by Dale Cadeau
Clay, the kitchen, and Laura ended up covered in whatever she was making. It took Clay a full minute to grab the mixer out of her hand and turn it off.
She finally got a good look at him standing behind her and pulled the earplugs out, raising a hand to her heart. Her wide eyes, which just a minute ago had held a startled look, now turned to an angry glint.
“What the hell did you think you were doing?” Laura looked at Clay standing there, holding the mixer with a batter-splattered face and clothes.
Clay just stood there in stunned silence. He didn’t want to laugh, but Laura, spitting like a kitten, had a drop of batter on the top of her head just waiting to drop down. Clay reached out and took his thumb, ready to wipe it away, but he wasn’t fast enough and it plopped right on the tip of her nose. Clay couldn’t keep it in. He doubled over and laughed so hard, and even harder when Laura reached up and swiped at it, just spreading the gooey batter over her face.
Finally Laura saw the humorous picture they made and joined in his laughter, until tears streamed down her face mixing in with the batter.
Catching his breath, Clay straightened up and apologized to Laura. “Sorry to startle you. I did make noise and called out when I came in. I guess you were too involved to notice,” Clay said, and bit back another laugh.
“You almost gave me a heart attack. And now as you can see”—she spread her hands around the kitchen encompassing the mess—“you have spoiled our lunch. I didn’t know when you would be back, but though I would make you a soufflé.” Laura turned back to the counter and grabbed a dishcloth off the sink and started to wipe off the counter.
Clay reached around her and took it from her hands. “I made the mess. Let me clean it up.”
“That’s nice of you to offer, but I think we should both work on it, then clean up ourselves. It looks like we took a bath in the stuff.” Laura went to the pantry and took out a mop and started to clean the floor as Clay took over the counter.
Clay was still chuckling later as he sat in the living room waiting for Laura to finish her shower. He had suggested that they shower together, but Laura was having nothing to do with that. He had been able to clean up in the downstairs bathroom. His pants only needed a quick wipe off, as they hadn’t received the worst of the goo. But now he was sitting there shirtless, as Laura had placed his drenched shirt in the wash.
Looking around the neat room, Clay knew he could get used to this. A home and a hot woman. Yeah, maybe James had been right after all. A good woman was something to hold onto.
Watching Laura descend the stairs with her long wet hair swishing down her back, Clay was taken back to the pictures he and the guys had gone over this morning. It struck him that Laura would fit the description of the women that were accosted in the parking lot of the Playground. He couldn’t stop the shiver that went through him at the thought. Laura dropped down on the couch beside him and his thoughts turned to her. He could smell the fresh clean scent of her.
Gathering her close to him, he kissed the top of her head. “Sorry again for the mess. You did seem to be awful jumpy. Why don’t I take us out for lunch? Maybe we can find a place that will have a soufflé on the menu.”
Laura cuddled up to Clay and looked into his sincere brown eyes. She had been awfully jumpy. When Clay had touched her, she thought it was the Feds for a moment or worse, the General. She had to put that behind her if she was going to pursue a relationship with Clay. Telling herself she was safe, she put a hand on Clay’s warm chest. Laura just absorbed his warmth for a moment. He didn’t have to know about her baggage right now. She was just surprised that he had come back to her so quickly.
“Sorry, but I don’t have time for lunch now. I have a client coming over in about a half an hour. I have to get ready. Can I take a rain check?” Laura was now rubbing her hand over his chest, enjoying the feel of the crisp hairs that covered it.
Clay was enjoying the chest rub also but grabbed her hand and stilled it when he heard her talk about a client. Client? Didn’t she work as an accountant? He had met a lot of woman over the years that spoke about clients and he didn’t want to think the worse of Laura, but he felt himself stiffening up and asked her.
“I thought you worked for an accounting firm downtown? Why would a client come to your home?” Clay sat up straighter and looked down at Laura. Was she telling him that she allowed strange men into her home?
“Oh I do, but only two days a week. I mostly freelance now and do most of my work at home. The clients that I work on know this and some drop off their stuff here, instead of going all the way downtown to the office.” Laura didn’t know what Clay’s problem was but she could feel his chest muscles stiffen under her hand.
“Don’t you know how dangerous that is? What are you thinking, allowing strange men dropping in? Don’t you know in this day and age, that that’s a stupid thing to do?”
Laura looked up at him. Had he called her stupid? Sitting up beside him, her posture as stiff as his, she snatched her hands from Clay’s and gave him a look of disbelief. “Did you just call me stupid?”
“No, I didn’t. I said allowing clients to come to your home was stupid.”
Laura got up from the couch. Who does he think he is? She was used to looking after herself. After ten years it had become second nature to her. Laura was spitting mad and staring daggers at Clay as he sat there on the couch.
Pointing a shaky finger at the door and stuttering as she was so mad she screamed. “Get out!”
Clay stood up next to her. He couldn’t believe that she would take offense to his words. He, after all, had just been pointing out the facts. He knew in his mind that Laura wasn’t that kind of woman. But it was stupid in his mind for a woman, any woman, to allow strangers into her home.
Putting his hands on his hips he faced her with a no-nonsense look.
“Wait a minute, you know I’m right. You are putting yourself in danger every time you open the door to one of your clients.” Clay was now getting madder that she wasn’t seeing reason.
Laura just kept pointing to the door, her face red and her eyes spitting fire at him. “Get out, and leave my keys. I can look after myself and no he-man is going to dictate how I run my life.”
“Easy now, can’t we talk about this?” Clay knew he had to do some damage control and fast, before she would even listen to reason. This mild meek woman, that Clay thought he had pegged, had turned into an overly emotionally spitting kitten before his eyes. What had he said that was so wrong? He knew he was right. Clay opened his mouth again to try and reason with her.
Laura just pointed at the door and before he could speak, told him, “I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say. Just get out!”
Clay knew he had to retreat and come back when she had calmed down. Reaching into his pocket, he reluctantly laid her keys on the coffee table and made his way to the front door. Looking back at her as she stood near the couch, he could just make out the tears starting to fill her eyes. He felt terrible about making her cry but still knew he was right in pointing out the danger that she was putting herself in. Walking through the door was one of the hardest things he’d made himself do in a long time.
Closing the door quietly behind him, he made his way to his truck. He didn’t start it right away, but sat there and tried to think of ways to get her to change her mind and see reason. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he called the office and asked for Brad.
After making arrangements to meet him back at the office, Clay finally started his truck and left.
Chapter Ten
Half an hour later, Clay found himself sitting at the conference room table, rubbing the back of his neck with one large hand. He couldn’t believe what he had just done. Without thinking he had parked his truck in front of the Braden Security building and walked in the front door. Something he never did when they all had underground parking. It could be suicide to break cover. His only excuse was that Laura had him so rattled all he could think of w
as getting to Brad and talking to him about keeping her safe.
He would never live it down, if the guy got wind of his latest brain-less undertaking. In fact, he could hear Brad just coming down the hallway and braced for the look that he expected from him. Brad, with Angel and Grant trailing behind him, walked into the room with shit-eating grins on their faces. They looked like they would like to break out laughing. They all waited until they were seated, then just howled. Angel almost fell out of his chair, he was bent over laughing so hard. Brad, after he had caught his breath, asked him with almost a straight face, “Dude, what were you thinking?”
Clay just raised his head from the table where he had laid it at the start of their laughter.
“I wasn’t thinking, OK? And why are Angel and Grant with you? I just called you to meet me.”
Brad, with still a wide grin on his face and holding back another laugh, said, “I was out grabbing a sandwich down the street, and came in the front doors of the building on my way back. As I walked in the front door, people were lining up to fill me in. At first I didn’t believe them. This was Clay they were talking about, after all. Our calm straight shooter. But when the guard at the front desk confirmed their story, I just had to call Angel and Grant and tell them. It was too good to keep to myself. So being the great guy that I am, I called and filled them in.”
Angel who had righted his chair after his near fall, took over, adding, “Didn’t you notice the stares people were giving you? How could you walk through the front entrance to the elevators, wait for one, then ride up here with other people and not realize that you didn’t have a shirt on. You must have been quite a sight walking around all the people dressed in business attire, with your muscles on display and tattoo-covered arms. They probably thought you were here to rob the place. James will be sorry he missed the chance to take you to task, after all the remarks you made to him.”
Before Clay could respond to Angel, Grant piped up. “James doesn’t have to miss out. I will just break into the feed of the cameras at the front door, and James can see it all in full color.”
Clay just gave a beady look at his so-called friends. “Give me a break. James doesn’t have to see the pictures, the story will be enough. You know he will go ballistic when he hears about it. He is so caught up in keeping up appearances that this will have him exploding. So for my sake, can we just jot it down to bad judgment?”
“But was there any judgment involved at all on your part? Dude, you look like a hard-core biker, even dressed in a suit, but to put it all on display in the middle of the afternoon when the office is full. I don’t know where your head was.”
Clay rose from his chair and flexed his tattoo-colored arms, and tried to stare down the men surrounding him. “Give me a break. I just had it out with Laura and the last thing I was thinking about is what I was wearing. I don’t completely remember my drive here either. And if you tell that to James, I will deny it.”
“Well, that was a given,” Brad added with a snicker in his voice. “Did you get kicked out of bed and only have time to grab your pants? Tell me it’s not so. I don’t think we could live that down. We are known to be the best of the best, and I always though it meant everywhere. So please tell us your performance didn’t get you kicked out of bed?”
Angel and Grant were back to laughing with the fierce look on Clay’s face as he listened to Brad spout on and on.
“Stop it right now. That’s enough. It had nothing to do with any performance of mine. I’ve never had any complaints and that includes Laura. I just told her some hard facts about how dangerous she was being and she took offense to it. So I got kicked to the curb. But I was right, and that’s why I called Brad so he could help me guard her place. That’s all.”
Clay sat back down at the table. As he calmed down, he found himself grinning also. He must have been quite a sight walking through the first floor entrance with only black jeans, boots, and his hairy body covered in ink. He had noticed a few strange looks people were giving him, but thought nothing of it. As Brad had pointed out, even when he was decked out in a suit, he always had a hard biker look about him. That’s why he was surprised that a nice lady like Laura would give him the time of day. They looked like Mutt and Jeff cartoon characters together, with her stiff, button-down attire and he decked out in his leathers.
“Let’s get back to why we’re here, at least Brad. I just found out that she works at home most of the time and allows clients to actually visit her home and drop off stuff there. I think that is dangerous and unsafe for a woman that lives alone. I want Brad to stake out her place to see who’s coming and going. After he’s in place, I’m going to visit her office downtown and ask them how they can allow this to go on.”
Angel, who had quietly listening to Clay’s words, leaned up in his chair and interrupted Clay. “You can’t do that, and Brad can’t stake her house out. This is her life and if you want to remain any part of it, you better rethink your strategy. There’s no reason to think she’s in danger, and she’s not going to allow you to disrupt her whole life. She just met you, Clay. You can’t just barge in and take over. I think you should slow down. After all, you don’t own her.”
Clay stopped and listened to Angel. What he said made sense, but he wouldn’t allow her to put herself in danger. Clay looked around the table at his friends. “What would you suggest? I just leave her be and allow her to go on letting strange men into her house?”
“Why don’t you have Grant do a little digging? He could probably find out what arrangement she has with her office, and also her clients. If she’s been working there a long time, maybe they have an ongoing relationship and it’s perfectly safe for them to visit her at home. I would look into that first before going out and getting her fired from your interference.”
Grant pushed his glasses back up his nose. “I can be real quiet when looking into it. They won’t have a clue. I could get you the information by tomorrow. I agree with Angel. I think you should wait until we find out more, then take action if needed.”
“OK, OK, I’ll give it until tomorrow.” Standing up from the table, Clay started walking to the door.
“Where are you going?” Angel asked as his hand gripped the door handle.
“Just to my office. I want to go over the pictures once again before tonight. I want to refresh my memory.”
“Good, and put a shirt on before you go anyplace else. I don’t think the office would like a repeat of the fashion show again.” Brad couldn’t help razzing Clay once more.
Giving Brad a glare over his shoulder, Clay left the conference room and made his way back down the hallway to his office.
Clay sat down in his large leather chair and looked at the pictures spread over the surface of his desk. If you took the guy out of the pictures, all the women were of slight build, not overly tall, and all had long hair hanging down their backs almost to their waists. Clay recalled Laura as he last saw her in the living room. She would be the perfect match to any of the women in the photos from the back. She had the slight build and long hair. He would have to make sure she stayed away from the Playground until they caught the guy. Not that she would allow him to dictate where she could go, now that he had got his walking ticket. He would just have to worm his way back into her good graces.
She was one woman that Clay was not going to just let walk away. He didn’t know what it was about her that had him wanting to wrap her up in wool and keep her safe and near him. But Clay had enough years of going through women to know when a special one came along. It didn’t happen often and sometimes not at all. He wouldn’t let this chance escape him. He could see the change Avery made in James. James was now a more contented man with his life, and now a very possessive one with Avery. Clay wanted the same thing.
Chapter Eleven
Laura sat down with a thump on her couch after Clay had closed the door behind him. Thinking back over their words, she couldn’t believe that she had just blown her chance with him.
She should have sat down and explained to Clay that only the known and trusted clients were allowed to come to her home. Not jump down his throat at his first show of concern.
It was kind of nice having someone else worry about her. Clay was a man’s man. With his linebacker shoulders, bulging muscles, and colourful tattoos, he was just yummy. And here she had him wanting her and she threw it all away.
Wiping her hand across the tears that had escaped, Laura knew if she was going to take a chance with anyone, he would be the one.
Finally she made herself get up and went upstairs to get ready for Mr. Handover. He was a fussy client and it would keep her mind off Clay, if only for a few hours.
Hours later, after Mr. Hanover had painstakingly showed her everything he had with him, Laura’s mind returned back to Clay.
How could she get him to give her another chance without explaining her situation to him? It was too soon in their relationship to tell him her secrets. She hadn’t even told her friends and she had known them for years now.
She trusted her instincts, but knew her hormones were also playing into this equation, so she had to take her time to really get to know him.
The friend she knew that never seemed to have man trouble was Jane. Picking up the phone to call Jane, she heard the doorbell ring. Thinking it must be Mr. Hanover back with something he had forgotten to give her, she put the phone down and rushed to the door.
At the door was a deliveryman with a package for her. Thinking nothing of it, she signed and watched the deliveryman leave in a delivery van. She also took note of a black truck parked two doors down from her house on the street.
Looking at the package in her hands, she gently shook it. It struck her then, that from the wrapping on the package, it likely wasn’t from a client. Maybe it was something from Clay?
