::FOURTEEN::
“We’re going to have to get out of bed at some point.” I’d rather stay like this all day, laying still with her and not wanting to move, caressing her side as our sweat cooled. “I have to feed you, ‘Nette.”
My gut growled at the thought of breakfast, making her laugh as she sat up, still straddling my lap. She has a beautiful laugh, something else I could listen to all day. “What was that? I didn’t quite hear you. Something about needing to feed ME?”
I take her in for a minute longer, her beautiful smile, her face still flushed and her hair a wild mane behind her. The sweat and the slick wetness of our lovemaking cools quickly everywhere except for the heat of her in my lap, the centre of my world right now. “If we don’t get out of bed, we’ll stay here all day, ‘Nette.”
“And the bad part of that would be…..” She leans down to kiss me once, gently, before letting out a deep contented sigh and shifting her weight to sit on the edge of the bed, letting out a small wince as she does it. Sitting up behind her, my hands cover hers as she rubs the ache out of her thigh muscles. I bury my nose in her neck to hide the flutter of male pride. Smiling, rumpled, sore and satisfied. I would ask if she’s okay but I know she is, and I don’t really think I could ask her without grinning at her while I did it. “I’m a mess,” she mutters, as she gets up finally, her legs a little wobbly still. I bite my lip to keep from smiling. “Let me get cleaned up.”
“You’re beautiful, ‘Nette.” My hand rests on the curve of her hip as she walks, naked, to the bathroom, where I dig out towels for her. “I’ll make coffee.”
“You don’t want to join me?” Standing by the bathtub, turned just enough that she’s covered but not enough that I can’t imagine every beautiful inch of her. Her head lowered, with just the hint of a smile turning up the corners of her mouth. How she can look shy and seductive at the same time I don’t know. She probably isn’t even aware that she does it.
“If I do, ‘Nette, we’ll never leave the house.” Which isn’t really a bad thing, in fact, the longer I think about it the better it sounds. I get to the bathroom door before I lose the fight I’m having with myself.
“I’m still waiting to hear the bad part of that.” Her face breaks into a huge grin, a soft laugh right behind it, as she says it, stepping into the tub.
My bedroom still smells of Jeanette, of us. The sweat damp sheets half pulled off the bed, and our clothes all over the floor. Everything drifts for a minute, sitting on the edge of the bed, this morning running through my head, as I listen to Jeanette singing quietly in the shower. It’s a strange sort of happiness, one that almost hurts it’s so strong. Like an emotion that snuck up on you out of nowhere that you’ve got no defense against and hardly even a name for. Holding her shirt under my nose, my head full of the scent of her, the ache is nearly enough to make me want to scream. Or laugh out loud, or cry, I’m not sure which. All I know is that I feel so good, I feel happy and I feel alive again, like the thought of her brought me back from the dead. In a way I guess that’s exactly what happened.
Thinking of her clothes, I call Alvarez, as I finish making the coffee. I don’t think she’s got anything but pajamas to wear, I didn’t really look to see if he grabbed anything else, but it was a pretty small bag. I very nearly hung up, not wanting to hear that it was perfectly fine for her to go home. I like having her here, and I want her to stay, even if it’s just for a little while. “‘Morning, Alvarez”
“You dog, Vetter, it’s what, eight thirty now?” He’s laughing as he says it. “I bet you just got out of bed.” I’m not about to argue, or explain. Alvarez has been at work for about half an hour now, and probably ‘investigating’ on his own for at least an hour and a half on top of that. On any other day I’d miss him. “How’s Jeanette? Is she okay?” All the joking around goes out of his voice when he asks and I can picture him, his face serious when he holds the phone.
“The bandage came off before she went to bed, fortunately the cut wasn’t that deep. She was more scared than anything else.” I fidget with the phone cord, not really wanting to ask the next question. “I needed to know if the cops are going to let her back into her apartment, she’s got nothing but pajamas to wear.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” He takes a bite out of something on the other side of the phone, I’m guessing it’s a danish, before he continues. “I drove by this morning and the place is boarded up now. They even had a not so undercover cop out there sitting in his car right across the street.”We’ve laughed about that enough, with what passes for undercover here, the cops might as well just wear signs. “He got all pissed when I stopped the car to talk to him, like I was going to blow his cover or something. I could call and look into it for you. I’m guessing you’re not in a huge rush to have her out of your house?” I can almost see him grinning on the other side of the phone.
I’m caught off guard by my own laugh, before answering, “Definitely not.” I listen for Jeanette for a moment, before I ask about the ‘case’ that isn’t a case. She’s still in the bathroom, but I step onto the porch anyway before asking. I wasn’t just upset when I swore to keep my work and my life separated from now on. “Any new developments last night, Alvarez?”
“We had two more junkie deaths, but that looks like a straight overdose situation. The heroin in them was over ninety percent pure though.”
“Increase the purity and increase the market. It’s just a matter of whether it’s Vega or Brubaker.”
“Right now they both seem to be fighting over existing addicts, it hasn’t spread out to the general population yet. I think they’d have a hard time ignoring it if it was straight schoolkids overdosing on this stuff.” It’s sad when you realize that’s what it takes to get some people’s attention. Those junkies didn’t start out that way. “I was talking to a dispatcher when I was buying coffee this morning. It seems that one of Brubaker’s neighbours called in about ‘suspicious activity’ outside the Brubaker house at around three in the morning. This thing might just resolve itself soon, Vetter.”
“It’s still weird, Alvarez, standing out here, seeing what’s going on and waiting for it to happen.”
“I know. You still okay with it?”
Jeanette, still singing softly, walks out of the bathroom. I watch her from the open back door as she walks across the hall, her skin pink from the shower. “Yea, I’m okay with it.”
Tucking the phone against my shoulder, I pour coffee for her, bringing the cups out onto the back porch with me. “Where’s a good place to go for breakfast, Alvarez?”
A question near and dear to the man’s heart. Alvarez is a genuine connoisseur, and, if he wasn’t a DEA agent, I can see him being perfectly content in a diner somewhere slinging eggs and hash browns. I listen while he runs through the merits of several restaurants, diners and cafes, his descriptions making my stomach growl again. Jeanette pokes her head around the doorway, stopping when she hears me on the phone, a silent question. Back in her pajamas, her wet hair leaving a dark trail down the back of her shirt. I sit behind her on the porch steps, holding her coffee out to her. Her hair smells like strawberries, making my mouth water.
He settles on the perfect place, and gives me detailed instructions on how to get there. “I’ll call and see when Jeanette can get back into her apartment. I won’t rush.” He’s laughing out loud on the other side of the phone. “Keep your cell phone with you.” His voice grows serious again, “I’m glad Jeanette’s all right, Adriana and I were worried about her last night.”
“Thanks, Alvarez, you’ll call me if anything happens?”
“I’m not wrecking your day off for anything, Vetter.” He’s laughing again on the other side of the phone, reminding me how much I miss his company in the mornings. Not enough that I’d change this morning for anything. “I’ll call you a little later, Adriana was upset when I told her what happened. She made me go buy flowers, and I picked up a little something while I was out.”
“You didn’t have to…..”
“I know, I know, but you know Adriana. If I didn’t come home with it, I might be sleeping on the couch, hell, she’d probably make me sleep on YOUR couch. And I like what I picked. I’ll call you later when I find out about Jeanette’s apartment.” He’s still laughing when I thank him and hang up. Alvarez has a weird sense of humour, which has me wondering what it is he picked up.
I sit with Jeanette a minute longer, drinking coffee with her, before getting up to have a shower. I didn’t even bother with the hot water. If I’m going to get out of the house it’ll have to be an ice cold shower.
We sit close together on the same side of a picnic table outside of the tiny roadside diner that Alvarez recommended. I’m going to have to remember to thank him for it later. She’s still in her pajamas, with my DEA sweatshirt off and in her lap, as it starts to get warm. I like the thought of her in my clothes, maybe it’s just that anyone seeing her in my shirts would know that she obviously had a boyfriend, that she was spoken for.
“I asked Alvarez to find out when you can get back into your apartment.” What I had wanted to say, to ask really, was if she would stay with me for a while. She makes a small contented sound, her feet drawn up, leaning against my chest as she nibbles a piece of toast.
“I could get used to walking around in pajamas, Sean, it’s kind of nice.” She eats in tiny bites, enjoying everything, her small plate of toast and one egg looking tiny compared to the huge plate of steak and eggs they brought out for me. She’s still nibbling her toast by the time I’m done. I fed her little bites of steak, just to feel the contented sighs, with her back pressed to me. Alvarez had said this place was ‘cozy’. I didn’t know what he meant at the time he said it. I’m definitely going to have to thank him.
“I like you in pajamas. I like you more in my shirt.” I nuzzle over her ear, my breakfast forgotten for the moment.
“Hi. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt.” Jeanette and I both look up, as the young couple approaches the table. He’s standing a little behind her, holding her at the waist, his lips close to her ear. I’m struck by the similarities, the intimacy and displays of affection between the two, so much like Jeanette and I. They’re clearly a lot younger than either of us, I’d say they’re no older than nineteen or twenty.
Jeanette smiles sweetly at the young girl, a tilt of the head, a silent conversation between women. The kid behind her rolls his eyes behind her back, but knows enough to not get caught doing it. I keep my expression deadpan, so he doesn’t get caught. Men have their silent conversations too.
The young girl takes a deep breath before continuing, her face glowing. “We were watching you both, and, well, I just wanted to say how wonderful it is to see that you both still love each other so much, and seem like such a happy married couple.” They’re both wearing wedding bands. Jeanette and I still wear ours. “We just got married, and, well…” The young girl is a little flustered, with her young husband muttering apologies.
I’m about to mention that we’re not married when Jeanette kicks me under the table, still smiling. Holding her hand out to the young woman, who’s shy now, and not quite sure to do with her excitement once she got past the first sentences. The congratulations are simple, and genuinely heartfelt.
“You kicked me, ‘Nette.” I wait until the couple leaves, grinning into her neck as I say it, my arms wrapped around her waist.
“Can you imagine the explanation? We’ve already baffled one waiter.” The first night I had dinner with her, the waiter had been confused by our talk of dating, after noticing the wedding rings.
“Do you think it would have confused them too?” I’m laughing against the side of her neck now, my hand stroking over her belly.
“I think they would have run screaming, Sean.” She laughs out loud, before leaning back and turning her head, letting me nip at her jaw, before kissing her.
We were almost ready to leave when Alvarez called back on my cell phone. “No, no, stay there, I’ve only got a few minutes anyway, I’m already in the car and I’ll be there in a minute, Vetter.” He hung up before I could ask him anything. Jeanette looks up at me, the skin bunching a little between her eyebrows. “Alvarez. He’s up to something.” Her head drops as she breaks into a soft laugh.
Alvarez pulls up about a minute and a half later, getting out of the car with flowers and a small plastic shopping bag. The look on his face says trouble. The grin too wide, as he walks up to the picnic table, giving Jeanette a hug and asking about her arm when he sits down on the very edge of the bench, like he was getting ready to run at a moments notice.
“Adriana had me buy flowers for you yesterday when she found out you were hurt. But when I was out, I saw this, and I automatically thought of both you and Sean when I saw it. I just thought, you know, since the police won’t let you into your apartment just yet…” He’s looking over Jeanette’s shoulder at me and his grin gets a little wider, a little crazier. He’s back in his car and pulling out of the parking lot, waving, when Jeanette opens the package, and pulls out an incredibly bright green Hawaiian shirt, with tikis, in just her size.
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