HisMarriageBargain (11 page)

A hand dug into her hair, signaling Sammi’s climb to
wakefulness. She ignored it and continued stroking him. He gripped harder,
pulling at her roots as she bobbed up and down.

“Holy shit,” Sammi muttered. His legs shifted under her and
he lifted his hips, moving with her for a moment.

She glanced up at him and almost laughed. Sammi was staring
at her with an expression akin to wonder. And what man wouldn’t be in awe of a
woman giving him a blowjob?

“Autumn, fuck, I’m going to—”

She sat up and wrapped the sheet around his cock as he came.

Sammi’s back bowed and he thrust his pelvis up. He stared at
the ceiling and his cock twitched in her hand. He froze for several moments,
gasping for breath and slowly relaxing, turning into a boneless creature.

“Good morning,” she said.

“I’d say so.”

Autumn let him rest while she gathered the soiled sheet and
tossed it in the corner. There wasn’t even a hamper. So many things to get from
her apartment. Just the thought of it made her want to dive back in bed.

She picked up the tray, circled the bed and laid it next to
Sammi, who was looking a little more awake.

“You made breakfast too?” He pulled the pillows up and
resituated his clothing. “Blowjobs and omelets. Today’s going to be a good
day.”

“Hope so.” She grinned.

They sat with their backs to the headboard, food balanced on
their thighs and they ate while Sammi flipped channels on the flat screen hung
on the opposite wall. He paused longer on news shows and anything to do with
politics.

“What’s going on today?” Autumn finally asked.

“I thought we could move stuff into the house from our
places. I’m not going into the office until Wednesday, but I’ll need to swing
by and at least see my mother today.”

Autumn tensed, waiting for something, but she didn’t know
what.

“It’s…probably not a good idea for you to meet her yet. When
do you have to go back?”

“Wednesday.” She didn’t miss how he glossed over the issue
of his mother, but she wasn’t anxious to meet the woman any time soon. Her
track record with parents wasn’t the best, so she wasn’t expecting a warm
reception.

“Awesome.”

Sammi’s cell phone rang from where it sat on the nightstand.
He glanced at the screen and grimaced.

“Hello?” He perched the phone on his shoulder and continued
cutting the omelet. The frown lines around his mouth deepened as the call drew
on. He finally said, “I’ll be around in a bit,” and hung up.

Autumn’s heart sank. “Something wrong?”

“Yeah, guess I’m going into the office today. Can you manage
without me for a bit?”

“I’m a big girl.” She put on a smile though she didn’t feel it.

Without the excuse of being with him, there was no reason
she shouldn’t go into the shop. The very idea gave her heartburn.

* * * * *

Autumn groaned when she saw the line of familiar cars parked
behind the So Inked shop this early on a Monday morning.

Kellie’s Cube, Mary’s DeVille and Pandora’s Honda.

Autumn parked her Buick in the space designated for her in
the alley and stared at the back wall of the building. If the three tattoo
artists were there, then Carly probably was as well. Usually she got a ride,
though she was supposed to get a car outfitted without pedals.

Carly had regained feeling in her pelvis, upper thighs and
left foot first. Originally she’d had no function of her legs. They just lay
there. But with steady work over the last year she could move her toes on her
left foot and a little at her right knee. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to
hope that someday she’d be able to stand, walk a little like Brian, Pandora’s
boyfriend, had.

It was time for Autumn to face the music, and the full choir
was there.

Autumn rolled her wedding set around on her finger. Maybe
they’d forgive her once they knew the reason. She hoped. Actually, she was
betting on that with everything she had.

She gathered her steaming cup of coffee and bag before
getting out of the car and locking it. If she could smile through this it
wouldn’t be that bad, right? With her trademark grin in place, Autumn pushed
through the back door.

“Hey, bitches,” she yelled and strode up the hall, past the
empty office, piercing room, storage closet and bathroom into the shop proper.

The four women were standing around the new front desk that
had been installed a month ago. Initially they’d had a tall bar-height desk,
but with Carly taking over as their shop manager since Mary’s son gave up the
job, it wasn’t functional. Now it was table height and built to make Carly as
efficient as possible. It was like a mini command center.

Autumn glanced between the four faces with almost identical
expressions of apathy and disinterest, except for Pandora, who smiled and
glowed. Autumn would have to check the calendar. They’d all taken bets on how
soon Brian would knock Pandora up, and that was the look of a woman with news.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Kellie was the first to
speak. She turned to face Autumn fully, a hand on her cocked hip.

Mary merely hummed at her, which was more concerning. Kellie
and Mary were technically her bosses and though Kellie was the vocal one, it
was Mary you had to watch out for.

“Damn, girl, you got some sun. Look at that tan!” Carly
pivoted her chair and leaned forward, a shock of white hair falling forward
over her face. She grinned, genuinely happy to see Autumn, which was a relief.
Over the last year they’d gotten close.

“Yeah, sunscreen is bullshit. Applied it every other hour
and I’m still pink.” Autumn paused by her work station and dropped her bag off
before approaching the choir.

“Really, where the hell have you been?” Kellie demanded with
more heat in her voice. She was really pissed. “I had to ask Pandora to come
back early because of your flaky ass. This isn’t acceptable, Autumn. Do you
know how slammed we’ve been? That’s so uncool to just leave us like that.”

“I’m sorry, really. It wasn’t planned or anything.” She set
her coffee cup on the table and wiped her palms on her hips.

“I’d love to hear why you couldn’t be bothered to answer
your fucking phone or come into work. I’m all ears.” Kellie’s gaze dared her to
give her a good enough reason, because there was no doubt she’d gone to bat
with Mary again for Autumn, like she did every time.

Guilt ate at Autumn. She hated this moment, when she had to
account for her spontaneity and poor decision-making. Someday she’d get this
whole adult thing down. Someday she’d learn how to think about the future.

“Okay, well, there wasn’t any cell reception, so I couldn’t
call you,” she began to explain.

Mary snorted and rolled her eyes.

What did she do? How was she supposed to answer all the
questions?

There was only one way.

Autumn held up her left hand.

“I got married.”

“What?” Carly shrieked.

Pandora gasped. “To who?”

“Are you serious?” Kellie grabbed her hand and eyed the
ring, eyes large with surprise.

“Where did you go?” Carly asked, her smile larger as she
practically bounced in her seat.

“We went to St. Maarten, so there really wasn’t any cell
reception,” Autumn added hurriedly.

“And there aren’t any land lines in St. Maarten?” Mary
glanced at the ring and rolled her eyes again, unimpressed.

Autumn smiled harder, though she just wanted to cry. She’d
known this would be the hardest part for her. Bailing wasn’t okay, as they’d
discussed many times in the past, but she’d really screwed up by jumping ship.

“Who is he?” Kellie’s mouth screwed up on one side in a
skeptical expression.

Oh, this was going to be explosive.

Autumn held her hand out and stared at the ring. She focused
on the way Sammi had looked at her at the wedding, how he’d kissed her, the
time he’d chased her into the ocean and all the quiet moments they’d shared.
She’d done it for him, and gotten more than she could have imagined in return.
Her heart warmed at the thought of him and damn them all, she would enjoy the
rush he made her feel.

“Sammi.”

“You have got to be shitting me.” Kellie gaped at her.

“Our landlord?” Mary’s eyes were about to bug out of her
head.

“Damn, Sammi? He’s hot.” Carly ducked her head, but she was
grinning. Little fazed her these days.

Tense silence descended as Kellie and Mary no doubt thought
through the consequences of her actions, seeing only the problems with what
she’d done. But the truth was she’d do it all over again.

“Congratulations, Autumn.” Pandora came around the desk and
gave her a hug, squeezing her especially tight.

Autumn wrapped her arms around the other woman’s waist. Of
course Pandora would forgive her. She’d become such a graceful, mature woman
over the last two years since Brian had entered her life. And now Autumn had
screwed up Pandora’s weekend away. While it hadn’t been intentional, the
memorial service for Brian’s band had also served them during the pretrial hearings
for Robert, which would have given Pandora a much-needed distraction. And
Autumn had landed her back here. Great.

“I’m sorry you had to cut your trip short,” she said quietly
to Pandora.

Pandora stepped back and shrugged. “It’s okay, but since
we’re sharing big news today…” She pivoted to face the whole group. “I’m kind
of glad you’re back, because I’d hate to not tell you all at once—we got
engaged.” Pandora slipped a ring from her pocket and slid it on her left hand.

“No way!” Autumn gaped at her friend, echoing the
exclamations of the other three.

“Yes, and it’s all on fucking video.” Pandora tossed her
head back and laughed.

As one, they swarmed Pandora, hugging her and peering over
her shoulder to glimpse the ruby embedded in the ring, surrounded by tiny
diamonds in an antique setting. It wasn’t the traditional diamonds Autumn had,
but it was Pandora, and Brian had chosen well.

“When do we get to see the video?” Autumn squeezed Pandora’s
shoulders from behind and wished she could have been there. Few people deserved
happiness as much as Pandora and Brian.

“Right now. I brought it with me.”

“Pop that in,” Kellie said. “Go, go, go.”

Pandora scampered over to her station to dig out a DVD while
Mary and Carly followed her, asking more questions.

Kellie turned to Autumn, her face suddenly serious. “We
haven’t finished discussing your absenteeism yet. Later, when we don’t steal
Pandora’s thunder.”

“You knew?” Autumn whispered.

Kellie didn’t reply, but she didn’t need to. Chances were
Brian had planned it all just for Pandora, and it made something painful twist
in Autumn’s chest. That was real love, a real relationship progressing toward
marriage, unlike her farce that was just pretending. It left a bitter taste in
Autumn’s mouth, one that burned going down.

Painterly—These tattoos mimic the appearance of brush
strokes and oil paint on the skin.

Tamara stared over the top of her teacup at her wayward son.
“Explain yourself.”

Samuel shifted in the wicker chair, too small for his big
build. Who would have ever guessed that her small, sickly child would grow to
be a man? Certainly not her. His siblings had never lived beyond infants.
Something about him was too ornery to die, it seemed.

“I took an impromptu vacation down to the islands. I realized
I haven’t been away from work in a long time—”

“Your father never took a vacation.” She set her cup down
harder than intended.

Samuel paused. “You’re right, he didn’t. I thought it was
time I did.”

“And you never thought to tell me?”

“It was really a spur-of-the-moment decision, Mother. I
didn’t think about it.” He propped his elbows up on the armrests and clasped
his hands together.

“Drink your tea, Son.”

He wrinkled his nose. Such a disobedient child. He never
drank his tea, and seemed to find joy in doing exactly as she said not to.

Samuel lifted the cup, so small in comparison to his palm,
and slurped the contents down in one gulp. It was mannerless and crass, but at
least he listened to her.

“To think of all the diseases they have on the islands.” She
shook her head. “You’d better see a doctor to make sure you don’t come down
with something.”

“I’m fine, Mom. I haven’t felt this good and relaxed in a
long while.” He placed his cup back on the table, mouth still twisted in
distaste.

Did he now? She doubted it. Tamara knew a sick man when she
saw one, and her son was coming down with something.

* * * * *

“How was today at the shop? I haven’t even asked you yet,
you’ve just been listening to me bitch about renters.” Sammi turned out of their
neighborhood and onto the main road headed toward the highway. He glanced at
Autumn sitting in the passenger seat, her shoulders slumped and her smile
nowhere to be seen.

“Okay.” She shrugged.

Sammi frowned and mentally went through the last two days.
He’d been so busy putting out fires Monday after their return he’d gone home
and fallen in bed. Today he’d left the office early to clean out his clothes
and some sentimental items from the condo. He wasn’t sure what he’d do with the
property, but for now he’d let it sit. It hadn’t taken long to gather his
things, and he’d even had time to swing by his mother’s and beg forgiveness.
He’d have to put in more time with her tomorrow and figure out how to break the
news, but she wasn’t too angry with him. Yet.

Now that he thought about it, Autumn hadn’t been herself
last night either.

“What’s going on, Sunshine?” he asked.

“Everyone’s really pissed at me for leaving without telling
them, which I get. Sort of.”

“That’s what you call eloping.” Sammi shrugged. He understood
from an employer’s position, but there were some things you forgave. Eloping
fell under that umbrella for him, but he was biased.

“Yeah, but what I didn’t know was that Kellie and Brian
organized it so that Pandora would be out of town during the pretrial stuff,
and because I flaked out on the shop, Pandora had to come back early.”

“But you said that was last week?”

“It was.” She groaned and rested her head in her hand. “They
wanted her to be kept as far from it as possible. And to make it even worse,
Brian proposed over the weekend and they had to cut the trip short because they
were so slammed at the shop.”

“That sucks.” Sammi merged onto the highway. He refused to
feel guilty for taking Autumn away and having a great trip. He wouldn’t have
changed it given the opportunity.

“Yeah. I’m getting the cold shoulder from Mary and Kellie,
but Pandora and Carly are both excited. They want me to bring in the pictures
when the photographer sends them to us.” Autumn sighed and propped her foot up
on the door. Today she wore super short denim shorts and a tank top that looked
as if it must have been draped by an expert tailor by the way it hugged her
breasts and showed off her cleavage.

“Should have them next week. Think they’ll get over it?” It
had been a long time since he worked for anyone, even his father. The last five
years, he’d managed his own properties and just worked in the same office as
his father.

“Probably, it just sucks being in this position. I feel
guilty for stealing Pandora’s thunder, you know?”

He frowned. “But we got married. They just got engaged.”

Autumn rolled her eyes. “You don’t get it. You’re a dude.”

“I am. Glad you noticed.”

Her laughter was a balm to his soul. The last two days had
been rough, avoiding answering questions about where he’d been and dealing with
several properties that needed unexpected substantial repairs. He needed
Autumn’s carefree attitude.

“I’ve never been to your place. You said it was near the
shop, right?” he asked.

Autumn sat up straighter in her seat. “Yeah, why?”

“I thought we’d swing by there and get some of your stuff.
Also, Isaac and his wife Ester wanted to go out to eat tonight.” He slid the
last in there and glanced at her to gauge her reaction to that.

Her posture was tense, gripping the armrest so tightly her
knuckles were white. “I’ll go by the apartment some other time. It’s totally
out of the way and I need to wash my hair if we’re going out with them.”

“I invited them over. Figured that would be better than
going out.” And it wouldn’t make Autumn feel as awkward to eat where they were
comfortable as opposed to a nice restaurant.

“Then we should be at the house. I left all the dishes in
the sink and I totally need to pick up my stuff and toss it in the wash.” She
spoke in such a rush Sammi almost needed a rewind and playback to take it all
in.

“Slow down, Sunshine.” He reached across and squeezed her
knee. “We’ll just pop in and take whatever you think you need to get.”

Autumn turned toward him, her eyes large and the lines
around her mouth deep. “Sammi, we really don’t have time to do this.”

“What’s the big deal? Tell me where I’m going.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t want you to see my
place. It’s not in the nicest building and it’s kind of a rundown dump.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

How bad could it be?

Autumn slumped in her seat and rattled off the address. They
drove the next fifteen minutes in silence, listening to the radio except for
the five minutes he spent on the phone with his office. His GPS directed him
off the highway and into an area where all the houses either had bars on the
windows or were boarded up. His Escalade stuck out like a sore thumb among the rust
buckets rattling alongside him.

Sammi did a rolling stop at a stop sign simply because of
the group of men standing on the corner. He eyed the map, a little unsettled
that they were less than a quarter mile from her apartment. She hadn’t moved
from her slouched position staring out the passenger-side window.

“Don’t follow that route. Take a right here and a left into
the alley,” Autumn said finally.

He followed her directions, managing to squeeze the SUV into
the alley and turn into a small lot located at the back of a building. The rain
gutters were hanging on by a screw in one place and garbage had built up in one
corner of the lot.

“This it?” he asked, hoping she said no.

“Yup.”

Sammi had known Autumn didn’t earn in his bracket, but he’d
expected something nicer, something that spoke of her zest for life. The only
thing this building spoke was
Wash me
.

Autumn jumped out of the SUV and strode purposefully toward
a set of rickety stairs. He locked the car and followed in her wake. The
staircase let out onto a breezeway with two doors on either side. The first
door on the right was ajar, so he stuck his head in.

“Autumn?”

“Back here.”

Sammi pulled his sunglasses off and stepped into the
apartment. The carpet was shabby, the walls hadn’t seen a fresh coat of paint
in years but the rest of it wasn’t as bad. Sure, the furniture was secondhand,
the back of the blue couch dipped and the floral-print armchair had a rip in
the arm. The coffee table was built out of cinderblocks and a piece of wood
that had been decoupaged with tattoo flash art.

It was the details that spoke of Autumn.

Sketches were pinned to one wall, shattered glass had been
painted and hung on another to create a 3D piece of art. A few of the pillows
looked to be handmade creations.

And in the middle of it all stood a pole, probably a load-bearing
point, but it stuck out as suspect in the space.

He sniffed and caught the scent of fast food gone stale, old
cigarettes and something musty.

Part of him was glad he was taking her away from all this.
After working with Kellie last year, he knew how much rent cost the shop and a
rough estimation of what they brought in. From that he’d just assumed that her
income would grant her a better lifestyle. She’d get that from him.

Feet thumping on the floor back and forth drew him to the
only other door besides the tiny galley kitchen he didn’t even want to look at.
He doubted the cooking facilities would pass muster.

Sammi leaned his shoulder against the doorframe and
chuckled. Autumn had a box open and was bent over it, tossing things in.

“Do you not have a suitcase or anything?” he asked.

Autumn straightened abruptly, her hair flying back, and
glanced at him over her shoulder. “Yeah, it’s at your place. You didn’t tell me
I’d need it.”

Shit.

What kind of fucktard was he? He had just assumed everyone
had a few suitcases lying around.

“Okay, what can I do to help?” He stepped into the room and
glanced around. Clothing, jewelry, shoes, makeup and beauty products were piled
onto every surface. He had no idea what was necessary and what she just owned.

“I don’t know,” she snapped.

“Hey, I’m sorry.”

She shoved her hands through her hair and squeezed her eyes
shut.

“What would you prefer I did? Leave you alone and wait in
the living room?” He was ready to admit that coming here tonight had been a
mistake.

“I don’t know. I didn’t want you to ever see this place.
It’s a fucking wreck and everything looks like shit. I just wish you would have
asked me or warned me we were doing this because, I don’t know, I’d have
thought about what to bring. Now I’m just tossing everything I can into a box
to take back and sort through.” She sat back on the bed and bounced as the
springs squeaked. “It doesn’t usually look this bad. When I packed I tore
everything up.”

Considering how much she’d brought with them, he could see
that. Sammi waded through the discarded clothing and shoes to sit on the
mattress next to her.

“It’s cool. There’s plenty of time. Isaac and Ester aren’t
coming over for a few hours. We can spend a while here.” Or should they leave?
He didn’t know.

Autumn tilted toward him and rested her head against his
shoulder. “I don’t want you to think I’m poor.”

He opened his mouth but couldn’t think of a reply. What did
he say to that? He hadn’t thought of her as poor, but the apartment screamed
poverty.

“I’ve been giving most of my paychecks to my mom. She’s in a
drug rehab facility getting treatments that cost a pretty penny, so I moved
here about a year ago to pay for that.”

Sammi wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed the
top of her head. Now he really didn’t know how to reply. His respect for her
went up a few notches.

“I don’t think you’re poor. Considering everything you’re
doing, I’m in awe of you.” He gently stroked her arm up and down. “Mom will
tell me stories of counting pennies to buy bread and lunch meat. Sometimes she
would go without so Dad could take a meal with him to work. He caught on to
her, so she’d stuff the bread bag with stuff to make it look full and fill the
milk carton with water. I’ve never had to go without before, so I can’t imagine
what it must have been like for them. Or you. It makes me, I don’t know,
grateful I can give you something better.”

“I don’t want to be a charity case,” she mumbled.

Sammie hugged her to his side. “You aren’t. You’re my wife,
not charity.”

Autumn stood and glanced around, looking at everything
except him. “I don’t even know what to take with us.”

“Why don’t you show stuff you want to take with us to me and
I can advise you?”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

Sammi shifted a little. One of the springs was digging into
his ass. How did she sleep on this thing? He really was glad he was taking her
away from all of this. She deserved better.

Autumn knelt and pulled everything out of the box, forming
piles around her. She lifted a pair of sparkling gold heels. “I wear these a
lot.”

She sorted through a few other items, discarding or stating
their purpose.

“Hey, wait. Why are you bringing that with us?” He lunged
forward to catch the scrap of satin and lace.

“I think it’s pretty obvious. It’s a garter belt.” Autumn snatched
it from his hand and tossed it in the box.

“You should show me how it works. I don’t know if I know the
mechanics.” He grinned at her when she glared.

Autumn dug through another pile, snatching up what appeared
to be panties, or something else as flimsy and insubstantial as the scraps she
wore. Her gaze landed back on him and she stood, daring him with her eyes to
speak.

Sammi grinned and watched, waiting to see what she did.

She tabbed her shorts open and shoved them to the ground,
leaving her in a bright-orange thong. One of the bits of fabric she’d dug up
unrolled from her hand into a stocking. She shook it out, gathered it in her
fingers and stepped into the nylon. He watched as she drew the stocking slowly
up to her thigh, then did the other. Autumn had great legs, well muscled and
long.