It's A Wonderfully Sexy Life (14 page)

The only thing that had held the day back from one hundred percent perfection was her anxiety about a possible attempt on his life. Scanning the areas for signs of trouble, by the end of the day she felt like she’d grown eyes in the back of her head. Fortunately the afternoon passed without event. Released from the pressures of holiday shopping, tourists and natives alike had flocked to the popular waterfront attraction, and Mandy maneuvered to make sure they were always in the thick of the crowd. When dusk set in, they’d braved the bluster and caught the water taxi over to Fells Point. The boat let them out on the other side of Thames Street, a short two-block walk to the restaurant where they’d sat down to an early dinner.

Even though circumstances fell far short of ideal, she was enjoying herself immensely. Josh was incredibly easy to be with, an even better dining companion than coffee date. A part of her had worried they might run out of conversation, that he might grow bored with her, but as the meal progressed, they only seemed to discover more topics to talk about. Coming from Boston, he loved seafood as much as she did, maybe more. They started out with cups of savory crab soup and then ordered a large bucket of steamed mussels with all eight sauces to share. Eating, talking, laughing over nothing and everything at once, the meal flew by. Never before had she felt anywhere close to this comfortable with a man in or out of bed.

“You’ve got to try this one. It’s amazing.” Josh pried the mussel from its opened shell, dunked it in one of the scampi dishes of sauce, and held the fork out for her to taste.

Mandy hesitated. Being on the receiving end of a lover’s tender attention was a new and wonderful experience she was still getting used to. Leaning over, she opened for him and, smiling, he slipped the fork between her lips. The tender mussel doused in Bertha’s garlic butter and capers was a sensual delight, but it paled in comparison to the thrill of him staring at her mouth as she chewed, then swallowed, licking butter from her bottom lip. Like her, was he thinking of all the ways she’d used her lips and tongue and even teeth to pleasure him? The prospect sent a telltale twinge of heat settling between her legs and she was suddenly glad they’d be making an early night of it and not just for safety’s sake.

Touching her napkin to the corners of her mouth, she asked, “Are all shellfish supposed to be an aphrodisiac or is it only oysters?”

Setting the fork aside, he shook his head. “Don’t know,” he admitted, “though the last thing I need around you is an aphrodisiac. As it is, I may just have to resort to pouring that glass of ice water on my lap so I can get up from here without the waitress calling the police.”

She smiled at that. “I am the police.”

“That’s right, you are, although you certainly don’t look like any cop I’ve ever known.” He reached across the table to take her hand.

“I don’t?”

“No, you don’t. For one thing, there’s your skin.”

“What about my skin?” She pulled back, resisting the urge to run to the lady’s room and check her reflection for a zit or fever blister blooming.

Lifting his hand, he stroked a finger down the side of her face. “It’s beautiful, porcelain perfect and silken soft. It’s like you have this glow about you. I noticed it the first time I saw you.”

She smiled into his eyes, a deep azure blue that made her think of foreign seas and exotic lands. He was so beautiful he could have passed for a male model, a movie star or a television news anchor…anything at all. What he saw in her, a working-class girl from East Baltimore, a street cop, she couldn’t begin to say but whatever happened from here on she’d forever thank her lucky stars—make that her magical new moon—for the gift of this time together.

“Thanks. It’s one of the benefits of being fat—the wrinkles stretch out like that lingerie you gave me.”

His smile disappeared. “Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?”

He tossed her an exasperated look. “Turn a compliment into a put-down.”

“I was just making a joke.” She hesitated, and then admitted, “When you’re as fat, as
heavy
as I am, you don’t get all that many compliments.”

“Ever think that maybe your weight doesn’t have a damned thing to do with it? That if you’re not getting compliments, maybe it’s because of the way you react to hearing nice things about yourself?”

“That’s not true, I—”

“Compliments make you uncomfortable, don’t they?”

“A little…Okay, a lot.”

He reached across the table and clasped her hand in his. Massaging her palm with his thumb, he said, “Then we’ll just have to work on that, won’t we?”

They were interrupted by the waitress returning to clear away their plates and bowl of shucked shells. Tucking a strand of pumpkin-orange hair behind one triple-pierced ear, she looked at Mandy and asked, “Would you like to hear about our dessert items?” Her smug “thin girl” smile said that bumping up their check total with at least one sweet treat was a given.

Ordinarily Mandy would have heard the chocolate chip pie or the pecan-butter tart calling her name, but the final water taxi was due in at six o’clock, and Josh’s car was parked all the way back at the Inner Harbor’s Pier Six parking lot. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was ten minutes to the hour. The very last thing she wanted was to put him in the vulnerable position of having to hang out on the street to flag down a cab.

She looked up at the waitress, nose stud twinkling in the dimmed light, and said, “No thanks, I’ll pass.”

Praying Josh wouldn’t order anything, she released a breath of relief when he pulled his hand out of hers and reached for his wallet. “Just the check, then, thanks.”

Once it arrived, her pleas for him to let her pay half at least were met with “your money’s no good here” and a reminder that when it came to dating, he was unabashedly old school. “I asked you out, not the other way around,” he said, refusing to even let her look at the bill.

Mindful of the time ticking away, she surrendered with a “Thank you” and a grateful smile. He helped her into her coat and, bundled against the cold, they stepped out onto the sidewalk. Standing beneath the green canopy, she scanned the near empty street, anxiety returning. The area above Broadway Market wasn’t exactly deserted, but pedestrian traffic was a lot lighter than usual. Ordinarily the popular waterfront spot was hopping seven days a week, the sounds of live music and laughter spilling out from the bars lining both sides of Broadway and Thames Streets, the sidewalks packed with a potpourri of people ranging from suburbanites to panhandlers bold enough to venture beyond the marketplace boundary. But the week between Christmas and New Year’s was notoriously slow, regular patrons worn out from the holiday party circuit or saving themselves for New Year’s Eve.

Hooking her arm through Josh’s, she said, “We’d better hurry if we’re going to make that last water taxi, otherwise we’ll have to catch a cab back to the car, and I don’t see any.”

Fortunately there was a small hub of people waiting at the landing point when they walked up. Under the guise of keeping as warm as was possible, Mandy suggested they move closer and join the group, which consisted of an elderly couple, their fortysomething daughter and a teenaged granddaughter.

Huddled together, it was easy enough to strike up a conversation. It turned out the elderly couple had flown in from Boston to visit their divorced daughter and granddaughter for the Christmas holiday.

The gentleman, a distinguished Sean Connery look-alike with a plaid cap and a dapper air, looked to Josh and said, “You sound like a native Bostonian yourself.”

Glancing sideways at Josh, Mandy took note of his subtle withdrawal. He paused before answering. “Yes, I am.”

“May I ask what part?”

Again there was that hint of hesitation that Mandy had noted when they’d first met, only now she understood the reason for his reticence. “Oh, look, here comes the boat,” she interjected, saving him from having to answer.

The pontoon docked, and Mandy and Josh held back for the family to board. They moved to take seats inside the enclosed blue awning, and Mandy surmised that joining them would mean continuing their friendly conversation, including more about Boston.

Turning to Josh, she said, “If you don’t mind the cold, let’s stand outside. The view coming into harbor will be better from the stern.”

“No, I don’t mind,” he said all too readily and gestured for her to board first. Joining her at the rail, he opened his arms, motioning for her to step into them. “Come here, you, before you freeze to death.”

Given their circumstances, Mandy didn’t much care for his choice of words but otherwise it was a perfect moment. The boat pulled out, and leaning back against his solid warmth with her head tucked beneath his chin, she realized she felt happy or as close to it as she’d ever been.

Tipping her head back to look up at him, she made a silent pact with herself to savor the moment rather than spoil it by wishing it might be more. “By the way, thanks for being such a great date.”

Mouth curving into a smile, he pressed a kiss to her forehead, a sweetly chaste tenderness that set her heart aflutter. “Thank you for going out with me. I had a great time, too, and the best part is I get to take you home with me.”

Home. In just a few short days, she’d come to think of Josh’s apartment as her home, too, which wasn’t something she’d signed up for or expected. Try as she might, she’d yet to sort out the nature of the electrically charged connection between them—a fling, a framework for an actual relationship, or something in between? But that was a dilemma best left to puzzle out another day. For now, the immediate issue was keeping him alive.

“Hmm, that is the best part, isn’t it?”

She snuggled closer, soaking up his warmth and sexy, shower-fresh scent. His skin always smelled like the beach to her, wholesome and fresh with just a hint of tang. The lights from the Inner Harbor were a distant twinkle and, barring the temperature, she could almost imagine they were in some exotic, romantic locale, freed from any danger and blissfully alone. But then again, as her mother was always pointing out, you had to take the good with the bad. If it weren’t for the danger, Josh wouldn’t have come to Baltimore in the first place. He wouldn’t be with her now.

“I think so.” He leaned in to nuzzle her neck.

A boom rang out. For a split second, you could almost believe it was an engine backfiring but then the bullet whizzed just above their heads, so close the movement stirred the hair at their crowns.

Swiveling around to the dock, Mandy spotted a red motorboat barreling toward them at full throttle.
Oh, shit
. She threw herself at Josh and screamed, “Everybody, hit the deck!”

She came down on top of him hard, popped open her purse, and pulled out her pistol and cell. She punched 911 into the cell, and then lifted her head to shout, “I’m a city police officer. Keep your heads down.”

The 911 operator answered on the second ring just as Josh came up beside her, shifting position so that his body shielded hers. She tried pushing him back down, but he wouldn’t budge. “Not a chance,” he said, and reached up to cover a protective hand over her head.

Interrupting the operator’s preamble, Mandy shouted into the phone receiver, “This is Officer Mandy Delinski, Baltimore City Police, and we have two men in a red motorboat firing into the Harbor Taxi. We’re just a few yards from the Fells Point dock. Hurry.”

“Officer, can you describe the assailants?”

Mandy managed to get out “ski masks and dark windbreakers” when they took the hit. Fast and hard, the motorboat rammed them in the rear, the impact setting the bones in her skull rattling and knocking the phone from her hand. She grabbed it back, but the call had gone dead.
Damn.
Another hit, and the pontoon upended, water rushing in, filling Mandy’s nose and mouth. Lungs burning and sides splitting, she held her breath and struggled to swim out into the clear. Gasping, she surfaced amidst screaming passengers and the shrieking of the boat’s SOS siren. Frantic, she grabbed hold of a piece of rail and searched the darkness for sign of Josh.

“Josh, Josh, where are you? Answer me. Oh, God, Josh…”

But he was nowhere to be seen in the inky water.