Point of Attraction (8 page)

“You can’t deny he looked mighty fine
in that uniform,” Emmee went on, totally into her playful taunting.
“And that gun.” Emmee formed a perfect 0 with her lips and rolled
her eyes. When she got in this mood, those eyes resembled amber
glass in the sun. “Oh, my.” She fanned her face, and this time,
Georgie hit her target with another throw of a damp
towel.

“Don’t damage the make-up,” Emmee
laughed.

“I like Nick,” Brandy said, with a
pout, arms crossed beneath her small breasts as she leaned on the
doorless threshold of the supply room watching them.

“You would,” Emmee said, spreading
detergent over the towels in the washer and closing the lid.
“Towels set and ready to go in the morning.”

“Doesn’t Nick have the cutest legs?”
Brandy asked, not really expecting an answer. Again, Emmee rolled
her eyes, but said nothing.

“All right,” Georgie said, before they
started their usual banter. “Get your things and head for the front
door. I’ll get the lights. Make sure the main cord on your curling
iron outlet strip is unplugged. I already unplugged the
TV.”

“You are such a worrywart,” Emmee said.
“Won’t leave the washer on so the towels are ready to dry in the
morning. Safety features on all the outlets, but we have to unplug
them.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just unplug them, okay?.”
Georgie put on her coat, knitted scarf and cap as she waited for
the girls to get to the front. The safety light gave her clear
vision to make her way through the shop. After locking and giving
the door a tug, they dodged their way through the still busy
parking lot to their vehicles. With the Cup Java Espresso House and
Total Attire Center, a clothier, both open till 10:00; The Land
& Sea Restaurant, open till 2:00am; Pacific Banking and their
ATM; the Here For The Buyer all night grocery store, there was
always traffic in the parking lot.

The evening wind swatted at Georgie and
her two stylists. Brandy’s hair billowed into medusa-like swirls,
and Georgie pulled up her coat collar to snug-up her neck scarf to
keep out the chill.

“Look at how dark it is,” Brandy said.
“It’s not even waiting for the end of daylight saving
time.”

“It is after seven,” Georgie said. “I’m
going to move my car closer to The Buyer and get some
groceries.”

“Oh, oh,” Emmee said, her voice light
and overly playful, then smiled to sing-song, “Someone has a
boyfriend.”

The biting cold wind made
Georgie blink as she looked to where Emmee pointed. Tucked beneath
the Subaru windshield wiper was a single red rose. While her first
thought leaped to Mason, she didn’t think it was something he would
do, nor was there reason for him to do it. Jeffrey in apology? Hmm.
Could be. Nick humbly throwing himself face down spread-eagle in
apology? A tingle tugged at the corners of her mouth. Oh, yeah, she
could see that,
wanted
to see it, and half-laughed. “Has to be Nick.”

“That’s so romantic,” Brandy said. “I
told you I liked him.”

“The man’s a lunatic,” Emmee told
Brandy.

“You’re too harsh on him.” Even in the
dark, Georgie could see Brandy’s lip push out in a pout as she took
out her car keys. “He’s just so... so... Nick.”

Georgie actually heard a
deep sigh come from the young girl. Nope. She did not want to
be
that young
again, and bit her lip to keep from smiling.

“Oh, spare me, puuulease,” Emmee said,
also unlocking her car door.

“Everyone should have a Nick in their
life,” Georgie said, and smelled the rose before pressing her keys
and beeping-open her car locks. “I just wish it had been him that
took Raggs. He would have brought her back by now.”

“They’ll find her, Boss
Lady.”

They all turned as the dark
car bearing a circle of letters that read,
Instant Reply Security
, drove by
slowly. “Where were they when we needed them?” Emmee asked, not
expecting an answer, “And I hate those tinted windows. Can’t see a
damn thing.” She audibly shuddered. “Gives me the
creeps”

“I think that’s the idea. Good night,
guys. See you in the morning.” Georgie tossed the rose onto the
passenger seat and slid in.

“Night, Boss,” both girls said, the
closing doors sealing the goodbyes.

~~0~~

By the time Georgie bought her
groceries and drove up her driveway into her yard, it was almost
nine o’clock, and there was a motorcycle leaning at the corner of
her garage where it met the chain link fence. She knew no one with
a motorcycle, and looked around for Daisy. It took a moment before
the Schnauzer came around the house barking and bounding. Though
Daisy wasn’t growling, Georgie reached behind the seat for her bat
just the same. Holding it firm and low, she opened her car door and
got out of the car.

“What the hell are you doing getting
out of your car?”

Georgie spun around with the bat ready
to swing before she recognized the voice and saw it was Nick. He
was now minus the tropical wear and clothed appropriately for
motorcycle riding. “Dammit! I ought to bash you a good one for
scaring me like that!”

“Answer my question,” he demanded. “You
see a strange motorcycle in your yard. You have no fucking clue who
it belongs to, and you get out of your car? Jeez, Georgie Girl.
Goddamn it!”

“You want to try and take my bat?
Huh?”

“Don’t think I couldn’t do it. I just
don’t want another bloody nose.” He motioned for her to put her car
in the garage.

She waited just long enough to show him
she would do it in her own good time, not because he told her to.
It took several deep breaths to calm both her temper and her racing
heart. She put the slugger behind the seat and drove the car
in.

“You want to bring in your motorcycle?”
she asked, once out of the car, and handing him two bags of
groceries.

“It’s fine where it is.” With both arms
loaded, he headed for the door leading to the kitchen. “What’s for
dinner?”

“Nothing,” she said, before flicking
the remote. The garage door began its slide back down. “It’s too
late to eat.” She unlocked her kitchen door and pushed it
open.

“What do you mean too late? Hey, hey,
call her off! She’s killing me with love.”

Daisy was all over Nick, whining for
love and wagging her tail. Georgie put down the bags she was
carrying. “Daisy, stop. Down, girl, sit.”

Once the Schnauzer sat,
Georgie told her to go lie down, but Daisy kept her eyes on Nick.
Georgie frowned at
her
dog. Nick set down his burden and jerked his head at Daisy.
Daisy immediately went to the table near Max and curled
up.

“You would do well to
remember who feeds you,” Georgie said to Daisy, “Cause doggie, let
me tell you. I
ain’t
no Gatsby. Man’s best friend indeed.” She then gave Nick a
cutting side glance.

Nick shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a
loveable guy.”

“Uh huh,” was all Georgie offered as
she put the perishables away in the fridge and some in the freezer.
“Oh, by the way. Thank you for the rose,” she said.

“What rose?”

She pointed to the rose she had set on
the counter.

“Oh, that rose.”

“You made points with the
girls,” she said, getting out a small vase and putting the flower
in it. She put her hands to her chin and batted her lashes to mimic
Brandy. “
Oh, that’s so romantic leaving it
on the windshield like that
. Brandy could
be yours in a sigh, which she did do, by the way.” This time, she
did laugh. “And Lord, what a sigh it was.”

“Yeah, okay, moving on here. Are you
really not going to feed me?” he asked, toying with the
rose.

His face was so set, Georgie poked his
arm. “If you’re going to pout I’ll make you a salad and bread. I’d
add wine to that, but I don’t want you drunk on that thing out
there.”

“Oh, yeah, I could see one glass
putting me under.” He took off his leather jacket and slipped it
over the back of the chair.

“Nevertheless.”

He waved her off. “Just one
glass.”

As she cut up the salad, the fresh
scent of the greens stirred her dormant hunger, and she made
herself a bowl too.

“Obviously you don’t eat much, the way
you’ve lost weight. So why so many groceries? You expecting
company?”

“I have not lost weight,” she
countered.

“No, but wasn’t it nice of me to say
it?”

“You are such an ass. The kids are
coming out this weekend and I thought we’d make dinner instead of
going out. Want to come? But you have to behave.”

“What would be the fun in that? They
wouldn’t know who I was if I did that.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah... go wash up,” she
told him.

Minutes later, the toasting French
bread sent out its baked aroma, though it didn’t compare to Sam’s
home made bread, Georgie thought. She pulled it from the oven, put
the bowls on the table, and opened a bottle to pour them each a
glass, her smile hidden.

With a wide grin of appreciation, Nick
picked up the glass and drank. As soon as it went in his mouth he
stopped, half choked, and there was a loud strained gulping
swallow. Georgie laughed as he glared.

“What the hell was that?”

“
That
was for scaring me out there,”
she said. “And it’s called Sparkling Cider, non-alcoholic. I keep
it for Paula. She’s pregnant, you know.”

“You could’ve warned me, and no, I
didn’t know.” He stabbed at his salad and forced the lettuce into
his mouth.

“As Sam would say, that’s what you get
for not taking the time to savor the bouquet.” Georgie waved the
glass under her nose before drinking, and started in on her salad.
It tasted good. “You know,“ she said between bites and pointing a
finger at Nick, “If you tried sales around here instead of doing so
much traveling to God-knows-where, you’d know Paula’s almost three
months along.”

“Glad to hear it. So tell me about
Raggs,” he said.

The deep sigh weighed heavy in her
chest, the dinner now tasteless. “Not much to tell. Just like I
told Mas... Officer Montgomery. Emmee and Brandy said one moment
Raggs was there, then she was gone.” She looked down at her bowl,
played with its contents, but didn’t eat.

“Whoa, whoa, back up. What did you call
Dudley Do-Right?”

“Dudley Do-Right? Oh. You mean Officer
Montgomery.” Georgie took her bowl to the sink to avoid Nick’s
scrutinizing eyes he was leveling on her. The rejected greens were
sent down the disposal and she ran some dish soap over her
sponge.

“Noooo, you were going to call him
something else,” he said, dropping the fork in his empty bowl and
getting up. He placed them next to hers and took out a dishtowel to
dry what she washed. “Come on, out with it.”

She shrugged. “His name is Mason
Montgomery.”

“
Okay. What are you
leaving out?”

“
He’s in my writing
class,” she finally said, keeping her eyes set on the cookie sheet
she was washing.

“Aaah. So your little plot thickens
here. How fortunate it was that they sent him out to investigate
Raggs’ kidnapping.”

“I’d be very grateful if you didn’t
mention him being in my class to either of the girls at the shop,
or the kids,” she said, taking another drink to empty her glass,
then scrunched up her face. “Ugh, this does lack, doesn’t
it?”

“So is Officer Montgomery the reason
that Little Ol’ Jeffrey was so testy?”

“God, who knows. I sure don’t,” she
said, washing the empty glass. Nick dried it then put it in the
cupboard.

“I wish I’d never consented to those
two dinners with him.” As she spoke, she watched Nick slowly turn
the vase holding the rose.

“You actually went out on two for-real
dates?”

“Oh stop. I swear, you and Cassie. They
weren’t dates. Just stuff to do with the shop books. You know tax
stuff. I didn’t think he’d take them as anything more.”

“That was silly of you,” he said,
pushed the vase back into the corner then leaned against the
counter with his arms crossed over his chest, his long legs also
crossed.

“Yeah, the older I get the more I
learn.” She finished folding the last of the paper bags and put
them next to the recycling bins. “You want to come sit for a
while?”

“No. I have to get going. What about
Officer Montgomery?”

“What about him? He’s a class mate, and
a good writer, by the way.”

“I think he’s interested.”

“Interesting? I guess so...”

“
Interested
,” he stressed, pointing
at her while keeping his arms crossed. “Interested in
you.”

“You and Cassie really really need to
stop? Sam...”

“Georgie Girl, you know Sam
was my
bestest
of
friends, right?”