Games We Play

by Isabelle Arocho

  His grip on each of her shoulders tightened. “What you feel matters and trying to push it under the rug only hurts you more. What happened to them?” he spoke with all the tenderness in the word that she wasn’t even sure the same guy she had known for a year was standing in front of her.

  There was no mistaking the them he meant, it was the elephant standing next to them in this garden waiting to be addressed and realized. “Ask me when we’re alone and I’ll tell you. Right now I have to be Maggie.” She felt she owed Nick that much for being a gentleman about the whole situation. It wasn’t as if her parents’ death was a big mystery, not like Maggie’s.

  He ran his hands down her shoulders and arms until he was gripping her hands. “Are you ready to go back inside?”

  “Five more minutes. Right now let’s just be here.”

  Chapter 10

  Nicholas didn’t condone violence toward women but he sure wouldn’t mind seeing someone knock Stacy and Crystal off their pedestals. He had never seen anyone be cruel just for the fun of it. Strangely enough the criminal sadistic minds he had studied all had a goal to reach with their malice, be it a sexual release or a deep psychological thirst for violence. These desperate women were mean for just the sake of putting someone down so they could stand taller. It made him sick and that feeling only worsened with Sasha’s pain. She was being a trooper by suffering with a smile in front of her childhood bullies. He wasn’t sure he could handle it that well without attempting some sort of pay back with even just a dig at them personally.

  He had been keeping close to Sasha in the role of the pretend husband but after seeing her cry he was sticking close to her in hopes it helped to have a hand to hold or a shoulder to lean on when she felt weak. It wasn’t pretend anymore and he had no idea what to think about that. When he reached for her hand it wasn’t because he remembered that was the role he was supposed to be playing. It was all real and he wanted more than anything to make her flash a smile that was equally as real.

  Stacy’s cousin arrived and the focus was shifted to her and the celebration the small group of townsfolk was putting on in her honor. Nick bent to Sasha’s ear as they stood alone for the first time in an hour. “Run away with me.”

  She turned away from her drink and met his eyes. “What?”

  He took the glass from her hand and set it down on the book shelf to his right. “Let’s ditch the party.”

  “And miss the food? It’s the only real highlight here.”

  “I can cook you something better and you wouldn’t have to suffer around this stuffy crowd,” He slipped his hands low on her waist. “or worry about getting this dirty.” She sucked in a breath that unintentionally put her breasts higher in his eye line. “When we get back home I want to personally thank the saleslady that made you buy this.”

  Sasha’s green eyes went wide as she looked around to make sure they weren’t being paid any attention. “Have you drank too much or something?”

  “Or something. Let’s get out of here. I’ll take care of telling Stacy we can’t stay.” He took her hand and said nothing else. He knew deep down she didn’t want to stay anyway and he was giving her the perfect exit. They wouldn’t be abandoning their duty, they had mingled with the crowd and everyone who was going to show up had and made sure to encounter Maggie Walker. In tomorrow’s paper the article would run and it would be a safe bet the unsub knew she was there.

  “Oh no, you’re leaving?” Stacy asked as she stood by the door catching up another one of her friends.

  As promised Nick answered. “It’s getting late and I have very special plans for my wife. We had a lovely time though.” He reached for the door and said goodnight.

  “Did you do that on purpose?” Sasha asked after they were alone in the car and could talk freely. “You got her turned around thinking about sex that she didn’t even try to change our mind.”

  “Hmm, you’re right. I said what I said because it was the first idea that came to mind. I think it’s the dress.”

  She cut him a shocked open mouthed expression that left all her bewildered thoughts on display. “What is with you and this dress?”

  “It’s a sexy dress.”

  “You’re not supposed to say things like that to me.”

  “Why?”

  “First of all we’re coworkers and second I’ve always just been one of the guys and I like it that way.”

  “Who says you’re just one of the guys? I’ve never looked at you and saw a guy. You may dress down and wear little make up but there’s no mistaking you’re all woman and yes I notice.” Nick thought it was high time he was honest and now just seemed like that perfect time. Why? He had no idea but it sure felt right.

  “Is this some weird game that you’re using to get me to forget about Stacy?”

  “There is no game. I’m only being honest and I think you look beautiful tonight.”

  From her side of the car she wrestled with something to say and after a minute she said weakly, “Thank you.”

  “Yeah, no problem.” With that conversation all cleared up he was more than willing to change the subject. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I was willing to cook. I’m starving and you must be pretty hungry too after only eating ice cream for lunch.”

  “You’re not going to try and push healthy vegetables on me, are you?”

  “No.” he chuckled at her pout. “If I whip up some of my best stuff you’ll be hounding me all the time to cook.”

  “You always give yourself too much credit.”

  Back at the house he set out to prove her wrong. It was times like these they let their competitive side get the best of them and instead of wanting to prepare dinner Nick found himself wanting to make her eat her words more than the wonderful roast chicken he pushed into the oven. While he focused on cooking she disappeared to get changed. That was for the better, he thought, that dress was getting him into some serious trouble making him say everything that came to mind.

  He was making a roasted garlic herb chicken and several cut up potatoes dressed with cheddar cheese and sour cream. With the chicken in the oven and the prep work done for the potatoes he moved back into the living room and pulled off his dress shirt to get more comfortable. If some food got on his under t-shirt he wouldn’t care, the button down was another matter.

  He was still in the living room when Sasha came down. Her face was clean off all make up, her freshly washed hair was tied back the way she liked it and her pajamas were hilarious with a cartoon across the front of the large sleep shirt. Her green eyes narrowed on his face. “Say nothing.”

  Nick held up his hands in surrender. “I’m going back this way.” He pointed to the kitchen and left her alone before they ended up having a pointless argument over a shirt of all things. For the rest of the night he wanted it to stay as nice as it had been in the car. As he basted the chicken he realized a lot of their fights stemmed from the fact Sasha was insecure. She’d never admit it but she lashed out before you could make the first move and attack her. He had always known she was defensive to a fault but here in Maple Oaks he was seeing a lot more of the insecurity. Growing up with the likes of Stacy and Crystal he didn’t blame her one bit for being either of those things.

  He was closing the oven as she asked, “How’d you learn to cook?”

  He stood upright and turned to face her. “Were you checking out my ass?”

  “Of course.” With a shrug she moved over to an empty stool and sat. “So?”

  “How’d I learn how to cook? Both my parents taught me in their own way when they the other wasn’t looking. With big dinners every day you pick up on a few things. Let me guess, you avoid everything dealing with a stove?”

  “Actually no.” Sasha grabbed an apple from the counter and started peeling it with a paring knife. “There’s a difference between not knowing how and not wanting to. I’m the latter.”

  Watching her bite down onto a sliver of apple he forgot everything he was going to say. Nick knew a l
ot of different women and it was rare to find one so damn unintentionally sexy. He blinked several times before finding his words. “Dinner’s almost done.”

  “Don’t worry an apple isn’t going to fill me. I’m anxiously waiting to try out this food you’re raving about.” Again she doubted him and it was so easy to fall into a battle of the words.

  “Leave extra room for all the words you’re going to have to eat right after this chicken.”

  “Bring it McBain.”

  It was half hour later when the timer went off and it was time to serve the food. He was grinning like a fool as they sat down and she reached for her fork. “Go ahead.” He urged.

  With a roll of her eyes she placated him and started to dig into her food. It was probably childish but what else was new, he was watching her every move for a true reaction because he knew she was going to down play it with her words. With the chicken as the main star of the plate she pulled a piece free from the bone and ate. It didn’t take long for her expression of pleasure to give her way.

  “I thought so.” Nick gloated with a grin before turning his focus onto his own food.

  “I plead the fifth.”

  It was after dinner when he saw the stress of her encounter with Stacy and her friends wash away from her face that Nick decided to broach a subject they had let fall to the side until they were in private. They were drinking a glass of wine outside on the patio swing when he asked, “What happened to your parents.”

  “I did promise I’d tell you when we were alone.” Sasha voiced quietly while she was trying to find a way to get out of it and found that wouldn’t be fair. “It was an accident when I was ten. They were together on the rode and it was a pretty bad rain storm, the truck never saw them and they never saw the truck.”

  Nick reached across the bench and held her hand. “What happened to you after that?”

  “I have an older sister, she was already eighteen and the state let her become my guardian. I left town the same day of my high school graduation and Carolyn didn’t stay much longer after that.”

  “Are you close?”

  With a shake of her head tears fell down her cheeks. “For a long time I think we blamed each other and then when she tried to come around I couldn’t handle letting someone in. There’s nothing good to remember about this place.” She sat her glass down and moved fast to dry her cheeks.

  “Sasha....” he grabbed her hands. “stop it. I’m not going to judge you. If I lost my parents I’d probably be crying every moment of every day.”

  She wouldn’t look at him. “Nah, not you macho man.”

  He wanted to do something anything that could make her feel better or maybe it’d make him feel less worthless. She was breaking his heart into a million pieces and he had no idea where to turn for either of them. A whole year working together and he never knew she even had a sister or anything remotely personal about her.

  She stood abruptly. “I’m gonna head to bed. Thanks for dinner.”

  He rushed to catch up with her. “Wait.” He grabbed ahold of her arm as they made it back into the brightly lit kitchen. “Are you going to be ok?”

  “It’s nothing new and it’s not even the reason we’re here. All our focus needs to be on catching this guy and getting back home.”

  “I don’t care about any of that right now. I care about how you’re feeling.”

  She opened her mouth and didn’t know what to say, well that made two of them. Staring into the dandelions of her eyes he reached forward and kissed her.

  Chapter 11

  Sasha was avoiding Nicholas that following morning and with good reason. She wasn’t sure why he kissed her but she did know it was awkward to look at him now and that was going to make for a very long day. The worse part was the fact she kissed him back and be it now or later he wasn’t going to let her live that down. She mentally groaned for handing him more ammunition to have on his side especially for when they were back at the office.

  She carefully tiptoed down the staircase and peered into the living room. A sigh of relief escaped her lunges while she moved forward again and dashed out the front door. She wasn’t willing to take the risk and make a pot of coffee when the diner just a few blocks away was serving. It was obvious she was going to have to face Nick but it didn’t have to be now.

  It felt nice to walk down the street and take in the nice breezy air and fresh scent of grass from the morning dew. The few people she passed leaving their home for work waved and she waved back. Walking into the center of town she noticed more traffic on the streets and more people rushing about to get things done. At the diner the scent of coffee greeted her at the door and she smiled. This was nice, she thought on her way to the counter to sit at one of the many empty bar stools. Most of the customers were seated at the tables and booths playing no attention to her just the way she liked it.

  “Good morning.” The waitress behind the counter greeted as she finished writing down another order. “What can I get you?” she had a pair of big eyes and a warm eager smile.

  “A coffee to start.” Sasha answered, reaching for a menu. The diner smelled like bacon and cheese all wrapped together and suddenly coffee wasn’t enough.

  “Give me one second to finish with the gentlemen next to you.”

  At the mention of someone else Sasha glanced down the counter and sure enough there was a man seated there she missed in her earlier inspection. He smiled at her curiosity and she returned the gesture. He was a harmless older man who looked to be on the other side of sixty waiting for his coffee. He looked so at home in his seat that it was probably a part of his daily ritual for a long time.

  The waitress, it said Candice on her nametag, walked back over to Sasha with the coffee poured into a white ceramic cup. “Here ya go, sweetheart. Cream and sugar are right next you. You know you look familiar, are you the girl in the newspaper?”

  “What paper?” she knew a story was going to be run but hadn’t seen it yet making the play dumb routine she was going for rather genuine.

  Candice reached under a hidden shelf on her side of the counter and pulled today’s issue free. “Front page story.”

  Sasha didn’t fake her nervous smile either as she laid eyes on the picture of her taking shopping bags from the car into the house. “That’s me.” It brought a queasy feeling low in her stomach to see the house in the picture with the numbers so visible, it’d be so easy for someone to track her back there but then again that was the point. The headline was written in big black font Survivor of massive attack on town returns home 20 years later. If this didn’t get the unsub’s attention she didn’t know what would, even if he didn’t receive the paper daily he’d walk past it in the street or in diner’s like this.

  Candice broke the uncomfortable silence. “I’m new to Maple Oaks, I moved here just a year ago so I don’t know any of the history but it sure is nice that you came back home and didn’t let that freak keep you away forever. It says there you’re newly married, I bet he’s wonderful.” She wore a desperate smile to change the subject and no one could blame her for wanting to.

  “He is.” Sasha nodded and tried to come up with the gushy details Candice was fishing for. “We had a long night after attending Stacy’s party and he’s such a big lug he decided to sleep in.”

  “I heard about the party, wasn’t invited myself though. Stacy’s a major bitch, pardon my French.” Her big brown eyes rolled at the mention of a woman she didn’t like very much. Stacy Fern was an acquired taste and many people didn’t have the palate to stomach her.

  Sasha was taking an instant liking to this woman. “I used to go to school with her and she roped me in. I’m the biggest fan of her personality either.” That was putting it mildly but she had to remember she was speaking as Maggie.

  “Then we’re going to get along just fine Mrs. Walker. What do you do for a living around these parts?”

  “I’m in between jobs now but I’m a school teacher for the third grade.”


  “I actually have a little one in that grade and another one just starting kindergarten. I love them to death but I couldn’t see me having to teach a bunch of them all day and not need a sip of vodka.” Candice was refreshing as she spoke bluntly and didn’t care about politically correctness or something along those lines.

  Sasha silently agreed with the woman’s sentiment. She had no experience with children and couldn’t even on her best day play the role of a teacher.

  Candice’s eyes moved off her customers and settled at the entrance. “The scum of the earth has walked in. Quick hide your purse.” She was partly joking and partly serious.

  “I love you too, darling.” The man drawled as he reached the counter and took a seat in front of Candice, it put him in the stool next to Sasha. “Tell me you got what I need.”

  “A swift kick to the nuts?” Candice didn’t break eye contact with the man while reaching over and grabbing the coffee pot.

  “Besides that.”

  Sasha chuckled. “You two remind me of someone I know.” Their banter felt ripped out of the pages of her day to day life with Nicholas.

  The man turned with a smile in greeting. She was struck by how blue his eyes were, a bright sunny day without a cloud in the sky blue. “We haven’t met and that’s damn shame. I like to keep tabs on the pretty ladies in town.” He extended his hand. “Wes.”

  “Maggie, and I’m married.”

  “He’s a lucky son of a bitch.”

  Candice scoffed with a grin. “Be careful Mrs. Walker, my cousin here has no morals and your wedding band will quickly turn him on than scare him away.”

  Sasha tried not to laugh again but it was hard, Candice and Wes were a lot of fun and she was glad she had decided to come out hat morning rather than hide out in her room.

  Wes cut his cousin a quick look before turning his charm back onto Sasha. “Don’t mind her. Her husband’s been softening around the middle and lagging in bed so she’s taking it out all the rest of us.”