Some Like It in Handcuffs (17 page)

Sunny shrank into her seat wide-eyed, dry mouthed, but an excited flutter pumped in her chest. The best part of Benny’s rant confirmed he hadn’t been the one to give Vivian the earrings.

As Sunny entered her apartment Chocolate jumped from the back of the couch and brushed by her as she tossed her car keys onto the table by the door. She bent down to scratch his head. He meowed, yawned, and then ambled to her bedroom. Now that she’d arrived home he could resume his normal routine and go to bed.

She kicked off her shoes, one bounced into the wall, the other landed with a thud underneath her coffee table as she walked across the room. The door of the office stood ajar, she pushed it open with one finger. Judson lay in a heap on the futon, his arm thrown behind his head, one leg stretched out hanging off the edge of the wood frame, and the other propped over the top of the back cushion.

Sunny shook her head and winced. He’d be sore in the morning.

Even though she’d called before heading home, Kelly had stopped at an all night grocery to pick up a few things. So instead of being home within thirty minutes it had taken closer to an hour. No wonder he fell asleep.

She tiptoed to the bathroom linen closet to grab a pillow and blanket. Her bare feet shuffled down the hall to her bedroom closet. The storage tote on the floor had a few more items of clothing that belonged to Paxton, and she chose a pair of red flannel pajama pants, then a black tee shirt with a silhouette of a busty lady riding a motorcycle. She held it out to inspect it, grinned, and headed back to the office.

The folded clothes were put into a neat pile beside his makeshift bed. Her insides softened at the sight of his sleeping form. He looked so cute stretched across the small futon. She slid her hand down his cheek in a light caress, and he stirred, smiled, pulled her hand to his lips then kissed the inside of her palm.

Unable to move, Sunny tingled from head to toe. She bit her lip.

He rolled to his side freeing her hand. She lifted his head and slid the pillow underneath him. Sunny moved to the end of the futon, slid his shoes off then covered him with a light cotton sheet.

At the door she flicked off the light he’d left on and exhaled the breath she’d held as she tiptoed around the room.

“Goodnight, Sunny. Sweet dreams.”

Her heart caught in her throat at the realization he was still awake.

“You too,” she squeaked.

The door clicked closed, she leaned against it with shaky legs. “As if.”

Back in her bedroom, Sunny sat on her bed and thumped her pillow.

Get ready for an all-nighter, girl, your hormones are too overloaded to sleep.

****

Sunny rolled over and punched her pillow for the twenty-seventh time. Not that she’d counted. Sunlight peeked through the white lace curtain over her window, she groaned, eyeing the clock on her bedside table.

Perfect. You’ve had all of three hours sleep.

No way would she get anymore rest, if she wanted to call it that. Her mind couldn’t stop the instant replay of her kiss with Judson. She sat up and fumbled along the side of the bed with her foot to find her slippers on the floor. Mission accomplished, she shuffled to the kitchen and her beloved coffee pot.

The dark brown liquid gurgled and chugged as it brewed and she licked her lips in anticipation. Sunny yawned, leaned over the counter and rested her head on her forearms.

“Good morning, sleepy head.”

With heart pounding, Sunny spun around. “Geesh, you….you scared me. I…I didn’t even hear you.”

Dressed in the clothes she’d laid out for him, Judson stood in the doorway to the kitchen.

He looked delicious. Too bad her nightgown consisted of an old tee shirt that belonged to one of her brothers. It hung down to her knees and she’d cut the long sleeves off so they ended above her elbow. If only she’d remembered to throw her robe on.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. The smell of coffee drew me in.” Judson’s gaze rolled over her as he strolled into the kitchen. His eyes were alert and he had all his motor skills. Her jaw tightened. Morning people annoyed her.

Sunny stumbled to the cupboard and grabbed two mugs. One slipped from her grasp, bounced off the corner of the counter, then shattered across the floor.

“Damn it.” She dropped to her knees, picked up some of the larger pieces, and piled them into her free hand.

“Where are your broom and a dustpan?” Judson stood over her.

She looked up at him, dazed. Her mind still hadn’t hit function mode, as a matter of fact, neither had her body. “Um—it’s in the closet by the back door.” Standing, she threw the broken pieces into the trash below the sink. Being as tired as she was the journey across the adequate sized kitchen to retrieve the dreaded broom and dustpan seemed like a trek across the desert.

The coffee machine beeped.

“Coffee’s done,” he said. His cheery voice grated on her and she clenched her teeth.

Her head throbbed as she turned from the closet, clean up equipment in hand, to see Judson grab another mug from the cupboard.

She grimaced, bending to clean the mess on the floor.

“Here, I’ll help.” Judson took the broom from her and swept while she knelt on the floor with the dustpan and yawned.

“Well, isn’t this just the picture of domestic bliss?”

Sunny’s head snapped up at the same time as Judson’s. Derek leaned just inside the kitchen entrance dressed to the nines in a dark blue suit and close cropped hair. The thin silver frame of his glasses didn’t hide his hardened gaze. His mustache and goatee were trimmed to perfection. He dangled her spare key on the crocheted cord she’d attached it to in one hand, and the other rested on his hip pulling his suit jacket back to reveal his revolver. He screamed authority.

Any color on her face ran down the length of her body and settled on the floor as she stood. Could it get any worse?

“What the hell are you doing, Derek?” The empty dustpan in her hand hit the counter with a thud. She held onto the tiled edge for support.

Derek’s jaw ticked. “Exactly the question I was going to ask you, little sister.”

With the last two words, he issued Judson a hard stare.

Sunny licked her lips. “You can’t walk into my house anytime you want.”

Her brother lifted his brow, his expression stern. “You insisted I have a key. Remember?”

Her fuzzy slippers crunched on the broken mug pieces when she walked over it. “I didn’t give you a key to come and go as you please.”

“We’ll talk later, Sunny.” He dismissed her to give his attention to Judson. “I’d like to speak with lover boy here first.”

“Damnit, don’t start—”

“I said later,” Derek bit the words out.

Judson leaned up against the counter crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t get the wrong idea here, Derek. I can see exactly where your mind’s at.”

Sunny almost choked when his lips twitched.
Damn him for thinking this was funny. He didn’t know the trouble coming his way.
She’d seen too many boys, and then men, run away with their tails between their legs over the look Derek shot Judson.

Her brother jammed the hand holding her key onto his hip. “Can you? Why don’t you tell me where my mind’s at?” His voice dripped imitation sugar. Sunny bit her lip, gazing from one to the other as if she were watching a tennis match.

She stepped forward. “This isn’t—”

“No, I want to hear it from lover boy.” Her brother held up his hand.

“Quit calling him…”

Her words faded into nothing at the fierce look in his eyes. She’d never seen him so angry. Derek’s jaw clenched so tight Sunny feared it’d snap and break. The flare of his nostrils reminded her of a bull ready to charge. She swallowed the boulder sized lump in her throat then swung her gaze to Judson.

“You’re getting all worked up over nothing.” Judson’s spoke in a clipped voice, his body tense.

“Are you saying practically living with my sister is
nothing
?” Derek growled.

“Why don’t we sit down and discuss this like adults?” Judson asked.

“Yeah, Judson’s right. It’ll…”

“Quiet, Sunny,” Derek snapped. “This doesn’t involve you.” He didn’t even look at her. His gaze stayed glued to Judson’s face.

“Excuse me?” Sunny cocked her brow. “This absolutely involves me.”

“Go to your room.” Her eldest control freak of a brother pointed to the archway with a stiff hand. “I’ll be in to talk to you when I’m done with him.”

Humor vacated Judson’s face. “Calm down.” His voice boomed through the room. “Sunny’s trying to explain and I’ll gladly sit down and talk with you too. But, not when you’re acting like this.”

“Acting like what?” Derek stepped forward, but Judson didn’t back down, instead he met him half way. “I’ve seen your car parked here night after night. So, I decide to drop in and see for myself what’s happening.” He tossed her spare house key onto the dinette table, it slid across the surface to land with a clunk on the floor. “And, I find both of you cozied up in your
jammies
making a morning pot of coffee, looking like you just climbed out of bed.”

Derek glared from Judson to her. Sunny never considered her brothers still drove by her house to check up on her. Annoyance took root and grew as she tapped her foot against the tiled floor, but her plush slippers muffled any sound.

Judson shook his head. “I can see why your sister doesn’t have a man in her life.”

Her brother’s face blazed red and the vein in his neck popped out. Derek attempted to shove Judson, but his body didn’t move, or even flinch.

Awake now, she was tempted to help her brother after Judson’s last remark.
No man indeed, like she needed one.
Sunny placed her hands on her hips, her fingers twitched with the desire to shove him too. Neither man paid her any attention.

Judson’s eyes glinted like polished metal as he glared at Derek. “Don’t start something you won’t be able to finish.” Through gritted teeth he ground out the words.

“Oh, I’ll finish it all right,” Derek drawled.

Sunny stepped between them. “You two need to calm down.” She raised her arms in the air, and pushed their knuckles back with her palms.

“Get out of the way. Didn’t I tell you to go to your room?” Derek looked down at her. She felt fifteen again.

Curls swam around her face as Sunny shook her head. She recovered from the blast to her teenage past and stomped on his foot. It didn’t do any good, her slippers were soft and his shoes were as hard as his head. The corners of his mouth curved and he regarded her as if she were a fly.

“Quit living in the past, your days of ordering me around are long gone.” Sunny poked her brother in the chest with her index finger while she rose to her toes. “Don’t force me into telling dad about this when I call in my weekly case report.” Sunny’s eyebrow arced, smug in the fact he’d cave by her threat.

“Stay out of this.” The dangerous pitch of her brother’s voice should’ve warned her how angry he was, but it didn’t.

“No. Why should I stay out of something that involves—”

Derek lifted her by the waist and moved her to the side.

She clenched her fists then shoved him with all her weight, it didn’t have any affect. He smirked, shook his head and grabbed her by the upper arm to steer her toward the archway. “Leave.”

“Don’t treat her like that.” Judson’s jaw clenched as he stepped in front of her. His hand shot out, connected with Derek’s chest and propelled him into the wall. The Bless This House framed verse fell from the wall, crashing to the floor.

“Great. Just what I need, more broken glass to clean up.” The two men ignored her as they continued their stare down.

Derek’s face turned to stone, and Sunny’s chest constricted when he stepped forward with his fist ready to fly. She glanced at Judson as his arm rose in the air. With no time to lose she put both pinky fingers into her mouth and released an ear piercing whistle. Each man turned her way, but their fists never lowered.

“Listen up boys.” In attempt to keep her cool Sunny tucked a length of hair behind her ear then linked her hands behind her back, shoulders tight and chin high. “I’ve had it. You’re acting like a couple of cave dwellers.” Somehow she managed to speak without spitting the words from between her teeth.

“Derek if you touch him,” she pointed toward Judson, “I’ll never speak to you again. And you,” her gaze connected with Judson, “touch my brother, and I’ll clobber you over the noggin with the cast iron pan on the stove.”

Both men stared at her as if she just grew two heads.

Stay calm. They don’t need to know you’d like to knock their heads together and leave them unconscious on the floor.

“Both of you follow me…let’s get this straightened out.”

She stalked through the archway then turned to face them as they lagged behind in the kitchen. “Move it Mr. Cro and Mr. Magnon.” Her slipper clad foot stomped the floor. Neither man budged. “Now I said. Jeez, has testosterone plugged up your ears?”

Her purposeful strides led them all to the front door, which she yanked open. “After you.” Her eyes shifted from one to the other.

They stared at her. Judson’s eyes twinkled, and Derek’s gaze could’ve lit paper on fire.

“I
said
after
you
.” Tight lipped she waved them outside.

Both men looked at each other, then her, and walked outside. She didn’t follow.

“Okay, now if you want to punch each other’s lights out, go for it.” She gave them each a lopsided grin. “I don’t want to see it, I don’t want to hear it, and I certainly don’t want my kitchen bloodied up.”

After she slammed the door and turned the lock, she rested against it for several minutes while sucking in gulps of air. She stalked to the office, stuffed Judson’s clothes into a duffel bag from the spare closet, grabbed his car keys from the table by the door, and blew out a breath.

Sunny opened the front door to glare at the men sitting on the porch talking like two civilized human beings. She shook her head and held up her hand when it looked like Derek was about to say something.

“Don’t speak. Either of you,” she said. “I’m not going to listen.”