MacNamarasLady (4 page)

But that was how it should be and Missy
didn’t begrudge her friend her newfound happiness. They still worked together,
had lunch and went shopping together. They were still close. Nothing could
change that.

“I wanted to give you something.” Candy got
up from the bed and walked to the dresser. She lifted a small package from the
top. It was wrapped in white tissue paper and tied with red ribbon. “Something
to say thank you.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know. I wanted to.” Candy held out the
package, forcing her to take it.

Missy was touched by the gesture and took
her time peeling back the wrapping.

“Hurry up, will you.”

Missy refused to be rushed. Presents were
far and few in her world and she wanted to enjoy this one. A white box revealed
itself. She pried the cover off and found a slender bracelet made of delicate
gold links nestled onto the thick cotton padding. There was a single charm on
it. “Friends Forever,” it read. Missy blinked hard to keep back the tears.
“It’s beautiful.”

“Here, let me help you put it on.” Candy
plucked the bracelet from the box and waited expectantly. Missy stuck out her
wrist and Candy fastened the bracelet around it. The gold gleamed against her
dark skin, like a moon against the night sky.

“It’s beautiful, Candy.” Missy held up her
arm, admiring her new jewelry.

“Don’t start crying,” Candy warned. “Or
I’ll start again.”

“We can’t have that.” Love and happiness
welled up inside Missy. She wasn’t losing her friend. Not really. They were
just redefining their relationship.

“Now what’s going on with you and T.S.?”

Candy’s quick subject change caught Missy
off guard. “What? There’s nothing going on with us.”

“Could have fooled me by the way you were
dancing together.” Candy swayed back and forth. “So close. I saw the way he was
looking at you. And I saw the way you were looking back at him.”

Missy sniffed and stood to her full height.
“You’re mistaken. And why were you watching me? You’re supposed to be watching
that man of yours.”

“I can multitask.” Candy had her arms
crossed over her chest and was watching Missy intently. “And there was enough
heat coming off the two of you to start a fire.”

Missy shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not
dating right now. No time.”

“As a very wise woman once told me, girl,
you need to get laid.”

Missy hated having her own words thrown
back at her, especially when she thought Candy might be right. Maybe she did
need to get laid. It had been months. Okay, it had been a year, since she’d
last slept with a man. But that didn’t mean she had to run out and have sex
with someone like T.S., who was obviously all wrong for her.

She ignored the way her body responded to
the suggestion. Already her skin was heating, her breasts tingling at the idea.
Traitors.

“If I decide to get laid it won’t be with
him.”

“Why not? T.S. is a great guy. I thought
you liked him.” Now Candy looked concerned and Missy felt like crap.

“I like him fine. Doesn’t mean I want to
sleep with him.”
Liar
, her conscience accused.
Not really
, she
countered. What she wanted to do with him had nothing to do with sleep. And it
was getting awfully warm in here.

“Enough about my love life. It’s time to
get back to your party.” Missy gave Candy a hug before steering her toward the
door. “Thanks again for the bracelet. It’s beautiful.”

“You’re welcome.” Candy hesitated for a
brief moment before plunging onward. “You’ll think about what I said?”

“About getting laid? Sure. I’ll think about
it.” Missy was afraid she’d do nothing but think about it. That’s exactly what
she’d been doing for months now. T.S. MacNamara had gotten under her skin, like
a rash, and didn’t show signs of leaving any time soon. Too bad she couldn’t
buy a cream or something to evict him from her dreams and sexual fantasies once
and for all.

“I’ll probably have chocolate instead.” It
was a long-standing joke between the two women that sometimes chocolate was as
good or better than a man.

“You’ll be needing Godiva tonight,” Candy
teased. “T.S. is one fine-looking specimen.”

Didn’t she know it. Missy tried to remember
if she had a supply of dark chocolate at home. It might not be Godiva, but
she’d make do. A glass of cabernet would help.

Lucas was waiting at the end of hallway for
Candy. “I wondered where you’d gone.”

“Sorry.” She leaned up to kiss his cheek.
He moved his head at the last minute and captured her mouth instead in a torrid
kiss.

Missy felt like a voyeur and quickly
glanced around the room. She wasn’t looking for one person in particular, she
assured herself. But her stomach dropped when she couldn’t find T.S. anywhere.
He must have left while she’d been with Candy.

She felt deflated and hated her reaction.
She’d been enjoying the sexual banter and byplay more than she’d wanted to
admit. For the first time in months she’d felt alive with anticipation.

Screw it. She didn’t need T.S. or any man
for that matter. She was a happy, healthy, successful, independent woman.

Pasting a smile on her face, she turned to
the happy couple. “I should get going.” Amid protests and hugs, she gathered
her coat and purse and left. The party was still in full swing, but Missy
figured it wouldn’t be too much longer before Lucas moved the other guests
along.

She laughed as he pictured Candy’s new
husband all but tossing his friends out so he could be alone with her. Her high
heels tapped against the hardwood stairs that led down to a private side
entrance. She stopped at the bottom and tugged her coat on. Fall had a grip on
the city, leaving the air with a slight nip, and the dress she was wearing was
thin.

But she looked mighty fine in it.

Still smiling, she pushed open the door and
stepped out into the night. It closed behind her, the lock clicking into place.
The sounds of the city surrounded her. Car horns blew, streetlights hummed and
buses rumbled down the road.

Missy strode to the end of the well-lit
alleyway and headed down the sidewalk. She was parked on the road a few blocks
down. She avoided the parking garage, knowing it would be late when she left
the party. It was safer on the road where there were more people and traffic
around.

Except tonight it was quiet. Almost eerily
so.

“Don’t be silly. You’ve lived in Chicago
for years. This is a busy street and your car is only a few minutes away.
You’ll be fine.” The pep talk helped. But she pulled herself up to her full
height and yanked her keys from her coat pocket, holding them tight in her
right hand with one of the keys poking out from between her fingers. A
precaution only. No need to be stupid.

She started to relax when her reliable
Honda Civic finally came into sight. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all.

“Hey, pretty lady. What’s your hurry?” The
male voice came from the alleyway on her left.

“Look at those legs,” another one said.

A quick glance told her there were two of
them. They were both a little shorter than her but not by much. Probably in
their early twenties. She turned away and picked up her pace. If she could get
to her car she’d be okay.

“Hey, don’t hurry off. We want to party
with you.” A heavy hand came down on her shoulder. She spun around and
automatically struck out with her right hand. The man jerked back just in time
to keep the key clenched in her fist from raking down his face.

“You bitch. You tried to cut me.” Anger
filled his dark eyes. Oh shit. She was in big trouble now.

His friend circled around to her other
side, cutting off the path to her car. She frantically searched for somewhere
to run. But all the businesses were closed for the day. A car went down the
road, but when Missy waved at the driver he sped away.

“Ain’t no one going to help you, bitch.”
The bigger of the two spat. His skin was dark, his teeth white. Two gold hoops
hung from his ear.

His silent friend was lighter-skinned with
close-cropped brown hair and blue eyes. He appeared almost friendly, until you
looked closely at his eyes. They were dead.

Missy’s heart was pounding so hard her
chest hurt. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she watched both men as best
she could. Her senses were heightened. She could feel the cool air on her face,
the sweat rolling down her spine. The keys in her hands cut into her skin she
held them so tight. It was her only weapon.

Go for the eyes. That’s what her
self-defense instructor had told her. Scream for help was one of the other
things he’d taught them.

Easier to say and hard to do when she could
barely get a breath. “Leave me alone.” She’d try to reason with them first.

“Why?” This from the quieter of the two.
The one with the dead eyes. “You’re alone. We’re alone. We should have some
fun.”

It was as simple as that to him, she
realized. Like a rabid dog, he’d seen what he wanted and could find no reason
why he shouldn’t have it.

Perspiration dotted her skin in spite of
the cool evening air. She licked her dry lips and took a deep breath. As the
larger man leapt toward her, one hand catching her hand with the key and his
other one ripping at her dress, groping her breast, Missy opened her mouth and
screamed.

Chapter Three

T.S. felt like an idiot. He rubbed his
hands together against the cold air that was seeping in through the window of
his truck. He’d rolled it down to keep the windows from steaming up. He could
run the engine for a while, but he didn’t want to waste the gas. Plus it wasn’t
good for the environment to keep the vehicle idling indefinitely. He also
didn’t want to attract attention. Or worse, have her see him and think he was
stalking her. Which he wasn’t.

Missy had come alone and he was worried
about her getting to her car okay. “If you were that worried, you should have
waited.” He could have enjoyed a few more snacks from the buffet—there had been
some killer shrimp and some excellent cheese puff thingies—maybe even had a cup
of coffee. But no. He’d left the party before the worry had kicked in so now he
was stuck in his rapidly chilling truck.

He tilted his head back against the
headrest and closed his eyes. He should just go home and call it a night. But
he knew he wouldn’t rest unless he knew Missy was okay. This wasn’t the worst
part of town but it wasn’t the best either, not at this time of day with all
the businesses closed up tight for the night.

He’d followed her here from the church so
he knew her car was just up the road. He’d wait until she drove away and then
he’d go home. No one needed to be the wiser.

It was no more than any decent man would
do. And if he told himself that enough times he might actually start to believe
it.

As he relaxed, he pictured Missy in his
mind again. Mmmm, she was certainly as beautiful as an angel and as tempting as
a sin. Her legs went on forever. It was easy to imagine those legs wrapped
around his waist as he pumped into her. Her breasts weren’t overly large but
they looked perfect, at least through her clothing. A handful, but no more.

Her curves were more subtle, her torso lean
and slender. He wanted to run his hands over her soft skin, trace her curves
with his tongue before finding his way to her nipples.

Oh yeah. He wasn’t cold any longer. Now he
was hot. So hot it was a wonder his clothing wasn’t smoldering. His cock
stirred and he shifted in his seat to get more comfortable.

Then there was her mouth. Missy had
beautiful lips, full and inviting. He really wanted to taste them, before
delving inward to explore her moist mouth. He groaned. He should stop. And he
would. Any second now.

It was all too easy to imagine her head
thrown back against his pillows, her dark brown eyes overflowing with passion,
her lips parted on a throaty scream of passion.

The scream that ripped through the night
brought him straight up in his seat, driving all sexual fantasies aside. He was
out of his truck before he’d even realized he’d moved.

He heard the scuffle just down the way, on
the other side of the road. He squinted against the darkness. Two men and one
woman. Shit, he was going to have to get involved.

He started across the road at a lope. He
already had his cell phone out, dialing 9-1-1. “Hey, let her go.” The men
ignored him and pulled the woman deeper into the shadows. The guy’s hands were
all over her even as she struggled.

He heard a voice answer his call and put
the receiver to his ear just in time to hear, “And what is your emergency?”

“Two guys attacking a woman.” He quickly
gave the address and hung up, stuffing his phone in his coat pocket. The woman
screamed again and cursed her attackers. He recognized that voice.

Fury jolted through him like a runaway
locomotive. Missy. They had his Missy.

T.S. didn’t think about the fact one or
both men probably had weapons. He simply attacked, grabbing the first man by
his arm. He was a big son of a bitch with gold loops in his ear and a
don’t-fuck-with-me attitude. But T.S. was no slouch. He’d grown up in the
projects and if there was one thing he knew how to do it was fight dirty.