2 Maid in the Shade (27 page)

“I'll have it detailed,” Lucy said quickly.

“Why don't one of you ride with us?” I suggested, looking at Jared “that is, if you don't mind.”

“Oh, are you leaving now
?” Lucy asked, her tone dripping with honeyed innocence.

“
Definitely, I think I've exhausted all the goodwill in there by now.”

“
Pity, we're closing the joint,” Jackson smirked.

L
ucy came over to me and motioned for me to bend down, since Jared was still standing on the other side of me.

“
Just get in the fucking truck,” Lucy said in exasperation.

“
That's probably what he calls it,” I hissed back at her.

J
ared overheard and chuckled, “Okay that settles it.” He picked me up again.

“
Explain why I’m airborne this time?”

“
You know how you curl your arm around my neck? I kinda like it.”

“
I'm simply holding on, I have no choice,” I said hotly, thankfully noting we were almost at the pickup.

“
I could hold you another way,” Jared said and swung me around so that my legs were wrapped around his waist and we were staring eye-to-eye as he pressed me against the cab and leaned into me. My legs tightened around his hips. My skirt thankfully, was of such a light fabric it did not ride up. He had one hand cupping the back of my head while the other hand freely explored me. I looked over his shoulder frantically in embarrassment, but my friends had vanished back inside. Helplessly, I began to reciprocate and I pulled him closer to me.

He
suddenly stopped just as I was gasping for breath and ready to break all the rules I had so carefully stipulated after the night we spent together.

“
Guess I better take you home now,” he smiled.

“
You are an evil man,” I panted. “Never again! No songs, no flowers or cupcakes and certainly none of this.”

“
Just admit it,” he said, thrusting me into my seat. “You want to be with me.”

I
didn't answer. He walked around to the driver's side and slid in. He looked at me expectantly.

I
turn away and stared out the window at the moonless night.

“
Well?” He asked.

“
It’s true.”

“
I know it.”

“
Do you care why?”

“
There's a reason beyond that? It seems like plenty for me.”

He
leaned over and pulled me close to him. He took my face in his hands.

“
Every day since you moved to town and I met you, I've gotten my comeuppance. All these years of flirting and having sex and getting whoever I want, I honest to God never understood why some girls just seemed so... Desperate. Why they couldn't just move on. Now, I get it. It's like the first time I met you my heart shattered and you pocketed the most essential pieces. I get up, look like I'm going about my normal routine and I'm wondering where you are, If I'm going to get to see you, if I can figure out a way to lay eyes on you without coming off as pathetic, crazed, addicted. But I am. All that. Crazed. Pathetic. Addicted.”

“I don’t understand what
brought this on,” I said. “We flirt, we argue, but I don’t know what changed.”

“Oh, well if you’ve forgotten, quite a bit. We can reenact it. It can be like our own version of “Fifty First Dates.”

“You are suddenly declaring yourself but I’m not sure you actually know me that well.”

“
I know you're smart, fearless, funny and beautiful, you seem like you have fissures running all through you, from places where you almost broke. I know that you could have a different life, but you picked this one. I don't know how long that's going to last.”

“
I know you need to shut up before you ruin everything,” I murmured, and hushed his mouth with my own. My blood began to boil and I couldn't stop myself. He edged over and drew me closer. I bumped my head and laughed and pulled back.

“What if I don't love you
?”

“I'm thinking that isn't possible for you. You must,
at least a little bit, or last night wouldn’t have happened.”

I
knotted his hair in my fingers and kissed him again; the kind of kiss that could easily lead to sex in a parking lot. I rolled off him to edge over to the passenger side.

“
I think it's only fair to tell you something.”

“
No, please no. I have a feeling this isn’t something I want to hear.”

“
Probably not, I have a feeling you haven't been told this before. I won't deny I'm attracted to you, like you a lot, but Ben-”

“
Please stop now, just give it time, just give me time.”

“
I think I slept with you for a lot of reasons, but I mentioned some flame of Ben's called ME looking for him and that was very painful-”

“When
exactly?”

“Right before, pretty much.”

“Okay, so Ben left you here to go off somewhere for weeks, you've never slept with him, his girlfriend called looking for him, so you come over and bring me dinner under a pretext--”

“No, no pretext—
I never meant it to go so far--not consciously anyway.”

“But you used me.”

I looked at my hands. “Yes, I think I did and I apologize.”

“But what if Ben doesn't come back to you? What if he is in love with that other woman
?”

“I cannot even grasp that as a possibility
.”

“I wish you weren't so damn honest.”

“So what does that mean?”

“What does it mean
? I'm not conceding. If you fall to pieces I'll be here to pick them up. But I’m no one’s second choice. I have never been anyone’s second choice and I’m not starting now, even for you.”

“
I don't understand.”

“
I'm not sleeping with you again. Not until you make up your mind.”

“It’s hardly my choice if Ben has met someone else.  As for sleeping with you,
I was hardly begging you to,” I said in a huff.

Jared rubbed his forehead and pushed back his hair and the image of me teasing Ben about his haircut stabbed me briefly as Jared spoke again.

“I would like to spend more time with you, Ben has this whole history with you; the two of you know each other inside and out.”

“
I thought so,” I corrected him. “No one knows everything about a person.”

“
Okay so maybe he isn't perfect, maybe he screwed up and you'll forgive him, but why not spend time with me until he gets back? Like we intended to anyway? Why not give me a chance to show you who I am?”

“What if I just end up hurting you
? Will you sleep with other women? And how will we spend our time, you know to keep from--”

“You always underestimate me
. As for sleeping with other women, I think you don't want to hear that answer either way. Now c'mon, let me get you home, I have to think about all this and I can't think with you sitting here. In fact, I'm starting to feel a little pissed off.”

He
reached over and my heart caught. But he simply pulled my seatbelt down and snapped me in.

W
e rode back to my house in a heavy silence; my head was filled with disappointment with myself and curiosity about how Jared and I could spend time together and manage to keep our hands off one another.

He
said stiffly, “May I walk you to the door? Or is that too date-like for you?”

“
I've managed the stairs quite easily in the past.”

He
looked away from my face to the front of my house while I continued to look at him.

“
Umm Gretchen, now I’m not kidding. Don't you lock up at night?”

“
I don't need lectures; I think I've proven I can more than take care of myself.”

He
pointed toward the front porch. “I assume you don't leave the door wide open?”

“Mosey!
” I cried. And I had the truck opened and was up the stairs in seconds.

I
found him locked in the laundry room. “I never do that,” I told Jared. I threw my purse on the floor and hugged Mosey.

“May
I check your house for you?”

“I can do that myself,” I said. “Don't want you getting more ticked off at me, when you think about how I've used you, dragged you into bed,
and caused you to spend money on flowers and all.”

“I'll ask you one more time, can I check
?” He asked tersely.

“I'm sure there's no need.”

“Have it your way,” he said and turned on his heel and left.

I
began to walk the house, with Mosey beside me, his collar firmly grasped in one hand. He began to bark furiously as we approached the downstairs bedroom door. He was gently pulling me back toward the stairs. I opened the door slowly and breathed a sigh of relief. The bed was made; there was an assortment of clothing on the dresser from my morning shower. But Mosey was straining to move away, his barking increased to the point where I just held on and followed him back to the stairs and up to my loft. My bedroom looked pretty much as I remembered leaving it. The only difference was the alcove bathroom door was shut. I hadn't remembered doing that either. Mosey sat down directly in front of the door. I stood at the bedroom door and watched my dog. “Mosey, come away,” I hissed and took a few steps toward him. Mosey whimpered as he looked my way briefly.

I
was as paralyzed by indecision as my dog was by his training. I really did not want to open that door. I desperately regretted sending Jared away and throwing my purse to the floor when I found Mosey. I decided maybe it would be a good idea to retrieve it and have my phone with Jared on the other line just in case.

“
Just in case of what?” I asked myself, “So I could shout out the description of a possible robber or killer?” That would be a good thing for future victims, but I didn't want to leave Mosey alone with whatever was on the other side. He wasn't trained to sniff out robbers so there had to be something dead there. Maybe it was just an animal. I had never seen him react to dead animals, but they had never been inside our house. I did need the phone and the shaleigh, and maybe some snacks. I laughed at myself nervously. I have a twisted sense of humor that pops out at the most humorless times. I took a deep breath and swung back to the door intending to rush down and get the phone and hurry back to save my dog. I turned swiftly and slammed into Jared.

I
gasped. I have never been so glad to see this man. I actually might have giggled. No, on no occasion have I ever giggled. I lunged at him and hugged him hard. “What brings you back here?”

“Someone opened your door;
left it open." He put his hands on my shoulders. “Did you really think I was going to leave without making sure you were safe?”

“
Yes” I admitted. “People generally take me at my word.”

“Then why didn't you open that door
?”

“You've been watching me. That's a little creepy no? Anyway Mosey is a trained cadaver dog, I figured in case he was right about the scent it might be a good idea to have my phone with me.”

“Why in the name of hell did you get yourself a cadaver dog?”

“
Dallas--”

J
ared interrupted “The old guy who was your boss, but acts like your daddy?”

“
No one acts quite like my dad but, yeah that sums it up. Anyway he wanted me to have a big well-trained dog, because he had a suspicion I might need one.”
“That is logical knowing you,” Jared said, nodding.

“
Anyway,” I said in a rush, “Dallas knows people; Mosey was dishonorably discharged because he stopped working and Dallas pulled strings and got him for me. Even when they stop being effective for cadaver work, they're highly sought after. Mosey has shown signs since then that he is still very much a cadaver dog.”

“
Gretchen this is so damned interesting, we should discuss the particulars of more breeds and their specialized training. The upshot of your diatribe is whatever might be on the other side of the door--”

“
Probably has something to do with death, yeah which is why it took me a minute to decide I'd better get the phone.”

“
I'm here, so let's just take a look.”

J
ared slid past me and walked to the bathroom door where Mosey sat patiently and reached for the doorknob. He hesitated and started to turn back toward the bedroom doorway where I had been.

“
Actually, why don't you go get your phone? Damn it Gretchen! Can't you stay put for five seconds?”