Rock Chick 07 Regret (24 page)

“He wasn’t miffed, the man was
pissed!
” Indy put in, a huge smile on her face.

Boy, he would have to be beyond miffed to throw a cell phone.

I looked at Hector who was talking to the guy with the bandana.

“I just bought a new cell phone. I like it,” I told them.

“Keep it away from Hector,” Ally advised then burst out laughing.

So did everyone else. I looked around at them, not sure what was funny.

I mean, I
did
like my cell phone. It was fancy and you could even get e-mail on it.

Tex shouldered in and handed me a big mug. “Butterscotch
sandie
latte. That’s butterscotch and pecan syrup. If that don’t trip your trigger, woman, nothin’ will,” he announced then he shouldered back through and returned to the espresso counter.

I turned to Daisy. “I don’t mean to be mean or anything but, isn’t he a bit…
odd?
”

Daisy started giggling and it sounded like Christmas bells. I couldn’t help but giggle with her.

She put her arm around me and gave me a squeeze. “Sugar, that ain’t the
half
of it.”

I took a sip of my latte. My eyes bugged out.

Trigger tripped.

* * * * *

Hector and I spent about an hour at Fortnum’s. Hector spent most of his time talking on his phone. I spent my time talking to the girls, Duke (the guy with the bandana who had a very deep, gravelly voice and was somewhat intense in a scary but not overly scary way) and Tex.

Tex made me go behind the counter so he could teach me how to make espresso. Since I had an espresso maker and so did Ralphie and Buddy, I showed him my stuff.

He was impressed.

Then I told Hector I had to get back to the gallery. We had an opening next week and Ralphie was having to do all the work. Even if I was pressing charges against one brother for rape and another brother for assault and attempted kidnapping which, for normal people, would mean they could probably take the day off, I couldn’t sit back and let Ralphie do all the work.

I said good-bye to the girls, Tex and Duke, Hector walked me out to his Bronco, helped me in and we took off.

* * * * *

Hector double-parked in
LoDo
(what they call lower downtown in Denver) right outside Art.

Like this was perfectly legal and he had all the right in the world to double-park, he casually flipped on his hazards and walked me into the store.

We walked in, Ralphie looked up and called, “Hey Double H, Buddy called. Said he’s making his famous seared tuna in citrus and flash-fried noodles tonight. You missed the brioche. You
cannot
miss the tuna. That would be a crime against gastronomy.”

I stared at Ralphie.

Someone please tell me that Ralphie didn’t just invite Hector over to dinner.

Someone else please tell me that Ralphie hadn’t given Hector the nickname “Double H”.

“What time?” Hector asked.

“Six-
ish
,” Ralphie replied.

“I’ll be there,” Hector said.

Yes, Ralphie just invited Hector over to dinner.
And
Hector accepted.

I took stock of my life and asked myself if it was in my control.

In a nanosecond, I came to the conclusion it wasn’t in my control.

Before I could speak to either of them to tell them I needed to get my head together, to deal with the day, to cope with my decisions, to understand my feelings, to figure out what I was going to do next, Hector’s arm came around my shoulders and he curled me into his heat.

All thoughts of mind-organization and future-planning swept out of my brain and I looked up at him.

“See you at six,” he said.

I nodded.

His other hand came up and his fingers sifted into the hair at the side of my head.

“You did good today,” he said quietly.

“Thank you,” I replied.

“I’ll call if I hear they picked up Ricky or Harvey before I come over tonight.”

“That would be nice.”

“Sadie?”

“What?”

“You with me?”

I blinked in confusion and said, “Yes.” And I was, wasn’t I? I was standing in his arms for goodness sake.

“This is Sadie?” Hector went on.

I blinked again. “Yes.”

“My Sadie?” he kept at it.

This time I blinked for a different reason.

His
Sadie? Was there a Hector’s Sadie? Was
I
Hector’s Sadie? Did Hector think I was his Sadie?

Oh… my…
God
.

Before I could process what he said or get close to processing what that meant, I watched him smile then he bent his head and kissed my lips.

“Yeah,” he said, his face an inch away. “It’s my Sadie.”

“What are you talking about?” I breathed.

“I thought she slipped away. You were acting like Stepford Sadie.”

“Stepford Sadie?”

He kept smiling. “Yeah.”

My back went straight and my confused stare turned into an
annoyed
stare.

I mean, really! Stepford Sadie?

“I’m not Stepford Sadie. I’m Ice Princess Sadie,” I informed him because, well, he should get it right!

“Whatever. Just as long as she’s gone,” he muttered, touched his mouth to mine again then
he
was gone.

I stared at the door as it swished closed behind him.

In a flash, Ralphie was by my side. “He… is…
lush,
” Ralphie breathed. “I wanna take a bite outta him. Dee-
licious
.”

I decided immediately I didn’t want to talk about Hector being lush and I
definitely
didn’t want to talk about taking a bite out of him.

“My life is out-of-control,” I told the door.

Without hesitation Ralphie did the same move Hector had that morning, except different, less possessive and protective, just as sweet. His arm went around my shoulders and he pulled me into his side and partially to his front.

“Sweets? My advice?” he asked.

I put my head to his shoulder, my arms around his waist and I nodded.

“What I can see with that man, the safety bar is locked tight, put your hands straight up and enjoy the ride.”

Oh my.

Chapter Nine

You Sleep Here Don’t You?

Sadie

“
Aaahhooow
,” Ralphie yawned with an exaggerated stretch. “I’m tuckered out. Time for
beddie
bye. Buddy, baby, you comin’ with me?”

I looked from Hector’s shoulder (where my head was resting) to the end of the couch (where Ralphie was stretching) to the armchair (where Buddy was sitting).

Then I rolled my eyes and went back to staring at the credits rolling on the TV.

Seriously, how obvious could you be?

 
* * * * *

Dinner went okay if you didn’t count one minor incident.

 
* * * * *

Buddy hadn’t just made his famous tuna and noodles. He’d set the dining room table and even lit candles. He also served his spinach salad with pumpkin oil balsamic vinaigrette before the tuna and chocolate almond torte with vanilla-essence whipped cream for dessert.

I changed out of my Queen Ice outfit and, in the two seconds between our arrival home at six-oh-five and Hector’s arrival at the house at six-oh-five-and-two-seconds, I stared at the contents of my closet trying to find a casual-dinner-at-home-with-Hector-and-my-two-gay-roommates outfit.

Impossible!

In a dither, I opted for a pair of jeans and a black camisole over which I wore a gray cardigan (well, it wasn’t just a gray cardigan, it was a gray cardigan from
Anthropologie
, it had a hood and wide sleeves with tiny black lace ruffles at the sleeves and around the hem). I decided, since the cardigan said more than “casual-dinner-at-home-with-Hector”, I’d go barefoot.

Barefoot was as casual as you could get.

I put my hair in a big ponytail and headed down.

Since Ralphie talked a mile a minute and Buddy wanted the lowdown on The Search for Harvey and Ricky (the lowdown was that Harvey had been snagged, Ricky was still “at large” and I kind of wished it was the other way around), I didn’t have to say much.

This continued at dinner, mostly Ralphie talking enough for everyone and, when he could get a word in edgewise, Buddy demanding details from Hector on how things would go once Ricky and Harvey were both caught.

This took a turn when somehow we got on the subject of dog sitting YoYo and Ralphie shoved me, kicking and screaming, right in middle.

“Sadie wants to watch YoYo,” Ralphie told Buddy when it was becoming clear he was losing the fight.

My head snapped up and I saw from across the table Hector’s eyes come to mine and one side of his mouth twitched.

“Sadie, is that true?” Buddy asked.

I widened my eyes at Hector in a non-verbal, “Help me!”

Hector remained silent but his mouth kept twitching.

“Sadie, tell him. You loved YoYo, didn’t you?” Ralphie prompted.

I decided to be Hector and remain silent.

“Sadie?” Now it was Buddy’s turn to prompt.

I made the new decision to extricate myself pronto. “I don’t get a say. It isn’t my house.”

This was a bad decision.

“What do you
mean
it isn’t your house?” Ralphie snapped.

I looked at Ralphie. Ralphie looked angry.

“Well, what I mean is –” I started.

“You sleep here, don’t you?” Ralphie asked.

“Yes, but –” I tried again.

“Your clothes are here,” Ralphie pushed.

“Yes, but, what I mean –” I kept trying.

“You shower here, put your makeup on here, watch Veronica Mars here, come home after work to, um… I don’t know?
Here!
Don’t you?” Ralphie pressed.

“Yes, I guess so, but –”

“You
guess
so?” Ralphie’s eyes had narrowed.

“Ralphie, you wanna let her talk?” Buddy cut in.

Ralphie sat back, crossed his arms on his chest and glared at me.

“All I’m saying is that I’m a guest and as a guest I don’t have any say in these kinds of decisions,” I explained.

Ralphie looked at Buddy and snapped, “She thinks she’s a guest.”

“Sadie –” Buddy started.

Ralphie interrupted, “What? Are you moving out?”

My gaze slid to Hector who was now smiling at the remains of his chocolate almond torte. I wanted to throw my plate at him.

I, of course, did not.

Because, even though he deserved it, that would be rude.

I answered Ralphie, “Well, yes.”

Hector’s head came up and his smile vanished.

“What? When?” Buddy asked sharply.

I looked at Buddy. “I realized last night that you guys have been looking out for me for awhile now so it’s probably time to get out of your hair.”

“Buddy doesn’t have hair,” Ralphie clipped.

“You know what I mean,” I said quietly to Ralphie.