Her Paradise

“Hey Nikki, heard you called for some help,” I say when I see her on the porch.

“Um yeah, is there anyone else on duty?” she asks, looking over my shoulder and then back behind her.

“Yeah, Cameron is, but she’s caught up on a drunk and disorderly on the north shore. What’s up?”

“Nothing. It can wait. Thanks for coming by.” She waves her hand really quick and turns around.

“Hang on a second,” I say, and she stops. “Nikki, what are you up to?”

I’ve always been pretty intuitive, and it makes for a great officer of the law. And right now, I can feel in my gut she’s hiding something.

“Umm.” She looks over her shoulder again. “Maybe I should have called the fire department. Or an ambulance,” she says, biting her lip and wringing her fingers.

“If you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m coming in there and I’m going to find out myself.”

“No!” she yelps, holding up her hands.

“Nicole, damn it. Just tell me.”

“She’s going to kill me,” she whispers, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

“Is Sammy in there? Is something wrong?” Before I know what’s happening, I’m barging past Nikki. I love her like a sister, but if Sammy’s hurt she better get out of my way.

“Cyrus Walsh, don’t you dare go in there,” she calls after me, but it’s too late.

When I walk in, I notice a door to an adjoining room is ajar. I hear a noise in there and the sight that greets me both turns me on and pisses me off at the same time.

Sammy is in the middle of the room dressed like an old-school pin up model in a black halterneck bathing suit. The only problem is she’s stuck inside what looks like a mini airplane. Something a toddler could fit in.

“What the hell is all this?” I say, looking around at the room.

The place is set up like a photo shoot, complete with a white background and a camera in front of it. She’s got this mini airplane around her waist and her hair and makeup are all done up.

“It’s none of your business,” she growls, her face red with anger.

“I’m so sorry, Sammy. I didn’t know who else to call,” Nikki says from behind me.

“So you call the one person on this whole island I don’t want to talk to.” Sammy tries to put her hands on her hips, but the airplane is in the way, so she just crosses them.

“We’ve tried everything to get it off,” Nikki says, and points to a table with cooking oil, peanut butter, shampoo, butter, and about ten other things on it. “I told you not to pull it all the way up. You were just meant to sit in it.”

“Now is not the time to tell me how I screwed this up, Nikki,” Sammy says, sounding frustrated.

“Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?” I look between the two of them with my hands held out.

Sammy rolls her eyes.

Nikki sighs. “She wanted to take some pictures for her dating profile.”

“What?” I shout, and Sammy doesn’t even bother to look ashamed. Her face is smug and she raises her chin in challenge.

“Over my dead body,” I say through clenched teeth as I lean in closer to her.

“Good thing you gave me one already,” she snaps back.

Damn, it’s good to have her talking to me. Even if she’s pissed off. I glance down at the plastic plane around her waist and back up to her.

“How about I get you out of that and you let me take you home?” I offer.

“Not just no, but hell no.” She looks away, but not before I see the panic in her eyes. She hates tight spaces and I know she wants out of there.

“Fine. Looks like I’m no help. Y’all ladies have a good night,” I say and turn to walk out, but really I have no intention of leaving at all.

“Wait,” Sammy says after I’ve taken three steps.

I stop and turn slowly back around to face her.

“Fine. Get me out of it and you can take me home. But that’s it.”

“Deal,” I say and walk over to her.

I take a second to stand close to her because I’ve missed her so damn much. I hate not being near her, even if she won’t admit she’s mine.

“Well, are you going to help me or not?” she asks, looking down shyly.

I reach under the plane and flip the little lock that holds the whole thing together. Immediately, the plastic separates and falls to the ground. Her legs are covered in a mix of oils and are a sticky mess. I have to bite my lip to keep from smiling as she looks from the ground to me in shock.

“How the hell did you do that?”