Relentless Pursuit (11 page)

CHAPTER NINE

Pierce opened the door to the café and Tammy walked in. She paused as she waited for him to come to her side. She looked around as she waited for the heads to turn and whispers to start, but so far no one seemed to notice.

Tammy almost jumped when she felt Pierce’s warm, strong hand settle on the middle of her back and gently urge her forward to an empty table right in the middle of the café. Pierce held out the chair and Tammy took a seat. Still, no one paid too much attention until Pierce trailed his hand from Tammy’s shoulder and across her back as he moved around her toward his chair.

Miss Daisy appeared a second later with her notepad and reached for a pen from the midst of her hair bun. “What brings you two in tonight?” she asked skeptically.

Here it is. Tammy noticed the heads turning and the sudden quiet that overtook the normally noisy café. She had seen it happen time after time. It was almost as if you weren’t a real couple until you had dinner at the café to make it official.

“Tammy finally agreed to have dinner with me.”

Tammy tried not to cringe. He said that really loud, didn’t he?

“A date?” Miss Daisy asked suspiciously. The whispers started and Tammy’s face turned bright red. Okay, she'd never do this to anyone again.

“About darn time!”

Tammy’s eyes widened as she whipped her head around. “Father James?”

The old priest shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating.

“Humph. So, what would you like for dinner?” Miss Daisy asked as all the other patrons went back to their dinners.

“Pecan chicken, please,” Tammy ordered as she looked around the café. No one was paying any attention.

“Fried catfish please, Miss Daisy.” Pierce waited until Miss Daisy handed off the order to Miss Violet and then turned back to Tammy. “Was it just me, or was that anticlimactic?”

“It was, but it was plenty for me. I’m never going to stop and stare at people again!”

“Well, at least I don’t have to worry about everyone listening while I try to get to know you better. Don’t tell anyone, but I may even try to make a move,” Pierce whispered as he reached out and pulled Tammy’s hand into his. “Now, let’s get to know each other.”

Pierce had never been on such a rollercoaster ride before. When he had asked Tammy about her childhood, his stomach fell as she told him about her father and his drinking. Her mother had long left him by the time she reached high school. Guilt washed over him as he remembered hearing about ”Trailer Park Tammy“ and her drunk of a father but never gave it much thought. He hadn’t even known that her father died one week before she turned eighteen and that she had been supporting herself since she was fourteen.

But then she laughed when he told her how he’d sneak out of the house and follow his four older brothers around when they went to parties. All the while he thought he was so sneaky only to find out when he got older his brothers knew he was there every time. He felt as if he was on the top of the world when she broke out laughing at his story of how he rescued Gus and his parrot’s obsession with stealing snacks. She giggled when he told her Gus would climb off his cage, waddle across the floor, and pull himself up to the kitchen table with his beak to steal cookies off the plate.

“What did you do when you caught him?” Tammy asked as she giggled again.

“Put them in Tupperware!”

“Poor bird. Being deprived of his cookies.”

“Don’t worry about him. I came home and found the lid laying on the floor and two cookies missing. I looked over at him, he blinked, and said ‘Aw, that’s a good bird!’” Pierce smiled as Tammy laughed. God, she was so gorgeous. She was full of spunk, and happiness radiated from her.

“Well, dinner was wonderful. Thank you, Pierce.” Tammy set her napkin on the table and Pierce suddenly felt nervous. It was time to take her home. Could he do better this time with the kiss? He was sure going to try!

“You’re welcome. It was all my pleasure. Let me walk you home.” Pierce winked and held out his arm for her to take.

“Why, thank you!” Tammy said between laughter. “I usually cut through the kitchen.”

Pierce led her around the table and was about to walk through the door into the kitchen when Miss Violet whipped out her wooden spoon faster than a lightning bolt and smacked him on the arm.

“Ow! What was that for?” Pierce asked as he rubbed his arm and looked down at the angelic face of the plump woman before him.

“Do you think I was born yesterday? I’m not about to allow the fox into the henhouse. Now scoot.” Miss Violet waved her spoon at him as he chuckled. He wasn't happy. He’d been thinking about kissing Tammy all night, but Miss Violet in a tizzy was funny enough to crack him up. With her white hair bobbing and apron flapping, she pushed him out of the kitchen.

“Fine.” Pierce held up his hands in surrender. “I’ll go, don’t hurt me.”

“Thank you for dinner, Pierce. It was a really great time.” Tammy smiled and Pierce felt it in his heart.

“Good night, Tammy.” Pierce rocked back on his heels and sent her his sexiest smile as he watched her head upstairs, all the while thinking how to sneak past the Rose sisters to get his kiss good-night.

“I need to talk to you after you put your tongue back into your mouth.”

Pierce whipped around and saw the retreating form of Ahmed. How did he do that? He hadn’t heard a thing!

Pierce gave up on sneaking upstairs for the moment and followed Ahmed outside. Ahmed was a friend. But when he spoke like that, Pierce got a little worried. He wasn’t saying Ahmed would make him disappear, but he didn’t necessarily feel certain of that fact.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he caught up with Ahmed out on the sidewalk.

“There’s one thing we need to discuss before I can continue.”

Pierce felt a shiver go through him at Ahmed’s deadly serious tone. “Sure. What is it?” he asked nervously.

“Tammy is a sweet and innocent girl who makes me laugh.” Pierce couldn’t stop his eyebrow from shooting up, “Okay, she makes me
think
about laughing.” Ahmed straightened and uncrossed his arms from his chest.

“If you hurt her,” Ahmed poked him in the chest and Pierce had to stop himself from rubbing the spot, “I’ll hurt you. Got it?”

Pierce gulped and nodded. “I understand you completely.”

“Good.” Ahmed relaxed, well, as much as Ahmed could relax. “Now, I’ve been looking into your invention. Who else knew about it?”

“No one. Dr. Oldham and I knew the implications and decided not to tell anyone. We weren’t even going to tell our families. Why?”

“I found something on the professor’s computer,” Ahmed said smoothly.

“How’d you see Dr. Oldham’s computer?” Pierce asked and then had to shrug when Ahmed simply looked at him. “Okay, stupid question. What did you find?”

“Someone was watching every stroke that was entered. It’s called ghosting. Someone else knew about the discovery.”

“Who? And do you think they’re responsible for Dr. Oldham’s death?” Pierce asked excitedly. If that person did it, then Pierce could finally breathe. Pierce knew he could kill someone under the right circumstances. After all, he had done so when Miles’s life was on the line. But he couldn’t imagine killing someone who was innocent. Unfortunately, he didn’t really know if he did or didn’t.

“I think there’s a good chance of it. It appears to all come back to your invention. I’ll know who was ghosting soon and will let you know.”

Just as fast as he was there, Ahmed disappeared into the shadows of the night. After the talk with Ahmed, Pierce determined he'd much rather be on his good side than bad. Maybe his good-night kiss would just have to wait.

Tammy sat on her couch and stared at the clock. The café closed at nine and it was nine-thirty now. The sisters lived right down the street, but she was pretty sure they were still downstairs cleaning. Any minute now they’d lock up and head down the sidewalk. That’s when she’d make her move. The hand on her clock moved. Nine thirty-one. She’d been waiting for two hours now and each minute seemed like an eternity.

Tammy had been sitting on her couch ever since she came back upstairs. The dinner was wonderful. She felt so good really being honest with someone. And the little touches! They had driven her wild. A brush of his knee, the holding of her hand, the way he placed his hand on her back to walk her through the crowd. Tammy sighed. By the end of the dinner, her body was sizzling with need and her thoughts were firmly set on the kiss she knew was coming. But then it didn’t happen.

Fairy godmothers, her hiney. They sure as heck didn’t grant her wish tonight. Which was why she was going to grant it herself, just as soon as they headed home. Tammy felt the time was right. She stripped out of her clothes and pulled on some black yoga pants and a black spandex shirt she used for working out. Feeling like a thief in the night, she waited until she heard Miss Daisy and Miss Violet twittering away on the sidewalk as they locked up.

Tammy hurried down the back stairs and kept to the shadows as she made her way toward Southern Charms. It took no time at all to find herself standing at the bottom of the old stairs leading to the private apartment above Paige’s store. She took a breath to steady her jumpy nerves and headed up the stairs.

At the landing, Tammy looked through the kitchen window and saw Pierce standing at the counter. He was shirtless and wearing only the athletic shorts from the other night and tennis shoes. He looked to be shining as he drank a glass of water. Tammy sighed. He must've just finished a run. Who needed fairy godmothers to keep her from this? Sun-kissed skin, muscular arms, trim legs, strong chest lightly covered with light brown hair that trailed down his abs straight to… Pierce turned and their eyes connected. Tammy jumped back with embarrassment as she was caught. One foot slipped off the narrow landing, causing her arms to pinwheel as she reached out to grab anything to keep her from falling down the stairs.

Strong arms encircled her. “I got you!” Pierce pulled her tight against him as he stepped into the kitchen. “Better?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Sorry! I, um, tripped right as I got to the top.” Tammy's hand brushed against Pierce’s chest as she tucked her side bangs behind her ear. Confident Tammy surged forward at the feel and closeness of Pierce. Deciding to take a chance, Tammy placed her hand on his chest and looked up at him. “Thanks for saving me,” she said in her most seductive voice.

Pierce froze and looked down at her hand. He appeared to be thinking of something as he stepped back. “So, what brings you to my temporary place?”

“Aw, nookie!” Gus sang from where he was dancing on his perch.

Tammy’s eyes widened and she turned bright red. Gus laughed and Tammy started wishing she had fallen down the stairs instead.

“Sorry. He can’t say the letter
C
very well. He just wants a cookie,” Pierce explained as he reached into the cabinet for a bird snack. “I’m glad you stopped by, actually. It was really nice to talk to you over dinner. I'm a mess, but why don’t you give me just a minute to jump in the shower and then we can watch a movie. I can’t promise there’s anything good, but it would be nice just to be with you for a while.”

“A movie sounds great.” Tammy's imagination ran wild—sitting on the couch with Pierce’s arm around her, then he’d kiss her quickly to test the waters, and then Confident Tammy would jump him for hot couch sex. Yeah, that sounded good to her.

“Perfect.” Pierce’s sexy smile shot straight to her. “The movies are by the TV. Why don’t you pick one out? I’ll be back in just a minute,” Pierce said interrupting her thoughts.

“Will do.” Tammy watched as he headed back to the master bedroom and stood rooted to the floor in debate. Was the whole shower an act to have her thinking about him naked? If so, it was working. Or was she really supposed to pick out a movie and watch it with him? She could see two little Tammys on her shoulder. The good one urged her to pick a movie. The bad one suggested she follow Pierce into the shower.

“Well, it would only be good manners to help him wash his back,” Tammy said as she slipped out of her tennis shoes and padded across the floor toward the back rooms, envisioning something else hot and steamy besides the shower.

She paused with her pants halfway down her legs. The only thing stopping her from climbing completely naked into the shower just down the hall was that she could've sworn she heard a knock on the door. Tammy stood frozen with her pants around her calves. No, that couldn’t have been a knock. It had to be her heart beating. She was so close…
knock, knock
. Dammit! That was a knock!

Tammy pulled up her pants just as the bathroom door opened. “Just a second!” Pierce shouted as he ran out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. His body still wet with the spray and a good amount of well-muscled thigh showed as he hurried past her to open the back door.

“Hey, sis, Cole. What are you doing here?” Tammy heard him ask from the kitchen.

“We came to bring you groceries. Here, hold your nephew while I put them away." Pierce stood frozen in place. "Pierce, can you move out of the doorway, please?” Paige’s annoyed voice reached her and she wondered if she had enough time to hide in the bedroom.

“Now’s not the best time,” Pierce said as he grabbed the baby being thrust upon him.

“Yeah, yeah, you just got out of the shower. I see that, but you’ll live,” Paige pushed past him and came face to face with Tammy standing in the living room. “Oh! Now I see why it’s not a good time. I’m interrupting.”

“Oh, no! No! I was, um, just leaving,” Tammy said as she slipped on her tennis shoes.

“No, you’re not,” Pierce said as Ryan chewed on his finger with joy. “We were just getting ready to watch a movie.”

“Yes, please stay. Paige and I were just dropping off these groceries and wanted to check in on Pierce. It seems he’s being well taken care of,” Cole said. The black cowboy hat hid his eyes as Tammy tried to decide if he was being serious or if he was teasing her.

“In a minute, Cole. I wanted to talk to my little brother for a second.” Paige sat down on the couch and smiled serenely.