I don’t want to let her go, but I have no choice. She unwraps her legs from my waist and slides down to her feet.
“I’m going to go get dressed. You can go to the bathroom and take care of that.” She chuckles as she points to my cock, who is making it known he’s up.
She turns around and walks back into her bedroom, closing the door softly. I look at the ceiling, placing my hands on my hips, trying to think of anything to get me out of this predicament. My thoughts go straight to Marissa and the way her ass fit in my hands, the way her tits are the perfect size, the way it’s going to feel when I sink inside her for the first time. The thoughts running through my head aren’t helping my situation at all, so I walk into the bathroom and turn on the cold water, splashing some on my face. One, two, three times, before my cock starts to deflate.
Grabbing the towel hanging on the bar, I wipe off my face and return to the kitchen. Marissa walks in wearing a flowery skirt and a white tank top. “Bend over,” I tell her, my voice tight.
She stands tall, or as tall as she can given her small stature, and folds her arms over her chest. She doesn’t say anything to me nor does she do what I asked. She just levels a raised eyebrow glare at me.
“I want you to bend over so I can show you something,” I tell her again, not giving up.
She turns around and bends over. Her skirt rides up but doesn’t show anything. I don’t let this opportunity go, though, as I walk over to her and run my hands under her skirt. She whirls around and pokes me in the chest.
“Don’t you start this shit.” She pokes me hard for someone so small. “I don’t need you to tell me how to dress.” She keeps poking me. “I’m old enough to know what to wear.” She puts her hands on her hips. “Do you get what I’m saying right now?”
I reach out and pull her to me, burying my face into her neck. The smell of strawberries fills my nose and makes my mouth water. My mouth goes right to her neck as I trail my lips, nipping and sucking, up to her ear. “No one gets to see what’s mine.” I nip her ear as her body responds with goose bumps. I suck her lobe into my mouth, and my fingers playing along her neck feel her heartbeat pick up beneath them.
“You know I was a stripper, right? People have seen me naked. Many of them come into the diner,” she tells me as she grips my shirt while I continue to assault her ear and neck. She tilts her head to give me more access to her neck and continues her tirade. “You do realize my uniform was a thong?” She waits a second before she pushes herself from me.
My hands fall to her hips.
The look in her eyes is guarded, almost fearful, and she drops her hands from my chest. “You need to decide before we go on if this is going to be a problem.”
I look at her, watching the different ways that her eyes change with each emotion that she is feeling.
“I get it if you’re going to be embarrassed to...” Her voice trails off. “Be seen with me.” She looks down at her hands that no longer grip my shirt. “I just need to know.”
Placing my forefinger under her chin to raise her face so I can look her in the eye, I take in tears that are beginning to well before she blinks them away. “I will gladly hold your fucking hand in here and out there. I will walk proudly by your side. Head held high.” I lean in and kiss her on her lips gently, almost like a whisper. “Now let’s go. I’ll drive you to work.”
“Umm, no, I’ll take my car in case I finish before you can come and get me,” she tells me while trying to look away.
“I can come get you.”
“No,” she says while trying to get her purse and keys.
“What’s the secret, Marissa?” I eye her, my body going rigid.
“No secret, Mick.”
I stare her down till she finally puffs out a huge breath.
“Fine, okay, you win. It’s Friday. I go down to the shelter and ask around for Lori, see if anyone has seen her. I know that she might not be there since she called and she’s being held, but maybe, maybe someone has seen her.”
“How long have you been doing this?” I ask her, furious that she would put herself in danger like that.
“Since she has disappeared,” she says softly, her voice almost cracking,
“It’s not safe.”
“Don’t make me choose between this and you. I will choose her every single time. She is the air I breathe, the reason for everything that I have ever done.” The tears that she was keeping at bay finally break free, and she swipes the back of her hand across her cheeks.
“I would never ask you to choose between me and your daughter. Not now, not ever. But, and this is a huge but, you go out there tonight or any other night and I’ll be really fucking pissed.”
She nods her head.
“I need to hear you say the words, Marissa.”
“I hear you, Mick,” she whispers.
“Good. Now let’s go. I’m fucking starving,” I say to her while walking to the door, pulling her hand so she follows me.
Chapter Thirteen
Marissa
As we walk into the diner hand in hand, Phyllis smacks hers down hard on the counter. “I knew it! Roy, you owe me fifty,” she yells while walking into the back to speak to the cook.
Mick shakes his head and laughs as he walks around the counter to grab himself a coffee.
“Well then, I guess that cat is out of the bag,” I tell him as I round the counter and reach under it for my apron.
Leaning against the counter, he drains his coffee. “Never planned on keeping it a secret.”
Phyllis comes back out with three plates and places them on the empty table.
Sitting herself down in front of one of the plates, she forks up some eggs. “Are you two going to watch me eat or join me?” She throws a glance at the clock, which reads 5:45. “We open in fifteen minutes. Let’s get some fuel in us.”
I join her at the table and take the plate opposite her. The remaining plate is obviously for Mick, with three eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, Canadian ham, and toast on the side. “Are you going to finish all that?” I ask him as I dunk my toast into the egg yolk before biting some off and chewing it.
“This is only number one. Once I’m finished at the gym, I’ll grab another,” he says while shoveling down half the plate in the time it takes me to finish one piece of toast.
“You’re going to get fat,” I say with a smirk at Phyllis as I glance at him.
He lifts his T-shirt, displaying his tight eight-pack. My mouth goes dry, and my fingers itch to touch him. “I think I’m good,” he says before dropping his shirt.
“Meh, I’ve seen better.” I take a sip of my coffee. “Right, Phyllis?” I bring her in on this when I see the smile in her eyes.
She nods her head. “Seen better and had better,” she agrees with a wink.
Mick smirks at her as he curls his arm around my chair and strokes my shoulder with his thumb.
“So what is this thing between you two? Am I going to have to replace my best waitress or my best boy?”
We both look at each other. “This has nothing to do with my job. What happens between Mick and me will never, ever come to work with me.”
Phyllis grabs her plate, smiling at us before she trains that too wise gaze of hers at Mick. “Don’t make me poison you,” she says in warning before she walks away. “Roy, I’m unlocking the door in five!” she yells through the food service window while putting her dirty plate in the bin.
I get up, taking my plate and Mick’s with me. “Let the party begin,” I tell him before heading behind the counter.
As I place the plates in the bin, I feel him come up behind me. He rests his hands on my hips like he’s done it a million times before and says, “I’ll be back tonight. What time do you finish?”
Turning in his embrace, I place my hands on his and peel them from my hips. “I have no idea. Why don’t I send you a text when I’m almost done?” I lean up on my tippy toes to kiss him lightly on the lips.
The bells over th
e door chime, alerting me to my first customer. “Now you need to leave so I can make some money.” I turn to start another pot of coffee.
I don’t see him leave since I was busy serving the two tables that came in. By the time the morning rush finishes, it’s ten and I’m gearing up for the lunch rush. I grab my phone out of my pocket.
Seeing that I haven’t missed any calls or texts, I then open Facebook and check my notifications. Scrolling through, I notice it’s all garbage. Doing what I always do, I click over to Lori’s page to see her pictures, to see if something has been added or if anything has changed.
Last thing on her wall was a message from me asking her to call me and then another asking if anyone has seen her. I start scrolling through her photos, noticing how she changed from a happy, smiling kid to a sullen one with troubling friends. I can’t help but wonder where the fuck I went wrong.
Grabbing a glass of water to calm the tears clogging my throat, I click on Facebook Messenger and send her another message.
I miss you so much, and I want you to come home. I’ll come and get you, just tell me where you are.
I press send and see that all my other messages to her haven’t been read. I still can’t help but hope that she’ll see them. Hope that she sees them and calls me, that I get her back.
“Oh, isn’t this just fucking cozy?” I hear said from behind me. I turn around on the stool, and I’m face-to-face with the naked woman who showed up in Mick’s kitchen. This time she is actually wearing clothes. Nice, fucking fancy clothes. Tight jean capris that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. A beautiful peach-colored shirt hangs off one shoulder, with thick bracelets on one wrist while the other is adorned with a Rolex and a diamond tennis bracelet. Her big wedding band nearly blinds me.
“Excuse me?” I ask her, noticing that Phyllis practically came running out from the back with Roy on her heels.
“You heard me. So you think because you work for this woman you can worm your way into Mick’s life?” She sneers then laughs. “Honey, do you know how many poor waitresses have been in and out of his life?” She crosses her arms under her breasts, the movement pushing them up high on her chest.
“I have no idea who you are, and I have no interest in knowing you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my break is over.” I try to walk past her when she reaches out and yanks my arm sharply, causing my head to jerk back.
“You listen here, you white trash bitch,” she says as I rip my arm out of her hold. “He’s mine. Has always been mine, always going to be mine. So you should know you are fucking with the wrong person. I’ll make your sad, sorry life even worse.”
Having heard enough of the shit she is spewing, I pick up my warm coffee and throw it right in her face. I hear gasps from all around the diner. I didn’t realize that we had an audience. An audience that also now consists of Jackson, who just walked in.
“What the fuck?” she screams as she grabs napkins to clean her face off. She turns to look at Jackson. “Did you see what she just did? I want to press charges.” She demands while wiping her chin before any more coffee can drip onto her shirt.
I shrug my shoulders at Jackson. “I was testing a theory,” I tell him.
“A theory? What theory? That you’re crazy and assaulting me?” she shrieks.
“The theory was to see if you would melt with hot water.” I move closer to her. “I can see that my theory was wrong. My bad.”
She lunges toward me, but Jackson stops her in her tracks, looping his arm around her waist.
“You bitch!” she screeches while trying to squirm her way out of his hold.
Looking around, I see many of the regulars trying not to make eye contact with me. I’ve always been the outcast, but not this time. “I may be a bitch, but you’re straight up crazy. What did you think would happen when you came in here? Did you expect me to slink away? Did you think I’d be scared of the likes of you?” I laugh humorlessly to let her know that she hasn’t gotten to me. “I may be white trash, but you, well, you’re just plain fucking trash. Yesterday’s garbage. You want to press charges? Do it. But who do you think is going to pay my bail?” I ask her so she sees where I’m going with all this. “Oh, yeah, I see you’re getting it now. That’s right, honey, Mick will bail me out. My knight in shining armor. The same guy who tossed your naked ass out to the curb when you showed up begging for his attention.”
“He didn’t toss me anywhere. I can call him right now. Who do you think he’ll choose?” She breaks free of Jackson’s hold as she smoothes her hands down to straighten her now rumpled outfit.
“I could kill fucking Chris for giving her my new number!” Our heads both whip toward the door to see Mick standing there. His breaths come in harsh pants, almost as if he ran here. Looking past him through the window to the parking lot, I see that he didn’t even close his car door.
He walks straight to me, his eyes raking me over to make sure I’m okay. They stop briefly on my hands as he notices they’re shaking. His nostrils flare, and his angry eyes burn furiously as he turns to her. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Have you lost your mind?” He seethes.
“Bab—” she starts before Mick raises his hand to silence her from saying anything further.
“Jackson, I want this on record that she came in here to harass Marissa. I want to get witness statements,” he says, and Jackson nods in affirmation. He looks back at her, totally disregarding the crocodile tears running down her face. “This is the last time you breathe the same air she breathes. You see her, you walk the other way. You don’t come into her life, or mine.” His tone is serious and leaves no room for discussion. She doesn’t miss how he takes my hand in his and intertwines our fingers as he brings my hand to his lips. The shaking stops as I soak in his strength in this moment.
“This isn’t over, Mick,” she spits out like a spoiled child. She whirls around to grab her bag and then stomps out of the diner.
My eyes scan the room quickly before I look down at the floor. It takes Phyllis two beats before she claps her hands and calls out to everyone in the diner. “Drinks on me! Who wants more coffee?”
“Are you okay?” Mick asks me, worry obvious in his voice.
“I’m okay. I’m just going to need a few seconds.” I leave for the bathroom. Before I can close the door, a hand covers mine, preventing me from shutting it. Mick’s gray eyes greet me.
“Mind if I join you?” Not waiting for my reply, he closes the door and locks it.
“Can I say no?” I ask him as he leans against the door.
“You can, but I won’t take no for an answer. I’m so sorry, honey.” He reaches out to tuck some loose hair behind my ear. “So fucking sorry that I brought that into your life, into your job.” His hand gently cups my face, and I turn it slightly to kiss his large, calloused palm. “I swear I will do everything in my power so that she never does that to you again.”
“It’s not your fault, Mick. I mean, other than dating a fucking psycho but, hey, we all make mistakes, right?” I attempt a joke to lighten the moment.
He laughs at me. “Yeah, she is one mistake I wish I could go back in time and undo.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me in close. “Did you really throw hot coffee in her face?”
“It wasn’t hot, just warm,” I tell him sullenly as I face-plant into his chest, his calming scent filling my nose and working its magic. “How did you know?”
“Jackson had me on speakerphone the whole time.”
“Great. Three days on the job, and already people think I’m trash. I should just quit before they take it out on Phyllis.”
“You will do no such thing. You’ll go out there with your head held high because you did nothing wrong.”
I draw in a deep breath and slowly exhale. “I guess I have no choice now, do I?” I shove him away from the door and make my way out, seeing Phyllis and Roy quietly talking. “Phyllis, I’m really, really sorry about that. I promise I will pay for any damages.”
“N
o need to pay me for anything, honey. In fact, you just got yourself a raise. Been wanting to hit that woman for a long ass time. I think that was even better.” She smoothes down her apron. “Now go on out there. You have customers waiting to be served. And you”—she points to Mick—“better take damn good care of what you have here.” She looks pointedly between the two of us.
He doesn’t reply verbally, just nods his head, and follows me out.
The rest of the afternoon and early evening pass uneventfully, thank God. I get through the rest of the day on the knowledge that I get to search for Lori tonight.
Chapter Fourteen
Mick
I stand back and watch Marissa do her thing. As soon as we got back to her place, she went straight into Lori’s room. She walked around, inspecting things, checking to see if anything was out of place. I can see how much she hopes for this search to be different, for things to be out of place. Her shoulders droop in disappointment when she realizes that everything is exactly as it was the last time she checked. Watching that hope in her eyes quickly fade back to sorrow guts me.
Looking up at me with tears brimming in her eyes, she quietly says, “She hasn’t come back yet.”
“I’m going to get her back to you.” It’s not like we haven’t been trying, it’s just been one dead end after another. One minute we think we have something, only for it to turn out to be nothing. She nods her head.
“I’m going to change and then we can go,” she says as she walks past me, leaving me in the room by myself.
I walk around, taking in all the little ‘booby traps’ that she set up. The scotch tape on the drawers, the picture frames with strings attached to them, all in the hopes that she’ll come home and realize that Lori had been there. I can’t even imagine what that constant level of worry and devastation would do to me. I never really thought that I would be the kind of man who cared so much about children, but Lilah changed that for me. She really is the perfect kid.
Pieces Of Heaven: Pieces Of Heaven (Heaven & Hell Book 2) Page 7