The Hooker, the Handyman and What the Parrot Saw

by Patricia Harman

  Crap. It just occurred to her. She hadn’t actually had sex with Jake Adams. Well, she had, but he hadn’t so did that count? Not legally it didn’t. Did it count as sex at all? God, her head hurt. Why the fuck hadn’t she heard from him? She felt like she was slowly dying with each passing minute.

  The next time she looked up, it was after nine. She had been at it for over twelve hours. Any other week, that was business as usual, but today it was kicking her ass. Her phone rang again. She figured it must be one of her detectives to be calling her desk this late, so she answered it, wondering why they didn’t call her cell and she scanned the desk for her cell phone.

  “Damn it, Charlie! Is it your mission in life to give me a goddamn heart attack?” It was Jake. He was angry and she was confused.

  “What? I don’t understand. Jake, what’s wrong?”

  “I said 2100! I said I would be back at your apartment at 9:00. I actually gave you a time. I checked Amy’s Café. I even called Clint.”

  “What?” she asked, completely lost. “When did you say 9:00? Jake, you left here without saying a word.”

  “I sent you a text, Charlie. In fact, I sent several. At first, I thought you were just busy. Then I thought you were trying to get even with me for not answering you yesterday. Is that what this is, because—”

  She cut him off. “Jake, Jake I-I don’t think I have my cell phone. I can’t believe it. I have been surgically attached to that phone since I made detective, but it’s not here. I’ve used my desk phone all day. I think I must have left my cell at home this morning.”

  “Home. Now,” he said. She hung up the phone without saying goodbye, gathered her things and ran for the parking lot. Inside her car she found her phone, lying face down on the passenger side floor board, she quickly checked it.

  11:00 a.m.

  I’m going to head to the field office to Norfolk and then to Va. Beach HQ so I can get back in time to tuck you in Baby. I will be there at 2100. I’m sure you’re tired but I’d like you to stay at the station until then. I am worried about you being out here alone. I know you are capable but I want to protect you, please let me. It has been a long time since I felt this way about anyone.

  4:00 p.m.

  I know you are trying to get through a lot today, but I need you to confirm for me that you are going to stay at the station until I get back and not go home to an empty apartment without me.

  6:00 p.m.

  You better have a good explanation for why you haven’t returned my texts or answered my calls. Make that a great explanation. Apparently, that spanking last night did not convey the intended message that I do not put up with this shit. I can fix that Charlie.

  8:00 p.m.

  I am leaving the beach at 2030. I will see you at your house at 2100. Do you understand me?

  The last text was from Clint.

  9:00 p.m.

  Hey Sarge, Adams is looking for you. You still at the station?

  She texted Clint back, then Jake.

  9:15 p.m. I spoke to him, thanks Clint.

  9:16 p.m. Jake. I just found my phone in the car. I’m so sorry. On my way.

  Charlie felt nauseous as the blood raced to her face. Like a teenager who had been caught skipping school or watching a porn tape, she was sick to her stomach and her mind was searching for a way to explain things to Jake in a way that would minimize the awaiting explosion.

  What did he mean “I don’t put up with this shit”? It was an accident. Not like last night when she was being a brat. Did that mean he wasn’t going to meet her at her apartment?

  Charlie struggled all the way home vacillating between anger with him for being so controlling and unreasonable and being upset with herself for worrying and upsetting him two nights in a row. She had no idea which Jake awaited her at her apartment but she feared the worst, the one whose right eye flashed light when he was losing it. She pulled in next to the SUV deciding that it was better that the initial encounter take place in the parking lot—a strategically safer location, but the SUV was empty. She looked up into the open stairwell but didn’t see him waiting there. Panic began to well up in her.

  Where was he? Was he waiting on the landing like he did at the station? Was he going to try to scare her to punish her? Did someone else get to him first?

  Her heart was racing. She was coming unglued and it was pissing her off. She chased an armed robber through the woods today, was shot at and felt not one ounce of fear or trepidation. Now, she was standing in a parking lot shaking because a romantic interest from an unconsummated relationship was angry with her for forgetting her cell phone, causing her to imagine all kinds of ridiculous scenarios. Enough.

  Charlie found her steel and marched up the stairs to her apartment. Maybe she was falling in love with him, but so what? She didn’t put up with shit either. She unlocked the deadbolt and stormed through the door, coming face to face with a man inside.

  The room was dark. But he was there. Shit! She was in trouble. The only other light in the room came from a small candle in the middle of her coffee table. The stereo was playing a song she knew by Judas Priest. Angel.

  She was wrong to assume it was Jake in the dark room. It could have been anyone. It could have been the killer, but it wasn’t. She didn’t need to see him. She could feel him.

  First things first. Her Irish was up. She turned on the light.

  “How did you get in here, Jake?”

  Not taking his eyes off her, he picked up the remote and muted the stereo but said nothing.

  “Look, you are welcome here, you know that and I appreciate how you’ve been looking out for me, but this door was locked when I left here this morning and I would like to know how you got in here.”

  He remained passive, his eyes fixed on hers, and she became nervous.

  “I mean if you can get in, maybe the killer can too, and I wonder if maybe I need to upgrade the lock or something,” she fumbled her words.

  No reaction.

  “Jake” she said, finding her backbone again. “I am not going to feel bad for forgetting my phone in the car. I’m sorry I worried you. I really am, but an awful lot has happened in the last few days. I didn’t even tell you what happened to me today. I’m not making excuses but I’m not going to apologize for being frazzled right now.”

  He stood up and moved toward her. She was shaking on the inside but she refused to allow herself to shake on the outside.

  “Now, you’re a little intense, I get that and maybe even a control freak,” she continued. “Well, that sounded worse than I meant for it to sound. But I don’t think you’re being very fair not to consider . . .” he took her face in his hands, kissed her gently, and took her by the hand.

  “I have a bath ready for you,” he said quietly.

  What?

  She followed him wordlessly. Her Susan McKeown Irish Love songs CD was playing on her nightstand, her bathroom was lit with candles, and the scent of fragrant bubbles filled the room. He removed her clothes gently while she stared at him, unable to speak and on the verge of tears.

  She had been in this place before, rattled by a bad day. It had happened many times. She would hold it together at work like it was no big deal and sometimes she even made it all the way home before she dealt with the reality of whatever frightening or inhumane horror she had dealt with on the job. Once or twice she lost it in the car on the way home, but usually she made it inside her apartment where she would take that first real breath. After that, she would let it go, alone. Always alone when she took that breath. Even when she was married, she bore her burden alone, then the tears would come along with whatever emotions she had been holding hostage. Like a dam breaking loose, there was no containing it once it began.

  Tonight, she was not alone. Tonight, she didn’t have to take that breath alone. She didn’t have to hurt alone. She didn’t have to protec
t herself. Jake Adams would protect her tonight.

  He pulled the ponytail band from her unwashed hair and ran his hands through it, making her groan. Charlie was unable to keep up with the rollercoaster ride that was Jake Adams. Lusting after him one minute, scared to death of him the next, frustrated as hell by him somewhere in the middle . . . and then there was the suspicion she hadn’t quite allowed herself to acknowledge, though she feared Clint had. Charlie kept her eyes closed as he ran his hands along the outside of her breasts and along her waist, pulling her in to kiss her again. Jake guided her into the bath and she lay back and sighed while he sat on the floor next to her sliding a washcloth across her bare breast and neck.

  “Breathe, Baby,” he instructed. When she did, her eyes filled with tears. Not sad tears, but tears of another kind. Relief maybe? Or maybe it was someone caring for her so tenderly. Someone who broke into her apartment to care for her—but still.

  “Clint told me what happened today. I just . . . I wanted to have all of this ready by the time you got here so I let myself in.” She nodded and closed her eyes again and sunk deeper into the tub as quiet tears rolled down her cheeks. Her hand covered his while he caressed her with the washcloth. She no longer cared how he got in. She needed him and he was here. It was something that happened so rarely in Charlie’s life, someone, anyone, being there for her when she needed it the most. Jake reached between her legs to open the drain and re-start the warm water sending a quiver through her body.

  Using a plastic pitcher she recognized from her kitchen, he tipped her chin back, wetting her hair. Then he stood up and slowly removed his clothes, never taking his eyes off of her. She watched in wonder as she was finally able to see what so far she had only felt. She gazed at his broad square shoulders, his wide chest, and his ample manhood, already more than half erect. He stood before her without an ounce of apprehension. Charlie found his confidence incredibly sexy. She slid forward, silently inviting him into the tub and he slid in behind her filling the tub to its limits. He wrapped his arms and legs around her. She let out an audible sigh and melted into him. He filled his massive hands with shampoo and began washing her hair. The sensation was like nothing she had ever felt and she let herself get lost in it, getting more and more excited by his full erection against her back.

  When he was finished, he held her quietly against his chest. When the water cooled, he gently moved her forward, stepped out of the tub, and dried himself first before filling the pitcher with warm water and pouring it over her. He guided her out of the tub, wrapped her in a towel, and hugged her while he dried her the way she imagined a father would lovingly dry a small child. He started to slide her Redskins jersey on over her head but she shook her head no.

  Jake was thrilled that she wanted to stay naked with him, completely exposed and vulnerable. It was a sign of trust and it further empowered him. She sat down at her dressing table to brush out her hair but he took the brush from her. He brushed it for much longer than he needed to and loved the response she was giving him. Her eyes were closed, her head was tipped back, and she groaned quietly. His eyes were fixed on her hard and perfect nipples.

  Charlie let herself drift back to Mr. Daley brushing her hair. No one, until now, had done this to her. It was so intimate, so erotic. Why couldn’t her husband have done these things for her, to her? Maybe things would have turned out differently for them if he could only have found a way to reach her, but he never had. No man ever really had, until now. As a girl, Mr. Daley brushing her hair aroused her but she didn’t understand it. Now she understood it and she understood Jake Adams. He was as broken as she was, as alone as she was, and as frightened as she was. Someone had hurt him badly and whoever it was, she hated them.

  Charlie abandoned her thoughts and kept her eyes closed as each stroke of the brush gently pulled her head back. Every stroke both sent a shiver through her and radiated warmth through her body. She wished it would go on for hours. She wanted him, needed him. She finally stood up, took the brush from him and led him to her bed. Their eyes stayed locked until he looked down at the bed and his expression changed.

  Charlie followed his eyes and what she saw there horrified her.

  Chapter 26

  Gus

  Gus.

  Gus was laying there in the middle of the sheets where she had left him. Jake raised an eyebrow and gave her a wicked grin. She blushed and finally found her first words since she entered the apartment and confronted him.

  “Oh, that,” her voice cracked. “That’s umm. Well, that’s Gus.”

  “Gus?” he asked, his eyes dancing.

  “Yea, Gus. You know, the fat mouse from Cinderella,” she said matter-of-factly and shrugged her shoulders, hiding Gus behind her back. With that he burst into laughter, and tackled her onto the bed.

  “Give me that!” he laughed, trying to wrestle Gus from her grasp.

  “No, no, no. Oh no you don’t! Nooooo!” she screamed and giggled.

  Jake pinned her underneath him face down, her breath and pulse quickening as he ripped the vibrator from her grasp and turned it to full power with one hand. He stayed on top of her, his naked manhood fully erect now and lodged in between her full smooth thighs. He moved his vibrating hand underneath her while she struggled to get free, moving it fractions of an inch until he found the spot. Then she was paralyzed. She was his prisoner.

  “Jake. Please,” she begged, her body stiffening.

  “Such a well-mannered young lady,” he whispered into her ear. “Such a good girl,” he panted, her paralysis driving him out of his mind.

  It didn’t take long. He could feel her getting close.

  “Not yet, Charlie,” he whispered.

  What? Her mind was almost gone. Did he say not yet?

  “Not until I give you permission to come, Baby,” he said grinding against her.

  “Jake,” she begged. “I can’t. I can’t stop it. Please.”

  “Yes, you can, Charlotte. You will not come until I tell you to come.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and started to whimper in frustration and ecstasy. He pressed the vibrator harder against her.

  “Jake!”

  “I said not yet.”

  “Please!”

  “Okay, my good girl,” he said. “Now Baby. Come now.” He trapped her in his grasp like a vice.

  “Now!” he commanded as his large hand crashed down fully against her flesh. The pain was ecstasy, the restraint was all-consuming, and the control he had over her ignited her and she lost it. Jake moved his hand to her mouth to muffle her screams. She bucked hard and finally won the physical battle, managing to roll him off of her and slap away the vibrator. She continued to spasm and scream, while he held her tight maintaining control of her body, gently muffling her whimpers until she started to come down from her orgasms. He counted three. She ripped his hand from her mouth and gasped for air, liquid coming from her eyes, her nose, and her mouth while she struggled to regain some kind of composure.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered, breathless. “Oh my God.”

  Jake rocked her in his arms and soothed her and said, “It’s okay. It’s okay. I’ve got you. Shhhh.” He continued to rock her until she returned from where she had gone.

  He handed her a tissue and she wiped her face before rolling to face him and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. She couldn’t have pressed herself any deeper into him. She lay in his arms trembling until her breathing started to normalize. Jake was almost asleep when she finally pulled away to look at him.

  “What the fuck, Adams!”

  Jake grinned, “You needed it.”

  “I’ve never lost control like that. I felt like I was possessed or something! Jesus that was intense,” she confessed without a hint of reservation.

  “You were possessed. By me.”

  He smiled warmly. “I had a dream about you last night.
It felt more like a memory than a dream.” he said. “It’s hard to explain. I just feel like I have known you a lot longer than just a few weeks. A lot longer,” he said sleepily, closing his eyes. “Why did you name your vibrator?”

  “I don’t know,” she said shyly. “If you’re going to take someone to bed shouldn’t you know their name?” She shrugged, embarrassed.

  He laughed, kissed the top of her head, and drew her head to his chest. She whispered, “I want you to make love to me, Jake.”

  “I just did,” he said, his eyes still closed and his face nuzzling into her chest as he took her nipple into his mouth and gently sucked.

  “No,” she said becoming breathless again at the wetness of his tongue. “I mean . . .”

  “Go to sleep, Angel,” he said rolling her over forcefully and pulling her into his chest. Jake surrendered to sleep quickly and she lay still, listening to him sleep. Listening in love and lust and wonder and just before she fell off to exhausted sleep it hit her. Angel?

  When she woke during the night Jake was still in a deep sleep beside her. She wrestled herself from his massive arms and ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth hoping to stave off morning breath. The bathroom floor started to vibrate and she looked around confused about where it was coming from. The vibration was subtle at first but then it became more violent. Charlie found herself hanging onto the bathroom sink to steady herself and that’s when she heard it. The train whistle grew louder, then the bell started DING! DING! DING!

  Jake! She had to warn him! She tried to make it back to the bed but the floor was shaking so hard she couldn’t move forward. She could see the light from the locomotive bearing down on the room, coming right for them. “Jake!” she screamed.

  “Noooooooo!”

  “Charlie! Charlie!” he said, “Baby, it’s okay. It’s okay,” he said as he shook her awake. She was sobbing hysterically and he had to continue to shake her to make her open her eyes.

  “It’s okay. I’m here. It’s okay,” he repeated pulling her close. “Charlie. What the hell were you dreaming about? Daniel Silver?”