Cat 'N Mouse (22 page)

Since changing the venue was not possible, they were joined at the hip. She didn’t go anywhere without him, and that included the meeting with the executive chef at the hotel to sample the meals to be served at the function.

They
decided on seared halibut with chanterelle mushrooms for the main course. She had asked his opinion and he had to admit, it wasn’t bad for something he’d never heard of. Who would have thought someone would actually sit down and name a mushroom?

The meeting with the event consultant on the third floor was next on the agenda to discuss the floral arrangements because you couldn’t just put any kind of ordinary flowers on the table. It was a themed event and therefore everything should coordinate. He wanted to make a crack about it but kept his mouth shut. The gala preparation had taken Alexandria’s mind off the stalker and everything else that was going on in her life.

She came alive describing to the event consultant what she wanted. Sam was blown away when she took out sketches of designs which she laid out in front of the consultant. Sketches that he had seen her with at the breakfast table earlier that morning but she had put them face down when he’d walked into the kitchen. She’d done them. He wanted to tell her they were good, but she’d packed them up quickly and had disappeared into her bedroom.

After the menu was finalized and the flower arrangements were chosen for the festivities, she announced that he needed to get a tuxedo.

“Wait a minute…”

“It’s a charity event. So far since you’ve moved into my apartment, the only clothing I’ve seen you in is black T-shirts and jeans. The only jacket you’ve been sporting is this tanned one.” She tugged at the lapel. “As nice as it looks on you,” she did that neck thing again…the bobbing up and down motion, “you need a tuxedo.”

She shook hands with the consultant when she returned with the final quote, thanked her for her help. Sam stood there like a fish out of water. A tuxedo? He’d never had the occasion to wear one. Where would he find one on such short notice?

“Now that you’ve wrapped your mind around wearing a tuxedo, shall we get you fitted?”

“About this tuxedo business—”

“It’s business, therefore the cost is not your concern. I’ve already made the appointment. Please do not give me any grief over this.”

“You’ll get no grief from me as long as you let me pay for the rental.”

This was her area of expertise. She knew where to go and what to do. What was the point in fighting it? One way or the other he would be wearing a penguin suit and rubbing elbows with the rich and famous of Florida’s elite. He couldn’t wait.

“Where to now?” Sam asked when they got back to the SUV and he sat waiting for her to put her sketches away on the backseat.

He pulled away from the hotel and headed east on Central Park Drive and spotted the black Honda again. The same stolen vehicle that had followed them earlier was two cars behind them. This time he was not getting away—enough of this cat and mouse game.

“Daddy’s tailor is not far from here. He rents tuxedos. Unless you want to buy one?”

“I don’t even want to rent one.” Sam glanced casually at the rearview mirror to see if they still had company. The Honda had dropped three cars behind.

“Stop moaning. There it is. Pull over here.”

Sam parked and followed Alexandria into a posh boutique called Eduardo’s. He made sure that she was settled with Eduardo, who seemed more than happy to ignore him, while they poured over the latest tuxedo trends in a catalogue at the back of the store.

Eduardo and Alexandria were taking too long and Sam was getting agitated about the man in the Honda. How long does it take to choose a tuxedo? He didn’t want Alexandria to know about the Honda and wondered how he would get away for a few minutes. Then the opportunity dropped in his lap.

“Stop pacing. You’re making the customers nervous,” Alexandria said, rolling her eyes at him.

What customers? She and the man with the platinum blond ponytail and expensive suit wanted him out of the way.

“Shoo. Go talk to the security guard. When we find something we’ll call you.” Eduardo shooed Sam away. That’s right—shooed. The man shooed him as if he were a fly or something.

Laughing under his breath, Sam said, “I’ll be at the front.”

He did a quick check, noting the two exits. One was at the back of the store and the other at the front entrance. He glanced quickly around the store before he snuck out. Except for an older gentleman looking at ties, and the security guard manning the showcase of diamond cufflinks the place was empty. He figured he would only be gone ten minutes tops, and asked the guard to keep an eye on Alexandria.

Sam ducked out of the store and saw the black Honda parked half a block up the street. He made his way along the side of the building and took off in a sprint at the back of Eduardo’s building, interrupting a cat eating out of a paper bag.

He covered the length of the two buildings adjacent to the tuxedo shop, a spa, and a woman’s boutique in record time. Emerging between a high-end toy store and a café, he spotted the vehicle. The driver was on the phone with the window down. Sam sprinted toward the back of the car. When the sidewalk cleared briefly, he ducked down behind the trunk then came up on the driver side with his gun cocked, just as the man turned to face him.

“Matt?”

•  •  •

Alexandria didn’t notice Sam’s departure from the store until she lifted her head out of the catalogue. If he didn’t want to get the tuxedo, all he had to do was say so. But he did say so, she told herself.

She was about to tell Eduardo to forget about it when Sam entered the store, his face devoid of any emotions. She had seen him checking his rearview mirror while he was driving, but he hadn’t indicated that there was a problem. Perhaps there was.

“Where did you go?”

He had a bead of sweat across his forehead. He buttoned his jacket, looking around the store.

“I forgot to put money in the parking meter. What have you decided for me to wear, sweetheart,” he asked, winking at her. Her heart actually skipped a beat.

Alexandria had discovered somewhere along the way that she liked having him around, and not just as her bodyguard. Even liked it when he called her sweetheart. The sniping between them had also disappeared, leaving in its wake a subtle tension than ran through her body like an electric current when he was near her, like right now.

They hadn’t fully talked about what had happened between them but figured that at some point it would be tackled. For now, that topic was still off limits until he was ready. What had evolved between them was a sort of friendship and even respect. Respect for the man himself and what he did.

“I picked out a style,” Alexandria said, almost a bit hesitant. “If you don’t like it then you can choose something else.”

Sam nodded.

“Follow me,” Eduardo said, and led Sam to a private change room, closing the door as Sam entered. “Let me know if you need any help.”

There were two club chairs in the sitting area out side the change room. The idea behind it was for the person to come out and strut their stuff in the new outfit. That wasn’t Sam and she didn’t think he would come out. She figured he would stick his head out and tell them he hated it. Therefore she didn’t need to sit down for that.

Sam emerged ten minutes later in the two-button notch, satin lapels, single-breasted black jacket, black shirt and tie with trouser to match. Since black was his choice of color most of the time, when she saw the tuxedo she knew it would look nice on him. Nice was an understatement. The tuxedo looked better on Sam than it did on the model in the catalogue. He simply took her breath away. All she could do was stand there and stare at him speechless, mouth hung open.

“I would breathe if I were you, sugar,” Eduardo whispered in Alexandria’s ear grinning at her.

“Well?” Sam said looking at her, obviously not liking the fuss Eduardo was making.

“Um…nice,” she said as if she didn’t know any other word in the English language, and Lord knows there were plenty to describe him.

Hot.

Drop dead gorgeous.

Heart throb.

“Nice? No, sugar…it’s fantastic! That tuxedo style was made for him. Come over to the three way mirror for a better look.”

Sam glanced into the change room. She suspected he didn’t want to leave his gun lying around.

“I don’t need a three way mirror.”

“Are you interested in doing some modeling work? You can make a ton of money.”

“We’ll take it?” Sam said, looking at Alexandria for approval. She nodded.

“It’s a sample. My guess was right on the money. I’ll place the order for you,” Eduardo said when Sam disappeared into the change room. “You’ll have it for the gala.”

Sam emerged from the change room with the tuxedo folded over his arm and handed it to Eduardo.

“If you’re hungry we can grab something to eat before we head home.”

“I could eat something,” Alexandria said, finally finding her voice. “There’s a café a couple of doors down the street. They have great salads. We can walk.”

They exited the store, passing the SUV. It wasn’t parked by a meter. Whatever his reasons for leaving Eduardo’s, he wasn’t going to share it with her.

Today was the best day of the week. She couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was forecast for rain but the sun wasn’t having any of that. The sidewalk buzzed with people, mostly tourists enjoying the warm weather and the city.

Not only had Alexandria had a productive morning with the gala preparation, she had gotten Sam into a tuxedo, which she seriously hadn’t thought she had a prayer of doing. She’d discussed with Eduardo to charge the bill to her account before Sam came out of the change room. He’ll probably yell and scream at her but she didn’t care.

“You like the tuxedo, right?” Sam asked after they were seated at the café. “I mean, you wouldn’t tell me you did just to make me feel better.”

She looked at him, surprised he would ask.

“Nah, you’d tell me if you hated it,” he concluded, picking up the menu the waiter left on the table.

“The question is, do you like it?”

“I do.” Sam picked up his napkin and spread it across his lap. He turned toward the door when it opened and an older couple strolled in.

“You seem almost shocked that you do.”

“All of this is not my world,” he reminded her looking around the café.

What he saw were people dressed in designer outfits and showing off their diamonds while drinking expensive coffee in glass cups. What about the couple that just walked in wearing T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops?

The atmosphere in the Italian café was comfortable enough that you could wear just about anything and no one would care. Sam had tunnel vision when it came to money. He couldn’t see beyond it.

“It’s a tuxedo that you’ll be wearing to an event. Why are you trying to make it more than what it is?”

“It’s more than that. It’s the store, the Porsche, the condo…”

“Do you want me to apologize for having money?” She knew she sounded defensive. He had a way of making her feel guilty about being rich. It wasn’t even hers. It all belonged to her father.

“Why should you apologize for who you are? I’m the one with the problem, not you.”

Alexandria ordered the spinach and chicken salad and an ice tea. She finished the ice tea and got a refill. Picking at her salad, she watched Sam while he polished off his club sandwich and juice.

“You seem like a nice enough guy when you’re not getting on everyone’s nerve. Why aren’t you with anyone?” She figured if there were a significant other, he would have told her about it. Besides, Matt said he preferred his own company, whatever that meant.

“Haven’t had time. Finish your salad.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“What happened to ‘I could eat’?”

“Why do you hate rich people?”

He sat back in his chair. “I don’t hate rich people.”

“You just paint us all with the same brush. It amounts to the same thing.” Alexandria put the fork down across her plate, lifting her head to meet his gaze. “I don’t think that’s fair.”

He stared at her for a moment then focused on his empty plate. She didn’t think he was going to answer.

“In my former life I was a homicide detective. The woman that died, her name was Monika Beck. Her daddy was rich. A rich bastard that thought he could buy the whole world, and pretty much did. I couldn’t do a thing about it.”

“Why?”

“About four years ago I got shot, then got hooked on pain killers, in that order,” he said, twisting his mouth. “When I got back to work after I got clean, I was assigned a murder case. Everyone thought her husband killed her. I walked away from it because I was told to. It was in my best interest. Melanie killed her sister, Monika, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could to about it. You see Melanie’s daddy was in bed with my boss at the time.”

Alexandria was silent while he spoke. She sensed the anger in his voice. It seemed he still carried the guilt over what happened, but it was the bitterness she couldn’t get over.

“A few months ago Melanie resurfaced, all messed up in the head. You see, she thought she was her dead sister, Monika.”

“What do you mean she thought she was her dead sister?”

“They had some kind of plan where Monika was going to fake her death and make it look like her ex-husband killed her. Monika backed out and Melanie killed her then fell off the face of the earth. Her parents covered up the murder. Then like I said, she showed up with the facts all screwed up in her head, hell bent on revenge against Beck?”

“Beck?”

“Monika’s ex-husband. Melanie kidnapped a woman and killed her boyfriend. Melanie was a product of her rich daddy’s love. He molested her when she was a child.”

“Poor woman.”

“Poor woman? She killed two people.”

Alexandria was taken aback by the coldness in Sam’s voice. Where was his compassion?

“I know what she did was wrong, but don’t you feel a little sorry for her? There were extenuating circumstances,” Alexandria said, feeling the need to defend a woman she didn’t even know. “It seems to me you should be more compassionate and accept some responsibility.”