Pier Lights (8 page)

Dio raised a hand to her breast, caressed
her nipple, felt it harden. She caught his mouth, clamped a hand
over his sword, as she called it.

“Walk me in. Dio, walk me in.”

“As you command. But I’m not responsible if
I scare your neighbors.”

“They’re all long in bed by now.”

He opened his door and she slid out behind
him. “You left your suit.” It was on the seat.

“Yes.” She reached up to kiss him. “I’ll get
it back from you later.”

He would have to hide it. Under the seat.
Not that his mom was ever in his truck, but in case. This, he
didn’t want to explain to her. And he wouldn’t be able to stay
long. Dawn would arrive soon. He had to be home before then.

~12~

Dio paced in the hospital hallway and turned
his head away whenever anyone drew near. Still, he got stares. He
wished he could have taken his mom into Columbus instead of having
to rush the fifteen minutes, or what should have been fifteen
minutes and turned out closer to ten, to Charleston. He didn’t want
to be seen in Charleston.

When he got home this morning, too late this
morning since he had trouble pulling himself away from Lina, he was
concerned about what his mom would say. She wasn’t naive. She knew
he’d been with women. Hell, he was over thirty. Barely over thirty.
That didn’t mean he wanted to be obvious. And it didn’t mean he
wanted questions about whether she was a nice girl.

Yes. She was a nice girl. A naughty nice
girl. A beautiful sexy intoxicating naughty nice girl. And she said
she’d be there, on the beach, tonight. She didn’t want him to pick
her up. She wanted to walk as she always did and meet him as though
she didn’t know who he was and pretend she might or might not tread
out to her boat again.

An amazing naughty nice girl. Dio wanted to
see how long she would last, how long she would stay with him
before she insisted on seeing his face. That was usually how it
ended. They would insist. He wouldn’t give in. They would
leave.

Once he did. He did give in. Only once. He
never wanted to see that reaction again. He’d rather let them
go.

But Lina...

A clearing throat took his attention. His
mom’s doctor. At her door.

“How is she?”

“She has pneumonia. It’s going to be touch
and go for a while. You might as well go on home or to work or
wherever you need to go. We’ll have to keep her here.”

“No. I’ll take her home and take care of
her. Just give me her prescriptions and...”

“I don’t suggest that. It could be
dangerous. As I said...”

“I want to see her.”

“Yes, come in. We’ll talk about it
more.”

Dio knew this guy expected his patient to
give in to his advice, but he didn’t know Cleo Troy.

“Well there you are. Come here and tell this
man I’m just fine.”

“You’re not just fine.” Dio gripped her bony
hand. “This is punishment, isn’t it? Because I stayed out too
late?”

“Late, my Diomedes? I would say you stayed
out all night and well into the morning. Do I get to meet her?”

The doctor flashed him a look, a surprised
look. Dio ignored it. “If she stays long enough. You know how that
goes.”

“One of them will. The right one will. I do
wish you would hurry that along since I have such little time left
to see you settled.”

“Nonsense. And speaking of, the doctor
thinks I should leave you here for a few days.”

She frowned at the man. “I will not stay.
I’ll be perfectly fine. It’s only a little cough and I told him
this was a waste of money and his time. Diomedes, don’t you dare
leave me in this awful white smelly place with these strangers. If
I keel over tonight, then so be it. I want to be home.”

“You won’t. But I’ll take you home.”

The doctor argued, emphasized in medical
terms why she should stay. She flatly refused. Dio didn’t dare
cross her.

Caroline cringed with every step. She’d
moved wrong, nearly fell when her foot buckled. It was all she
could do to continue her routine carefully, with her weight off her
foot as much as possible, then get backstage and outside to a taxi
without screaming at the pain. She was glad she’d left her car home
so she wouldn’t have to try to drive.

She’d have to find a different job. Before
they fired her. She told them she just twisted her ankle and it
would be fine, but she wouldn’t be able to cover much longer.

She knew she needed to get home and elevate
it but she told Dio she would be there. And she wanted to see
him.

At the pier, her only obstacle was to get
down the shifting soft warm sand to the water. And then hide it
well enough he wouldn’t know. That might be the harder task. Hiding
it from the drones at work who didn’t care anything about her
anyway was one thing. Hiding it from Dio would be another.

He cared about her. It couldn’t have been
that much of an act. He’d stayed far longer than he intended, long
after they were both spent and simply lay next to each other,
cuddled together. He fell asleep beside her, after he insisted he
had to get up and go home. Instead, they talked. And they cuddled.
And he fell asleep.

Lina didn’t cuddle. Ever. But then she also
didn’t kiss. And she didn’t take men to her apartment. And she
didn’t ask them to stay till morning.

It had been glorious, though.

She hoped for a repeat. It would make her
forget about her stupid incompetent unforgiving foot.

Two different men up by the pier entrance
asked if they could help. She declined. She didn’t hide it well
enough. She would have to be more careful.

Lina made it to the shore. She was late. Her
foot had slowed her. And he was there. Sitting in his boat. Not
twirling his sword. It gave her a bad, bad feeling and she
considered turning right back around again, walking away before he
could tell her to go away.

He saw her and stood.

Lina stayed at the edge of the water. She
didn’t want him to say it. Not yet. She remained still. He rowed
nearer. Still, she couldn’t make herself move to him. He got
closer. And closer. Until he had to stop before he grounded his
boat.

He called her name.

She shook her head. Backed away. No. She
wanted him. She didn’t care about his sword. Either of them. She
wanted him. To kiss him. To cuddle with him in her bed, or his
boat, or anywhere on earth.

“I can’t stay, Lina.” He called across the
water.

She shivered, stepped back, nearly fell. Her
stupid foot.

“Wait.” He threw his anchor overboard and
jumped into the water. His black thin sexy shorts stuck to him as
he got close enough...

Lina turned and hurried away as fast as she
could. Her foot throbbed. She told it to shut up and just keep
working, only a few minutes more.

Dio caught her around the waist and
encircled her in his arms.

“No.”

He turned her to him. The breeze hit her
sarong where his wet shorts had plastered it against her. She
shivered again.

“I can’t stay tonight.”

“Let go. It’s fine. Goodbye then.”

“No. Lina, I want to stay...”

“Don’t lie to me. It’s fine. Really. It was
nothing. A fling. I had fun. So let it go at that. It’s fine.”

He pressed his mouth onto hers, pushed his
tongue through her lips although she tried to keep it out. Pulled
her body close. She felt his warmth mixed with the ocean’s
moisture. She felt him harden.

He breathed hard as he released her. “I want
to stay. I can’t. I’ll see you at work tomorrow. Let’s meet
somewhere afterward.”

“Why can’t you stay?”

“Something I have to do. I shouldn’t even be
here and I have to go. I’m sorry. I am truly very sincerely sorry.”
He kissed her again. “Tomorrow. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With
another brush of her lips, he left, hurried back to his boat.

He sure felt like he wanted to stay. And yet
she was angry. It hurt so much to get there. Her foot felt like his
sword was stabbing it over and over and over. Yet there was
tomorrow. Caroline would meet him somewhere. Damn near anywhere,
truth be told.

~13~

Lina swallowed far too many pain pills.

The pain in her foot made her breathe hard,
trying to conquer it, and she hadn’t even performed yet. She hadn’t
seen Dio yet. He would be there. He often came late, just before
his own performance, and left just after. He would find a way to
let her know where to meet him.

If she could just get through this
performance.

“Hey, you okay?” Sandy leaned over her
shoulder as Lina finished her stage makeup.

“Yeah. Why?”

As the redhead shrugged, her breasts nearly
lunged out of her sparkling orange bikini. “You just seem not okay.
Thought I’d ask is all.”

“I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” Lina knew why
she asked. Sandy wanted her out. Lina was already later in the
lineup than Sandy. Some nights. Some nights Hayes threw Sandy a
bone in return for the one she gave him and put her in the
spotlight. Not as a closer, and never on a Saturday night when the
place was at its busiest. Lina was nearly a closer, but never on a
Saturday night. Yet.

Although she expected she might not make it
there since she was so damn incapacitated.

Why? She’d been so close to the prima
ballerina spot before her foot, before the stupid ignorant
ridiculous decision that destroyed her foot, and now she was so
close again. Just once, she wanted to be on top of something. Damn
near anything. She was always just almost there when something
screwed her out of it.

Okay, sometimes it was her own fault. Often
it wasn’t, and not only her fault. It did take two to Tango, and
there was always a Tango of some sort involved.

She would keep going until she got the
Saturday night closer spot. Just once. She only needed it once.
Then Sandy or any of the other girls could sleep with Hayes as
often as it took to get there. She would do it without that.

“Lina
.”

She jumped and half turned to Hayes. She
never gave him the courtesy he didn’t deserve of turning all the
way to meet his face. She didn’t want to look at that soft
manipulative square face more than she absolutely had to.
“What?”

“Of course you mean:
Yes, Mr. Hayes
?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m about to go on.
What do you want?”

A hush came over the dressing room.

“No you’re not.” He propped himself in the
doorway.

She forced herself not to look fully at him.
He couldn’t fire her. She would not accept that. She’d done nothing
wrong. She also wouldn’t let him shake her as he was trying to do.
It was all over his smug face when she glanced at it through the
mirror. “Why aren’t I?”

“The sword called off. We’re rearranging.
Sandy, get your cute little ass out there now to fill Lina’s spot.
Lina, you fill the sword’s spot. And jazz it up more tonight. Last
night you looked like you didn’t want to be there. His shoes are
hard to fill. Kick it in gear.”

As he left, Lina stared at the doorway. He
called off? Dio called off. No. He couldn’t. They were meeting
somewhere. How would she know where?

She heard the snide remarks about how she
must be doing Hayes good to get Dio’s spot, but she didn’t answer.
She wouldn’t do Hayes if his face was the most scrumptious she ever
saw. Or if his body was, as Dio’s. Why did he call off?

Kick it in gear? She cringed inwardly. Her
foot... The hell with her foot. The hell with Dio. This was her
chance. If she shined enough tonight, she could move into the
closer spot easier. She wanted that more than anything else, more
than she wanted him.

When she stood, her foot tried to give, and
she held her breath and gripped the chair. They were staring. She
had to pull it together. He could have just told her to take a
flying leap. Really.

It was going so great, too.

Lina pinched her lips tight
to keep from cursing a blue streak. She’d had them in the palm of
her hands, or at least in the palm of something. The reaction
spurred her on as she kicked it in high gear. That and the song she
chose. Pink.
Try
.
It was written for her. Or so it seemed. She wasn’t a give up type.
She was a keep trying no matter what type. So she had. She’d
pushed. Too far. She wasn’t careful enough. Or smart enough. She’d
done a simple stylized tour jeté and they loved it, until her foot
gave out. She got up. Lina did get up. She did continue. But she
had to pull back, had to resort to hip swerving and shoulder
shaking, mostly while balanced on her left foot, the right barely
on the floor.

The imitation cowboy in hardly anything but
hat and spurs asked if he could help. She tried hard to refuse. But
by the time she got off stage, Lina could barely hold herself up.
She let cowboy with the big arms and skinny waist and even skinnier
costume put an arm around her. It wasn’t good enough. She couldn’t
stand the pain. Lina did well with pain. She was well used to it.
But she couldn’t. Not without screaming out and she wouldn’t do
that. So she let cowboy pick her up. He was one of the few who had
offered more than once to take her home.

Maybe she would let him tonight. She
couldn’t imagine getting there by herself and Dio had called off
after he brushed her off the night before after it was so hard for
her to get to him. The hell with him. Why not let cowboy take her
home?

He set her on a chair in the dressing room
and Lina pulled her right foot over her left leg. She tried to make
herself massage it. Massage would help, she’d been told. Never mind
it already stabbed bolts of pain from one side of her foot to the
other.