Feisty Heroines Romance Collection of Shorts

by D. F. Jones

  C’mon, you can do this. Say his name, Ange, BLUE LADY encouraged.

  “Sincere?”

  “Yes, it’s me, we’re just in a different place and time. Like that song…think Beyoncé and my boy Jay-Z. Trust me, Angelica.”

  Sincere smiled and raised his shot glass--one of two that the server had surreptitiously left on the table. The other sat... as though waiting for this moment.

  “What do you think? Let’s have a shot for old-time’s sake?” Sincere paused, hopeful that Angelica would give him another chance. “Or better yet, let’s toast to new beginnings.” His penetrating yet calm gaze only intensified Angelica’s confusion.

  She rubbed her head as she searched for answers. “What do you want with me?” She vaguely recalled asking the question before. A different time. But where had she been? She pinched her leg, squeezed hard, and twisted, not yet fully convinced that she wasn’t hallucinating. “Ugh, that hurt…”

  Reacting to her self-inflicted pain, Angelica's knee bumped the table tipping over her drink. She grabbed her napkin to clean up the pungent tequila that rolled across the table, under and around the slice of lime and onto her lap. Frustrated by the uncertainty of the situation and her clumsiness, she scrubbed hard to remove the evidence of the spilled drink as though she could simultaneously erase the past.

  “Angelica, you’re bleeding. Let me…” Sincere tightly wrapped her finger in his bandana and lightly tapped it to his lips.

  “Don’t. What are you doing?” He looked—behaved, smelled, talked, and held her hand—like Sincere, the man from a faraway place she used to know. She tried unsuccessfully to ignore the warm breath that caressed her ear and comforting words that mellowed her heart. Angelica closed her eyes and pinched herself—hard—with her one free hand. The other was still clasped by the man from that other time and place.

  “What are you doing?” She opened her eyes. Blinked them a couple more times. Closed them, pinched herself, and reopened them.

  “I’m here. It's really me. Sincere. You can trust me, Angelica.”

  BLUE LADY intervened, afraid that if she didn’t, Angelica would miss the opportunity to heal and move forward. He taught you the cubic shuffle. The tequila shots? Remember?

  Angelica struggled against the reality of the moment and the stirrings of the past—the sensuous voice, the soft touch, the silk sheets, the reminder. “I’d say chug it—like this.”

  Sincere scooted over closer—slowly, cautiously—fearful of moving too fast. Too soon. Although afraid to take the chance of losing her again, he dared to make his move. The clock was ticking and time was not on his side. It was now or possibly never. He risked touching her lips with his lips.

  ‘This is not a dream.’ Angelica shivered at his touch, turned to face him, searching his eyes for meaning. The musky floral yet masculine notes of the unnamed cologne worked their magic as once before.

  BLUE LADY sighed in relief, mission accomplished, whispering, You can trust him, Ange. She added what she knew would seal the deal.

  Sincere pleaded, “Forgive me, Angelica Marie Mason. I’m so sorry.”

  Angelica leaned into the arms that welcomed her, refusing to question or challenge, accepting that this was the dream that she once knew.

  Epilogue

  Isn’t this divine?... “Hey boss lady, over here.”

  “Hey Ange, girl, it’s me.”

  Angelica froze, barely avoiding a massive group collision. The man directly behind her yelled, ‘C’mon ma’am. Watch where ya goin’. I got a plane to catch. That’s my cab.” When he pushed by, she flinched at the unexpected tug on her arm.

  “Hey, Ange. Welcome back.”

  “Oh my gosh. What are you doing here?”

  “So, where are you parked, boss lady? Forget the shuttle bus. Give me the keys; I’ll get the car and pick you two up.”

  A speechless Angelica handed JaRew the keys to her car.

  “Thanks. Hey, guys, let’s move aside before these folks run us over.” Jarewski deftly weaved a path leading them to the parking lot entrance.

  “Perfect, now just wait here with the luggage, and I’ll pick you up right on this corner. By the way, it’s good to see you, boss lady.”

  Angelica didn’t bother to hide the tears that formed, and she might have been mistaken, but it looked like JaRew’s nose had reddened. He jogged off as though making his early morning run. Before Angelica could think through what was happening, Nicole reminded her of her presence. “It’s so good to see you, girl. Give me a hug.”

  “Can we ride with you, Ange? Our flights leave out of Hartsfield.”

  “Sure,” Angelica responded without hearing. She was in her own, old world trying to string together the pieces of this giant jigsaw puzzle called Angelica Mason's version of Déjà Vu on the Seas.

  While JaRew loaded the luggage, Angelica made herself comfortable in the passenger seat. JaRew asked the obvious, “Hey, boss lady, you want me to drive?” Her acknowledgment blew him away. “Yes, sir. If you don’t mind. This traffic is too much for me.”

  Angelica and her two best buddies in the world were hysterical. They didn't know which of them laughed the loudest. Not the least offended, Angelica spoke up. “I know, guys. I can't believe it either. It's a brand-new day. For real. I’m not stressing over anything or anyone anytime soon. Especially after what you guys just put me through.”

  “Boss lady, you have got to be kidding me, right?" Jarewski didn't wait for an answer. “Let me just say this, and I’ll be done with this topic for now. I jumped through some hoops for your outer limits fantasy, a dream come true déjà vu experience. Oh, and by the way, can I assume we’re heading back to Smoothville?”

  “Funny, JaRew. Let’s stop for dinner somewhere before we hit the road. I’m starving. Do either of you know of any good Mexican restaurants in Ft. Lauderdale?”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t trust us, boss lady. Can you, Nik?”

  Jarewski felt comfortable enough to call Nicole, Nik—he’d never met her or talked to her before she frantically reached out to him a couple of weeks ago. Although Angelica was surprised to hear the friendly repartee between her two best friends, she was happy to be happy and to see them happy. She wasn’t worried at all about the hard time they’d undoubtedly give her at some point.

  “Me, huh? I can’t believe you guys. How the blinking heck did you pull it off? And what made you decide that it was a good thing to do?”

  Before either could respond, JaRew looked at Nicole, and Nicole responded with a shrug of her shoulders and a wink.

  “What’s that all about? Be for real, folks. I know I was a little out of it—”

  “Little? Is that how you’d describe it, JaRew?”

  Before Jarewski could answer, Angelica interjected, “Really, JaRew, don’t even go there. The last time I saw you, you had punched Sincere in the nose, blood was spewing all over the place, and Lieutenant Cooke cautioned you and that dizzy nephew of his to stop the madness, or you'd both find yourselves in the paddy wagon along with Sincere.”

  Angelica’s cackle was music to her buddies' ears. “Oh, you find that funny now, huh?”

  Jarewski turned and winked at Nicole. “Glad you’re here to witness this. I’m sure I’ll have to call you to testify the next time the lieutenant’s jerk of a nephew shows his face.”

  “Good point, JaRew; so, not to change the topic, but I will boldly do so. When am I going to meet Sincere, Ange?”

  “Oh, so you want to meet him? Hmmm.” Angelica’s telltale blush told the story.

  “Can you believe that, JaRew?” Nicole chuckled.

  “I can’t wait to see him, myself!” JaRew bellowed. "Now that guy owes me big time; that's all I can say." JaRew continued. "We have some unfinished business, and the dude knows it."

  “Oh no,” Nicole groaned. “Ange, what are you going to do with those two?”

  “I don’t know, but I'll figure something out by the time…. Hey, Nik, can you help me plan m
y celebration?”

  Neither Jarewski nor Ange’s BFF were prepared for this totally unexpected twist and responded in unison.

  “Celebration?”

  “Yep.”

  Neither knew what to say, but both knew, without a doubt, their girl was back.

  “My official welcome home celebration. I’ll be counting on you two. I don’t know how you guys hooked this up. And you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want me to know. I’m just so glad you did."

  Me, too, BLUE LADY made her presence known. You were a basket case.

  “I know,” Angelica whispered. She didn't add, ‘Now where do I go from here?’ I guess that old adage is right, ‘only time will tell.’

  About Stephany Tullis

  She loves to communicate with her readers at www.stephanytullis.com.

  Also by Stephany Tullis

  The Angelica Mason Series

  BLUE LADY

  Blue Lady’s SWEET DREAMS

  Blue Lady’s MISSION under FIRE

  What Love Can Do Series

  Love RescuesLove Strengthens

  Chandler County Series

  Missing Pieces

  Missing the Moment

  Miracle Circle Series

  The Master’s Plan, A Novel

  48 Hours ‘Til Christmas

  * * *

  Love, Peace and Joy: Three Short Stories

  Falling For Nora by Claire Angel

  An Office Romance

  Chapter 1

  Barlow stared at the sea of brake lights, cursing as he swiped his phone to take a call.

  “Where the hell are you?” Cory barked. “This is a critical job, and they’re already here. You know, like you’re supposed to be!”

  He winced.

  Cory was his partner in the graphic design business they’d started with another friend, Alex. It was quickly becoming one of the most successful agencies in Philadelphia. Of course, being stuck in traffic could very well change that.

  “I’m on my way. Mom still has the flu, and I had to wait for Tess to relieve me. Her flight got delayed from Belize.” Cory knew he’d been staying with his mom while she was sick, splitting time with his sister, Tess. He worked around Tess’s schedule as an event planner which took her to weddings in exotic places.

  Barlow’s anxiety spiked about being late to the meeting. “Clay’s driving me in.”

  “Tell him to hurry. I’ll schmooze the clients and smooth things over. See you soon.” The call ended.

  He and Clay sat stuck in traffic. He noticed a crowd of people forming in the street. “What the hell?” Shouts and screams rose above the car horns and city noise. “I’m going to see what’s going on and try to speed things along, or Cory is going to have my ass.” He opened the door to the slick black SUV and stepped into the fray. A woman screamed as he pushed through the crowd to get a glimpse of the commotion.

  His eyes widened at the spectacle. A petite, fire-haired girl sat on a guy’s stomach, beating the shit out of him, and spewing a steady stream of curses. “You pervert. You have no right to touch my friend like that. How dare you?” She continued to pummel him.

  Barlow whistled. “You tell ’em, girl.”

  Another woman pulled at the attacker between nervous glances at the crowd surrounding them. “Nora, stop. You’ve made your point, and I’m fine. C’mon. Let’s go.”

  “I’m sick of guys thinking they can do whatever they want. Fuck him.” The small girl kept hitting the creep.

  Barlow knew he should intervene, but he was too amused to do so. She wasn’t causing much damage anyway. He chuckled, admiring her spunky attitude.

  Police sirens echoed approaching the intersection. The officers parked and made their way through the melee to pull the redhead away from the victim. She rattled off everything he’d done to her embarrassed friend.

  He shook his head as the crowd dispersed and he slid back into the SUV. He leaned his forearm on the console and said, “Hit it, my friend. I may make this meeting, after all.”

  “What was that about?” Clay asked.

  “Some wild cat of a woman protecting her friend.” He laughed. “You should’ve seen her, man. I don’t know any women with that kind of cojones.”

  “You would know.” Clay chuckled.

  At thirty-two, Barlow had a successful business partnership allowing him access to many beautiful women around town, but none had made him feel such an adrenaline rush as watching the feisty girl on the sidewalk. Who was she? Man, he wished he could’ve stuck around to find out.

  She was almost worth being late to work.

  Barlow made a mental note of her name, Nora.

  Her fight would surely land somewhere on the internet. It might even go viral.

  “Here, buddy. I hope you still have a job.” Clay stopped at the curb and looked at him.

  “Thanks for helping me while I stayed with Mom. It means a lot.” Clay had been a friend since they were kids, and Barlow paid him well to drive him around when he was in a pinch. It helped Clay and his wife as they raised toddler twin girls.

  A lot of people dubbed Barlow an asshole only serving his own needs, but his real friends knew otherwise.

  “I hope Mom gets better. She’s too young to go anywhere.” Clay smiled, and they bumped fists before Barlow hopped out to run to the elevator. He had a client to woo.

  A week later, Barlow’s life was back to normal. His mom recovered from her illness, and he’d moved back into his condo in the city. On occasion, after a long day at work, he slept on the couch in his office.

  He’d nailed the presentation for the client from the morning he watched the wild redhead’s fight, plus added two new members to their design team.

  Business was good, and the money was rolling in. Their firm was carving out a niche market in the city and earning a stellar reputation with an increasing number of clients.

  But every time he passed the massive intersection where he’d spotted Nora, he thought about finding her. She’d imprinted on his fucking mind. Work and taking care of his mom took priority over surfing YouTube. But he had a few minutes before meeting the guys.

  Barlow sipped his coffee and pulled up YouTube on his computer. He keyed in the city and intersection to start the search and found something at the end of the page. Nailed it. With a wide grin, he watched Nora. Dynamite in a small package, but what a package. Pretty little thing with fire-engine red hair and pale skin blotched red with anger.

  He minimized the image and searched for her first name. It wasn’t a common name, but several results popped up. He cringed slightly. He’d never stalked a woman. But the thought of her kept him looking. He scoped out popular social media sites and found her first on Instagram. Her public profile said she’d graduated from the top design school in the city, the same school he and his partners attended.

  Impressive.

  Barlow fantasized about the prospect of working with her and laughed to himself. She’d kick his ass if she knew he was swiping through her photos. She lived quite a life by the images. One image was from a school activity, another one in the pits at the Indy 500, sitting behind the wheel with a guy cheesing next to her. Photos with her girlfriends, and one with the other girl at the street fight.

  There were photos of her in a hot-air balloon, swimming in a beautiful blue ocean with dolphins, and swimming above a massive coral reef. She managed to look perfect even wet, but that had a lot to do with her sexy black bikini. She held a cat at an animal shelter where she volunteered regularly.

  “Planning on coming to the meeting?”

  Barlow looked at his door.

  “I’m late?” he asked.

  Cory smirked and pointed to the wall clock.

  “Yep. What’s got you so distracted? You’re smiling like a fool.” Cory walked over, catching a glimpse of the screen before Barlow minimized it. “Who’s the redhead, Barlow?”

  “Um, she’s the reason I was late last week with the vegan client. I never got a chance
to tell you about it.” Barlow tapped the screen to sleep then pushed away from his desk.

  “Tell me after the meeting. I’ve never seen a woman make you smile like that before.”

  Barlow threw him the finger. “Later, Cory.”

  The two entered the conference room and proceeded to land another client for their growing list.

  Afterward, Cory followed Barlow back to his office. He closed and locked the door.

  “What the hell, Barlow?”

  Cory was one of his best friends, and former roommate. Barlow trusted him. “You know I don’t have a problem finding women to date, but this one, there’s something different about her.”

  He swiveled the monitor so they both could view the fight video. Cory laughed so hard his shoulders shook. Then Barlow showed him Nora’s Insty photos.

  With a raised brow, Cory said, “She’s hot, I give you that, but I’ve met her. She has an explosive temper. I’m not sure you need drama in your life. We are kickin’ it, bro.”

  “You know her?”

  “Met her. I don’t know her.”

  Barlow inhaled and exhaled. “How do you know about her temper?”

  “The video. She’s all kinds of crazy.”

  Chapter 2

  Nora ended the call and spun around in her small childhood bedroom. “I got the job, Mom!” She ran down the stairs and out to the backyard where her parents drank coffee at the patio table. “I got the job. I start Monday.” She hugged them both.

  “The job at the design agency?” Dad asked as she nodded. “This isn’t gonna be a repeat of the last job, is it, Nora? I love you, I love your spirit, but your temper gets the best of you.”