Pier Lights (10 page)

“I’m James. What’s your name?”

“Lina.” Damn. Why had she said that? She
only used that at work. Everywhere else she was Caroline.

“Lina. Beautiful name. Can I buy you a
drink?”

“If you’d like, and if you realize it won’t
get you anything in return.”

He laughed. “I appreciate the warning.” His
friend took off to hit on some girl nearby as Lina asked for a
strawberry margarita. James relayed the order to the bartender and
studied her face. “You’re a tourist?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Your accent, or lack of.” He also lacked an
accent, at least a local accent.

“And you’re from up north but not
northeast.”

“Right. Lake Erie area.”

“And yet you vacation on the water?”

“Almost always. It’s in my soul. I have a
quest to spend time on every body of water I can and in the most
beautiful spots on the water.”

“Nice. Good luck with that.”

“And you? Do you have a quest?”

Lina pondered his question. To be on top
just once. But she didn’t particularly want to tell him that. It
would be too easy to turn sexual, too easy to become an offer. Did
she have a quest otherwise? “Yes.”

He grinned. “Can I ask what it is?”

To find what that laughing couple had.
“No.”

“Okay. You’re a secretive girl.”

“I’m a careful girl.”

He nodded and watched as she sipped the
margarita. Lina waited for him to ask about the crutches and
wondered what she would tell him. Not the truth. She told no one
the truth. It was a dirty secret no one needed to know. She’d even
lied to the doctors and physical therapists.

“So. You often come to bars alone?”

He was fishing. “If I’m alone and I need a
drink and a place to get off my feet.” She nodded toward the band.
“These guys are good.”

“Yeah they are. No friends to hang out with?
Boyfriend?”

“My boyfriend’s working tonight.” Why had
she told him that? Maybe he was. No, he’d called off. Maybe he was
in his boat hoping to find her.

“Ah. Should have known.”

“What?”

“That you’d be attached. Shame.”

“Is it? If you’re looking for a vacation
fling, you’ve got the wrong girl, boyfriend or no.”

“Nah, I’m looking for someone who doesn’t
think my quest is crazy who might want to go on it with me.”

“Uh huh. And you don’t think these crutches
would be in the way?”

He looked over at them like he’d forgotten
she had them. “Ah well, I figured they were temporary. You don’t
look comfortable on them. Aren’t they?”

She took a too large sip, through the tiny
straw, which she knew she shouldn’t do. It made her head spin for a
second. “No.”

“Ah. I’m sorry.”

“Just as well I have a boyfriend now,
right?”

“I’m not sure it would have mattered to me.
Honestly. I could work around that.” He pulled his eyes away and
returned them. “And I mean, we could have ... well, no matter. My
guess is your boyfriend is a very lucky man.”

“My guess is he’s not.”

“What?”

She shook it off. “Nothing. Thanks for the
drink. I should be going. It’s late and...”

“And you’ve barely started on your drink.
Stay. Finish and I’ll keep you company if you don’t mind.”

“Why would you? Won’t it be hard to find
your travel companion that way?”

“I’m not in a big hurry. Sometimes the quest
is more important than the victory, you know. If I don’t hit every
body of water on earth, I’ll be glad for the ones I did hit and if
I don’t find someone to do it with me but I love her anyway and
settle for what she will do with me, I’ll be happy with that. I at
least had the quest. Right?”

Lina swallowed more of her margarita. Maybe
he was right.

She talked with the guy and listened to the
band and although she intended to drink only half the huge drink,
before she knew it, it was empty and he asked if she wanted
another. She refused, insisted she had to get home, that it would
be hard enough to walk on the stupid crutches with the buzz she
already had.

“Let me drive you.” He leaned close. A
strong cologne nearly suffocated her.

“No. Thank you.” She grabbed her
crutches.

“Please. I would feel better since I kept
you here longer than you wanted and I would worry otherwise about
if you made it all right.”

It made sense to her, at least with the buzz
it did, and she answered him when he held his door and helped her
in and put the crutches in the back seat and got in beside her that
her boyfriend worked very late and he didn’t live with her and ...
and she smacked herself for telling him that. She knew better than
to drink strawberry margaritas. They always made her do stupid
things.

She guided him to the front of her building
and he turned off the engine.

“Well, thank you. For the drink and the
ride.”

“Lina. Wait.” He gripped her hand and leaned
in to kiss her.

She kissed him back. A water quest. Around
the world. He could work around the crutches. And Dio wouldn’t come
back. Why in the hell not?

He slid his hand up to her breast and she
let him. She let him caress her as her too loose body tightened.
She let him slide the hand under her shirt and then under her bra
to tease her nipple. And she let him kiss her deeper. Margaritas
always made her stupid things. But it felt nice.

Dio had lit her fire too high again. She’d
had it down to a dull roar but now ... she realized how she’d
missed a man’s touch. Especially a stranger’s touch. A cute dark
fit stranger’s touch. He lowered the hand down her stomach,
down...

Lina leaned back in the seat and opened her
legs wider. He shuffled himself to raise her shirt with the other
hand and brought his mouth to her breast.

“Oh. No.” She pushed him away, fixed her
bra. “You can’t...”

“Let me walk you in.”

“No.”

“Lina, he won’t know. Just tonight. I can
feel you want this. If you want this from me, he’s not giving it to
you well enough. Let yourself have this.” He kissed her neck,
returned the hand to her softest strongest warmest spot over her
thin shorts. “Let me walk you in. At least to the door. You can
decide from there.”

She nodded. She yelled at herself silently
for nodding, but she nodded. He grinned and got out of the car.

What was she doing? She wanted Dio. But he
wouldn’t come back. And she was so on fire for him and she was so
damned pissed off at him for doing it so incredibly lusciously
crazy well and then walking away, or at least not telling her why
he hadn’t shown up, had called in to work. He could have let her
know.

The door on her side opened and he held her
crutches but offered his arm to get out. She accepted his arm. It
was muscular enough for his size, and warm, and sturdy. And she was
so on fire. For Dio.

But Dio left her. Like they all did.

She was unsteady on the stupid things and
his arm assisted, made sure she didn’t fall. When she got to the
steps and dreaded having to hop up the things with him watching, he
slid an arm around her waist, took her crutches with his other
hand, and told her to think of his body as her right leg. It was
far easier than hopping. She let her fingers slide down into his
jeans as she held his belt for support. As soon as she was inside,
she’d pull them right off of him and ... and wish he was Dio.

Damn. Damn, damn,
damn
. She didn’t want
this guy. But she wanted it tonight. Stupid margarita. Stupid Lina.
Stupid,
stupid
Lina.

He got her to the second floor – damn she
was glad it wasn’t a top floor apartment that had been available –
and laughed. “What is this? A sign? You have a roommate warning you
to stay out for an hour or so?”

“What?” She looked at her door. Her stomach
lurched. Her swim top, the one she’d left for Dio. He’d been there.
Why? Was this supposed to be funny? Was it a break up message? Was
he still there? Maybe he’d talked the landlady into letting him
in.

“I’m going to be sick.” Lina tried to dig
out her keys fast.

“You okay?”

“No, numb nuts. I just said I was gonna be
sick.” And in about three seconds. She struggled to get her key out
of her little bag and into...

Too late. He jumped back as she let it go in
the corner beside her door. As it forced itself out. Damn she hoped
Dio wasn’t in there. She wouldn’t want to explain this. But she
hoped he was.

“Yeah, I gotta go. You gonna be okay?” Mr.
Travel the World backed down the stairs.

“Get
out
of here.
Go
.” She wiped her mouth and forced
the damned key into the hole and worked herself around the mess so
her stupid crutches wouldn’t slip in it and she wouldn’t break
something else. Lina made her way to the bathroom with her stomach
still lurching, barely in time. She shoved the damned crutches away
and dropped to her knees, leaned over the bowl.

He’d been there. Dio had been there.

He wasn’t still there or he would be
checking on her by now. Wouldn’t he?

Tears fell down her cheeks to mix with the
nasty assortment of junk food she’d eaten during the day, topped by
a stupid strawberry margarita, the thought of which made her sick
all over again, or it was the thought that she’d let that stranger
touch her, almost let him in her room to take her, when Dio had
been there.

Stupid, stupid,
stupid
Lina.

Dio sat out on the boat and hoped like hell she would come.
Did she go home before work to find his message? Or did she go
straight to work from wherever she’d been during the day? She liked
to walk. She told him she liked to walk, so he’d driven a quick
pass around her neighborhood although he shouldn’t have taken the
time. He didn’t see her.

He also shouldn’t be on his boat now. And he
had to get back.

With a deep heavy disappointed sigh, he
picked up the oars and stroked the water until it took him
home.

Lina, where are you, my sweet sexy naughty
angel? Where are you?

He so badly wanted to go back to her
apartment tonight, now, to see if she was home, if she was all
right. He couldn’t. He couldn’t leave his mom that long. He
shouldn’t have left her at all.

~15~

Dio grabbed the phone, listened for the
caller, and told Hayes he didn’t have time to talk.

“You have to come in. Sandy’s out with ...
whatever her newest excuse is. Lina called off again. And our
closer has hives or herpes or some disgusting thing. We have to
have you. I want you to close tonight. I’d have Lina do it but she
wouldn’t even come in for that...”

“Why’d she call off?”

“Not your concern. Fact is, she’s not here
and I have to have you tonight.”

“Can’t do it.” He heard his mom cough.
Rough. Faint.

“You’ll do it if you want your job. I’m out
of options and you’re not sick.”

“My mother is...”

“Get someone else to take care of her. I
expect you here by nine, no later.” The phone clicked.

Someone else. As though there was anyone
else. Dio mentally told Hayes to go screw himself as he went back
in to her and tried to avoid the question when she asked who was on
the phone. She asked again.

“Doesn’t matter.” Except he’d lose the one
job that got him safely off the farm and around other people.

“Diomedes, I asked you a question.”

“It was work. Drink your tea. It’ll soothe
your throat.”

“What did they want?”

“They asked me to work tonight. I told them
I couldn’t. Here.” He helped her hold the cup.

She took a couple of sips and shook her
head. “Go on to work. No sense in you sitting around here watching
me sleep. That’s all I’m going to do. Go on.”

“Mom, you’re very ill.”

“Oh poppycock. It’s a summer cold. Go on to
work now. All I’m going to do is sleep.” She leaned back and closed
her eyes.

The only job he could get. And she was
sleeping most of the time. Her breathing seemed better. He could
run in just for his show and run back out again.

They wanted him to close. Actually, they
wanted Lina to close. She’d refused a closing spot. How sick was
she? That’s why she hadn’t been there? She was sick? Had she been
sick in bed when he stopped the day before? Maybe he didn’t give
her enough time to get to the door. He could stop on the way to
work and check on her. She could need help.

Caroline heard the knock but she didn’t want
to get out of bed. Just after ten in the morning. Who on earth
would be there?

Dio. Maybe he’d come back. For him, she
would get up.

Using her crutches with a twisted stomach
was torture and she was nearly sick again by the time she got
there. It wasn’t Dio.

The landlady gave her a glare. “I’m vacating
you from the premises. Pack your stuff and be out by tonight.”

“What?” She needed to sit.

“It’s not bad enough you bring two different
men here over three days, but hanging your private things on your
door and making a mess in my hallway and...”

“I cleaned it. I even disinfected it. It’s
cleaner now than it was.” And she’d nearly gotten sick again as she
did it.

“No matter. I can’t have
that behavior here. And your
friend
scared Mrs. Tennan half to death yesterday in that
black mask pounding on the door, yours and then hers. She should
have called the cops and she will if he comes around
again...”

“Wait. Dio?” Lina looked past the landlady
to Mrs. Tennan. “Did you talk to him? What did he say?”

“Well no, I didn’t speak to the beast. Why
would I? I’m a decent lady, thank you. He near scared the life out
of me.”