“You never considered going to the cops?”
“It crossed my mind, but after what had happened with the Brants, I knew they couldn’t help me. I had no choice but to figure it out on my own.”
“Damn, that had to be tough.”
“It was. I was scared and lonely.” I had to fight back my tears as I repeated, “Very, very scared and lonely. Needless to say, it was not a good mix.”
“You should’ve taken Mr. Brant’s advice and come to see us sooner.”
“I know that now, but honestly, I needed the time to process everything that had happened. I’m still processing it.” I turned and watched the light dance along the water. “Sometimes it gets the best of me, and those are bad days, really bad days, but there are times when it doesn’t, and those are really good days. I’m hoping there will come a point when the good ones outweigh the bad.”
“There will.” He inched a little closer. “You’re a rare gem, Parker. You deserve all the good days the world has to offer, and I’ll do everything I can to see that you get them.”
“You’re gonna need to stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Being sweet.”
Without another word, I turned and walked away, leaving Menace on the pier. I went back inside, and as usual, Billy was nowhere in sight. The man practically lived in his basement. I was beyond curious as to what he was doing down there, but I heeded Menace’s warning and steered clear. The last thing I wanted was to upset the man who held my life in his hands.
I needed a temporary escape, so I wandered into the living room and started searching Billy’s bookshelves for something to read. There were tons of science journals and history books, but to my pleasant surprise, there was also quite a selection of romance novels. Most of them were older with Fabio on the cover, but there were a few that were more recent. I found it doubtful that they were Billy’s, but I had no idea who else they could’ve belonged to. He hadn’t told us anything about his family, just that there was a possibility his daughter might be coming home. It was just one more perplexity that was Billy. After I found a book that looked interesting, I grabbed it and took it back to the bedroom, then made a comfy spot on the bed and started reading.
From the very beginning, I was sucked in by the story. It was nothing like I’d expected. I’d initially thought it was a crazy sci-fi book about blue aliens on an ice planet but quickly discovered it was something more—much more. By the time I’d gotten midway through the story, I was practically fanning myself. It was smoking hot, which probably wasn’t the best choice of reading material for me, considering Menace’s no sex rule. Right as I was getting to a major scene, Menace opened the bedroom door and peeked his head inside. “You ready for dinner?”
“Yep.”
I quickly lowered the book, trying to shield its cover as I got up. I realized I’d failed to hide it from him when he asked, “You’re literally into this alien shit, huh?”
“What?”
“The book you were just reading. It’s about aliens, right?”
“Umm... Yes, but it’s a good bit more than that.”
“How so?”
I got up and brushed past him in the doorway. “Let’s just say I’d be way more into aliens if they were like the ones I was just reading about.”
When I reached the kitchen, Billy was already sitting at the table waiting for us. Like all of our previous dinners, he’d fixed another big spread; tonight’s meal included baked chicken with new potatoes and green beans. As Menace and I sat down, I smiled and said, “This looks amazing. You are quite the chef.”
“Thank you, dear. I enjoy cooking.” He placed his cloth napkin across his lap as he said, “It helps to ground me.”
I waited as he lowered his head and said a quick prayer, then I asked him, “If it’s not too much of an intrusion, would you mind me asking about your family?”
“Well, my wife passed twelve years ago. An unforeseeable reaction to a new medication for her migraines took her life.” His voice was monotone with little emotion as he spoke, which I found odd at best. “That’s when I walked away from my career in forensics and branched out on my own. It gave me more time to spend with my daughter—not that it matters now. She’s attending college upstate, and I rarely see her. She comes home when she can, but not as often as I would like. Little I can do about that seeing as she has a life of her own to lead.”
“She does, but I’m sure that doesn’t make it any easier on you.” My heart ached for him. I knew how hard it was to be away from those we cared about the most, so I added, “I’m really sorry to hear about your wife.”
“I appreciate your kindness, but it was a long time ago.” He glanced up at the ceiling for a moment, then said, “I’ve learned to live without her, but I still hold on to the love she left behind.”
The pain I’d felt earlier only grew stronger at the sound of his words. Like me, his loss had hit him hard, but he’d done what he could to move forward. I glanced over at Menace, who seemed equally as moved, and wondered if he’d also lost someone he cared about. I turned back to Billy. “It sounds like she was very special to you.”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he turned his attention to his meal and began eating, putting an immediate end to our conversation. None of us had much to say as we ate, which wasn’t unusual. Both Menace and Billy were men who kept their thoughts to themselves. Once we were done, Menace and I cleared the table and were putting the plates in the dishwasher when Billy asked him, “Would you mind helping me out with something in the barn?”
“Sure, no problem.” As they headed for the door, Menace turned to me and asked, “You gonna be okay for a while?”
“Oh, yeah,” I assured him, “I’m going to take a quick shower and read a little.”
He nodded, then followed Billy out the back door. Eager to get back to my book, I ran into the bedroom, grabbed something to sleep in, and rushed to the bathroom. After my shower, I slipped on my t-shirt and panties, then crawled under the covers. I quickly grabbed my book and dove in. Just like earlier, it didn’t take long for me to get all hot and bothered—a state I’d been in since the day I met Menace. As I read a sexy scene, I found myself imagining Menace as the sexy hero and I was the damsel in distress he was having his way with. It was quite the scene, one that had me clenching my thighs together with a quickened breath. I was practically panting when the door opened and Menace came into the room.
I slammed the book shut and tucked it away at my side. A mischievous smirk crossed his face as he snickered, “So, how’s the book?”
“It’s pretty boring, actually.”
“Um-hmm. If you say so.”
He grabbed some clean clothes from his bag, then walked into the bathroom and started the shower. As soon as I heard the water running, I thought about that night when I’d wandered into his office and found him in the shower. Just thinking about it had me tingling all over. Moments later, he came out of the bathroom wearing only a pair of boxer briefs. My eyes studied his muscular chest, marveling at all the colorful ink marking his skin. Menace’s dark wet hair glistened in the light as he walked over to the bed and got under the covers next to me.