Touch Me Once (11 page)

“You’re right,” he sighed, “Hey, on that other matter,
Robo said that he has definitely found something that can help your case. I didn’t understand most of what he told me, but the gist is that he uncovered some fishy-looking accounting trails that don’t lead to you. He’s putting it all on a thumb drive for me. He doesn’t want to email anything because, as he put it, it’s not exactly legal the way that he found out this information.”

“Oh my God,” I
blurted out, “That’s great news! I can’t believe that there might be a way out of this.”

“I know,” he said excitedly, “I can explain all of the rest of it to you tomorrow night.
Unfortunately, right now I have to go. One more meeting tonight, then I can hit the sack, take care of things in the morning, and jet back to you. I miss you, Kat.”

The sweet way he said those last four words cut right through me
, and all I wanted to do was have him hold me. Well, there were a couple of other things I wanted him to do, but this was such a tender moment that all I said was, “And I miss you, more than I can say. You go to your meeting and please thank your friend for me. Call me later if you get a chance. I’ll see you tomorrow night, Mr. Westfield.”

“You hang up first,” he said.

I could see where this was going, and I always thought it was a strange game, so I just said, “okay,” and killed the call. I could picture the shocked look on his face when I ended the call so abruptly, and it made me smile a little.

I turned off the TV, checked all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked
, then I brushed my teeth and got into bed. Lying there with the comforter pulled up to my chin, I allowed myself to think about what Alex had said. The thought that there might actually be a way out of my troubles gave me a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt in a long time. That peace led me down the smoky road to sleep, and the feeling of Alex’s lips on mine was the last thing I thought about that night.

CHAPTER 7

I woke up that morning feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve.
I jumped out of bed and showered, although I knew I would take another one before I saw Alex. I got myself together and went to see my parents. No one was home when I went into the kitchen, so I wrote them a short note. I told them where I was going and that I had plans for the evening. I kept that part vague, since I knew I would probably see them when I came home to get ready for my rendezvous with Alex later that night.

It was a beautiful
, day and I felt as bright as the sun that was already warming up the Lowcountry morning. Even though I couldn’t afford it, I decided to buy a new dress. So I did, and my luck was holding, because it was on sale. I thought about getting a new pair of shoes as well, then financial sanity got ahold of me and I put my credit card back in my purse.

There was no sign of that crazy bitch Mandy as I pulled into the
Westy’s parking lot and practically ran up the stairs. I walked into the empty bar and found Jerry cutting lemons behind the bar. “Good morning, Jerry, how are you today?”

“Good morning
, Kat, I’m fine thanks, but it’s still early…”

“I know,” I cut in, “Ask you again in a few hours.”

He pointed the knife at me playfully and said, “Now you’re getting the hang of it. So, you’ve come back to crunch some more numbers for us, huh?”

“Yeah, Alex will be back tonight
, so I’m taking your advice and killing the hell out of some more time,” I replied.

“Good for you,” he told me, putting down the knife and grabbing a glass from the rack next to him.
He filled the glass with ice and some tea, then wedged one of the lemon slices he had been cutting onto the rim of the glass. “You’ve still got your key, I assume—is there anything I can help you with?”

I grabbed the tea, “Unless you can make the next eight hours disappear
, I think I’m okay. I’ll just head upstairs and see where the numbers lead me.” He told to me come down when I was hungry and call him if I had any questions. I went up to the office and turned on the lights and booted up the computer.

I decided to start at the beginning and kill as much time as I could by going through everything again.
I checked my phone to see if there was a message from Alex, but there was nothing there.

I buried myself in my work and willed the time to pass.
When I felt the first stirring of hunger, I was pleased to see that three hours had gone by, so I went downstairs and read the paper while I ate some fried shrimp and coleslaw.

Just as I was about to get back to work
, the mail icon popped up, indicating that there was a new message. I knew that I shouldn’t open it, but I was bored and carelessly thought that it was no big deal. I hesitated for an instant, then opened the email.

It was short and to the point, just like a punch in the stomach.
I read it, then reread it, trying to make some sense of what I saw. The message read:

Hi Stranger,

It was nice to hear from you ev
en if it was to ask for a favor. Your message was a little mysterious, but if you’re asking what I think you’re asking I can understand why. You, better than anyone, know that I can be discreet so I’ll call you in a day or so with my answer. I hope you know that I’d do anything for you and your secret is safe with me.

Love, Tina

I sat back in the chair and tried to analyze the email without emotion, which was impossible.
It could be entirely innocent, but the tone was very familiar—if not intimate. Who was Tina? What was this secret, and did any of this have anything to do with me? The address was SweetinaP@gmail, so that didn’t help.

It wasn’t a reply
, so the only way I could see what Alex had written would be to check his sent mail, and I knew that would be going too far. It didn’t take me long to give him the benefit of the doubt and let Alex explain when I saw him tonight. There had to be a reasonable explanation for this, and I would give him the opportunity to clear things up before I flew off of the handle. I was startled when my phone chirped and I saw that it was Alex.

There was no way I was going to talk about this on the phone.
I needed to see his face and body language when he told me the truth about this message and Tina. Even with this new twist, excitement rushed through my body, and I couldn’t help but blurt into the phone, “Please tell me you’re in the air.”

“I am indeed,” he said
, chuckling. “I’ve been up for a couple of hours, and the pilot tells me we have a good tailwind and should be landing in about three and a half hours. I can’t wait to see you.”

My heartbeat sped up at this wonderful news, “I can’t wait to see you
, either. I’ve been doing my best to keep busy—in fact, I’m in your office right now.”

“Well
, that’s a pretty picture. I have the plane all to myself, which is kind of weird. I wish you were here, because these seats recline all the way back into little beds. We could make these three hours fly by, no pun intended.”

I leaned back in the chair as I felt an erotic flush wash over my body, “I can’t think of
anyone I’d rather join the mile-high club with.”

“Something tells me that we’re going to have plenty of chances to not only join the club, but to frequently renew our membership,” Alex said in a sexy tone that went straight to my clit and made me squirm in my chair.

“Then you may as well use some of that money you have to keep a plane on call, because I’ll make sure that the tray table isn’t the only thing that’s in the upright and locked position,” I said, and we both let out a hearty laugh.

Our laughter died down to a chuckle and Alex said, “If the data on this thumb drive I have is as good as
Robo says, then we’re going to have plenty of opportunities to fly the friendly skies.”

“I can’t wait to see what he found.
It’s still hard to believe that I might have a chance to get through this thing—thanks to you, that is,” I told him with genuine gratitude.

“From what
Robo told me you have a very good chance. I don’t understand most of what he told me, but he said that he configured the info so an accountant could understand it. Like I said, though, there’s a small issue of making it legal. But he said the steps are there—it might just take some time to connect the dots,” he said in way that made me think everything would be okay.

We made some more small talk
, and I could tell that he didn’t want to get off of the phone any more than I did. There was a comfort in our connection, and even though he was still thousands of miles away, his voice was here in the room with me.

“Even though I could talk to you until I landed, I think I better take a nap.
Something tells me that I’m going to need all the rest I can get. I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said.

“I can’t wait, and you’re right about needing your rest, so get it while you can.
You hang up first,” I told him.

He laughed and said, “Okay.”

He broke the connection. I looked at my phone and laughed. I knew I wasn’t going to get any more work done, so I started putting things back in order. Hearing Alex’s voice calmed me down, and I trusted that everything would work out as soon as we were together. I turned off the lights, locked the office, and went downstairs.

There was a decent happy-
hour crowd, and Jerry was tending to a couple at the far end of the bar. When he saw me, he excused himself and came over.

“Hey there
, numbers lady, all through for the day?”

“Yeah, I just talked to Alex
. He’ll be landing in a couple of hours, so I thought I’d just knock off for the day and get ready,” I told him.

“That’s great news.
Tell him I made the liquor and beer orders, and you two have a nice reunion,” he said and turned to tend to some customers.

I
was fighting the urge to ask Jerry about this Tina person, so I walked outside and gave a quick scan of the parking lot, knowing that I wouldn’t have to be doing it much longer. I didn’t see the blue Focus, but I had an uneasy feeling as I got in the car. I checked the rearview, and when nothing caught my eye, I told myself that I was just being paranoid.

I drove home with a big smile on my face and thought about how eager I was to see Alex, now more than ever.
I pulled into my parent’s backyard and went inside to tell them that I would be out late. They seemed happy for me, and I wished that I could’ve told them about the information that Alex had gotten about my case, but there was no use getting their hopes up. Although I had to admit that my hopes were up, and I was feeling maybe more optimistic than I should.

I went inside my little cottage and started to get ready.
I had a small bite to eat then took a long hot shower, shaved everything that needed to be shaved, and wrapped myself in a big, plush towel.

I went through the many jars of lotion that my mother had given me and selected something that smelled nice and wasn’t too overpowering.
I dried my hair and put on some nice lingerie that I knew I wouldn’t be wearing for very long, then shimmied into my new dress. It was a nice, slinky black dress with very thin spaghetti straps and the length came to just above my knees.

I picked out a pair of medium-
heeled black pumps and checked myself out in the mirror. I looked good; I just hoped that Alex would think so as well. I looked at the clock and knew that he should be home any minute so I called him.

He picked up on the first ring.
“Hey, I must say that you have excellent timing. I’m just pulling into the driveway now. Get over here!”

“I’m on my way,” I told him
, and hung up. There was no time for small talk. I grabbed my purse and a small bag, since I was pretty sure I would be spending the night this time. I jumped in the car, pulled out of the driveway, and made my way down to Coleman Boulevard. That’s when all hell broke loose.

CHAPTER 8

I wasn’t looking in my rear-
view mirror when I pulled off of my parents’ street and came to the stop sign where I would turn right onto Coleman Boulevard. When I stopped at the sign, I glanced in the mirror, and speeding up behind me was the blue Ford Focus. An electric charge of fear shot through my entire body.

I checked to see if there was any oncoming traffic and when I saw it was clear I gunned my little car for all it
was worth. The tires chirped as I floored it. Behind me, I could see Mandy’s car come screaming around the corner without slowing down or looking for oncoming traffic, and a car had to slam on its brakes to avoid hitting her.

She was flying toward
me, and I couldn’t believe that a piece-of-shit car like hers could go so fast. I grabbed my phone, then hit Alex’s number and put the phone on speaker. After two of the longest rings of my life, he picked up, “Hey, I thought you were…”

Before he could finish
, I yelled, “That crazy bitch is behind me and chasing me down Coleman!”

He must
’ve heard the panic in my voice. “Okay, try and stay calm. Can you make it to my house?”

“I think so, but she’s coming up fast. Oh shit, red light!” I yelled and slammed on the brakes
, stopping just short of the red Mazda Miata in front of me. Mandy’s car was coming up fast, and I thought that she was going to hit me, but she slowed down enough to stop just behind me. I could see her screaming like a wild woman in my mirror, shaking her head back and forth.

“Kat, hang on, I’m going to put you on hold and call the police and tell them you’re coming here.”

Behind me, Mandy rolled her car up to my rear bumper and started hitting the gas. I pressed both feet on the brake pedal and could hear the high-pitched whine of her engine as smoke started to drift from her rear tires. She was pushing me into the Miata in front of me. I heard my bumper buckling under the weight of the pressure, and my car began a slow slide forward. I made contact with the Miata, and it slowly started began sliding forward. For the first time in my life, I thought I was going to pee from sheer fright. Thankfully, the person driving the Miata saw what was going on, and as soon as the light turned green, that little red car got the hell out of the way.

I hit the gas and shot forward.
Weaving in and out of traffic, I could see the turn for Alex’s street and thought I was home free. The death grip that I had on the steering wheel was the only thing that kept my hands from shaking uncontrollably with terror. Mandy’s car was keeping up with me but made no effort to avoid the other cars.

Alex came back on the phone and said, “I called the police
, and they’re sending a couple of cars. Apparently there have already been calls from other drivers.”

I look
ed behind me and saw Mandy sideswipe some kind of SUV. Horns were blaring, and cars were braking hard. I yelled into the phone, “I bet there have been calls, that lunatic is smacking into cars like this is some kind of demolition derby.”

I could see Mandy coming up behind me
, and this time I knew that she meant to hit me. I tried to match her speed, but she still managed to tag me, and I could her my taillight shatter and feel the rear end of the car start to slide away from me. “Son of a whore!” I yelled.

“What happened?” Alex shouted.

“That nut job hit me!” I shouted back. “I’m getting ready to make the turn. Where the fuck are the cops?” The adrenaline that was coursing through my body made my voice sound like it was coming out of someone else’s mouth.

“They should be here any minute.
Just get to the house in one piece; I’m standing in the yard with a baseball bat,” he said in his action-hero voice.

The turn was coming up fast and I saw a minivan
approaching from the opposite direction. This was going to be close. Mandy’s car was right behind me, and smoke was pouring out of the hood of her car.

I barely slowed down—
as I cut in front of the minivan, so close that I could see the shocked expression on the face of the soccer mom who was driving. I let out a scream as I made the turn with squealing tires, silently thanking Gerald’s Tires and Brakes.

The minivan had hit the brakes
, and Mandy’s car clipped the front of it, shattering both headlights with the side of her car but still coming up behind me. I prayed that there weren’t any children in the street as I sped through the neighborhood, easily violating the twenty-five mile per hour speed limit.

I could see Alex standing in the street in front of his house with his baseball bat.
For some reason, I thought that he looked very cute holding the bat down next to his leg. Just then, I was flooded with relief as I heard the most beautiful sound in the world— police sirens.

Behind me
, I saw that Mandy’s car had slowed because her front bumper was dangling into the street, throwing up sparks, while smoke continued to belch out from beneath her dented hood. If the situation were a little different, I would’ve said the sparks looked pretty.

About fifty feet from Alex
, I put both feet on the brake pedal and fishtailed to a smoking stop in front of him, my car stopped sideways across the road. I jumped out of the car and ran to him. I threw myself into his arms—well, one arm, since the other one was busy holding the bat. Before we could say anything, the sound of the police car sirens was muffled by the ear-splitting crash of Mandy plowing into the side of my car, pushing both vehicles another twenty feet down the road.

Alex and I broke our embrace
, and as soon as my feet hit the ground, he pushed me behind him and took the bat in both hands. The sound of hissing steam and the smell of spilled antifreeze filled the humid air as we saw Mandy emerge from the destroyed Focus.

In her right hand
, she held a large hunting knife—the same knife she must’ve used to slash my tire. The look in her eye was like a cornered wild animal, and she held the knife out in front of her as she walked towards us.

She stopped about six feet in front of Alex, pointed the knife at me
, and screamed, “Get away from him, you bitch, or I swear to God I’ll cut you.”

I was shaking like
a leaf in a hurricane, so I was astonished when I heard the calm tone of Alex’s voice. “Just settle down Mandy, you don’t want to cut anyone. Do you hear those sirens? The police will here in seconds, so just drop the knife and step back.”

A confused look washed over Mandy’s face
, then the anger and ferocity returned as she stepped closer to Alex and hissed, “If I can’t have you, then nobody can.”

She took one step forward
, and I could tell she was about to charge with the knife pointed straight at Alex. I felt his body tense as he held up the bat. I didn’t know what to do, because I didn’t want Alex to knock her head off, but this had to end before one of us got hurt.

She shot forward
, and I screamed Alex’s name. He brought the bat to his shoulder, and when she was just a few feet away, he swung. I closed my eyes and prepared to hear the sound of the bat striking flesh. My eyes shot open at the unexpected ring of wood on metal. The bat struck the knife with the sound of a hammer on an anvil, and it flew out of Mandy’s hand.

I looked up as I heard cars braking and doors slamming.
We were bathed in flashing red and blue lights, and one of the cops yelled, “Drop the bat, sir!” Alex threw it in the yard and wrapped one strong arm around me. I almost fell to the ground with relief, but Alex held me up as we faced the two police officers.

Mandy looked left
, then right, and turned to run as one of the officers grabbed her and slapped on the handcuffs. He turned to march Mandy to the back of one of the cars and she yelled, “Fuck both of you, and your restaurant sucks.”

After she had been placed in the back of the police car
, we explained the situation. The police were very understanding and told us that the chase through the street would result in a whole bushel of charges against Mandy. They said that she wasn’t going anywhere, but we needed to come down to the station in the morning to make a statement. We promised that we would be there first thing. The police called a wrecker for Mandy’s car, and Alex called a tow truck for my poor little Toyota.

Finally
, Alex and I went inside his house and held each other until I stopped shaking. “Next time I come home, why don’t you just get me a nice fruit basket,” he said and kissed the top of my head. We both let loose with a cathartic laugh and held each other even tighter. We broke our embrace, and Alex asked, “Would you like a drink?” I told him I wanted a drink the size of Charleston Harbor, and we moved to the kitchen.

“I was really scared out there,” I said.
“But for some reason, I knew that if I could just get to you, everything would be all right. I can’t thank you enough for handling that lunatic the way you did. As soon as you took me in your arms, I felt safe.”

He kissed the top of my head.
“All I could think about was making sure that nothing happened to you.” Then he lifted my chin to look deeply into my eyes, “That’s what you do for people that you care about. You protect them no matter what’s in your way.” He pinched my nose gently and grabbed two glasses.

When he had said that he cared about me and wanted to protect me
, I felt guilty that I had seen the email that Tina sent him. I wanted to ask him to explain, but after what he had just done for me, I knew that he would tell me when the time was right. I couldn’t question his motives, so I would do what accountants do best—I would compartmentalize. For now, I was just going to be happy with this moment and this magnificent man I was with. I would just let go and trust.

With that in mind, I couldn’t help but get turned on watching him make our d
rinks. When he went to the fridge and bent down to grab a lime, I was once again impressed with his firm ass. He turned around and caught me staring. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those girls that gets turned on by danger.”

He set the drinks down on the butcher’s block
, and I said, “It’s not the danger that turns me on, it’s the way you handled the bat that does.”

“So
, you’re a sports nut,” he said, and we both took a huge drink. “Would you like to see the data that I brought back with me?”

I tossed back the rest of my drink and said, “There’s so
mething I’d rather see first, if you don’t mind.” I moved to stand in front of him, and we gazed at each other until we leaned in for a long, wet kiss.

We started slowly
, but our momentum increased quickly. Our tongues swirled together in a delicious mating dance. Our bodies were pressed so tightly together that I could feel his erection poking into my stomach. He moved his hands to my ass and gently squeezed as I rubbed against him.

Our mouths parted long enough for him to say, “I haven’t had a chance to tell you how magnificent you look in that dress.”

“You can look at it later,” I said as I slid the tiny straps off of my shoulder and let the dress fall to the floor. He let out a small gasp while his eyes slowly travelled from my breasts to my tiny, sheer thong.

“Would you like to go to the bedroom?” he asked while I pressed my palm against his dick.

“I don’t think I can wait that long,” I told him as I began undoing his pants. We threw our mouths together, and Alex moved his hands to my breasts. I was so turned on that I thought my nipples were going shoot through the thin material. He squeezed my buds through the lacy fabric, and I moaned gently into his mouth.

He reached over and slid our drinks to the end of the butcher’s block
, then wrapped his arms around me and slid his hands to my ass. He squeezed my cheeks almost roughly and lifted me up onto the block so that my wet pussy was pressed against the massive erection that was straining through his pants. I spread my legs and reached down to free his cock.

Before I could push his pants down
, he reached into his front pocket and pulled out a condom with a little ta-da gesture. We both laughed as his boxers followed his pants to the floor.

“I just love a man who thinks ahead,” I told him and reached for the condom.

His whole face lit up in a smile, “I’m going to start carrying these things with me wherever we go, just in case.”

Alex reached behind me and hooked his thumbs underneath the straps of my thong
then pulled it off of me and let it drift down my leg until it dangled on my ankle. I moved my thighs apart and he took his cock in his hand and rubbed it back and forth across my clit.

“You are the sexiest woman I’ve ever met,” he told me while he moved the fat head of his dick over my slick nub.
“My God, you’re so wet.”

All I could do was whimper as an electric current shot through the center of my body to the top of my head.
I tore the condom open and said, “Here, let me hold that beautiful thing for a second.” He watched as I unrolled the thin latex down his shaft. He released a small breath and a brief giggle when I reached the base of his dick.

I positioned the head in front of my slick opening and coated it in my juices.
“Push it inside me, fill me up,” I told him in an almost-panting voice.