“Grady asked her to come and deal with me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Tamsen got me into rehab after I recovered from my accident. Aside from her EMT training, she has experience with drug rehab, so anytime Grady thinks I might be ready to fall off the wagon he calls Tamsen. She shadows me for a few days, and when she’s satisfied that I’m not losing my shit again, she goes back home.”
“You sound like a real handful.”
“Sexy, I think you know from experience that I’m way more than just a handful.”
“Jeez, here we go again. Don’t flatter yourself. I have small hands.”
He snickers. I can just see his lips twisting into a devilish smirk. “Think you’re pretty brave when you’re two thousand miles away from me, huh?”
“I’d say the same thing if you were here. What would you do about it anyway? Fuck me into the elevator gate until I have welts on my back?”
The devil laughs again. “I saw those this morning.”
Whoosh!
He just stole my gusto. “You did? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t see the need to get you all worked up.”
“I have marks all over my back! My nurse walked in this morning while I was changing and thought I’d been mugged!”
“And your point is?”
My jaw drops but no words escape. How can he ask me that?
“As I recall … let me think … Oh yes, your words were ‘fuck me until the only thing I feel is how hard you’re fucking me.’ Does that sound familiar?”
I raise and lower my jaw like a damn puppet, but still no words.
“Well, this morning when I saw your back, it looked like you must have felt how hard I was fucking you. Like a … a stamp or seal of approval.”
“Wh—a—are—are you serious?” The shock in my voice reaches opera pitch.
“Were you not?”
“Yes … no … I don’t know.”
“You could have told me to stop. Did you want me to stop?” That voice … my God it cracks with iciness then drips confidence from his smoldering ego.
“Trick …” I sigh with frustration.
“Darby …” He goads me.
“So what type of movie are they shooting?”
He breathes out a small snickering. “Pornographic, BDSM … nothing too exciting. Just a bunch of naked people grinding on each other.”
I set my box of noodles on the coffee table and sit up straight, taking a deep swallow. “Oh, that’s … well, does that require a lot of makeup.”
“Darby?”
“Hmm?” I hum past the nerves of insecurity.
“I’m just bullshitting you. It’s a paranormal film based on a book.”
I grab my takeout container like I’m going to throw it at him. Damn! I wish I could beam him in the head with it or knee him in the gut. “I hate you!”
He chuckles. “You don’t, but my God you’re so gullible. I can just see you biting your lips together until they turn white. I bet your hands are fisted like you want to beat the shit out of me.”
I’m nearly crushing the box of noodles and my hand holding the phone is white-knuckled. Ass!
“You’re just mean.”
“You’re beautiful.”
Melt …
He manipulates my emotions with mastery.
“I do miss you.” I submit to his hold on me—the hold he has, two thousand miles away.
“I gotta go. Grady’s rolling his eyes and tapping his foot.”
“Hi, sweetie! I’m taking our guy out tonight. Kiss. Kiss. Love you!” Grady yells from the background.
“Okay, well … bye.”
“Darby?”
“Yeah?”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
*
After two more long days of work and only a short “Good morning, sexy,” and a “Goodnight, sexy,” text from Trick, I decide to invite Nana over for dinner and cards. She likes Bridge and I like Go Fish so we settle for Cribbage and a bottle of wine with the box of truffles she brought.
“Rachel visited me the other day.”
Nana looks up from her cards. “Lucky you.”
I sip my wine. “Yeah, lucky me. She basically told me to end things with Trick.”
Her brows pull together. “Why would she do that?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure. Some crap about skeletons in his closet and rogue family members ending political careers.”
She snorts with laughter. “You saw her the other night at dinner. She’s bat-shit crazy.”
I glance up from my cards, attempting a poker face. “I’m sure she thinks the same thing about you.”
Nana pops a truffle into her mouth, eyes rolling back in her head. I think she’s of the belief that chocolate is better than sex. I love chocolate, but if Trick came in bite-sized portions wrapped in fancy foil, he’d bankrupt the chocolate industry.
“I am bat-shit crazy, but since I’ve acknowledged it I’m no longer a danger.” She winks. “But Rachel is oblivious to her craziness, which makes her a liability to everyone around her.”
“Well her craziness was in overdrive the other day. Before she left she let me know that she’s not asking. My love life is none of her damn business.”