Strawberry Wine

by E. Jamie

  Caleb grabbed her hand and pulled her forward, cupping the back of her head, and kissed her deeply.

  Chapter Nine

  For a stunned moment, Laura could do nothing but fall into the kiss, her entire body surging toward him, letting her senses spin at the taste of his mouth. Nobody tasted like Caleb. A mixture of earthy and sweet. Laura pulled back, but he held her still; she told herself he was holding her too strongly for her to stop if she’d even wanted to, and so she just sagged against him.

  He gave a soft grunt, and Laura eased back a little, worried she'd hurt him. It was okay to give in a little, she told herself. He was hurt, she was comforting him. That was all. He wasn’t in his right mind. But you are, her conscience accused even while her tongue sought out Caleb's. Warmth spread from his mouth down Laura's body in exquisite shivers. His hand moved lower to her back to bring her half across his body on the bed, and then his other hand pushed her shirt up and he was touching the bare skin of her back.

  She moaned at his touch, her body taking over in a lust-filled sense memory, wanting to climb on top of him and have him fill her as deep and hard and deliciously as only he ever could.

  He nibbled at her lips before diving into her mouth again, running his fingers through her hair. Then the hand at her back moved forward to her chest, and he cupped a full breast and gave a groan of satisfaction at encountering bare skin.

  “Laura...” Caleb sighed between kisses. “Missed you...so goddamned much.”

  She couldn’t speak; his fingers teased her nipple, and his mouth was on her collarbone, drifting lower.

  “Take this off...the shirt...I want to...my mouth...” Caleb panted, lifting Laura's shirt higher.

  Laura trembled, so near to orgasm that her legs were dangerously close to buckling underneath her. Her conscience pricked at her again, and she remembered Caleb telling her that last night had been a mistake. They’d been drunk. Now he was drugged. He’d just say it again. A mistake. A lapse in judgment. They could never go back to being those innocent teenagers who loved each other so completely, because that kind of love never lasted.

  She pulled away, and they just stared at each other, panting in the dim light.

  “Why did you stop?” he asked.

  “I'm sorry, Caleb. I can’t do this,” Laura replied. What was one more lie on the mountain she’d already told?

  They simply had too much pain between them to ever give in to the attraction she knew was still there. The knowledge seeped in between them, and she felt so sick inside she couldn't touch Caleb anymore. Did he remember telling her he loved her? Of course he didn’t. He hadn’t meant it. He’d been drugged out of his mind. She pulled against his grip on her arms, and he released her. Easily.

  The heat in his eyes was replaced by cold resignation, and she wanted to cry.

  “I need to call your mother and tell her you’re here.” She stood and reached for the phone on the table by the bed.

  “Oh, don’t bother. She’ll just worry—”

  “And if I don’t, she’ll have my head,” she reminded him. “Trust me. I need to earn the points.”

  “Fine,” he sighed, and she watched his eyes close again when sleep claimed him once more.

  ****

  Laura flashed her badge at the doorman and pushed through the heavy door before he could let her in. The blaring, pulsing music coupled with the sweeping spotlights made it hard to concentrate on the various male faces, trying to pick out the one she wanted.

  The fact that all their heads were turned toward the prancing naked woman on stage didn’t help matters either. She decided her best bet was the bartender. “Hey, how’s it going?” she shouted over the music. “Just a beer.”

  The bartender took one look at her and must have smelled cop, because he rolled his eyes and slid the beer toward her, turning his attention back to the other men at the bar.

  One of them, a pencil thin, pinched-faced man, smiled at her, looking her up and down. “Nice outfit, baby. How much for a lap dance?”

  “Sorry, I got my shots this morning and I don’t think they’ve taken yet, so I don’t want to risk it,” Laura sneered.

  “Look, what do you want?” the bartender asked, clearly anxious for her to leave.

  “I’m looking for Mankell. He around?”

  “You got an appointment?” he asked with a laugh.

  “Yeah, right here.” Laura pulled out her badge and set it on the bar.

  The men around her scattered like rats.

  “Hey, this is a legit establishment, okay? Our dancers are over eighteen, and we got our liquor license.”

  “Good to know. Now if you want to keep it that way, you’ll answer my question. Where’s Mankell?”

  “Let me give him a call, all right? I don’t wanna lose my job.”

  “By all means,” Laura said, feigning a genial smile.

  He moved off to the corner and pulled out his cell phone. He came back a minute later and pointed behind her to a table close to the stage.

  She made her way through the tables to where she finally spotted Mankell and his men. He smiled when he saw her, and Laura felt a shudder go through her at the grin.

  “Please, someone offer this…lady…a seat,” he insisted, his voice tinged with the slightest hint of his Norwegian accent peeking through. The man to his left stood up and pointed to his seat while he grabbed an empty one from another table.

  “To what do I owe this pleasure?” Mankell asked.

  He sat at ease in his chair, blue eyes lit with amusement at her presence.

  “I just wanted to drop by personally and thank you for the greeting your goons gave us the other day, because you made our job a hell of a lot easier. You see, it’s a funny thing about working with criminals. They’re not so much with the loyalty. Now I’m sure you insisted that they just give us a warning and not actually try to kill us, because I don’t think you’re a stupid man. Slime, but not stupid.”

  “Sweetheart, please. All this praise is getting me excited.”

  Laura sneered at him. “Thing is, though, one of your men shot my partner. That’s attempted murder of a police officer. It’s amazing what a goon will do or say to save his own ass.”

  The smile on his face didn’t waver. It stayed, cold and still on his face. That, more than anything else, hinted to Laura at the pure fury boiling underneath.

  “I thought you just might want to know that we’re on to you. We know what you’ve been doing with all those innocent children, and you’re going to be spending the rest of your life in prison. If you make it that long. Funny thing about most criminals. They can shove ice picks into people, rob banks, but if they hear you’ve been abusing children? Well, let’s just say all the power in the world won’t save you from what will be waiting for you in prison when we finally take you down.” She looked at the other men at the table. “I’d be thinking about taking my business elsewhere if I were you.”

  Mankell shook his head. “I am a simple businessman, and you come here throwing around all these accusations. I would be very careful if I were you, my dear. I might forget that I am a gentleman even if you are no lady.”

  “Threatening a police officer?” Laura cocked an eyebrow.

  Mankell put his hands up and leaned back in his seat. “Of course not. I’m just pointing out that it seems rather reckless of you to come here and confront me, all by yourself, if you believe I am this monster you paint me to be.”

  She stood up and placed her hands on the table and leaned over him. “I’m not afraid of you. Besides, I know you wouldn’t ever hurt me yourself. You’d send your men to do your dirty work for you. You’re type personally is someone a little younger, a little less female. Oh yeah. I know exactly what rings your bell, you son of a bitch. I promise you, the day you touch another child, is the day I come and personally slit your throat myself,” Laura vowed, rage making her voice shake.

  He snorted, but his eyes flashed hatred at her.

  “Oh, and one
more thing before I go.” When she got close enough to him, she balled up her fist and punched him hard across the jaw. “That was for Caleb.”

  His men made a grab for her, but Mankell jumped to his feet and held them back. “No!” he barked. He wiped the blood from his lip and glared at her. “You are right, my dear. I am not a man who enjoys violence myself. But for you, I shall make an exception. Rest assured that I will squeeze the life out of you with my bare hands right when the opportunity presents itself.”

  “I’ll keep an ear out for the knock then,” Laura tossed back and then turned and left, satisfied she had done what she’d come to do.

  ****

  Caleb grabbed her with his uninjured arm the moment she walked into the apartment. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Good to see you too,” she said when her startled heart beat at a normal pace again.

  “Why didn’t you answer your phone?” he demanded.

  Laura grimaced. She hadn’t heard it ring in the club. “Did someone forget to take their pain medication?”

  “Damn it, Laura. I woke up and you were gone.”

  “Oh, would you relax?” she insisted, kicking off her shoes and walking into the kitchen.

  “Right. Relax. Forgive me for being a little touchy, since the last time you disappeared, it was for ten years.”

  Laura stiffened and looked at him, slamming the refrigerator door shut. “Is that supposed to be funny?”

  “Do you see me laughing?” Caleb asked, glaring at her.

  “Let’s get something straight.” She stormed back toward him, stopping behind the couch. “You are not my keeper. After I got ambushed in my apartment, I came here because I knew that you and I had stuff we needed to work through. Not because I needed you to protect me. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and I do not need to account for every second of my day.”

  “Sure, you don’t need anybody, right?” Caleb sneered. “You can do it all on your own. Laura Thatcher looks out for number one, and God help any poor son of a bitch who gets in her way or is too goddamned stupid to give a damn. ” He stormed toward her so that she had no choice but to back up into the dividing wall between the kitchen and the living room. “First me, then my brother. Was is it just that easy for you to go back and forth between us?”

  Laura raised her free hand to slap him, but Caleb caught her wrist and, with his free hand, tightened his fingers around it.

  “You got the first one in for free back at my mom’s. The second one, I'll hit back,” he warned. “You made the choice, Laura. You walked out.... I can't just toss people aside the way you do.” Then his eyes softened, as did the grip on her wrist. “I understand what you told me that night. It doesn't excuse what you did, but I know that...it wasn't ’cause you stopped....” His voice caught, and he closed his eyes, taking a deep, shaky breath. “I can't trust you anymore. That's the bottom line, and no matter how we felt or feel about each other, it comes down to that. I let you in once, and you burned me,” he explained, stepping back from her.

  Laura blinked through her tears. He was right. Of course he was right, she told herself. But she wrapped her arms around herself because she was afraid she was going to shatter from the pain of his words. What on earth was she doing, tearing herself up all over again with this man? Wasn’t that the very definition of insanity? “You’re right. You’re right. We can’t keep doing this anymore. Things have just gotten too intense with us being in such close quarters.” She pushed past him. “If we’re going to continue to work together on this case, we can’t live together.”

  “Wait,” he protested, grabbing her arm. “I didn’t mean I wanted you to leave—”

  “No, but I have to leave, Caleb. Come on,” Laura insisted. “I appreciate you worrying about me. Karl can keep an eye—”

  “Oh, of course. Karl!” he snapped, rolling his eyes.

  “Would you stop?” Laura demanded. “There is nothing going on with me and Karl. He is just a friend, okay? He has been there for me during the worst times in my life.”

  “Yeah, and whose fault is that?” Caleb shot back.

  Laura shook her head and threw up her hands. “Here we go again. Look, Caleb, you can’t keep doing this to me! You can’t tell me that you don’t trust me and can’t be with me and then turn around and act like some goddamned jealous caveman whenever I mention Karl.”

  “I am not jealous!” Caleb replied, though Laura saw the flush in his face that showed the blatant lie.

  “Just forget—” Laura grabbed her purse and stormed toward the door, but Caleb grabbed her. Unfortunately, he grabbed her with his injured arm, without thinking, and cried out in pain.

  She turned back in an instant, forgetting her anger, focusing only on the fact that he was in pain. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. Damn it. I think I just, ow, need to check the stitches,” he groaned, grabbing his injured shoulder and leaning against the arm of the couch.

  “Here, let me see,” she urged, undoing the buttons of his shirt. She got halfway done before it occurred to her maybe she shouldn’t.

  His eyes met hers, and Laura held her breath when his gaze moved down to her mouth.

  She pulled away, not trusting herself to keep her resolve not to make the same mistake of falling into him again.

  Laura lifted trembling fingers to the collar of his shirt and pulled it back, revealing the stained bandage. “I’ll…um…get you another one.” She all but ran to the bathroom in her rush to get away from the heat between them. She slammed the door shut and pressed her back against it, waiting for her heart rate to return to normal before she could even move.

  Maybe it would be better if she did let him believe something was going on between her and Karl. Then Caleb would back off, and her heart would be safe again. But something recoiled against the idea. Karl was just never a potential romance for her. They had their own sad history that bound them.

  ****

  “She's young...should have no...conceiving again...” The voices were distant, like they were wrapped in the cotton that filled Laura's mouth.

  “She's coming around.” A male voice...Caleb? Laura fought towards that voice. Her eyelids felt like they had two bowling balls sitting on top of them. She whimpered against the all-over soreness of her body.

  “Hurts...”Her own voice sounded as muffled as theirs to her own ears.

  “Easy, just take it easy. Don't move around.” Was she moving? Every limb felt like dead weight.

  “Caleb?” She pushed the name through her fog. Very slowly her eyelids fluttered open. She tried to make out more than white through the blur covering her eyes. Gently, the world around her cleared, and she could make out distinct shapes. There was a woman in a white coat with a badge pinned to the pocket and a man sitting by the bed she didn't recognize. “Who the hell...are you?” she asked, her tongue clumsy in her mouth.

  He had dark hair, close cropped, and narrow blue eyes, thin lips that were set in a frown. Almost Caleb...but not. “My name's Karl. I was...” He cleared his throat. “I was in the car that hit you.”

  “Car?” she asked, groggy. What car? Where was Caleb? Her head was throbbing like a bitch, and she just wanted to curl up in bed and have him rub the base of her neck for her like he always did when she had a migraine. This was one was a doozy.

  “Ms. Thatcher, you were hit by a car this afternoon,” the lady doctor explained.

  Laura's eyes shifted to the little twig of a woman. Big round eyes, pert little nose and dark hair pulled back in a ponytail.

  “What?” she asked, wishing these idiots would start making sense. Just then, it came to her, like a whisper in the back of her mind. Oh yeah, Thatcher. Don't you remember? After your little heart to heart with Mommy? Whammo!

  “Ms. Thatcher, are you aware that you were pregnant at the time of the accident?” Lady Doc asked.

  Laura's body tensed after a shudder went through it. “Were?” She forced the word out past her lips. No
...not this...God, not this. Please.

  “I'm sorry, but the baby is gone.”

  Laura shook her head in confusion. “Gone? Where?”

  The man beside her...what was his name again?…went pale and looked like he was about to throw up.

  “No, I mean...I'm sorry, but your baby is dead,” the doctor replied, her brown eyes filled with sympathy.

  Laura felt a very strange sort of click in her chest, and a feeling like thousands of pinpricks washed over her body. “No,” she said.

  “I'm afraid—” Then the doctor stopped because Laura Thatcher was laughing, curled up on her side, laughing hysterically.

  “Is there anyone you want me to call for—” The guy at her bedside...Karl, right…placed a hand on her shoulder, and Laura drew her hand back and punched him sharply in the nose. The I.V. tore out of her hand, and now they were both bleeding.