Rock Chick 02 Rescue (16 page)

“I’l bear that in mind,” I told her, trying to keep a straight face

She came closer to me and looked me in the eyes. Then she nodded to herself and touched my arm. I didn’t know what to make of this either and decided to think about al of it later.

Then she walked toward Eddie, reached up and touched his shoulder. He bent low to give her a kiss on the cheek and murmured something that was stil annoyed but also sounded loving. The sight and sound of it made me feel pleasantly strange again and I had to force myself to look away.

There were good-byes and more smal waves and they were gone.

Eddie stalked toward me, grabbed the box and then stalked into the kitchen.

I walked to the doorway of the kitchen and stood there.

“That was fun,” I told him.

He put the box down and started stalking again, this time his eyes were dark and his intentions were clear.

Eek!

I retreated, slammed up against a wal and he positioned his body close to mine.

I was looking up, my head tilted way back and his face was less than an inch away.

“One thing good about that, I’ve never seen you smile so much and I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh.”

“Your mother’s funny,” I told him, beginning to find it difficult to breathe.

He came even closer and difficulty breathing was no longer my main concern because the oxygen in my lungs started burning.

“My mother’s meddling and nosy and hel -bent on having dozens of grandchildren, the sooner the better.” I gave a little nod in the room I had to work with. I was trying not to think of giving Blanca grandchildren, but more, trying not to think of how I’d go about doing that.

“That sounds familiar,” I said.

His hands came up to my jaw, holding my face tilted. His eyes went liquid and he muttered something in Spanish. I caught the words
cariña
and
hermosa
, I began to lift up on my toes when my cel started ringing.

“Ignore it,” Eddie said against my mouth.

I wanted to, I real y did, but I couldn’t.

“I can’t,” I whispered. “It might be Mom.” He immediately let me go and stepped away.

I walked to the kitchen and picked up the phone which had stopped ringing.

I looked to see who’d cal ed and it was again Indy. I thought this was weird, considering she knew I was on a date with Eddie. She couldn’t want a progress report this soon.

“Indy’s cal ed twice,” I said as Eddie put the Napoleons on plates.

He handed one to me.

“If she needs to speak to you, she’l phone back.” He grabbed the wine and walked into the living room. I fol owed him. He set the wine and his plate on the coffee table, went to get our glasses, put them on the table and sat down. He grabbed the remote and turned on a basebal game.

I stood next to the couch and stared at the TV.

“Um… what are we doing?” I asked.

Eddie retrieved his pastry and put his feet up on the coffee table, “I have another brother, a sister and five dozen cousins. I’m not starting anything again until visiting hours are over.”

Goodie. A reprieve.

I sat down on the opposite side of the couch, putting my phone on the coffee table and I ate my Napoleon, my eyes on the game. I wasn’t a big sports fan. If pressed I’d go to games, mainly for the atmosphere, but I wasn’t fond of watching them on television.

The minute I consumed the last bite of my pastry and put my plate down, Eddie’s feet came off the table. He leaned down, grabbed my ankles and pul ed them in his lap. Then he started to work on the straps of my shoes.

“Eddie…” I began, trying to pul my legs away.

His hands wrapped around my ankles.

“Quiet,
Chiquita
. You’re going to relax.” He tossed my shoes several feet away and then he pul ed off his boots. I settled into my corner, as far away from him as I could get, thinking this was slightly anti-climactic. I didn’t have high hopes for my date with Eddie but I expected it would be me who screwed things up in some way or bored him to death. I didn’t expect to spend the night watching a basebal game.

His hand shot out and he grabbed me, dragging me across the couch as he put his feet back on the table. He tucked me into his side so my shoulder was wedged under his armpit and my cheek was against his chest. He wrapped his arm around my waist, his hand resting on my hip.

Dear Lord.

I wasn’t bored anymore, I felt nice. As in,
real
nice.

I put my feet up on the couch and curled into him, keeping my eyes on the game and daydreaming about doing this with Eddie again, maybe every night for the rest of our lives.

The next thing I knew, my cel phone was ringing. I could also hear Eddie’s.

I’d fal en into a doze and somehow my arm got wrapped across Eddie’s waist. I came up, pul ing my hair away from my face and grabbed my phone. Eddie leaned forward and pul ed his phone out of his back pocket.

My phone said “Indy cal ing”. I flipped it open and said,

“Hel o?” at the same time I heard Eddie say, “Yeah?”

“Jet? Are you with Eddie?” Indy said by way of greeting, her voice sounding funny and not in a good way.

“Yes. Is something wrong?” I asked.

She hesitated then said, “Is he on the phone?” I looked over at him. He was listening, then his face got tight and his eyes moved to me.

“Yeah,” I said to Indy.

“He’s talking to Lee. I tried to stop him. I promise I did everything I could think of.”

I felt a chil run up my spine.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“Listen, our adventure at Einstein’s got out and—” I didn’t hear her say anything else as the phone was pul ed from my hand and flipped closed.

My head snapped around to Eddie.

“Hey! I was talking to Indy.”

“I know.”

He slid his and my phones on the table, looked at me, his eyes serious and maybe a little pissed off.

“What’s going on?” I asked, moving away from him.

“You’ve had a busy day,” he said.

Uh-oh.

I thought, at that juncture, it might be wise to keep my mouth shut.

“Went lookin’ for your Dad like I asked you not to do and found some trouble at a bagel place,” he said.

I forgot about keeping my mouth shut.

“Eddie, it’s none of your…”

His eyes narrowed.

“
Chiquita
, if you tel me it’s none of my business, I swear to God, I’l shoot you.”

I jumped up from the couch and put my hands to my hips.

“Wel it isn’t!”

He angled off the couch and took a step toward me so he was towering over me.

I real y wished I had my shoes back but I held my ground.

“It fucking wel is,” he said in his scary quiet voice.

I glared at him.

“How do you figure that?” I asked.

He threw his arms out and looked around.

“What the fuck do you think is happening here?”

“I don’t know!” I yel ed at him and, actual y, I didn’t.

He looked away from me, tore his hand through his hair and muttered in Spanish. Then he turned back to me.

and muttered in Spanish. Then he turned back to me.

“Witnesses state that a blonde woman of your description was seen rol ing around on the floor at Einstein’s on Alameda with a guy who fits the description of Vince Fratel i.”

I decided, again, to be silent.

“Jet, Vince Fratel i is a bad guy. Not just a bad guy, a scary bad guy. He’s muscle for a very scary bad guy. Who knows what he’s done? Likely broken knees, cut off fingers, kil ed people. And you attacked him in fucking Einstein’s Bagels.”

Not good. Real y not good. Vince
did
sound like a scary bad guy.

I went into defense mode. “Wel I didn’t know!” I yel ed.

Eddie’s quiet voice went away and he shouted.

“
What the fuck were you thinking
?”

“He cal ed you a wetback!” I shouted right back.

Yeesh.

Eddie stood stock stil and stared at me.

“I’m sorry?” he asked.

“I didn’t think. He said it and I just flipped out and the next thing I knew we were rol ing around on the floor. Indy yel ed at me to knee him in the nuts, I did, Tex grabbed me and we took off. The whole thing lasted less than ten minutes.” He shook his head.

“I don’t know whether to kiss you or shake some sense into you.”

I knew which one I would pick but I was too angry to make the suggestion.

I backed away and rounded the coffee table, retrieved my shoes and turned to Eddie.

“I want to go home,” I said.

“You aren’t goin’ home. We’re not done talkin’.” I turned and walked toward the kitchen.

We were
so
done talking.

I nearly made it when he caught my hand, gave it a yank and I whirled around. He twisted my arm around my back and pul ed my body up against his.

“I’m fuckin’ sick and tired of watching you walk away from me,” he growled.

My heart stopped.

This would probably be part of that hot-blooded thing Blanca was talking about.

“Eddie…”

He didn’t let me start.

“You’ve dated Mexican-Americans before, people say shit. It’s their problem, you ignore it.”

“Eddie…” I tried again.

He continued. “I already told you that you were my business but it’s pretty fuckin’ clear you didn’t understand.

I’ve been tryin’ to get your attention for months but you’re so busy and exhausted and whatever the hel else you are, it hasn’t worked. So I’l say, straight out, so there’s no confusion. I want to spend time with you, I want to get to know you and I want to sleep with you and it doesn’t have to be in that order.”

I didn’t even try to speak. I couldn’t. His words robbed me of the ability of speech.

“While that’s happenin’ and however long it lasts, you’re my business and I’l explain that too. I keep you safe and I keep your Mom safe, however that has to come about. And no one hustles you, not even your fuckin’ father, or they answer to me.”

I was not only speechless, my bel y was beginning to feel funny and that strange pleasant feeling was back.

“I know you have a problem with that, you’ve made it loud and clear, but I don’t give a fuck. I’m gonna keep coming at you until I wear you down. Do you understand me?” He paused and glared at me and I realized he expected an answer.

Since I was incapable of a verbal response, I just nodded.

“Good. Now, because it’s likely you not only have Slick after you but also Louie and Vince, you’ve got two choices: either I take you home and I stay there with you or I make a cal and plant someone at your apartment building and you sleep here with me.”

“Trixie’s at home, there’s nowhere for you to sleep,” I said.

“I sleep with you.”

Dear Lord.

“I’l sleep here,” I decided.

“I sleep with you here too.”

Eek!

“I’l sleep on the couch,” I told him.

“You sleep in my bed.”

“Then, wil you sleep on the couch?” I asked.

“I’l sleep in my bed with you.”

“Eddie…” I started to object.

“Nothing’s going to happen. Not tonight. I’m too tired and too pissed off.”

I tried to decide if I could sleep with a tired and pissed off Eddie.

I decided I couldn’t sleep with a tired and pissed off Eddie.

“Those two choices aren’t choices at al ,” I said. “They’re the same thing in different places.”

“They’re al you’ve got,” he told me.

“I don’t like it.”

“I don’t care. I told you not to go after your Dad. You did and you bought yourself a fuckload of trouble to add to the shitload you already had. If I gotta keep you safe, I’l do it how I need to do it and I want you close.”

“But… sleep with me?” I asked.

“You don’t get it,” he said, his brows drawing together.

“I think I do,” I was beginning to go from freaked out to angry.

He let go of my wrist but tightened both arms around me.

“Slick’s known for using that blade and not in good ways. I already told you what Vince is capable of. They come after you, I want them to get me first.”

Okay, so at that, the anger started to melt into that weird feeling again.

“You can’t do that for me,” I whispered.

“I’m not doin’ it for you. I’m doin’ it for me. I won’t get what I want out of you if your throat’s been cut.” Putting it that way, it almost made sense. But only almost.

“This is going too fast, it’s…”

Again, he didn’t let me finish.

He interrupted me by laughing. If you can believe, he actual y
laughed
.

His hands moved up my back and his head tilted toward me.

“Since I’m bein’ honest with you,
Chiquita
, I’l tel you I usual y play with what I want until I feel the time is right to move in. The time was right with you a long fuckin’ time ago but you’ve been so focused on your own shit, you gave me no opening. This hasn’t been fast. You want to see fast, we’l go into the bedroom and I’l show you fast but I’l show it to you slow.”

Oh… dear… Lord.

My stomach curled and that was a pleasant feeling too.

Regardless, for self-preservation, immediately I said, “I don’t want to see fast.”

His arms separated, one stayed up my back, the other one went low on my waist.

His mouth came to mine and I quit breathing.

With his lips against mine he said, “You’ve got one night’s reprieve. Tomorrow, I start movin’ in.” What did I do with that? I mean, I pretty much thought he was already “movin’ in”.

He didn’t give me a chance to do anything.

“I gotta make a cal and then we’re goin’ to bed.” Eek!