by Laura Day
Sarah crumpled again, her face behind her hands as she shook just a little. Danni stroked her shoulders and tried to keep quiet. She’d put up with a lot of nonsense from Mickey, but she’d never had to deal with this crap first hand. It was one small thing to be grateful for.
“I’m scared,” Sarah whispered, and she finally, impossibly, leaned into Danni. Danni stroked Sarah’s blonde hair back from her face, and whispered the same sort of soothing things she would have said to Cole when he woke from a nightmare.
CHAPTER SIX
It didn’t take long for Derek to track down someone with a name as distinctive as Mahoney. Guy had a big fancy office downtown, and three minutes with a smartphone gave him perfect directions. He followed them to a brick building, five stories tall. Inside, the stairways were old and worn stone, with carved banisters and fancy trim on the walls. An old mansion, or maybe a hotel of some kind, converted to office space when it was no longer usable for its original purpose. It lent the offices a kind of dignity that they might not have had otherwise. A different man might have been intimidated.
Derek walked through the hallways like they should change to suit him, not the other way around. When he found the Law Offices of Mahoney and Toms, he let himself into the office, a friendly smile on his face. The secretary, brunette and too young to know better, smiled back at him, taking in his dusty leathers and creased hands with a familiar eagerness. “Hello,” she said, and he enjoyed the way she pressed her breasts together to enhance her cleavage as she leaned forward, while trying not to chuckle at how she was trying to pitch her voice lower, presumably to sound more mature and mellow. “Do you have an appointment?”
He sauntered over to the brunette’s desk and sat sideways on it, looking down at her as she fluttered nervously. “I’m sorry to say I don’t. But I’m a friend of a friend, and I have to see Mr. Mahoney when I’m in town. Could you tell me when he’s free?”
“I’m really not supposed to…” She trailed off, looking up at him through her lashes. Did they teach this stuff in schools? Why did all women react to him like this? Well, except for one.
He leaned closer to her and watched her shiver. “What if I say please?”
“Go on in,” she breathed, looking like she wanted to knock him down on the desk and straddle him right there. “He has an appointment in ten minutes, but you should be able to speak to him quickly, set up another time at least.”
“Thanks,” he said, standing up and walking quickly towards the door she glanced at.
“Hey -- hold on, I’ll let him know--” The rising panic in her voice made him feel the least bit guilty. He hoped she wouldn’t lose his job for letting him past her, but at the same time, the girl needed to learn that a pretty face didn’t get you everything you wanted -- for the viewer, or the viewee.
He pushed the door open, then slammed it behind him. Ryan Mahoney sat behind a desk that was way too big for a man of his size; he was dweebier than Derek had been hoping, small and ratty and pale, with oval rimmed glasses and a receding hairline that he was trying to deny.
“Who are you--”
“Not the point,” Derek crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, an expression very different from his smile. The response it got was also different; Mahoney flinched and pressed himself back in his chair. “The point is that you hurt a friend of mine, and that’s not all right with me.” Friend was an overstatement, even friend of a friend would be pushing it, but still.
Mahoney had worn a nervous, fretful expression; on a dime, it turned, blurring into a sneer. “You’re here about that little piece of ass, aren’t you?”
Not what he’d been expecting. “Sarah’s a friend of mine.”
The short man snorted, pushing up to his feet. He came up to Derek’s Adam’s apple, but he still pushed a finger into Derek’s chest. Derek refused to slap it away and give the man the satisfaction of knowing how annoying he was. “I know you’re lying. You know how I know? That little cunt doesn’t have any friends, except for that bitch girlfriend of hers.” His ratty eyes narrowed, and he looked Derek up and down. “That’s possible. You could be a friend of the bitch. She send you? She’s always trying to boss Sarah around, tell her what she should do and shouldn’t. As if she knew any fucking thing at all.”
Derek considered putting the rat up against a wall, but somehow, he didn’t think it would make any kind of impression. “Touch her again, and you’ll have me to answer to.”
Mahoney laughed. “And what about when she comes to me and begs me to touch her, huh? What then? You know how she likes it? Two in the pink and one in--”
Derek didn’t expect the punch, and almost didn’t duck it in time. It whistled past his face as he slid sideways, and he saw that Mahoney was ready to block a punch in return. So he kicked out with his boot, landing solidly below the kneecap. Mahoney screamed, and the leg crumpled. “You broke my leg! You broke my fucking leg!”
Derek rolled his eyes and jabbed Mahoney in the hip with the steel toe of his boots. “You’re a big baby. You’ll have a bruise.” He leaned down, and for the first time since he’d walked in, he had the small man’s full attention. “You stay away from the girl, and you’ll never see me again. You lay one finger on her, no matter how she begs, and I will put you down.”
“You piece of trash,” Mahoney hissed, tears springing up in his eyes.
Derek snorted as he stood up, wishing he had a hat to twitch down into his eyes like a detective in an old black and white movie. “And I’ll blow away on the wind. But Danni knows how to get hold of me, and if we need to have another conversation, you’ll find out how very quickly I can fly.”
***
Sarah steadfastly refused to go to the cops, no matter how many ways Danni offered --going to the ER, to the battered women’s shelter, or straight down to the police station. “I’ll keep away from him. That’s all that needs to happen.”
Danni took a deep breath, and decided to thank the Lord for the victory she had. “Okay. And you can stay here for a few days. Just until things cool off.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary at all--”
“Just to make me feel better. And you can hang out with Cole so I can get some work done. It’ll be a big help. I promise.”
Sarah scrubbed at her eyes for a moment, wincing when her fingers touched the bruise. “How did things go with your biker?”
The rush of heat came so fast that Danni thought she might need to fan herself with her hands. “Oh, you know.”
Her friend laughed out loud, and her eyes sparkled just a bit. “Considering that he was here when I got here, and Cole wasn’t, I think it must have been a bit better than that.”
Danni sighed and dropped the act. “Sarah, I don’t know what I’m doing. I thought it was just be -- you know, scratch the itch -- but he’s not just good in bed, he’s kind, and sweet, and --”
“And about to ride off into the sunset, leaving you behind. Again.”
Danni nodded, miserably.
“Danni Stewart, never let it be said that you don’t have a type.”
She laughed bitterly. “So what do I do?”
“You don’t see him again. If he and his bros come back to the diner, I’ll wait his table.”
“Good plan. Except I said he could take me to dinner tonight.” Danni waited for Sarah to snap or yell or roll her eyes, but none of it happened. When she looked up at her friend, Sarah was watching her carefully.
“Are you going to let him meet Cole?”
“Absolutely not! If I’m going to carve my heart out for no reason, that’s one thing, but he’s a little boy. There’s no need to confuse him.”
Sarah nodded. “Then you do what you want to do. I’ll watch Cole tonight, but you meet this guy at the restaurant, and keep Cole away from him. Okay?”
“Yeah,” Danni said. “Yes. Promise.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Her shift dragged on and on. The lunch rush forced her to think of other things, but w
henever she got a spare moment, she was thinking about Derek. About the smooth way his fingers had moved inside of her, teasing out her secrets before she had a chance to be embarrassed by them. The way his eyes had stroked over her body before his hands ever got there. The way he’d looked at her, pleased that she was a woman, and not a scrawny kid.
But it wasn’t that easy. Nowhere near that easy.
Sarah had called off her shift. Holly, one of Kenny’s daughters, was filling in, and she was trying hard, but she was slow, and had to actually write down orders and be reminded to refill coffees and sodas. So that took some of her brain power, too.
And then there was Sarah herself. Danni tried to get herself ready for anything, anything from going back to her apartment after work to find that Sarah had brought Cole back up to Mrs. Clark and had gone crawling back to Ryan, to finding her sobbing in the middle of the floor, totally broken down. Or, hell, anything in between. There was no way to guess.
She half-hoped that Derek would turn up for lunch, but he didn’t. Of course he didn’t, he didn’t know she was working. And after all, he’d seemed set on ‘talking’ to Ryan this morning. It might have been all bluster to impress her, but he’d seemed sincere enough. And Ryan was a short, over-educated little weenie, but he wasn’t an idiot, and he wasn’t a total weakling. If he thought Derek was a threat, e might actually hurt the guy, no matter the leather and ink. She told herself that she would have worried about anyone in that position. It wasn’t just the way his eyes had bored into hers as he drilled into her last night. Nope, that had nothing to do with it.
He’d asked if he could see her again tonight. What had he meant by that? Dinner? More sex? She couldn’t really have him over now, not with Cole home and Sarah in the house. And she didn’t have his phone number, or a way to contact him to tell him to meet her here. Or anything.
She sighed and tried to push away the disappointment and arousal. He probably wasn’t going to get back in touch with her anyway. He probably hadn’t gone after Ryan. He was probably already gone. Getting worked up about it all was pointless. Completely pointless.
***
When she got home, Sarah had dinner ready to go in the kitchen. Cole all but flew to Danni, flinging himself at her knees and knocking her into the door frame. “Hey, tiger,” she said, laughing.
“Mom! Mrs. Clark gave me cake after dinner, and then Sarah came to get me after school, and she said that we could have breakfast for dinner AND dessert. Do you want some? She made enough for you.” He already had her by the hand, tugging her towards the small kitchen table.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Sarah said, as she passed Danni a plate of eggs, pancakes, and sausage. “He was hungry, and you had everything on hand, and I wanted to do something good for someone.”
“Mind!” Danni laughed. “Girl, you keep this up, I’m going to make you move in permanently.” She took a bite of eggs, and paused, then stared at Sarah. “You made these?”
Sarah nodded. “Don’t like them? I used some of the spices you had in the kitchen, but that’s--”
“No, stop. They’re amazing.” She took a bite of the pancakes, still impressed. “Did you make these from scratch?” Sarah gave another slow nod. “Does Kenny know you can cook like this?”
Sarah shook her head frantically. “I’m not good enough to cook in a real kitchen, Danni, so don’t even start.”
Danni watched her friend for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”
“What do you mean, okay?”
“It’s not my business. If that’s what you want, then I won’t interfere.”
There was a long pause, and Danni did her best to eat her pancakes and eggs very innocently. “You agreed too quickly,” Sarah said, finally. “What are you up to?”
“Cole,” Dannie asked, ruffling through her son’s curly hair and grinning wickedly at her friend, “how was school today?”
Cole was off like a rocket, talking about sensory stations and reading time and a million and a half completed thoughts that made no sense. Sarah kept watching her, and Danni just kept smiling. As they washed up, gave Cole his bath, and put him to bed, she ignored Sarah’s attempts to draw her out and figure out what she was planning, and just kept smiling. After all, it was still a convenient distraction from how she never heard a word from Derek. Just one more biker, off to chase the horizon. Getting her panties in a twist over it was a complete waste of time.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Cole was so excited that Sarah was staying at the apartment that he begged for a sleepover. The air mattress was more comfortable than the lumpy second hand couch anyway, so they set that up in his room. Sarah crashed as soon as her head hit the pillow, and Cole was asleep in his own bed not long after that.
Danni changed into an old t-shirt and pajama pants, then took a beer out of the fridge and settled on the couch for a one-woman pity party. Her eyes were stinging from tears that she refused to shed, and she thought a single long-neck might make it easier to go to sleep without sobbing.
There was no excuse for her being like this. He was just a guy. She’d avoided most guys since Cole was born. It was hard enough, being a single mom, without bringing all the drama of relationships into the picture. The occasional one night stand kept her happy enough, and she could focus on giving her son what he needed. It would get better as he got older, and she’d reclaim bits and pieces of the life she’d had before - though with some seriously better choices -- and everything would get easier. But she had to get him off to a solid start. He had to have a better life than she did. That was what she was working for. She couldn’t afford to get distracted. At least, not right now. When he was older.
And then the gentle tap on her door sent her heart to racing. She was up on her feet too fast, peering through the peephole. The odds of Ryan coming to her place, first of all, and knocking politely, second, were astronomical. But she didn’t want to get excited, didn’t want to think about how much she wanted to see Derek there. She looked like crap, though, like a tired mother. She didn’t even have a bra on. But she couldn’t very well open the door and tell him to wait while she put makeup on. Screw that. He could deal with her as she was or not at all.
Besides, he looked exhausted and more than exhausted. She pulled the door open, but he just looked at her for a moment, his eyes faded and soft around the edges. “Hi,” she said, leaning on the doorframe. “Are you okay?”
Derek’s expression seemed to wake slightly, and he found a smile. “Hi. I’m sorry I didn’t come by earlier. After...this morning, I went with Walt to see his kid, and things got kind of...and I didn’t have your number to call, and if you don’t want me to come in, I get it.”
The hesitation lasted only a moment. “Come in, of course, come in. But my son’s asleep in his room, so keep your voice low.”
He nodded, and she stepped back to let him move past her.
The way he moved was different. Slower, softer. Older. She’d put him in his late 20s, same as her, based on his face and his hands, but tonight, he looked almost like an old man.
“Have you eaten?” Danni found herself asking. “Or would you like some coffee?”
“I’m fine,” he said. His eyes wandered towards the beer she’d left on the coffee table. “Unless you’ve got a spare one of those.”
He followed her into the kitchen and sat on a stool as she pulled another beer from the fridge and popped the top. “Want to talk about it?”
Derek shook his head no, and then started to talk. “Walt, he’s...I’ve been running with him for years. He’s a good man. His kid...he hasn’t had a lot to do with the boy since he hit the road. It was a hard situation. And now the boy, who’s my age, is sick. Really sick. And his mom is gone. The doctors got in touch with Walt, and he’s here.”
“And you were up with him to see his son?”
Derek nodded. “He’s got a lot of guilt. About how things happened, what he should have done differently. He needed someone to talk to.”
The disappointment and upset melted away. “It’s good that you were there for him.” She touched his thigh, and stifled the intense rush that warmed her.
He stared off at the wall as he took a pull from the beer. “Is it okay that I’m here? With your boy and all?”
“Cole,” Danni said. “His name is Cole.” She took Derek’s beer out of his hand and set it on the counter, then slipped between his open thighs and rested her hands on his cheeks. His eyes watched hers for a long moment, calm and warm and waiting to see what she was doing.
The night before, everything had been fire, heat and burning, rushing to push through before the night went up in smoke. As she leaned forward now, she felt cooler. Not cold, anything but cold, but unrushed. Patient. She kept her eyes open as she leaned towards him, pressing her lips against his almost delicately, and her eyes fluttering shut only when his did. His breath caressed her cheek as his hands slid down from her shoulders to her waist, swaying her slightly to a song that she couldn’t quite hear. Her own hands eased back, tangling in his soft, dark curls, moving with him to find an angle that gave them both better access. His tongue flirted at her lower lips, teasing her, and she opened for him, soft and easy.
