“You’re wrong, every guy does want to get in your pants,” Lee said.
“Tex doesn’t.”
“Tex isn’t every guy. Tex is a crazy guy and he’s old enough to be your father.”
“Duke doesn’t,” I tried.
“Dolores would chop Duke’s dick off if he so much as looked at another woman and he’s old enough to be your father.”
“Hank doesn’t,” I persevered.
“Hank doesn’t count. He thinks of you as his little sister.”
“Darius doesn’t.” I was a dog with a bone.
“Darius doesn’t fuck white women.”
Jeez.
I tried a different tact.
In a quiet voice, a very quiet voice (because I kinda hoped he wouldn’t hear me), I whispered, “You know it’s only ever been you.”
He heard me.
His body went still. Then his hand fisted in my hair and he tugged my head back. He kissed me, long and sweet and when he was done, he tucked my face back into his neck.
I took in a deep breath and then let it out.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he asked softly.
It was harder than hell, it was scary and it made me feel vulnerable.
Since I felt I’d done my sharing for the night, I stayed quiet.
Lee let me have my emotional space.
“Ally tried to take the earrings back to Tiffany’s. They refused the return. I’m not approaching Coxy, for various reasons. You’re stuck with them.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “I’ve decided to give them to charity.”
“Good plan,” he said and then, “I was in the surveillance room and saw them come in. You thought they were from me.”
“Yeah.”
“You want anything, just say and we’ll get it. You can pick out what you want.”
I held my breath.
“Seriously?” I said when I let it out.
“I’m not gonna try to read your mind when there’s something you want. Just tell me and I’ll get it for you.”
Well, hell. That made things easy for him.
He didn’t have to ask clever questions, do any detective work, put any effort into it at all if I just told him what I wanted.
I decided to change the subject because that one very well might tick me off.
“What was Eddie so hot to see you about this morning?” I asked.
Lee rolled onto his back and I snuggled into his side, my cheek on his shoulder.
“Darius has some trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“The kind Eddie can’t get involved with. He’s got some pressure from the Department about Darius, they don’t like the relationship and they want Darius out of commission.”
“Eddie won’t do it?”
“Eddie’s a Mexican-American, family is all important. He thinks of Darius and me as brothers. It’s one of the reasons why he and I survived both of us being in love with you. Eddie would never take Darius down.”
I wrapped my arm around his waist.
“What happened to Darius?” I asked.
“After his father was killed, the life insurance covered funeral expenses and some bills. Not enough money comin’ in, standard of living crashed. All of a sudden, Darius and his Mom were responsible for a house and Darius’s three younger sisters. It was hard, he was young. Darius was offered an easier path and he took it. No one would have guessed he’d make that choice but after what happened to his father, Darius was one seriously pissed off black man. He was lookin’ for trouble and found it.”
“Can he get out?”
“Easier to get in than out, but yeah. Anyone can do anything if they want it bad enough.”
“Does he need help?”
Lee’s fingers had been drawing randomly on my back but they stopped, his arm came around me and his other hand tilted my chin to look at him.
“Do not try to save Darius,” he said.
I made a huffy sound then told him, “That sounded like an order.”
“The brothers are not fond of women messin’ in their affairs. Especially white women. This includes Darius. The guy you knew in high school is gone.” His voice got kind of scary.
“All right,” I gave in. “You don’t have to get all freaky about it.”
He let go of my chin and I snuggled into him again.
“I’m beginnin’ to feel my mother’s pain. I just have you to worry about and it’s doin’ my head in. She had all four of us,” Lee said.
“You’re a big, tough, badass dude. You’ll survive,” I told him.
He rolled into me and ran his mouth down my jaw to my ear. “Your job is to make it worthwhile.”
I had a feeling I could do that.
Chapter Twenty-Four
A Metallica Moment
We were sitting in Lee’s teak chairs on the balcony. It was post morning sex, I was wearing one of Lee’s tees and a pair of hot pink lace hipsters, drinking my coffee, my feet up in Lee’s lap, zoned out with my gaze settled on the Front Range. Lee was also drinking coffee, but he wasn’t zoned out. He was reading the paper which was spread out on the table. He was absently stroking one of my feet and was wearing a pair of gray sweat pants and nothing else.
Even though it had been an active morning, I was still only on coffee number one and my mental processes hadn’t yet kicked in. Regardless of this, I realized the feeling I had was contentment and yes, even happiness. Maybe even real happiness. Maybe even off the charts happiness.
Lee put the paper down, sat back, stretched his legs out in front of him, crossed the ankles and took a drink of his coffee. His gaze leveled on me, although I wasn’t looking at him, I could feel it.
He put his coffee down and started to massage my foot, this time with both hands. It felt super nice, he had strong hands and he knew how to use them.
“I’ve asked Dawn to get some guys to come in and pack up your stuff and move it and your furniture to storage. Today, you need to pack anything you want to bring over and I’ll come around tonight and we’ll move you in.”
Happiness fled instantly and panic seized every cell in my body, my eyes moved from the Front Range to Lee and I stared, unable to speak.
Lee kept talking. “I know a property management service. I called them yesterday. They’ll rent your place, make sure it’s a good tenant and maintain it for a fee. We’ll get it advertised next week.”
I finally found my voice. “I know I promised to move in by this weekend but… isn’t this going a bit fast?”
Lee’s hands moved to my other foot.
“Yep,” he answered.
“Don’t you think we should slow down?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Why?”
Okay, you could hear the panic edging my one word question, but still.
Instead of answering, he dropped my feet, bent double to get up and kissed my forehead as he did so. Then he walked into the condo.
I stared at him moving away from me.
He walked well, confident, close to a swagger but not quite. His sweats were drawstring and rode low. His back was beautifully muscled. I kept staring into the living room even after he was gone, zoned out again, the image of his back pleasantly burned on my eyeballs like after you accidentally looked directly at the sun.
Then I saw him come back.
He sat down, lifted my legs at the calves and put my feet back in his lap and threw a little pink case at me across the table.
I stared at it in horror.
My birth control pills,
I’d forgotten them, totally and completely.
Holy crap.
I grabbed it and looked. The last one I took was Monday. I was all over the place these days, I wasn’t in my normal day-to-day schedule. I was two pills behind, too late to catch up and I’d been having sex. A lot of sex. Apparently a lot of unprotected sex.
I slapped the pills back down on the table.
“I didn’t do it o
n purpose, I swear,” I told him.
“I know you didn’t,” he said, his hands back to massaging my foot.
“We have to stop having sex, like, immediately.”
His hands stopped massaging, “That’s not gonna happen.”
“Lee! What if I’m pregnant?”
He grinned “Then we’ll make a beautiful baby.”
I yanked my feet out of his lap, stood up and started to jump up and down.
“Ohmigod, ohmigod,” I chanted.
Lee stood and pulled me to him.
“Calm down,” he said but I could tell he was kind of laughing.
“This isn’t funny!” I yelled “We can’t get through a week without having a break. This is too new, too fast, too weird, too much. Ohmigod, ohmigod,” I began chanting again.
This was a serious, life changing moment and I needed Van Halen.
No, no Van Halen wasn’t going to do. This was a Metallica Moment.
I could tell by the feel of his body against mine that he was not kind of laughing anymore, he was flat out laughing.
“Why are you laughing?” I shouted.
“Because you’re cute,” he said, looking at me. “And you’re funny and you’re over-reacting. This isn’t the end of the world, you don’t even know if you’re pregnant and you’re moving in, for fuck’s sake.”
“Why’d you show me the pills?”
“Because if you’re pregnant, we shouldn’t waste time movin’ in together. If you’re not, we should take different precautions and we shouldn’t waste time movin’ in together.”
“Why do I have to move into your place, why don’t you move into mine?”
“I could do that.”
I stopped freaking out and stared. “What do you mean?”
“We’ll put my shit in storage and I’ll move to your place. Doesn’t matter to me.”
I was beyond staring and went straight to gawking.
“What about your view?” I asked.
He shrugged.
“I only have one bathroom,” I said.
“We could make that work.”
“I have a yard, you’d have to mow the grass. I don’t think Stevie will keep mowing my side if you live there.”
“Your yard’s the size of a postage stamp. I think I can manage mowing the grass.”
“It isn’t secure, there isn’t even an alarm system.”
“Vance will put one in.”
“What about the Command Center? I don’t have a room where you can put your top secret PI stuff.”
He started laughing again. “Do you want to move or do you want me to move, make up your mind.”
“I don’t know,” I said, and I didn’t.
“Well you have to figure it out now because one or the other of us is moving in tonight. No more fucking around.”
“I can’t figure it out now. I’m too stressed. I may be pregnant. I think I need to go out and buy vitamins or something.”
He pulled me deeper into him and I could feel his body shaking with his hilarity. I didn’t think it was hilarious, I thought it was scary as shit.
When he pulled himself together he said, “We’ll move to your place. It’s close to Fortnum’s and you have good neighbors. And I like your bedroom. I’ll rent this place out.”
Somehow, that made the panic ease but not totally subside.
He looked down at me.
“Happy with that?” he asked.
I nodded.
He got that soft look on his face and the melty look in his eyes, my knees started to buckle and I leaned into him.
Then the door buzzer went.
“Fucking hell,” he muttered.
He let me go and went to the door.
When he came back, he said, “Darius is coming up.”
I’d already met Eddie in Lee’s shirt, I wasn’t going to gallivant around in front of Darius in Lee’s tee. I mean, I was possibly pregnant. Pregnant women didn’t run around in front of just everyone wearing nothing but panties and t-shirt.
I grabbed my coffee, topped up and ran to the bedroom.
I slapped on some happy makeup, lots of glittery eyeshadow, thick mascara and dewy-blush. I topped some jeans and the black belt with rivets that Lee gave me with a white t-shirt that said, “I shot J.R.” in black and slid on my black flip flops.
I flip flopped my way back to the coffeepot, poured some in a travel mug and headed to the balcony where Darius and Lee were lounging.
I stood in the French doors. “Hey Darius.”
He’d watched me while I approached and he nodded and gave a bit of a smile but didn’t say anything.
I turned my gaze to Lee. “I gotta get to the store.”
“Take the Crossfire, I’ll take the Duc in this morning,” Lee said.
“The Ducati’s here?”
“Yeah.”
Wicked.
I kinda wanted him to take me to work on the Ducati but I wasn’t going to ask.
“I’ll take you out on the bike tonight,” Lee offered, the crinkles showing beside his eyes.
“Get out of my brain,” I returned, putting my hand on my hip.
That made him give me an out and out smile.
“Walk me to the door?” I asked.
I watched him get up and I started to turn toward the front door, then came around and looked at Darius again.
“We’re having a family barbeque on Saturday, Ally’s place. I’m sure everyone would like to see you,” I told him.
Lee dropped his chin and gave a couple of shakes of his head in that “I don’t believe she’s such an idiot” way.
“Thanks Indy, I got things to do,” Darius said.
“Okay, come after you’re done,” I said to him.
Darius shook his head.
“Then come before, bring your Mom and your sisters. I haven’t seen them in ages.” I kept going.
Lee’s hand wrapped around my upper arm and he turned me and marched me toward the door. I twisted around and I could see Darius grinning.
“See you later!” I called, already around the couch and in the kitchen.
As we passed, Lee snatched the Crossfire’s keys off the kitchen counter and at the front door he pulled me to a stop.
“What’d I say about trying to save Darius?”
“What? I just asked him to the barbeque.”
“You’re a nut,” he said.
I put a hand on a hip. “Excuse me?”
Lee shook his head. “Nope, not gonna happen. I’m not biting. We are not fighting today. No matter how far you push it.”
I’m so sure. Like I wanted to fight.
I got up on my toes and kissed him, giving him a quick peck and then grabbed the keys out of his hand.
“What was that?” he asked.
“A kiss good-bye,” I told him.
He took two steps forward and I took two steps back, slamming into a wall. His hands went to my ass and pulled me against him and he kissed me breathless.
“That was a kiss good-bye,” he said.
I took in a shaky breath.
It sure was.
* * * * *
Ally and Tex were behind the coffee counter at Fortnum’s when I got there. There were six people waiting in line and three people who’d already ordered and were waiting for their coffee. Every chair and couch had someone’s ass in it, all of them drinking coffee.
Motley Crue was blaring “Girls Girls Girls” from the CD player.
I looked at my watch, it was ten to eight. We’d only been open for twenty minutes.
Apparently people would pay to have a guy who looked like a serial killer serve them coffee.
“Holy shit,” I said.
“Get your butt behind this counter, woman! Does it look like there’s nothin’ to do and you have time to stand around gawkin’?” Tex boomed.
I walked around the counter, saw Annie, the blonde, helmet-head lady who yelled at me during the Rosie riot. She was staring at her cup with a reve
rence normally only befitting the unveiling of front row tickets. She looked up at me.
“Where do you find these guys?” she breathed.
“Luck,” I said and got to work
We were so busy, for hours I thought of nothing but coffee, milk, syrup and all the money that was being shoved into my cash register. We’d never been this busy, even with Rosie. We had good crowds, but this was crazy.
By ten thirty, the crowd had died down. Duke came in and manned the book counter which was also seeing business. We had a goodly number of folks sitting, reading and enjoying their coffee.
“Are we still ticked at each other?” Ally finally had the chance to ask me.
“Well, since you being pissed at me went hand in hand with me being pissed at Lee… and since Lee and I are no longer on a break… then no, we aren’t ticked at each other.”
Ally grinned. “Good.”
That’s the way it was with best friends. You got mad, you got over it.
I turned to Tex. “But you’re a traitor and I’m not talking to you ever again,” I told him.
“You get number seven last night?” he asked.
I stared at him, not knowing what in the hell he was talking about.
Then it dawned on me.
Orgasm number seven.
Yikes.
Maybe I did share too much information with Tex last night.
Since I got number seven last night and number eight that morning, I didn’t answer.
It must have shown on my face because Tex let out a booming laugh then said, “You have no reason to be mad and I don’t wanna hear about it.”
“What’s he talking about?” Ally asked.
I turned to her. “Orgasms.” Her eyes got round. “Never mind. Do you know when you can take a pregnancy test?”
Now her eyes were about to pop out of her head. “No way.”
“I don’t know. I fucked up, I forgot to take my pills for a couple of days.”
“No way!” Ally shouted and a couple customers looked up.
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” I said.
“This is great,” she said. “I’m calling Mom.”
“No! Don’t call Kitty Sue! Don’t call anyone. This is not great. I don’t want a baby. Well, maybe I want a baby… maybe I want Lee’s baby… but not now. He hasn’t even seen all my underwear!”