Chloe Babineaux Private Investigator

by Lisa Clancey

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The next morning I awoke to the sun shining through a crack in the window. I slept so good, and my head didn’t hurt and where the hell was I? Reality hit me in the stomach. Rick’s bed. What did I do? Well, I knew what I did and more than once. What was I thinking? Let’s not go there. There was absolutely no way I was going to sneak out of bed. Was there? No, probably not. I was facing away from him, but if I moved, it could wake him. I had to move because my arm was asleep. I turned over and pulled my arm out from underneath my body and plopped it on top of me. I flexed it and tried moving it without shaking the bed.

   I took a good look around the room. I didn’t really notice much last night. The headboard was red and white and made out of picket fence material. The dresser across from it was plain but painted red and white with a large mirror over it. The knobs were white with a red flower design in the middle. It was plain, but I liked it. The dresser was covered with photos of men and women in and out of uniform. Rick’s home was comfortable.

  “Is there a problem with your arm?” I turned my head and saw that he was smiling. Ugh, time for the awkward morning after but at least he was smiling.

  “It’s asleep. I didn’t mean to wake you. I seem to say that a lot to you.” Since he was awake, I decided to shake my arm around harder. So much for waking up and looking dreamily into each other’s eyes, it probably felt more like lying in bed with a jackhammer.

  “I’ve been awake for a while,” he said, grinning. “I’ve been watching and listening to you sleep. Did you know you make little noises in your sleep?”

  I make little noises in my sleep. Cute noises? Oh, let it be cute noises. I wanted to ask, but I really didn’t want to know. Not now anyway, maybe in the next ten years. What was I thinking?

  “Okay, I’ll bite. Cute noises?” I asked wearily.

  “Yeah, cute noises,” he said, laying an arm across me. “Isn’t this supposed to be the awkward morning after part?” He leaned up on his elbow so he could look down on me while we talked. It wasn’t fair how a man can look good in the morning. His hair was tousled but still sexy. I have major bed head. My hair goes every which way. Sexy? Not likely.

  Okay, I make cute noises. I felt better about that. No, I wasn’t going to ask what sort of noise. I wasn’t falling for that.

  Awkward? Did he feel awkward? I knew I felt awkward but why did he feel awkward? And why was I mad he felt awkward? Oh man, he was sorry we had sex, and he was wondering how he could get me out of his bed without ever having to see me again. No problem, we weren’t going to have sex again.

  “No. No awkwardness,” I said. “Is my underwear over there?” Yeah, that was real smooth. It wasn’t like he was going to jump on that remark.

  “Do you feel awkward?” Boom. There it was.

  “Is my underwear over there?” I asked again, not answering the question.

  “Why do you feel awkward? Okay, don’t answer that. We really need to talk,” he said giving me an, ‘I’m sexy in the morning so why don’t you want to look at me,’ look. He had stubble on his chin that some men work at having. Why couldn’t I look that good in the morning? Not that I wanted stubble on my chin in the morning. I needed to get out of there.

  “Can we talk later? I have things I need to do today, and I really need my underwear,” I said, lifting his arm from across me. What kind of woman would willingly leave the comfort of a bed while lying next to Rick? One with brain damage. I also didn’t want to hear him tell me he didn’t want to see me again. If all he wanted was to have sex, we had it, and now we can continue on our merry way.

  “No. You can’t have your underwear until we talk,” he said, grinning. He’s grinning and not shoving me out the bed. I was going to take that as a good sign.

  “Fine, don’t give them to me. I’ll get them myself,” I said getting out of bed. I stood up and then got back in bed pulling up the covers.

  “Do you mind closing your eyes?”

  “I’ve seen you naked. Twice.” He laughed. Yeah, I forgot the peep show in my apartment.

  I threw the covers over him, which he promptly removed, and walked to the other side of the bed. I tried walking seductively until I saw myself in the mirror and I looked like I was doing a bad imitation of a hula dance. Forget it, the faster I retrieve them, the faster I could get to the hall bathroom and dress.

  I was almost to the doorway when he said my name, “Chloe.” I ran to the bathroom before he could stop me. I did not want to talk about us right now. There wasn’t an us. Just a real emotional moment last night. Why did I think he wanted to talk about us? Did I think there was an us? Another good question I couldn’t get into right now.

  I changed in the bathroom where I had left my clothes the night before. I had things to do I had to go the store for groceries, write up my report and interview the Tamereauxes. I had a busy day; I didn’t have time to talk about relationships.

  I opened the door, and Rick was leaning in the doorway leading to the living room with crossed arms. The glare on his face wasn’t real warm, although seeing him barefoot, shirtless and wearing a pair of jeans was making me warm.

  “Do you have to stand there like that when I’m trying to make a point?” I asked.

  He glared at me, his face closing, and mouth tightening. He cocked his head and said with a deep scary voice, “What do you mean like this? What’s your point?”

  Oh, crap. He thinks I have a problem with his scars.

  I crossed my arms, leaned against the wall, looked him up and down and said leering, “You know damn well what you do to a woman when you stand there with your shirt off, fine fitting jeans, and your hair all messy and curly. It’s a strong woman that doesn’t have to change her underwear. But since I didn’t bring another pair, I have to keep the ones I have on.”

  He grinned his sexy half grin and said, “We still need to talk.” He shook his head, laughed but it had nothing to do with humor and asked, “Do you know how many women say, ‘I love you,’ after they make love?” Love? Where did that come from? “They don’t jump out of bed as fast as they can.”

  “No. I really don’t. But why don’t you use that as plan B. You can go find one of them if this doesn’t pan out for you,” I said with a hard expression.

  There was banging on the door, and we both flinched.

  “Oh good. Maybe that’s plan B,” I said dryly as he was walking to the door.

  “It’s probably my brother,” he said opening the door.

  Standing there at the door was no brother. She was tall with long, dark blond, straight hair. Her jeans had to be pulled on with a pulley attached to the ceiling, and her green sweater was at least two sizes too small. The V-neck did not stop at her neck. It stopped closer to mid chest. Her breasts were quite impressive and were the size of cantaloupes. In fact, I would have had to place cantaloupes in my sweater to have them look like that. Trust me; she did not have melons in her sweater. That would have been obvious to a blind man. And I was sure there were plenty of men that would have jumped at the chance to read her sweater in Braille.

  The woman shot daggers at me and then Rick, alternating back and forth.

  “Oh good, your plan B has arrived,” I said smiling, but my eyes weren’t smiling. I was pissed. I just threw him to her, but I was pissed. Didn’t make much sense, but since when do I ever make sense? I didn’t want him, but I didn’t want her to have him either.

  “Is this why you broke up with me?” Melon Sweater yelled through the clear storm door. It wasn’t open yet, so she had to talk loud to be heard. Yep. That was exactly why she was yelling.

  “Suzanne,” Rick said opening the door, “I didn’t break up with you because of Chloe. We broke up before I met her.”

  “You broke up with her?” I asked. “Rick, what were you thinking? Even I can’t keep my eyes off her breasts.”

  He jerked his head around to me and said through clenched teeth, “Not helping.”

  “I know, right?” S
uzanne asked. “I mean, I do look good.”

  “Woman, if I weren't straight I’d be all over you. Maybe not literally, but I would make it completely obvious that I wanted you. Now. Here. In front of Rick.”

  “Again. Not helping, Chloe.” How can he be so articulate with his jaw so tightly clenched? He jerked his head back toward Suzanne. “Suzanne, I broke up with you before I met Chloe. I was on my way home when Chloe and her cousin ran off the road, and I gave them a ride home.”

  She turned to me and asked, “You jumped in a truck with a man you didn’t know?”

  “I held a gun to him,” I said and shrugged.

  “Oh, well that’s alright then,” she said and turned back to Rick.

  “I can’t believe you had sex with her but not me.” She turned to me and said, “No offense.”

  “None taken,” I said, shaking my head. I couldn’t believe he didn’t have sex with her either. His head would have gotten lost between her breasts. They made me think of Tammy’s Tiffany but maybe not quite as large. I wonder if Suzanne could have pulled an Uzi trigger with no hands. With a little practice, I bet she could.

  “I wanted more than just sex,” He waved his hands around and said, “I know it sounds unbelievable, but I want more than just sex.” The poor man was way out of his element. He could take down six guys by himself but put him between two women, one that was really PO’d, and he was helpless. Suzanne and I just stared at him like he was speaking in some weird ancient language.

  I had to help. Besides, maybe she would give me a ride home, and I didn’t think he would give me one without talking first about our relationship. Good grief. I had to pick the one man that wanted to talk about relationships.

  Rick slunk off into the bathroom and put on the T-shirt I had been wearing the night before.

  “Suzanne, if it’s just about sex, I know a man you should meet,” I said, smiling.

  “You do?” Suzanne and Rick said at once.

  “Yes, I do. Unfortunately, he’s kind of a pig,” I said making a face.

  “You mean ugly?” Suzanne asked wide eyed.

  “No. Actually he’s very good looking. He’s almost pretty. He’s a pig because he talks about his sex life constantly. If you have sex with him, there’s a good chance he’ll talk about it to whoever will listen to him,” I said, making an apologetic face.

  “You aren’t talking about Reed are you?” Rick asked dryly.

  “Reed? His name’s Reed? Is that his first or last name?” Suzanne asked looking interested.

  “Last name. His first name is Richard, and I don’t think this is a good idea,” Rick said, glaring at me.

  I glared back at him and crossed my arms. It probably wasn’t a good idea, but how else was I going to get melon sweater out of his house. He broke up with her the night I ran off the road. That explains why he didn’t seem to be in a good mood. It still didn’t explain why he didn’t freak out when I drew on him. He thought he could out maneuver me. Yeah, that was a no-brainer. To tell the truth, my finger wasn’t in the trigger guard, but I don’t know if he could have seen that in the dark. Hello! He was military and a cop. They were trained not to freak out when guns were pointed at them. Civilians, on the other hand, do, i.e. Derringer. Get back to Suzanne and her huge obnoxious sweater.

  “He’s right Suzanne, it’s not a good idea,” I said, swinging my attention back to her. “He’s a pig. I apologize for even mentioning his name. All he’s after is sex with a woman. That’s why he can’t keep one longer than a month. I tell him it’s only two weeks, but it’s actually a month.”

  “You don’t think a good woman can change him?” She looked disappointed.

  “Oh, God help me,” Rick groaned.

  I ignored him and talked directly to Suzanne, “No. I don’t. The man is…well, come to think of it…nah. Forget it. Don’t ever think you can change a man. They…well; I shouldn’t say all, but some men suck. So don’t bother they aren’t gonna change.”

  Rick looked at me with a ‘What?’ look. He shook his head and said, “I think I’m offended. Should I be offended?”

  “I said,” I rolled my eyes, “not all men suck. So, if you’re a man that sucks, then, yeah, I’m talking about you. If you don’t suck, then I’m not talking about you.” I narrowed my eyes and shook my head slightly back and forth in a look that said, ‘duh.'

  Suzanne and I looked at him, waiting for him to answer. He opened his mouth a few times and closed it. I’ve seen caged birds do that.

  “Oh please,” I rolled my eyes, “you don’t suck, okay? I mean, Suzanne might think you suck right about now. But we’re trying to make this right. Right, Suzanne?” I said smiling at her.

  “Yes. But you just said the good looking man you know is a pig. So who else do you know?” she asked with hands on her hips.

  “Yeah, let me think…oh! I know!” Yes, this would work. “What about Guillory? His first name’s Jesse. He works in Narc. Now, that is a good looking man, if you like them with shoulder length hair. He has a bad boy look.” I looked at Rick, thought hard and nodded. “Yeah, he has a look that reminds me of Rick but Jesse is less rugged, and he has a beard.” I shook my head and put my hand on Rick’s arm and added, “Don’t get me wrong I love your look. I’m just saying Guillory has one of those three-day beard things going.” I looked him up and down, made an apologetic face to Suzanne and said, “You know, he may look a little like Rick, but Jesse doesn’t work out like Rick does.”

  “That’s okay,” she jerked her head toward Rick, “he’s kind of intimidating anyway. I like them a little smaller.” She grinned.

  Rick looked at her and she got one of his ‘What?’ looks.

  I laughed put my arm through his, winked and said, “Don’t worry you don’t intimidate me.”

  “I think I would like to intimidate you a little,” he said with a crooked grin. “But hey, you love my look.” He winked.

  “Don’t get your hopes up, honey bunny,” I said, wrinkling my nose.

  “So, Suzanne can you give me a lift to my apartment in Alexandria, and I can find out if Jesse is seeing someone?” I turned my back to Rick so he couldn’t shake his head and tell me not to ride with her. We would have to talk later. Way, way later.

  “Sure. I have to go into Alexandria anyway,” she said, smiling.

  I found my shoes and socks grabbed my purse and I was ready to go.

  I kissed Rick on the cheek; still looking shell-shocked and said, “I’ll let you know what I learn from the Tamereauxes and Sister Bonita tomorrow.”

  “Why don’t you let me come with you, at least to talk to Sister Bonita,” he said, holding me around the waist. I might not have wanted to talk about our relationship right then, but I still wanted Suzanne to know Rick was off limits. I didn’t want him, but I didn’t want Suzanne to have him. I had no idea what I wanted.

  “Sorry. No can do. This is all me. Besides, Sister Bonita probably wouldn’t talk to you. You know, being a man and all. She is in a convent.” I almost made it out the door when I stopped turned around and asked. “Do you have Jesse’s number?”

  “No, but I can go to the station and get it.”

  “No, don’t. Come to think of it; I have it.” The look on his face made me laugh. “Yeah, it is what you’re thinking. But we’re just friends. Don’t worry about it. There’s a reason it didn’t work out, and Suzanne will rock his world.”

  “Should I ask why it didn’t work out?” Rick asked dryly. He closed his eyes shook his head and mumbled, “Please don’t tell me it has anything to do with rocking his world.”

  “His ex-wife called him night and day. But she’s gotten remarried, so she quit calling him,” I said and shrugged my shoulders. “That’s what he said the last time I saw him a couple of months ago.” I paused then said, “He also thought my job was too dangerous and I was gonna get hurt.” I shrugged again and added, “I guess he was right. I’ll call him and set this up. If he’s not seeing someone.” I said that once but
I thought it was a good thing to say again.

  We walked out to Suzanne’s silver Z4 beamer. Nice car. Wow. I can’t believe Rick passed all this up to sleep with a woman with a used pickup truck. She probably makes four times what I make. But then, that wouldn’t be too hard to do. If you make minimum wage, you make twice as much as I do.

  “Sweet car. What do you do?” I asked bending over to maneuver into the sweet little two-seater.

  “I’m an attorney. What do you do?” she asked starting the car. Man, I’d give my eye teeth to drive a car like this. An attorney she says. Okay, she makes a lot more than what I make.

  “I’m a private investigator, and I drive a used Toyota Tundra,” I said with a laugh.

  “We use private investigators. Do you have a card? I’ll call you the next time I need to use one.”

  I couldn’t believe it. I slept with the man that dumped her, and she would call me the next time she needed a private investigator? That sounded too good to be true. Clearly, she had an ulterior motive.

  “I’m confused. Why would you call me after what you just walked in on?” I asked, giving her a narrowed look.

  “I’ve known Rick for years. We actually went to school together. I should have known it wasn’t going to work. I was bored.” She laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Yeah, but what if it doesn’t work out between you and Jesse? I hope you don’t blame me. I mean, he’s nice, but I didn’t want to go out with him either.”

  “No worries, if I think he’s a jerk, it has nothing to do with you.” She smiled. “I promise. Now, what about that phone call?”

  This would be so good. If she called me now and then for a job, I might actually be able to pay my rent and buy groceries all in the same week.

  I dug for my phone and took Suzanne’s photo while waiting at a traffic light. I searched through the umpteen dozen useless phone numbers on my cell and found Jesse’s number. I had taken his photo so when he called his photo would appear. I showed it to Suzanne. “Nice,” she smiled.

  “By the way, Suzanne, do you want to have lunch with him?” I suggested lunch because it’s the most non-romantic meal.

  “Yes. Lunch would be good.” Okay. Now all I have to do is set this up. Sounded easy. But easy rarely was.

  It was late morning so he should be awake. He answered on the third ring. “Hey.”

  “Hey, Jesse.”

  “Hey, Chloe. How’ve you been?”

  “Good, I’m good. How’ve you been?” Suzanne was listening to our small talk, and that was all it was, small talk. No flirting.

  “You know nothing but work,” he sighed.

  Perfect segue. “You know what they say about all work, and I have a solution. I’m sitting here with a beautiful woman that has nothing better to do for lunch than to eat it with a worthless slob like you.” I laughed.

  “Oh, nice,” he said dryly, “she’s sitting there beside you, and you just called me a slob.”

  “Yeah, but I showed her your picture, and she thinks you’re a slob worth having lunch with,” I said not even trying to hide a laugh. “Hold on, and I’ll send you her picture.”

  I found her photo and sent it by text to his phone. It took a few minutes, so we chit chatted about work.

  “I heard you were shot. Are you okay?” I could hear water running. I wonder if he was in the bathroom. Didn’t matter, at least he was washing his hands.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. You know me, I have a hard head.”

  “That I know firsthand. Okay, I have the text. Wow! Yes. Yes, I’m free for lunch. What’s her name?” I gave Suzanne the thumbs up and grinned. Uh-oh, I don’t know her last name.

  “Hold on a minute, she’s driving, and she’s asking me a question.” I turned to her, muted the phone and asked her, her last name.

  “Reynolds. Suzanne Reynolds and I work for Rogers and Reynolds Attorneys at Law,” she whispered.

  I unmuted the phone and said, “Suzanne Reynolds and she’s an attorney. Okay, to be honest, I don’t know Suzanne that well and just got her last name. We met through a mutual friend. It’ll give you something to talk about later. So, where do you want to meet her for lunch, because you will not pick her up at her place? You’re a man. This is the first time ya’ll have met, so she doesn’t trust you.”

  “Way to talk me up, Chloe. How about Outback? It’s very public.” He didn’t sound like he was very happy with me right then.

  I asked Suzanne, and she nodded. “Okay, great. How about meeting about…one?” I said looking at Suzanne, who nodded. “Out front. She’ll be the gorgeous woman. And you’ll be the sexy man. Everyone will be jealous, blah, blah, blah. Have a good lunch, Jesse. Bye.”

  “Bye, Chloe. And thanks.”

  I turned to Suzanne and said, “You cannot. I repeat cannot tell him about Rick and me. If you do, I’ll have to shoot you.”

  Suzanne turned her head to me and laughed. I wasn’t laughing. I was serious. Okay, maybe not the shooting part. “Okay, I might not shoot you. But I can make your life hell. Look at me. Do I look like a sane person? I jumped out of Rick’s bed to sit in a car with you so I could set you and Jesse Guillory up on a blind date. Don’t make me think about this too hard I may do something completely off the wall.” She turned her head to look at me, and I crossed my eyes.

  Suzanne laughed and asked, “What are you talking about? Are you married?”

  “No, I’m not married.” I took a deep breath exhaled hard and said, “Look, Rick and I shouldn’t see each other. Tell Jesse we’re both friends with my friend Tammy. He doesn’t know Tammy, so it really doesn’t matter what you tell him.

  “Anyway, Rick and my brother, Cody, are partners. It isn’t a real good idea for us to be seeing one another.” I paused. “I’ll tell Cody, just not right now. So please don’t tell Jesse.” But I won’t have to tell Cody because I wasn’t going to see Rick again.

  “Okay, I’ll tell Jesse we met through a mutual friend, and you told me about him. Would that work?”

  “Works for me.” I shrugged.

  We chit chatted the rest of the way back to my apartment. I gave her one of my cards so she could call me when she needed a private investigator and the update on her date.