Deadly Dosage (40 page)

     She walked out the door and left me standing
there trying to fully grasp what her words meant.

When the evening was over, he drove me straight to his
apartment. He invited me up and I walked up the stairs with him.

     Once inside, he led me upstairs to his loft bedroom.
In the early days, I imagined what it would be like living here with him. Now I
had my chance and I was scared to death.

     Sam noticed my tension. “Sunny, relax. It’s not
like you’ve never been up here before.” He pulled my jacket off, and tossed it
on a chair.

I kicked off my shoes and he
did the same. He pulled me into his arms and instead of kissing me, he held me
tight. “Stay with me,” he said softly. “We don’t have to make love.” He pulled
back slightly and kissed me so desperately I felt his angst. “I just need to
hold you, sweetheart. Feel you next to me.”

Perhaps I wasn’t the only one
confused. On one hand, Sam was hanging onto me for dear life, and on the other hand,
he was fully enjoying his newfound freedom. A change was forthcoming and we
both knew it. We felt it; and it seemed important to be together tonight.
Whether this would be the last time, I shared his bed or the beginning of our
future together, neither of us knew.

A rustling noise woke me. I opened my eyes to see Sam
sitting with his legs over the edge of the bed, his back to me and a phone
pressed to his ear.

     “Listen, Sherri,” he whispered, “I can’t make it.
My aunt…” he paused to listen. “No, I need to stay here. It was touch and go
for a while. As I said before, she comes first. Maybe we can do something
tomorrow. But don’t call. I’ll call you. Bye.” He hung up, and I closed my eyes
as he returned to bed.

     I rolled over as he pulled the blanket over
himself and cuddled next to me, throwing his arm around my waist. I felt him
kiss my neck. I recalled his words earlier that evening. “She knows about you.
You come first.” Yeah she knew about me all right, as his ailing aunt. The
family emergency that came first.

     After laying there awake for close to thirty
minutes, wondering how long he had been dating Sherri behind my back, I felt a
sudden urge to vomit. Less than an hour ago, I was this close to doing the
naked rodeo ride with him. Blame it on the intoxication of his charm mixed with
too much alcohol if you will but I was a fool. I slid out from beneath his arm
and left his bed.

     I grabbed his shirt and slid into it as I
descended the stairs to the first floor. I went straight to the bathroom and
locked myself in. I dry heaved over the toilet for a few minutes. Nothing happened.
Shit. Nothing like a good puke to make you feel better.

I considered taking a
shower and going home, but I was tired and my contacts were out. So I let
myself out and ambled back up the stairs.

When I sat down on the bed,
Sam woke up. “What’s wrong?” he asked, sitting up, his back up against his
pillow.

     “Nothing. Just needed to use the bathroom,” I got
into bed, still wearing his shirt, and pulled the blanket around me. “Go back
to sleep.”

     He snuggled next to me, throwing an arm and a leg
over me. “Just like old times, huh, Sunny,” he said softly before falling back
to sleep.

     “Just like old times,” I repeated sadly. I closed
my eyes, and willed myself to sleep.

Chapter 44

Sunday, February 26th

The next morning I was showered by the time Sam got
up. He was happy as a clam as he joined me in the bathroom.

     “Slept like a baby last night,” he said,
urinating in the toilet while I combed out my hair. “You feel better?”

     “Not really,” I said honestly. “I think I’ll go
home and nap.” I parted my hair on the side.

     “If you want,” he said quickly, flushing the
toilet. “But you know you’re more than welcome to stay here. I think I still
have some of that tea you like.”

     I plugged in his hair dryer. “Thanks, but I think
I’ll get more rest at home.”

He grinned. “Can’t control
yourself around me?”

     I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, something like that.” It
was the truth. I wanted desperately to hit him over the head with the blow
dryer.

I started blow-drying my hair,
and he came up behind me and undid my towel, letting it drop to the floor. He
started putting his arms around me and I slapped them off, turning off the
dryer. “Go make yourself useful, Sam, and go nuke some hot water.”

     “I’d rather heat
you
up,” he said kissing
my neck, with his hands massaging my upper arms.

     Control. Damn, I should have hit him when I had
the chance. “I feel sick, remember? Be nice and make some tea for me.”

     “The lady can have me and she wants tea. Good
thing I know you, or I’d be insulted. I’ll go nuke some water for you, sweetheart.”
He slapped my ass and left.

      I would finish my hair, have my tea and some
toast and I was out of here before he convinced me to change my mind.

Chapter 45

I called Lloyd as soon as I returned to my apartment
to let him know what time to expect me. I figured I had better take my car,
knowing the likelihood of Lloyd getting drunk. My dad had that effect on my
dates. Lloyd objected, but I told him I wanted to show him the repair to my
Kia.

By the time I reached his
house, the cloud of guilt that had been hanging over my head since I left Sam’s
apartment finally dissipated. I was 99% sure it was over with Sam; that made
last night’s bedtime fun a farewell groping.

I parked my car behind his
gold grandpa car. The sun was shining but it was a ruse. Temperature was beyond
bone chilling. I jogged over to his back door and knocked.

He opened the door with a
smile and my heart melted.

“Hi. Ready to go?”

“Yep.” He grabbed his jacket
hanging by the basement stairs. “Later, Rufus,” he said pulling it on. “Let’s
see that paint job,” he said to me, closing the door shut.

We walked over and I showed
him the area. He got down close to inspect it and ran his hand over the area of
the scrape. “Not bad, but next time let me know. I have a friend that does great
paint jobs. He did my Challenger last year.”

This time he opened the
driver’s side door for me and I got in and unlocked the passenger door. I was
surprised he didn’t want to drive. I popped in one of my CDs and hit play. I
turned the volume down so we could talk on the way over.

“You'll probably like my sister better than me. She's
younger, taller, looks like Rita Hayworth, and is financially successful.”

“Red-head?”

“Naturally auburn. Pretty shade, not orange.”

“I prefer petite brunettes. Besides, I'm
old-fashioned; I like to make more money than the women I date.”

“Not her live-in boyfriend Alan. He’s happy sharing
Autumn's money. Not that he’s cheap. Everything he makes he spends on her.”

I turned into their subdivision. “There it is. The
brown two-story on the right.” 

Lloyd admired their house as I pulled in and cut the
engine. He grabbed the brown paper bag and came around to let me out.

“Nice house. How long have they lived here?”

“Um, since last July. Before that, Autumn lived with
me and Alan shared an apartment with one of his friends. They’ve been together
over four years.”

Lloyd sneezed.

“God bless you. Catching a cold?”

“Hope not.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t get sick if you wore gloves? One
day your hands are going to turn black and fall off from frostbite.
Then it's goodbye guitar playing.”

He looked at me wearily. “Are you on drugs?”

“No, I'm always like this,” I grinned.

“Colds are from viruses. It has nothing to do with not
wearing gloves.”

“I concede. But you can still get frostbite. That’s
not a virus.”

We walked to the front stoop and I knocked on the
door. Suddenly a loud noise erupted behind me. I turned around to see Lloyd
holding his arm. “God! What happened?” I gasped.

“Shit. My hand just fell off,” he said, showing me his
sleeve with his hand hidden from view.

I smirked. “Told you. Pick it up and I'll glue it back
on inside.”

Alan opened the door, his bright, blue eyes smiling at
us. His dirty blonde hair was parted on the side, and still wet. He wore faded
jeans and a navy shirt with silver cuff links, which he tinkered with while he
talked. “Hey, Sunny, right on time. Come on in. The lady of the house is still
getting ready, as usual.” He put out his hand and Lloyd shook it. “Alan Leif or
as Autumn’s dad calls me, ‘the sponge.’ Lloyd, right?”

Lloyd nodded, “That’s right.”

I walked in the foyer, followed by Lloyd and Alan.

“Don't bother taking off your shoes. We're informal
here, just walk in, and make yourself comfortable.” He noticed the bag in
Lloyd’s hand. “Food's not that bad at the restaurant, Lloyd, you didn't have to
bag it.”

He looked embarrassed. “No, this is something Sunny
wants to discuss with you.”

"Can't wait. Now what did you find? Last year she
found a knife on a bike ride and swore it was a murder weapon."

     Lloyd gave me an incredulous look.

“Could have been?” I said in defense.

“Sunny, is that you?” hollered Autumn from the other
room.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Come in here for a second,” she hollered back.

“Go on, Sunny. I'll get Lloyd a drink. Get used to it,
Lloyd, they're like two peas in a pod. Can't separate ‘em once they're
together.”

“I'll be back,” I said and went to find Autumn.

“Hi,” I said walking into her bedroom. “Almost done?”

“Just putting on some jewelry.” She dug a necklace out
of her jewelry box and handed it to me. I looped it around her neck and
fastened the clasp while she put in her earrings.

“I like this cable-knit sweater. New?”

“Got it yesterday. Seventy-five percent off. All the
spring fashions are out now. You should have gone with me. How’d it go with Sam
yesterday?”

“Went to the auto show in Chicago and ate with Spring
and Nino at Leo’s. It was fun.”

“But?” she inquired further.

“I’m pretty sure it’s over. Sam’s fun but he’s too
immature. Do you know I found out he’s been asking girls out the whole time
we’ve been dating?”

“What? Get out of here.”

“No, seriously. He got some model’s phone number
yesterday at the auto show and when I asked him about it, he told me I
shouldn’t be so insecure. He said it’s just an ego thing.”

“Like his ego needs any help.”

“Amen. Lloyd is so different. When I’m with him,
there’s definitely the sexual attraction, oh yeah, but there’s something else.
I don’t know exactly. I feel…different around him. Never felt this way before.
Safe, yet somehow not safe. When he’s near me, I feel this flame of desire and
I can’t wait for him to kiss me. I know we haven’t known each other long. Hell,
last week I thought Sam was the one. Maybe subconsciously I can't get past the
whole Brandi thing.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you’re using that as an excuse to
distance yourself from him.” She gave me a small smile. “Sunny, did Lloyd come
with you?”

“Yeah. I can't wait for you to meet him.”

“He must be special.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you're glowing like a summer sun.”

“Great. I'll probably scare the guy away.”

“Not with the way you look in those jeans. New?”

“Yeah. Some designer name I can’t remember.
Twenty-seven bucks.”

“I could have found them for less.”

“Next week I'll go shopping with you. Okay?”

“Sure. We'll I'm done.”

“Beautiful as always.” I hugged her. “Hope you like
him.”

“If you do, I will.”

     “You don’t like Sam.”

     “I like him well enough. I just think you deserve
better.”

I shrugged, not knowing what I deserved. We walked
together into the kitchen, where we found Alan and Lloyd drinking beers out of
the bottle.

Alan handed Autumn a glass of chardonnay. “Wine or
beer Sunny?”

     “Wine.”

     He poured a glass and handed it to me. “Thanks,
Alan.” Time to make introductions. “Autumn, this is Lloyd Harper. Lloyd, Autumn
my younger sister.”