by A. Gorman
Yep, two can play at this. His eyes moved down to my mouth the way they had last night, and back up to my eyes. “I’d say. But I already have my own condoms, should we, er, should I ever need them.”
I winked at him. “Okay, well better check the expiration date on the one in your wallet, Cowboy. Could be expired.”
He snorted and dragged me to the end of the aisle. He picked up a black box of “extra-large” ones and set them on top of my box of pads. “You’re right, it might be expired. Better stock up for when I get back home to Tampa. I’m gonna need to blow off some steam after this.”
With that, he let go of my hand, and I stood there with my mouth open. Dick. I chucked the box of condoms back on the shelf and didn’t bother looking for him. I found the aisle with magazines and looked to find a few I’d like to read. I also found a small rack of Harlequin paperbacks, and grabbed a few of those too. Smiling at my find, I turned to head toward the front to pay for them and saw my personal bodyguard standing at the end of the aisle. His arms were folded over his dark blue polo shirt, his legs shoulder-width apart, and his jaw… was he chewing gum? Oh, my God. All he needed was a curly white earpiece and some sunglasses and he’d look the part.
But holy crap, did he look hot.
Maybe I should go back and grab those condoms… I wasn’t kidding when I teased him about how it could pass the time. Not that I’d ever have the bravado to seduce him. Or any guy. What was wrong with me?
“Are you done?” he asked, chomping on his gum.
Well, at least it wasn’t dip…
I nodded. The strap on my white sandal had come loose, so I bent down to adjust it. The stupid clasp always came undone. I really need to get some new ones. When I was satisfied the buckle was secure, I stood up and was met with stormy blue eyes.
“What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Duke asked, his dark eyebrows bunched together.
Confused, I replied, “Fixing my sandal. Why?”
His eyes traveled the length of me, then back up into my eyes. “It’s bad enough you wore those shorts,” he said, his eyes flicking to, well, my jean shorts, then back up to my eyes, “because it’s entirely too distracting to have you bending over, along with those… those… shoes.”
I huffed and shoved my hand onto my hip. “What the hell is wrong with my shoes?”
Do not disrespect the shoes. He was out of line and I wasn’t going to tolerate it.
“You can’t be serious,” he murmured, turning around and walking away.
I followed him to the check-stand, where I paid cash for my books, magazines, some candy, and a tube of lip-gloss that was on display near the register. We then left the store, and Duke disarmed the small sports car and opened the passenger door, ordering me in.
Chapter 17
Duke
I shut the door to the tiny car, and as I was rounding it to get into the driver’s seat, I spied something I hadn’t seen in a very long time: A pay phone. Smiling, I walked to it, happy I could still keep an eye on the vic as I used the phone.
Digging in my pocket for change, I shoved some quarters into the antiquated machine and dialed Kyle’s cell phone number.
He answered on the third ring. “Hello?”
“What’s up, man?” I greeted him.
There was a short silence, and then he said quietly, “Duke?”
I chuckled. “Of course. Just checking in. How are things?”
“Great, just great. All quiet on this end. Luke, Lucy, and I have been keeping an eye on the house. Isn’t that right, Luke?” I heard him pull the phone away from his mouth at the last part.
A child’s voice in the background made me smile a little. “Yes, Daddy.”
“You watching him around the water, man?” I asked, still concerned about Kyle bringing his kid near my pool. I wasn’t sure exactly how old Luke was, but I’d guess between four and six, and since I had no idea how old kids were when they learned to swim, I was always on edge.
Kyle laughed. “Yeah, Hawthorne. Luke does just fine in the water.” He paused, then said, “Hey, son, go hang your wet trunks over the side of the bathtub, okay, buddy?”
“Okay, Daddy,” I heard in response.
A short pause later, Kyle said, “Honestly? He mostly hangs out in the Jacuzzi. He likes the pool but he seems to prefer the hot tub, where he can stand up.”
Sighing a little in relief, I replied, “Well, that’s good, I suppose. Anything else going on?”
“I got a job interview at Mathis Associates,” he replied.
That piqued my interest. Mathis Associates was the largest nonprofit in Tampa dedicated to helping veterans. “What will you be doing there?”
Kyle chuckled. “Oh I’m sure something that involves me being chained to a desk and all.” Then he got quiet. “I’ll take what I can get, though. I need to keep busy.”
I understood his reasoning, being as he was missing half his leg. “I hear ya, brother,” I responded, nodding against the heavy black receiver of the phone.
I glanced to the car. Rayanne appeared to be flipping through radio stations.
“Any news on when you’ll get back?” Kyle asked.
Contemplating my answer, and knowing pay phones were most likely not bugged, I responded, “The trial is in about five days. I’m hoping to get back to the land of the living then.”
The gum in my mouth was beginning to irritate me, so I spotted a nearby trash can and chucked it in there.
Kyle said in my ear, “Thanks, good luck, Duke. Stay safe.”
“Thanks, brother,” I responded. Then I hung up.
Deciding I didn’t have many other opportunities like this, I glanced over at Rayanne in the front seat of the car, laughing at her scowl. I then shoved more quarters into the pay phone.
My brother, Mason, answered on the second ring, “Hello?”
“What’s up, soldier?” I asked, using the greeting I always did.
“Not much, Devil Dog,” he responded, a smile in his voice at his nickname for me from my Marine Corps days.
“Everything good?” I asked, sincerely meaning it.
“Yeah… holding down the fort here. Where the hell are you?”
I paused, wondering if I should say anything. I figured Mason was probably wondering where I was. Or hell, maybe he wasn’t. I had left my work cell back in the vic’s apartment in St. Petersburg. I had an ancient, pre-paid flip phone, but Mace didn’t have the number to it.
“Anything going on there?” I asked, ignoring his question. I was just happy to hear my brother’s voice.
“Of course, but I’ll fill you in when you get back. You are coming back, aren’t you?” Mason asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
Chuckling nervously, and while still staring at Rayanne sitting in the passenger seat of the car, I said, “Of course. I’m on a case. I should be back in about a week. Maybe less.”
I could hear telephones ringing amidst all the background noise. “Well, I worry about you, dude. Stay safe. I gotta go to a call.”
“Cool. See you soon.”
I hung up and quickly racked my brain for anyone else I could call while I had the opportunity. I really couldn’t think of anyone so I got in the car. Rayanne looked over at me. “You get to use the phone and I don’t?” She folded her arms over her chest and stared out the front windshield.
I felt my face get hot with anger and I narrowed my eyes at her. I used my hand to grab her chin so she would look at me. “Yes, that’s exactly right. Every person I’ve ever known, including my family, doesn’t have their phones and houses bugged or are being watched. Nobody cares where I am, Blondie, but I guarantee you there are a lot of people who would love to know where the hell you are. So no. You will lay low for the next five days, and once this trial is over, you can throw a party in the middle of the fuckin’ street for all I care.”
Her eyes got glossy and I saw her bottom lip beginning to wobble a little. Fuck.
“Fine,” she said, pull
ing her face out of my grip and scooting closer to her door to get away from me.
I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my chew, and shoved some into my lower lip. It had been over 24 hours since I’d had any. I was trying to quit, hence the gum, because as annoying as she was, she was right. I really needed to kick the addiction. It was as much a weakness as the pain meds and injections she said I should be using to numb the pain in my leg.
But not now. Who was I kidding thinking I could quit in the middle of the situation I was in. I put the car in drive and headed back to the cabin, checking my rearview mirror the whole time.
After a few minutes, she hadn’t said anything. So in a moment of softness, I said, “Look, I’m sorry. I just thought you were clear. Zero contact means zero contact. Don’t take it personal. The government – in the form of me – is trying to keep you safe. To keep you alive.”
She was quick to respond but she faced the window. “So… shouldn’t zero contact mean you don’t contact anyone, either?”
“Yes and no. The people who are after you would be hard-pressed to not only figure out which agent had been assigned to you, but get all my personal information. The Justice Department keeps all my personal information tightly guarded.”
This time she did look at me. She narrowed those infuriatingly gorgeous honey colored eyes and said, “Wasn’t the Justice Department’s computers hacked by the Chinese last year? All their employees’ personal information stolen?”
Huh. She was right, of course, but I’d forgotten about it. The Attorney General had assured us that everything was handled, and had even offered us free credit monitoring services. I just simply nodded.
“I saw it on the news,” she continued. “Not only that, we had a client who worked for the government and wanted to see if he could sue them for the breach.”
I chuckled and spit a brown stream into a cup which sat in the cup-holder. “Did you tell him good luck suing the highest attorney in the land?”
She actually giggled a little and looked at me. “No, but good one. I’ll have to remember that.”
I found hearing her laugh actually warmed my cold, dead heart a little so I kept her talking. “So, what are you gonna do once the trial is over? Find another job?”
She shrugged and pulled a piece of chocolate from the bag in her lap. She unwrapped the red foil and popped the candy in her mouth. “I don’t know. Been kinda worried about it, honestly.”
I bit back a smile at how her words were muffled by the chocolate.
“Want one?” she asked, offering me a heart wrapped in red foil.
I shook my head and pointed at my lip. “Chocolate and dip don’t mix very well.”
She wrinkled her nose and said, “I thought you were quitting. I hadn’t seen you use any of that nasty stuff in the past day or two.”
I nodded. “I need to quit, but right now isn’t the time.”
“Well, whatever makes you nicer, I guess,” she replied, lifting a shoulder and letting it fall.
I couldn’t stop my gaze from roaming down her long, tanned legs. Damn they were nice legs. Thin and fit but not skinny, and shiny like she used lotion on them. And those shorts. My eyes traveled up her flat stomach to her chest, where the white V-neck tee left some to the imagination. When my gaze finally reached her eyes, they were dancing in amusement.
“Like what you see, Cowboy?”
I cleared my throat and tried to play cool. Spitting again to stall, I slowly set the cup in the cup-holder and said, “I’m a dude. You have a nice legs, and it’s not like I want to look. I just can’t help it.”
She turned her body all the way around in the seat, facing me, and said, “Did you just pay me a compliment?”
“Maybe,” I grunted.
Sliding a sideways glance at her, I saw her grin in triumph. Then she popped another chocolate in her mouth and pulled out a magazine from the bag and began flipping through it.
* * *
I did the usual check of the cabin before I let her in. It was quiet and all clear, just as we’d left it. I locked the car then locked the front door behind us, and armed the security system. Rayanne went into her room clutching the white plastic bag in her hand, closing the door behind her.
Flipping on the TV, I checked the silver watch on my wrist and sighed when I saw it was three in the afternoon. Of course there was nothing on and I scrubbed a hand over my face. Suddenly, the government phone in my pocket vibrated. I pulled it out and flipped it open, looking at the screen.
Jack-N-Jill: Still alive, big guy?
I typed as fast as I could on the tiny keyboard: Yes, and so is the vic.
Jack-N-Jill: Great. Text me a watch-call once a day, will you?
I replied: Yes, drill sergeant.
There was no reply after that.
Settling on a local cable access channel that was showing recaps of the town’s high school football game, I set the remote down and went into the kitchen. I pulled out sandwich fixings and made three turkey and cheese sandwiches. I found a bag of chips and poured a little on each plate and then carried both plates out to the living room. The plate with two sandwiches was mine, and I set it on the end-table. I took the other plate to the vic’s room and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” she said.
I opened the door and almost dropped the plate. She was lying on her back on the bed, her long bare legs crossed at the ankles. One arm was propped behind her head, causing her white T-shirt to ride up and show about half her stomach. The other hand held a book. She turned her head and smiled when she saw me.
“Lunch?”
I nodded and set the plate on the night-stand closest to me. She set the book face down on the bed, open to her spot, and grabbed the plate.
Turning to leave, I heard her say, “Thanks, Duke.”
With my hand on the door, I half turned and said with my head down, “I’m eating in front of the TV, so if you want…”
My eyes looked up to meet hers and she smiled while sliding some hair behind her ear. “It’s fine. I’m reading.”
I nodded and shut her door, going back to the living room to eat my lunch.
Chapter 18
Rayanne
The sandwich was mediocre at best, but over the past four days, it had been what I had come to expect. I shoved a gum wrapper into my book to hold its place and got up, taking my plate to the kitchen.
I saw Duke watching some sports recap on TV but ignored him. Opening the fridge, I found a can of iced tea and cracked it open and took a big swig. That sandwich had been dry. Not that I’d ever tell him that.
Walking slowly to the edge of the kitchen, I rested my hip on the doorjamb and looked at Duke. He must have felt my gaze because he looked up and said, “What?”
Before I could answer, the TV program switched to what looked like a local band playing inside of some sort of nightclub. I walked closer to the TV and saw a girl and two guys playing instruments and singing to a small crowd in what looked like a barn. No, wait. It was a barn with a stage. Some kind of converted barn-club.
I smiled when the music started. Sugarland’s “Stay” was the cover song and the chick doing the singing was definitely talented.
I’ve been sitting here staring at the clock on the wall… she began to sing.
Duke looked at the TV, then back at me. “I, uh, was watching the local sports.”
I laughed. As if he had to defend what he was watching. “I saw. Looks like the local cable access channel plays whatever the heck they want.”
He sighed and set the remote down. Picking up his plate, he stood but I was blocking his way. I moved right and he moved left, leaving me still blocking him. So I moved left, then he moved right, and we were still in the same predicament.
“Wanna dance?” I asked, thinking of all the times this would happen to my parents, and my daddy would ask my mom this.
Duke’s stormy blue eyes stared into mine, and setting his plate down on the end-table, he nodded sli
ghtly.
Did he just nod?
Why don’t you stay? I’m down on my knees… I heard the singer croon.
Gently slipping a hand around my waist, he pulled me flush against his body and began to sway slightly. He continued to stare at me.
I’m so tired of being lonely, don’t I give you what you need?
In complete shock at the gesture, I tried to relax into his hold but I was just… just… stunned. Was I dancing with Duke Hawthorne?
His arm went around my shoulders and his warm hand gripped my neck.
When she calls you to go, there is one thing you should know…
Slowly, I reached my right arm to his backside and wrapped it around his solid waist. My other hand reached up and rested against his hard pec muscle.
We don’t have to live this way. Baby, why don’t you stay?
His hips began to sway, and as if my body had a mind of its own, I swayed with him. I couldn’t stop staring at him. His eyes bored into mine as if he wanted to say something. My head began to move in closer to his as we made slow circles around the small living room.
I can’t take it any longer, but my will is getting stronger, but I think I know exactly what I need…
As my face got closer, his did, too. When his face was inches from mine, my hand, without my permission, reached up and touched his cheek. The scruff of his beard felt good under my sensitive fingertips.
Then, Duke was kissing me.
It was passionate – desperate – but not like last night. There seemed to be an element of emotion with it. His right hand was still around my waist, but his left was now trailing up my neck with just one finger. As his warm tongue slowly licked along the seam of my lips, I had no choice but to open my mouth slightly and accept his invitation. Not that I would have denied him in that moment.
His hand on the back of my neck was seriously hot. I raked my fingernails through his short beard, then I skated them around his neck and shoved them into his hair at the back of his head, scratching his scalp. He groaned into my mouth and I was suddenly well aware of his arousal pressed into my stomach.