That was so out of left field it startled a laugh out of me. We’d ordered those tickets a lifetime ago, before Angel had been shot, Barnes had been arrested, and my world had been turned upside down.
The tension between us evaporated, and I slouched against my car. “When is it?”
“The twenty-ninth.”
“Well, it was your idea. You should go with her.”
Grady shrugged. “I was hoping we both could go.” He raised his hands, cutting off my protest. “You don’t have to say it, I know we’re over. This isn’t some evil ploy to win you back.” He paused. “I was thinking of Abby. She really wants you to go, and I really want you to … not hate me.”
“I don’t hate you, Grady.”
His green eyes were clear and serious. “You have every reason to, but I don’t want us to be like that, for Abby’s sake.” He laughed and glanced up at the gray sky. “This sounds so cliché, but I want us to be friends.”
“I want that, too.”
“So, you’ll go? I’ll even let you drive.”
A smile twitched at my lips. “Talked me into it. The twenty-ninth … what time?”
“I figured we’d leave around five, grab something to eat on the way. Is that okay with you?”
I agreed, but while backing out of the drive, I wondered if I was the dumbest woman walking the planet.
Cougar called while I was signing the papers on my new place, so I invited him over to check it out. He met me in the parking lot, and we walked up together. From the look on his face when he walked through the door, he was less than impressed.
“It’s … ah …” He rubbed the back of his neck and squinted. “… something.”
I laughed. “So don’t hold back or anything.”
His smile faded. “Are you sure about this? You’re welcome to stay with me as long as you like. Ubi lives alone, right? Maybe I could bunk with him a couple weeks—”
“Cougar, I am not booting you out of your own apartment.”
“—or you could stay with Mrs. Angelino and Tori…”
I folded my arms over my chest. “This place will do. It only needs a little fixing up.”
He grunted. “Well, we’d better get started then. I need to run home and grab a few things. Be right back.”
We traded cars, and I drove down the block to Walgreens to buy cleaning supplies. I was scrubbing the kitchen floor when Cougar returned forty minutes later.
He brought reinforcements.
Ubi, Tucker, Kimberly, Bill… I watched in amazement as half the field office filed in the door. They carried paintbrushes, boxes, and even a carpet shampooer.
“Cougar, what—”
He tugged my ponytail. “Don’t be mad. Everyone wants to help, so I thought we’d make a party of it.” He winked. “I promised pizza and beer for slave labor.”
I think the other half of the office workers drifted in and out during the next hour. Oddly enough, Cougar, Kim, and I ended up working together in the kitchen. I scrubbed the floor, she worked on the caked-on crud on the stove hood, and we both snuck glances at Cougar, who looked all sweaty and perfect while he struggled to mend a sagging cabinet.
“Man, I’m dyin’ in here,” he muttered, and yelled to the living room, “Hey, Tuck, turn on the AC!”
He pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it on the counter. Kim and I looked at him, then looked at each other. She grinned and I nearly laughed. I knew what she was thinking, because I was thinking it, too. She fluttered her hand in front of her face and I winked.
A blond guy I barely knew from the payroll department stuck his head in the doorway. “Hey, Coug. I can’t stay. My kid’s got a ballet recital, but I brought that couch I told you about. Can you help me unload it?”
“Sure.” Cougar hopped down from his perch on the counter and grabbed his shirt. He rolled it up and snapped it at Kim before yanking it back on.
“Hey!” she said, while I thanked the payroll guy.
“No problem,” he said. “It’s kind of old, but it’ll do you until the insurance comes through.”
After they left, I glanced at Kim and said, “Yay, I have a couch!”
She raised one perfect eyebrow. “Honey, you have a lot more than a couch. Jason’s very efficient. He called around, got other people to calling around… I’d say you’ll have enough furniture to fill this place with. Not to mention clothes.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was touched, and maybe a little embarrassed. Unlike Blanche DuBois, I wasn’t used to depending upon the kindness of strangers.
“Thank you for coming today, Kim.”
She smiled, wrinkling her perfect nose. “Don’t mention it. A favor for a friend.”
We both knew which friend she was talking about.
Her sociable expression faded, and she tossed the S.O.S pad she was using into a trash bag. Stripping off her gloves, she approached me. “Necie, I need to talk to you about something.”
I stopped scrubbing. “Go ahead.”
She glanced toward the doorway. “I don’t want Jason to know.”
Wiping my hands on my thighs, I stood. “You’d better hurry then.”
“It’s about the night you were drugged. I feel so bad about what ha—”
She broke off when Tucker entered the kitchen. “Bedroom’s looking good,” he said, moving toward the sink to refill his water bottle. “Though I’m getting high off paint fumes.”
Ubi chased a giggling Linda through the door, threatening her with a paint-spattered rag.
“We’ll talk later,” Kim whispered. “Too many people.”
“No, wait!” I said, but she edged past Bill toward the living room.
I started after her, but Bill intercepted me. “Hey, I pulled a few strings. The fire investigator I know … he says he’ll give your case top priority. Did you ever talk to your lawyer?”
“Yeah, Milano’s on it. He said he’d fixed all the stuff about switching over the insurance.”
“Good.” Bill wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “You know if you need anything in the meantime, all you have to do is ask, right?”
I hugged him. “I know.”
He handed me an envelope. “And because I know you won’t ask …”
“Bill, I can’t take money from you.”
“I knew you’d say that, too. So it’s not a gift.”
“No loans, either.”
“Not a loan. Well, not from me, anyway. An advancement on wages. Twenty bucks a week will be held out of your check until it’s paid back.” He winked. “So, you don’t owe your Uncle Bill, you owe your Uncle Sam.”
Rolling my eyes, I took the envelope. “You’re so sneaky.”
“Have to be, because you’re so hardheaded.”
“Pizza!” someone yelled from the other room.
After washing up in the kitchen sink, Bill and I wandered into the living room, where paper towels and pizza boxes were being passed around.
Cougar sat on the floor, propped against my new couch. He scooted down to make room for us. He handed me a bottled water and offered one to Bill, who declined it and snagged a beer from the cooler instead.
“Where’s Kim?” I asked.
“She had to go.”
Damn. What did she know about the night I was drugged that she didn’t want anyone to hear? So much had happened since then that I hadn’t had time to think about it much. She said she was sorry. Could she have been responsible? Or her friend Andrea? Maybe they’d only wanted me to look bad in front of Cougar, and things had gone too far. But that seemed a little farfetched—and paranoid. It was hardly worth risking their jobs over. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and that stupid breath spray Andrea had given me.
The afternoon passed quickly. When I opened the door to show Tucker out, I was surprised to find it dark outside. “Wow. Time flies when you’re having fun.”
He lifted his eyebrows and smiled. “Is that what that was?”
I punched his shoulder lightly. “B
e careful, Tuck, and thanks for everything. Tell Anne Marie I appreciate the clothes.”
“Will do.”
I stepped back inside and shut the door. Once again, I found myself alone with Cougar.
“So …” He perched on the couch arm. “You going home with me or what?” Shooting me a wicked grin, he said, “I swear I won’t go to sleep on you this time.”
“Ha! That’s what I’m afraid of.”
His smile flickered. “You know I’m teasing, right? When I said no strings, I meant it.” He held up two fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
“Like you were ever a Boy Scout,” I scoffed, but it was too late. We’d flipped the switch again, and the sudden silence felt thick. Oppressive.
Tension coiled in the pit of my stomach. Desperate to regain our light mood, I joked, “You’re not the one I’m worried about.”
Cougar’s smile reappeared. I sucked in a breath when he approached.
“Is that so?” he said, and touched my hair.
I swallowed hard and forced a smile. “I don’t do so good with temptation.”
“You want to talk about temptation?” he murmured. “Temptation was waking up to find you beside me this morning.” He idly twisted a lock of my hair around his finger. “You looked so beautiful, with your hair fanned out on my pillow. I wanted more than anything to kiss you.”
His hand slipped to my throat, and I wondered what he thought about the pulse hammering beneath his fingers. I shivered when he stroked my bottom lip with his thumb.
“Would it be such a bad thing …” he asked softly, “… you and me?”
It would be a dangerous thing, I almost said.
His mouth lingered close to mine, and part of me actually ached to kiss him again, though I knew I should turn and run like hell.
His cell phone jingled to life. Saved by Big and Rich.
Cougar knew what I was thinking, because he laughed and said, “You’re gonna have to answer that question sooner or later.”
He flipped open the phone. I attempted to duck under his arm, but he stopped me with a hand on my waist. We stood as close as lovers while he answered.
“Oh, hey, Bill,” he said. “What’s going on?”
I didn’t protest when Cougar hooked his finger in my belt loop and tugged me even closer. I rested my head against his chest while he talked.
“What? Oh, yeah. Sure.”
His fingers gently kneaded my back. It should’ve felt awkward standing there like that, but I felt safe. Lulled.
“I’m glad you reminded me. No, not a problem. I’d just forgotten, with everything else going on. I’ll be there.”
He clicked the phone shut and shoved it in his back pocket. Then he pushed my hair aside and kissed my throat.
“Please come home with me.” The vibration from his whisper caused goose bumps to break out on my arms.
I think I tried to protest when he nuzzled my ear, but it was negated by the way I clutched his shoulders and tugged him closer. The only real protest I managed was when he pulled away.
He frowned and dug his phone from his pocket to check the caller ID. Dimly, I heard his ring tone over my roaring pulse.
“I need to take this,” he said, and turned his back. “Hey, Kim. What’s up?”
My face felt hot as I ran my hands over it, trying to regain some semblance of composure. Even though Kim’s call had saved me from making a big mistake, I couldn’t help feeling resentful of her interruption. The fact that Cougar didn’t seem to want me to hear this conversation upset me even more. He’d moved clear across the living room.
“That’s great!” he was saying. “You’re a doll. So, when—”
He paused, and I wondered again what she’d wanted to talk with me about. Maybe she’d simply wanted to tell me “hands off.”
“Tonight?” He cast a frowning look over his shoulder at me. “Can’t we do it tomorrow?” He sighed. “Okay. Yeah, I understand. I’m on my way.”
Bitter disappointment filled me when he disconnected and crossed back over.
“I have to go,” he said, and reached for me.
Pretending I didn’t notice his outstretched hands, I moved past him to grab his jacket from where it lay on the bookcase. Without looking, I tossed it over my shoulder to him. “See you later.”
“That was Kim. I—”
“No explanations necessary.” I plastered on a smile and faced him. “Just be careful out there. The roads are probably a mess.”
His brow knitted. “Are you sure you don’t want to go home and wait for me? I shouldn’t be long.”
“No, thanks.”
He slid into his jacket and adjusted the collar. “You’re mad.”
“Nope.”
And I wasn’t, really. I simply felt like I was getting too old for this junior-high tug-of-war stuff with Kim. Being with Cougar would be complicated, and my life was complicated enough right now.
He caught my hands in his, and I grudgingly looked up at him. The earnestness in his eyes threatened my resolve. “This is really, really important,” he said. “But like I said, it shouldn’t take long.” He paused. “If you don’t want to go to my place, I could come back here.”
“I’m kinda tired,” I said, but inside I was thinking, Kiss me. Convince me. But he simply squeezed my hands.
“Okay.”
I walked him to the door and hugged myself against the blast of frigid air when he opened it. “Be careful,” I said again.
He nodded and turned to walk away. More than a little disappointed, I grasped the doorknob.
Before I could close the door, Cougar shouldered his way back inside and seized me in his arms. He kissed me so hard my knees buckled.
When he released me, I had to grab the edge of the bookcase to keep from falling. He winked as we both tried to catch our breath. “I don’t do so good with temptation, either, and I’ve been dying to do that all day.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I merely stared. Kissed senseless.
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
With a massive effort, I made my head nod.
“Good night,” he said, and I gave a little wave.
When he shut the door behind him, I wobbled over to lock it. My lips still tingled from his kiss. Touching my fingers to them, I realized I was grinning like an idiot. I giggled, then giggled some more.
Mercy, what was I getting myself into?
I got up early the next morning to do some shopping before time to pick up Abby. Two hours later, I had a trunk load of things, but nothing I was happy with. I couldn’t outbuy Elizabeth, and it griped me that I felt like I had to try.
The morning didn’t get any better. Elizabeth all but bared her teeth at me when I buckled Abby into the car, and then there was Abby’s less-than-enthusiastic reaction to the apartment…
“I hate this place,” she said without preamble. “I don’t want to live here.”
“We won’t have to live here long,” I said. “Just until the insurance company sends us a check.”
“I want to live with Grandma. I miss my room.”
“You’ve got a new room here. We’ll fix it up, however you like.”
Her little Bramhall nose turned up a fraction of an inch. “I won’t stay here. I want to call my daddy.”
Things deteriorated from there. We argued, and before I knew it, Abby was sobbing in her room and I was on the sofa, fighting back tears of my own.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
My cell phone rang. I dug it out of my purse and checked the caller ID. Flipping it open, I said, “Hey, Cougar.”
“Hey. What’s going on?”
“Fighting with Abby.”
“About what?”
“She hates the apartment. She hates her room.” My voice cracked. “She hates me …”
“Hey!” he said softly. “She doesn’t hate you. It’s a big adjustment for her, but she’ll get used to it.”
“I yelled at her, Cougar. It’s Chris
tmas Eve, and I yelled at her. But when she opened her mouth, all I could hear was my mother-in-law talking. I don’t want my daughter to be like that. I won’t raise a spoiled brat.”
He fell silent, and I laughed. “Sorry, didn’t mean to unload on you. I bet you’ll think twice before calling me next time.”
“If you can’t talk to me, who can you talk to? But that brings me to the reason I called … I’m supposed to deliver our Angel Tree presents to the shelter today, and I wondered if you and Abby would like to come along.”
“Ah, I don’t know. We might not be the best company.”
“C’mon. It might be just what Abby needs, to see that there are others less fortunate than she is.”
I glanced at her closed door. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Of course, I am. Pick you up in an hour?”
“That depends. You dressing up as Santa?”
“Uh … no.”
“Shoot.”
He laughed. “Well, if it means that much to you … I’ll let you sit on my lap later and tell me what you want for Christmas.”
“It wouldn’t be the same without the red suit and beard.”
“All these years, and I never guessed you had a thing for old, fat guys. No wonder none of my pickup lines worked.”
“Your pickup lines suck. Your problem is that you’re too good-looking. You’ve never had to work at it.”
He snorted. “As insightful as all this is, I’ve gotta run. I have a couple of stops to make before I pick you up.”
I was smiling when I hung up. Feeling a little more hopeful already, I knocked on Abby’s door. When she didn’t respond, I went in anyway.
“Hey, baby. You remember my friend Jason? He—”
“No,” she said sullenly.
“You know, he went to Fat Daddy’s with us.”
“You mean Cougar.”
“Yeah, sorry. His real name is Jason. Anyway, he’s delivering presents to some people today, and he wants us to come with him.”
Her eyes lit up. “Are any of the presents mine?”
“No. They’re for kids who don’t have a home.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, I don’t have a home.”
I did a ten-count, then pasted on a smile. “Get cleaned up, okay? He’s coming by to get us.”
Surprisingly, she did what I asked and even came into the living room to wait with me.
Paint It Black Page 20