Microsoft Word - T108JustDesserts.doc (6 page)

of the many sub-categories of retail therapy.

The thrill of the shopping hunt more than the frigid air

sent chills through Donna. Besides the fact that she just plain

loved to shop, it would also serve the purpose of giving them

all more time to sober up before they got back in the car. She

ducked her head and pulled her jacket closer around her

throat against the cold wind as the three trudged down the

street in search of a pawnshop so they could find a bargain

and lie about where they got it. She had the best girlfriends

in the world. Really, who else could you do this kind of stuff

with?

Walking the few blocks seemed to take forever as the

wind whipped around the concrete canyons between the

buildings but eventually the three stumbled into the door of

the shop to the tinkling of the bells hung on the door…and

the sound of gunfire.

A man’s voice shouted, “Get down!” right before a huge

weight knocked the breath out of Donna and drove her to the

ground. The glass window behind where she had just been

standing seconds before shattered, spewing glass outwards

onto the sidewalk. She heard another shot and felt the weight

on top of her jerk before rolling to the side.

Jade and Grace’s screams made her look up as a tall

skinny guy with crazed eyes grabbed Jade by the hair and

pressed a gun to her neck.

Donna barely had time to process what was happening

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when the sound of gunshots sounded right next to her ear.

She winced and involuntarily closed her eyes. She opened

them again in time to watch the guy holding Jade crumple to

the floor with a splash of crimson. Jade collapsed with him

as his weight took her down, but he released his hold and she

scrambled away on hands and knees toward Grace, who

dragged her the rest of the way to the door. They both stood,

wide-eyed and in shock. Donna was pretty much in shock

herself.

“Are you all right?” the figure laying still half on top of

her asked.

For the first time since hitting the ground, Donna had

time to turn and look at the man who had knocked her down

and probably saved her life. Blood dripped from the

fingertips of the left hand that lay limp in his lap and he

clutched a gun in his right. She finally looked up into the

face that had become a familiar sight over the last two

days…a face that grew paler before her very eyes.

“It’s you.” The man from the hallway and the Chinese

restaurant. The man she pictured on a few occasions peeling

the gun belt off of, followed by the tight jeans. If she thought

she was hot for this mystery man before, she was absolutely

insanely in love with him now after he’d saved both her and

Jade’s lives, but she got herself together and managed to say,

“You’re shot.”

He shrugged just his right shoulder and glanced over at

the non-moving man in a lump on the floor as distant sirens

sounded outside. “It’s nothing. Glad it wasn’t my shooting

arm. I never would have tried that shot lefty.”

Getting shot in the arm was nothing? Who was this guy?

Donna had no idea, but she fully intended to find out.

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Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

“When I gave you that skip to trace, I expected to see you

leading him into the precinct. Then I figured we’d go out for

a beer and you’d buy with the money you collected bringing

him in. What I did not expect was going down to the morgue

to identify him and on the way back having to visit you in

the hospital.” Sam’s friend Gary leaned back in the chair

next to the hospital bed and grinned.

Sam scowled. He hated hospitals. The smell. The look.

The smiling doctors and nurses. The fact they had cut off his

favorite shirt to get to the wound. He hated the whole damn

thing. “Yeah, well, I shouldn’t still be in the damn hospital.

What the hell? Two hours for a friggin’ flesh wound.”

“You lost a lot of blood.”

Sam rolled his eyes at Gary’s reminder. The bullet had

hit an artery or some shit like that and he needed a

transfusion. Never had a transfusion in his entire life and

now, a PI for barely a few days and he was receiving his first

one. He seriously had to reevaluate this career choice.

“Hey, nobody called my sister, did they?” That’s all he

needed, her down here, worrying and fawning all over him.

Gary shrugged. “You probably weren’t bad enough to

notify next of kin. But there is a cute brunette waiting

outside to see you. I heard her asking the nurse about you.”

Sam’s eyes opened wide. Since he could only think of

one cute brunette who it could be, he couldn’t control the

wide grin that appeared on his face.

“Ah, I see you know her.” Gary shook his head and

smiled. “You always were the envy of us married guys when

it came to females.”

“What can I say? I’m irresistible to the ladies.” Sam

lifted his one good shoulder and did not mention that since

his mother’s stroke and retiring from the force, women were

the last things on his mind…until he saw
her
kneeling in his

hall, that is.

“Mmm, sure you are. I suppose you want me to leave

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now so she can come in and
comfort
you.”

Wouldn’t that be nice? But they weren’t exactly up to

the comforting stage in their as yet non-existent relationship;

they’d have to actually officially meet first for that. In reality

she probably only wanted to thank him again for saving her

life even though she’d said it about a dozen times as the

frigging ambulance drivers loaded him onto the stretcher

even after he told them he didn’t need any goddamn

stretcher.

But being grateful and thanking him could easily lead to

comforting eventually… Gary was a great friend and all, but

compared to Donna’s potential gratitude, he paled in

comparison. Gary had offered to leave, after all.

Sam raised a brow. “If you wouldn’t mind going...”

Gary laughed. “All right. Listen, you’re gonna need a

ride home. Should I stick around and wait for you to get

released or is cutie out there gonna drive you?”

Asking her for a ride home was an excellent idea and the

perfect excuse to get Donna to his apartment. He grinned.

“I’m really hoping for the cutie option. But thanks for

offering.”

Gary nodded. “Call me if you need anything, Casanova.”

“I surely will.” But what Sam needed most there was no

way Gary could provide. With that in mind, Sam called after

him, “Don’t forget to have the nurse send in my other

visitor.”

His friend shook his head and sighed. “You got it.” Sam

heard him add with a mumble, “You lucky son of a bitch.”

It seemed as if the door had barely swung closed behind

Gary when it very slowly opened again and Donna poked

her head through. “Hi,” she said so softly he hardly heard

her. “Can I come in?”

“Hi, yourself. Sure, come on in.” Mmm, mmm. Even

shy she was hot.

“How are you?” Shy Donna asked tentatively.

Sam smiled. “Fine.” The painkillers the doctor had

pumped into him saw to that. Tomorrow would be another

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Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

story. “But I’ll be better when I get the hell out of here.”

Donna sighed deeply and Sam, drugged as he was, let

his eyes drop to her chest as her breasts heaved with the

breath. “You got shot saving both me and my friend. You

probably saved both of our lives. I don’t know how to thank

you.”

He shrugged with his good shoulder. “Just part of the

job.” Then he remembered he wasn’t a cop any longer so

that wasn’t exactly true.

She nodded. “So you are a policeman.”

He grinned at his own mistake. “Actually, not any more.

I just retired a few weeks ago. But old habits are hard to

break, I guess. How’s your friend doing?”

“She’s shaken up, but she’ll be alright. You were

amazing. Shooting him like that while he held her.”

At that Sam sobered significantly. It was stupid, not

amazing. The skip had had a gun pressed to Barbie doll’s

neck. “I shouldn’t have tried that shot. It was too risky, but

he really pissed me off, grabbing your friend like that.”

The look in Donna’s eyes, pure hero worship and maybe

a bit of something else, dare he say lust, nearly raised a blush

to Sam’s cheeks.

“Well, you saved her and me… I’m sorry, I don’t even

know your name.” Donna extended her hand to him. “I’m

Donna Angelo.”

Sam took her warm hand in his and probably held on a

bit longer than was appropriate, but then again, when had he

ever worried about what was appropriate? He didn’t think

twice as he said, “Sam Smith.” Then the drug-induced haze

cleared a bit as her eyes opened wide and he remembered he

should have broken that news to her better.

“Sam Smith?” She frowned and shook her head looking

confused. “From Private Detectives of America?”

He nodded at that unfortunate truth. “Yup. I’m really

sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was going to contact you and

set up a meeting after I sent you the photos. Actually, I was

going to introduce myself at the Chinese restaurant but then

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Cat Johnson

my cell phone rang, and I had to leave.” Then all hell broke

loose…

“No, no, really. It’s fine.” Donna shook her head and

smiled sadly. “It actually explains a lot. Like why we kept

seeing you. Hmm, I guess Grace and Jade were wrong.”

She’d mumbled the last to herself, but Sam wasn’t about

to let it go unnoticed. “Were wrong about what?”

Glancing up, she looked a little embarrassed. “Nothing

really. It’s just, when we kept seeing you around, at the bar,

at the restaurant, I thought you were tailing us because you

were a cop and we were under suspicion for something…”

Damn, Donna was cute when she stuttered all nervous

like this. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that the police

force in that city had far more important criminals to tail

than a bunch of girls who want to illegally tape a cheating

boyfriend.

“Anyway, it’s really stupid but Grace and Jade thought

maybe you were following us because you wanted to ask me

out.” Donna rushed the end of the sentence and blushed

prettily, averting her eyes for a moment. “Isn’t that silly?

They’re always imagining things.”

Sam reached out his one good arm toward Donna. She

looked nervously at his extended hand and then put hers in

his before looking up at him, a hopeful question in her eyes.

“Don’t worry. It’s not stupid at all. Actually, your

friends are very perceptive.” Sam took a moment to wonder

if he was being smooth and seductive, or if he only thought

he was because of the happy drugs coursing through his

veins. Then Donna smiled at him and he was certain, he was

definitely as charming as he thought.

“Really?” she asked hesitantly.

“Really.” He squeezed her hand tighter.

Her smile nearly knocked the breath out of him. Wow.

Must be the drugs. He wanted her so badly he couldn’t stand

it, and that definitely was not the painkiller talking. “Um, if I

can ever get them to release me, I’m gonna need a ride

home. My car’s still parked outside the pawn shop and I

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Trilogy No. 108: Just Desserts

probably shouldn’t be driving at the moment anyway.”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Of course! I can take you

home, no problem. That is the least I can do for you after

what you’ve done for me.”

Exactly what he hoped she would say. Sam reached over

and enthusiastically pressed the nurse call button. If he’d

wanted out of the hospital before, he really wanted out now

that he had the idea of Donna in his apartment as motivation.

~

Standing proved to be an issue. Sam held on a bit tighter

to the arm Donna provided as she helped his big wobbly

body out of her tiny car, jostling his arm in the process. He

hid the wince so she wouldn’t see. Real men didn’t wince.

Real men didn’t lean on women, either, but he was enjoying

even this small physical contact, innocent though it was.

Sam was never one for drugs. Oh he liked his booze now

and then, but never the hardcore illegals he worked so hard

as a cop to keep off the streets. He liked to be in control—he