“Okay. I’ll call you later, sooner if I hear anything.”
“Alright. Knock ‘em dead, and give Natty a kiss for me, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you making plans to kiss another man?”
“You’re home.”
Nori came over to claim his I’m back, did you miss me? kiss. “Yeah. I wanted to check on you. Any word on Steele?”
“Nothing.”
“I’m sure she’s just being cautious, darling.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re probably right. I’m just worried. I’d feel better if I could talk to her.”
“How’s the ear?”
“Fine. Far as I can tell my hearing’s back to normal.”
“Thank, God. I was researching ear specialists at work.”
Margot laughed softly. “Always be prepared, huh?”
“Yes, actually. It’s a philosophy that has served me well over the years.”
“I bet,” she whispered, smoothing the lapels of his jacket. “You look nice. You left before I got to see you this morning.” He’d left a tea tray ready for her.
“I had to meet with the builder again this morning.”
“Problems?”
“No, actually. The office should be ready ahead of schedule.”
“Well, that’s good news.”
“We have to start recruiting talent soon.”
“Yeah. I know. I was talking to Tommy about it, and she thinks we should do it city by city. At least to start. Build the momentum regionally. She has a strategy she thinks will enable us to penetrate a substantial global audience within two years.”
“Yeah? That sounds promising. I’ll set up a meeting. Did you eat?”
She nodded.
“I don’t mean the biscuits on your tea tray, Margot.”
She sighed, lit a joint. He raised a brow. “Emergency stash.”
Someone knocked on the back door.
“Hello?”
“It’s me.”
Margot ran, yanked open the door and pulled Steele inside.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah.”
Steele pushed back the hood of her jacket, but Margot didn’t let go of her arms. She looked into her friend’s eyes, wanting to say something, anything to convey her thanks, but what can you say to a lifelong friend who just saved your life? Thanks seem so – insufficient.
“I’m sorry, Goti.”
“What? Why?”
Steele dropped her gaze, looked down at the floor. Her shoulders dropped and with shock and awe Margot realized she was crying.
Margot hugged Steele to her breast so hard she could hardly breathe. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s okay,” she repeated, stroking her friend’s hair.
“He was gonna kill you, Goti. You saw him. He had his finger on the trigger.”
“I know. You saved me.”
Steele broke away, began to pace. With a shaking hand she pulled a joint from behind her ear and lit it.
“Where’ve you been? Reiko and Esai been lookin’ for you everywhere. Lemme hit that. I didn’t get a chance to reup yesterday,” she teased.
Steele had been on her way to her with a load when everything jumped off.
Her friend harrumphed and passed the joint. “Is anybody else lookin’ for me? Police?”
“No. Reiko either. I think we might be alright. Lado said the police canvas came up dry. My neighbors aren’t used to the sound of gunshots, apparently. One lady thought it was a car backfiring. She was planning to make a complaint about the noise.”
Steele laughed softly. “Of course.”
“You wanna drink?”
“Yeah.”
“You eat?”
“Nah. I wasn’t hungry.”
“You goof. You can’t walk around all day starving and worrying. Sit. I’ll make you something.”
They sat in the kitchen drinking Moscato while Margot scrambled eggs and made bacon and toast.
“Where did you go last night? Reiko said you didn’t go home. She camped out in front of your house ‘til this morning.”
“Shit. I figured I should give this whole area a rest, so I holed up in one of those hotels off the highway in Homewood. I probably shouldn’t even be here. God knows what I picked up in that flea pit. But I had to come back to get my car.”
“You didn’t have your car last night? How did you get away?”
“I walked to the train, then I took a bus. I didn’t want anyone to associate my car with the gun shots. I figured no one would look at someone just walking down the street. If you shoot somebody you usually flee, you don’t stroll.”
“That makes sense. Did you sleep at all?”
“Nah. Couldn’t seem to shut my eyes. I kept –”
There was a pregnant pause as Margot put a plate down in front of her.
“What?”
Steele shook her head; she didn’t have to explain. She’d probably kept replaying things over and over and it hadn’t let her rest. Who could? It’s not every night you take someone’s life.
“What’s Nori saying?”
“Nothing. He’s just worried about you. He’ll be glad to see you.”
“I’m surprised he’s not here.”
“He met up with Lado after work. Business.”
“How’s the new thing coming?”
“Good. The office build is ahead of schedule. Things are moving along. I’ll need your help soon.”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever you need.”
Steele drained her glass, refilled it, topped up Margot’s.
“You talked to Reiko?”
“Yeah. Right before I got here. Let her know I was alright.”
“Good.”
They sat silently, drinking.
“Eat,” Margot ordered. But though Steele lifted her fork, she didn’t use it.
“I, I need you to know, I’m sorry, Goti,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I had to make a choice. He’d already fired once and missed. He was too close to miss again. I couldn’t take that chance. You didn’t have no gun. Reiko was nowhere to be found. I had to put him down,” she whispered. “It was him or you. I had to make a choice,” she repeated. “I didn’t want to end that stupid nigga. I had to.”
Their hands gripped, fingers linked.
“I know. I know you did. It’s okay.” Margot raised one of her girl’s hands to her mouth and kissed it. “It’s okay,” she repeated, gripping her other arm. “You made the right choice.”
“Yes.”
“You had to do it.”
“Yes.”
“There was no other way.”
“No,” Steele shook her head.
“I’m gonna take care of this, of you,” Margot promised. “You understand?”
Steele nodded, her big eyes awash with tears.
“You’re my girl. You believe me, right?”
More nodding.
“We’re gonna get through this.”
“Yeah.”
“I love you.”
Steele just hung her head as tears continued to drip. She sniffed, made an effort to pull herself together.
Margot broke away. Swiped the tears from her face with an impatient hand and rose to fill their wine glasses. “Eat.”
Steele ate.
“Baby,” Nori called.
Margot appeared.
He smiled, opened his arms the way he did each evening when he came home. He sighed contentedly when she walked into them.
“How are you? You have a good day today?”
“Steele came by. She just left not too long ago actually. I think she waited ‘til it got dark so no one would see her.”
“Wow. I’m sorry I missed her. How is she?”
“Upset. She thought I was gonna be mad at her, Nori. Can you believe that? She saves my fucking life, and she thought I was gonna be pissed.”
“Well, now she knows different, right?”
“Hell, yeah. She spent the night in one of t
hose hotels off the highway out south. I know she didn’t sleep. She damn sure didn’t eat. She inhaled the food I made her. She left her car on the street all night. Said she didn’t want anyone to associate the gunshots with her driving away.”
“Smart girl. Really smart. Not many people could be so clear headed after something like that.”
“Steele’s a tough cookie.”
“I wish she’d waited. I need to thank her.”
Margot leaned back to look into his face.
“She kept you safe,” he said simply.
She shook her head at him.
“I do,” he insisted. “She had to make a horrible decision. But it was the right one. It’s a burden she shouldn’t have to carry, but I’m in her debt. I –” he paused. “I don’t know if I could live without you, darling.”
Margot began to cry.
“Shhh. What’s wrong, baby? Talk to me.”
She shook her head as she walked on wobbly legs to the couch. “I just keep thinking about it, replaying it in my head, you know? She did the same, all night, said she didn’t sleep a wink. She looked so tired and defeated.”
They’d slept. Not long, but they had slept, wrapped up in each other’s arms.
“I made her eggs and toast. I didn’t cook. You mind eating breakfast for dinner?”
“Of course not. But don’t bother. We’ll order in. What would you like, pizza? We could try that new Thai place Tommy recommended.”
“Sure.”
He went to fetch the menu. When he returned he paused in the doorway. She seemed small, sitting there, and she looked so sad.
She laughed softly. “It’s been one thing after another with us, huh?”
He smiled. “Yeah. Our lives together have certainly not been uneventful. Things’ll calm down, Margot. We will get through this.”
“I know. Before you know it, we’ll be a boring old married couple looking back on all our adventures.”
“Yeah. And then you and your merry band of troublemakers will undoubtedly find some more trouble to get into.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, no. Not me. I’ve had enough trouble to last me a good long awhile. And so have you.”
Weeks went by. No one came forward or mentioned Reiko or Steele in connection with that horrible night. The police searched George’s house and found the cache of guns and enough evidence of wrong doing to conclude he’d been killed by someone after money, while he was busy stalking her. The case remained open, but Lado reported via a friend on the police force that detectives were no longer looking very hard for his killer.
“Thank God,” she breathed. “Steele’s in the clear. I gotta give her the news. You think it’ll be okay if we have them over?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t we? They’re your friends. As far as anyone else is concerned, there’s nothing amiss.”
“Right.”
“But, I’d rather we didn’t have company tonight, okay?”
“Okay, but why? You said no one would think anything of it.”
“And I meant it. I want us to be alone because after dinner? I want to make love to you.”
She laughed softly. “Ah.”
“Indeed. We didn’t make love last night.”
“That’s right. We didn’t.”
“First time we haven’t since we were married.”
“Holy shit, you’re right. Well, then I say to hell with dinner. We gotta make up for lost time.”
He laughed. “I like where your heads at, but I need dinner. I haven’t eaten a thing since breakfast.”
“Working too hard I suppose.”
“We are starting a new business,” he reminded her.
“I know that, smart guy.”
“You’d rather I was dumb?” he teased.
Margot rolled her eyes at him. “I’d rather you ordered that food so we can eat and then get down to the real business. Never let it be said that Margot Temple-James neglected her marital responsibilities.”
He grinned and swung her into his arms for a hard long squeeze. “You just hyphenated your name.”
“So? I am a married woman.”
“Yes, you are, my girl. You most certainly are. And I love you,” he whispered.
“And will you love me forever?” She’d asked the question before when he professed his love, always in a teasing voice, but tonight she was serious.
“At least.” It was his standard answer, but he too was serious.
“I love you, you know.”
He nodded, nibbling at her lips as he walked them toward the bedroom.
“What about food?” she asked, as he began to quickly remove her clothes.
“Let’s work up an appetite first.”
Margot just laughed. “So much for you not having eaten today.”
“There are all kinds of hunger, my love. Right now, this one is far more important.”
They came together in a rush, as though it had been 100 days since they’d last touched instead of only one. Margot ran feverish hands over the long, creamy male limbs that now belonged to her, and arched her back as he returned her heated caress.
When they finally connected, when he slid gently but firmly inside her body, she began to cry. Nori knew they weren’t tears of sadness, for he smiled, and kissed them away. His body never stopped its gentle eclipse of her. His hands never stopped stoking the love that bloomed between them. His lips never stopped worshipping and speaking to her damp, hot flesh.
They’d been through so much since they first met, but they’d stayed the course and remained true to themselves and to each other. Now as they rocked sensuously together toward that special place where passion and life mixed in a near heart stopping way that was only theirs, Margot knew that she was happy.
For the first time in her adult life, she wanted nothing. She had it all. Even better, she knew that Nori was happy, and that their future, even when it was bumpy, even when death or dishonor threatened their peace, would be bright and loving as long as they were together.
The end
About the author
Sherrod Story is a Chicago native and a lifelong romance novel junkie. She read her first Harlequin at the age of 12, long before she understood exactly what she was reading, and hasn’t stopped since. Her work spans contemporary, new or young adult and paranormal themes. She loves to hear from readers.
Web site: http://sherrodstory.com
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Thank you so much for reading!
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Check out these snippets:
Fiona Love
Fiona never intended for Dane to be more than a one night stand, but then morning came, he was still there, and she no longer had any desire to get rid of him. Still, it was nothing serious. She was on vacation. What better way to relax than in the company of someone as beautiful and sexually exciting as this cover boy with his New York accent and flashing green eyes?
Then she started back to work and began to spend more time with her baby Flora. Daney – he’d acquired a nickname by this time – was still around, and people started to notice. Fiona was famous, so the relationship brewed a load of evasive, paparazzi dodging trouble, but she couldn’t let him go, and Daney wouldn’t have let her anyway.
But trouble waits to separate the two lovers in the form of a co-star doppelganger who resembled Daney, sans most of his character, and a new love enters the picture.
Natty is handsome, sexy, and her music producer, so they have tons in common not to mention they’ve known each other for ever. Falling into bed feels natural as well as amazing, but Daney’s not down for the count yet.
Then tragedy strikes…
…“I’ve been thinking about you,” he said softly, tracing the curves of her face with the ba
ck of his hand. “Wondering what I could do to you and still have you remain silent. I never would have guessed you’d be here crying like a mope from an almost accident. Flora’s perfectly all right, and you’re acting like she had a finger chopped off. My uncle Darcy says that’s what having a baby is like. It’s all one big game of, ‘Okay. It’s your turn to try not to kill the kid.’”
Like most sensualists Fiona knew instinctively when her mate wanted to dominate. So she pouted and flirted with him beneath her lashes.
“I thought about you on and off all day today,” he repeated, leaning to nip at that poked out bottom lip. “You haven’t even kissed me hello.”
Why is it most men never think to play these kinds of games? Fiona wondered, pressing herself against his broad chest. She knew he was trying to distract her, and she was more than willing to let him, so she kissed his plump pink mouth in thanks. She forgot being grateful as she licked her slow, catlike way between his lips and sucked until he thrust his tongue into her mouth and moaned.
Daney rolled her under his body, pushing her up by the arms until their dangling legs were on the bed. He nuzzled the cleavage spilling out of a sexy black bra. Web thin and lacey, it did absolutely nothing to conceal her succulent brown flesh. His mouth actually watered.
“Take that off,” he ordered. “If I touch it, it’s done.”
Fiona tried to hide it but a smile stretched slowly across her face as she wiggled out of her underwear.
“Hurry,” he whispered, licking his lips as he watched her flesh tremble as she moved.
“Yes,” she whispered back. “Yes.”
She doubted he was aware of the way he was looking her, the way his hands clenched and unclenched, but it excited her so much she was shaking.
Calm down, she told herself, tossing her panties over the side of the bed.
“Get inside me, please.”
“What?” he whispered, hungrily kissing his way around her neck and ears.
It wasn’t enough. “Please, pretty. You can tell me what to do as long as I stay in this bed, and I’ll do it, but come here first.” She leaned back and rubbed herself between the legs, watching him with sultry, half-closed eyes. She was so wet her clever fingers slipped, rhythm interrupted and just as quickly picked up.
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