I’m ready to rip out my own hair by the time they round them all up and hustle them to the door, and I fall into my chair with a moan.
A chuckle reminds me that I’m not alone. I look up to see Jericho laughing at me softly.
“That was just all kinds of wrong. You better believe my own kids will never be that unruly.” He chuckles, shaking his head and discarding the book he was reading—truthfully, Shakespeare—to saunter my way and lean his elbows on my counter.
“You about ready to do lunch, baby? I am starving after watching those little brats run roughshod over your place and I didn’t even do anything.”
I can’t do a thing but whimper as I look up at him and pray for strength.
“We shouldn’t—”
“Take too long. I get that. I totally cannot imagine what your life would be like if you got back late and had pimply faced, broody teens waiting for the lowly librarian to open this hell up for them. You do need to eat though, and since we still need to talk, two birds and all that…?”
He phrases it as a question and grins, but it’s a demand plain and simple. Something tells me—other than the fact that he just spent three hours waiting on me—that this man does not accept “no” easily.
Argh!
“Fine, but then you leave and don’t come back,” I say sternly, searching for resolve to wipe away the disappointment that hits me.
He just shrugs and smiles, crooking his arm out to me after I lock up and put the lunch sign in place.
“Um, we could grab sandwiches and come back here,” I venture, hoping for that alternative because if we go anywhere else, Daddy is bound to get wind of this.
“Bullshit. You think I’d consider a sandwich a fit lunch for my girl? We’re going to the diner, and I’m feeding you a good lunch since I guarantee your tiny butt didn’t eat anything this morning.” He grunts, unlocking his truck and lifting me into the seat.
I can’t form a word as he buckles me in and lopes around to his side, sliding in with a satisfied grunt before pulling away and taking my hand the way old married couples do all the time.
“Jericho, I think we should clear some things up before we go any further.”
“Sure, as long as whatever you say does not include you not going out with me or coming home with me tonight. Damn, Peaches, it just about broke my heart when I woke up and you weren’t there to nuzzle.”
Heart. Beating. Really. Hard.
“Uh, the thing is that it’s just…I can’t. My dad will hear about this, and he is not at all a nice person when things do not go his way. He expects me to keep seeing the preacher’s son and get married and run the women’s clubs and…and…”
“And I do not fit his bill? That’s too bad since it might make the wedding awkward, not to mention visits with the kids, but hey, I can compromise.”
Did I mention that I’m about to start hyperventilating as he just keeps rolling that steam engine right on over me?
“This, is not…” I breathe, swallowing the gasp that pushes up.
I cannot even form words when he grins at me and kisses my hand, snuggling our palms so close to his crotch that I can clearly see and feel the erection that not even a blind man could miss.
I may be new to nudity and sex, but I am not stupid and that…holy heck. How did I take that into me?
“Here we are. Now don’t frown, Peaches, it might make people think you don’t want to be with me, and I have feelings too, you know. Now, unbreak this raggedy old heart and throw a man a bone here, just a small one. You rocked my world last night and ran off before I could do anything but smell your perfume on the sheets. Hurtful much?”
He’s incorrigible. It’s the only word that comes to mind as he steals another quick kiss and rushes to my door, unbuckling me and lifting me straight out as if I weigh nothing.
I need to settle this and set him straight. I have to because I need him gone and not smiling or purring at me before I do something really stupid like fall into him and beg him to take me again.
The diner is filled when we walk in, my hand firmly clutched in his no matter how hard I try to pull free. I see him smiling broadly at the gaping stares as Kimmy shows us to a booth in the corner and giggles down at him—as if she isn’t going on fifty and happily married to Bull, the hardware store owner.
“Why, hello there handsome, been a while since I seen your pretty mug. And is that you, Mou— I mean, Cleo Ducaine?”
Stupid bit— I mean, woman.
That shock on her face makes the really disagreeable side of me, which I endeavor to squash, flare up and rear its ugly head. I’m also really embarrassed and blushing, which makes me really mad as well because it would hurt me to have this Godlike creature looking at me with pity.
I may be meek and not at all stunningly beautiful like Ginger, but I’m not a doormat either—at least not today.
“Unless I have a twin running around causing mischief.”
Jericho’s lips twitch, and I see Kimmy’s eyes widen before she turns away from me, ignoring me completely, and grins at Jericho.
“You must be a real nice man to swan around with Cleo, what with the way she just seems to—”
“Could I have those menus and some privacy, please? I want to talk to my girl about date night and you’re lingering, lady.”
Well.
Kimmy loses the smile, slamming the menus down with a huff that makes me cringe and cup my head. Do not draw attention to yourself, that’s my family’s motto and one I can’t shake as I feel all eyes turn to us as Kimmy shuffles off muttering too loudly to be ignored.
“Cleo, look at me, baby. There they are. Keep those pretty eyes on me and tell me what the hell that was, would you?”
“Er, Kimmy?”
He shakes his head and glares at the peanut gallery before looking back at me.
“No. That. The way she spoke to you and seemed to be looking down at you.”
My cheeks flush, and I feel like sinking into the ground with humiliated gloom.
“They… I’m just not that popular, I guess. I usually just take a packed lunch to work unless I’m running late. Then Daddy has his assistant run something over to me so I don’t have to come in here. They’re just…them, I guess,” I mumble, my eyes glued to his as if he’s charming me with his silent commands.
“Well fuck this! Their loss. Come on, Peaches, we don’t eat where the common folk look down on queens. I’m taking you over to Lenny’s office. That woman always has food, and we’ll chill there till I have to have you back to work.”
I try to protest and hiss at him to pipe down, but the man is a force to be reckoned with as he pulls me from the booth and sneers at them all before storming out.
He’s fuming as he lifts me into the truck gently and lopes around, slamming his own door with a force that makes me jump and duck down.
“Stop it. I don’t like seeing you cowering in front of these assholes, and I swear to God, the next time one of them looks at you that way and tries to call you a mouse, I will flatten this fucking burg—chin up, Peaches.”
My face is slack with what I can only call shock and blossoming joy as I lift my chin and meet his eyes with a tremulous smile.
“That’s it. Don’t give them another thought. No wonder I haven’t seen you around before, because sure as shit if I’d seen your fine ass flitting around in the last several months, I’d have had you nailed down long ago.”
I’m speechless again as he screams out of the parking and guns it down Main, heading for the only doctor in town.
I like Lenny Storm, I have from the moment I met the laughing woman with a wicked sense of humor and that hot husband of hers that always has a smile.
For once, and maybe because I just want to savor this moment, I forget that I shouldn’t be doing this with this man and melt into the seat. Later, I’ll tell him to go away and lie through my teeth about not wanting him. But for now, I just want one more moment of his kindness and the deep feelings I see
in his eyes.
Chapter Four
Jericho
I’m pissed and fighting not to show it as I tease Cleo out of her embarrassment and force her to sing along with me to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.”
She seems surprised that a man like me could like this shit, and while I have to say I’m more Guns ‘n Roses most of the time, I do like regular, light pop like most folks.
By the time I stop in Lenny’s parking lot, she’s chirping at me about some or other song I have no clue about, but I’m just happy not to see that defeated look in her eyes or the acceptance of defeat that got me so pissed in the first place. First thing after I drop her back at work, I’m grilling Lenny for gossip about this shithole town and the ingrates inhabiting it. They better hope they haven’t hurt my girl lately, or I may not let this hovel stand.
I don’t need the bar, not with my other job with the Watchers, and I certainly do not care a bit about killing assholes. It’s my job, and I make enough money that a few freebies might just feel like leisure time to me.
First things first though, I have to feed her and introduce her to the girls so that I can show her what real people are actually like.
“Well, if it isn’t my tall, hot, and manly admirer,” Jill coos as I open the door and walk in after Cleo.
“Sorry, doll, this hot stuff is now taken by this fine and sexy lady to my left. Cleo, meet Jill. Jill—”
“Hey, babe! Thank you so much for that home remedy for athlete’s foot. It had Jimmy’s feet smelling like actual human feet in less than two days. Best thing that ever happened to my poor nose. Oh, and thank you so much for telling people that he doesn’t have VD!” she yells the last bit toward Lenny’s office with a snarl. I laugh under my breath when the doctor herself comes walking out, her tiny belly cute and cuddlier than the sneer on her face.
“I said I was sorry! I listened to gossip that was not true and I was wrong. You want that fucking apology in blood, blondie? Oh, hey Cleo, looking good,” she chirps, smiling at my girl with true affection.
“Uh, hi.”
“You here for something specific? Since you’re healthy as a horse, and I know I just gave you your sho— Whoops! Confidential. Pardon me, honey.”
I surmise that she’s on the birth control shot, and I feel my hopes turn to ashes as she smiles and blushes prettily.
“That’s okay. I’m, uh, actually here with Jericho,” she stutters, ducking her head.
“Yeah! They’re screwing, and about damn time too if you ask me. I was just about to introduce her to Jimmy’s friend Cal over at the farm. You know the one,” Jill explained.
“Gross. Just gross. Those guys all have nasty feet and bad hair,” Lenny sneers before smiling at Cleo. “You with this ape? Well, power to you girl if you can keep him in line. Last I heard, he still drags his caveman knuckles across the floor and grunts in reply. Is he at least good between the linens?”
“Hey now, I’m civilizing for my girl. And I am good. Where’s that man of yours?”
“Kicked him out when he tried to tell Mrs. Leavy I couldn’t treat her grandson because ‘the kid’s got zits, sugar. He may be contagious.’ The poor boy has early onset acne for Christ’s sake. You should have seen the little guy blush and just about crawl into the floor after that ape got done. No tact. And he’s freaking driving me nuts. Hey! Y’all want some cheesecake and orange juice? I perfected that recipe Mama sent me.”
She’s off and banging around the kitchen before we can decline her offer, and I find myself chugging OJ, with Cleo sitting beside me, grinning as the Jill and Lenny show takes center stage.
“Nooo. Why don’t I refuse to treat them all just on principle alone since I’m not a proctologist?” Lenny grates, baring her teeth.
We’re so busy laughing and enjoying Cleo’s giggles that it takes us a while to realize Jill is the only one not laughing.
“Oh gawd, Jill. I mean, I do not treat assholes,” Lenny says slowly, rolling her eyes.
“Oh! That’s hilarious. Proctologist because of the whole ass thing, and them being…”
Lenny pats Jill’s head and shakes her own with pursed lips.
“I can’t explain it either. She’s been tested, but they keep saying she’s just fine.”
“Not funny. Now getting back to those people—”
“Really, Jericho is just blowing this all out of proportion. It wasn’t that bad. The townspeople are just used to teasing me. I’m over it. Now can we please focus on something else before I have to go back to work?” Cleo turned to the doc and tried to change the subject. “Lenny, did you try that lavender ointment Jody makes? Ginger uses it whenever she has a bad month, and she says it works like a charm on problem skin. Maybe, if the Leavy boy doesn’t mind the scent, it would work? At least he could use it at night when he’s sleeping and wash it off come morning.”
I like helping people and I am not ashamed to say it. Just because they aren’t always nice to me does not mean I can’t be nice to them. Jesus sees me always, and I would hope he takes note of them too. Just saying.
“That’s an excellent idea. Thanks, doll. Now don’t you be a stranger, okay?” She says as I pull Cleo up and get ready to leave.
We still haven’t had that talk we need to have, and I can feel her readiness to kick me to the curb and scuttle back to her hidey hole even as she smiles and waves, letting me pull her to the truck.
“Don’t!” I warn as soon as I pull out and she takes a breath to shut me down.
“But—”
“But nothing. You came into my bar and propositioned me and gave me your body and all that innocence. Don’t demean what we have because you’re scared of disappointing your daddy. And just don’t even try to tell me that you’re not seeing me again because I should warn you, it won’t make a difference at this point.”
Her mouth works for two beats before I see that fire she tries so hard to keep at bay rise in her brown eyes.
“Don’t you order me around, Jericho Evans. I told you the score last night and when you showed up at the library. Get it through your head, we are not dating or together or whatever it is you’re thinking we’re doing. It was one night of abandon, and I am moving on! I cannot even entertain the thought of being your…your girlfriend, because despite all belief to the contrary, I am not this rebel you seem to think I can be. My daddy is all I have left—besides my stepbrother, who is gay—and the only other friend I have besides Ginger. I will not disappoint him.”
“I’m not accepting that, but I will give you some time to realize that you’re being stubborn. Now give me a kiss and go on back to work.”
Her shrill huff makes me chuckle as she throws her door open and slams it shut, stomping away with just the slightest backward glance that gives me the hope I need.
Cleo is mine. She doesn’t know it yet, but she so is and that thought is all I need as I set my jaw and make for Lenny’s again.
***
Cleo
“Well, now you know, honey, if you’d just consider going digital, we could have the space we need for that music room for the church.”
Breathe, Cleo. Do not yell or scream or stomp your feet in a pique, I tell myself as the reverend’s wife, Nina, smiles at me benignly. She may think I don’t know that she’s trying to flummox me and get me to lose my precious library, but I know her score and despite the urge to just go ahead and give in, I stand my ground for once and refuse to change this grand old place just so that twenty yowling middle-aged women can have yet another place to gossip instead of sing like they keep telling people they do every Monday night.
“I’m really sorry ma’am, but that application to declare the library a landmark due to its age says that no changes can be made until the city decides its fate. I’m afraid y’all will just have to find another venue.”
I keep my voice sweet and my face unaffected, even as she huffs and scowls at me in displeasure. The woman is sour to the core and tries my patience like nothing else, but
it’s not in me to shake that tree lest she run to her husband who golfs with Daddy.
Like I really need that monkey on my back what with Jericho and his threats still ringing in my ears and a place full of surly teens who scowl at me and mumble under their breaths constantly.
Strangely, I like them, which must say a lot about how crazy my years of service have made me. I respect every lippy reply and snarling rebellion. It’s like seeing my every dream play out on a daily basis, while I look on from outside, in the cold, where I’m slowly freezing to death.
Maudlin I know, but hey, I just spent an hour with a man who made me feel like back talk is the catch of the day, every day, and I’m feeling sorry for myself for throwing that prize carp back and settling for the guppy that I keep getting handed.
“I warned you not to apply for that damn thing last June and you did it anyway! I will speak to the reverend about this. See if I don’t!” she yells, waddling away with a huff of indignant dismay.
“Man, what a total bitch. What crawled up her dry snatch and died in self-defense?”
I stifle a giggle but can’t help my lip twitch when Liddy Barton thumps her books down in front of me and throws Mrs. Lemon Lips the middle finger.
“You can laugh you know, Miss Ducaine. No one here would dare tell that old fart that you call Daddy that you’re actually human.”
The other occupants laugh and pump their fists before going back to their studies and I smile at Liddy with an inclination of my head.
“We should turn the other cheek is all.”
“Yeah? What if some fucking A-hole has already punched that one to a pulp and the current one is bleeding like a fucker? What do you do then, Miss Ducaine? I say it’s time you spat in their eyes and flipped your dad the bird if he can’t love you as you are. Kelly-Anne told me how that hot boyfriend of yours gave those old assholes what-for at the diner, and I’m thinking you should take a leaf of what he’s smoking.”
“Hell yeah, hottie!”
“Tell them to go fuck themselves!”
“I heard that man of yours has guns.”
THE WATCHERS: 6 Military Romance Bundle Page 18
