Rock Chick 02 Rescue (15 page)

I tugged Eddie’s hand and luckily he moved with me towards the front door.

“Don’t worry about us, we’l be just fine.” Trixie fol owed us to the front door.

I threw a look over my shoulder which should have turned her to stone. She just smiled at me.

“Stay out as long as you like,” Mom shouted from the

“Stay out as long as you like,” Mom shouted from the living room.

“Thanks Mom,” I shouted back, stopped at the door and looked at Trixie. “You’l take care of her?” I asked quietly.

“Do you need to ask?” Trixie was just as quiet.

“I can hear you!” Mom shouted.

I was pretty certain I heard Eddie chuckle.

Wonderful.

I kissed Trixie’s cheek, shouted good-bye to Mom and pul ed Eddie down the hal .

We were out the front door of the building when Eddie said, “That was fun.”

I didn’t answer and I slowed from my onward charge.

Now that I got him away from Mom and Trixie, I wanted to drag my feet.

Eddie took over and guided me toward his truck. At the passenger door, instead of opening it, he turned to me but he didn’t say anything.

I waited.

Then I said, “What?”

He pushed me against the truck, his body came up against mine and he kissed me, ful -on tongue. When he lifted his head, he had an arm wrapped around the middle of my back, his fingertips resting nearly at the side of my breast and the other hand resting on my hip.

“What was that?”

Dammit, I was breathy again.

“Just wanted to say I like what you’re wearing.”

“You could have just said it.”

“Preferred to show it.”

I had to admit, I preferred it too.

He let me go, pul ed me aside, opened the door and helped me in.

It took me some time to pul myself together as we drove the streets of Denver.

Final y, I said, “Sorry to say this but I should be home early. Slick’s out there and Mom and Trixie are al by themselves.”

“I pul ed in a favor. A squad car is going to do a regular round of drive-bys,” Eddie replied.

Something about Eddie doing that made me feel pleasantly strange. It wasn’t a feeling I’d ever had before, but it was nice.

“How wil they know if something’s wrong?” I asked.

“They’re gonna make an excuse and buzz up,” Eddie answered.

“They won’t say…” I started to worry.

“Relax, Jet. I told them to be cool.”

I didn’t know what to say. So I settled on simple, “Thank you.”

He didn’t respond.

The next thing I knew, we were pul ing into his al ey.

Eddie hit the button on a garage door opener that was attached to his sun visor and we pul ed into the garage at the back of his house.

“Did you forget something?” I asked.

“Nope,” Eddie answered, setting the brake and turning off the truck.

I sat perfectly stil in my seat.

“What are we doing here?” I asked.

“We’re havin’ dinner,” he said, angling out of the truck.

I watched him walk around the front and come to my side.

Having dinner?

At Eddie’s house?

I didn’t know how to process this. Dates usual y didn’t take place at someone’s house. Wel , not first dates. I’d known Eddie awhile and he’d been in a fight for me, spent the night at my house, we’d made out a couple of times and I’d slept in his bed, but this was stil a first date.

I threw open my door and jumped down.

When I cleared it, Eddie pushed my door shut, grabbed my hand and tugged me along behind him.

“Are you going to make dinner for me?” I asked his back.

“No.”

“Are we ordering pizza?”

He opened the backdoor and we went into the kitchen.

“My Mom cooked for you,” he said.

I stood just inside the door and stared at him.

“Your Mom… cooked… for me?” I stammered.

He pul ed me into the room, closed the door and maneuvered me so my hips were against the counter, his hands were on them and he was close. “Yeah. She cal ed today. She wanted me to come over tonight and I told her I had plans. She asked about you, I told her and she decided to cook dinner for you.”

I blinked at him. “What did you tel her about me?” He came closer, so much closer that I had to tilt my head way back to look up at him. He bent his neck so his face was close to mine.

“I told her you were a pretty blonde with a great smile who’s workin’ two jobs and takin’ care of her disabled mother at the same time.”

My body got tense. I had an uncomfortable feeling that this was a pity dinner, maybe in more ways than one.

He felt me tense.

“Steady there,
Chiquita
.
Mamá
just knows you’re workin’

hard and you need a quiet night. After fol owin’ you around for a couple of days, I need a quiet night too. That’s al this is, she was tryin’ to be nice.”

“I don’t like people knowing about me,” I told him, my body stil stiff as a board.

“I already got that.”

We were at a standoff and just staring at each other.

Then I smel ed him and I started to slip into an Eddie Daze. My body began to relax and then it began to tingle.

“I’m hungry,” I told him, trying to shake the “Daze”.

His hand came to my jaw and his eyes got warm.

“Me too.”

He wasn’t talking about food and my bel y began to feel funny.

“We should eat,” I said.

His lips turned up at the corners and his eyes dropped to my mouth.

“Yeah, we should eat.” His voice was low and kind of hoarse and I wondered what he was thinking about eating.

hoarse and I wondered what he was thinking about eating.

I slid out from in front of him and took a mental deep breath.

“What can I do to help?” I asked, trying to sound bright and cheery.

He smiled at me, he knew exactly how he affected me and I found it perversely attractive and annoying.

He opened the wine and told me where the plates were.

His Mom had cooked homemade tamales, Spanish rice, refried beans and made a salad. The rice and beans were in a divided crock pot, the salad in the fridge and the tamales staying warm in the oven.

We piled up our plates and went to the dining room.

Eddie lived in a one-storey bungalow in Platte Park. I hadn’t taken much in the last time I was there and the night before I’d waited (more like dozed) in the truck while he packed a bag.

When he flipped the light switch I saw it was living room up front with a gorgeous tiled fireplace and a couch and armchair both built less for decoration and more for roominess, comfort and durability. To the left were two bedrooms, separated by a bath and a smal hal . The floors were hardwood and looked like they’d recently been redone. The wal s were painted a warm sage. There were no decorative touches, pictures on the wal or fancy furniture. Just a thick rug in front of the couch with a coffee table on it.

The living room led into a dining area with a beat-up wood table and ladder-back chairs, a bay window and a built-in hutch with mirrored back and glass-fronted doors.

There was nothing in the hutch.

I stared at the dining room table.

Eddie did too and then he said something in Spanish that sounded half annoyed, half amused.

It had been laid with place mats, silverware, napkins and candles. I didn’t think Eddie was the type of guy who owned cloth napkins or candles and I began to wonder about the

“pity” part of his Mom’s dinner. I started to wonder more if Eddie’s Mom was kind of like mine.

We sat down and Eddie didn’t bother lighting the candles.

I began to get nervous, wondering what we’d talk about.

I didn’t have to worry. Eddie asked questions that were not too demanding and I answered, tel ing him a little about Lottie but mostly about Mom.

I asked questions and found out Eddie’d bought the house as a wreck about three years ago and was slowly doing it up. He had three sisters, two brothers, he was the second born and his father had died of a heart attack a little over a year ago. The family was close, they al stil lived in Denver, and the loss of their father was a blow. I also found out he’d known Lee since the third grade and with Lee came Indy, Hank and Al y.

Then we were finished eating and I realized I’d been lul ed into a false sense of security.

Dear Lord, what were we going to do now?

I didn’t want to think what we
could
do so I jumped up and grabbed the plates.

“I’l do the dishes,” I announced, deciding that was a

“I’l do the dishes,” I announced, deciding that was a good plan. Then I hustled into the kitchen.

I was rinsing the plates when I heard Eddie come in behind me.

“Leave them,” he said to the back of my head.

I didn’t turn around.

“No, there’s not a lot. I’l just do these and wrap up the food.” And anything else I could think up to avoid him while we were in his house. I wasn’t beneath cleaning his bathroom if I had to.

Eddie came up behind me, his hips pressed mine into the sink, an arm came around my middle and his other hand moved my hair away from my neck. Then his mouth was where my hair used to be.

“Leave them,” he said against my neck in a voice that clearly stated his words were not a suggestion.

I did a ful -body shiver and, between my legs, my doo-da quivered.

His mouth moved up my neck to behind my ear.

Then the doorbel rang.

His arm tightened and his mouth went away.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered and even though I couldn’t see him, I was pretty sure it was muttered through gritted teeth.

Eddie walked out of the kitchen.

I rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher and heard my cel phone ring. I wiped my hands on a dishtowel, grabbed my purse and just missed the last ring. I looked to see who it was, worried it was Mom but it was Indy.

I heard voices talking in Spanish, so I put the phone on I heard voices talking in Spanish, so I put the phone on the counter deciding to text Indy later and I walked into the other room. I saw Eddie standing in front of a tiny, Mexican woman with shiny black hair and a near-perfectly round body. She was carrying a smal baker’s box, the kind in which you pack birthday cakes.

She turned to me and looked me up and down. Then her face split in a smile.

“Hel o,” I said.

She came toward me.

“
Hola
. I’m Blanca, Eddie’s Mom.”

Uh… wow.

This
was a surprise.

I glanced at Eddie and his hands were on his hips, his head was tilted back, looking at the ceiling. This was not a happy posture.

For some reason (probably residual hysteria), I found this amusing.

I smiled at Blanca.

“I’m Jet,” I told her.

Then, the front door opened and two women and a man walked in. It wasn’t difficult to see they were related to Eddie. One of the women was tal and so was the man, the other woman was tiny, like Blanca. They were al glamorously good looking, just like Eddie.

They al looked at me.

Eddie glared at them, then dropped his head and ran his hand through his hair and muttered words in Spanish and English, none of them nice.

I looked at the newcomers.

“Hey,” I said to them.

There were general greetings and smal waves and lots and lots of white teeth against dark skin.

“These are my kids, Carlos, Rosa and Elena,” Blanca said (Elena was the short one).

“I’m Jet,” I repeated, stil smiling and beginning to think this whole thing was hilarious.

“Are we having a reunion?” Eddie asked.

Carlos laughed. Rosa and Elena looked at each other and grinned. Blanca gave Eddie a death glare and spat something at him in Spanish. Then she turned back to me, al smiles again.

Yep, Eddie’s Mom was just like mine.

“I forgot the dessert so I brought you Napoleons from Pasquini’s,” Blanca told me.

She did not forget dessert. She deliberately delayed delivery of dessert so she could check out Eddie’s date. I wondered if it was me or if this happened to Eddie al the time. I couldn’t imagine Eddie would put up with this al the time so it had to be me. I didn’t know what to make of that so I pushed it aside.

I came forward and took the box from her. “That sounds lovely. Dinner was delicious, by the way. Thank you.”

“
De nada
,” she said, graciously inclining her head.

Everyone stood around, smiling at each other. That was, everyone but Eddie.

Final y, I broke the silence. “Did you get enough for everyone? Should I serve these?” I asked Blanca.

“
No
!” Eddie final y snapped and I couldn’t help myself, I turned my smile to him.

He glared at me.

His family watched us.

Eddie looked at his mother and said something in Spanish. It didn’t take an interpreter to translate she was being ousted.

“Al right, al right. We’re going,” she said and turned to me, “Eddie told me about
tu madre
. How is she?” I was stil smiling, too amused to be annoyed she knew about Mom.

“She’s fine.”

“She need company tonight? Maybe we could swing around…”

I couldn’t help myself, I started laughing.

Eddie didn’t think it was funny and started talking, more Spanish, this rapid-fire, beyond annoyed and vaguely threatening.

“
Ay Dios mio, mi niño
, you’re wound up tonight,” Blanca said to Eddie and Carlos burst out laughing. Blanca turned back to me, “He’s a little bit hot-blooded, just like his Papa.” No kidding. I’d already figured that out.