Risky Secrets (5 page)

****

“I’ll
see you around,” Keith said. He stood next to his truck in the parking lot
outside of
Lucky’s
, shielding his eyes from the
bright sun.

“I’ll
be here—behind the bar, that is. Last night was fun. Let’s do it again real
soon.”

Keith
wasn’t sure if he wanted to take things further with Tom. It was a matter of
being practical, and he wasn’t sure that having a gay relationship would fit
into his life. He liked Tom. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that Tom was a
decent guy. Watching him made his heart beat a little faster than normal and
bed head looked so damned cute on Tom. Keith reflected on how it had felt
kissing him. He stiffened just a little inside his jeans as he opened the door
to his truck. “I have to get going.” He jumped inside and slammed the door. Why
did it have to be so damned difficult?

Keith
didn’t look back as he sped out of the parking lot. He didn’t have time to
think about him and Tom. Work was his priority, and it had to be. Focus was
needed. He turned on the radio and tuned into his favorite country music
station. As the tunes flowed from the truck’s speakers one after the other, he
started to relax. Thank god for routine.

Chapter Five

Jayne
heard a vehicle pull up to her driveway and guessed it was her property
manager, Keith. She certainly wasn’t expecting anyone else. He’d just stepped
out of his truck when she stepped outside to greet him. It was a gorgeous
evening, and a seductive calm had fallen across the lake. “I didn’t think you’d
be here so quickly.” It was a compliment. Being prompt was a great quality for
any man to possess in her eyes.

“I
figured it was best to get out here to see to whatever needs to be done if
anything at all.”

“One
of the gutters is down on the back of the house. I spotted that when I did my
perimeter check.” She’d conducted a walk around after she’d come back from
town. “It’s nothing pressing, and it doesn’t have to be fixed right away.”

“I’ll
see to it. What about inside?” Keith asked.

Jayne
tried to catch his eye, but he was avoiding looking directly at her. “Things
are fine inside. Would you like a coffee? Like I said, the gutter can wait. It
isn’t going anywhere.”

“I
like to get things done ASAP.” Keith turned his head towards the lake. “You
have a great spot here. It’s one of the best views of the lake.”

“Please
don’t feel awkward around me.” Jayne’s words came out quickly. “I don’t judge,
and I won’t say anything to anyone.”

“Is
that what you think? You think I’m worried about you broadcasting what you saw
at my house this morning? I’m a big boy. I can handle anything that’s tossed at
me.” He turned back to face her, and this times his eyes were on hers.

“All that aside, I would like to start
over again.”

“Coffee
sounds good.”

She
nodded. “Great, then come on inside.”

“By
the way, I bought a couple of your books,” Keith said, following her. “I’ve yet
to read them, but I skimmed a couple of pages in the middle of one. Do you
always write that dirty?”

****

“Sit,”
Jayne offered, directing Keith towards the chairs at the kitchen table. “My
books are not exactly dirty. They’re erotic.” There was a slight edginess to
her voice. She poured two cups of coffee and brought them back to the table
along with cream and sugar. “Spoons,” she said. She went back and retrieved two
from a drawer. “I’d forget my head sometimes if it wasn’t directly attached.”

She
was quite attractive. Keith hadn’t noticed before. Not that he really had the
chance to take note of anything when that whole horrible incident had taken
place. Her dark brown hair was piled on top of her head in a haphazard way that
looked incredibly sexy. She was pale and a few freckles speckled her cheeks,
and when she smiled, her green eyes lit up. “It’s easy to do when you have a
lot of things on the go. You must be one busy woman.”

“At
times,” she agreed. “I’d implore you to sit and actually read my books from
cover to cover. I’m sure you’d come away with a different opinion of them. Some
consider them dirty. They’re explicit. That’s a huge no-no for some readers.”

“I
bet. Do you write from personal experience? I’ve heard that a lot of writers
do.”

“No,
it’s all fantasy driven. I write what I think is fun. And I always keep the
current market in mind. Sales are important to me. Sales mean that I’m being
read. Every single reader matters. Readers can make or break an author’s
career. My personal life isn’t nearly as interesting as the stories that I
write. My life pales miserably in comparison.”

“I
would have thought that a big romance writer like you would be out there living
life with the best of them.”

“I
enjoy socializing, but for the most part I have a small circle of friends that
I keep. I know I can trust them to never do me wrong.”

“What
about that one special friend?”

Keith
watched as Jayne rolled her eyes. “There isn’t anyone who would fit that
description at this time. My best friend did try to set me up on a blind date
before I came up here.”

“You
didn’t take her up on that offer?” he asked. “He may have been the one for you.
That’s assuming that you do like men.”

“I’m
not attracted to women in that way. Blind dates hardly ever work out. Now it’s
time for to ask you the same thing. What’s the lowdown on you and that guy?”

“His
name is Tom, and we only met last night. I hardly know a thing about him, but
he seems like he’s a nice guy so far.”

“But?”
Jayne cocked
her head to the side. “I feel
a
but
coming on.”

“But
I’m not sure if I can handle being in a relationship with any man.” Keith hated
saying and admitting to that. It sounded so backwoods of him. “It’s hard to
explain. I’m not sure that it would mesh well with my life here in Pine Bluff.
Does that sound crazy and stupid to you? I bet you think I’m a coward.”

“You’re
worried about what others will think and how they might subsequently treat you.
I think you have valid reasons to feel like that.”

Keith
felt glad to finally talk seriously about his life situation with someone. What
surprised him the most was how open he was being around
Jayne.
She didn’t judge him, and he appreciated that. “I have to be. It sounds like a
cliché, but I have to maintain a certain image.”

“I
know all too well. People who don’t know me expect to meet a sexy and seductive
woman because of what I write. I’m nothing more than a small town girl who had
dreams of becoming a writer. I’ve given up trying to please others.”

“You’re
attractive. I’d hardly think you’d disappoint anyone. Talent and beauty are a
great combination.”

Keith
was amused as he watched Jayne flush crimson. She sipped her coffee and smiled
warmly. “If only the right man would come along and think what you just said.”

“I’m
sure he will. Love will find you when you least expect it. Isn’t that how it’s
supposed to go?”

****

The
apartment above
Lucky’s
wasn’t bad. It was a little
shabby and could have done with a coat of paint, but that would have to wait
for now. Tom didn’t know how long he would be in Pine Bluff. If things played
out well and went his way, he’d stay for as long as possible. But if they
managed to find him, he would have to pull his ass out of there fast!

Screwing
over the Leone brothers had been a stupid thing to do. Thinking back on it, Tom
couldn’t pinpoint why he decided to do it in the first place. Well, that wasn’t
entirely true. He did have his reasons. He’d worked for them taking care of
their accounts and stayed behind the scenes of their drug running operation. He
was damned good at his job, and they paid him well. It wasn’t like they had
been stingy paying him, but with the amount of money they were bringing in, he
wanted more. Twenty thousand dollars was nothing to them in the grand scheme of
things. If he disappeared from the scene, they wouldn’t bother coming after
him. He was wrong.

Even
in the underworld people talk. Through the grapevine, Tom heard there had been
a hit placed on him by the brothers. No one messed with them. He had to get out
of the city fast. There was no hiding from them there. They had eyes
everywhere. Snitches were always looking for an opportunity to make quick cash.

“How
the fuck could you have been so stupid?” Tom’s father had asked after he went
to the old man for help.

Less
than a week had passed since he’d gone into hiding, and with no other place to
go, he headed to his father’s house. Surely he’d have some advice for him.
Frank O’Brien had been an officer of the law for thirty years before he
retired. He knew criminals inside and out. “I know, but it’s too late to go
back now. They’re after me, and I need your help,” Tom had explained.

“What
can I do? You can’t stay here with me. Christ, if they find you here they will
kill us both. How could you do this? I raised you better than this, Tom. I knew
you were involved in something bad, and I said nothing. I pretended that
everything was fine and dandy. Tell me what you want me to do?”

It
hurt like hell to hear the disappointment in his father’s voice. It was the
truth. It hit him straight through the heart. He was a complete fuckup and
always had been from day one. “I need a place to go.”

Tom
watched as his father stormed around the small living room. He paced back and
forth before sitting again. “Give me time to think. Your best bet is to stay at
a hotel for now. And pick one that’s off their radar. I’ll make a few phone
calls and see what I can do. Call me tomorrow evening.”

It
turned out the phone call that had been made was to Lucky. Lucky wasn’t his
uncle, but rather an old friend of his father’s. There were favors owed Frank.
There was no way that the Leones would ever think to look for him in Pine
Bluff.

****

“The
gutter won’t fix itself,” Keith said. “Thanks for the coffee and the chat.”

He
was genuine. Jayne felt that from him. “I enjoyed it.” She meant it. It was
refreshing to talk openly with a man without having to worry if he was going to
judge her unnecessarily for her shortcomings. After all, she didn’t have to
impress him. The need wasn’t there from either of them. “Drop by soon and we’ll
do it again.”

Jayne’s
heart thudded quicker inside her chest as she cleared the table. It was silly
for her to behave like that. She didn’t have any interest in Keith other than
friendship. Even if she did, it wasn’t like he was able to return those types
of feelings. He seemed messed up about his emotions as it was. The look of
frustration in his eyes all throughout their conversation had said that many
times over. He was open with her though, and that did impress her. Not many men
would be so frank about their feelings like that.

Keith
was a lot like the heroes in her books. He was strong, handsome, and somewhat
alpha. But he possessed something deeper. There was much more to him than
anyone would suspect just from looking at him. Nothing was ever cut and dry.
This she tried to play over into her writing. It made things interesting and certainly
more exciting.

It
was time to get to work. With nothing else to do at the moment, Jayne opened
her laptop and set in. Back in her fictional world the words began to flow like
fine wine. She was extremely pleased with the results when she finished. All in
all it had been a good day, even if it did have a rocky start.

Chapter Six

Pine
Bluff wasn’t much to look at. The man in black sat back and relaxed behind the
wheel of his non-descript car and lit a cigarette. Did that fool think he could
hide from the Leones? For them it wasn’t even about the money. Tom had broken
their trust. That was something you didn’t do if you knew what was good for
you.

He’d
managed to trace Tom easily after the Leones acquired his services and paid him
a handsome down payment. He’d get the rest after the deed was done. That was
the agreement. A few phone calls had been placed, and it turned out that Frank
O’Brien had some dark secrets of his own from his days of glory on the police
force. It was rich to see the look of utter surprise on his face when he paid
good ole Frank a visit with the Leones.

“I
don’t know anything,” Frank said. He sounded halfway convincing, but the
constant liar’s twitch in his left eye told them otherwise.
 
Tom had been seen going in and out of Frank’s
house. A snitch had told them that.

“We
know he was here,” Carlos said. He was the younger of the two brothers. Estefan
the older sibling looked on with amusement. “Where is he?”

“I
haven’t seen Tom in a long time,” Frank replied. “We don’t have the best
relationship, you know.”

“You
being a cop and all, it must piss you off to know that your only son is
associated with the likes of us,” Estefan teased. “You raised a damned thief.
Did you know that?”