Big Bad Easy (5 page)

Five of them, three on her side, and she was the only one with any skill. She’d be showing up bruised at work tomorrow. That would be fun to explain. “Yeah, I took out three of the frat boys, but the other two got their hits in good.” If she’d learned anything in Iraq, it was that you never got into a fight unless you had a solid team to back you up. Neither Ida or Marcus, who was still picking up broken shards of plates from the floor, constituted a good team. This was going to hurt.

Chapter Five

“Damn,” Jameson muttered as he walked into the bar that Zara had called her “local.” The stance of those five men, wide legs, hands fisted at their sides, meant one thing. A fight. From the tension in the legs of the ones in the back, someone was about to get clobbered. Jameson searched the place for a bouncer. No luck. This must not happen much at this place. How unlucky for him that he chose to walk in just at this time. Question was, whose side was he going to choose?

With another step, he could see around the tallest of the five men clenching their fists in anticipation. Who’d made these guys so mad?

“Holy hell.” Zara. Her golden hair looked orange in the glow of the neon beer sign above her. She faced all five men with her shoulders slung back and a look that dared them to bring it. He bet her hands hung loosely at her sides. She wouldn’t be one to punch. She’d take them down with wrestling moves and close combat maneuvers. The woman was ready to kick some ass.

He’d have to stop her, even though it would keep him from investigating her case. All he came to do was check out Tim and Marcus, the two thin, possible drug users Zara thought harmless. The day manager of the bar called them steady workers, but he admitted that he rarely worked with them. When the night manager didn’t return his phone calls, Jameson decided to check them out in person

He’d already ordered food from Tim in the ante-chamber before the main bar. The man seemed fine, if not particularly friendly. Nothing about him screamed creep, except the bad teeth, which could mean methamphetamine use. He hadn’t seen Marcus, but that could be due to the standoff between Zara and five college kids. Those boys were in for a world of hurt.

Except, he couldn’t let it happen, couldn’t let them learn a lesson about messing with a woman who could defend herself better than those guys could walk. With a calming breath to keep him from losing his temper, he strutted over to the group.

On the way over, the lead guy leaned forward, almost taking a step, and that gave Jameson an idea. The probability of it backfiring was high, so he checked the location of his badge for a quick retrieval. He’d pull it out before launching a fist at the group of young men. Last time he’d laid down the law physically, he sent three guys to the hospital and been passed over for promotion.

Today, he really had nothing to lose, but he’d learned his lesson. If he got suspended for another fight, Zara wouldn’t have her case solved. He had a weird vibe about this case. Something wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t grab the thought long enough to have it make sense. He’d figure it out, and when he did, that would take him one step closer to getting the case closed and one step closer to making a real go at Zara.

Three more steps and he’d be in the middle of it. He squared his shoulders and cracked his neck. A fight wasn’t what he wanted, but he’d be loose for it. Very loose, relaxed, a man coming to say, “Hey,” to his woman. Mmm. He liked the sound of that. Zara. His woman. With big arms outstretched and the smile of a slightly drunk man slapped on his face, he called out to her louder than necessary. He was, in a way, sounding his battle call.

“Zara, baby, you started without me?” He wrapped his arms around her and turned her to him. “How are you, beautiful?” Before she could protest, he bent her backwards as he planted a kiss on her. Her lips belied the tension of facing down the men, but they softened as his mouth took hers. Just as he pulled away, he whispered, “No fighting. Get the old lady out of the way.”

She palmed one of his pecs when he stood her upright, and her other hand surprised him when it smacked his ass. “Tastes like you indulged a little, too. What can I get you, you big lug?”

Good. She knew how to play along. This lady was a smart soldier. “A beer would be good, but, um…” He pretended to just notice the tense group of young men a foot away from his shoulder. “Were these gentlemen waiting? They look like they need a drink more than me.” He motioned with his arm for them to pass beside him to belly up to the bar.

The men shook their heads. The lead guy looked at the others, who answered him with a shrug. The biggest guy, who Jameson thought weighed a good thirty pounds less than him, mouthed the words, “No way.” The boy physically deflated, shoulders down, fists relaxed, cheeks went slack. All the fight had left. “Nah, man. We were only checking out the lady. Sorry, buddy. We’re moving on.”

As the five of them waved to friends and shuffled out of the bar, Jameson let out the breath he’d been holding. With the air vanished his tension. He’d done it, diffused the situation and avoided a fight. That kind of shit was worth celebrating. His hand, still resting on Zara’s hip, gave it a squeeze. Firm muscles greeted his fingers and sent thrills through his arm to his groin.

At the bartender’s question, he said, “I’ll have a beer. Then I’ll toast you ladies for a minor crisis averted.” He nodded to the older woman who still clutched her purse by the handle. “Jameson Kelly, ma’am. Pleased to meet you.”

Her fingers lessened their grip on the bag. “Call me Ida, and I’m Zara’s backup. We could’ve taken them, but I’m happy for your help.”

The bartender plunked a bottle of amber on the bar top. Zara handed it to Jameson and clinked her glass to his. “To not teaching those jerks a lesson.”

He toasted with her, slugged back a huge gulp, and set the bottle on the bar. “What the hell did they do to deserve your wrath?”

“Good lord, you sound like a Viking.” She fanned herself with a coaster. “My wrath. And that kiss. You,” she poked him in the chest, “are a brute, but a wonderful one. I didn’t want the bruises I was sure to get.”

“I wouldn’t want you to get bruises, either, and it wouldn’t have been fair to those guys.” He perused the one shoulder that peeked out from where her wide-necked shirt had slipped down her arm. No marks, no bruises would do on her physique, and he thought about searching every inch of her tanned skin from her toes to her hair line. When he was done with that journey, he’d start with her breasts, kissing and sucking until she called out for more. Her nipples were already hard and poking through her shirt.

“I was worried about Ida.” She raised her eyebrow at him as if she’d caught him staring at her chest.

The old woman patted Zara’s arm. “No need to worry about me. I got my brick. That short one would have had a bad headache, and it wouldn’t be from a hangover.”

“A brick, hey?” His food number flashed up on the sign in the bar. “Excuse me. I ordered some fries.”

When he returned with the basket, Zara teased him, “Fries? Really. I pegged you for a protein shake kind of guy.”

“A momentary indulgence. You and I can share, then I only get a third of the calories.” He couldn’t tell her that he only ordered the sweet potato fries to talk to Tim. Although he didn’t know her that well, he figured she wouldn’t like that he had ignored her advice. She clearly thought she was right about the cousins, but he had his doubts.

“Checking out my local or the boys I told you weren’t a threat?”

He swore she jutted her chest and hardened nipples out further. So easily, he could lean over and flick his tongue across one of them. A few inches closer, and he could roll a hard pink bud between his fingers. Certainly her skirt was short enough that his other hand could finger her pussy at the same time. “I asked you a question first.”

“You did?”

Ida nodded. “Oh yeah, he did. Wanted to know how you got yourself into that scrape. Just how did that happen?”

Zara shrugged, which made her breasts bounce. Jameson couldn’t help himself. He reached across her for a fry and brushed his arm against those hardened nipples. Electricity blazed across his arm and shot through his cock. He stared into her eyes, hoping she wanted him as much as he wanted her. What he found thrilled him. Her eyes blazed with passion, and it was as if there was no one else in the room with them.

“You gonna tell him, or do I need to make myself scarce?”

He wondered what Ida thought Zara should tell him. Even the old lady could feel the heat between them. His only chance to touch her bare skin or to suckle a nipple into his mouth was to get her alone. He damn well couldn’t do it in this crowded bar with an old woman watching. Not that he minded people watching, but not from this close. Plus, what he wanted to do with Zara was illegal in public places. That was something he knew for sure, having arrested a few people for fornicating in public.

Zara’s gaze left his for a moment to look at Ida. When she turned back to him, fire seemed to crackle from her eyes. She wanted him, too. “I think he knows.”

Ida tossed back her drink and slid from the stool. “I’m not supposed to have more than two drinks, anyway. I could use someone big to escort me, and now I will have two. I’m gonna tell the ladies at the day program tomorrow how sexy you two are. Kind of perfect for each other.”

Jameson liked this friend of Zara’s already. She was angling to get them together. He’d walk her miles if that meant having Zara alone and naked with him. “Ms. Ida, I’d be glad to take you home.”

“Want a go cup?” At his nod, Zara reached across the bar to the stack of clear plastic cups that all places around the city offered. New Orleans was one of a few cities that let residents walk around with an alcoholic beverage. Locals called it a go cup, and tourists around the city took advantage of it. She poured their beers into the cups and handed him one. “Let’s go. The vibe in here tonight is all off anyway.”

When they got outside, Ida put her arm through his. “Leaves room for you on the other side, Zara. Best take it before I lap this treat up.”

Jameson wanted to hear Zara say that he was hers, but even she wouldn’t go down that path. He was the cop investigating her robbery case. Brushing his arm against her nipples didn’t make her his or mean that she would be open to more than a business relationship.

“Ida.” Zara laughed as she walked beside him. “You really have had too much to drink.”

“Just because you want him for your own doesn’t mean I can’t dream. I used to like a big man. Gives a woman something to hold on to.”

“Oh, Ida, you said you’d keep what I told you to yourself.”

“Oh no, I’m not doing that when he’s such a good one. Strong, smart, and he’ll keep you out of trouble. Plus, you already said that with your eyes, your mouth, and all the rest of your body, girl.”

Jameson enjoyed them talking about him like he wasn’t in between them, because he was getting some great information, like that Zara had confided in Ida about wanting him. Those words were music, funky, fabulous music. While he could hear more, he had to ask about keeping her out of trouble. “Ms. Ida, are you telling me Zara has a way of getting in to trouble?” He winked at Zara over the head of Ida, thinking she would say something benign.

“Oh, big man, you have no idea. Gets in shoving matches, shoots people angry looks, and just about dares them to cross her.”

“Really? Not what I expected.” Could the robbery be payback? He’d have to ask her about that possibility. That foot would get to tapping.

“She’s exaggerating.” Zara’s narrowed eyes revealed that the older woman hadn’t stretched the truth too much. “Ida, you’ve got his investigative wheels turning.”

“Well, dear me, let’s change that. He needs to be using his other brain. That’s what my granddaughter says, but I think she’s talking in reverse.” The old lady patted the arm she held. “You, big man, need to be thinking with your pecker.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He couldn’t hide his grin if he tried. Zara covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head. Ida had thoroughly embarrassed her. He’d use that to his advantage.

Zara couldn’t let Ida get under her skin like that nor could she let Jameson think he had the upper hand. With her best “I dare you” face, she stared right at Jameson whose ruggedly handsome visage wore a satisfied grin. If there weren’t an old woman in between them, she’d give him a playful shove into the iron fence to see if he could handle her. He probably would handle her, and how she wanted those hands holding her ass as he filled her pussy with his cock.

That image allowed her to recover enough to talk as they approached a house lit from inside with lamps set in front of the windows. A live oak tree with a slight slant into the street buckled the sidewalk in front of the house with tall steps. “Looks like your daughter is waiting up for you.”

“Isn’t she just the nicest? Putting up with me?” Ida turned to him. “I meant it about my Zara. She’s been a good woman serving her country for such a long time. It’s about time a man such as you gives her some good—”

Zara, thoroughly embarrassed and shocked that Ida would betray her words to Jameson so quickly, didn’t let her finish the sentence. “Best that you stop right now, sweet lady.” She gave the door a light rap like she’d done many other nights the past few months since meeting Ida.

“You’re getting to be no fun. A man likes a little laughter.” Ida followed her up the few stairs.

“Oh,” Zara checked over her shoulder at where Jameson stood by the slanted tree well out of earshot from her lowered voice, “he’s laughing all right.” If there were enough light, Ida would see that her skin was about forty shades of red, including flaming red. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t the way to get him into my bed.”

Ida whispered as she approached the door, “I just hope you do. That kiss didn’t seem to be acting.”

“Whether it was or not, I liked it.” Even though she knew it was an act to put those college boys off-guard, her heart had thumped as Jameson’s lips pressed against hers. She wanted that kiss to keep going and going. “Get on, then. Let me see what I can do to keep him from laughing so much.”