Love Letters, Inc

by E C Sheedy

  He shook the intruder's shoulder—none too gently.

  He expected a sleepy grumble.

  What he got was a catlike response so fast, so agile, he was face down eating carpet dust in under five seconds. With his right arm twisted painfully between his shoulders and a knee lodged in his lower back, he couldn't move. He sucked in a harsh breath.

  "Quien es usted?" a low voice demanded.

  When he tried to turn his head to speak, the grip on his arm tightened, and a sharp pain burned up from his wrist to his shoulder.

  "Se llama!" the voice said, this time closer to his ear. Taylor had no idea what the words meant, and with his face ground into the dusty carpet, he couldn't answer. He managed to shake his head.

  "Espanol?"

  Again he shook his head.

  "English?"

  He nodded and tried to shift his weight.

  "Don't bother trying to move. Unless, of course, you're into pain. Just answer the question. Who are you? What's your name?"

  Taylor tried to answer. Nothing. No words. No sound. Just air and a rasp. He tried again. Nothing.

  His assailant's grip tightened. "I'll count to three. If you haven't identified yourself by then, this arm is cast material. Clear?"

  It was a woman! He was sure of it. He was face down on the floor with a woman on his back. On his bare ass more like it. Despite her viselike grip on his wrist and arm, he managed to turn his face. He still couldn't see anything, but he did draw in a full breath. He spit out some carpet grit.

  "Monroe," he said, without a damn sound passing his lips. He'd lost his damned voice. Great. Just great. He tried again. "Monroe," he strained. "Taylor Monroe." Most of it was the faintest of whispers, but the last syllable bounced out, while he was trying to figure out what hurt more, his razor lined throat or the arm she'd twisted up his back.

  The lady eased her grip—slightly. "Again," she demanded, leaning closer. A strand of hair brushed his cheek.

  He swallowed hard. "Taylor Monroe," he repeated. It came out like acid rock through a faulty microphone.

  The knee came out of his back as she settled herself more firmly on his bare butt, but she kept the grip on his arm, high and tight. "You're Dan's brother?"

  He managed a nod and her grip eased a bit more.

  "Where are you from?" She increased the upward pressure on his arm.

  "New York." New didn't make it but York did.

  With the same speed used to pin him, she rolled off and knelt beside him. "Dan's brother. How about that?" she said without a trace of contrition.

  Still face down, Taylor tried to bring his arm down his back before sitting up. It was too numb to move. Probably cramped permanently into the center of my back—if this wild woman hadn't broken it.

  The room brightened, she'd turned on the lamp.

  "Here. Let me help." She grasped his wrist with surprisingly gentle hands and brought the arm slowly down his back. She also pulled the ratty cotton robe over his ass, which did nothing to soothe his wounded dignity. "The arm will be okay in a minute as soon as the blood starts to circulate," she advised soberly.

  Taylor sat up, propped his back against the sofa, and glared into the eyes of his mugger.

  He had lots to say to this woman—if he had a voice. But right now he couldn't utter a word, not a damned word. Add to that he was as weak as old denim. She was on her knees opposite him, studying him with the open attention a child might give a stranger's big dog—and not at all apologetic.

  Who the hell was this woman?

  He pointed to his throat and motioned impatiently for pencil and paper. She tilted her head, looked at him vaguely, looking distracted and more than a little stunned. He did the mime thing; gripped his throat, gave a peevish lift to his eyebrows, and glared. Again he motioned for pen and paper. What he really wanted to do was throttle her.

  "Oh. Right. Just a minute." She leaped to her feet and retrieved a backpack, bringing it to where Taylor sat propped against the sofa seat. She tore through it haphazardly until she found what he wanted. Gripping a pen and a notebook, she sat down directly across from him. Again she stared at him, weighing, appraising.

  "Before I give you these, I think I should apologize. I hope I didn't hurt you. Not that you didn't have it coming. You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that." She smiled then and handed him the paper and pencil.

  Sneak up on! Taylor let out a rough, angry breath and clenched his teeth. She called that an apology after she'd nearly broken his arm? Not good enough. Not by a long shot. He snatched the pencil from her hand and in capital letters shouted, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

  "Willy," she answered without embellishment.

  Pencil scraped across paper. "Willy who? Willy what?" his pencil yelled.

  "Willy Desmond. As for the what part, I'm a friend of your brother's. We, uh, sort of travel together sometimes. When I'm here, in Puerto Banus, I stay at his place."

  Taylor eyed her until she again dug into her backpack.

  "Look. I have a key and everything." She dangled the key, sat back on her heels, and stared at him.

  He stared back—while thinking of how he'd get her the hell out of here.

  Danny sure could pick 'em.

  Willy Desmond's face was smudged, her dark blond hair a matted, stringy mess. And probably none too clean. When she pushed a lock of it behind her ear, the gesture exposed a fresh scratch on her cheek. The other side of her face had a checkerboard imprint as though she'd been sleeping on a grid.

  Clean her up and she'd be pretty enough. Still an odd face, he decided, with wide, high cheekbones and a too small nose; a face dominated by a pair of direct, up-tilted eyes. Impossible to tell her age, could be twenty or thirty or anywhere in between. In the dim light, he couldn't make out the color of her eyes and didn't much care.

  What pissed him off the most was how slender she was. The slim lines of her body gave no hint of the strength she'd used to pin him to the floor. She was tall, yes, but from what he could see not unduly muscular. Damned embarrassing to be floored by such an ordinary woman. He scowled and rubbed the back of his neck. His headache had blossomed to a roar.

  "Do you want me to leave?" she asked, seeming not to care one way or the other.

  There was nothing he'd like better, but even through his foggy head he heard the rain hammering on the tile roof, and this was Dan's place, not his. He had no right to send her packing. When he shook his head in the negative, she smiled again. He didn't return it. Just because he'd let her stay didn't mean he liked it.

  "Are you okay?" she asked. "Your voice. It's not a permanent thing is it?"

  He shook his head and started to get up, making the mistake of leaning his sore arm on the sofa seat. A silent curse passed his lips.

  "Here. I'll help you." She stood over him and reached out her hand.

  He ignored it, leaned heavily on his good arm, and managed to stand. But once fully on his feet, his head whirled, and he was wracked with chills. He had lots more questions for Willy Desmond, but they'd have to wait, because if he didn't lie down—and soon—he'd fall down. At the moment, Desmond was the least of his problems. For now all he could do was pray she was who she said she was and not some kind of crazed, unbalanced Amazon.

  "God. You look awful. Absolutely green." she said. "Before you go back to bed, take a shower. The steam will help your throat."

  When he gave her a suspicious look, she crossed her heart and encouraged him with a smile.

  He nodded stiffly and headed for the bathroom. Right now he'd try anything. The woman had enough sense not to touch him again, but she did trail him to the shower. He turned it on. When she made no move to go, he gave her an arch look. She took the hint but not before flashing him a grin.

  "I've got some aspirin in my bag. I'll get it. Put it beside the bed."

  He nodded and she left. Taylor shut the door.

  Damned infuriating woman. No doubt another of Danny's artsy, shiftless friends with no job, no root
s, and no ambition. He shook his head in disgust and stepped into the hot shower.

  She was right. The steam did ease his burning throat.

  * * *

  Willy put the pills and a glass of water beside the bed, while the shower was still running.

  How about that, she mused, after closing the bedroom door behind her. Dan's big brother. Here. In Spain. She tilted her head and pulled on her memory. Taylor Monroe. A real button-downed type. Harvard man, with honors, of course. Addicted to work. Financial wizard and successful entrepreneur. Quite the guy, according to Dan. He'd called him something else, too. What was it again? The family godfather, that was it. Controlling and dictatorial.

  For sure, he wasn't anything like his blond, blue-eyed brother. Dan was…cute. Taylor , with his hard jaw and steely gaze, was anything but. He was as dark as Dan was fair and at least a head taller. She'd had to raise her eyes to look at him when he stood up, and being five ten herself made that a rare thing. She guessed him to be six two at least. And those snapping green eyes. Whew! He'd really pinned her with them when she let him up.

  If looks could kill...

  No doubt she'd insulted his precious male pride when she'd pinned him to the floor. She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

  Suddenly hungry, she headed for the kitchen, the shower still playing its water song.

  It wouldn't be the first time she'd deflated a male ego and probably not the last. Besides, a little come-down wouldn't hurt him. He looked like an arrogant SOB, had that edge of power the women in her family were notorious for falling for. But not her type. Not at all. Though she did feel a tiny bit bad about almost breaking his arm. For Dan's sake she'd try and make that up to him.

  In the kitchen she foraged through cupboards. Surely there was something here that could ease the poor guy's throat. She found some cough medicine behind the cornflakes and smiled.

  "That makes sense, Dan," she muttered to her absent host. When she closed the cupboard door, she caught a glimpse of herself in its glass door.

  "Yuck," she said aloud, rubbing at one dirty cheek and poking at the pale scratch under her eye. Taylor isn't the only one in need of a shower. When the rubbing didn't improve things, she glanced at her hands. They were mottled with oil stains from fooling with her carburetor. She didn't know beans about cars and supposed it was time she did. She sighed in resignation. You have to learn, Willy, whether you want to or not. There's nothing self-sufficient about a woman who can't change her own oil.

  Hoping she hadn't done any real damage under the hood of her old Citroen, she hatched a plan to go back to Marbella tomorrow to arrange for repairs. After scrubbing her hands with dish detergent, she headed for the bedroom, cough syrup in hand.

  When Taylor opened the door, she was waiting for him. He was rubbing his dark hair with a tiny hand towel. A larger one was draped like a sarong low on his hips. Before stepping out of the bathroom, he dropped the hand towel and forked both hands through his wet hair, drawing it back from his high forehead. When he spotted her, his relaxed expression twisted instantly into a scowl, but even that didn't make her lower her eyes.

  Willy stared openly. The word wow bubbled invisibly over her head like a cartoon caption. His wide shoulders were slick with steam, and the hair on his chest was damp and silky. Her gaze followed the hair down over taut abdominals to where it tapered at the top of the towel. When she looked up, it was into his cool, green eyes. Stern, stubborn eyes like sharp cut emeralds. The scowl was his only imperfection. A distant warning sounded and a worried frown flitted across her determinedly friendly face. Trouble…

  "I found some cough syrup. It should help." She offered the half-full bottle to him. He nodded, mouthed the word thanks, and turned abruptly away from her.

  Okay, long on looks, short on charm, Willy thought, going back to the sofa. She debated trying to get more rest and decided against it, opting for a shower instead. She retrieved fresh underwear, cotton drawstring pants, and a T-shirt from her pack and headed for the bathroom. The tiny bathroom had two doors, one into the bedroom and another to the living room. The door to the bedroom was firmly closed.

  After her shower, she considered checking on her ailing roommate but thought better of it. If he wasn't asleep, she'd only make him madder than he already was. Instead she set about tidying up the apartment. God knows, it needed it. Post-cleanup, she inventoried the cupboards and made a list. It looked as though she'd be cooking for two.

  It was close to eleven when she got back from the market. An hour later there was still no sign of Taylor, and she started to worry. Maybe he was sicker than she thought. When there was no response to her soft knock on the door, she cracked it open and peeked in.

  He was sleeping on his stomach with his head burrowed deep into a punched up pillow. The sheet, tangled between his thighs, managed to cover only one leg and one lean buttock. Willy sucked in a breath and averted her eyes, surprised at the heat forming a tight band around her neck.

  She couldn't be embarrassed. She had no inhibitions about the human body. So why the schoolgirl blush? She couldn't figure. But she did know that he'd be severely irritated if he woke up and found her staring at him.

  She turned to go, but his soft moan stopped her. When he started to roll onto his back, she clenched her eyelids. When he moaned again, she took a breath and opened one eye. Stupid woman, she berated herself, the man might need you, and there's not much you can do with your eyes closed. Still she was relieved when she saw that the sheet had rolled with him, twisting protectively around his lower body.

  Willy was left looking at a broad muscled chest. His eyes opened on her, looking glazed and unfocused; she stepped to the side of the bed.

  "Are you okay? Can I get you something?" she asked.

  He pointed to the empty water glass on the night table. Willy nodded and went to fill it. He looked sick—real sick. Now she was super worried. She brought him the water, and he propped himself on one elbow to drink it, then fell heavily back on the bed. When he put an arm across his eyes to cut the light coming in from the window, Willy closed the curtains before going to sit on the side of the bed.

  She chewed nervously on her lower lip, then lifted his arm away from his forehead to replace it with her palm.

  He was burning up. When the chills started again, she pulled a blanket over him, refilled his water glass, and left.

  Page forward for an excerpt from EC Sheedy's

  California Man

  The Author's Cut Edition

  Excerpt from

  California Man

  The Author's Cut Edition

  by

  EC Sheedy as Carole Dean

  "Maybe, but there's nothing wrong with a little fantasy. The trouble with you, Em, is you're too easily satisfied. You've made an art of contentment... of placidity. As for me, there are times this island really, really gets to me." She shook her head. "It's such a small piece of the world."

  Small and safe, Emily thought to herself, denying her own midnight dreams of exotic countries and wild adventures. She knew they weren't for her; she'd only freeze up and panic. Even if she could leave here, she knew she'd always come back. It was home. But the word placid rankled. She didn't feel placid.

  When Emily didn't answer, Grace probed again. "Don't you ever want to go anywhere else? Wouldn't you like to meet a fantastic man, maybe travel, live in other places?"

  Emily was about to answer when her interest was caught by a cycler coming toward them on the waterfront walkway. She couldn't make him out clearly, but she knew he wasn't local. He stopped a few feet away and got off his bike. For a moment he glanced their way, and a brief, friendly smile flashed across his face before he turned away to prop up his bike.

  Emily shut her eyes tight and opened them again, convinced he wasn't real. Until this minute, if you would have asked her if men like this even existed, she would have said no, not without the magic of film and camera work. Never, never in the flesh. But there he was—and just looking
at him made her slightly breathless. A breeze tossed the ends of his dark, wavy hair, oddly sun bleached in the front. Deeply tanned, aviator style sunglasses hid his eyes. Had to be an early tourist. No one here was that bronzed this early in the year. She wondered what color his eyes were behind those shadowy lenses. Finally, Grace's voice seeped through her fog.

  "Talk about arousing! Is he incredible or what?" Emily wasn't the only one who noticed. Grace's tone was positively reverential. "Em, are you looking?"

  Emily looked away. They were gawking like a pair of open-mouthed adolescents. When she pulled her eyes from his long, muscular body, it was as if she disconnected herself from a dream.

  "Look, he's coming this way," Grace whispered. "He is. He really is."

  Emily's gaze shot back to the stranger. He was moving toward them. Oh, no... The bile of panic rose in her throat, closed it, and she lowered her eyes to fix on her pale hands.

  Page forward for an excerpt from EC Sheedy's

  Overkill

  Excerpt from

  Overkill

  a short story

  by

  EC Sheedy

  "This is a joke, right?" Tanner Cross sat on a cheap bed in an even cheaper hotel in Loubomo in the Congo Republic. He was counting money. He was also naked, tired, and as of two minutes ago, when he'd stepped out of his first shower in two weeks, actually clean. A month of sleep, a haircut, and he'd be human again, although last he heard humans weren't called on to kill their superiors. Holister had to be smoking something. Either that or he was speaking in code.

  "No joke. Book a flight. Laine Derek will have you picked up and taken straight to Derek's home in Mayfair. Security knows you're coming in as a guest. And it's best you stay clear of Laine. She'll ask questions. The woman is a tiger when it comes to her father's security."