren’t too far off when you suggested I might have thrown you into the pot last night at the game. Moreno lost big time so I made a deal. Let him off the hook for the two grand he owed me and you got another day off this week.”
“I got…wait, I’m worth two grand a night? Cool.” She grinned smugly then realized what he’d said. “Hold on, if I’m worth two grand a night then I would have been paid off after being there a month. I’ve been there nineteen months now. How come I’m still nowhere near being through?”
He slid his hand on her shoulder and pulled her tight against him. “Remember we said no talking about work.”
She was about to argue again when he lowered his head and uttered, “And I think you’re worth way more than two grand a night.”
Reveling in the warmth of his arm and the words he’d spoken, she kept quiet. When they entered a fashionable and expensive boutique, she remained speechless. The staff however did not. They rushed over, immediately gushing all over Chris, who had apparently made an appointment ahead of time.
“Oh, she’s lovely,” cooed one platinum blonde who had to be twice Meg’s age but dressed like she was a teenager. “And her figure is perfect. We’ll have no problem finding her something, Mr. Martin. If you’ll have a seat in here we’ll get started.”
Meg looked around, her eyes wider than ever. Three women hustled them into a back room where they indicated a cushy love seat for Chris to sit on. She was about to join him when one of them pulled on her arm saying, “Oh, no, you come with us.”
For the next hour she was stripped, clothed and rec
lothed numerous times. Each time she was made to parade in front of Chris in whatever outfit they’d selected for her. He’d look up from the newspaper he was reading, gaze at her thoughtfully and nod in approval. At one ridiculous outfit Meg actually stormed over to him and grabbed the paper.
“Are you serious, muffin,” she huffed pointing out the feathers that hung off the shoulders of this outrageous creation. “I think I could actually fly in this one. You seriously want to be seen with me in this?”
His crooked grin broke out as he peered at her from top to bottom. “Hmm, okay, not that one. We do need a dress for tonight though. How about something elegant and classy; maybe in blue to bring out the color of her eyes.”
He addressed the ladies waiting on them and they immediately set about digging through racks pulling more clothes for her to see. She’d had enough of this. How did rich people do it all the time? She’d hate it.
Taking a deep breath, she marched over to the racks to see for herself what they had. In short order her gaze fell upon something that grabbed her attention.
“This, I want to try this on.”
Two of the ladies shooed her back into the dressing room while the older one had a discussion with Chris. What could he possibly be talking to her about? He was a guy. And he hadn’t seemed all that interested in what she’d been wearing. She sighed. All still part of the illusion they had to keep going; even on a day where they weren’t supposed to talk about the case. It was tiring.
She wasn’t tired of this dress though. It was a deep-blue slip with an open-work crocheted lace overlay that clung to her curves in all the right places. It was still conservative, at least compared to her waitress uniform, but sexy at the same time. And it did make the blue of her eyes stand out even more.
“I like it. How much is it?”
“Oh, Mr. Martin said we weren’t to tell you any of that. He said it’s your birthday present so you couldn’t know how much he’d spent. Why don’t we go show it to him now?”
Meg balked. First, she had a right to know what he was spending on her. This place was hardly a thrift shop. Second, she didn’t want him to see it right now. If he was surprising her with where they were going then she could surprise him with what she was wearing.
“Nope,” she insisted. “Just wrap it up. I want it to be a surprise. Although I will need some shoes to go with it. I can hardly wear those.” She pointed to the canvas sneakers she’d worn here.
Minutes later she was sliding her feet into a variety of matching shoes seeing what went best. She completely ignored any with a heel over an inch and instead finally chose a pair of dainty ones with numerous straps that crisscrossed then met in the middle with a jewel encrusted ring. The heel was small but they were still elegant. She nodded to the ladies again then swiftly stripped to put her own clothes back on.
Chris was still reading the paper when she came out. He looked up smiling but paused at her outfit.
“You didn’t find anything?”
“I did and you’ll see it later. When you finally tell me where we’re going.”
He laughed, standing to nod at the older woman again. “Let’s go then, we don’t want to be late.”
She made a face, not sure how she felt about leaving the area. “Mr. Moreno might not like me going too far. He got real pissed one time when he found me taking a bus to Tina’s house. Thought I might be skipping out on him. I don’t need him mad. He’s not particularly pretty when he’s mad.”
Chris started the car letting the air conditioner cool the inside. He turned and took her hand. “First, I don’t want to talk about business today. It’s your birthday. But to relieve your mind, Moreno knows I’m taking you away for the night and that I’ll return you later. I gave him the impression I was taking you to a kink club. He seemed intrigued.”
She glared. “Great. I can’t even imagine what this man thinks I’m doing with you. As long as I don’t have to show him, it’s okay. But if he starts asking for demonstrations, I’m out of there.”
He squeezed her hands gazing at her seriously. “I would never expect you to do anything like that. Even a hint of it and I’ll have you gone before Moreno knows what hit him. But for now,” his face lit up, “it’s time to get to our final destination.”
“We’re not going back to the hotel to change?” She was confused. “Am I going to have to shimmy into that dress in the back of the car while we’re driving? That might distract a few other drivers.”
He put the car in gear. “No, no peep shows for anyone else.” He maneuvered into traffic.
“Oh, but you get one?”
“Sure, if that’s what you want,” he teased and she sat back shaking her head.
She honestly wouldn’t mind giving him a peep show if it would do any good. He’d seen her in her bathing suit however and aside from their pretend PDA it hadn’t seemed to have any effect on him. He walked right through the bedroom every night to use the bathroom and never once seemed like he wanted to crawl in bed with her. Maybe he didn’t find her attractive. Or maybe he truly meant it when he said he didn’t want to ever get involved in a long-term relationship with anyone. She should be honored he didn’t think of her as merely a quick fling, and yet…
She sat back watching the miles fly by as they headed south. Soon they were on U.S. One to the Keys and she looked sharply at him. “Um, there are only a bunch of islands out here you know.”
He nodded. “Yes, I’m aware. We’re going to Key Largo.”
A short while later they pulled into the parking lot of a fancy resort. Holy cow, what was he doing? She kept her mouth closed as he got out, grabbed a garment bag and her purchases from the boutique and led her inside.
As he checked in he explained, “I got us a room so we can change. This place has a great restaurant for dinner and dancing.”
“Dancing?” She groaned softly thinking of the disco lights and loud music of the club. Not her first choice of things to do on an extra night off. But he had been sweet to arrange for this special day, she certainly didn’t want to complain.
“Not like the club,” he said as if reading her mind. “This is big band music and slow dancing. Not a flashing light in sight.”
Big band music had never been her thing, but a year and a half of the gyrating, pounding music every night at work might make her a convert. As they entered the room he’d reserved, she smiled that it wasn’t a suite. Just one room although there were two large queen-sized beds. But he’d said he got the room so they could change. Was that all?
“I’ve got dinner reservations for seven,” he said as he set the bags on the bed. “Why don’t you use the bathroom to get ready and I’ll get dressed out here.”
She picked up her dress then frowned at the second bag he handed her. A peek inside revealed silky undergarments that matched the dress. Was that what he’d been speaking with the sales lady about? Hopefully he hadn’t picked them out. Or maybe he had and he wanted a little fashion show. She smiled. It could be an interesting night.
Chapter 14
When Meg entered the bathroom, Chris unzipped his bag, placing a black suit, crisp white shirt, and spit-shined shoes on the bed. He pulled his shirt over his head. Today had been interesting.
He’d loved watching her face as he’d surprised her with each new gift. She’d been shocked and excited but also appreciative. He still remembered how she’d been when he’d picked her up at the spa. She’d practically skipped over to him thrusting her hands out for his perusal.
“Look,” she’d giggled. “Aren’t they adorable? She painted little flowers on the first finger. And my big toes, too.” She’d lifted one bare foot to show him the pastel pink color and flower decoration. Like a little girl, and refreshing from her typical sarcastic banter, though he had to admit he liked that too.
There were a lot of things he liked about her, and that could spell trouble for him. He couldn’t afford to get too involved. Once this case was over
it would be over for them too. That was the way he liked things. Drop that damsel off at the castle gate and ride into the sunset alone. So why wasn’t relief oozing through him when he thought of doing this with her?
He tried not to dwell too long on that as he switched his khakis for dress slacks then shrugged on the white button-down. Socks, shoes, then the patterned tie he’d chosen. It had a splash of blue in it to go with her eyes. The dress she’d chosen was blue wasn’t it? She hadn’t shown it to him.
She’d been a trooper about showing him everything else though. He smirked remembering the half dozen outfits he’d had the proprietress pack up for them. Meg hadn’t realized he was buying her all this. She thought it was only the dress and shoes and hadn’t known about the lingerie he’d had them add as well. But soon enough, once they finished this Moreno business, she’d need more to wear. She’d said she wanted to go back in style. He’d make sure she did.
He was slipping his suit coat on when the bathroom door creaked open. The dress was stunning on her and his breath actually stopped as she shyly stepped into the room. It was classy and elegant but hugged every delectable curve she had. Gold earrings dangled beneath her hair that was sleek and pulled back slightly. Her tanned skin didn’t need any enhancing but her eyelashes were darker and longer so she must have put some make-up on. She hadn’t used any since she’d been living with him. The spa? Probably. It was perfect, just enough.
“Is it okay?” Her hands fiddled with then smoothed down her skirt as she nibbled on her bottom lip.
Why was she nervous? She must know she was exquisitely beautiful. Then again she might not. She always did seem to make jokes about being a mess. That was usually when he had the hardest time keeping his hands from grabbing and ravishing her. Now was another one of those times.
“You look absolutely gorgeous,” he complimented and she genuinely blushed. “I might not be able to take you out tonight. The women will all hate you because every man in the room will be staring at you. Come to think of it, I don’t want every guy staring at you. We could do room service.”