by CP Smith
“Says who?” Kari parroted my question.
“Yes. Who says he’s a player?”
Kari looked at Jamila.
Jamila shrugged.
“We heard it from Tonya, who heard it from a friend, who heard it from a friend, who said her cousin knew a woman who’d gone out with him in college.”
I blinked. “Are you telling me the rumor about him being a player goes back to college?”
Kari shrugged.
“And he’s how old now?” I asked, feeling like a fool.
Jamila’s eyes lost focus as she thought about that. “Twenty-five, maybe twenty-six, by my calculations.”
Groaning, I dropped my forehead into my hands.
“You know, now that I think about it,” Kari put in, “I don’t think I’ve seen him with anyone in years.”
I looked at the neon exit sign. If I left now, I could be home in forty minutes. He’d been right. I listened to rumors without proof, and I’d tried and convicted him because of it.
I need to apologize for being an idiot.
“Does this mean you’re gonna ignore the warnings and go out with him?” Jamila asked.
Yes. Yes, I am. From the moment I met James, I’d felt drawn to him. Like he was the answer to the question of life. And he mumbled words like, ‘What if you’re my destiny?’ Yes, I was so going to ignore the warnings.
Both of my brows rose. “What do you think?”
“Tonya’s here,” Kari said, pointing behind me.
We all turned to see her rushing toward the table. She waved, then pushed through the crowded dance floor, making her way over to us.
“This place is a crush with people,” she said, letting out a long breath of exertion. “What did I miss?”
“Susan here is gonna forego the warning about James Mayson.”
Tonya’s head whipped around like a trained ballerina, gaping at me. “What?”
“He asked me out,” I shrugged.
“But we told you he’s a playboy.”
“I think the rumors are false.”
Her eyes bugged out at Kari and Jamila.
They raised their hands in a what can we do shrug.
“What makes you think the rumors are false?”
“You heard it from a friend of a friend of a cousin who knew a woman?”
“That doesn’t make it false,” she argued.
“It doesn’t make it true either. So he dated a lot in college. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Sample the wide selection available until you find someone who’s perfect for you?”
Tonya looked back at Jamila and Kari. “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it. But watch your back either way. Player or not, there are women in Murfreesboro obsessed enough with him they might take your head off if you date him,” she mumbled low, as the music ended. “Which reminds me. You won’t believe this, but on the drive up I heard about a woman who was murdered in Murfreesboro today. Get this, her name was Susan Montgomery.”
My jaw dropped, the threat of women wanting a piece of my hind end forgotten, “What?”
“Yeah,” she nodded. “Susan Montgomery. If I hadn’t known you were alive, I might have freaked.”
“Do you think it will make the Nashville news?” I questioned, worried my parents might come to the same conclusion.
“No idea. Are you worried about your parents hearing it?” Kari asked.
I nodded. “I told them I was coming here before driving back to Murfreesboro, so I hope they would know it’s not me.”
“You could always call them,” Jamila said, pointing to a pay phone.
I looked at the clock. The nightly news wouldn’t be on until ten p.m., so I had time. “The news won’t be on for another two hours, let’s have a drink then I’ll leave and call them from the nearest gas station. They won’t be able to hear me in here anyway.”
Tonya nodded, then stood. “Drinks are on me,” she said, then took our order and moved to the bar.
“That is so freaky,” Jamila said. “It’s like that movie The Terminator. Have you seen it yet?”
“No, is that the one with the cyborg with glowing red eyes?”
“That’s the one. It came out about six months ago.”
“How is a dead woman with my name similar?”
“Well, this woman named Sarah Connor is targeted by this cyborg from the future. He doesn’t know what she looks like, so he kills every Sarah Connor in the phone book.”
“Does she die?”
“No, this guy Reece saves her. He comes back from the future, as well. Though . . . she’s the only one who survives.”
“That just proves women are superior to men,” Kari jumped in, laughing.
Tonya came running back to the table and grabbed my arm, pulling me from the chair. “There’s a TV at the bar, and they just broke in with the story. Come on, they went to a station break first.”
All four of us pushed through the crowd, squeezing in so we could see the TV hanging above the bar. There was text running at the bottom of the screen for the hearing impaired or in this case, a loud bar. We waited patiently until a blonde woman with perky breasts and voluminous hair turned to the camera. “Police and the Sheriff’s department are dealing with double homicides this evening in and around Murfreesboro. The body of a Jane Doe was found near Hurricane Creek around five p.m., while the body of Susan Montgomery was discovered by her neighbor earlier in the day. Police aren’t saying if the murders are related, or how long the women have been deceased.”
The camera broke away from the Barbie-faced newscaster to a live shot outside the county morgue. I gasped when James entered the shot, looking like hell as he climbed the front steps. His face was blanked of emotion, but the rigid way he held his body screamed he was pissed. Like he wanted to tear someone limb from limb.
“He thinks it’s me,” I shouted over the noise. “James is there because he thinks I’m the dead woman.”
Three sets of eyes blinked. Then understanding bloomed. He wouldn’t be there, looking like a man on the edge, if he didn’t truly care for me.
“You need to call him,” Jamila shouted, grabbing my arm.
“I don’t know his number.”
“Call 9-1-1,” Kari said.
“But we’re in Nashville. I need Murfreesboro. Besides, won’t he know once he sees the body it’s not me?”
“What if she’s been dead for days and she’s unrecognizable?” Tonya threw out. “He may not know immediately.”
We all grimaced at that thought.
“Good point,” I mumbled.
“Then get a move on,” Tonya said, pushing me toward the exit.
“We’ll follow you home,” Jamila added. “If someone’s after you, they won’t get past us.”
That stopped me in my tracks. “Why do you think someone is after me?”
“I don’t. I’m just sayin’ if there’s a cyborg waitin’ to kill you, we’ve got your back.”
Eye rolls ensued, then we headed to the parking lot.
We drove in a convoy to my house and made it back in forty-five minutes. As I passed James’s house, I noted there were no lights on inside, so I assumed he was still at the morgue.
Once we pulled into my driveway, the girls piled out of their cars as I headed for my front door. The lights were off. I’d left them that way to save on my energy bill, but now I wished I’d left them on for peace of mind.
“It’s dark in there,” Kari whispered.
“I didn’t leave the lights on.”
“Maybe we should go to the corner and call from a pay phone,” Jamila said.
“Why are you so spooked? I thought this was just a case of mistaken identity,” I asked, then unlocked my door and reached inside to flip on my outside light. The old porch came alive with a warm glow, pushing the darkness into the far-reaching corners. I felt instantly better.
“She’s just being stupid. If it makes you feel better, we’ll check every room while you call the station
,” Tonya said. “Just tell them your name and that you need to speak to James Mayson. That should get their attention.”
“You know in The Terminator movie the same thing happened,” Jamila said, looking a little freaked out.
“Stop. There are no such things as cyborgs,” I admonished.
I started to move inside, but a flood of headlights illuminated US-41 in front of my house. The girls and I turned and watched as a truck pulled into my driveway. It was James. My eyes grew wide as he peeled out of his truck and slammed the door. He said nothing as he approached, but I could tell he was still pissed off.
I started to open my mouth as he climbed my front steps, but I slammed it shut when he put his hand to my chest and moved me into my darkened house, closing the door on my friends without so much as a word to any of them. He locked the door behind us as the girls muttered, “Guess he’s got this under control,” then shouted they were heading out. Before I could say a word, he grabbed my arms, spun me around in a single move, pinning me to the door, and leaned his head into the crook of my neck as he drew air deeply into his lungs.
“I’m not dead,” I mumbled into his throat.
His only reply was to wrap his arms around my waist and haul me deeper into his body.
“I saw you on the news. Knew you thought it was me, so I came home to call you.”
“Twice,” he growled with an edge to his voice. “I lost you twice tonight. I thought God had given me a miracle when you weren’t the first body, only to have my legs taken out from underneath me with the second.”
The world halted and a chill swept through my body as the tiny hairs on my neck stood on end. “Two Susan Montgomerys died tonight?” Visions of a cyborg with glowing red eyes danced in my head.
Though it seemed impossible, James squeezed me even tighter. “Only one. The first is a Jane Doe, but she had your name and phone number written on an ATM receipt, so the investigators went with the assumption that it might be you. I ID’d both women as not being you, then checked the county phone books. There was only one Susan Montgomery listed in Rutherford County and that was the woman who died. I don’t know what the fuck is goin’ on, but you’re safe with me until we figure this out.”
That chill turned into icy claws as what he’d said sunk in. “Did the Jane Doe have long brown hair, about my height?” I asked in a broken breath.
James froze, then pulled back and reached for the light switch. My eyes shut instantly from the sudden intrusion of light. “You know this woman?”
I nodded, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. Sara Watson hadn’t been exaggerating when she said her life was in danger. “If it’s who I think it is,” I began, trying to hold on to my composure. “I met her three days ago when I left for Nashville. She was at the Flying J. She sat beside me at the counter. She was scared, and I was trying to help her.”
My God, she was dead!
“You gave your name and phone number to a stranger?” he barked out.
My head jerked back at the anger in his tone. “Of course, she needed my help.”
“Christ,” he seethed, raking his hands through his hair. “There isn’t enough time in the day for me to explain how dangerous that is, so I’ll skip the lecture for later. Just explain to me why she was scared.”
I closed my eyes and tried to remember everything she told me. “She said she was on the run from her boyfriend. She was dirty and smelled like burnt rubber and dirt. It was clear she needed help, so I gave her some money, along with my name and phone number, in case she needed more help in the future. I would have called you if I thought it would help, but she insisted that the police couldn’t help her, and I was afraid she would bolt if I did. I handled it the only way I could, given how adamant she was not to involve you or anyone else.”
His jaw ticked at my explanation. I expected to be reprimanded further for my involvement, but he let it go for now. “She give you a name?”
“She called herself Sara Watson, but I don’t think she was tellin’ the truth. She wanted to go to Florida to get away from this man, so I gave her money so she could leave. Like I said, I mentioned callin’ the police. Thought you could help her. But she was adamant that I didn’t, so I dropped it. I was just trying to help.”
He stared at me for a moment then his eyes softened, and he drew me into his body. “Do you rescue kittens and help little old ladies across the street?”
“What?”
“Babe, you’ve got a big heart is what I’m sayin’. Your innocence could get you killed, which we’re gonna have to address, but your heart is in the right place.”
I ducked my head at the compliment. “It’s the least anyone would do.”
He tipped my head back with a finger under my chin and shook his head. “Most would walk away. You saw someone in need and went above and beyond.”
I might have gone above and beyond, but it didn’t save her in the end.
Feeling defeated and heartsick for the dead woman, I fell into his chest, breathing in his unique scent of Irish Spring and hay. “I didn’t do enough, though. She’s still dead.” His arms tightened around my back, and I closed my eyes, fighting back tears for a woman I’d barely known.
“We need to get you to the station so you can give your statement, so you’ve got five minutes to pack a bag.”
“Why am I packin’ a bag?”
His eyebrows rose abruptly. “’Cause some asshole killed this Sara, then found the only Susan Montgomery in the phone book and strangled her to death. Somehow he knows you tried to help her and he wants you silenced.”
“I’ll pack my bag,” I answered without question. “Am I stayin’ in a hotel?”
“No. You’re stayin’ with me.”
I jerked my head back, then narrowed my eyes. “I’m not stayin’ with you. I’ve known you two days.”
“Five if you count the days you were gone.”
“Well, I don’t count them. We’ve had three conversations in a two-day period.”
He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. “Why are we havin’ a conversation about how long we’ve known each other?”
“I don’t know. All I know is you’ve asked me out twice and I’ve said no both times, and now you’re tellin’ me to move in to your house. Who does that?”
In a flash James slammed his mouth over mine, silencing my protest. Once again I gasped, allowing his tongue to slip inside. The same spark I’d felt the first time he’d kissed me reignited a flame that had smoldered the past three days, and I moaned deep in my throat from the effect. He only had to touch me, and my mind blanked of all thought. There was no killer. No dead Sara or Susan. Only James and the way he made me come alive.
The lightweight sweater I’d worn over my backless sundress disappeared, falling to the floor in a heap. James ran his tongue along the side of my neck until I shivered, mumbling low in that smooth, honeyed voice of his. “I’ve made you come on the trunk of your car and had my hand wrapped around your breast. I don’t know where this is goin’ between you and me, but I’ve got a pretty good idea. So that means you’re mine. I don’t fuck around with what’s mine. Until this is sorted, you’re in my house, and you’re in my bed. I’m not lettin’ you out of my sight until we know what the fuck is goin’ on. End of discussion.”
I’d like to think I was a stronger woman than I obviously was, but instead of being furious at his high-handed, caveman demands, it turned me on. One moment I was being ordered around by a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal and the next my panties were on the floor.
I gasped, “James,” at the sudden intrusion of his long finger entering my heat. He silenced my reaction with his mouth, crushing his lips over mine in a bruising kiss. Then his thumb rolled the bundle of nerves between my legs, and I lost all coherent thought. I jerked in response to the onslaught of sensations and my back arched as I shattered around his fingers, brilliant light dancing behind my eyes as I came.
“Your tight little body comes for me with b
arely a touch, and you want to argue we barely know each other? You were made for me.”
He rolled my clit again to prove his point, and I shuddered, clenching him tighter with my heat. I knew then he was right. All those sparks that had ran between us with every touch were a sign. If God made one person for every man and woman on earth, it seemed clear that James was that one man for me.
A myriad of emotions bubbled to the surface at that revelation, flooding my body with warmth. I felt happiness mixed together with excitement for the future, but mostly a driving hunger at that moment. With little warning that I was about to give in, I reached behind my head and released the clasp of my dress. It billowed to the floor, leaving me naked as the day I was born. Then I looked up into his blue eyes and waited to see what my wild man would do.
He drew a deep breath into his lungs, let it out slowly, then hissed, “Fuckin’ beautiful,” as he reached for me. As if I weighed nothing, he picked me up and wrapped my legs around his waist, then turned and headed for my bedroom as I attacked his neck.
He threw open the first door he came to and growled when he found it empty. “Last door on the right,” I directed into his ear.
Five seconds later, my back hit the bed with a bounce and then I was reaching for his T-shirt as he pulled off his jeans. I wanted my hands on his skin, my lips tasting his hard lines and planes, but I knew I couldn’t hold out long enough to explore. I needed him inside me as soon as humanly possible.