Time. It always seemed to run out too quickly. Stephanie put the game box back on its shelf in the front closet and turned to see Chaz leaning against the breakfast counter. She could see the clock on the microwave behind him: nearly ten. He would have to go to work soon, would normally already have been there.
He studied her face and knew her thoughts. He watched her walk to him and slide her arms around his neck, felt soft kisses on his cheek, and heard the quiet sigh of resignation. A hand massaged the back of her shoulders.
“One of these days I’ll get smart enough to schedule a day off,” he commented as he kissed the side of her face and rested his forehead against hers and thought about how he shouldn’t have let them get so close. But, instead of moving away, he pulled her against him. Her soft body and light floral scent always made him relax.
“Can you stay with me, Chaz?” Stephanie heard herself whisper. But there was nothing timid in the soft words.
“I want to,” was the beginning of his apology. She finished it for him.
“But you can’t.” She tipped her head back to see the expressions in his eyes. Desire. Frustration. Regret. She couldn’t resist kissing him again, this time very lightly. His mouth responded immediately and hungrily.
Again, she said that she wanted him to stay.
“I definitely have to leave before midnight.” Even as the words were sliding across his lips, Chaz knew he was crossing another line. But the thought of leaving made him feel an emptiness he didn’t want to face. He’d rather stay with her for as long as possible.
Stephanie grinned triumphantly; her eyes twinkled. He was giving her another two hours.
“Do you want me, Chaz, as much as I want you?”
He nodded. She took his hand and led him down the hallway to her bedroom.
Chaz removed the sling. Stephanie helped him to slowly slide out of his shirt and watched him flex away the stiffness in his shoulder. She gave a half-teasing grin and promised that she’d be gentle with him. Then, she kissed the spot where the bullet had entered.
“Does it hurt?”
“Not much.”
She unbuttoned her blouse and he ran his hands across warm flesh. It felt good to touch her. When she turned to toss her garments across the lone chair in the room, he reached out and slid his fingers across the tattoo that ran from the center of her right shoulder halfway down her back. It surprised him although he didn’t know why it should.
“It’s a dream catcher,” she explained in response to his unasked question. “Considering my gift, it seemed an appropriate illustration of my identity.” She pulled her hair to the opposite side so that he could get a better look at it. She’d had the tattoo artist make the feathers blue and purple to reflect the dominant colors in her auras.
“Aren’t they supposed to filter out bad thoughts?”
“Yes.”
“But a bad dream is what brought us together.”
“That makes it a good dream.” A smile tilted her lips as she turned to him.
Chaz kissed her forehead. “You’re amazing,” he whispered before stepping out of his jeans. Stephanie ran her hands along his thighs as soon as his body had been freed. She smiled at the overwhelmed expression in his eyes and ran a finger up his chest, across his neck, and along the edge of his jaw.
Mesmerized, he had another fleeting thought that this shouldn’t be happening, a thought that spoke of their emotional rather than physical bonding. Stephanie watched him and knew she didn’t quite understand the depth of his struggle. So, she waited. She kissed his chest and his shoulder and the side of his neck. Her fingers moved purposefully over his body, content to learn each curve and ridge of the muscular man standing naked in her bedroom. He was beautiful.
Then, his strong arm held her hips tightly against him. His lips moved against hers in a way that brought lightheadedness. She was lost, and he knew it. They both were.
Neither of them would ever remember how they actually got to the bed, but there they were. Hungry, yet patient. Eager for more, but determined to savor every touch, every kiss. Her nails lightly scraped along his arms, shoulders, and back causing him to shiver with the excitement of that gentle pain. His mouth trailed hot kisses across her neck before sucking a breast into it where his tongue could soothe the soft nips from his teeth. She trembled and pulled him closer. His muscular thigh slung over hers as their bodies ground against each other.
And then he moved tenderly into her.
Delicate. Deliberate. Delicious. He wanted to smile at the complete surrender in her eyes and the way she was so generous. He couldn’t. He was drowning in every emotion they were sharing.
Stephanie knew the instant their souls blended—even minutes before their bodies exploded in a fire that consumed them and sucked all the air out of the room. Breathless, she acknowledged it. The expression in his eyes told her that he knew it too and that, if possible, he would stay all night, holding her and making love. But she also knew that the realization bothered him.
“Look at me, Chaz,” was a quiet request. She waited for him to shift positions before continuing. “I try to accept life as it happens. Believe me when I say that won’t change.”
“I believe everything you say,” he admitted.
“Really?” She smiled, amused. “I’ll have to find a way to make that work to my advantage.”
He sighed and kissed her forehead. “You already have the advantage.”
Stephanie’s fingers traced along the edge of his jaw, down the side of his neck, and to the scar at the left side of his chest. Chaz really did have to leave.
“Time’s up,” she reminded him.
By the time he’d taken a quick shower and reluctantly walked out of the apartment, twelve minutes remained to make the almost twenty-minute drive across town.
Chaz checked his phone as he slid behind the steering wheel. Two missed calls from Morgan and a stern text from Steve. PLAYTIME IS OVER. CONTACT ASAP. He wasn’t looking forward to explaining to his superior that he hadn’t shown up earlier because he was busy falling in love. He was undercover and, although he hadn’t been out of touch long enough to cause alarm, nothing was supposed to be more important than the case.
He scrolled to Steve’s initials and dialed the number.
“Moseley sent someone here to find you an hour ago.”
“They need the deal, Steve; he’ll come back.”
“She’s a distraction,” he reminded Chaz.
“I know.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Niagara Falls?” Karen raised an eyebrow and grinned at her friend.
“It was great,” Stephanie sighed contently. Her fingers absently played with the fringe of one of the decorative pillows on the sofa. “We stayed on the American side and took the boat ride under the falls in the morning; we had lunch, visited the aquarium, and rode the trolley through the park that afternoon. Then, we drove back,” she said happily. “For a while, we were two tourists holding hands and being wowed by nature; and Chaz was more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him.”
“You’ve been seeing a lot of him.” She watched her son try to grasp a bottle of diluted juice and didn’t even try to hide her pleasure at Stephanie’s news.
“Yeah, I have.”
“Is it getting serious?”
Stephanie wasn’t sure. “I’d like to believe that we’re headed toward some type of commitment, but my gut feeling is telling me to simply enjoy whatever time we have together.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“Not at all.” She reached over and stroked the back of her godson’s hand. The thought that she might someday want a child hit her unexpectedly. She shook it off, but not before Karen caught that mesmerized expression.
“Everyone falls in love with babies,” she told her friend. “They’re cute and soft and amazing when they aren’t being demanding and noisy and stinky. You should get a big taste of both sides.”
Stephanie laughed and shook her head.
> “I’m serious; you should take little Victor for an evening,” Karen persisted. She took her time before asking, “How often do you see Chaz?”
“Every few days.”
“And you saw him yesterday?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Because you probably won’t see him tomorrow. Take care of your godson for a few hours. Get in some high-quality bonding time.” Karen laughed at the panic-stricken expression sent her way.
“I know absolutely nothing about taking care of a baby!”
“You’ve helped me enough to handle him on your own. Plus, I’ll only be a phone call away if you have any questions.” Karen worked on her friend’s reluctance until she finally gave in.
Babysitting wasn’t how Stephanie had ever imagined spending a Friday evening, but it was fun. At just past three months old, little Victor was communicating through gurgling and smiles and the most adorable giggling. His attempts to roll himself over were remarkable. His godmother was fascinated by the strength in those legs that were determined not to bend whenever she tried to put him in the portable swing. And she was captivated by the way he snuggled against her when he finally was worn out enough to fall asleep.
Some day. She smiled at the notion of having the tremendous responsibility and incredible honor of caring for a baby full-time.
Her phone rang just as she was spreading a cover for the sleeping child. At the same time, someone knocked on the front door.
“Hi, Karen. Hold on.”
She looked through the peep hole. Chaz. She swung the door open and motioned him inside.
“Okay. I’m back. . . . Nope, no problems. . . . Well, right now he’s asleep on my shoulder and Chaz just got here. . . . That’s fine. I’ll see you in half an hour.” She ended the call.
“I’m sorry. I should have called first.” Chaz stayed near the door and glanced around the livingroom at the baby paraphernalia crammed between pieces of large furniture.
“That’s okay.” Stephanie studied his strained face before setting the baby in the playpen. She removed the burping cloth from her shoulder and draped it over the frame. Was something wrong?
“I’m supposed to meet a friend for drinks,” Chaz confessed once she had returned to stand in front of him. “He’s not far from here.”
“All right.” So he had a few minutes to kill. But that wasn’t the problem.
“Actually, I’m already behind schedule,” he was saying. “I just wanted to see you.”
Stephanie was flattered. “Well, it’s nice to see you, too.” Her eyes crinkled with her smile and she brushed a curl back behind her ear.
Chaz placed a hand against the side of her face. He bent to give her a lingering kiss that told more than he was saying.
“It’s okay to miss me, Chaz.”
“I didn’t expect this.” His face was only inches from hers.
“It’s okay,” she repeated. “I miss you, too.”
“A little or a lot? Because you pop into my mind when I’m supposed to be working and distract me when I’m supposed to be with someone else.” His frustration poked through the playful tone he tried to adopt.
“Well, you pop into my dreams. So, I guess we’re even.” She didn’t tell him just how frequently he interrupted her sleep. Instead, she touched his chin lightly. “Go to your meeting, Chaz.”
He stepped away and looked around the room again.
“It’s odd seeing baby stuff in here,” he said. “Of all the things we’ve talked about, I don’t remember you saying whether or not you want a family.”
“I do. Eventually.”
Admitting that aloud and to Chaz made her uncomfortable. Him too. She stared at him for a while, her eyes trying to identify something in his that he didn’t want her to see.
He lifted a shoulder and the corner of his lips at the same time. “I’d better go.”
If Chaz had thought that seeing her would settle his mind, he was wrong. He’d wanted to stay. He was on his way to see Evan Moseley, and all he could think about was getting the evening over with so he could have the uncomplicated world he always seemed to have when he was with Stephanie. She was his oasis.
No. She was more than that. She embodied possibilities.
Stephanie wanted a family. A baby. A traditional life. Knowing that isn’t what had unsettled him. Realizing that he wanted it too is what had caught him off guard.
Being an FBI agent wasn’t an impediment to having a family. But working undercover definitely was hard on relationships; most of his colleagues were either divorced or never married because of the amount of time they needed to spend away from home. He was no exception—and that had been fine until he’d met Stephanie. A wife and child weren’t something he had let himself think about until a few minutes ago.
The problem was that he would be leaving Erie soon. And he didn’t know what to do about her or all of the promise their relationship held.
CHAPTER NINE
Stephanie was awake at midnight, trembling and sweating from another dream. Her damp nightgown wrapped around her. She climbed out of bed and rushed to the livingroom to snatch her cell phone off of the charger.
“Please tell me you’re all right,” she pleaded when Chaz answered her call.
“I’m fine.” He could hear the sigh of relief. “What’s wrong?”
She hesitated before saying, “I know what goes on in the basement. Are you there?”
“I’m here.”
“No, Chaz; are you in the basement?” Her voice was urgent, frightened.
“Yes.” It didn’t even occur to him to evade the question.
“Is there a woman with a silver top and lots of bracelets and a man in a blue suit sitting next to her at a blackjack table?”
Chaz stared through the one-way mirrored wall and said they were both there.
“Okay. Then my dream is about to happen.” She took a deep breath and told him about a call the man was going to receive from someone who wanted to come to the room tonight. Chaz would talk to him and agree. “But when the second man arrives, he won’t be alone,” she continued. Another man would want to come downstairs with him. She told him exactly how they would be dressed and that the second man would have a gun. “He won’t give it up, so only the man he’s protecting will come into the room. He’s going to talk to you about taking over your business. And, Chaz, something he said scared me.”
“Do you remember what it was?”
“Yes.” She was almost near tears. “He asked whether getting shot hurt. It was the way he said it, with a sneer or something. He’s evil, Chaz.”
There was a long silence that made Stephanie even more afraid.
“I’ll be all right,” Chaz assured her. “Thank you. And I’ll call you in a little while, as soon as I finish here. Will you be okay?”
She nodded before remembering that he couldn’t see her. Her tentative “Yes” was barely a whisper.
As soon as Chaz ended the call, he turned to Morgan and said that he thought Paul Watkins was on his way to see them. He synopsized what Stephanie had told him and then called upstairs to have another bouncer join the one guarding the final entrance into the gambling den. These two men, unlike the other bouncers, were off duty cops who knew they were helping a federal investigation. Of course, he told them to be armed. At the same time, Morgan was talking to Steve McDaniels: they would need to capture shots of Watkins either coming or leaving the pool hall. They might be able to tie him to Moseley’s takeover negotiations.
Chaz slipped a small microphone into his shirt pocket and had Morgan test the receiver to make sure it would record.
“How does your lady-friend know about this place?” Morgan asked cautiously, uneasily wondering whether his colleague was sharing information. “And how does she know what’s going to happen?”
“I can’t answer that.” Chaz’s no-nonsense expression told Morgan that now was not the time for this conversation. He kept watching the man in the blue suit. After a few minute
s, Chaz double-checked his gun, shoved it into his waistband, covered it with his loose shirt, and went to stand by the bar near the roulette wheel.
Everything happened exactly as Stephanie said it would. Watkins arrived less than twenty minutes after Chaz’s conversation with her. Watkins’ bodyguard was detained in the lower-level employee lounge while Watkins was allowed to observe the operation. Nearly half an hour passed as the two men sipped whiskey and made infrequent comments about what was happening.
“I don’t negotiate,” Paul Watkins finally told Chaz. “Other people do that for me. I’ll assume you think my offer is fair.”
“I do.” It wouldn’t have been if Chaz was really a criminal. To be believable, he’d dragged out the process and implied he might not accept the price under the pretense of wanting the pool hall included in an even more lucrative deal. Moseley had said that probably wasn’t going to happen. It didn’t matter whether Watkins knew Chaz was lying about the offer being fair as long as the criminal believed he was winning.
“And I’ll assume all of the details have been worked out.”
“Most of them.”
“Then, I’ll send my intermediary back to finish the task and we’ll move forward. Agreed?”
Chaz smiled. “Agreed.” They shook hands. Watkins squeezed much too firmly.
“I see you aren’t feeling well,” Watkins said with a nod toward Chaz’s left arm. “Did it hurt?”
“What? Fracturing my shoulder?” That was the story he’d told everyone. “Yeah, it was little painful.” He flashed another fake smile. “I guess that’ll teach me about being careful in the stock room.”
Paul Watkins leaned closer and chuckled, but there was only meanness in the sound.
“That’s not what I heard. Getting shot is no small thing. But, hey—if you say it didn’t really hurt, I’ll take your word for it.”
Chaz didn’t respond.
It was only when the door closed behind the mean-spirited man that Chaz let himself process his satisfaction and his fear. So, Watkins had shot him to scare him into turning over the business at a less-than-fair price. If he’d been a civilian, the last comment would have done its job. But Watkins had made a mistake in coming to see Chaz; now the task force might be able to add his name to the list of people about to get charged with extortion and operating (or at least conspiring to operate) illegal gambling facilities.
Premonitions: Dream Catcher Series ~ Book 1 Page 5
