ACER: A Stand Alone, New Adult, Friends To Lovers Romance

by A. Hargrove

  I wrote Acer another note. “Didn’t find anything, but I don’t trust that. We can talk, just don’t say a word about what happened.”

  “Let’s go to bed. I’m tired,” he said.

  “And I have to get up early too.”

  Once in the bedroom, I got ready for bed. Then I typed out a text to Art and explained what was happening. He texted me back telling me he’d send in a team the next day to sweep the place.

  Acer fell asleep, but me, I stayed awake, on high alert. My instincts told me we hadn’t seen the last of whoever was out there and we were in for something bad.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ACER

  When I woke up, Isla’s mouth was on me. At first I thought I was dreaming, but when I lifted my head, she said, “Merry Christmas.”

  “Indeed it is.” I sunk my fingers into her silken tresses and let her continue for a bit before I pulled her on top. “Ride me. I want to watch.”

  A lazy grin formed as she straddled me. It was swept away as she sunk down.

  “Hmm, I’m going to have you this way more often. You look amazing sitting on my cock. Now ride it like you mean it.”

  Her lids dropped down and she lifted up until I was almost out of her and then sat back down, rotating her hips.

  “That’s right, babe, make it feel good for you.”

  Leaning forward, she placed her hands on my chest and caught a rhythm. I matched it and while she pleasured the both of us, I tweaked her nipples. With the morning wood I’d woken up to, along with her hot mouth on me, I wouldn’t last long. I found her nub, and rubbed a circle on it, getting her there. She clenched her thighs against me, as she came. I followed behind, but not before I pulled her off me.

  “What? Why?” she asked.

  When the jets of white cum shot up into the air, she knew the answer. What the fuck was wrong with me?

  “Christ, babe, can you go on some birth control or something?”

  “No. I get migraines from the pill, but maybe I can get an IUD or something.”

  “Fuck. I’m sorry. When you went down on me, I forgot about the condom again.”

  “Hey, at least you pulled out.”

  “Only at the last minute. I wish they had birth control for men.”

  “That would be great.”

  I rubbed my face, thinking about how close I came to ejaculating inside of her. Once was bad enough, but I needed to get my shit together when we fucked.

  “You distract me,” I told her.

  She laughed. “The same can be said for you.”

  By now she’d crawled up next to me.

  “I need to clean up. I’ll be right back.” If she got pregnant, Brax and Lenox would murder me.

  As I was climbing back in bed, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No, you don’t. That expression tells another story.” She rubbed my forehead. “Your frown was deep enough for my entire finger to fit.”

  “Funny. But, the truth is I can’t believe I forgot the damn condom again. That bothers me.”

  “It’s done, Acer.”

  “True. Hey, what time do you have to be at your mom’s?”

  “Ugh. For breakfast at eight-thirty. After we eat, we go to church. Then come home and open gifts. And then I go to work.”

  “Yeah, about that. Why didn’t you say something?”

  “Art called and told me they reinstated me. So I get Christmas Day. He laughed when he informed me, funny guy.”

  “Congratulations then. I knew you would. You didn’t do a damn thing wrong.”

  “Acer, you don’t know the bureau. They review things from all angles.”

  “Well, I’m happy for you because I know how it was weighing on you. So tonight then?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Not much later, she got up to shower. I started to join her but she said, “You can’t. If you do, I’ll never get to Mama’s on time. And then I’ll have my share of explaining to do.”

  “What’s so bad about that? You can say that your hot boyfriend, Acer, kept you in bed, and then in the shower too long.”

  “Oh? You’re my boyfriend now?”

  I did get up this time. Taking her in my arms, I said, “Isla, I’d have to say that’s a yes, wouldn’t you? I don’t just pop over to a woman’s house late at night and then stay over if I’m not a boyfriend. I hope you’re on the same page as me.”

  “Men don’t come over here, Acer, if that’s what you’re asking. And I don’t sleep with just anyone. So, yes, I guess we’re a couple.”

  “As in boyfriend and girlfriend?” I persisted.

  She dipped her head, almost as though she’d become bashful. “Yeah. As in boyfriend and girlfriend.”

  “Does this embarrass you?”

  “No. It’s been a while I guess, since I’ve been romantically involved with anyone.”

  “Same here. I haven’t had the means and it makes me feel inferior. It should with you, but it doesn’t.”

  Her hand cupped my cheek and I caught her gaze. “Don’t ever feel inferior, Acer. I’m proud of you that you’ve found your interest, calling, whatever you want to label it. You’ll make a damn good law enforcement officer one day.”

  My forehead touched hers. “Thank you.”

  “I have to get in the shower before I’m late.”

  “Yeah or I’ll have Lenox to answer to with Brax on his heels. Oh, what would we do without big brothers?”

  I released her and hated the cold space that touched me where she’d been. While she was in the shower, someone knocked on the back door. I threw on my clothes and went to answer it.

  “Uh—” as I greeted Art, he vigorously shook his head, stopping me. “Hey.”

  “Merry Christmas. Aren’t you going to invite me in?” Then he pressed a finger to his lips as he pulled out a notepad and began scribbling. Behind him were two other men carrying equipment. I waved them through and had a good idea of why they were here. Art handed me a note that explained they were sweeping the place for listening devices. He walked to the remote control, turned on the TV, and increased the volume.

  “Isla’s in the shower. How about some coffee?”

  “Sounds great.”

  “Give me a sec.”

  Isla needed to know they were here so I wrote it down and took the note to the bathroom where she was drying off. She nodded as she read it. “Want some coffee?”

  “Yes, thanks.”

  I went to put a pot on, but Art had beaten me to it. As we watched, the other two guys used scanners and found several bugs. They unscrewed vents, outlets, the smoke alarm, looked at all the lamps and light fixtures, or wherever the scanners indicated. The search revealed five listening devices but no cameras.

  Once they were disposed of, Art said, “Now that we have that taken care of, who do you think did it?”

  “Either the guys who owned that shipment of women or those who shot at us in New York,” I said. “Who else?”

  “I agree,” Isla said. “Like I texted you last night, I know that car I saw was here to watch the house. They probably broke in while we were in the safe house.”

  Art rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Okay. I don’t want you staying here, Isla.”

  “Art, if I leave, we’ll get further away from figuring this out.”

  “And you’ll get closer to getting hurt.”

  “My job is risky. I’ve known that from the start.”

  “Yes, but we never take unnecessary risks.”

  I listened to the conversation ping pong between the two of them and stepped in. “I’ll stay with her.”

  They both said, “You don’t carry.”

  “Then I’ll get licensed. How do I go about it?”

  Art answered me. “Georgia doesn’t require much. Go buy one and take Isla with you. Keep the receipt and for God’s sake, take a class on how to use it appropriately. We don’t want you to have any accidents.”

  “Can I open carry?”<
br />
  Art sighed. “I’d rather you not, but you can. The state requires a license for that. However,” and he pointed a finger at me, “if you go that far, you will take a gun safety class. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, Dad.”

  “Acer, this isn’t funny. Carrying a weapon is not to be taken lightly. What if someone disabled you and took that weapon from you and then turned it against you?”

  I hadn’t thought about that. “Fair point. But I’m not taking this lightly and I will take a gun safety class. The only time I’d want to carry is when I’m around Isla. It would be for her protection.”

  “Fine.” Art scribbled something down. “This is where you go to purchase and who you need to talk to about a class. Then we’ll discuss the licensing part.”

  I nodded my agreement. “You really did remind me of my dad. I wasn’t making light of this.”

  Isla checked outside. “That car isn’t there now.”

  “They’ll be back. And one other thing. If the two of you are staying here together, I want one more person here as protection. I also want someone here when you’re not. No more listening devices.” Art shook one of the bags he held to sink his point in further.

  I pulled Isla next to me. “Agreed.”

  “Shit. I’ve got to go. My mom is going to be asking a million questions now.”

  She left to get ready.

  “I’ll make sure she’s safe,” I said.

  “I’m just as worried about you as I am about her. She’s damn good at what she does. Don’t let her size fool you.”

  Art was right. She had been trained whereas I hadn’t.

  Chapter Fifteen

  ISLA

  My mother gave me one of those looks when I walked into the house. “And where have you been, young lady?”

  Lenox’s brows lifted indicating he was equally as curious.

  “Sorry, I’m late.”

  “What I want to know is what kept you?” Mama’s toe tapped the floor impatiently.

  I set the bag filled with gifts down and said, “It was work.”

  “Isla, that’s all you do is work, work, work. If you don’t stop, your life’s going to pass you by.” My mother clucked like a hen.

  Lenox hugged me and whispered, “Did this have to do with Acer?”

  “No,” I huffed.

  “Then what?” he prodded.

  My mom wandered off to the kitchen as I set the gifts under the tree.

  “If I tell you, do you swear not to tell Mama?”

  “Yeah. What’s going on?”

  “Someone’s been surveilling my place and Art came over this morning with a couple of guys to sweep it for bugs.”

  “Bugs as in microphones?”

  “Yep.”

  “And?” Lenox eyed me curiously.

  “They found several. We think someone must’ve broken in while I was staying at the safe house.”

  “Some safe house,” Lenox said. “You’d think they’d have kept an eye on your place too.”

  “Yeah, they were, but so were other people. I’m just glad there weren’t any cameras in there.”

  “Damn, Isla, that’s way past creepy.”

  “Tell me about it. But they’re gone now.”

  “What happens next? Are you safe over there?”

  “I’ll have someone staying with me.”

  He laughed. My brother actually laughed. “And does this someone have a last name of Kent.”

  “Ugh. It’s not what you think.”

  He surprised me by pulling me into his arms and hugging me. “Hey, I’m just happy you won’t be alone. And Acer is pretty cool.”

  “I wasn’t talking about that. I’ll have an agent in there along with Acer, but it’s for his protection too. He’s too green to let loose.”

  “True. If I remember correctly, you can pretty much take care of yourself.”

  “To be honest, this one scares the hell out of me. I’m not telling you this to frighten you, but this is serious shit. We’re not dealing with one person. We suspect it might be mob-related. The fact that we don’t know much doesn’t bode well for any of us. They are faceless people without names.”

  Lenox’s body tightened. “Are you sure this is wise? Maybe you should go back into hiding.”

  “If we do that, we’ll never find them. I don’t want to live my life like this forever.”

  Mom came back in and our words were silenced. “What are you two whispering about over there? You think I don’t have ears, but I can still hear pretty good for someone my age.”

  “Mama, you can hear everything. The CIA needs to hire you as a spy for the kinds of things you pick up.”

  “Nope. Not going to work those crazy hours like you do. Come on, breakfast is ready and you two had better be hungry.”

  We followed her into the kitchen to see the table filled with all kinds of her delicious dishes. My belly gave out a huge growl in response.

  “I’m glad my girl can still eat,” she said.

  “That I can, especially when it’s your cooking.”

  “Mama, you made my favorite biscuits,” Lenox hollered.

  “Of course I did. My boy needs to keep his strength up for his games.”

  We chowed down on the yummy spread before us and soon we were being hustled out the door.

  “You can be late for breakfast, but we are not going to be late for Christmas church service,” Mama chastised me.

  “I’m coming.”

  Lenox drove us and we sat through the service, listened to the preacher and sang the Christmas hymns. I also prayed for Acer’s and my safety during these uncertain times.

  Afterward, we drove home to open gifts. I’d bought Mama a fancy new blender that did everything, including chopping. I also bought her a new set of kitchen knives and some pretty gold earrings. I’d wanted to get her a new robe and slippers, but never got the chance. Lenox gave her a cashmere sweater, some pretty leather boots, a new coat, and a Caribbean cruise.

  “Oh, my. I’ve never been to the islands.”

  “It’s for two, Mama, so you can take someone if you want. I was thinking that friend of yours you hang out with so much.”

  “Well, I’ll be. These gifts are so lovely, you two. I’ve never had such wonderful presents. Thank you.” She held out her arms so we could hug.

  Lenox gave me the coolest pair of fashion sneakers, a new designer handbag, a pair of designer sunglasses, and a sizable check. “That’s for doing whatever… vacation, decorating, I don’t really care as long as you spend it, not shove it in the bank.”

  “Wow, this is incredible. Thank you, bro. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” We hugged.

  Then he opened his gifts from me. I gave him some new sneakers, a new pair of his favorite pants, and a large iPad. I was fortunate I’d shopped for him before we’d been hustled off to the safe house.

  “How did you know?” he asked, holding up the iPad.

  I tapped my temple. “I’m psychic.” We laughed.

  “Thanks. I love them all.”

  We all sat around chatting until I had to leave. “I hate to do this, but duty calls.”

  Mama shook her head. “If you didn’t love that crazy job of yours so much, I wouldn’t let you leave.”

  I kissed her cheek. “Yes, you would. You know it’s how I make a living. Merry Christmas and thank you both for my gifts. I love you two.” I blew them kisses as I left.

  The office was depressing. Everyone acted cheery enough, but it was not the place I wanted to be. Art had dropped off the bugs they’d collected so I went to work on them. I was going to trace the serial numbers to see if I could find where they had been purchased. It would be very difficult to find the owner, but it might give me a clue.

  I examined the first one, and it certainly wasn’t one of ours, which I already knew. The ID number was so tiny, I had to use magnification to find it. I entered it into the computer, and the manufacturer popped up. It came from overseas, but wha
t did that really tell me? Anyone could buy these things on the internet today. The problem with this though, I was fairly positive the ID number would not trace back to the owner.

  The second one was identical. This had turned into a dead end. The only thing it told me was these units could transmit and store hours and hours of data. It was a good thing we found them when we did. But the question still remained. What did they want from me? I had no idea why they were following me. Even if we took the women they had enslaved, there was nothing they could do about it now, so why put surveillance on me? It wasn’t making any sense.

  The day was long and boring as hell. I called the New York office to see if they’d heard anything about Paulie McCutcheon. They hadn’t heard or found him yet. After this long, I had a terrible feeling we weren’t going to find him alive. His phone led us nowhere. All we had were calls to burners and nothing else. Whoever he had been dealing with was smart and knew how to stay dark. I hoped Acer didn’t raise the question. He was under the assumption Paulie had run. I hoped so because if he hadn’t, he was in a shallow grave somewhere.

  Chapter Sixteen

  ACER

  My family was gathered as we opened gifts and I didn’t have a single one for them. I was a million miles away as everyone oohed and ahhed over their new presents. Mom was especially giddy because it was the first time in years we were spending Christmas together as a family.

  Reynolds was a bit sad because her dad had opted to spend Christmas in Italy with one of her sisters, Piper, and her husband, Alessandro. Alessandro’s family owned a vineyard in Tuscany and I didn’t blame him one bit. Why go to Atlanta when you can go to Italy and stay in a fancy villa?

  “Ground control to Acer. Come in, Acer. Are you with us?”

  “Sorry, Brax. I was thinking about Reynolds’ dad spending Christmas at the vineyard.”

  “Oh, what a lucky man,” Dad said.

  Reynolds instantly perked up. “You know what? We should all make a trip there. The place is huge and can hold us all. There are three guest houses, and the main house is enormous. Alessandro would welcome it and so would his family.”