Lawton

by Sabrina Stark

  Come to think of it, she managed to say a whole lot without telling me much more than the basics. As far as true personal information, I'd gotten her cell phone number, but not much else.

  I was still thinking about it when my cell phone beeped with the sound of an incoming text. I pulled it out and took a look. It was from Chloe. Two words. Pancakes tomorrow?

  I felt myself smile. Tomorrow. I couldn't wait.

  The next day, we had pancakes in the kitchen and sex on the sofa. Together, we walked Chucky and played catch. We laughed. We talked. We chased each other around the house, with Chucky barking at our heels.

  When darkness fell, we had a pizza and popcorn – and yeah, more sex – inside what my realtor had called the media room. Later that night, I held her in my arms and slept with her in my bed, with Chucky nestled at our feet.

  For the first time since hitting it big, my house, this house, felt like a home. I felt like I had a family, a real family. I couldn’t help but smile. I even had a dog.

  And I liked it.

  Chapter 43

  Standing on my doorstep, she stared up at me.

  Not Chloe. Amber.

  Her car was parked in the turnaround, just inside the front gate. I felt myself frown. The gate was open. It wasn't supposed to be. The landscapers must've left it unlocked on their way out. Next time, I decided, I'd rake the damn leaves myself.

  Or not.

  I looked down at Amber. "What do you want?"

  She drew back. "Do you have to be so mean about it?"

  "Yeah," I said. "I do."

  By now, I'd gotten a few more details from Chloe about that whole scene at the restaurant. I knew that Brittney and Amber had gone in and given Chloe all kinds of crap. The details might've been sketchy, but I knew enough to be pissed.

  Amber glanced past me, toward the inside of my house. "Can I come in?"

  "No."

  She gave me a pleading look. "I thought we were friends, at least."

  I looked down at my watch. In a couple of hours, I'd be seeing Chloe. Until then, I had a ton of work to do. The list was long, and nothing on it involved being nice to someone who'd been giving my girl a hard time.

  Amber tried again. "Come on. Please? I drove all the way out here."

  "So?" I crossed my arms. "You should've called first."

  She made a sound of frustration. "You know I couldn’t."

  "Yeah? Why not?"

  "Because you blocked my number. That's why."

  Well, there was that.

  "Then don't call," I said. "Now, I've gotta go." I made a move to shut the door.

  "Wait!"

  I didn't bother to hide my impatience. "What?"

  "It's because of her. Isn't it?"

  "Her?"

  "You know." Her voice grew sullen. "Dog-girl."

  "For the last time," I said, "her name is Chloe."

  "So what is she, now?" Amber's voice grew quiet. "Your girlfriend?"

  A girlfriend? No. Chloe was a whole lot more than that.

  For the last couple of weeks, I'd had her at my place almost every day. On the evenings that she didn't have to work, I convinced her to stay overnight. On those nights, I held her in the darkness and felt like my world was complete.

  She was everything I ever wanted. If I had my way, she'd be moving in for good, and not as some live-in girlfriend.

  But that wasn't Amber's question, was it? I knew what she was really asking. Was I – as Amber liked to say – off the market? There was only one true answer to that. And the sooner I gave it, the sooner girls like her would get the hint.

  "Yeah," I said. "You could call her that."

  Amber gave a shake of her head. "But you hardly know her."

  In spite of everything, the words hit too close to home. Other than the basics, I still didn't know nearly enough about the girl I loved.

  I never went inside her house, because she never invited me in. I never saw her at work, because she said it would be a distraction. I never met her friends. I never saw her family. Whatever the wall was, I never got past it.

  I shoved those thoughts aside and said, "I know enough."

  "But what if she's a reporter or something?"

  I almost laughed. "A reporter?"

  "You know. Like for the tabloids. Or maybe the internet."

  I gave Amber a long, cold look. This wasn't her talking. Obviously, she'd gotten some coaching – or hell, maybe a damn script to follow. It was like every time she opened her mouth, Brittney's words came pouring out.

  "Tell me something," I said. "This little visit. Was it your idea? Or Brittney's?"

  Amber glanced away. "What?"

  "Just tell me," I said.

  "Brittney? Um, I don't get what you mean."

  I looked out toward Amber's car, still sitting in the driveway. "You come here alone?" I asked.

  "Uh, well…"

  I strode out of the house and slammed the door behind me. Silently, I stalked past Amber and headed toward her car.

  "Lawton!" She called "Where are you going?"

  I didn't bother answering. From the panic in her voice, she knew damn well where. And I knew damn well what I'd find when I got there.

  Sure enough, through the car window, I spotted Brittney hunkered down low in the passenger's seat. I yanked open the car door and stared down at her.

  She blinked up at me. "Oh hey Lawton." She glanced around. "I was, uh. I guess I must've dozed off." She looked past me, toward Amber, who'd followed me out here. "Jeez, Amber, why didn't you get me up?"

  Over my shoulder, I heard Amber say, "Because you weren't asleep." She paused. "Were you?"

  I turned toward Amber and spoke very slowly. "Don't bring her here again."

  From the passenger's seat, Brittney sputtered, "What? Why?"

  As an answer, I turned and stalked back toward my front door.

  "Hey!" Brittney called. "What'd I do?"

  She knew what she did, so I didn't bother answering. But I did stand on my front porch, waiting with arms crossed, until their car pulled out of the driveway and out of sight. Afterward, I went to the control panel and made damn sure the gate was locked.

  An hour later, my cell phone rang. It was Chloe, cancelling our plans for that night, saying something about having to work after all.

  I didn't like it.

  Yeah, I was disappointed to not see her. But it was more than that. For some messed up reason, Amber's question had me thinking. For the millionth time, I asked myself what, exactly, Chloe was hiding.

  And then, for the millionth time, I reminded myself that I was hiding something, too. After all the hours spent together, through all the talks, all the walks, and yeah, all the sex, I still hadn't told her how we'd first met all those years ago.

  But now, I had a reason.

  I wanted to surprise her at just the right moment.

  Chloe might not know it yet, but she was my forever girl. When the time was right, I wanted to make it official, and I wanted it to be a surprise.

  When? I didn't know. Soon, I hoped. But not until I knew she'd say yes.

  Still, I knew she was the one. Now, all I had to do was make her know it, too.

  Chapter 44

  The next night, Chloe and I were sitting in my hot tub, soaking up the heat while the cold November air settled around us.

  All day, I'd been doing some thinking. Two weeks – that's how long I'd been seeing her. All this time, I'd never taken her out, not even for dinner. Yeah, we ordered upscale takeout all the time, and my housekeeper made a killer lasagna. Still, it didn't seem right.

  It was time for me to admit it. I looked to Chloe and said, "I'm being a total ass."

  "Really?" She gave me a mischievous smile. "How so?"

  She wore a yellow bikini that hid next to nothing. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were warm. The wet tendrils of her hair fell over her shoulders and spilled down her glistening back. She was sin and sweetness wrapped into one.

  "Bec
ause," I said, "I've been keeping you all to myself."

  Her smile faltered. After a long moment, she said, "What do you mean?"

  I studied her face, wondering if I should be amused or pissed off. "Well, obviously, not what you think," I said.

  She said nothing, and that's when I knew. She still didn't get it. She wasn't a fling or some party girl to be passed around. She was my one and only, and I wanted to keep her that way.

  Yeah, I knew my reputation. And yeah, I'd done a lot to earn it. So I couldn’t exactly be pissed off. But I could make her see things differently.

  "You were thinking," I said, shifting my body closer to hers, "that I'd ever consider sharing you." I ran a hand over her thigh and leaned close to whisper in her ear. "Let's get one thing straight. I'm never, ever sharing you."

  The corners of her mouth lifted. "Oh yeah?"

  "Oh yeah." I ran a hand along her thigh, inching upward with every stroke. "You're all mine, and I intend to keep it that way."

  Her breath caught, and her lips parted. Her gaze met mine, and I couldn’t look away. I didn't want to look away, not now, not ever.

  I wanted to hold her every night and wake up with her every morning. I wanted to open my closets and see her stuff next to mine. Crazy or not, I wanted that little terrier to be my dog, too. I wanted to share a life, a house, and everything in-between.

  I was still stroking her thigh. "So what do you think?"

  "Hmmmm?"

  She looked so warm and blissful that I had to laugh. "Am I wrong to keep you all to myself?"

  "Hey," she teased, "I thought you didn't want to share."

  "No sharing," I told her. "But you know what I just realized?"

  "What?"

  "I've never even taken you out, like on a real date. Aren't you pissed? You should be."

  Funny, she didn't look pissed.

  Looking at her, something else occurred to me. For a rich girl, she seemed to get a kick out of the simplest things, things I'd almost begun to take for granted. I guess it surprised me.

  Growing up, I hadn't known many rich girls, if any. But the ones I knew now – like Amber for instance – took life's luxuries completely for granted. For some reason, Chloe wasn't like that. Was that why she hadn't complained about me not taking her out?

  Finally, she shook her head. "That other stuff isn't really important to me."

  I cared too much to let it go. "But what about dinner, clubbing, all that? Don't you want it?"

  "Truthfully?" she said. "I've kind of liked things the way they are."

  From the look in her eyes, she meant it. Still, it didn't seem right. I'd taken countless girls out on the town – to the best clubs, to nicest restaurants, to parties with people more famous than me.

  "Yeah," I said. "I've liked it this way too. But I don't feel like I'm being fair to you."

  "Why not?" she asked.

  "Because you deserve all that. To go places, to be seen, all that stuff. I've carted around other girls –" Damn it. That's not what I meant to say. Trying again, I shrugged it off. "It's just that you deserve all that and more."

  "Are you kidding?" She lifted a hand to encompass the back patio, which come to think of it, was pretty nice. "This is like a permanent vacation."

  Permanent. I liked the sounds of that.

  She laughed, sounding almost embarrassed. "Not to say I plan on hanging out here forever. I mean, I know you've got other things going on." Abruptly, she stood. "You know, thinking about it, I really need to get going. I've got to work in just a couple hours."

  I kept my seat. I wasn't going anywhere. And if I had my way, neither was she. "That's it," I said. "Friday night it is."

  "What about Friday night?"

  "I'm taking you out." I reached up and pulled her back down, causing the water splash around us. I wrapped my arms around her and spoke into her ear. "You're getting stir-crazy. I can tell."

  "I am not."

  "Uh-huh," I said. "You still have this Friday off?"

  She nodded.

  "Good," I said. "Seven o'clock. I'm gonna pick you up, just like a real date."

  She grinned over at me. "Yeah?" And then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "Do you know, Saturday's my birthday?"

  "It is?" Why hadn't I known that? I should have known that. "No kidding?"

  "No kidding."

  Perfect. I held her tighter. "Then let's make it Saturday instead. We'll celebrate in style."

  She gave a wistful sigh. "I wish I could. But I'm scheduled to work."

  "So, blow it off," I said.

  As usual, she declined. So, Friday it was.

  As for me, I had some shopping to do.

  Chapter 45

  I was sitting in my study when I heard Bishop, from somewhere near the doorway, say, "What's that?"

  Sitting at my desk, I snapped shut the small velvet box. "Nothing you wanna see."

  His voice grew wary. "Why not?"

  "Forget it." I shoved the box into my top drawer and pushed it shut. I looked back to Bishop and stated the obvious. "You're early."

  It was Friday afternoon. He wasn't supposed to be here until tomorrow.

  "Yeah," he said. "Complications. We've got to move tonight."

  I shook my head. "No."

  "No?" His eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

  "I have plans."

  "What kind?" He walked toward me stopped at the side of my desk. He reached down and picked up the sales slip that I'd neglected to put away. He studied the thing.

  Damn it.

  He looked up. "Is this yours?"

  The question had to be rhetorical. The paperwork did, after all, have my name on it. But that was none of his business. I gave a casual shrug. "I told you to forget it."

  He frowned. "An engagement ring?"

  It wasn't just any engagement ring. It was a flawless five-carat diamond set in platinum. Only yesterday, my jeweler had it flown in special from New York.

  When I'd gone in on Monday to pick out Chloe's birthday gift, I'd been unable – or more likely, unwilling – to stop myself from looking at rings, too. One thing had led to another, and now I had two jewelry boxes to give her – one tonight, and one, well, I didn't know when.

  Bishop was still holding the paperwork. "You're serious?"

  I pushed away from my desk. I'd known this conversation would come eventually. I just hadn't wanted it to be now. But fine. Whatever. "Yeah," I said. "And I don't want any grief about it, okay?"

  He tossed the paperwork back onto the desk. "So who's the lucky girl?"

  "You know who."

  He flicked his gaze to the drawer containing the ring. "Is she expecting that?"

  "It's called a surprise, dumb-ass."

  "Right." He crossed his arms. "So when are you gonna give it to her?"

  That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it? I knew it was crazy. But I loved her. I wanted to be with her always. With Chloe, it was hard as hell to take things slow, but I was working on that. Still, there was nothing wrong with being prepared, right?

  Bishop's voice interrupted my thoughts. "You've known this girl for how long? A few weeks?"

  I gave him a look. "Let me get this straight," I said. "You're judging me? You sure you wanna go there?"

  Bishop liked to forget that he, too, had been in love, once. And from what I recalled, he'd fallen just as fast.

  "So that's your defense?" he said. "I was stupid, so you're gonna be stupid, too?"

  I wasn't stupid. This was the smartest thing I'd ever done. "I'm not 'defending' anything," I told him. "I shouldn't have to. So fuck off, alright?"

  He was quiet a long moment. "Just be careful. Okay?"

  Screw that. I didn't want to be careful. I wanted Chloe. It was time to change subject. "About tonight," I said, "I mean it. I'm busy."

  "Until when?" he asked.

  "All night." If I was lucky.

  "Fine," he said. "I'll do it alone."

  It was a dumb idea, and we bot
h knew it. There was a guy in Southfield who had a thing for under-aged girls. We had a plan to take him down.

  It was tricky, but we had a system. We'd done it before, several times, in fact. But it was a three-person operation – me, Bishop, and Tanya, a baby-faced prostitute who could keep a secret.

  "No," I said. "Tomorrow, just like I said."

  "And like I said, there's complications."

  "So work them out," I said. "Get creative or something, will ya?"

  His voice was flat. "Get creative. That's your plan?"

  "Just do it," I said. "It's Chloe birthday. There's no way I'm cancelling."

  "Except her birthday's not 'til tomorrow."

  I paused. "How do you know?"

  "I saw her license," he said. "Remember?"

  That's right. I did remember, but I still didn't like it. "I'm still pissed about that," I told him. "You're just lucky she didn't find out."

  "I'm lucky? Or you're lucky?" He smiled. "Because I don't give a rat's ass if she's mad at me."

  For some reason, I just had to ask, "Why don't you like her?"

  "I already told you," he said. "That's not it."

  "Then what is it?"

  He was quiet a long moment. Finally, he said, "A girl like that? She's gonna rip your heart out and eat it for breakfast."

  I wanted to laugh. But the look on his face made me stop. For his sake, I changed the subject. "About tomorrow," I said, "just make it work, okay?"

  Five minutes later, he was heading out, with a promise to return later that night. Normally, this would be good news – not so much now, not with him and Chloe not getting along.

  Eventually, we'd work it out. But tonight wasn't the night. Tonight, I wanted to give Chloe a birthday that she wouldn’t forget.

  "Hey," I said to Bishop as he headed out the door.

  He turned around. "Yeah?"

  "Tonight, if Chloe and I end up here at the house, don't be a dick, alright?"

  He gave me a wave that might've passed for a yes. As for me, I returned to my desk and pulled out the ring. I looked at it for a long time, thinking how nice it would look on her finger. I didn't want to wait. But I would, because more than anything, I wanted her to say yes.