Hurt

by Bruce, Lila

  Amy picked up two of the signs with a little grunt that made Nicole smile.

  “Thanks, again,” Nicole said. “They’re not so much heavy as they are bulky. You can just put them over there by my desk.” She motioned to the left side of the office, picked up the other three signs and followed Amy inside.

  “Here fine?” Amy said, and then placed the signs down at Nicole’s nod.

  “Thank you, again.”

  “Of course. You know, you two make a cute couple,” Amy said, gesturing toward Nicole’s desk. Nicole followed Amy’s wave and saw that she was pointing at the photo taken of Nicole and Jamie last Christmas that Nicole kept in a small acrylic picture frame on the corner of her desk. On their way to the mountains, she and Jamie had stopped by one of the many tourist traps in the area to pick up a few supplies. As they were walking back to the car, Jamie had asked another tourist to take their picture with the mountains in the background.

  Ok, now I know she’s up to something, Nicole thought.

  “That’s very sweet of you to say.”

  Amy smiled and then dusted her hands off on her blue jeans.

  “You know, as a matter of fact, I saw Jamie today.”

  Nicole raised one eyebrow.

  “Oh really?”

  “Yes,” Amy said. “While I was out shopping with the girls. She was out in front of the bath store over by Northgate Mall.”

  “The bath store? Are you sure that was Jamie?”

  “Oh, it was Jamie. As tall as she is and with that hair of hers, she’s kind of hard to miss. I didn’t talk to her, though. She seemed to be…tied up in a conversation with some woman outside the store.”

  Nicole took a step toward the door and was hoping that Amy would get the hint and follow her. Nicole was happy to see that she did. She’d already spoken more to her sister-in-law in the past twenty minutes than she had in the past two years, so she was more than ready to see the woman on her way. Especially since Nicole had a pretty good idea now of why Amy had suddenly decided to make the impromptu visit.

  “Oh,” Nicole said, shaking her head. “It was probably something for work, then. You know she spends half the day running around town interviewing witnesses and what not.” She held the door while Amy passed through, then locked it behind her.

  “No, I don’t think it was that sort of conversation,” Amy said, drawing out the words. “At least not from what I could see. Unless Jamie is in the habit of hugging her witnesses.”

  Nicole turned and stared at Amy.

  “Amy, what are you trying to insinuate?” Nicole asked sharply.

  Amy smiled sweetly. “I’m not trying to insinuate anything. I just thought you should know what I saw. I know that I’d want to know.”

  “You’d want to know what?”

  “I’d want to know if someone saw Steven draped all over some strange woman in front of a bath store.”

  Nicole gripped the office keys tightly in one hand and held back the urge to throw them at Amy’s smug face.

  “What did this woman look like?”

  Amy shrugged. “Short, curly blonde hair, a little hippy but definitely not lacking in the looks department, if you know what I mean.”

  Nicole crossed her arms and twisted her lips. That didn’t sound like anyone she knew, but she wasn’t going to give Amy the pleasure of knowing that.

  “I know exactly who that is,” she lied. “And while I appreciate your concern, I can assure you that whatever you thought you saw, you did not.”

  Amy shrugged. “Hey, that’s fine. I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said.

  Then what did you mean to do? Nicole thought as her sister-in-law continued.

  “Like I said…anyway, I need to hit the road if I’m going to make it home before dinner. Traffic on the interstate can be a bear this time of day.”

  “It was nice seeing you,” Nicole said, although she knew neither of them believed her words. “I’ll be sure to let Nana know that you sent the robe when I give it to her.”

  “Thanks, Nicole,” Amy said sweetly, sliding into her BMW.

  “Bitch,” Nicole muttered as she watched her sister-in-law back up from the parking space and then drive away.

  Chapter Eight

  Jamie stepped out of the Ford Explorer, still humming the Johnny Cash tune that had been playing on her stereo during the drive to Nicole’s house. She reached across the passenger seat and pulled out two small, white plastic bags and then kicked the car door shut with the back of one foot. Shifting the bags in her hands, she walked up the driveway toward the modest ranch style home flanked by azaleas and dogwood trees. Black shutters framed the windows and a bright blue flag with a snowman in its center hung from the front porch.

  Jamie had not quite made it to the porch when the front door burst open and Nicole stepped out, watching Jamie as she climbed the steps.

  Jamie smiled as she met Nicole on the porch.

  “As promised, your General Tso’s chicken,” she said, lifting the bags slightly in her hands.

  Nicole looked at her with a blank expression and nodded, motioning Jamie into the house.

  “Sounds great, darlin’.”

  Oh shit, Jamie thought as she heard the words leave Nicole’s lips and then felt her stomach drop.

  When Jamie first began dating Nicole, it had come up that Jamie had a borderline obsession with Johnny Cash. One night Nicole had picked up Jamie after work to go to dinner—it was their fourth or maybe fifth date—and announced that even though she truly hated country music, she had burned a CD of the Man in Black to play in the car just for Jamie. When Nicole hit the ‘play’ button on the car stereo and Conway Twitty’s “Hello Darlin’” began to belt out, Jamie had burst out laughing. After that, Jamie began calling Nicole by the term of endearment, and what began as a joke soon became Jamie’s pet name for Nicole. Occasionally, however, Nicole would also use the term. But, when Nicole said the word, it only meant one thing—that she was pissed off at Jamie.

  Jamie walked into the house, chewing her bottom lip and trying to think what she could possibly have done to get Nicole riled up. As Samuels had mentioned earlier in the day, there weren’t any birthdays or anniversaries that Jamie could have forgotten. She tried to remember if she had may have said something on the phone earlier that could have been taken the wrong way, but came up empty. It was possible, she thought, that Nicole was upset about meeting at her house rather than Jamie’s, but that didn’t really sound like Nicole.

  “Do you want to eat out of the box, or I can go grab some plates from the kitchen?” Jamie asked, deciding to test the waters. Maybe she was just imagining things.

  “Whatever. I don’t care,” Nicole said quietly as she closed the front door. Loudly.

  Yup, she’s pissed, Jamie thought. For a moment Jamie wondered if Nicole had somehow gotten wind of Jamie’s contact with Gina Southerland. That would certainly explain her apparent anger. Still, even if Nicole was initially mad that Jamie had gone behind her back, as it were, to contract out with a competitor to sell her house, Jamie would have thought that Nicole would at least be a little bit happy that Jamie was finally taking that step forward in their relationship.

  “Okay,” Jamie said and placed the bags on the coffee table. She silently walked into the kitchen and pulled out two cans of Diet Coke from the refrigerator before heading back to the living room. Nicole was already sitting on the tan leather couch, so Jamie took up the space beside her, being sure to leave several inches between them. She handed Nicole a soda and sat her own on the coffee table.

  Jamie quietly unpacked the white and red Chinese take-out boxes from the bag and placed them on the table. She turned over the bag, spilling out two pair of chopsticks and a few packets of soy sauce. Jamie reached down and picked up a pair of the chopsticks from the table, contemplating if she should speak or wait for Nicole to explain what she was upset about as she broke the slender wooden sticks out of their paper container.

  Nicole decided for
her.

  “So, what did you do today?” the petite blonde woman said, flashing stormy green eyes in Jamie’s direction. It occurred to Jamie that it wasn’t so much a question as it was an accusation. She popped the top on her soda and took a sip before answering.

  Maybe that’s what it was, Jamie thought. She was supposed to have done something that she hadn’t. Jamie decided her best course was to lay the day out from beginning to end and maybe that would jog some memory.

  “Well, after I left here this morning I stopped by the coffee shop and picked up a latte. They were out of the pumpkin spice, so I just got a hazelnut. Then I headed into the station. Samuels was late getting in, something about a poker game at the Major’s house last night.”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Then I spent about a half hour on hold with the crime lab just to hear that they didn’t have the results I needed for a case. They really need to add on some people there. It shouldn’t take three weeks to get toxicology results back,” Jamie said. She saw Nicole’s expression hadn’t changed and took another sip of soda.

  “Really,” Nicole said, sounding almost bored. Not a good sign.

  “Yup. So then Samuels and I headed out from the station and did the grand tour of some of Chattanooga’s finest pawn shops on the home invasions we’re working. We actually did locate some of the stolen property and get a few good leads,” Jamie said.

  Nicole continued to stare.

  “Anything else?” she asked, arching one eyebrow.

  Jamie shrugged.

  “We stopped and ate lunch at Mario’s while we were out.”

  Nicole pursed her lips and Jamie threw her a small smile, wishing she knew what had Nicole upset.

  “That’s it?” Nicole said sharply.

  “Pretty much,” Jamie answered. From the look on Nicole’s face she could tell that wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

  Jamie sat on the couch, staring at Nicole, who stared blankly back. After several awkward moments, Nicole stood and crossed her arms.

  “You know, I’m really tired. I think I may just go on to bed.”

  From the way she said it, Jamie knew that Nicole wasn’t extending an invitation for Jamie to join her. Jamie ran a hand through her hair and nodded.

  “Okay,” she said in a quiet voice. “I’ll just head on back to my place.”

  “That may be for the best.”

  Jamie bit her lip, ignoring the stinging feeling she suddenly felt in one eye. She rose from the couch with a sigh. Jamie looked down at the coffee table, briefly wondering if she should just leave the food or offer to clean it up before she left. Her eyes caught the second bag sitting unopened on the edge of the table.

  “Oh, uh, before I go, I got you something today.” She reached down and picked up the bag. Jamie pulled out the slender, pink plastic bottle from inside and held it out to Nicole. It wasn’t exactly the circumstances she had intended on giving it to her, but decided it would have to do.

  “What is it?” Nicole asked frowning.

  “Bubble bath,” she answered clearing her throat. Jamie stared down at the bottle as if it might gleam some clue as to what they were fighting about. “It’s the not the kind you usually get, but I ran into a girl I went to high school with out in front of the store. She and her husband have just moved back to Chattanooga, and we spent a few minutes catching up. After that, I didn’t have a lot of time to shop, so I just picked up the first bottle I came across. You may not like the way it smells, so don’t feel like you have to use it or anything. I just thought after the other night—”

  Jamie’s words were cut short when she was suddenly propelled backwards and pushed down onto the soft leather of the couch. She opened her mouth to ask Nicole if she had lost her mind, but before she could say anything Nicole had her lips pressed against Jamie’s, the force of the kiss taking Jamie by surprise. This was not the soft, warm kiss she was accustomed to from Nicole. This was an intoxicating, passionate kiss, meant to devour, and Nicole was doing just that. Jamie moaned as she felt Nicole’s tongue against her lips, demanding and then gaining entry. Nicole’s tongue swept across her own and then grazed the inside of Jamie’s lip. Feeling a fire begin to stir and tingle along her spine, Jamie turned her head, drawing away from the kiss and gasping for air.

  “What the hell, Nicole?” she asked in between breaths.

  “I’m an idiot,” Nicole whispered into her ear and then flicked her tongue along the sensitive spot just beneath, causing Jamie to tremble and moan softly. Nicole trailed kisses along the inside of Jamie’s neck and then stood, looking down at Jamie with an expression on her face that Jamie couldn’t decipher. Shaking her head, Nicole said, “Just remind me to punch Amy in the throat the next time I see her.”

  Nicole pushed off from the couch.

  “Amy?” Jamie frowned. “Your sister-in-law Amy?”

  Nicole nodded and then extended a hand to Jamie. Taking it without hesitation, Jamie rose from the couch and stood staring at Nicole, wishing she had some idea of what the hell was going on. Nicole gave a soft smile and tugged on Jamie’s hand.

  “C’mon, I think it’s time to go to bed,” Nicole said, repeating her statement from earlier. There was no misjudging the tone, however, and the clear invitation. The look of lust was unmistakable in Nicole’s dark green eyes.

  Jamie glanced down at the unopened containers of Chinese take-out.

  “What about the food?”

  “Would you like to stay here and eat Chinese, or would you like to accompany me to the bedroom?” Nicole asked, raising one eyebrow slightly.

  Jamie didn’t have to give it a second thought.

  “General Tso can kiss my ass.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Nicole murmured, smiling as she pulled again on Jamie’s hand and began to lead her down the hallway toward the bedroom. Jamie was still unsure exactly what had gotten into Nicole but, deciding it best not to chance another sudden mood swing, stopped abruptly in the hallway and pulled back on Nicole’s hand and twirled her around so that they were face to face. “Hey!” Nicole exclaimed, startled.

  “Hey, yourself, crazy person,” Jamie smiled and then reached around Nicole and, grasping her buttocks in both hands, lifted her up. Jamie continued walking the short distance to the bedroom, Nicole’s legs encircling her hips. Pausing by the edge of the bed, Jamie dipped her head and began to kiss and nip at Nicole’s neck. Moaning softly, Nicole drove her hands beneath Jamie’s blouse, running her fingers along the underside of her white cotton bra, traveling around to softly caress the skin of Jamie’s back.

  Jamie lowered Nicole onto the bed and then took a step back as she pulled her shirt off over her head and threw it across the room. She grinned down at Nicole as she kicked off her shoes and stepped out of her khaki pants. “You have exactly three seconds to lose that shirt or I’m ripping it off you.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Nicole laughed as she began to work the buttons, and then gave a tiny shriek as Jamie hooked the bottom edge of the blouse and pulled it over her head in one fluid motion. Jamie made short work of the rest of Nicole’s clothes and then pushed her back onto the bed, relishing the feeling of Nicole’s soft skin and hardening nipples against her own. Jamie took one eager breast into the palm of her hand, caressing it as she moved her lips to Nicole’s, savoring the taste of her lips and groaning as felt herself get lost in the kiss. As Nicole writhed beneath her, Jamie began to kiss along the side of her neck. Jamie flicked her tongue along the edge of one ear and then smiled as she heard Nicole moan and felt her begin to grind her hips up against her own.

  “Do you like that?” she breathed into Nicole’s ear, pulling the lobe with her teeth and lips, suckling it slowly. Nicole inhaled sharply and arched against Jamie before making a soft growling sound and rolling Jamie onto her back.

  Goosebumps rose on Jamie’s stomach as Nicole slid down and began to kiss and lick around and under Jamie’s breasts. Jamie sucked in a gasp of air as Nicole wrapped her lips around one
swollen nipple and slowly began to draw it into her mouth.

  “Oh God, Nicole, please…” Jamie begged, mindless of what she was asking for.

  “Please what?” Nicole murmured, her warm breath tickling Jamie’s skin. Nicole moved from one breast to the other, attending to each nipple in detail. Jamie let her arms fall back onto the bed and breathed in sharply as Nicole tasted and teased at her throbbing breasts. Jamie fisted the fabric of the pale pink comforter as Nicole dove into the valley of her breasts, peppering her stomach with kisses, and then going lower still. Finding Jamie’s pulsing flesh, Nicole flicked it with her tongue, sending Jamie bucking up beneath her. Nicole held her steady with one hand, gripping Jamie’s hip as she arched and nearly screamed when she felt Nicole’s fingers opening her and then a steely tongue dart in and out of her swollen folds. Jamie could feel the wave building as Nicole lapped at her throbbing wet heat, reaching her hands down and weaving her fingers through Nicole’s hair. Seemingly spurred on by this, Nicole continued her assault, circling and suckling Jamie’s clit, relentlessly pushing her toward the point of no return. Then Jamie was there, writhing uncontrollably on the bed as wave after wave of pleasure washed over her.

  “Oh my God,” Jamie breathed, melting into the soft mattress. She sighed as she felt Nicole slide up beside her, pausing briefly to cup and softly kiss the side of one breast and then along the line of her collarbone. Nicole slid her arms around Jamie’s neck and grazed her lips.

  Gazing into Jamie’s eyes, Nicole smiled.

  “Do you like that?”

  Chapter Nine

  Nicole had never been a morning person.

  As a child her mother always had to drag her out of bed in the morning. On more than one occasion, the family’s orange ’65 Volkswagen Beetle peeled out of the driveway on two wheels in hot pursuit of a missed school bus. When she was a student at the University of Tennessee, Nicole had made it a point to schedule as many afternoon classes as possible. Before her death, Nicole’s mother always joked that part of the reason Nicole had gone into real estate was that no one ever wanted to go house hunting before ten o’clock in the morning.