Highness (9 page)

“Okay.  What do you like to do then?” A reasonable second question.

“I like to read.  I love art.  I love traveling.  I love teaching.  I’ve been all over.  And the most calm that I ever was would have to have been when I was in Zimbabwe. I taught a small group of young men there for a few weeks. It was exhilarating.  Their thirst for knowledge was addictive. I stayed up every night with them talking and teaching until my eyes were so heavy, I could barely keep them open.”  Talking about it brought back nostalgia.

Hope liked the way that traveling abroad sounded.  So, he was an adventurer.  “I’ve always wanted to travel, but I could never get away from my work.”  Hope didn’t say, but her work included taking care of two elderly grandparents.  One died and then the other. It took a lot out of her both emotionally and physically.

That gave Michael the much-needed segue into Hope’s life. “What is that you do anyway?” He already knew exactly what she did, but he asked to protect his cover.  No man wanted to seem like a stalker, even if he was guilty of the act.  Plus, it was better that she talked about herself instead of him. 

She knew that he was trying to redirect. “I’ll tell you what I do when you tell me what would drive a man across the world to a small town in North Mississippi and force him to change his accent.”

He laughed. “You are something.” 

“I am listening,” she corrected.

“Bullocks.  You are listening.  Okay, in truth, it was a woman.”  He made sure to explain that one.  He didn’t want her to think he was still wrapped up in that nasty business.   “She broke my heart, and I…ran.  It seemed like the most logical thing to do.”

“What did she do to you?”

“It might sound silly to you, but I found out that she didn’t love me, and I used that to justify me being stupid and behaving like a juvenile. But in my defense, I was mortified.  I realized - while having a quiet evening over wine and dinner and music and all the things that couples do when they are in love - that the woman that I had told the entire world that I was going to marry, was with me for all the wrong reasons.” He immediately regretted the whole world part of his purge but telling the truth was like turning on a faucet.  His cup was running over.

Hope smacked her lips like she was the authority on the matter.  In truth, she was if nothing but by experience alone. “Now
that
I can understand,” she said with a wave of her finger. Her heart lurched, but this time because of the pain she felt inside.  Her smile was a rouse for the anguish Sean had caused. 

Michael was expecting her follow-up question to be something along the lines of what the world meant, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that she had all but ignored his slip.  “Can you? How so?”  Something in him eased as he watched her face.  Nothing but pure acceptance of him. 
That was a first.
He wasn’t used to not being scrutinized.  Every word was normally twisted and turned and analyzed like he was sitting on a therapist’s couch.  But not her.  She simply listened and identified.  It was such a surreal experience.

There was a varying reaction on Hope’s face – a mix of salty sweet resolve. She fought tears as she said the painful words, causing a twitch of her full lips. Uncovering her emotions like a woman pulling off a veil in a cathedral, she confessed. “I thought that I was in love too.”  She nodded her head. “Okay,
in truth
, I was on the way to being in love.  But the night that I came to the realization that it was all in my head was when I caught my successful little boyfriend cheating on me with a woman from his work. The bastard brought her to the same bed we had made love in a hundred times before. The same bed that he had told me that he loved me in a week before. When I caught him, it was a rainy night. That I do remember. He stood up in that dark bedroom and broke up with me literally while she got dressed in his bathroom.   Pissed off and hurt and defeated, I jumped in my truck in a mild hysteria and drove off in a storm.  Well, a man on a two-day run with little sleep crashed into me and wrecked out.  Among other smaller injuries, I was blinded and left like this.”

“All in one night?” Michael asked mortified.

“No man. All in one
hour
,” Hope answered with a nod.

“Bullocks.  That’s pretty…,” he looked for the best words, “fucked up.”

Hope laughed, despite her dismal situation.  It felt good to find some humor in what had been a complete tragedy.  “Yes, it is,” she said, holding her side.  

Michael threw up his hands. “My dear, you’ve won,” he said, nearly speechless.  “My story is not nearly as catastrophic as yours.  I think I need a Valium after hearing it.” 

“Thought I would win,” she said, feeling him hold her hand tighter.

“Yes, you won.” He laughed and at the same time hid his quiet disdain for the mysterious coward of a man who had hurt her. 

Hope found a way to make the mood lighter. “Sooooo…you’re not a killer.” Mock disappointment covered her face.

“No,” he said with a smug grin.  “Sorry.”

“Bummer.  That is a real let down. I was hoping to be gutted by my next dream guy, since the last one blinded me.”

He chuckled, but stopped abruptly.  “Wait.  I’m your dream guy?”

“I’m being facetious,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I just met you.  You can’t be my dream guy”. 
That would be crazy
.  She hated herself for letting that slip from her vault of ridiculous emotions.  It was just a fairytale, something to fantasize about when no one was around.

Michael didn’t think it was crazy at all.  “Well, I’m being hopeful.  Maybe I can change your mind eventually.” 

“Maybe you can,” Hope answered.  Only this time, there was no humor in her sweet voice, only the sound of promise.

The walk became even slower as the talk became more intimate.  They were no longer just at the surface of getting to know each other, and they did so with impeccable ease. 

Every once in a while, Michael would look back and see in the distance a few very conspicuous group of men walking behind him, but he was able to ignore them for the most part now.
If they knew what was good for them, they would back completely off now that he was finally making head way.

Suddenly, Hope stopped.  Raising her head toward the sky, she took a deep breath.  “Rain is coming,” she said, clenching her jaw tight.  Fear laced her words.

Michael could hear the angst in her voice, only he didn’t know how to soothe her.  Something in him felt possessive at the moment.

A bolt of white lightning cracked across the dark gray horizon like a leather whip across the back of a tortured soul and a few seconds later thunder rumbled in the distance. 

Hope gripped Michael’s hand now, all softness gone. Her voice was urgent. “The last time that I was out in the rain, something horrible happened to me.” 

“Then let’s get you out of the rain,” he said as the bottom broke out of the sky.  Rain fell down in heavy drops on top of them, drenching their bodies.  Moving her under a large oak tree a few feet away, he fished out his keys from his pocket. “I’m sorry, Hope.  Really, if I had only known of your tragedy’s origins before I brought you here, I would have told you about the clouds.” 
The fucking clouds! 
Grabbing her hand, he prepared to escort her back to the truck as quickly as possible.  He had to tell her the truth. “It looked like it was going to rain when we arrived.”  He felt horrible about his decision not to tell her. “But I wanted so badly to have some time alone with you…”

“Wait,” Hope said, pulling him back toward her. She could feel his rapid heartbeat through his wide wrist.

“Yes,” he said with a frown. “What is it?”

Hope ran her hand over his chest.  “I don’t want every time that it rains for me to think about Sean or that night or even my handicap.”  She pushed up closer to him.  “I want a
better
memory.”

Michael’s heart began to pound in his chest.  “What kind of memory do you want,” he asked, lightly touching the small of her back.  At that moment, he would have given her anything.

Pushing up on her tiptoes, she smiled innocently.  Water splashed against her rosy cheeks and her heart shaped mouth, making her even more of a temptation.  “Kiss me,” she whispered. “Make me forget.”

He could feel the words as they left her mouth and hissed against his ear like the promise of sweet ecstasy. While he had imagined what kissing her would be like, he would have not dared make the first move – only because of her situation.  To take advantage of her would have been lower than low.  But this was a request.  

Closing his eyes as she spoke, he stilled his beating heart, reminding himself to do this right, make it perfect. 
It’s not about you
, he reminded himself quietly.

As his blue eyes flashed open, he slipped his large trembling hands around her petite face, resting his fingers around the nape of her neck and pulled her close.  Her skin was on fire, begging for him to quench the thirst of need boiling inside of her.

Tilting his head, his mouth lingered just above hers for a moment before he dipped his head and tasted the sweet nectar of her soft lips.  As soon as their mouths met, fireworks erupted inside of him. 

Push off!!!

Immediately, Hope let out a sensual moan and snaked her long body around him. He tasted like she thought he would.  Decadent. Warm. Lush.  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pushed her torso against him as closely as she could.  Her rigid nipples grew hard against the fabric of her shirt and pushed into him. 
However, it did not go without notice
.  Tangling her nails in his curly hair, she twisted her tongue around his. 

Michael fought his overwhelming desire to devour her whole and the growing, aching, painful agitation in his loins. After all, an unwelcomed hard on would ruin the moment. But in his defense, it had been so long since he had been intimate with a real woman and at this moment, he wanted nothing more than to tear her clothes off in the rain and make love to her under this tree. 

Deeper and deeper they fell into the kiss, breathing hard, ignoring the raindrops and holding on to each other for dear life.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he picked her up off the ground. As he did, he felt himself losing control.  His eyes opened and looked directly into hers.

He stepped back.  “Did you forget?” he asked, wiping the raindrops from her face. He knew the kiss had not lasted as long as she would have liked, but any longer and he would not have been able to be the gentleman that she needed.

A smile laced her curled lips. “Forget what?” she said with a wink.

Chapter 9

Even after an intentionally slow drive back from the park, the summer rain didn’t let up much, except far out on the horizon where the sun tinged the sky pink in the distance.  Listening to jazz on Sirius radio, they both basked in the moment.

However, their peaceful moment was quickly interrupted.  As Michael and Hope pulled up into the driveway of her home, he noticed a BMW parked out front and a man standing on the porch, arguing with LouAnn. 

“Were you expecting someone?” Michael asked, putting the truck in park a few feet back from the car.

Hope rose up in her leather seat, jolted from her previously relaxed state. “No.”  Her hands gripped the black vinyl dashboard. “Who is it? A man or a woman?” 
She had an idea, but didn’t want to say.

Michael touched her hand, trying to relax her. “Do me a favor and stay in the car,” he asked, stepping out in the rain before she could reply.

The black Yukon of MI6 men pulled over on the road right across from the driveway and lowered their windows to get a better look.  But Michael quickly signaled them to stand down for the moment.  He didn’t want to complicate things if he didn’t need to. For all he knew, this was someone that LouAnn knew. 

In a heated discussion, Sean slapped his right hand into the palm of his left hand in frustration. “I’ve been calling for over two hours,” he said, nostrils flared. “Two hours!" 

His strained tone irritated the older woman.
What happened to respecting his elders?
  “She went for a walk,” LouAnn explained. “That’s all.” Eyeing Michael as he walked up the steps, she paused.  “Here is the neighbor who took her now.  See, you got all riled up for nothing. They’re back and no ambulance or sheriff was needed.”

“Who in the hell is this?” Sean asked, sizing Michael up. Despite his attempt to hide his true reaction, his eyes betrayed him.  Evidently, Sean was not expecting such a well-put together man to be Hope’s escort.  When LouAnn referred
the neighbor
, he thought of some scraggly nobody pulling up in a broke down Honda, not some
wanna-be runway model
with good bone structure pulling up in a $60,000 shiny new truck. 

“Is everything alright?” Michael asked LouAnn while at the same time completely ignoring Sean’s presence – an intentional snub. He made sure to use his Southern accent, just in case the man might recognize him. 
One could never be too careful.

“Yeah,” LouAnn sighed, rolling her eyes. “This is my employer, Sean Pritchard.”

Michael knew of only one Sean and figured this was him.
The asshole from the rain.

“Who. Are. You?” Sean asked, jumping into the conversation.

Michael glared daggers at the man.  Standing at least three inches shorter than Sean, he stepped up on the porch curling his lip. 

This ex-boyfriend wasn’t at all what Michael expected.  Maybe it was just that he knew what a slime ball Sean had been to Hope that made him smaller, but whatever the case, he was extremely unimpressed.

“I’m Michael,” he answered dismissively, body tense. He turned his attention back to LouAnn and lightened his voice. “Do you have an umbrella? I’d like for Hope not to get soaking wet while I escort her up here. She’s had an exhausting afternoon.”

Another jab just for Sean, this one even more of a gut check than the one before it.

“I’ll run in and get you one,” LouAnn said, shaking her head at Sean one last time.
What a disappointment.

Now alone with his new adversary, Michael turned tersely and tilted his head. “Why are you here, anyway?” he asked with a frown.  “Hope wasn’t expecting you. I know, because she told me,” he added just to cut Sean off at the knees. 

After the conversation and the kiss with Hope, Michael felt like he was more than within his rights to probe the man for information. Plus, it sort of felt like he was on his territory now.

Sean’s mouth nearly dropped open.
What the fuck? 
He pointed at himself. “I’m paying for Hope’s care. And as such, I have the right to be here whenever I feel that she needs me.”  He poked at his own chest like he was going to put a hole through it.  “Now, I called for two hours, and I got no response. And I’m paying someone to be available, so I left work and came over here to see what the hell is going on.”

Michael shrugged his shoulders. “LouAnn has done a good job here, and Hope is not a prisoner in her own home,” he said, chest rising in anger. However, he kept his voice low because of the women. “Just because you are paying for Hope’s care, doesn’t mean that you are allowed to spy on her or keep tabs on her.  Surely, that is in breach of some kind of law.”

“Spy on her?” Sean growled. “Where the fuck do you get off waltzing up here and barking orders.  Hell, you’re just the neighbor.”

“Am I?” Michael taunted. 
He was a lot more than that.  

LouAnn stepped out quickly.  Nearly shoving the umbrella into Michael’s hands, she walked toward the edge of the porch and folded her arms across her. “Is she alright in there alone?” she asked, staring at Hope sitting impatiently in the truck.

“She’s fine.”  Michael turned his attention from Sean for the moment. “I’ll be right back,” he said, headed back out in the rain to get Hope. As he did, the rain water continued to soak through his soft cotton shirt, giving greater form to his well-sculpted back that was tense with anger and cut to perfection with detailed muscle.

LouAnn couldn’t resist the urge to look over at Sean and gauge his reaction to the attractive young man.  Just as she thought-pure jealousy.

As soon as the door to the truck opened, Hope reached out for Michael. “What’s going on?” she asked as he wrapped his arms around her petite waist and picked her up.  His embrace was suddenly intimate and possessive – a thing that Hope immediately noticed, and he made sure to let Sean see the motion, and prayed that he’d choke on it.

Yes, my hands are all over her, you smug insect of a bastard
, Michael thought to himself with a smirk.

Setting her down on the ground carefully, he covered her body from the rain with the umbrella.  Moving her hair from her face, he broke the news. “Don’t get too upset, but that Sean character is here.  Would you like for him to leave?”

“What?” she huffed. How could she not get upset? “Yes, I want him to leave.”

Michael was relieved. “I’ll be happy to relay that message directly…just as soon as I get you inside.”

She grabbed his hand tightly again.  “Michael,” she said under her breath.

“Yes, dear.”  He looked down at her.

“I don’t want to be embarrassed by him anymore,” she confessed.  “Every time he comes around, it feels like it’s just to demean me some more.”

“What did you have in mind?” Michael asked, guiding her slowly through the rain. 

There was a sharp bite of desperation in her voice.  “Be my make-believe boyfriend, for at least long enough to run him off,” she stumbled over her words. “I know it’s juvenile, but…”

He cut her off. “It would be my pleasure,” he said, eyeing Sean. “And it’s not juvenile at all.  The prick deserves a lot worse.”

As soon as they arrived at the porch, Sean came to help, but Michael quickly stopped him. Raising his palm, he snapped, “I’ve got it.”

“Hope, just who is this man to you?” Sean insisted, stepping back.

Hope drew back her shoulders with as must strength as she could muster.  “He’s my boyfriend,” she said proudly. 
Damn, that felt good
.  Even though she couldn’t see Sean’s expression, she was sure that it was priceless.

“Your what?” Sean’s eyes bucked.

Michael made sure she didn’t have to repeat herself. After all, he was playing the new boyfriend.  “You seem like a smart man.”  He helped Hope up the last step and into the arms of LouAnn.  “Surely, you know what a relationship is.  Or maybe it doesn’t quite compute for you if the woman isn’t the right
shade
.”

Sean sucked in a begrudging breath as he processed the Hiroshima-like bombshell that had just been dropped on him.  She had a boyfriend?  What was this, The Twilight Zone?

“This wasn’t part of the deal,” Sean reminded Hope. “I’m paying a pretty handsome fee for LouAnn to be here, all because I felt bad about her being blind.  And I’ll give you that I should have been more honest about my own
preferences
but it shouldn’t cost me to the tune of several thousand dollars as penance.”

Michael understood right then what Hope had been afraid of.  Every opportunity that Sean got, he was going to throw this favor in her face. 

Sean continued.  “However, I agreed to it, because I know your situation and the fact that you don’t have any friends.” He cut his eyes at Michael.  “But I won’t be paying LouAnn when she isn’t needed while you’re off gallivanting around Hernando with some Prince Michael look-alike and making a mockery of me.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed. 
Was this guy serious?

“You get that a lot, huh?” Sean said, looking him up and down like he had him all figured out.  “Oh, I’ve got your number.  Moving in on a helpless blind woman trying to pass yourself off as a royalty look-alike.  Well, let me tell you something.  On a scale of 1 to 10, you rank a low-rent six.”

Giving away to the reality of the situation, Michael smirked but did not blink.

“Enough!” LouAnn exploded at Sean. “You’re being a child, Sean.”

Hope pulled away from LouAnn apologetically. “I’m sorry,” she said under her breath before she turned toward the general direction of Sean. She could see enough shadows to know that she was looking at him.  “I don’t want your handouts anymore. LouAnn has been a great help, but the expense of having you around it’s not worth it.  Plus, you suddenly made me very glad that we broke up, regardless of who ended what.  You can’t hide crazy forever, and you just proved that you’re a certifiable jackass and psycho.”

“So glad to hear that you’re not taking handouts, because I’m not offering,” Sean snapped back.  “LouAnn, I’ll be happy to refer you to some people who actually need your care, but I refuse to spend one more dime on
this woman. 
Consider this your last day.”  He waved a hand in the air and corrected himself.  “Scratch that.  Consider this to be your last hour.”

Michael had heard enough. “Take her inside,” he said, snapping his head toward LouAnn.  “I’ll be in directly.” The authoritative tone of a true noble reared its head in his anger. 

LouAnn didn’t say another word.  She was still in shock. Sean had always been a pleasant and respectable young man in her dealings with him before.  But now, he was just being a jerk.  Shaking her head at him, she opened the door and guided Hope inside.

As soon as Hope was out of sight, Michael turned back toward Sean. 

“You can have her,” Sean said, turning to walk off the porch. “Good luck footing the bill.”

“One last thing before you go,” Michael said, reaching back.

“What?” Sean said turning around.

As soon as he did, he saw Michael’s fist coming straight toward his face.  The impact was loud and jarring.  Bone met bone and broke the perfectly linear nose that Sean had been so proud of before.

The next thing Sean knew he was on the ground below, wallowing in large muddy puddle.

Michael stomped down the rickety wooden steps and stood over Sean’s body.  An overwhelming disgust took over as he stared down at the pathetic excuse for a man. 
Who did this bastard think he was?
He bent down over him, rain drenching his face and curling his blonde locks. Pulling Sean up by his Oxford until his knuckles went white, he growled.  “Don’t act so fucking surprised. You know that you’ve had that coming.” He snatched his collar tighter to the point of ripping it. “You’re a piece of shit.  I know you know it.  And they know it.  Don’t show up here again or the next time, I’m not going to behave like a gentleman.  I’ll tie you to the back of that shitty little BMW, drive you off into the woods and leave you for the fucking dogs.”

Sean looked up into his adversary and knew that he had more than met his match, a feeling that evoked a sudden feeling of fear. 

Michael knew that he had bested him, and that was all that he wanted... for now. “Now, get off her property and don’t come back.” Pushing Sean back down in the murky water, Michael turned on his heels and headed back up the stairs to the women who now stood in plain view of the altercation.

He wasn’t expecting them to witness it, but what was done was done.

Benjamin watched from the Yukon completely entertained.  Getting on the radio, he wiped the sides of his eyes wet from tears of laughter.  “Get a complete background on the wanker who just landed arse first in the mud and put a tail on him until further notice,” he said, releasing the button on the radio.

“Copy,” a voice answered.

Taking the money from the men in the back seat, Benjamin reached for his pocket to put away his earnings.  “I told you that he was going to knock his lights out.  You could see it in how his shoulders got all tense.”