Rescuing Regina (5 page)

I shifted from foot to foot, thinking.

He stilled me. “Just relax, and trust me. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“This is all very strange,” I blurted.

“Unorthodox. But it’s the way things are going to be, unless you want the law involved.”

“I don’t want the law involved,” I said absently. My hand went to rub my bottom and he caught it, and gave me a chastising look.

“Okay. I don’t have a job any more, so what am I going to be doing all day? Will I be able to see my mom?”

“You will have set times to see your mom. I’m not going to keep you from her, obviously, but I think you need some time away from her, and you won’t allow yourself to take it. So, I’m ordering you to do it. You’ll have no choice.” His fingers curled around my hip. “Same with keeping to a healthy sleeping and eating schedule.”

“Okay. What else?”

“Counseling for starters. There’s a group that meets Mondays in the church.”

“I know you don’t believe me, but I don’t drink or smoke pot on a regular basis.” I tensed. “I don’t need counseling.”

“It’s not for addiction. It’s for caregivers.”

I pulled my hand out of his. “Cole—”

“This is non-negotiable.” His words may as well have been carved in stone. “You’ll also spend a set amount of time volunteering. A way of paying your debt to society. I’ll put some thought to where.”

“The police station?”

“Not there, or any place I have jurisdiction over. You’ll be spending a lot of time over here, and people will assume favoritism.”

“They’d be right. What am I going to do here?”

“Whatever I want.” His other hand grasped my hip. My pussy started throbbing.

“What do you want?” I whispered.

“A maid for one. And three square meals a day. You can cook, right?”

My mouth dropped open.

“If not, I can get some cookbooks from the library. If you mess up, I’ll spank you. That should be good incentive.” A smile played around his mouth, I knew he was joking. About the spanking at least.

“I can cook.” I brushed his hands away. “You sexist pig, if you think—”

He turned me to the table and delivered three quick swats to my ass. I yelped. He turned me back to face him and continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

“I’m glad you can cook. I expect at least a sandwich for lunch and something hot for dinner. You may end up putting one or two of my meals in the fridge. I work long hours. You’ll be making food for yourself, too.”

“This is unbelievable. You expect me to cook for you—”

“And clean. I assume you know how to do that. If not, you’ll have to learn quick.”

“This isn’t punishment…this is slavery!”

“A little bit. I could get used to having you as my slave, naughty one.” He pinched my bottom.

I slapped his hand. “What the hell, Cole!”

“Language. I think we’ll add a rule: no swearing, or I’ll soap your mouth.”

I opened my mouth to scream and thought about it. Cole was offering me a way out. Not just of my crimes, but of my shitty life. I’d dropped out of college to take care of my mom, and spent the last two years working as much as I could and still stressing about money. The state provided some funds for my mom’s home nurse, but there was still a hefty deductible. The reason I’d stolen was I was swimming in bills, with no way out. It’d be nice to unplug and not think about my problems for a while.

Still. “I can’t believe this. It’s…just…insane.”

“No, what’s insane is that a young woman with her whole future ahead of her allows herself to get run down and broke caring for her mother, and so starts stealing from her longtime employer and talking to a druggie with a thought to sell. I’ve watched you grow up and I won’t let you throw your life away. You’re too important.”

Again, he mentioned me being special to…someone. Him?

“I didn’t know what else to do. Home care is expensive.”

“What about a full time facility? The state will cover the cost—”

“No.” I raised my voice. “I’m not putting her in a facility.” There were tears in my eyes. “All we can afford is the state one. I visited. There was no air conditioning, and the residents looked like they wanted to die. Some of them already seemed dead. There were flies on them, and no one cared enough to swat them off.” I scrubbed my aching eyes with a hand, fighting back tears. “I’m not doing it.” My voice sounded broken, even to me.

“All right.” Cole’s hands returned to my hips, giving me a squeeze.

“I won’t abandon her. Dad already did. That’s not who I am.”

“You’re right. It’s not who you are. You’d rather steal than lose your pride. I don’t approve of it, but I understand. And so does Mr. Roberts.”

“What?”

“He says you can keep the money.”

“I can never see him again,” I whispered. “I wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye.”

He squeezed my hips again. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll help you fix it. I promise.”

“How?”

“We’ll get to that,” he said, and rose. “I am going to help you.”

***

I spent the rest of the day trying to wrap my head around the deal I’d made with Cole. After breakfast, he gave me back my now clean clothes, and we hopped in his truck and headed to my mom’s house.

My mom sat at the table, eating cheerios like a toddler. She didn’t respond to me at all.

Matthew, the day nurse, was charming, however.

My mother’s trailer was worn, but I kept it clean at least. Cole’s eyes darted around the space, missing nothing. My face grew hot when I compared my home to the stately brick house Cole had grown up in. His parents lived in a neighborhood that was the Who’s Who of Licking Hole-doctors, lawyers, businessmen. Mine had a break-in or domestic disturbance every other night.

Cole caught my arm as I went to my bedroom to change. “Pack a bag,” he said. “Enough for a few nights.”

That was easy. I didn’t have many clothes. I stopped in the bathroom and changed into a short skirt and a shirt fitted to my breasts. I even swiped on some mascara and stared at myself in the mirror.

“Slut,” I mouthed to the image.

Who was I fooling? I couldn’t pretend I didn’t want him. I pressed my hands to my cheeks as if I could wipe the blush away.

My short skirt and cleavage told me I knew exactly what I was doing. After all these years, I had my escape plan. It may only be temporary, and it was a little weird, but Cole had finally come to my rescue. I’d spent every waking minute of my childhood trying to get away from this place, and now I had a way out.

Drawing confidence around me like a cloak, I flounced out. Cole took in my outfit with a sweep of his eyes. He didn’t say anything, but I noticed his lips pressed together a moment before he spoke.

“Ready to go?”

“Yes.” I kissed my mom’s cheek and hit the door, muttering, “Get me out of here.”

***

On the car ride home, I searched Cole’s face for any sign of what he was thinking. He had to be disgusted by my family home. He’d always looked out for me, but he’d made it clear we didn’t belong together.

Once, a group of boys decided to pick on me at the local swimming hole. I was twelve, my breasts had come in early, and I was starting to attract all sorts of attention. Cole used to lifeguard at the beach, but it was just a coincidence he was there that day when my tormentors surrounded me. With a word and look, Cole sent the boys packing, and I had my hero back again.

I stepped close to hug him, but he stiffened and moved away.

“You need to be careful, Regina,” he said.

I glowered. I hadn’t asked for the stupid breasts. “Whatever, Cole,” I said. He was eighteen, a new recruit in the police academy. Girls had mourned when he shaved off his blond hair, but I loved the short, pale buzz. I wanted to run my hands over it, see if it was as soft as it looked.

To test him, I took a step forward, and he retreated, looking away as if my presence pained him.

He was still the good, golden boy, and I was a little dark-eyed girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

“I hate you anyway. You’re just as bad as the rest of them.”

That was the last time Cole stuck up for me. I wondered what had changed.

I slumped in my seat as Cole’s truck idled at a stoplight. God forbid someone on the sidewalk see us together.

“This is never going to work,” I muttered to the truck window.

“What’s that, Regina?”

“I said, what about work?”

“What about it?”

“Well, I need money, you know, to pay bills.”

“I’ll handle it.”

“Cole.” I braced my hands on the dash and stared him down until he transferred his eyes from the traffic light to me.

“I said I’ll handle it. I think you need a break. I’ll make sure you’re covered until the end of the month, and then we’ll reassess.”

My forehead crinkled. This was serious. I could handle spankings and crazy sexual tension, but don’t mess with my money. “How long is this going to last?”

“As long as it takes,” he said, a muscle jumping in his cheek.

I thumped the dash. “That’s not an answer.”

“As long as we want,” he said, hoarsely, and we weren’t just talking about the deal.

“Is this a good idea?” I asked quietly. We still were dancing around where this arrangement was headed, and I was fine with that. I liked to dance. But I wasn’t willing to risk fucking up real things, like rent and bills, for a fling with my long time crush.

He glared ahead at the road. “How do you mean?”

“You’re risking a lot for me.”

He didn’t answer.

I cast about for another reason. “Do you really want people to see me with you?”

“Why would I care about that?”

Was he serious? One look at me, and his WASP parents would freak. Men like Cole did not date Reginas. They dated women like Lucy Litt, and had pretty blond babies who went to Sunday School.

Who was I kidding? Cole and I weren’t dating. This was a blackmail situation, even if it did involve sex. He wouldn’t be taking me home to his parents.

I sighed. “Never mind. So you’ll handle the bills. I’ll stay at your house and cook and clean. Play house like your little wifey.” I glanced over to see if he liked the sound of that.

“Good,” he said neutrally as we pulled back into his driveway. “It’ll keep you out of trouble.”

***

At the house, Cole made me sit down and tell him all my bills. There was a lot more red than black on some of them.

I tallied what I owed Mr. Roberts on a separate sheet.

Cole looked it over while I tried to hide my tears.

He noticed them anyway. “You didn’t want to steal from him.”

“I had to. They were going to take mom out of the program, if I didn’t pay the minimum deductible.”

“It never occurred to you to ask for help?”

“There was no one to ask.”

“Mr. Roberts?”

“He’d already given me enough.”

“Someone in the community, then?”

“I hadn’t been to church in a long while. I wasn’t really welcome there.”

“There had to be someone.”

“No.” I stared at my lap. Did I really need to explain that my family wasn’t like his? We didn’t have money or connections or invites to the annual Policeman’s Ball, a small but powerful gathering of the Who’s Who of Licking Hole.

Cole pulled out a handkerchief (of course, he had a handkerchief) and wiped my eyes. I felt truly broken.

“Someday,” he murmured, “you’re going to realize you’re worth helping.”

“Cole…what am I going to do?”

“I’m going to help you. But you’re going to do everything—and I mean everything—I say.”

He took a few calls and came back to me wringing my hands.

“This isn’t going to work. You, me—I don’t even know what you want from me.”

“Shhh, baby. One thing at a time.” His hand on the back of my neck quieted me. It made me feel submissive and safe at the same time. “Just relax and do as I say. Don’t think. Just think about how to please me.”

“Pleasing you?” My breath caught. My real concern about this arrangement was how much I wanted him. He wanted me to cook and clean for him? Fine I’d do it, gladly. Because being around him made my head swim. I wasn’t sure how long I could go before I screamed, “just do me, already.” Or waited until he came home one night and jumped his bones.

Working around him would be impossible. There weren’t enough changes of underwear in the world.

“I don’t know what to think about all this.”

“Then don’t think. Just be.” He massaged my neck. “Thinking is what got you in this mess. You think too much. Not that you shouldn’t think…I love how intelligent you are. But your mind is going in circles and needs a break.” His hand rubbed circles over my back. “Now calm down. I have to go to the station for a while. Are you going to sit tight and be good for me?”