The Geary Series Boxed Set (45 page)

Mickey settled back in the taxi bench seat and checked his watch for the time, he had eight hours until he would see Angie again. He had taken a risk with the advice that Jane had offered. She had advised to take Angie’s lead and go at her pace. He had never had a girlfriend and couldn’t interpret what women wanted. He had to take her lead and take what she said at face value. He hoped that she was honest and a straight talker.

First, he needed to get to his office. His latest case had his brain working overtime. He had been given a job to find out who had stolen a client’s painting. It would take days of searching online auction rooms, but at least he could do it from the comfort of his office.

He paid the taxi driver his fare, his offices were not far from Elijah’s bar. He was tempted to pop in for a quick whisky but then realised that his mate wouldn’t be there. Hopefully, Elijah would be at his hotel, well on his way to starting the surprise honeymoon, Jack had organised for them. A week in Rome would be perfect for them. A pang of jealousy zipped through his heart. He’d watched as Jack had fallen in love with Olivia and then Elijah finally plucking up the courage to get together with Lilly. He needed his own love, Angie would be perfect, he adored her fiery nature and her constant happiness.

He had no idea if he could hold down a relationship, he hoped he was grown up enough to be mature enough for her. All through his Navy years he had brief encounters and one-night stands but he would leave them as soon as they started to ask more questions than he wanted to answer. This often happened on the third or fourth date. Angie hadn’t asked him a single question about his life, now or from the past. This is what he thought he wanted in a woman, no nosiness but the fact Angie hadn’t asked hurt, he wanted her to ask.

He went through the lobby of the building, nodding to the night watchman and rode the elevator to his floor. The rest of the offices were dark and uninhabited, the company only operated during the day.

The long corridor had open plan offices either side as he walked, the half glass half plastic walls showed desks strewn with designs and computer monitors. The advertising agency which occupied the whole floor had moved in five years ago, this was the same time he had started his business. He leased the entire floor and sublet everything but his end suite of offices to them. They were good tenants and didn’t venture down to his part of the floor.

He had reached half way when he heard a woman moan, he recognised that moan. Not the woman necessarily but the sound of pleasure. Someone had stayed late for an intimate meeting. He slowed his pace and tread quietly as he neared the couple. He had assumed that they were a cliché and were in the boardroom. He had no option but to pass the room, it was the only way to get to his office. As the room came into view, he saw the two of them. The woman lay on the table, her legs spread wide as the man’s head was buried between her thighs. Her neck arched pushing her mouth wide open as she pulled his head more snugly to her. The hypnotic rhythm of her swivelling hips had halted his steps. He stared at her passion releasing, her orgasm hit her hard and she called out his name in a garbled tangle of syllables.

She rested her head to the side while she recovered, the man stood and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The woman was still dressed in a blouse and heels, and he was fully dressed. He rearranged his crotch while he looked at her thighs, his look of lust prompted Mickey’s next move. He didn’t want to witness anything more, it just made him horny, but he stayed. He would deal with his hard on while working and knew it would be uncomfortable. He could use a shower anyway before he got stuck into the research he had to get done. His movement alerted the woman to his voyeurism. To his astonishment she winked and then let out a cry, the man had undressed and impaled her. He held her thighs in his hands hammering hard into her, and then he lifted her legs up. Her ankles rested on his shoulders as he continued to fuck her hard. Her arms were spread wide, her fingers curled over the edges of the table, hanging on to stop being pushed up the table. The man grabbed hold of her ankles and arched his neck back as he seated fully inside her, the dimples of his arse concave as he tensed his muscles. He came silently, Mickey didn’t hear a murmur from him. The woman hadn’t come a second time.

The man parted her legs and leaned over her and kissed the valley between her breasts, moving to her left nipple and played with it with his tongue. His hand disappeared between their bodies and she started to moan again.

Mickey moved quickly out of sight and punched in the code to his security system. The door buzzed open and he closed it and silenced the moans of pleasure.

Pulling off his coat and tossing it on the sofa he circled his work table and fired up his laptop. It was going to be a long evening before he would get to see Angie again. While the laptop came to life, he switched on the coffee maker and disappeared into the shower room that was attached to the office.

Six hours of searching the internet for the missing painting and Mickey was nowhere near an answer. The art world remained a mystery to him, it wasn’t his area of expertise. He took the job as a favour to an old friend. He plodded on for another five minutes before he shut his laptop and closed up his office. He’d had enough for one evening and wanted to get to Angie on time.

Creeping down the hallway, he hoped the lovers had departed by this hour, he gingerly walked until he reached the boardroom. It was empty, the chairs had been put back to where they should be and an innocent eye would never know what had happened. A piece of paper had been stuck to the glass partition, half way along the window wall. As he neared and the handwriting came into focus he could see two words, thank you, written on the note. He smiled and then ripped the paper off the glass, stuffing it into his jeans pocket.

Standing outside in the early hours of the morning, invigorated Mickey, it was the only time that the city quietened down. He disliked noise and clutter, always had, venturing out during the day, dodging people’s bad moods was not his idea of fun. The burger bar didn’t close for another hour, he decided to walk to get Angie’s food and then onto her hotel.

The small, exclusive hotel was hidden in a side street of the city centre. He had found out from Jack, which hotel Angie worked in the night of Olivia and Jack’s dinner before they were married. Angie didn’t give him a second glance that night, but he certainly noticed her. Her entrance into the back garden to announce her arrival stunned him. Bouncing black curls and petite body, he was smitten at first sight. Despite his most charming moves, she didn’t take any interest. He had been told countless times that he exuded arrogance and nonchalance from his previous dates. This time he needed to shake that attitude off, he wanted Angie, exclusively.

The queue for food didn’t take long to reduce, he ordered what Angie wanted and a drink for him. He paid careful attention to what he ate, he’d found it harder to stay in shape since he left the Navy and he didn’t eat takeaway food. Standing at six feet, two inches, his large frame scared off many confrontational men looking for trouble, but some still tried and failed. The last thing he wanted in his line of work would be for his muscle to turn to flab. He worked out every day and ate well, his only vice, whisky. He spent too much time on a computer so needed to make time to exercise.

He stood outside the front of the hotel with the paper bag in his hand while he sucked on the straw of the fizzy orange drink he had bought for Angie. She had said to arrive at 2am, but he was early by half an hour. Shrugging, he entered the hotel, he didn’t want her food to go cold and he had charm on his side. As soon as he entered the foyer of the hotel, he heard her voice, she was arguing with a man and by the sounds of it, Angie was winning. Walking through the lobby, he continued to drink and dart his eyes about to seek out Angie. Following the voices he turned the corner and neared where they were arguing.

“Why the hell did you do that?” She bellowed, her fists clenched at her sides, she stood looking up at her target, eyes blazing. Silently demanding him to answer her.

“You deserved it, you’re far too happy, you should be miserable that you’re on night duty. Call it your initiation to the evening crew.” The man replied, and continued to laugh at her outburst.

“You didn’t have to scare me like that.” She countered, “There could have been better ways to initiate me.” She said using air quotes as she spoke.

The man started to stifle his chuckle as he remembered the look on Angie’s face when he leapt out from behind the curtain in room 205. Angie had received a call for room service, the guest wanted a jug of water with ice. She had prepared the tray and carried it up the stairs. She balanced the tray on one hand while she repeatedly knocked on the hotel room door. After a man’s voice eventually asked her to come in, she used her master key and opened the door. She had reached the bed when her work colleague jumped out and scared her. To her amazement, she kept hold of the tray gripping on for dear life and didn’t spill a drop.

“I wish I’d dropped the tray and made you clear it up. I don’t like practical jokes, they get out of hand. Don’t do it again.” She chastised.

The man walked away, waving as he sashayed down the corridor and she was left standing alone.

“You have a fiery temper Angie, you were glorious, remind me never to piss you off unless there is makeup kissing involved,” Mickey said from his slouched position against the wall.

“Oh, you brought food, I’m starving.” She said, ignoring his comment and she bounced over to Mickey and took the bag from one of his hands and then the drink from the other. It surprised her that the juice carton was so light. She sucked on the straw and gulped down fresh air.

“You drank all the fizzy orange? You didn’t leave me anything?” She whined.

“Well I needed to drink something while I watched the show, I can go and get you another drink if you’d like?” Mickey offered.

“No, that’s alright, I’ll make coffee, are you staying?” She asked.

“Sure, lead on to your staff room, this is a date after all.” He replied.

He gestured to lead the way and took the can of fizzy orange out of his inside pocket and flipped the metal tag on the top. She turned abruptly and watched as he took a big gulp of the drink, narrowing her eyes at him, he tentatively handed it over.

“Are you sure you’re not a redhead, are those black curls real?” Mickey asked, taking a step back once she had secured the drink can in her tiny hand.

“You are a cheeky chap, Mickey, and I like it. Come on before this cheeseburger gets cold.” She said rolling her eyes and hitting his chest playfully. It was a solid wall of muscle and she resisted the urge to feel him up.

Angie led him through a back corridor and into a room that housed all the spare tables and chairs. She had set up a table for the two of them with cutlery and napkins. A single candle glowed in the middle of the table. She sat down at the small square table and removed the contents of the paper bag and frowned.

“Where is your food?” She asked.

“I’ll get something to eat when I go home, that’s all for you.”

“Oh, I feel bad now, I thought we would eat together.”

“Don’t be silly, I came for the company, not the food. You eat and I’ll pepper you with questions.” He advised her and took one of her chips.

She nodded with a mouthful of a cheeseburger and then stuffed in a few chips. Groaning at the first taste of the fast food, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, he briefly saw the whites before her eyelids closed. He hoped when he fucked her she would have the same response.

Shaking the elicit and crude thoughts from his head, and focussed on getting to know Angie better. He asked her questions about her childhood and growing up. They spent the whole of her hour’s break chatting to Mickey, she tried to ask him about his life, but he changed the subject back to her whenever he could. He was heartened that she had finally started to ask about him, but he clammed up as he didn’t know where to start.

“I have to get back to my night audit and set everything up for the day shift. I hate to kick you out, but I have work to do, I’m sure you need your beauty sleep.” Angie said and stuffed the wrappings back into the paper bag along with the empty carton and can of drink.

Mickey stuck out his bottom lip and checked his reflection in the window. “Am I not beautiful enough for you Angie?”

“Oh don’t be so sensitive, you know you’re stunning, it’s just a turn of phrase. Unbunch your pants.”

“They’re boxers not pants and they are not in a bunch, just a bit twisted.” Mickey stood to leave but waited for Angie to lead the way, he could find his way out, but he wanted to glimpse her derriere in her pencil skirt one more time before he went to bed. Her uniform of black skirt and jacket with a red blouse suited her perfectly. With red lipstick covering her lips, she looked perfect to him.

Angie didn’t move to go. Instead, she waited for a moment.

“Is this meal for one definitely a date Mickey?”

“I hope so, why?”

“Could I get my kiss goodnight here, I don’t like kissing in public, I can get a bit carried away.”

Mickey lost his mind, he had no reply, all his smart arse remarks ran away. He pulled her towards him by her hand and then wrapped her arm behind her back. He entwined their hands. He grabbed her other hand and held that behind her back too. She was trapped in his hold, waiting to be kissed. The hold he had her in pushed her pelvis into his and he hoped she liked that he was aroused. He dipped his head and pressed his lips to Angie’s closed mouth. He pecked at her lips several times and pulled away. Smiling, he brought her hands back around to her front and kissed her knuckles.

“Goodnight Angie, thank you for your company, I’ll come by tomorrow with healthier food.” He promised.

She wanted more kissing, she wasn’t a kid in school, she wanted passion and be out of breath.

“It’s a date,” she said, “same time tomorrow.” She sang and left him in the room. There was no way she would let him know how disappointed she was that he wasn’t as passionate as she hoped. There was always tomorrow.

Mickey scratched his stubbled chin and wondered where his self-control came from, her lips were soft and eager for more than his chaste kiss. He didn’t want to mess around with Angie, the best way he could cope with a firecracker like Angie was to take it slow.

All he had to do was survive another day until he could see her again. He needed to get some sleep and then he could get back to finding the missing painting, in no time he would be back in the company of Angie. He half wondered if he should come back at the end of her shift and drive her home. He decided against this idea, he didn’t want to scare her away too soon.