Wrangled Mess (4 page)

“I can’t help it. He’s so cute. Except when he spills his water dish. Five times. In a row.”

My doorbell rang making us both look at each other funny. “Expecting someone?”

“No. Maybe Sawyer forgot a cake?”

“No, they’re very thorough. Stay behind me.”

“I can get my own door.”

“I’d rather you didn’t since you don’t know who it is.”

“There’s a peep hole.”

“Which you don’t use.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you used the window earlier instead. Why is that anyway?”

“The peephole’s too high. I can’t see.”

He did a double take at the peephole, then at me. “I’ll fix that tomorrow.” He looked through the hole. “Grey suit, feathered 80’s hair.”

“Oh shit. Jackson.”

“Are you kidding me? He looks like Michael J. Fox.”

“Oh hush. Get out of here. Go out back, I need to talk to him alone.”

“Not a chance.” He grabbed the knob and dropped back behind the door. “I bet he drives a DeLorean. Don’t call him McFly by accident.”

I tried not to laugh in Jackson’s face. Trace is right, he does look like a younger Michael J. Fox. How did I miss this??

Jackson stepped right in as if he owns the place. “Did your phone die? I got concerned when the line went dead.”

“The line went dead because you’re an ass.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him back outside. “I think this relationship has run it’s course.”

He ran his hand through feathered brown hair that’s thinning by the week with all the hand molesting. “What are you talking about?”

“I want to break up. We’re never going to figure out who should move. I want kids, you don’t. I like my family, you don’t.”

“I like your family, I’m just not big on family gatherings every Sunday. I like my days off to be peaceful.”

“So do I, that peace just happens to include a lot of happy family background noise. You won’t even miss me. I see you eyeing the skinny little blondes whenever we go out. I’m not even sure why you’re dating me. Go find what you really want.”

He turned away doing the hand thing again. “They don’t pay the bills.”

It took me a second, “What did you just say?”

He spun back around, “You can’t break it off. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be able to afford the condo.”

“I don’t give you money.”

“Well, you do, you just don’t know it. If you fire me, or break it off, I have enough evidence to bury you in IRS lawsuits for ten years.”

“What did you do?” I stepped forward only to run smack into Trace’s arm.

“Yeah. What did you do?” The deep voice of the warrior came out with a force that had me stepping back.

Jackson backed up towards his car. “So this is the reason you’re acting like an idiot. All you had to do was tell me you wanted to slum it for a while. I would have understood.”

I covered my mouth waiting for Trace to put his fist through Jackson’s face so hard it popped it right out the back of his skull. Instead I watched as the warrior intimidated Jackson all the way to his car. They exchanged words I don’t care to hear.

I just want wine. Jackson has been fucking with my money. On some level I knew. It was too humiliating and scary to accept his betrayal, so I denied it. I ignored it.

Trace locked the front door and met me at the bar with a piglet swimming in mid air looking for his mommy. “Here. Take your child.”

I took the baby and put him in a now familiar football hold. “Poor Bits. So much drama for such a little piggy.”

“I’m going to have Joe do a little digging into Jerry.” He said tapping his phone.

“Jackson.”

“Whatever.”

“For your text. Get the name right.”

“I don’t need a name. I have a picture and his license plate.”

“Don’t do anything until you talk to me about whatever Joe finds.” I begged.

He looked up from his phone, “We missed dinner. How about a bar full of bikers instead?”

“Can we take Bits? I don’t think he should be alone after all this drama.”

“Absolutely. Keep a close eye on him though.”

“Why?”

“He’s little, he could get stepped on by big boots.”

“Good point.”

4

Turns out it wasn’t big boots I had to worry about, it was big boobs. Every woman in the bar fell in love with Bits, and he fell in love with them right back. I swear he’s posing for camera pictures. Talk about being a ham.

Today is Joe’s birthday. The party is switching over from a club barbecue to a more rowdy biker party. The band is loud, the food seems to be floating on trays through the air between people.

Slider has told me a lot about his family, blood and club. I haven’t met anyone except Salina until tonight. Joe barely acknowledged me. Red, his wife, on the other hand gave me a warm welcome and a hug, before heading back into the kitchen.

It’s a struggle to keep up with where Bits has gotten off to. Sawyer is here tonight, so I got to meet Kris. Kris is a riot. She’s a girly-girl, and pink from head to toe, except for her blonde hair and creamy white skin. She could use some sun, but I imagine she stays clear of tanning to keep the wrinkles away. I know I do.

The cheerful atmosphere of the place had me forgetting all about Jackson, and the phone I’ll need to replace tomorrow morning.

Kris bounced over with Bits, at least I think that’s my little piglet. “We gave him a mani-pedi!”

I took the sparkly little guy, “What is he wearing??”

“I made him a shirt out of my scarf. He was naked.”

I looked my poor baby over. Sure enough he’s in fluffy sparkly cotton with sparkly red tipped hooves. “Is that lipstick on his snout??”

“Goat. He was being a brat. I wiped it off the best I could, but Bitsy likes the flavor and kept licking at it.” She explained scratching behind his ears.

“Bitsy?”

She put her finger to her lips shushing me playfully, “Shh. He doesn’t know he’s gender challenged.”

I coughed she caught me so off guard with that one.

Sawyer swooped in and stole her away like Tarzan, only he didn’t have a rope hanging from a tree for swinging on. Kris waved, “Bye Bitsy!! See you soon!!”

“He’s not gender challenged!!!” I yelled in a bar full of bikers.

It got quieter all of a sudden.

I looked around at the people looking back at me and held Bits up in the air, “She pimped my piglet!” That sent us all into hysterical laughter. I needed this after today. Trace gets big time points for saving my night.

He accepted my invitation to come inside for coffee before he drives home. It’s late, almost one in the morning, but since I don’t need to get up too early I think I’ll live. I could be milking my time with this man. He’s addictive to look at.

Before I got a chance to start a round of small talk and getting to know each other, a strange scratching noise came frantically down the hall.

Bits crashed into something behind Trace making me jump. I think there’s an end table missing now, probably on it’s side. Trace stepped back in time to reveal a piglet hauling ass in slow motion. Well, his hooves are hauling ass, he’s not going anywhere, fast.

Then he started squealing at the top of his little lungs as the giant paper bag chased him from one end of the living room to the other. He’s squealing bloody murder slamming into everything like a pinball that’s just been launched.

Finally the wrangler trapped him under an end table and untangled the terrified piglet.

I gathered up the scared baby, “Awww. Poor baby. Did the big mean bag get you?” Somehow he’d gotten tangled in a brown paper bag with handles. The bag caught around his neck and chased him across the floor.

“That stupid pig. He gets into everything. He needs a playpen so I can get my hands on you for more than five minutes.”

“Trace. He’s a baby. He doesn’t know any better.”

“He’s got you wrapped around his little foot.”

I snuggled the baby wrapping his blanket around him. “Thank you for tonight. I really appreciate you dropping everything and coming to my rescue.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” He popped a mug off the rack and poured a cup of coffee from the pot.

“Is it? I’m still having a hard time believing you’re here at all.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. You just don’t look like the kind of man who would go for someone like me.”

“Again, why do you say that?”

“Oh come on. Look in the mirror. You have amazing silver eyes, beautiful black hair that falls to your belt, and you’re built like an athlete.”

He set the coffee cup down and took Bits away to set him on the floor. His long fingers dove into my hair on his way back up. The feel of his breath on my lips is making it very difficult not to kiss him.

“You are absolutely, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I don’t want a one night stand with you. I want an every night stand for the rest of my life with you. Now get some sleep. Text me when you finish your errands in the morning. I want to see you before you start your show.”

“Do you like homemade pizza?”

“Did you make it?”

“Yes.”

“Then I look forward to enjoying it. Goodnight sweet Cookie. I need to go before I don’t.” He pressed his lips to mine just long enough to make me consider kissing him back.

Before I could react he slipped away and out my front door. I didn’t walk him there because I need a minute, and he has a key now. The memory of him finding and pocketing my spare key in the junk drawer and holding it up for me to give him a reluctant, yet approving nod.

How strange is it that I barely hesitate to give this man a key to my house when I barely know him? Jackson still doesn’t have a key . He’s never asked for one. Wrangler wasted no time.

I smiled to myself. No, Trace Michael Colson, aka Wrangler, wastes no time doing anything.

The sound of him locking the door confirmed what I already knew. He really does care about my well being. My safety.

How is this possible when I’ve only known him for a little over a day?

I spent the morning at Verizon getting a new phone. Trace was my first text on my new phone. When he didn’t reply right away I assumed he was on a call and focused on the email from Suzanne about the next catering job.

It’s a wedding reception. No surprise there, we get a lot of those. Bits was so happy to see me he tinkled on us both when I took him from his carrier. Because he’s so small I don’t want to leave him outside by himself. A Harris Hawk could carry his little butt away for a snack in a heartbeat.

My shirt stinks like pee so I took it off. There’s nobody here yet, so I should be okay. In fact, maybe I’ll soak up a little vitamin D while I’m out here with no shirt on. My bra works as a bikini top.

Not that I wear bikinis anymore. I tell people I was born a size seven. It’s kind of true. I went from kids clothes straight into adult sizes. I’ve never had the hips for the Junior sizes.

My weight bothers me if I let it. I don’t consider myself fat, and I could use some time in the gym, but that’s never going to happen. Just because I’m a psychologist, doesn’t mean I’m perfect. I have my insecurities and flaws like the rest of the world.

Keeping it real is a good part of the reason I’m famous. Not Hollywood famous, just within the circle of shrinks. I’ve talked at seminars, done interviews with Dr. Phil, who by the way is as intimidating as he is smart.

I like the man, and his lovely wife, but he scares the shit out of me. He’s a living breathing talking lie detector. Even if he doesn’t sense you’re lying, he has this look about him that makes you think he knows everything just by reading your face and body language. Maybe he can. People tend to say more when their mouths aren’t moving.

I closed my eyes and let the cool air battle the warmth of the sun’s rays on my skin. Like a Roman bath, only this is the same hot to cold sensation all at once. I should do this more often.

Little hooves made rapids taps on the Spanish tile so I figured he was after another bird from around the feeder.

It turns out he was running to greet Wrangler. “Hey buddy. What’s your mommy doing out here half naked?”

I laughed without moving. Bathing suit tops cover just as much. “He peed on my shirt, and I can’t leave him alone out here. We have hawks in the area. I decided to get some sun.”

“Don’t get too much.” I feel his hands trying to gather my hair so I dropped my chin to my chest.

“Mm hmm.” Whatever. Don’t stop playing with my hair.

“I talked to Joe. Looks like we’re going to have some problems with Jackson.”

“Surprise surprise.”

“He stole a large amount of money from you, and put false numbers on your tax forms. I’m going to guess you trusted him with all your financials.”

“Something I’m regretting more and more by the minute. I’ll call my lawyer today. There has to be a way to prove he was manipulating me.”

“Yeah, well, we’re going to fix that, but first we need to get you out of hot water. If the IRS catches up to this, you could end up in jail before it gets straightened out.”

“Tell me about the money he stole.”

“It looks like Eddie just hands him the checks to be deposited. I don’t think Eddie is side-stepping you. He looks clean. I think he figures he’s saving you a step of looking at the check and then handing it to Jackson anyway.”

“Eddie wouldn’t steal from me, he’s already got more money than he knows how to spend.” Not really, Eddie is a flamboyant gay man. He’d buy every costume in the world if he could. He loves Halloween because the drag queen, aka his alter ego, can go anywhere she wants without ridicule, at least that’s what he tells me.

Trace’s hands cupped my shoulders and gently massaged the tension away. Wow. I’m stiff and lean back into him.

“Joe is working on gathering information. I wouldn’t recommend calling the cops until he can dig something up that will get them a warrant. Otherwise you draw attention to yourself without a safety net. I can’t have the IRS looking at you with jail in their eyes. We’d have to go on the run, and we both have too much family for that.”

I laughed leaning my head back far enough I thought I might be able to see him from under the goatee, but the sun is too bright, so I kept my eyes closed, “We’re not running away. This is what lawyers are for. I should get dressed. Maybe take a shower.”

“I like the shower idea. I can do your back… or your front. A bath would be nice with you settled down between my legs.”

“Trace?”

“Yes?”

“We’re not taking a shower together.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying. Did you say something about pizza?”

“Oh yeah.” I tore myself away from his hands reluctantly. Maybe I should buy a massage at some spa. That felt good. I picked up my shirt and used it as a shield while we went inside.

“Let me go put a clean shirt on and I’ll start the pizza. Can you have Joe email me what he’s found so far? I’d like to see what I’m dealing with.”

“He’s working on it now for me. I’ll forward it to you when it comes in.”

“Thank you.” I deposited my dirty shirt in the laundry room and went to find another more comfortable one. The nice thing about the radio show is not having to dress up for work.

On my way back I went to the garage and fished out two pizzas. Along the way my mind wandered to how my life is changing so quickly.

One minute Jackson and I are considering marriage, the next I’m entertaining a tall dark stranger in my house. Except Trace really isn’t a stranger anymore.

If I had known he was a Colson from the beginning I would have written him a check and told him not to come back unless it was professional. Thank God I didn’t know then what I know now. Trace is a welcome force in my life, and a force he is.

He’s a big man, like all the Colson’s from what I understand. Joe is wide compared to the leaner build of Trace. I’d be willing to bet they rival each other in upper body strength.

While I put the pizzas in the oven Trace wrestled with Bits on the kitchen floor. “You can sit in a chair.”

“Then I can’t reach him. He’s full of energy from being alone all morning. Did you get a new phone?”

“I did. That’s how I was able to text you.” I teased closing the oven door. I slid to the floor to get in on the wrestling match.

“I knew that. My head is full of a lot of shit right now. I’m not thinking before I speak.” He admitted sounding a little hard on himself.

“Want to tell me about it?”

“You know about Jackson, that bothers me. Then I have some issues with my company. We need more space like I said. There’s a few different ways I can work that, but all of them require a loan. Right now I’m debt free and would rather stay that way.”

He reached over and touched my chin so I’d look up at him, “Then there’s you. My sweet little Cookie. Someday I’ll explain why I’m so drawn to you. Right now I hope you’ll trust me enough to let me into your life.”

“You’re already in my life.” I leaned into his hand.

“What did you think when you opened the door the day we met, and saw me standing there?”

“I couldn’t think. My mind went blank. I remember forcing myself to be cool, and not drool all over my shoes.” I smiled remembering how hot he’d made the room before he left.

“I love your smile.” He leaned over and kissed along my jaw.

“Aren’t we moving a little fast here?”

“I’ve waited for you all my life.” Oh God, he’s kissing my neck again. “Touch me Celeste. Touch me all you want. Stop being shy. I’m yours.”

The butterflies in my stomach took off like jets leaving a carrier, One right after another, circling, chasing each other as if in a dog fight. Tiny explosions are now erupting sending echos of pure sensation. Suddenly I need to touch him. To feel him. To make sure he’s real, and not some fantastic dream.

I dared to step outside my comfort zone and drove my fingers into his hair dislodging the loose tie he keeps it in.

His mouth found mine with the frenzy those butterflies are feeling. Whiskers brushed my lips as our tongues met. The need to crush him to me was so overwhelming I found myself opening to him for further exploration.

Long capable arms came around my middle and gently worked me to my back. I never thought in a million years I’d be making out with such a man on my kitchen floor.