Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (19 page)

"You know the rest from when we left the hotel and saw the truck and got here and we saw the flashlight through the window. I can't even imagine what it
would
have been like if you
would
not have seen th
e truck. By you seeing it
transformed me into my cop mode." To show
his
cop pose, he raised
his
arm to make a curl
with
his
biceps, and he did look like Mr. Universe.
His
arm had to be at least twenty inches. W
hen
she
patted
his
muscle, it felt as hard as a
rock.

He continued. "And by me turning off the headlights gave me an advantage." He rubbed
her
arm trying to console
her
. "What I have to say next might bother you and I want you to know I'm here for you and I promise to keep you safe."

Oh wow, what he had to say did not sound good. A little anxiety started to flicker in the pit of
her
stomach. "Okay,"
she
said as
she
swallowed hard.

"When I walked up to the door I could hear talking in the house. I stood there and listened for a little bit and they were w
his
pering about where they
would
hide so they could surprise you. I decided to take keys and jiggle them like I
was
you. I heard them scurrying around looking for a place to hide. Once they were hid I thought I could get the upper hand. I walked in and acted like I
was
heading for the bedroom and I didn't say a word. I figured they were in a closet so as I walked by closets I quietly put chairs in front of the door so he couldn't open them. Right as I walked in the bedroom..."

He pointed to where it all happened.

"…the one guy who hid in the pantry started sq
uawking when he couldn't open the door
. When the guy in the pantry yelled, the other guy who
hid in the bedroom closet jumped out
to help
his
partner
. He thought
his
partner had you. He
was
in for a surprise when
I had
my gun
pointed at
his
head. He tried to run and I grabbed him and we fought, but he
was
in such bad shape
I took him down
with
ease.
I took him in the kitchen and held the pantry door closed until the police came.
That
's when I got these cuts and bruises
and
I think you need to kiss and make better," Mike said
with
a devilish grin.

She
ignored Mike's request and asked. "They were after me? I told them I
had a family and they were
on the beach. They had to know they
would
be taking a chance, right?" Thank God for women's intuition.
She
knew in
her
heart something
didn't seem
right.

Mike laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"It
was
funny to see them in shock and they screamed like girls. They screamed at each other for help."

"
That
's too funny." Now
she
knew why Mike
laughed
.

"Well, it all boils down to everything worked in your, our favor. There is one thing I can say about my work."

"What's
that
?"

"Criminals are stupid. And
that
should answer your question. Criminals take stupid chances and they took a chance
that
you were not married, but they didn't anticipate me."

She
took a deep breath and said. "I'm glad about
that
. What were their names?"

"The older man's name is Sam Couried and
his
son is Charles Couried."

"So their last name
was
not Johnson?"

"No."

"So where is John Johnson?"

"We don't know where he is, and they're looking for him now." When Mike's mind snapped back to reality, he rolled over in a frantic. "What time is it?"

She
glanced at the clock next to
her
."It's ten-ten, why?"

"Oh we have plenty of time." He played around like he's going to eat the last cinnamon roll. He swirled it under
her
nose, tempting
her
. Temptation got the best of
her
and
she
had to take a bite, then he fed
her
the rest.

"What are you talking about, time for what?"
She
took a swig of coffee and frowned, not realizing it had gotten cold.

"Later t
his
afternoon we have a memorial service for Frank. I need to be there, but I'm not going to leave you especially after yesterday." He
was
n't going to worry
Lana
, but until they got to the bottom of everything he
would
stay
with
her
.

"You need to be there and
that
's a final discussion about
that
. You will not miss t
his
memorial,"
she
said
with
forcefulness.
She
noticed he never mentioned anything about
her
going.
She
concluded he thought it
was
too soon for
his
friends to see them together and ask questions. Maybe Mike
was
like
her
and wanted to take their relationship slow. Admittingly it did hurt
her
feelings he didn't want to show
her
off to
his
friends. Maybe he
was
a player and he didn't take the women he dated to any business functions.
She
looked away because
she
didn't want him to see
her
hurt feelings.

He propped himself on
his
elbow and ran
his
hands around the outline of
her
breasts and he raised
her
shirt to see
her
tanned tummy. "I
thought and hoped
you
might
go
with
me."

Relief inundated
her
and
her
heart instantly changed from sad to happy.
I'm such a girl worrying about silly things,
she
thought. "Mr. Ramsey, I thought you
would
never ask."

"Hey, I'm a red blooded all American male
with
a beautiful lady lying right next to me. You have me thinking about other things. Need I say more?" He said as he started to rub
her
tanned tummy.

Lana
saw love in
his
eyes, not just lust. Every time he looked at
her
his
eyes softened more and more. They didn't do
that
when they first met. Mike always had a serious, intense look in
his
eyes.
That
soft look of love replaced the hard gaze.
She
couldn't imagine being a criminal and Mike giving them
that
mean
stare.

"What time is the memorial?"

Mike pulled away a little as if trying to concentrate. "Two o'clock."

Lana
jumped out of bed
. "Mike I have to buy a dress and shoes and all
that
stuff and I have to shower, put on my make-up, and we have to eat lunch. What were you thinking not letting me know before now?"

He laughed hysterically.

"
Are you laughing at me
?"

"Your t-shirt goes below you knees. You look so cute
with
your hair all messed up and unkempt and a baggy shirt. You look like my beautiful little lady." Damn,
she
looked fine. He hoped tonight they
would
make love.
Wanting women for sex
needed to
be shoved to the back of
his
mind, p
art of
his
past
his
tory.
Yes he did use wome
n for sex, but he knew it
was
mutual. H
e always let them know he
was
n't interested in a long term relationship. Most women agreed, or at least
that
's what they said. Maybe they hoped for more. Mike
didn't want to
give anymore, until now,
with
t
his
woman.
With
Lana
he
wanted
to give it all, every ounce of
his
being, heart, and soul.

She
was
happy he said
that
, but
she
knew
she
had a lot to do. Frustrated
she
asked. "You have one hour to get ready. Do we need to run to your house to get a suit?"

"Oh crap, I forgot about
that
." He jumped up and they both quickly made the bed.
She
took a quick shower then it
was
his
turn to shower and shave.
With
paper and pen in hand
she
sat on the bed and made a quick look through
her
things to determine what
she
needed to buy at the store; dress, hose, shoes, coat, and earrings.

While Mike shaved,
she
got dressed and
she
could hear him humming.
With
only a towel wrapped around him, he walked in the bedroom to grab
his
coffee.

She
sat
on the edge of the bed
with
her
list in hand.

He sat down next to
her
. "What's the paper for, taking notes?" He asked while taking a swig of coffee.

"I'm making a shopping list so I don't forget anything." When he first sat down,
she
got a faint whiff of
his
cologne and the fragrance
was
a Clive Christian scent.
She
loved the clean scent and
she
inhaled enjoying the fragrance. It
had been
a long time since
she
sat next to a man fresh from the shower, and it
was
a temptation to
her
heart and body, for sure. If he tried
to distract
her
by walking around
with
only a towel on, it worked.
His
tanned body rippled
with
muscles and every movement made them move
with
rhythm. For the first time
she
noticed he had a tattoo of an eagle on
his
right arm. When
she
looked closer
she
saw the name Kathy, Brianna, and Kyle in the wings of the eagle and
she
decided those names must be
his
wife and kids. He also had 442 tattooed in the claw.
She
remembered
it
was
his
badge number.
She
wondered if he
would
ever get a tattoo
with
her
name in it. "You better hurry up and get dressed before I take the towel off you,"
she
muttered while licking
her
dry lips. Going to the funeral
was
more important than what
she
had in mind, at least for now.