by Cybill Cain
“I’m not sure I can tell him anything more. I’m pretty sure we covered it all last night.”
“Still, speak with him and make sure. If nothing else, I will feel better that he is there with you and Mr. Alexander as long as Mr. Barnes’ location is unknown.” Her eyes met mine.
“No,” I told her, already sensing that she was ready to ask me to leave again. “I’m staying, Annie. I mean it.” She sighed, and ran her hand through her hair.
“If we aren’t able to reach a satisfactory resolution once Mr. McGill arrives, we can discuss moving you both to a more secure location,” Meenan said, cutting right to the heart of our argument flawlessly. “I’ll be in touch soon.” He hung up. She sat there, her mind wandering as her thumb caressed my hand.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her, afraid I already knew the answer. She sighed.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Me either. You either,” I added, shaking her hand a little to get her attention. “If we leave together, I find that more than acceptable, or we can stay together. That works for me, too. As long as we’re together, I don’t care about the rest.” As soon as I said it, I knew I meant it. They were big words that spanned more than this moment we were facing, but it was too new and delicate for me to look too closely at it.
“Stacy will be here soon. I should shower.”
“Let’s do it together. Saves water that way.” She smirked.
“I had no idea you were such an environmentalist.”
“I have hidden depths to me.” She rolled her eyes, but smiled.
“Fine, but we use my shower.” She was already standing up, tugging on my hand. My eyes were drawn to her fabulous ass as I slid out of bed, ready to go wherever she wanted.
“Any particular reason?”
“You’ll see.” When we got there, I certainly did. My shower was modern and nice, hers was twice the size with dual shower heads and body jets. “I gave up half my closet space in the remodel to have this,” she told me as she pulled the glass door shut, and turned the water on, making sure it was warm before turning on the jets.
The warm water massaged my entire body. I couldn’t suppress the groan of pleasure that came out of me as I felt a million watery fingers caress each muscle. She laughed. “You made a good call,” I told her, reaching for the shampoo on the shelf. “Come here.”
I washed her hair, making it good and soapy, before pausing to massage her shoulders. Her eyes were closed, and a soft smile was playing hide and seek on her luscious lips. My eyes followed the rivulets of water down her skin, watching them hug her curves as I had done with my hands a short while ago. Thinking of it made me want to do it again.
After rinsing and conditioning her hair, I took the loofah off the hook, and added some shower gel to it. She watched me closely, anticipating what came next as much as I was, but before I could even start Stacy called out from the hall.
“Hey, you guys up here?” I hated him, and the psycho asshole that caused him be here, so much in that moment.
“Yes,” she answered. “Be out in a minute.” She flashed me a look of regret and promise before stepping around me to exit the shower. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me, bending down to kiss her thoroughly before letting her go. She reached absently for the door, more to hold on to than to open. I steadied her, kissing her softly again, before letting her go. I turned the water off, and wrapped a towel around my hips to get back to my room, hurrying so I didn’t miss anything.
***
Annie
“Is there anything else you can think of that you haven’t told me about Barnes?” Stacy asked just as Max joined us in the living room. His hair was still damp, and he looked good enough to eat. I wouldn’t even need a spoon. I’d just dig into him, growling like an animal.
“Ms. Clemons?” Stacy prompted me, pulling my attention back to him again. I cleared my throat, if not my mind, and frowned as I tried to think of anything I might have forgotten.
“The High Seas,” I said suddenly, my head coming up. “He has a boat, the High Seas that he keeps docked at the marina. I’ve never seen it. The only time he mentioned it was when he tried to get me to come see it. I was working for him then, and he never said anything about it again.
“That’s good,” Stacy said, making a note of it on his small notepad. “I’ll check it out. Is there anything else?” I shook my head.
“I don’t think so, but we weren’t really that close, which is kind of the point here. I never wanted to know him, so it’s not like I’m up to speed about his habits or anything else.” Max walked over to where I was sitting on the sofa and perched on the arm, resting his hand on my shoulder. I felt better almost at once. He was an island of calm in this ocean of fucked up. I put my hand on his leg, just to get more of him. He took my hand, and threaded his fingers through mine, rubbing my palm with his thumb. It wasn’t supposed to be erotic, but it was. We’d crossed a line this morning, and now everything he did only made me want him again.
“I know this must be very hard for you, Ms. Clemons. I regret that, sincerely, I do, but if I am going to keep you safe, I need you to work with me.”
“She is,” Max said over my head, his tone making it clear that he did not approve of Stacy pressing me. I shifted my body to lean against Max, and looked at Stacy. After a few seconds Max’s warmth seeped into me, making my tense muscles relax. I kept his hand in mine, making him lean down over my shoulder slightly to maintain the contact.
“Was his staff able to tell you anything more?” Stacy shifted, looking almost uncertain about how to answer my question. “Tell me.”
“His staff, one woman in particular had a lot to say about you.” I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“And who would that be?” He flipped his pad back a couple of pages.
“Teresa Jenkins.” I rolled my eyes. I remembered her only too well.
“Let me guess. I’m trash, and he can do better?” He shrugged.
“According to her, you two have been dating for several months.” I buried my face in my hand, trying to connect the dots on that one.
“She had a thing for Todd. She resented me when I worked there because he was interested in me. Much like Todd himself, I could never quite convince her that I wasn’t interested.” I snorted. “I always thought that made them quite the pair. He was a…hobby for her. She kept track of his comings and goings with great attention. Was she able to tell you anything useful, or did she spend her interview trash talking me?”
“Mostly trash talking you, but she did seem genuinely worried that no one there had heard from him. She said I should come and ask you first, and then she mentioned that he had a friend named Jackson Bartley. Do you know him?”
“A little. Jackson was the head waiter when I worked there. I heard he left shortly after I did, but I haven’t seen him since I quit. I didn’t know they were still in touch.”
“According to Teresa they spend a lot of time together.” I shrugged.
“Have you looked him up? Maybe he knows where Todd is at?”
“He’s next on my list after I check out this boat.” Stacy stood up. “Ms. Clemons, why do think Teresa believed you were dating Todd?”
“Because she’s as crazy as he is?” I snapped, regretting it almost instantly, but this was just too much. I sighed. “No, I’m sorry, I really don’t know why she would think that.”
“You two keep your eyes open, and let me know if Barnes shows up here. I’ll give you a call after I’m done with the boat, and we’ll regroup from there.”
“What are you going to do when you find him?” Max asked, sounding like he had some ideas of his own about how to handle Todd.
“Only what I need to do to convince Mr. Barnes that he needs to leave Escape and Ms. Clemons alone.” The vagueness of his answer framed a world of possibilities. There was something about Stacy McGill that was dangerous. He wore it like a designer cologne, and it suited him. I had no doubt that
if he could find Todd, he could convince him to stop harassing me.
After he left, Max moved down to sit beside me on the sofa. I leaned into him, loving the way his big body made me feel safe. “Let me take you out to lunch,” he said when my stomach made a loud gurgling noise. Surprised, I looked up to see if he was serious.
“I thought you were keeping a low profile while you were here?” He shrugged.
“One lunch out won’t hurt anything. Besides, I refuse to be a prisoner to the image that is Max Alexander.”
“Can’t we just go back to bed?” I asked him, images of our amazing morning filling my mind, and causing a different kind of hunger to overtake the need for food.
“Yes,” he agreed, his eyes filled with dark promises, “But only after I feed you. It may be awhile before I let you go again.” Yeah, that so worked for me. I snickered.
“Todd owns the best restaurant in town.”
“So, we’ll go to the second best.”
“There’s a deli I like on the downtown strip.”
“Sounds wonderful. Let’s go.
***
The downtown strip was walking access only, covering roughly three blocks with parking lots at each end. It was supposed to give the visitors a small town homey feel when they shopped for their souvenirs. I hadn’t considered the exposure of walking when I suggested we visit here.
Max commanded attention even before he was recognized as famous. I had to hide my smile every time a lady turned to follow him with her eyes. He was wearing a cap and dark aviator sunglasses, but they did nothing to hide his big broad shoulders and silver screen good looks. We hadn’t gone more than a dozen steps before he took my hand, folding it carefully in his, as if I were delicate. Maybe compared to him I was, though I had never considered myself so.
We walked slowly, and he peered into each little shop window along the way, asking questions about their owners and history. He paused in front of the Gibbley’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor. “Let’s save some room for this,” he said, sounding so much like a little kid, it made me giggle. He leaned in closer, studying the interior. “Looks like someone pulled it right out of an Archie Comic. I used to read them when I was a kid,” he added, glancing back at me with a smile.
“Mr. Gibbley would never admit it, but I’ve always thought the same.” Haverson’s Deli was only a couple of doors down from Gibbley’s. When we walked in, the heavenly smell of pickles and homemade potato salad filled the air. When we got to the counter, Max stood behind me, sliding his arm around my waist as he read the sandwich board over my head.
“What do you recommend?” he asked me, leaning down to speak softly in my ear. I shivered all over. I recommend we go home and spend the afternoon with you whispering in my ear while you make me scream your name, I thought, and bit my tongue to hold it in. After a couple of seconds, I tried to answer him, but food was the last thing on my mind.
“I usually…get…um…chicken salad, on a croissant, with chips, and extra pickles.”
“Mmmmm, sounds good. Is the Reuben any good?”
“Everything here is wonderful.” It sounded like I meant the menu, but my mind was on the arm around me, and the feel of him against my back. He chuckled, before squeezing me lightly around the waist.
“Can I help you folks?” Mr. Haverson did a double take when he recognized me. “Annie! Good to see you! You having the usual today?”
“Yes, please.”
“And you, sir? What can I get for you?” When we took our number and grabbed a table Mr. Haverson winked at me, making me feel like I was out on a date, and he was approving of my choice. This wasn’t a date, was it? Was I on a date with my movie boyfriend? Max took my hand again as soon as we were seated. It felt like an answer, and it unleashed the googley eyed fangirl I’d gagged and stuffed into the closet of my mind the night of his arrival.
“You’re blushing,” he observed, as he took his dark glasses off. “Is something wrong?” I couldn’t help it, I gushed.
“I think this must be a dream!” I whisper squealed, on the verge of a full blown case of the giggles. “I’m sitting here, with you.” The sexiest little smile turned up the corner of his mouth.
“Your movie boyfriend, you mean?”
“Yes!” I whispered again, leaning in conspiratorially. I caught myself, dropped my eyes and sat back. “I’m sorry,” I muttered while looking down, trying to pull my hand from his, but he refused to let go.
“For what?” I sighed and shrugged.
“I think… at Escape I was able to draw lines around who you were. You were my guest, and I wanted to take care of you, but here out in my real world, those lines get blurry, and you’re here, and I’m so over the moon! Each time I come here now, this will be where I had lunch with Max Alexander. This is where we sat. This is where he held my hand, like we were on a real date.”
“We’re not on a real date?” My eyes flew up from the table to meet his. He was frowning a little, like I’d confused him.
“I just thought…” he raised an eyebrow at me, encouraging me to go on. “Is it a real date?”
“When the check comes, you’ll know.” I smirked at him. “Yes, Annie, this is a real honest to God date, with me, Max Alexander. The man who happens to be your movie boyfriend.” I could feel my cheeks getting red again. “How did that happen anyway?”
“You mean how did I fall head over heels in love with you?” I’d meant to tease him, but the look on his face froze me in my chair. Sometimes we can’t feel the weight of words until they are spoken.
“Here you go,” Mr. Haverson said, putting our plates down, and collecting our order number. “Flag me down if you need anything else.” Max thanked him politely, and commented on how good everything looked. Mr. Haverson was beaming when he left us, and I wondered if it was because he had been complimented by a movie star, or if it was the obvious sincerity in Max’s words that pleased him so.
Instead of pursuing our conversation, Max dug into his lunch, signaling that I should do the same. After a couple of bites he looked out the window. “Is there a salt water taffy place around here? I have an addiction that needs to be fed.”
“A few doors down past here. Homemade saltwater taffy in all the colors of the rainbow.”
“Do they have grape?”
“By the truckload.” His eyes closed in pleasure, and I mentally added another stop to our list before heading back to Escape. We finished our lunch, and Max paid the bill winking at me when he tipped Mr. Haverson, and told him it was the best Reuben he’d ever had.
“Come back any time!” Mr. Haverson beamed, waving us out the door. He bought five pounds of grape taffy, and winked at the lady behind the counter, making her blush and giggle like teenager. “Back when I was reading Archie, my parents would take me to the beach in the summer, and this was my favorite treat. I was a chubby kid.” He had leaned down to look through the display case when selecting his candy, and now glanced up at me to see how I would react to the idea of him being less than perfect.
“My, God. I bet you were freaking adorable,” I sighed, my fangirl taking control again showing me flashes of him stretched out on his bed, munching taffy and reading comic books.
“If you had known me then, you probably wouldn’t have thought so.”
“I’ve always seen the man behind the curtain,” I reminded him. “I’m sure I could have seen the boy behind the taffy.” He chuckled.
“That chubby boy remained all through high school, dateless and well read. It wasn’t until the summer before college I got my last growth spurt, and became the man you see before you today.” I got it then.
“That’s why you were showing your ass at college. First time out, looking pretty, you wanted to make up for everything your bookworm cavity filled youth had denied you.” He smirked at me.
“Something like that, smarty-pants.” He squeezed my hand a little. I couldn’t stop the ‘I knew it’ smile that came up on my face. He didn’t believe me, but I k
new what attracted me to him was more than his looks. The list of things I adored about him had only grown since I’d met him. “Do you like grape, or do you want something else?” he asked, leaning down to look through the glass display case.
“I like cinnamon.”
“I’ll take another five in cinnamon, please,” he told the lady behind the counter, giving her a smile that made her beam just as brightly as Mr. Haverson. He carried the candy into the ice cream shop, holding the door open for me to enter first. This time he stood beside me, my hand in his, while he held the candy with the other, and looked at the board behind the counter. I glanced up at him, having another brief flash of how surreal this all was before he smiled down at me.
“Want to split something?”
“Depends. What do you have in mind?”
“Hot fudge brownie sundae with extra nuts, whipped cream and half a jar of cherries?” I nodded, my mouth hanging open with a little bit of drool at the corner.
“Sprinkles?” I managed, wiping my mouth with my free hand as subtly as possible.
“Chocolate or rainbow?”
“Both?”
“Perfect,” he purred, earning himself a new title in my mind. Max Alexander, movie boyfriend, food porn god. There was no part of me that didn’t want to take him right here, cover his body in all the things he’d just rattled off, and eat him for desert.
“I wish I knew what you were thinking right now,” he said, studying me intently.
“You wouldn’t be getting any ice cream if you did.” He laughed, and turned to place our order.
***
Max
I snatched a cherry with my spoon before she could get it, making her narrow her eyes at me. “Oh, it’s like that, is it?” She reached for another, grabbing some whipped cream with it. I forgot to tease her as I watched her take the bite, and moan quietly as her eyes rolled back in her head. I’d made her do that earlier. Just me, pinning her down and fucking her like there was no tomorrow. I shifted in my seat, embarrassed to be jealous of her desert.