We sat down and Eddie didn’t bother lighting the candles.
I began to get nervous, wondering what we’d talk about.
I didn’t have to worry. Eddie asked questions that were not too demanding and I answered, telling him a little about Lottie but mostly about Mom.
I asked questions and found out Eddie’d bought the house as a wreck about three years ago and was slowly doing it up. He had three sisters, two brothers, he was the second born and his father had died of a heart attack a little over a year ago. The family was close, they all still lived in Denver, and the loss of their father was a blow. I also found out he’d known Lee since the third grade and with Lee came Indy, Hank and Ally.
Then we were finished eating and I realized I’d been lulled into a false sense of security.
Dear Lord, what were we going to do now?
I didn’t want to think what we could do so I jumped up and grabbed the plates.
“I’ll do the dishes,” I announced, deciding that was a good plan. Then I hustled into the kitchen.
I was rinsing the plates when I heard Eddie come in behind me.
“Leave them,” he said to the back of my head.
I didn’t turn around.
“No, there’s not a lot. I’ll just do these and wrap up the food.” And anything else I could think up to avoid him while we were in his house. I wasn’t beneath cleaning his bathroom if I had to.
Eddie came up behind me, his hips pressed mine into the sink, an arm came around my middle and his other hand moved my hair away from my neck. Then his mouth was where my hair used to be.
“Leave them,” he said against my neck in a voice that clearly stated his words were not a suggestion.
I did a full-body shiver and, between my legs, my doo-da quivered.
His mouth moved up my neck to behind my ear.
Then the doorbell rang.
His arm tightened and his mouth went away.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered and even though I couldn’t see him, I was pretty sure it was muttered through gritted teeth.
Eddie walked out of the kitchen.
I rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher and heard my cell phone ring. I wiped my hands on a dishtowel, grabbed my purse and just missed the last ring. I looked to see who it was, worried it was Mom but it was Indy.
I heard voices talking in Spanish, so I put the phone on the counter deciding to text Indy later and I walked into the other room. I saw Eddie standing in front of a tiny, Mexican woman with shiny black hair and a near-perfectly round body. She was carrying a small baker’s box, the kind in which you pack birthday cakes.
She turned to me and looked me up and down. Then her face split in a smile.
“Hello,” I said.
She came toward me.
“Hola. I’m Blanca, Eddie’s Mom.”
Uh… wow.
This was a surprise.
I glanced at Eddie and his hands were on his hips, his head was tilted back, looking at the ceiling. This was not a happy posture.
For some reason (probably residual hysteria), I found this amusing.
I smiled at Blanca.
“I’m Jet,” I told her.
Then, the front door opened and two women and a man walked in. It wasn’t difficult to see they were related to Eddie. One of the women was tall and so was the man, the other woman was tiny, like Blanca. They were all glamorously good looking, just like Eddie.
They all looked at me.
Eddie glared at them, then dropped his head and ran his hand through his hair and muttered words in Spanish and English, none of them nice.
I looked at the newcomers.
“Hey,” I said to them.
There were general greetings and small waves and lots and lots of white teeth against dark skin.
“These are my kids, Carlos, Rosa and Elena,” Blanca said (Elena was the short one).
“I’m Jet,” I repeated, still smiling and beginning to think this whole thing was hilarious.
“Are we having a reunion?” Eddie asked.
Carlos laughed. Rosa and Elena looked at each other and grinned. Blanca gave Eddie a death glare and spat something at him in Spanish. Then she turned back to me, all smiles again.
Yep, Eddie’s Mom was just like mine.
“I forgot the dessert so I brought you Napoleons from Pasquini’s,” Blanca told me.
She did not forget dessert. She deliberately delayed delivery of dessert so she could check out Eddie’s date. I wondered if it was me or if this happened to Eddie all the time. I couldn’t imagine Eddie would put up with this all the time so it had to be me. I didn’t know what to make of that so I pushed it aside.
I came forward and took the box from her. “That sounds lovely. Dinner was delicious, by the way. Thank you.”
“De nada,” she said, graciously inclining her head.
Everyone stood around, smiling at each other. That was, everyone but Eddie.
Finally, I broke the silence. “Did you get enough for everyone? Should I serve these?” I asked Blanca.
“No!” Eddie finally snapped and I couldn’t help myself, I turned my smile to him.
He glared at me.
His family watched us.
Eddie looked at his mother and said something in Spanish. It didn’t take an interpreter to translate she was being ousted.
“All right, all right. We’re going,” she said and turned to me, “Eddie told me about tu madre. How is she?”
I was still smiling, too amused to be annoyed she knew about Mom.
“She’s fine.”
“She need company tonight? Maybe we could swing around…”
I couldn’t help myself, I started laughing.
Eddie didn’t think it was funny and started talking, more Spanish, this rapid-fire, beyond annoyed and vaguely threatening.
“Ay Dios mio, mi niño, you’re wound up tonight,” Blanca said to Eddie and Carlos burst out laughing. Blanca turned back to me, “He’s a little bit hot-blooded, just like his Papa.”
No kidding. I’d already figured that out.
“I’ll bear that in mind,” I told her, trying to keep a straight face
She came closer to me and looked me in the eyes. Then she nodded to herself and touched my arm. I didn’t know what to make of this either and decided to think about all of it later.
Then she walked toward Eddie, reached up and touched his shoulder. He bent low to give her a kiss on the cheek and murmured something that was still annoyed but also sounded loving. The sight and sound of it made me feel pleasantly strange again and I had to force myself to look away.
There were good-byes and more small waves and they were gone.
Eddie stalked toward me, grabbed the box and then stalked into the kitchen.
I walked to the doorway of the kitchen and stood there.
“That was fun,” I told him.
He put the box down and started stalking again, this time his eyes were dark and his intentions were clear.
Eek!
I retreated, slammed up against a wall and he positioned his body close to mine.
I was looking up, my head tilted way back and his face was less than an inch away.
“One thing good about that, I’ve never seen you smile so much and I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh.”
“Your mother’s funny,” I told him, beginning to find it difficult to breathe.
He came even closer and difficulty breathing was no longer my main concern because the oxygen in my lungs started burning.
“My mother’s meddling and nosy and hell-bent on having dozens of grandchildren, the sooner the better.”
I gave a little nod in the room I had to work with. I was trying not to think of giving Blanca grandchildren, but more, trying not to think of how I’d go about doing that.
“That sounds familiar,” I said.
His hands came up to my jaw, holding my face tilted. His eyes went liquid and he muttered something in
Spanish. I caught the words cariña and hermosa, I began to lift up on my toes when my cell started ringing.
“Ignore it,” Eddie said against my mouth.
I wanted to, I really did, but I couldn’t.
“I can’t,” I whispered. “It might be Mom.”
He immediately let me go and stepped away.
I walked to the kitchen and picked up the phone which had stopped ringing.
I looked to see who’d called and it was again Indy. I thought this was weird, considering she knew I was on a date with Eddie. She couldn’t want a progress report this soon.
“Indy’s called twice,” I said as Eddie put the Napoleons on plates.
He handed one to me.
“If she needs to speak to you, she’ll phone back.”
He grabbed the wine and walked into the living room. I followed him. He set the wine and his plate on the coffee table, went to get our glasses, put them on the table and sat down. He grabbed the remote and turned on a baseball game.
I stood next to the couch and stared at the TV.
“Um… what are we doing?” I asked.
Eddie retrieved his pastry and put his feet up on the coffee table, “I have another brother, a sister and five dozen cousins. I’m not starting anything again until visiting hours are over.”
Goodie. A reprieve.
I sat down on the opposite side of the couch, putting my phone on the coffee table and I ate my Napoleon, my eyes on the game. I wasn’t a big sports fan. If pressed I’d go to games, mainly for the atmosphere, but I wasn’t fond of watching them on television.
The minute I consumed the last bite of my pastry and put my plate down, Eddie’s feet came off the table. He leaned down, grabbed my ankles and pulled them in his lap. Then he started to work on the straps of my shoes.
“Eddie…” I began, trying to pull my legs away.
His hands wrapped around my ankles.
“Quiet, Chiquita. You’re going to relax.”
He tossed my shoes several feet away and then he pulled off his boots. I settled into my corner, as far away from him as I could get, thinking this was slightly anti-climactic. I didn’t have high hopes for my date with Eddie but I expected it would be me who screwed things up in some way or bored him to death. I didn’t expect to spend the night watching a baseball game.
His hand shot out and he grabbed me, dragging me across the couch as he put his feet back on the table. He tucked me into his side so my shoulder was wedged under his armpit and my cheek was against his chest. He wrapped his arm around my waist, his hand resting on my hip.
Dear Lord.
I wasn’t bored anymore, I felt nice. As in, real nice.
I put my feet up on the couch and curled into him, keeping my eyes on the game and daydreaming about doing this with Eddie again, maybe every night for the rest of our lives.
The next thing I knew, my cell phone was ringing. I could also hear Eddie’s.
I’d fallen into a doze and somehow my arm got wrapped across Eddie’s waist. I came up, pulling my hair away from my face and grabbed my phone. Eddie leaned forward and pulled his phone out of his back pocket.
My phone said “Indy calling”. I flipped it open and said, “Hello?” at the same time I heard Eddie say, “Yeah?”
“Jet? Are you with Eddie?” Indy said by way of greeting, her voice sounding funny and not in a good way.
“Yes. Is something wrong?” I asked.
She hesitated then said, “Is he on the phone?”
I looked over at him. He was listening, then his face got tight and his eyes moved to me.
“Yeah,” I said to Indy.
“He’s talking to Lee. I tried to stop him. I promise I did everything I could think of.”
I felt a chill run up my spine.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“Listen, our adventure at Einstein’s got out and—”
I didn’t hear her say anything else as the phone was pulled from my hand and flipped closed.
My head snapped around to Eddie.
“Hey! I was talking to Indy.”
“I know.”
He slid his and my phones on the table, looked at me, his eyes serious and maybe a little pissed off.
“What’s going on?” I asked, moving away from him.
“You’ve had a busy day,” he said.
Uh-oh.
I thought, at that juncture, it might be wise to keep my mouth shut.
“Went lookin’ for your Dad like I asked you not to do and found some trouble at a bagel place,” he said.
I forgot about keeping my mouth shut.
“Eddie, it’s none of your…”
His eyes narrowed.
“Chiquita, if you tell me it’s none of my business, I swear to God, I’ll shoot you.”
I jumped up from the couch and put my hands to my hips.
“Well it isn’t!”
He angled off the couch and took a step toward me so he was towering over me.
I really wished I had my shoes back but I held my ground.
“It fucking well is,” he said in his scary quiet voice.
I glared at him.
“How do you figure that?” I asked.
He threw his arms out and looked around.
“What the fuck do you think is happening here?”
“I don’t know!” I yelled at him and, actually, I didn’t.
He looked away from me, tore his hand through his hair and muttered in Spanish. Then he turned back to me.
“Witnesses state that a blonde woman of your description was seen rolling around on the floor at Einstein’s on Alameda with a guy who fits the description of Vince Fratelli.”
I decided, again, to be silent.
“Jet, Vince Fratelli is a bad guy. Not just a bad guy, a scary bad guy. He’s muscle for a very scary bad guy. Who knows what he’s done? Likely broken knees, cut off fingers, killed people. And you attacked him in fucking Einstein’s Bagels.”
Not good. Really not good. Vince did sound like a scary bad guy.
I went into defense mode. “Well I didn’t know!” I yelled.
Eddie’s quiet voice went away and he shouted.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
“He called you a wetback!” I shouted right back.
Yeesh.
Eddie stood stock still and stared at me.
“I’m sorry?” he asked.
“I didn’t think. He said it and I just flipped out and the next thing I knew we were rolling around on the floor. Indy yelled at me to knee him in the nuts, I did, Tex grabbed me and we took off. The whole thing lasted less than ten minutes.”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know whether to kiss you or shake some sense into you.”
I knew which one I would pick but I was too angry to make the suggestion.
I backed away and rounded the coffee table, retrieved my shoes and turned to Eddie.
“I want to go home,” I said.
“You aren’t goin’ home. We’re not done talkin’.”
I turned and walked toward the kitchen.
We were so done talking.
I nearly made it when he caught my hand, gave it a yank and I whirled around. He twisted my arm around my back and pulled my body up against his.
“I’m fuckin’ sick and tired of watching you walk away from me,” he growled.
My heart stopped.
This would probably be part of that hot-blooded thing Blanca was talking about.
“Eddie…”
He didn’t let me start.
“You’ve dated Mexican-Americans before, people say shit. It’s their problem, you ignore it.”
“Eddie…” I tried again.
He continued. “I already told you that you were my business but it’s pretty fuckin’ clear you didn’t understand. I’ve been tryin’ to get your attention for months but you’re so busy and exhausted and whatever the hell else you are, it hasn’t worked. So I
’ll say, straight out, so there’s no confusion. I want to spend time with you, I want to get to know you and I want to sleep with you and it doesn’t have to be in that order.”
I didn’t even try to speak. I couldn’t. His words robbed me of the ability of speech.
“While that’s happenin’ and however long it lasts, you’re my business and I’ll explain that too. I keep you safe and I keep your Mom safe, however that has to come about. And no one hustles you, not even your fuckin’ father, or they answer to me.”
I was not only speechless, my belly was beginning to feel funny and that strange pleasant feeling was back.
“I know you have a problem with that, you’ve made it loud and clear, but I don’t give a fuck. I’m gonna keep coming at you until I wear you down. Do you understand me?”
He paused and glared at me and I realized he expected an answer.
Since I was incapable of a verbal response, I just nodded.
“Good. Now, because it’s likely you not only have Slick after you but also Louie and Vince, you’ve got two choices: either I take you home and I stay there with you or I make a call and plant someone at your apartment building and you sleep here with me.”
“Trixie’s at home, there’s nowhere for you to sleep,” I said.
“I sleep with you.”
Dear Lord.
“I’ll sleep here,” I decided.
“I sleep with you here too.”
Eek!
“I’ll sleep on the couch,” I told him.
“You sleep in my bed.”
“Then, will you sleep on the couch?” I asked.
“I’ll sleep in my bed with you.”
“Eddie…” I started to object.
“Nothing’s going to happen. Not tonight. I’m too tired and too pissed off.”
I tried to decide if I could sleep with a tired and pissed off Eddie.
I decided I couldn’t sleep with a tired and pissed off Eddie.
“Those two choices aren’t choices at all,” I said. “They’re the same thing in different places.”
“They’re all you’ve got,” he told me.
“I don’t like it.”
“I don’t care. I told you not to go after your Dad. You did and you bought yourself a fuckload of trouble to add to the shitload you already had. If I gotta keep you safe, I’ll do it how I need to do it and I want you close.”
Rock Chick Rescue Page 12