Unexpected Ride (9 page)

“Jarrod, my goodness it has been a long time,” she replied. 
Not long enough.

“How are you?  I heard about Doug… I am so sorry for your loss.  He was a good man,” Jarrod said. 
A better man than him.

“Thank you.  We are doing better now,” she replied.  “This is my daughter, Meredith, and her fiancé, Chuck.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to your dad’s funeral… I was away on business,” Jarrod said to Meredith.  “You probably don’t remember me much do you?” 
At least he was playing his part well… but then again… being a con man had been his first profession.

“No.  I’m sorry I don’t…” Meredith replied.

“Your dad and I went to school together.  He was a great guy and I just know he was so proud of you.  So when is the big day?” he asked her.

Watching Jarrod smooth talk Meredith reminded Carla of her own innocent response to Jarrod.  At nineteen she’d been more gullible than your average teenager.  She knew that…
now
.  He must have seen her coming a mile away… an easy target for his schemes.  Romeo Montague had nothing on Jarrod Tompkins when he found a young girl who could easily become the means to and end for one of his games.  He had been too good to be true and within a couple of months he had her helping him sell counterfeit concert tickets… while having unprotected sex with her.

She’d only found out the tickets were reproductions after Jarrod left her holding the bag, so to speak.  Having to tell her father, who was an attorney at the time, that she’d been arrested had been the worst experience of her life. 

That incident was only matched by finding out she was pregnant.  Having to tell her father about being pregnant right after he finally managed to get the charges against her dropped since she’d been unaware the tickets were fakes, was just as painful.

Jarrod probably
was
good at selling real estate… he could peddle anything to anyone… even his right to be a parent.  Even now, all these years later, it still made Carla physically sick to think of the meeting between her father, Doug and Jarrod where Jarrod had agreed to leave her and Meredith alone in exchange for not being turned into the police… and enough money to leave the state of Florida far behind him. 
Sorry bastard.

Carla gave Jarrod a pointed look.  Knowing his time was up, he said, “I should get going but I wonder if it might be possible to get a picture of you to show my wife?  She knew your dad too,”

“Sure… I guess,” Meredith agreed hesitantly.

Jarrod’s one picture turned into several… one of just Meredith, a couple of Meredith and Chuck and even a couple he had Carla take of him with Meredith and Chuck.  Seeing her mounting frustration at his antics he then bid them all goodbye and headed off in the opposite direction.  Chuck gave Carla a questioning look after Jarrod walked away but thankfully she was saved by Meredith grabbing Chuck’s arm and yanking him toward a store.

The following week was blissfully quiet with no further run-ins or phone calls from Jarrod so Carla gave a collective sigh of relief.  Perhaps he
had
only wanted to meet Meredith and would keep his end of the deal this time.  It would be the last she would hear from him or be reminded of her own stupidity. 

Having dealt with Jarrod, she could now turn her focus to the upcoming holidays, but first she needed to stop off at the motorcycle repair shop where Chuck and Meredith worked to ask a favor.

Though she had managed to refrain from giving Greg anymore
porn
kisses, whatever that meant, it hadn’t stopped her from thinking about it.  Now that he was able to drive on his own, she had thought she would see less of him but that had not been the case. 

He and Chuck had taken a vested interest in ensuring that Ben was the best player on his team which appeared to be just the excuse he needed to constantly be over at her house.  Every time she turned around, he was there.  As much as she tried to ignore her reactions to him she knew she was failing miserably. 

Even her afternoon shopping trip for Christmas gifts entailed being around him.  He had essentially invited himself along on the pretense that she could help him pick out gifts for her boys.  He was trying to show his interest in her but the guilt over being so attracted to him was still too prevalent for her to acknowledge his flirting or return the gesture.  She just needed time to adjust to the idea of being with someone other than Doug… at least outside of a couple of vivid dreams she’d experienced recently.

Pulling into the parking lot of the motorcycle repair shop, she found all the guys that worked there in the bay area.  She parked alongside Lilly Jackson’s car and walked into the garage.  Dickie smiled at her as she approached him. 

“Do you have a minute?” she asked him.  “I have a favor to ask.”

“You don’t even have to ask… the answer is always yes.  Now what can I do for you?” he said.

“Greg… he is… well he’s
bored
.  He is going stir crazy I think,” she said.

“And driving you crazy in the process?” Dickie offered.  “How about I try and get him to come down here a couple times a week and work with us.  Sometimes feeling useless is the worst thing that can happen to a man.  Becca told me his boss wants him to take an early retirement.  Is that right?”

She didn’t know how to respond to that.  Greg hadn’t said anything to her about that but she hadn’t really asked either.  With her own life so crazy this past couple of weeks she’d been so self-absorbed she hadn’t even asked him about his injured arm, let alone about his job. 

Truth be told, she didn’t really want to know about his job… being shot at, attacked or any number of violent things that could happen to him was another reason why she wasn’t really interested in getting involved with him. 
Regardless of how good he was at kissing.

“I’ll give him a call later,” Dickie cut into her thoughts when she didn’t respond.

She thought about what Dickie had said about Greg’s job the whole way over to the beach house to pick him up.  He probably dealt with people like Jarrod on a regular basis.  Locking up criminals had been his job for more than two decades… what would he think of her if he knew what she’d done? 

Having been too enamored by Jarrod back then to really think about all the crap he had been spoon feeding her may not have made her a criminal, since there was no intent on her part, but Greg might not see it that way.

When he opened the front door for her and she stepped inside, her eyes went straight to his bare chest this time instead of his mouth.  Reaching around her he closed the door but her gaze never left his stomach.  He was wearing a button up shirt, which at the moment was undone, and jeans that were zipped but also unbuttoned, which left too much of him on display. 

Her gaze drank him in like a sponge soaking up water.  His pants hung open just enough  that she could see a defined line on each side of his hips that dove down into the waistband as though pointing to his…

“When you are done looking, would you be so kind as to help button me up?  My fingers aren’t working so well today,” he said, flexing the fingers of his injured arm.

Great… he had caught her looking at him.
  Why couldn’t the floor just open up and swallow her whole?  Her ears even burned from the humiliation.

“Sorry… I didn’t mean to… stare,” she replied, glancing at the floor and then the wall in an effort to keep herself from looking at him any longer.

“Look at me, Carla,” he said, his voice sounding like he had swallowed gravel.

Forcing her eyes away from the wall and up to his, she faltered and found herself looking at his lips instead.  A shiver went up her neck at the visual he made standing in front of her half clothed.  Sexy must be his middle name and it suited him well.  His mouth was an open invitation… a promise of pleasure… and his body turned that promise into a guarantee.

“No… look at
all
of me, not just my mouth,” he instructed.

“I can’t… I shouldn’t… look… at you,” she choked out. 
Lord have mercy on her soul.

“Touch me then… anywhere you want.  Your hands feel like heaven, so put them on my body… anywhere.  I swear to you any time I remember that night when you shaved my face and washed my hair I get hard… all over again.  There is nothing wrong with it… we’re both adults.  Please, Carla…
touch me
,” he whispered, stepping up so close to her that she could even smell the cologne he wore.

For the first time in the light of day rather than just in the dark of night when loneliness threatened to overwhelm her, she thought about touching him… tasting him… feeling his hands and
those lips
on her skin and she shivered again. 

Reaching out with his good arm he grabbed her hand and pulled it over and pressed it against his flat stomach.  His skin was so warm and smooth.  She uncurled her fingers and slid her hand closer to his hip where that fascinating line started.

She couldn’t deny she wanted him but wherever Doug was now… what if he knew what she was doing… what she was thinking about right now?  The idea of hurting him…
even now
… she just couldn’t.  He would think she didn’t love him anymore… and she did… it wasn’t like that.  It was just that Greg was here now and Doug wasn’t… and never would be again.

“Much like the pain that eventually dulls and is replaced with an ever present tightness when you think of someone you lost… the guilt over moving on will also ease in time.”

“I just can’t… not yet… I’m not ready.  I’m sorry, Greg,” she replied quietly, allowing her hand to fall away from his beautiful body.  No longer able to look at any part of him, she instead stared at the ground.

He cupped his hand around the back of her neck and forced her bowed head upwards until she had to look into his hazel eyes through the mist of tears now blurring her vision.

“I’ll be here waiting when you are,” he said and continued to look into her eyes for several moments before saying, “better button me up then.”

Reaching out, she began to button his shirt.  Why did he have to be so
kind
about it and understanding?  He was absolutely
fine
… gorgeous even… and single with no kids.  He could easily find someone with less baggage than her… someone younger and better looking.  Settle down and have a family of blonde haired, beautiful children.  Would he really wait for her? 
For how long?
  What would happen when he finally returned to New York to his job… went back to his life?  Where would that leave her?

He made a noise and glancing up she found his head had fallen forward and his eyes were closed as though enjoying just being so close to her.  Her heart constricted in her chest that this amazingly handsome man truly wanted her…
vehemently
…
Carla
… middle aged mother of three.  Greg wanted her the way that Doug had once upon a time, before age and the comfort of their marriage had outweighed his need for passion.

Stretching up on her tip toes, she pressed her mouth against his briefly and then whispered, “Thank you.”  He felt good, tasted good, smelled good, looked good and he wanted her. 

Soon.
  She both heard it and felt it in her soul… she would get past this pain of losing the only man she had ever loved and open herself up to the possibility of loving someone else.  Or at least sharing the passion that blazed between them.

Most years she was ready for the Christmas holiday well in advance of the time, but not this year.  Thanks to the craziness in her life she had one week left to finish the grocery shopping for the meal, wrap all the gifts and do the cooking, but at least the tree was finally up now. 

Standing back she watched as Meredith turned the lights on.  She followed Meredith’s gaze to find Chuck staring awestruck at the tree.  Looking at the young man’s face it dawned on Carla that this may be his first holiday as part of an actual family.

Greg came into the living room with a pitcher of eggnog and lifting it up he said, “Any takers.”

“Never had it before so sure,” Chuck replied.

A knock at the front door pulled her away from the merriment.  Seeing Becca on the front step she opened the door with a smile.  The look on Becca’s face erased her smile quickly as she ushered her inside.

“Is Chuck around?” Becca asked.

“He is in the living room with Greg and Meredith.  Is everything okay?” she asked.

“No, but you understand… I can’t...” Becca started.

Waving her hand to indicate she understood that confidentiality required Becca to only speak with her client, she led Becca into the living room.  Chuck picked up on the look Becca gave him immediately and he raised his hands in surrender and said, “I didn’t do it!”

“I need to talk to you in private,” she said to Chuck.

“You know my life is an open book so go ahead and spill whatever it is that brings you over here.  Then depending on what the problem is you can even smack me in my head if it will make you feel better.  What did I do
this
time?” Chuck asked Becca.

“Violated the terms of your contract with the gallery for one… we’ve been served with a lawsuit!  So why don’t
you
tell me what you’ve done… canvas and motorcycles not enough
art
for you?  Are you crossing over into website design now too?” Becca asked him angrily.

“Whoa!  What the hell are you talking about?  I haven’t done any such thing!” Chuck said, the teasing leaving his voice.

Huffing angrily, Becca set her briefcase down on the couch in order to pull her laptop out of it.  A few moments after opening up the laptop and typing, she set the computer down on the coffee table and turned it around for Chuck to see.  On the screen was an advertisement to purchase dinner reservations to an exclusive art exhibit being hosted by Chuck. 

The event wasn’t one being sponsored by the art gallery and wasn’t being held in New York but rather in Florida.  In the center of the screen was a picture of Chuck standing next to an easel with a covered painting on it.  The caption below the photograph indicated the painting would be revealed at the dinner and then raffled off.  The site provided a link to purchase additional raffle tickets as only one was included with dinner reservations.