“Who said I expected you to?”
“No one,” Skyler replied calmly, shrugging.
“Jesus!” Billy leaned back against the wall and eyed him. “Being a cop sure makes a person paranoid.” Her tone was derogatory, but she was already smiling again. Then she glanced over at the floor he had selected. “I was just here!”
“Sorry,” Skyler said, leaning indolently against the wall.
“I’ll bet,” she said, mimicking his tone as well as his words. “So how’d you know about my arrest?”
“I was there.”
“You were? How come I didn’t see you?” she asked suspiciously, as if she thought he’d avoided her.
“Because you were too busy resisting arrest, and I was about two thousand feet up.”
“Oh.”
“It was the dog, wasn’t it?”
“What?” she said, her brows furrowing.
“You had a pretty good head start, and you were pretty much home free, but the officer told you about his dog, didn’t he?” Skyler grinned.
Billy closed her eyes and nodded.
“Still afraid of dogs, huh?”
“Yeah, so? You still cheat on your wife?”
Skyler held up his left hand, devoid of a wedding ring, looking at her mockingly.
“Oh, so you’re between wives currently,” she said, her tone still biting.
“Still charming as ever, aren’t you?” The elevator doors opened and Skyler walked out. He didn’t look back.
Billy followed him out and stood there, waiting for him to return. Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t like men walking out on a good argument. Jerith liked to do that to her, and she always waited him out.
Billy paced the corridor outside the narcotics division. She was dressed in black leggings, two-inch-heeled black boots that laced up to her knees, and a sapphire-blue pirate-style blouse that was tucked into the leggings but flowed silkily around her wrists in a long ruffle and at her neck, where the line was cut low to reveal a lace camisole. Her makeup served to enhance her look, dark and alluring, and her black curls framed her face and flowed down her back. She looked like a black cat on the prowl.
At thirty, she still had the agile body of her youth, and she liked that people stared at her. She’d been wild for years now, and it seemed to fit her pretty well. The daughter of a stripper, she didn’t even know who her father was, and she’d seen a lot. She’d been abused by any number of her mother’s boyfriends, and had finally lashed out at the last one, almost killing him with a knife. She’d left home at the tender age of sixteen and found her way from Orange County to the streets of Los Angeles. She’d hung out in clubs, picked up a few waitressing jobs. At one point, when she was nineteen, she decided she wanted to be a singer, so she started paying particular attention to the female lead singers of the bands that played the clubs. She also had a penchant for older men, and since they were all after her, she had her pick.
Billy first saw the dark-haired, light-eyed Greek cop at the bar where she waitressed. She was extremely interested in him the minute she saw him, and he was indifferent to her. She’d seen him a number of times over the last few months. He came to the bar and hung out with his friends, other cops. They first met when she exchanged coverage with another waitress so she could talk to him; he’d ordered his drink and never really given her another glance. Over the course of the next few weeks she started making a point of talking to him, asking him questions. Billy had long since noticed the wedding band on his finger and assumed he was just one of those faithful types. But the more he didn’t seem to want her, the more she wanted him. She wasn’t used to guys being indifferent to her. She didn’t like it, and she was set on changing it.
One night in the bar, a guy was giving her a hard time, and she told Skyler about it. To her shock he responded by going over and grabbing the man by the front of his jacket and telling him to leave the young lady alone or he’d bust his face in for him. Billy was surprised and thrilled that he’d defended her, but nothing seemed to change between them. After a while, she gave up trying to get to him and just started being herself—that was when he started flirting with her, jokingly. She would laugh and flirt back, but she figured he was just comfortable with her because she wasn’t chasing him anymore.
One week night, the club was quiet, and she had actually gotten to take a break and have a drink with him. His friends weren’t there, and he seemed down, so she’d made a point of trying to cheer him up. Eventually, she became exasperated with him and reached over and hugged him. His hand touched her bare shoulder, because she was wearing a tank top—she thought she’d been touched by a live wire. Every nerve in her body lit up like the Fourth of July. The hug lasted longer than she’d expected, and she was pretty sure he was affected by it too. But when they parted, she wasn’t able to tell from the look in his eyes.
He ended up getting really drunk that night, and she volunteered to drive him home. When she insisted, he grudgingly gave her his keys, and she left him at his front door. Halfway back to her own apartment, still driving his car, Billy gave in to impulse and turned around. He had told her that his wife was gone for the week to visit some relatives.
She unlocked the front door with the keys she’d kept, wondering remotely if the police really considered it breaking and entering if she had a key. Walking inside, she glanced around and saw that he was nowhere to be found in the front room. She walked down the hallway, stopping at what had to be the master bedroom. Looking in, she saw that he had apparently passed out on the bed. He had managed to remove his shirt but was still wearing his shoes and pants.
Billy crept over to the bed and watched him for a while, not sure why this man seemed to affect her the way he did. Eventually she took off her jacket and heels and sat down next to him. Skyler was asleep on his back, and Billy found she couldn’t resist touching him. She reached out, tracing a pattern on his chest with one finger. Looking at his body, she decided his chest had just the right amount of hair, not too much, but just enough to be very masculine.
She knew she was in serious lust, and she couldn’t resist leaning down and touching her lips to his chest. She yelped when his hand reached out and grabbed her arm painfully. She looked over at him; he was staring at her in surprise.
“What’re you doin’ here?” he asked her, his voice gravelly.
“I want you,” she said daringly, sliding her hand along his chest.
His eyes narrowed as they trained on her hand, and then he looked back at her. “Don’t do that,” he said, but she could hear the desire in his voice.
“Don’t do what?” she asked, trailing her hand down to the top of his jeans.
“Billy…” he said, his voice almost a groan.
It didn’t stop her unbuttoning his jeans and sliding her hand inside, watching his eyes the entire time.
“Billy, what?” she said as she heard his sharp intake of breath when her hand touched bare skin.
“Jesus!” he exclaimed, reaching up and taking a handful of her hair, using it to drag her face down to his, his lips taking possession of hers. It was by far the most exciting sex she’d ever had.
Their torrid relationship lasted six months. He’d been overcome by the guilt of cheating on his wife long term and he broke the relationship off. Billy had been devastated at first, but she’d gotten over it a year later when she met Jerith Michaels and they started Billy and the Kid.
Now, ten years later, she was still reeling over the fact that she’d met Skyler again. When he walked back toward the elevators she was still waiting for him.
He shook his head. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“You should know that better than anyone.”
Skyler walked into the elevator, and she stepped in with him. He sighed as he pushed the button for the first floor and leaned against the back of the car. “I don’t really feel like playing with you right now, Billy, so could we just drop the crap?”
“Charming as ever, I see,” Billy
said, repeating the phrase he’d used on her earlier. “I don’t want to hassle you, Skyler, I just wanted to talk to you some more, okay? Truce?”
Skyler grinned. “Okay, truce.”
“So where’re you headed now?”
“Out to my office.”
“Want company?”
“Not particularly.”
“Tough.” She raised an eyebrow at him as he laughed at her brashness.
“You haven’t changed a bit, have you?”
“I haven’t changed at all, no,” she said, watching his eyes. “Luckily for you.”
“And why’s that?” he asked, but then shook his head. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.” He held up a hand to forestall her answer.
Billy grinned mischievously at him, but said nothing.
They got outside and Billy saw his car. “You still have the ’Stang, huh?”
“Can’t get rid of this—it’s like my child.”
“How are your children, by the way?” she asked conversationally.
“Do you really care?” he said. There was no malice in his voice; he just knew her, and she was really good at small talk when she wanted to be. Without thinking, he opened the passenger door for her.
“Sure,” she said, shrugging as she got in. “I mean, they could be important people now, ya know?”
“Well,” he said as he walked around to the other side of the car and got in, “my daughter Cassandra is twenty-eight now, with two kids of her own. Michael is twenty and in college, and Chelsea is a very modern fifteen.”
“Do you have custody?”
“Hell no. You think my wives would let their children live with their loser of a father?” His tone was dry and Billy realized she’d hit a nerve.
“But I’ll bet they don’t mind the money you send them, do they?” she said defensively. It bothered her that anyone thought of Skyler Kristiani as a loser.
Skyler looked over at her, surprised by the vehemence in her voice. “No,” he said quietly. “I guess they don’t. And how about you?” He wanted to get away from talking about his life. “How long have you had this new habit?”
Billy shrugged. “’Bout five years now,” she said, looking out the window. She glanced over at him, her eyes narrowed just slightly. “Not everyone has your ethics, Skyler.”
“This the first time you’ve been arrested?”
“Yes, believe it or not,” she said, sounding like a recalcitrant daughter.
“I believe it. You’ve always been pretty slick.”
Billy looked at him sharply. “You’re still just pissed ’cause I got to you,” she said, looking very confident.
“It’s been the crux of all my pain,” Skyler replied sarcastically, not looking at her.
“Fuck you,” Billy retorted, but she grinned.
“I think you did.”
“I think I’d probably like to again.” she said, her tone halfway between angry and joking.
“Wouldn’t be the same,” he said, his voice more serious this time, but Billy misunderstood his meaning.
“Why, because you wouldn’t be cheating on anyone?”
“No, because I’m not the same guy I was then.”
Billy just looked back at him. She wasn’t sure what he was saying. She watched him as he drove, and she started to notice some differences in him. It wasn’t obvious things like gray hairs or wrinkles—it was something deeper. He seemed much more serious than he had been ten years before. He seemed quieter too. She thought he seemed almost depressed. She wondered what was going on that would make him that way, and she found herself wanting to make him smile again. It was just as it had been ten years before—she wanted to make him happy.
When they got to his office, he showed her around and introduced her to some of the pilots he worked with. Many of them eyed her but said nothing. Skyler checked his inbox and found it contained nothing important. She suggested that he take her to lunch.
“Do you think you can swing that?”
“Funny. Maybe I should make you treat me—you’re the big star now.”
“Fine, I’ll buy,” she said, beckoning him as she walked out the front door. He looked over at one of his coworkers. The younger man was grinning widely.
“Go for it, man!” the pilot said.
Skyler just shook his head and followed Billy out the door.
Lunch was interesting. He’d forgotten what a bubbly, up personality Billy had. She talked and he listened. When they’d finished eating, he leaned back in his chair and watched her as she described an incident that had occurred at a concert. She was so animated and young, he almost envied her.
“…and you won’t believe what the cop told me—he said that I couldn’t leave the area because I wasn’t dressed properly. I told him that if he’d like I could take more off, but he didn’t think that was very funny…” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Skyler, are you listening?”
“Yes, I’m listening. So what did the cop do?” Skyler picked up his beer and took a drink.
“He said if I disrobed any further he’d arrest me.”
“Did you?”
“No, I wasn’t in the mood to end up in some hick jail in the middle of the sticks. Besides, Kid smoothed everything over—that’s what he does.”
“Kid?”
“Jerith. He’s the guitarist in the band—he kinda runs it, ya know?”
“The band, or you?” Skyler asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Both, sometimes,” she replied honestly. “Like right now, he told me that if I don’t straighten myself out this time, he’ll kick me out of the band.”
“Would he do it?”
Billy considered the question for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, I think he would. He would hate it, but he’d do it for my own good.”
“I like him already,” Skyler said, sounding very fatherly.
“You would.” Billy made a face. “He’s as straitlaced as you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You would.”
After lunch Skyler went back to the office to check in. There was nothing going on so he asked for the rest of the day off. His boss, Dilinger, gave it to him—Skyler Kristiani rarely took a day off.
Driving back toward town, Skyler was flipping around the radio when Billy told him to go back a station. A song was playing that he didn’t recognize, but he understood as Billy started to sing the words.
“One of yours, I take it?” he asked. Billy nodded as she continued to sing. Skyler reached over, turning the volume up just a little more. The words talked about the heartbreak the singer felt when someone walked out, and how much she missed that person. She claimed over and over to be fine, but at the end she admitted she was lost without them. It was a good song, the music was done well, and Billy’s unique style came through in it. She sang like an angel in some parts and like a downright vixen in others. From what Skyler remembered of her, that was her way.
There had been many nights, ten years ago, when he hadn’t been able to drag himself away from her bed. She was all-consuming, and he hadn’t been able to control himself with her. She’d brought out a raw side of him that he hadn’t known was there, and it bothered him. He had realized a couple of months into the relationship that it wasn’t good for either of them to carry on the way they were. He was doing further damage to an already failing marriage, and he did have two children with Theresa, after all. He knew he had to keep trying at this marriage; he was determined at that point that it wouldn’t fail. He had broken it off with Billy, attempting at first to do it gently, but she wouldn’t let it end that easily. It was as if she felt that something was dying and she wouldn’t let it go without a fight.
They’d had a fight during which they’d had some pretty intense sex—it was as if she was getting her last licks in before it was really over. He’d left her apartment the following morning with some scratches from her nails, a couple teeth marks on his shoulder and neck, and an overwhelming sense of
loss. By the time he arrived home, he wanted to crawl into bed and just sleep and forget that he wouldn’t see her again. But it hadn’t been that easy. Theresa had been waiting for him, and when she saw the condition he was in, she threw a screaming fit. Not that he blamed her—she had every right. But she didn’t leave him, much like his first wife. She screamed while he sat and listened and said nothing. When she was done, he left the living room and went to take a shower. Things had never been the same between them after that, but it had taken Theresa another three years to divorce him.
As he listened to the music he thought about those times. He looked over at Billy and saw that she was watching him. The song ended a few moments later.
“Interesting song,” Skyler said.
“You think so?” Billy asked, her eyes on him. When he nodded, she nodded too. “I wrote it after you broke up with me.”
Skyler looked over at her, surprise evident on his face, then shook his head. “Bullshit.”
“No bullshit, Skyler. You want to see the copyright date?”
He looked over at her again as if trying to gauge how serious she was, but then shook his head. “No, I believe you.”
“You annihilated me, you know,” she said. Her tone was light, but he could tell it was forced.
“I didn’t mean to.”
“Yeah, I know.” She looked out the window and didn’t talk for a little while.
Skyler realized a few minutes later that he was heading for home, automatically. He glanced over at her. “So where am I taking you?”
She looked over at him, staring directly into his eyes. “To your place?” she said, her voice as direct as her look.
Skyler laughed, shaking his head. “Oh, no, I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” She looked petulant. “What, the big, bad BNE agent is afraid of a little girl? I’m harmless.”
Skyler gave her a pointed look. “Not since the day you were born,” he said, and she could tell by his tone he was only half joking.
“Skyler James, I can’t believe after all this time you still don’t trust me.”
“After all this time? Billy, I haven’t seen you in ten years.”
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