Chapter 11
It was girls’ night finally!! A long and aggravating week had passed since my arrest by Officer Asshole! During those few days, I was amazed by the sheer number of apology calls that had flowed in from both Police Headquarters and City Officials. However, on the advice of my attorney, my parents, and my friends, not to mention my own righteous indignation, I had pressed a civil suit against the city. There was a time when I had never seen the inside of a court room, but now walking those courthouse halls was done by simple route. Looking at myself in the mirror now, I was often amazed at how time had changed my life and myself.
Girls’ night was about laughter and good times. I needed them. The pressure of dealing with Sam’s abandonment issues concerning his father, the arrest fiasco, and the completion of a month of the renovations on my home had stressed me to the point that my neck and shoulders had knots that could be mistaken for a mountain range.
With a sigh I looked around my kitchen. This was the last indoor renovation project to be done. The upstairs had been completed, and we had moved back into our respective rooms the weekend after we returned home from our Fourth of July celebration on Tybee. By then both Mike’s team and I had moved onto the downstairs bathroom and guest suite combo. We had just finished up that project this afternoon, and the results were stunning.
When I first told Mike, I had envisioned the two rooms as a guest suite; I had no idea that it would become a guest suite worthy of the Ritz. Well, maybe I am exaggerating a tiny bit, but only a small amount. Though the actual bedroom changed little, it is amazing how much a new coat of paint and refinishing the floors revitalized that old room. Once it had been oppressive, a place of death, and memories best forgotten. Now the room breathed life and pulsed with new expectations.
Instead of dread, I felt happiness when I entered the space. That happiness carried me into the new modern bathroom which was an extension of the elegance that coursed through this grand old house.The new whirlpool Jacuzzi was both understated and elegant. It was a pristine white shade that was modernized by its boxed geometric style. The sink was a salvaged find. It had a round basin supported by a simple column pedestal; both of which were originally white, but age had added its own patina creating a unique shade somewhere between stark white and cream. The wooden floors gleamed in the room, and the water damaged boards were replaced to create a new seamless floor. It was truly a beautiful room.
While the guest room itself was painted a lovely shade of pale minty green, the bathroom was a study in pale grey with accents of blade green and bright pink. Since the bathroom was the only bathroom on the first floor, it was for everyday use and needed to be neutral enough for the everyday use of men, women, and children. The use of bold color here had taken classical elegance to a more comfortable level.
Now only the kitchen remained. Demo on it would start on Monday, so this was the last weekend that I would have peace and quiet for awhile. That was another reason that girls’ night had to be this Friday night. For the next few weeks, my kitchen would be in disarray, and we would have no place to sit in order to eat, drink, and be merry.
UH!! I felt those familiar tension knots starting to form just thinking about it. I looked at the digital display on the microwave, 6:57 PM. Well, Dana and Missy were scheduled to arrive in about an hour. I checked the refrigerator and noted that all the snacks were prepped and looked delicious. The drinks were chilled and just waited to be poured into crystal glasses. I still had time for a shower before this party got started.
I was on my way upstairs when the door bell pealed. I stopped on the stairs and debated going back to answer it or just continuing on my way. Both Dana and Missy had keys. If they arrived early, they could simply let themselves in. I continued my path up the stairs, but my unwelcome visitor continued to lean on the buzzer. Damn!!
“All right, I’m coming. Hold your horses!” I yelled as I clomped unhappily back down the stairs to the front door. I grabbed the handle and practically threw the door open ready to shout my displeasure in the face of some door to door salesman. Instead, I found myself speechless as I faced Heath Brandon, who looked as sexy as ever in a pair of snug faded blue jeans, a grey polo shirt, and a pair of scuffed leather hiking boots. “Oh,” I stammered in surprise.
Heath smiled his lazy smile which always seemed to make me tingle. “Hi. Mind if I come in?”
I shook my head and stepped back to let him in. I cleared my suddenly dry throat and managed to croak, “Would you like a drink?”
Heath flashed me that smile again, and I felt it all the way to my toes. Oh, God. Why did this man turn me to mush? “Sure, that would be great,” he said as though there was nothing strange about his sudden reappearance in my life or my reaction to him.
I led the way to the kitchen and pulled open the door of the fridge. I already knew full well what was in there, but I needed the time and the coolness to calm me down. “Let’s see. I have Coke, beer, wine, O.J. and apple juice.” I looked over at Heath and asked, “So what’s your pleasure?”
“How about a beer?”
I smiled. “Bottle or glass?”
A corner of Heath’s very delicious looking mouth quirked up; my stomach flipped over. Oh no, I was in so much trouble. “Bottle is fine, thanks.”
I reached in and grabbed two beers, popped the tops, and handed one to Heath. If my hand shook a little, then who noticed anyway, right?
I took a healthy swig from the bottle to cool my parched throat and then asked,“ So to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
Heath took a swig of his beer and looked at me with laughter in his eyes. “I heard about your exciting Fourth of July, and I wanted to see how you were doing.”
I groaned and put my head in my hand. “Is the news all over town then?”
Heath chuckled at that. “No, but I worked as a cop for so long that I still hear all the pipeline news, as they say.”
I turned red. “Oh, my God, what has my life become?”
Heath walked over and put his arm around my shoulders then gave them a squeeze. “It’s fine kiddo. Let’s have a seat, and you can tell old Heath all about it.”
I gave him a weak smile. We walked into the living room with our beers and sat on the sofa. Health sat down beside me and kept his arm around me. “So what do you want to know?” I asked a bit ashamed.
Heath raised a brow, “Everything, of course, start at the beginning.”
I sighed. I was reluctant and at the same time so happy about the incident because it had brought Heath to my door and my sofa. “Well, it all started with finishing the upstairs renovation. I was doing the last of the painting so that Sam and I could move back in upstairs and the downstairs remodel could get underway. That was why I was alone anyway at the house. Sam was with my parents at Marcus’s place on Tybee. We always gather out there for the Fourth. I was headed out there myself after I finished up the painting.”
Heath watched me with his intense stormy gaze as I talked. My furtive glances took in all the nuances of a face that was carved in my memory forever. He was still tall, as tall as I had remembered – probably about 6’ 4”. His eyes were indeed that same beautiful shade of blue grey which haunted my dreams. His face looked older though it had been almost 5 years since I had last seen him. His jaw was firm, and his eyes had crinkles around them, perhaps from laughter or perhaps just from being out in the sun. His hair was longer than before. It was no longer cut in such a short military style. His beautiful chestnut hair curled down around his collar. My hands trembled with the urge to bury themselves in those silken curls. It was all I could do to keep my thoughts from flying off to Neverland or Timbuktu.
I took another swig of my beer and continued my tale of woe. “I finished up my painting and went out the back door to clean up the brushes. I was already thinking of getting a hot shower, putting on a cool comfy summer dress, and heading out to the beach. So I was terribly shocked when after cleaning and stowing m
y painting gear, I found that I was locked out. The door had apparently clicked shut behind me!”
Heath chuckled. “That sounds like you.”
That might have offended another person, but not me. I was accident prone, or maybe a better term would be cosmically challenged. I smiled back at him and winked, “Yeah, but this one was not my fault. I decided to use my ladder to check if I had left any of the upstairs windows unlocked after I had closed them. I checked them all, and the last one, my bedroom window, was still unlocked. I decided the logical thing to do was simply climb in the window. That seemed like a perfectly reasonable plan to me. I mean what could happen climbing into my own window, right? But I was so wrong.”
“Let me guess; this is where the police come into your story,” Heath joked.
“Yes. You see, that’s when Officer Asshole pulled a gun on me and demanded that I climb back down the ladder. Then he had the nerve to arrest me before he checked out my story that I lived in the house or attempted to confirm my identification with any of my neighbors. Then he took me downtown, booked me, and threatened me.” I sighed over the memory, but then a smile curled my lips as I retold my heroic rescue by Marcus, Dana, and Mayor Johnson.
When I was done, Heath just laughed. “I swear, Miranda, if it wasn’t for bad luck, I don’t think that you’d have any luck.”
I nodded my agreement. I glanced at the watch on my wrist, 7:43 PM. Heath noticed this and asked, “Got a hot date?”
I gave him an amused stare. “No, but I do have a couple of girlfriends coming over for our monthly girl gab session any minute now.”
Heath sighed, “I guess that’s my cue to leave then,” but he still hesitated.
I quirked an eyebrow, “You’re welcome to stay, of course, I imagine that both Dana and Missy would be thrilled to find you in my living room.”
Anger flashed quickly across Heath’s face. I was confused by his reaction to my playful comment, but I was even more surprised by his words, “Do your friends find you with men often then, Miranda?”
I could not say why his words chilled me to the marrow of my bones, but I felt frozen inside. I shook my head briefly, “No, which is the reason they would be thrilled to find you here. What did you mean by that remark?” I asked with a touch of resentment in my voice.
Again Heath’s face grew rigid. He raked frustrated hands through his hair and stood to pace in front of the couch. I looked on, my confusion growing by the moment. Finally Heath turned to face me, and I could tell from his expression that I was not going to like what I was about to hear. I swallowed hard.
Heath’s piercing eyes bore into me as if he were trying to see inside my soul. “Miranda, don’t lie to me. Whatever you are doing, whoever you have been seeing, just tell me.”
I was temporarily stunned into silence. I looked cautiously around in case I was being punked, and a film crew was about to burst out of hiding. No, no such thing happened - just silence and Heath’s stare. I raised my eyes to his once again. I shrugged, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Heath. I am not seeing anyone. The last person I had any relationship with was my ex-husband, and you already know how that ended.”
I watched as my answer seemed to anger Heath all the more. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, and I could see the tension visibly in his shoulders and neck. I had always known that Heath was a strong man, but this was a side of him that I had never witnessed. Hell, I had never guessed that it even existed. I shifted nervously on the spongy cushions of the sofa waiting for Heath’s explanation or explosion. I had no idea which it would be.
Heath spoke through gritted teeth. “I saw you on the wharf with him; don’t lie to me.”
Now it was my turn to be angry. “You were spying on me!”
Heath looked up at the ceiling and made a visible attempt to control his temper. “No, not then, I just happened to be out on the wharf; I had a meeting.”
I sighed, “Good.” Then his words clicked in my mind, “What exactly do you mean not then? Are you following me now?”
Heath shifted on his feet a bit uncomfortably and shrugged his shoulders, “Just once or twice.”
I surged to my feet and stood close to him as my finger rammed in his chest, “Listen here, bucko, you have no business following me around! I knew someone was watching me; hell, I have been freaked out for the last few days thinking I was losing my mind or in danger from some whack job!”
Heath held up his hands to stop my tirade, but I brushed them aside and plowed right on through his defenses. “Why the hell were you following me? If you wanted to see me, you know where I live; why didn’t you come by sooner?”
My body shook with the aftermath of my rage, which I knew still flashed brightly in my eyes. Heath warily reached out his hands and cupped my shoulders. “Miranda, calm down; it’s not as bad as it sounds.”
I snorted and mumbled under my breath, “Thank God for small miracles.”
Heath chuckled now more at ease. His hands ran up and down my arms in a caress that was probably intended to soothe but aroused instead. Firm pressure from those arms pulled me in closer to his warmth until there was little between us.
His words came out in a husky whisper, “Now you listen here, Miranda. I’ve been waiting for you too long as it is without any encouragement from you.”
I started to shake my head in denial, but his rebuttal stopped me cold. “Nope, I’ll have none of that nonsense, please.” I was resettled more firmly and comfortably against the hard wall of Heath’s muscular chest before he continued. In my defense, I could not form any kind of response to his words or his gentle assault because I was too overcome by his touch and the reality that finally our time had come. I was in no shape for righteous indignation even if he did deserve it.
“Now, Miranda, as I was saying before, what was I to do, I ask you? I happened to hear that you were finally untangled from that mess of a marriage that you were in, so I came back to town with the intention of romancing you.”
I stared into his stormy eyes held captive in those depths. My lips quivered when I whispered in a voice so soft with hope and fear that it was almost silent, “You came back for me?”
Heath turned the full force of those fathomless eyes on me then, and I felt the electricity and the truth that poured from him straight into the heart of me. His words confirmed what I already had sensed, “Damn right, I did! Maybe what I feel for you is crazy. Hell, my family certainly thinks so, but nothing anyone has ever said could erase the way I felt every time I saw you or every time I dreamed of you.”
The rueful look on Heath’s face said it all. I reached up a trembling hand and caressed his cheek. It was warm, solid, and a little stubbly. Here was the man that I was drawn to. Here was the man that I longed for. Here was the man I wanted, offering me a chance to love again. I inhaled deeply gathering my courage and then let out my words in a rush, “I have longed for you, Heath. I tossed and turned alone in my bed too many nights with thoughts of you and what might have been in my mind. I have been waiting for you to come home, to find me, to save me one last time.”
For one long moment, we stood still in each other’s embrace as we read the future in each other’s eyes, and then the next moment I was being kissed with a passion I had not experienced since the first blushes of youth. I was shocked by the fierceness of my desires, but I was not stupid. I kissed him back with every fiber of my being and wrapped my arms around his neck.
My fingers dove into his hair, and I moaned deep in my throat at the pleasure of his lips upon mine after so long a denial. My moan must have broken something in Heath; he pulled me down on the sofa, and I found myself straddling his lap and being pressed fiercely up against his erection. We both lost our minds at the intimate contact. Therefore, we could not be blamed for our lack of hearing as the front door opened and in waltzed Missy and Dana. Apparently, they lacked the decency to just turn and walk away quietly; instead, they stood and gawked un
til Heath finally noticed them out of the corner of his eye. When he jerked up, I pulled back and followed his gaze to see their stunned and laughing expressions.
Dana giggled. “Are we too early, Miranda?’
Missy poked her, and she doubled over. “OOOOOOOOOOh, we’ll just be in the kitchen. Take your time, honey.”
They took off at a trot, and I looked back at Heath. I realized that I was still provocatively straddling his lap. I tried to wiggle off, but he just pulled me tighter against him. I looked in his eyes, and he just shook his head from side to side. “UH UH, baby, not yet.”
I bucked gently against him, and his eyes darkened to a deadly shade of gun metal grey. It turned me on and gave me the courage to lean down and put my lips on his. The kiss started out gently with our lips barely touching, clinging to each other. Then as I began to taste him on my lips, I needed more. I turned my head to angle in deeper and slipped my tongue into his mouth. He tasted hot, and sweet, and like sin.
I wanted to eat him alive. My body burned for him the way my heart had longed for him over the years. I knew I would never want to let him go, but at the same time, I had to at least for now. I ended the kiss, slipped off his lap, and stood looking down at him. It was obvious that he was as turned on as I was; I could see the bulge that strained at the fabric of his pants.
He looked at me and stood so that we were again very close and eye to eye. He reached out a hand and gently ran his fingertip down my cheek in a gesture so tender and foreign to me that my knees almost buckled under me. Before I knew it, the words tumbled out of my mouth, “When can I see you again?”
One side of Heath’s oh so dangerous lips curled up in a smile so sexy and feral that my woman parts did a tango. “How about I take you out tomorrow?”
I gulped, “I’ll have Sam with me tomorrow.”
Heath raised both brows, “That’s not a problem for me; is it for you?”
My confusion must have shown on my face because he pulled me close and whispered in my ear, “I’m not after you for just a night, Miranda. I want everything you have, including Sam.”
A harsh breath escaped from my lungs. He wanted me, and he wanted Sam. It was what I had wanted and thought impossible. I ran my hands over his chest and collected my jumbled thoughts. When I spoke, my voice was low but almost steady; I was proud of myself for that. “Tomorrow it is then. We’ll be waiting.”
Heath kissed me again gently and then set me away from him with a rueful look, “If I don’t go now, I will not be able to go at all.”
I nodded and walked him silently to the door. Then I watched him disappear into the night. Long after he had vanished, I stood at the door looking out as I tried valiantly to calm my body and control my heart. Finally, I discovered that neither task could be accomplished, so I shut the door and leaned my head against it.
How had love found me again? I thought I was so well hidden under layers of disillusionment and painful scars. But it seemed that all it had taken to reawaken me were a few kisses and tender caresses from Heath, and now my heart and soul were once again flayed open vulnerable to the world and to one man.