Come and Talk to Me (7 page)

“This goes beyond a bad boss.”

He pulled Reggie toward him and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Call me.”

Virgie had been quiet, but Reggie knew she agreed with her a hundred percent. They couldn’t stand the CO, but had already learned that complaining about it didn’t get you anywhere.

“I’ll stop over tomorrow and check on you,” Virgie said as she hugged Reggie goodbye.

“Thanks again for coming to my rescue.”

Reggie returned to the bedroom. Not in the mood for a sexy nightie; she slipped on one of Van’s extra-large gray t-shirts with USCG across the front. Even though it was freshly washed, she could smell him in it when she brought it to her nose. She picked up a pillow and tossed it on the floor, but it went unused. He was lying on his back; she snuggled up to him and put her head on his shoulder. Instinctively his arm came down around her with a gentle moan, but he didn’t wake up.

The following morning he woke up before she did. He was stroking her cheek, trying to get her to wake up. She stretched and cuddled up to him. “How’s your back?”

“Better, but now my arm is numb.”

She shifted her head to his chest. “You had me worried last night.”

“Sorry. I should have sucked it up and not had you call. It’s a lot better today.”

“No, Van. You shouldn’t have sucked it up. It’s better because you went in. Stop acting like such a tough guy.”

“Who’s acting? I am a tough guy.” He pulled her tight to his chest. “How come you can look so damn sexy in one of my ratty t-shirts?”

She bolted up. “Let me get you your pills.”

“I don’t need them.”

“The doctor gave me strict orders for you to take them anyway. He wants you to stay on top of the pain, not wait until you can’t stand it.”

“I really don’t need one.”

“Then prove it.” She dropped down onto her back.

“Is that a challenge, Mrs. Kimball?” Van propped himself on his side.

“Call it what you want.” She whipped off the shirt and lay there flat.

He laughed. “A guy misses servicing his wife one morning…” He leaned down and kissed her breast then stopped. He fell back flat to the floor. “Dammit!”

She sat up. “Shit, Van. I’m sorry. I just knew—”

“Get me the damn pills.” He put his arm over his eyes.

She hurried off after putting the t-shirt back on.

~*~

Van was a slight bear over the next few days. He hated being helpless, but behaved and took it easy as per the doctor’s orders. He didn’t know what was worse; being bored senseless while Reggie was at work or wanting to have sex with her every minute when she was home and her saying no. They’d only done a seven-day stretch when he was underway. It was easy to go without sex, as long as she wasn’t around. He was going crazy now.

“You have to know it’s no picnic for me either, Van. I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’d rather hurt.”

“You big baby.” She sat next to him on the couch. He dropped his head back in a childish pout. She let out a heavy sigh and reached in the fly of his boxers. “You do have a situation going on here, don’t you?”

“It happens the second you walk in the room, baby.”

She left her hand where it was, leaned in and gave him a kiss on the chin. She worked her way down his neck then continued down his chest. “I gotcha covered,” she said, lowering his boxers.

“Is this a back injury or heaven?”

Van went back to work the next Monday. He moved a little stiffly, but eventually things returned to normal. Oddly, his CO heeded the doctor’s wishes and had him on easy duty for the next week. Van had stopped taking the pills days before he admitted it to Reggie. He hurt, but he didn’t want to take them.

“I don’t need them anymore, baby,” he said as they lay together on bed. They were both happy to be back in their routine.

“Well, I’m glad, but please promise me you won’t play tough guy next time.”

“There won’t be a next time. It’s done. A pulled muscle doesn’t last forever.”

“Can you prove that?” she teased as she snuggled up to him.

“I thought I just did.”

“Prove it again. We have some catching up to do.”

A F
EW
W
EEKS
L
ATER
Van snuck in the bedroom and woke Reggie up with kisses. She yawned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “What are you doing home today?”

“Master Chief allowed me and one of the guys to switch shifts. He needs to get to an appointment in Miami tomorrow. You’re off today so what do you say to a day filled with sex then a drive to Key West? I never get to go out with the other shift.”

“Okay on the sex, but I already had plans to go to Key West with Virgie tonight. You go with the guys and have fun.”

“Can’t we go together? You’re always there with her when I’m working.”

“I guess if you want, but we want to dance. You guys will want to sit at a watering hole.”

“Or better.”

“Oh no you’re not, Kimball. You set one foot in a titty bar and I swear…!”

“You’ll what?” He grinned as he ran his hands down her sides and gave her neck a kiss.

“Don’t you even think about it! I mean it.”

“Promise. Scouts honor.” He held up his hand in a Boy Scout salute.

“I always knew you were a boy scout.” She pulled him down by his neck for a kiss. “I mean it. No titty bars.”

He laughed. “All right. Seriously though, the guys wanted me to go with them. If you have set plans with Virgie, I won’t feel so bad. I never get to party with the dysfunctional crew like you do.”

The station was evenly divided into two crews. The married men were on one shift and the single guys were on the other. Whether it was done on purpose or not, that’s how it panned out. The unmarried crew was affectionately dubbed ‘the dysfunctionals.’

That night, the two of them drove separate cars, but followed each other. Van drove the guys and Reggie drove Virgie. Once they parked, they went their separate ways.

“You sure you don’t want to hang with us?” Van asked one last time.

“You going to dance with me?”

“No.”

“Then, no. You have fun…but not too much fun,” she added.

“I think I’ve got it, Reg. You want to meet here later and drive back together?”

“I don’t think so. We won’t be staying too late. I have a shift tomorrow afternoon.”

“Okay. See you at home then. Keep dessert warm for me,” he said with a kiss.

“Yanno,” Derrick said. “You two really make me wanna puke.”

“Jealous?”

“Hell yeah.” He slapped Van on the back. “Sloppy Joe’s?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Do we get a vote?” Alan asked.

“You’re on your own, my friend, if you want to hit a topless bar. I have already been lectured.”

“Pussy whipped.”

“Call it what you may, but I prefer to keep the major attached.”

“The major?” Alan laughed. “More like a private.”

“Ah hell, he ain’t been private since I was nineteen.”

“Late bloomer. We’ll hook up later then. I didn’t come here to watch Jimmy Buffet wannabes sing tacky songs for the tourists.”

“We’ll call you later then. Adios.” His friends saluted before they walked away.

~*~

At midnight, well past when they thought they would call it a night, the girls were walking down an alley to get to the car. They walked in the street to go around a group of men who were gathered outside the door to a well-known topless bar. It was one of the skankier ones by reputation. “Hey, Virg! Reg!” One of the guys they knew from the Islamorada station came over to them. They could tell he was a little too tanked. He lit a cigarette. “Why aren’t you inside with your old man, Reg?”

“What?” she asked as she froze in place.

“Oh, shit.” Virgie held her arm. “Let’s just go, Reggie. I don’t want a scene. Deal with it later. Okay? Please?”

She shook Virgie’s arm free and stormed toward the door. Although the bouncer held back the men from entering, claiming an occupancy issue, he smiled and held the door wide open for Reggie.

She walked through without a thank you for the gesture and scanned the room. The friends Van drove down with were front row to the stage, hooting, hollering, and waving one-dollar bills. She found Van sitting at a table talking to one of the waitresses. At least she had a bikini top on. Well, one that would fit a Barbie doll anyway. Reggie was too pissed to think. She picked up a saltshaker from the table in front of her and whipped it at him. It hit him dead square on the head. Van shot to his feet, sending his chair flying back. Reggie was pretty sure there were flames shooting out his nose. No doubt he expected a fight with a Navy man about to start. When he spotted her, his face dropped and he hurried after her.

“Reg, wait!”

She bolted out the door before he even made it a couple steps.

“What did you do?” Virgie asked as she hurried to keep up with her friend.

“Let’s go. Fast.” The two quickened their pace to the car.

~*~

By the time Van reached where their cars were parked, Reggie’s was nowhere to be seen.

“Shit,” he screamed as he kicked the ground. He went back to the bar to tell the guys it was time to split or he’d leave them to fend for themselves and take a cab home. With the trouble he was in, he would even give them the fifty-dollar fare.

Van arrived home a little after one a.m. The front door was locked, but the spare was still under the flowerpot. Point taken; he was in the doghouse. The bedroom door was locked as well. There was no key for that. He gently knocked on the door. “Come on, Reg, open up.” When there was no reply he knocked a little harder. “Come on. I’m sorry. I didn’t really have a choice. Open the door.”

“Didn’t have a choice, my ass!” she screamed. “I didn’t see you tied up in there!”

“Open the door so we can talk.”

“Go to hell.”

The door flew open, startling her. He would have broken it down if he needed to, but a credit card did the trick. Using more force than necessary, he had leaned hard into it for effect; getting pissed this was going so far. He knew he was in trouble, but he’d never heard her swear so much before—not at him, anyway.

“Just calm down, would you?”

“You got home quicker than I expected. Didn’t take the skank long to get you off?”

“Knock it off already, Reggie. Dammit, you know better than that.”

“You swore you wouldn’t go in there!” she yelled, standing up on the bed. He pulled her back down. She landed hard on her butt. “Stop it! You’re hurting me.”

“You’ll sit there and listen,” he said with a raised voice. It wasn’t as loud as hers, but he put some force behind it. “I didn’t go in there for what you think. We went in to drag Alan out. I wanted to come home to you.”

“Right. That’s why you were so snuggly with Skanko the Wonder Whore.”

He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Stop it, already. Enough is enough!”

She closed her eyes and turned her head when his hand came up. It was obvious she was bracing herself for a hit. He was taken aback.

“You think I’m going to hit you?” He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. “Jesus, Reg. Someone’s hit you before?” He rocked with her and she began to gently shake as if she was fighting tears. He held her face in both hands and stared into her eyes. “I’d never lay a hand on you, baby.”

She had begun to cry. “No, but you’ll fall for the first set of double D’s you set your eyes on.” Shaking herself free, she stormed out of the room. He knew he should let her go to cool off, but when he was still lying awake at three a.m., he went out to the couch.

“I want a name and a social security number.”

She rolled over to face him. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m going to have the bastard killed that hit you.”

“Nobody hit me, Van. Go back to bed.” She rolled back over.

He sat down on the couch instead. “Bullshit. You braced yourself for a hit. That was a reflex if I ever saw one.”

“You were yelling at me.”

“You were yelling first. I wanted to be heard.”

“Point taken, Neanderthal, now go back to bed.” She rolled back over.

He grasped her shoulder gently and turned her to face him. “Who hit you?”

“No one. Drop it.”

He sighed heavily.
One argument at a time, Van
. “The owner of the bar sent a round of drinks over. The guys promised they’d leave after that last drink.”

“So that explains you being so cozy with titsy?”

“I sat in the corner out of the way of the show. She sat down by me.”

“Ever hear of the words ‘go away’?”

“Well, I was about to say that to her.”

“But what?”

“A salt shaker hit me in the head.”

“Oh.” She bit her bottom lip.

“You want to know what I was doing before I had to go find the other guys in that bar?”

“Do I?”

He held out his hand and wiggled his pinky. “Alexandrite. I remembered. You’ve been looking for one for years.”

“You found one?” She sat up and removed the ring from his finger. It was almost a carat in size and heart shaped.

“Every shape to choose from. I don’t know why you couldn’t find one in Hawaii.”

“I found them, they were six grand for a shaving, though.”

“It’s called chathum. It’s a real stone, just lab grown. Always flawless and a lot cheaper.”

“You really did your homework.”

“The sales girl had nice tits.”

She smacked his arm then dropped her head slightly. “I throw a salt shaker at you and you buy me a ring.”

“I bought the ring first.” He picked up her chin. She looked up with tear-filled eyes. “I’m sorry I made you think I purposely defied you by going in there. I don’t need to look at anyone else to satisfy me. It just happened. Okay? Truce already.” She had nothing to respond to his apology. “You sorry you threw the salt shaker at me?”

“Not particularly,” she said as she put the ring back in his hand.

“What?”

“It would have been one thing if you went in because they were there, but we talked about it in great detail beforehand.”

Again he ran his fingers through his hair, but this time his hand came down with a loud grunt. “You’re unbelievable. You never can say you’re sorry.”

“When I’m sorry, you’ll know it.”

“I’m being punished for being a disobedient dog here. You really believe I should have stood outside and waited for them to come out? This is nuts, Reg. I’m done fighting with you about this.” As he stood up, so did she. She stood in front of him and poked at his chest.

“Do you even want to know why I hate those clubs so much?”

“Do tell, doll-face.” That pissed her off and he knew it.

“I know why men go in there and it makes me sick! Anyone with an ounce of dignity wouldn’t step foot in a dive like that.”

“I told you why I went in.”

“But you didn’t have to stay!”

“Reg…”

“What do you think I did on Oahu for a job, Van? What do you think a girl like me could do at eighteen to earn a living and support herself in a town like that? Do you think anyone looks at me and thinks ‘My, what a nice brain you have’?” His eyes softened. “That’s right.” She stormed out the screen door.

He joined her, sitting on the rocks at the edge of the canal. He waited for her to be ready to talk.

“When my parents left to go be with my brother and his family, I was eighteen. Eighteen!” She repeated it for effect. “How was I going to stay in the only place I ever knew as home by myself at eighteen? Let alone the most expensive place to live in the whole United States. They think they did me a favor by at least waiting until I graduated, but it didn’t help much. You have any idea what a one-bedroom apartment costs? I wasn’t anywhere near a beach and it was still ridiculous.”

“I learned that on Maui.”

“Yeah, but the military paid your rent. I had no choice.” She wiped away a tear. “I hated every second of it; dealing with drooling men constantly trying to cop a free feel, throwing dollar bills at me. Fifty’s sometimes. God-awful skimpy outfits that were sequined and ugly as sin, dancing like a half-naked whore for a living; what a wife you have.”

“I don’t know. I kinda liked that little red, white, and blue number you had.”

Her head whipped around. “What?”

“I’ve been to the White Horse, Reg.”

“You…what?” she said, barely above a whisper.

“I was stationed on Oahu for a few months a couple years back to help while their boat was dry-docked. Remember the one I talked about that was in the movie
Overboard
with Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn?”

“The Point Evans.”

“You do pay attention when I talk.” He brushed her cheek with his hand. “Yes, that one. We went there to blow off some steam, not get touchy feely with the help. At least I didn’t. I saw you, Reg. I thought you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life. I thought so then and I think so now. I couldn’t believe when I met you at Troy’s. I was sure I had died and gone to heaven.”

“You knew? All this time…you knew?”

“I knew,” he said, taking her hand and giving it a kiss. “I even remember the song that was playing. It was Jodeci’s ‘Come and Talk to Me.’ I never wanted anything more in my life than for you to come over and talk to me, but I stayed away.”

“Why?”

“I was afraid to go near you. You were outta my league, baby.”

“A stripper outta your league? Yeah right.”

“You have no idea how gorgeous you are, do you? I don’t care what you used to do, babe. I knew that’s why you were so dead set against men when we met. We were all pigs in your eyes. I’m sorry. We are a bunch of swine as a whole, but there are a few good ones out there, too. Well one, anyway, and you married him.”

“I don’t know whether to kiss you or hit you.”

“How about you kiss where you hit me with the salt shaker?”

“I’m still not sorry.”

He sighed heavily again and shook his head. “I’ll live with that, but I want sex. Thinking about you in that outfit has me all hot and bothered.” He pulled her close.

“I’m not dancing like that ever again, Van.”

“I’d never ask. Take me to bed. Now.”

She leaned back and looked to the other end of the waterfront. “The hammock is closer.”

“That’s why I love you. You’re always thinkin’, Kimball.” He held her hand and put the ring on her finger next to her wedding ring. “Perfect fit.”