Pierced: Pierced Trilogy Boxed Set

by Lashell Collins

  “Oh, I might. If you keep making threats like that I may not have a choice,” I smile wickedly at her and she blushes softly. She is so pretty! I lean down and kiss her deeply for a moment and then I kiss her forehead before I turn and head to the bedroom to get out of my jacket and my holster. Then I make a quick pit stop in the bathroom.

  By the time I return to the kitchen, Sam has dinner all plated up and it looks incredible. Lasagne and garlic bread and a garden salad. She’s pouring herself a glass of red wine and she looks up and smiles at me.

  “I bought you some Corona at the store,” she says lightly. “Or we have wine, or milk, or lemonade, or…”

  I laugh out loud, cutting her off. “A glass of wine is fine, baby,” I tell her as I sit down. She pours another glass and joins me at the table. When I take my first bite I am lost for a few seconds as I close my eyes and savor the deliciousness.

  “Mmm. Wow, baby, this is incredible,” I mumble as I swallow, and quickly take another bite.

  “Really?”

  “Mmm. Mm hmm,” I answer as I chew. “This is even better than Mom’s,” I tell her honestly, and she smiles from ear to ear. I look up and fix her with a serious expression. “Of course, if you ever tell her I said that, I will deny it fiercely.”

  She laughs at me then, and we eat our dinner and chat about our day. I tell her about the new case Conner and I are working on and she tells me all about shopping with Meg and buying things for my place. Turns out she’s also bought new bath towels and several sets of 1200 thread count sheets for the bed. I don’t know why that kind of stuff is important to women but, I meant what I said to her earlier. I do want her to feel comfortable here so, I don’t say anything. I just smile and listen. And I think about the initial aggravation I felt when I first walked in and wondered if she was planning to move in permanently. I admit, the thought made me nervous. But it also sounded … I don’t know. Nice? I frown slightly at the thought now.

  “So the rehearsal dinner for the wedding is at Canlis on Friday. I was hoping maybe you’d come with me,” Samantha is saying, and I blink at her as I try to push my thoughts aside.

  “Come with you?” I say, frowning.

  “Yes. To the rehearsal dinner on Friday,” she repeats, taking a bite of her salad. “Well, it’s part of the wedding festivities so, you don’t have to worry about money or anything,” she says awkwardly, looking down at her plate. “I mean … um…,”

  Her voice trails off nervously and I take a deep breath and sigh as I set my fork down. Reaching over, I lightly run my finger over the back of her hand. “Samantha, you don’t have to tiptoe around the money issue. In fact … if we’re really going to try to do this relationship thing … we should probably just get used to talking about it. Because the fact is … when it comes to money, we could not be any further apart, Sam. We are at total opposite ends of that spectrum. And while I’d like to think of myself as a modern, progressive man … I know that on some things, I am as old fashioned and chauvinistic as they come. I have a problem with a woman paying my way,” I tell her honestly. My gaze is trained on her beautiful eyes and I shrug at her as I say, “That’s something I’m obviously going to have to learn how to deal with, because I know with certainty that there is no way I will ever make the kind of money you already have at your fingertips.”

  She’s silent for a few seconds as she holds my gaze and then she says quietly, “Josh, I don’t want my family’s money to be a problem for us.”

  “I don’t want that either, baby,” I say softly.

  “So, what do we do?” she asks, still looking into my eyes.

  “I don’t know,” I answer, holding her hand and rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. “We talk, I guess. When things come up, we talk about it. We try to meet in the middle,” I say, remembering my mother’s advice. “I’ll try if you will.”

  She smiles at me then and leans in and softly kisses my lips. “I’ll try too.”

  We finish our dinner then and afterwards, I help her clear the table and wash the dishes. I don’t have a dishwasher here so, we do it the old fashioned way – I wash while Sam dries and puts things away. But I don’t mind because we have fun talking while we work, and I marvel at that. I have never wanted to spend so much time with any one person before, and I sure as hell have never laughed with and had so much fun with someone. What is it about her that makes me so … happy? Is that what this is? Happiness.

  When we’re finished with the kitchen and Samantha puts away the last of the dishes, I sweep her into my arms without warning, and she yelps.

  “Josh! What are you doing?”

  “Time to cuff you to the bed,” I tell her with a wicked grin.

  “You wouldn’t,” she yells, and I think she’s really shocked. “But I stopped threatening you,” she whimpers with a nervous smile.

  “Yeah, you did, didn’t you,” I answer. “Hmm. Well maybe you could threaten me a little more,” I whisper as I lean in to kiss her neck as I hold her, and she giggles as I carry her slowly to the bedroom.

  *****

  I pull on my briefs and creep out of the bedroom, being careful not to wake Sam. She looks so beautiful right now, sleeping peacefully with her hair fanned out across the pillow. I turn and leave the room, walking down the hall toward the kitchen where I saw her iPod sitting on the counter before we ate dinner. As we were making love I thought again about how I want to show her everything I’m feeling for her and wondering how to do that without words, and it came to me. And it’s so simple, I can’t believe I didn’t see it before.

  I pick up her iPod and take it into the dark living room and have a seat on the couch. Then I pick up my laptop and connect the iPod to it, and get to work. It takes me about an hour to decide on which songs I want to use to say all the things I need to say to her. But once I do and I download them all, I feel a great sense of accomplishment. This has to work. If she truly listens … it has to work.

  My task completed, I unhook the iPod and set it on the table. Then I put away my laptop and get up to go back to bed.

  Chapter Two

  Samantha

  I am panting and spent, trying desperately to catch my breath as I lay across Josh’s chest. His hands are in my hair and on my back, and he’s still buried deep inside me as I straddle him. We both struggle to take in air and the alarm clock begins to beep at us, and I moan in protest as he pulls out of me and reaches to shut it off.

  “Time to start the day, baby,” he says softly, still panting slightly.

  “I think we just did that,” I giggle, and he chuckles, hugging me tightly to him. He kisses the top of my head and I nuzzle his chest. I love this. Being in his arms after we make love. Being in his arms anytime is special, of course. But this … this is heaven. My favorite place to be. I inhale deeply, taking in the scent of him and snuggling close. I wish we didn’t have to leave this room. And I sense that Josh feels the same way as he snuggles in close too.

  I’m not sure how long we lay like this, but it must be several minutes because Josh finally takes a deep breath and says, “Come on, baby. We’ve got to get up or I’m going to be late.” He kisses the top of my head again and releases me, sitting up.

  “I love you, Josh,” I say softly as he moves to get out of the bed. I think my words startle him a little bit but, he doesn’t look as shell-shocked as he did the first time. He looks down at me and reaches out to caress my face.

  “Sam,” he whispers, looking into my eyes but saying nothing more. He leans down then and kisses me deeply, and I get the feeling he’s trying to tell me something in his kiss. Am I imagining that? He looks into my eyes again and then he stands and walks slowly out of the room. A moment later I hear the shower come on in the bathroom and I sit up wondering what just happened.

  I sigh as I get out of the bed and pull on my green silk robe and venture out to the kitchen to take my pill and start breakfast. I hear Josh finish up in the bathroom and go back into the bedroom to dress, and I think about h
ow strange it is to be able to hear everything that goes in here. It’s a new experience for me, being in a house this small. Josh’s place is a lot smaller than my apartment and it definitely presents some unique challenges. Like the closets for instance. What a nightmare! I don’t know if Josh and I could fit in here together if I brought over all of my clothes and shoes. It certainly wouldn’t be pretty. But I love being here because Josh is here.

  A few minutes later he emerges from the bedroom, handsomely dressed in a nice pair of blue jeans and a gray dress shirt, and he’s carrying a gray blazer with him. And I notice that he’s already wearing his shoulder holster and gun. I glance at the clock and see that he’s paying the price for snuggling with me this morning and he’s running slightly late. I quickly plate up half of the cheese omelet I’ve just made and a couple strips of bacon and set it down on the table with a cup of coffee.

  “I don’t have time for breakfast, baby. I’ll just put me some coffee in a travel mug.”

  “It’s not good to skip breakfast, Josh; you can take two minutes and eat a few bites,” I insist, pulling out a chair for him. “Sit. Eat.”

  He looks at me with wide, surprised eyes and I think he’s slightly amused. I can see a smile playing at the corners of his perfect lips as he walks over and sits down. He looks up at me appraisingly and his grin gets bigger. “Yes, ma’am,” he mutters, taking up his fork and cutting into his omelet.

  I smile at him as I sit and turn to my own plate. We eat in silence and I watch as he eats hastily. As he finishes his food and takes a last sip of his coffee, he looks up at me and I see a flash of something cross his face. He’s remembered something. He stands up and walks into the living room as I finish my breakfast. He’s only gone a second and when he comes back, he’s carrying my iPod.

  “What are you doing with that?” I ask him as I stand to clear the dishes.

  “I made you a playlist,” he says softly looking down at me. I don’t understand and I look up at him with a puzzled frown.

  “A playlist?” He says nothing but nods mutely at me. And the look in his eyes tells me that he’s more than a little anxious about this. My puzzled frown gets deeper. “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “Last night, while you were sleeping … I made you a playlist.” He shrugs as he continues, “It’s not much, just a few songs that I wanted you to listen to.”

  “Okay,” I say softly, taking the iPod from him and still not really understanding what this is about. “Why?”

  He shrugs again and frowns, and I can see that his anxiety is growing by the second. “Just … listen to it when you get a chance today, okay?” he mutters nervously, looking into my eyes.

  “I will,” I promise. He kisses me gently then and looks into my eyes once more.

  “I have to go; I’m late. You have a good day at work, Sunshine,” he says softly, caressing my face.

  “You too. And be careful,” I call after him as he moves toward the door. He opens the door and then stops and turns back to me.

  “The songs on that list? Each one of them reminds me of you in some way.” He looks at me for a beat longer, his bright blue eyes boring into mine. And then he turns and leaves. And I stand staring after him, wondering what the heck that was all about. I look down at my iPod and then clutch it to my chest.

  I shake my head slightly and then go about the task of cleaning up the kitchen before I jump into the shower and get ready for work. I need to move quickly or I’ll be late myself. I dress hurriedly in a charcoal colored pencil skirt with matching Christian Louboutin heels, and a light gray blouse, and subconsciously I am aware that I’ve chosen this outfit because of Josh’s attire when he left this morning. He looked so yummy in his gray dress shirt.

  On my way out the door, I grab my iPod and stuff it into my purse. Maybe I’ll get a chance to listen to Josh’s playlist at lunchtime. When I get into my car and open up the garage door with the automatic opener, I feel a slight twinge of nerves as I glance over at the Charger. I know that Josh is being incredibly sweet by allowing me to park my car in the garage next to his prized possession and I’m a little nervous about backing out and pulling in beside her. I know that there’s plenty of room between the two cars but, I make a point of paying close attention to what I’m doing so as not to come into contact with her in any way. Once I clear the garage, I hit the button to let the door down and then back out onto the road. Success!

  When I get to work, my boss and my supervisor are both very sympathetic to the ordeal I’ve just been through. I would even describe them as fawning, and I can’t help but wonder if their behavior has anything to do with the fact that Lucas is the one who actually spoke with my boss on Monday. I know he means well but, sometimes he can be a bit intimidating and heavy handed when he’s dealing with others. I know it’s a byproduct of his job but, it’s a little annoying sometimes. I don’t want any special treatment here at the museum just because my name is Colby.

  To my delight, and horror, my supervisor gives the go ahead for me to continue my training by allowing me to give my first tour today. Nicole will be shadowing me this time, and evaluating me, but the tour is all mine. And if it goes well, I can take the second tour as well, and then we’ll go over how I did. I’m so excited! The first tour is a group of visiting youngsters from a nearby elementary school on a field trip and it will begin in less than half an hour. I have just enough time to run to the bathroom to pee. I’d like to go over the notes I took when I was shadowing Nicole last week but, I know that I don’t have time. While I’m in the bathroom stall, I send Josh a quick text:

  OMG.

  Giving my first solo tour at work.

  Wish me luck!

  His response takes a few minutes and I know that he must be busy at work. But when he answers me as I’m exiting the bathroom, his text makes me smile.

  U could give that tour

  in your sleep, baby.

  You’re gonna do great.

  I know it.

  He always makes me feel like I can do anything. I love that about him! I put my phone away and head out to greet the children. I’m nervous as can be but, thankfully I don’t think any of them notice. As I take them around and show them the various works of art, I am aware of Nicole at the back of the group with the children’s chaperones. She is smiling supportively as she listens, and I can see her occasionally scribbling on her evaluation form. I try not to wonder about what she’s writing and instead, focus my attention on the little ones. I try to engage them by asking them questions that they can relate to, and to my delight, they seem to respond. Soon, I have them talking about the art and answering my questions. Some even ask me questions of their own and I take great pleasure in answering them and teaching them about the different works I’m showing them.

  When our tour is over, I wave to them as they head off in the direction of the gift shop and then I glance nervously at Nicole. She smiles broadly at me.

  “That was excellent, Samantha,” she says.

  “Really?”

  “Yes. How did it feel for you?”

  I shrug my shoulders nervously. “It felt really good. I felt like I connected with them.”

  “You did connect with them. I’m very pleased. The next tour is a group of mature ladies from the Historical Society. They can sometimes get a little boisterous but, I’d like you to take it. Think you’re up for it?”

  “Sure!” I’m so excited right now, I feel as if I could handle anything!

  *****

  After my second tour of the day, Nicole and I sit in the office to go over her evaluation of me. I’m very pleased to hear that she feels I did a terrific job. She informs me that she will be shadowing me again as I give tours tomorrow and then, assuming all goes well, I will be given a regular schedule of tours working four days a week. I’m so excited to have this new schedule because it will leave me time to work on putting my gallery show together with Lola.

  After my evaluation meeting, I head to the cafeteria for l
unch and I am just about to pull out my iPod when my cellphone rings. It’s Megan.

  “So how did Detective Yummy react to the new and improved love nest?” she asks as soon as I answer the phone.

  I smile and roll my eyes slightly, taking a bite of my apple. “It was odd at first,” I say, remembering his look of total bewilderment. “I think it sort of scared him a little for some reason. But then … he recovered really quickly and said that he wants me to feel comfortable there. He was really sweet, actually. He’s always really sweet.”

  “Yeah, I can see that about him,” she says thoughtfully. “You know, he sort of reminds me of Uncle Richie in that way.”

  “You know, it’s weird you would say that,” I answer. “He reminds me a lot of Dad sometimes. His gentle, sweet nature, and the way he’s always so protective of me. And that take-charge attitude of his.”

  “Yeah, there’s just something about him. I think Uncle Richie would’ve liked him,” she says, and I smile.

  “I am so into him, Megan,” I whisper. “I love him so much.”

  “Aww. Have you told him that?” she asks.

  “Yes, I have,” I say quietly. “He hasn’t said it back though.”

  “He hasn’t?” Her voice is slightly alarmed.

  “No. He’s scared, Meg,” I say quietly. “He says that those words scare him.”

  She’s quiet for several seconds and then sighs. “Well. After everything you’ve told me about his parents’ marriage … I guess his fear is understandable, Sam.”

  “Yeah, I know. And I keep trying to remind myself of that.”

  “You do know that he’s crazy about you, right?” she says. And her words take me by surprise. “Sam, the way he looks at you. Even if he’s afraid to say those words, or afraid to admit how he feels … he is so totally into you. Just be patient with him. He’s got some extenuating circumstances going on. Cut him a little slack. He’ll get there.”