Mistake Me Not

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The following morning, Lacie had just put her feet in her shoes when there was a knock on the door. Hooking her bag over her head, she opened it to see her companion holding a white tee-shirt and a cardboard tray with two cups bearing a coffeeshop logo.

“You brought coffee,” Lacie said.

His eyes were covered with reflective aviators, but his lips turned upward. “Do you want one?”

Moving backward, she let him into her motel room then closed the door behind him. “Thanks. Were you paying enough attention at dinner to remember how I take my coffee?”

“Just milk,” he said. “I’m a detective.”

“True.”

“You shouldn’t do that,” he said, setting the tray on the unit by the TV.

“Do what?” she asked, taking the cup he’d twisted from the tray.

“Open the door when you don’t know who is on the other side of it.”

“You’re the only person who knows I’m here.”

“Which should make you more careful,” he replied.

“I think if you were going to attack me, you’d have done it last night.”

“I sort of did,” he said. “But anyone seeing you walk in here knows you’re here. You don’t have to know them personally for them to want to get in.”

“You were just through the wall. What’s the tee-shirt for?” she asked, noticing that the tee-shirt he wore that day was charcoal instead of the black he’d worn last night.

“I didn’t know if you’d want to change today,” he said, holding it toward her.

“You bought it for me?”

“I didn’t buy it. I always have a few essentials in the truck.”

“You want me to wear your tee-shirt?”

“Your call,” he said then reached behind him into his back pocket to produce a still sealed toothbrush.

“You are prepared aren’t you,” she said, taking the brush. “Will you wait for me?”

When he nodded, she went toward the bathroom but paused when a thought struck her. Sure enough, when she picked up her purse, the truck keys he’d handed her last night were still there. Holding them in her palm, she spun to present them to him with the question in her countenance.

“Yeah,” he said. “Quite a novelty breaking into your own vehicle. I appreciated the chance to polish my skills.”

“You could have come here for them.”

“That would’ve taken the sheen off my generosity.”

She tutted and threw them to him, he caught them without thought. “I’ll be two minutes.”

They got on the road not long later and stopped at a drive-thru for breakfast. He’d commented that most of the women he knew didn’t eat breakfast. Lacie wasn’t sure if she should take his observation as an insult or not.

The day was glorious. Sun baked through the windscreen and white fluff-ball clouds meandered across the blanket of blue behind them.

“It has rained every day this month,” she said. “I wonder why today is so glorious.”

“Maybe it’s the company,” he said, which earned him a smile.

“We should put on some music,” she said. “Do you have any CDs?”

“CDs? What century are we in? My iPod is in the duffel bag behind my seat.”

Leaning back a little, she rolled her seat into a bit more of a recline to see the black bag he referred to. “Do you mind if I…?”

“Knock yourself out,” he said.

“Are there any guns in there?” she asked him.

“Are you planning to shoot me?”

“No, but I would hate to do it by accident, especially with you being the driver and all.”

One side of his mouth slid up, and she was overcome with the urge to taste that corner which was pleased with her comment. She wasn’t sure if he had said anything, but when he glanced at her once, then took another look, the other side of his mouth joined the first.

“What are you looking at?” he teased.

“Hmm?”

“That look, what is that look for?”

“I was thinking about your mouth,” she said absently.

Her head still swam with the notion as she relaxed into the cradle of her seat.

“Were you now,” he said. “Anything in particular?”

“Nothing I should say out loud,” she whispered.

When he glanced her way again, she smiled. “You shouldn’t stop speaking your mind now.”

“My mind can get me into trouble.”

“Not with me,” he said. “I like your mind very, very much.”

She continued her scrutiny of his profile even after his long-fingered hand squeezed her knee, then relaxed slightly further up closer to her inner thigh.

With the gentle rocking motion of the truck, her eyelids grew heavier over the next few minutes. Secure in the knowledge his attention was on the road, she kept examining him.

“You offer a very comprehensive service,” she said.

His lips twitched up before he laughed, a deep rumble from somewhere in his chest. The vibration traveled through his fingers to her thighs. Squeezing her legs closer, she trapped his fingers between them, making their connection all the more intimate. But he didn’t move his hand, in fact he increased his grip either to show her he meant to stay the course, or to stop himself from moving higher still.

“My comprehensive behavior with you has nothing to do with any service, at least not any I charge for.”

“I’m not rich, you know.”

“What do you—”

“The check,” she said. “If you think that I’m rolling in—”

“You think I’m interested in your money,” he said, digging his fingers into her flesh.

“I didn’t say that. But Sorcha told me how you—”

“I thought we were starting afresh,” he said. “You and me, no assumptions.”

“I shouldn’t flirt with you the way I just did. What I said last night still stands.”

His phone on the center console began to buzz. Silently, he cursed and switched lanes until he hit the shoulder. On stopping the truck, he answered the phone.

“Yeah,” he said into the device.

Lacie reached behind the driver’s seat and managed to get the bag open. She took the time to be careful because he hadn’t answered her question about guns. Maybe if there was music on, she wouldn’t feel the need to fill the silence, and therefore could stop herself from flirting with him.

Flirting wasn’t usually in her nature. But he was different, or maybe this was different. Lacie didn’t know why, but an ache in her chest linked to her thigh, which now felt cold and abandoned without the weight of his hand. While his words into the phone might have been quiet and non-specific, they were adamant.

Groping under the towel and first aid kit in the duffel bag, Lacie rummaged until she found a box shape. Assuming the iPod must be in a case, she pulled it out only to shower a dozen condoms all over them in the front seat.

“Oh,” she exclaimed.

He picked a couple from his leg, and though she tried to be contrite, he grinned. “I’ve got to go, something’s come up.”

He didn’t wait another moment to disconnect the call.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he said, resting his elbow on the shoulder of his seat to sweep her hair from her face. “All you had to do was ask.”

“It was an accident.”

“I know.”

“What do you have all of them for anyway?”

“Like I said, I like to be prepared.”

His fingers ran into her hair. They slipped to the back of her head and angled her to meet his mouth. The kiss that they’d shared last night was such an anomaly that she was sure she dreamed the whole thing in a drunken stupor. Which was sort of wishful thinking, given she’d only had one beer.

“What was that for?” she asked.

He kissed each corner of her mouth then her jaw. “I was thinking about your mouth,” he murmured then once again pressed his mouth to hers.

Familiarity bred between them, Lacie couldn’t explain it. She barely understood what was happening. When his tongue touched the seam of her lips they opened automatically, as though she had granted him entry dozens of times before.

“We should get on the road,” she said. His other hand found her hip and skimmed upward to where she had tied his tee-shirt at her waist. “And we shouldn’t do that again.”

“Okay,” he said, taking his time examining her body.

Lacie couldn’t imagine that it looked much different to how it had when she’d come out of the motel bathroom this morning. When she glanced down to decipher what held his intent interest, she gasped. The heavy ache in her breasts climaxed in a sharp, tingling sensation where her skin met the soft cotton of his tee-shirt. The illusion that the sensation was only in her mind was shattered by the clear outline of her hard n*****s lilting up toward him, begging the care he’d given her mouth.

“May I?” he asked.

“What?” she panted.

But his mouth had shifted lower to kiss her chin. She was so caught off guard that his trek down her throat sent her head backward, thrusting her chest up for attention, which he gratefully gave.

“Oh my God!” she squeaked when he breathed her in through the fabric.

Lacie snatched at the back of his head. Although she hadn’t intended to, her fingers curled into his hair, holding him firm. She didn’t know if she wanted him to stay or leave. His growl told her how he interpreted the act. Her fingers twisted deeper of their own volition. With her free hand, she braced against the door to keep herself in place when his teeth nipped at her.

Her eyes rolled back in her head. “Oh God,” she whispered.

His hand took the position of his mouth when he moved over to spoil her other breast with the same attention. Wriggling back in her seat, she squeaked again. This was wrong, all wrong, but it felt absolutely incredible. A thought flashed in her mind. Like a flood of ice-water down her back, her eyes opened to frigid reality.

“Did you do this with Sorcha?” she asked surprised at how husky her voice came out.

His mouth left its post, but he remained in her cleavage. Desire fogged his eyes, but she could see something else, anger maybe, or hurt. Sharply, he sat up. Her whole body screamed for his return.

Glaring out of the front windshield, he drove his fingers through his hair a few times. Biting her lip, Lacie didn’t know what to say. Her impulse was to placate, except she couldn’t apologize. Her thought had been honest. She couldn’t console him because she was fixed in her loyalty to Sorcha, no matter how grey things had been moments ago.

“We should go,” she said.

The traitorous tingle remained inside her. For some reason, her desperation beseeched him to look at her. He didn’t.

He slammed the car into gear, and with one glance at the lanes, he screeched out onto the road. The condoms shot around the car every which way. To conceal the burn in her eyes, Lacie tried to gather those of them that she could reach. She’d disappointed him, but she was a disappointment to herself. She would be to Sorcha too, if her friend ever learned what had gone on between them. Lacie couldn’t work out why this was so difficult, but it was.

They were on the road again, but the ease that had cocooned the journey before their pause was gone. As they neared their destination, the cotton wool clouds had become decidedly gloomy. Grey clouds grew thicker. By the time they took the exit toward denser population, thunder rumbled above. The temperature in the cab hadn’t changed, yet a chill swept through. She wrapped her arms around herself, in hope that when she rubbed her skin, she’d generate heat.

The urban area seemed to be mostly dilapidated. Groups of kids who should be at school gathered on corners near convenience stores, or in dumpster-filled alleys, taunting the hobo’s huddled in their damp cardboard dwellings.

“Are we close?” she asked.

“Just at the end of the street,” he answered flatly.

“This doesn’t seem like the type of place Bruce would hang around.”

“Do you want to forget it?”

“We’re here now,” she said, prickled that he wouldn’t look at her or address her with familiarity. But she’d built the dam, she couldn’t complain that he was respecting it. “Do you think it’s him?”

“I don’t know him.”

“So? I don’t—”

“Listen, I’m hoping for you, baby. I’ve got my fingers crossed. This guy just signed a new lease a couple of weeks ago, and he paid six months up front. I’ll get you back to your lover-boy. Be patient.”

“Seth,” she said.

He pulled his arm away from her reach to steer into a parking spot and killed the engine. “I’m going to look around.”

“You’re going to leave me here?”

“Just for a minute.”

“Seth—” she started, but he was out of the truck before the word was finished.

A blue plastic bag swept into the street, then spun in the air as it was caught in the eddy of a passing car. Her legs were stiff, her shoulders ached, and the air around the cab was stale.

From experience she knew the recce could take some time, so she popped the handle and eased out, stretching her toes to the concrete. Her legs sprang back to life, eager for the exercise she gave them now.

After pacing the length of the car a couple of times, she ventured toward the corner a few yards away. The air was thick and muggy. A sticky heat clung to her limbs, pushing her chest, constricting her. She felt deprived of the fresh, clean air she’d craved while stuck in the car.

Just as Lacie decided to return to their sanctuary, a shadow swept past her, and that chill returned. Looking back to the path she’d abandoned, she saw nothing. Now she couldn’t get back to the vehicle fast enough. When she turned, she was met with a wall of tee-shirt clad male chest. She got as far as the gasp of air on the wave of an oncoming scream when she saw his bullet stern eyes.

“Don’t do that!” she exclaimed, smacking his chest.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay in the car?” he griped.

“No,” she said, finding herself once again in his grip so he could drag her down the street. “Actually, you didn’t.”

“I did yesterday.”

“That was yesterday.”

“Until otherwise notified, consider my authority as absolute, and all orders remain current.”

“Orders,” she said.

Sandwiching her between him and the truck, he yanked her to a halt. “I come down that alleyway and you’re not in the car, do you know what I think?” He didn’t give her time to respond. “I think, where is my g*n? I think, is she hurt? Does she need me? I have to get to her.”

“You thought all that in those few seconds?”

“Damn it, Lace—”

“It’s okay,” she said, lifting her weight from the car. “I’m okay.”

In the few seconds that followed, she read a dozen more questions in his eyes, but he didn’t give them voice. “Let’s get this over with.”

On the way to the communal door, which was held open by a bare brick, he moved fast. So fast that she had to run to catch him up. She tried to snag his hand to slow him down, to ask for comfort in the bleak surroundings, but he snatched it away and took the concrete stairs two at a time until they reached the third floor.

“Seth,” she called when they started down the stained hallway.

A barking dog, and a crying baby each vied for the attention Lacie sought, but her guide was already banging on a door. When she got to him her intention had been to speak, but he stepped away and thrust her in front of him right in the frame of the door. When there was no response, he reached over her head and banged on the door again. The dog’s barking rose once more.

The door opened so suddenly that she almost fell backwards, but she came up short against his chest. The man who opened the door was tall but skinny and his ice blue eyes dragged over her figure. She regretted not untying her tee-shirt from her waist because he certainly seemed to linger over her exposed midriff. A belly button wasn’t something she’d ever thought to be self-conscious about. His tongue rolled out as he leered, and he could just as easily have been ogling her bare breasts.

“What can I do for you, Sweet-Cheeks?”

Either this stranger hadn’t seen the man at her back, or the man she relied on had abandoned her. She didn’t want to turn and check for fear that the ogler would take liberties while her eyes were averted.

“I’m looking for someone,” she said.

“You just found him, Sweet-Cheeks. I’ll be anything you want me to be.”

“No, he’s a friend—”

“Come on in,” the stranger said. “I’m visiting. The man you’re looking for is just in here.”

He beckoned her inside. Despite not liking how he ogled her, she had no reason to refuse his invitation. So Lacie went into the apartment keeping her eyes front. The stranger went to close the door, but from the thump behind her, she assumed her travel companion was inviting himself in too. She couldn’t say she was sorry he was at her back.

Of the two doors in front of her, Lacie didn’t know which to choose, but she didn’t have to wait long for an answer. The door on the left opened revealing two more men, one short and stocky, the other black and bulky.

“Lookie! Now there’s a party!” the stocky guy said.

“Guess your wish came true, Jed,” the black man said, nudging his friend. “You wanted fun last night, and look it’s come looking for you.”

An arm lolloped over her shoulders, propelling her toward the two men backing away from the internal door. In the new room, daylight seeped through the makeshift curtains: fuzzy blankets taped to the walls. Immediately, Lacie wanted to leave when she saw that there were five other men there, taking the total to eight. No Bruce in sight. The g**g took one look at her and were on their feet in an instant.

“I don’t think—” she started.

“Don’t panic, Sweet-Cheeks, we’ll take care of you,” the guy with his arm over her shoulders said. The men moved closer, circling around to come at her from all angles. “Won’t we, boys?”

A thwack made her spin. The group closed in on her, separating her from her travel companion, who, it appeared, had just dealt a punch to one guy. Another approached from his back and hit him with the butt of a g*n. When the blood sprayed, Lacie screamed. But when she tried to run toward her friend, she was lifted off her feet, and suddenly they were going in opposite directions. The g**g were taking her friend away, and she had no idea if he was unconscious or worse. Now she was alone.