No Such Thing As a Good Blind Date: A Brandy Alexander Mystery (No Such Thing As: A Brandy Alexander Mystery) (17 page)

“I’ll rent you the DVD.”

“No, I mean my dog and kitten. I can’t leave them alone. What if Glen breaks into the house? He could hurt them.”

Nick untangled himself from me and picked up the phone that was sitting on his coffee table. “I have a job for you,” he said to the voice that picked up on the other end. “I’m sorry. I know you need your beauty rest. I’ll make sure it’s worth your while.” He turned to me. “What’s your address?”

“But doesn’t he need a key to get in?” Nick raised his eyebrows in response. There really was so much I needed to learn about the ways of the criminal world.

Thirty minutes later Rocky and Adrian were happily snuggled in Nick’s spare room, courtesy of Alphonso, the B&E aficionado.

“You might want to think about an alarm system,” Alphonso suggested.

Alphonso left and then it was just Nick and I and the hundreds of butterflies that suddenly took up residence in my stomach. I had stayed the night at his place once before. Nothing happened, which could have been a crushing blow to my ego, except that I chose to see it as gentlemanly restraint, given the circumstances that brought me here that night.

Nick disappeared into his bedroom, returning a few minutes later with some clean sweats and a long sleeved pullover. “Thought you might need these—unless you prefer to sleep naked.” The corners of his mouth curled into a wicked grin and I felt myself go beet red.

“Uh, this is fine, thanks,” I said, taking them.

He had left a new toothbrush and some fresh towels on the bathroom sink for me, with instructions to help myself to any of the toiletries. I gazed longingly at the old fashioned, cast iron bathtub. It seemed like forever since I was able to take a proper bath, with actual running water. The thought seduced me and soon I was soaking in a hot tub, filled to the brim with bubbles.

I was floating down the Mississippi River on a raft, with Rocky and Adrian. Rocky was wearing a tiny straw hat, her ears sticking out of holes on the sides. Adrian was playing the harmonica, Camp Town Races, I think. Slowly I opened my eyes as Huck Finn called to me from the dock across the way.

“Hi there.”

“AHHH!” I bolted upright, forgetting for a moment that I was sitting naked in Nick’s bathtub. The temperature had turned cool as the last of the bubbles floated listlessly in the water. Nick sat on the edge of the tub, smiling. Gathering the remaining bubbles I sank back under the water.

“You were in here for so long I began to get worried,” he explained. “I knocked, but you didn’t answer.”

“Um, I must have fallen asleep.”

Nick stood, and unfolded a towel for me and held it open, waiting for me to step into it. I remained rooted under water.
God, I’m such an infantile geek. If I were Alana, we’d be having mad, passionate tub-sex by now.

“Oh,” he smiled, getting it. He turned his head and I stood up at warp speed and grabbed the towel, wrapping it around myself like a cocoon.

Nick left and I brushed my hair and scrubbed my teeth and yanked on the clothes he’d left me, cursing myself all the while for being such a big, fat baby. I sat down on the edge of the tub to think things through.
Do I want Nick to “come on” to me? God, yes! Am I emotionally ready to take that step? Hell, no! Will I ever be ready for a man like Nick? Probably not.
Our relationship is so ambiguous. There’d been some sexual flirting on his part in the past, but what did it really mean? The whole thing was giving me a headache.

I found Nick in the spare room, working at the computer. He was wearing black-rimmed reading glasses, his wavy brown hair tied in a loose ponytail. He looked up when he saw me and took off his glasses. His eyes looked tired. I shoved Adrian to one side of the bed and sat down.

“I’m sorry I ruined your evening with Alana, tonight, Nick. She sounded like she had great plans for you.”

“Alana is a very enterprising young lady,” he agreed.

A pang of jealousy seared my insides. “Why do you keep helping me?”
Shit. I meant to say something urbane.

He sat down next to me on the bed and brushed the hair from my eyes. “Maybe I’m just a sucker for a girl with bangs.”

“No, really. I mean it. I’ve caused you nothing but inconvenience since the day we met. What do you get out of this?”

Nick leaned forward, the dim light from the desk lamp casting a shadow on his beautiful face. “If I were ever in trouble I’d want you on my side, because I know you’d never give up on me.”

The sincerity in his voice nearly broke my heart.
Nick believed in me.
A lump formed in my throat and I swallowed hard. “Thank you,” I whispered.

He turned in response and placed a hand on my cheek. My heart started beating so fast I thought it would pop right out of my chest. He gazed at me with dark, liquid eyes, and then he lowered his head and pressed his soft, full lips against mine.
Oh my God!

I shivered in pleasure as he moved to my neck and lingered there, making small, concentric circles with his tongue. Heat spread through every erogenous zone in my body, waking up parts of me I didn’t even remember I had. With agonizing slowness he worked his way back up to my earlobe, my cheek, and finally, my waiting mouth. I let out a soft moan and he pressed harder, parting his lips and pulling me to him.

Seamlessly, we rolled onto our sides and he kept on kissing me, probing my mouth with his tongue until we were completely entwined. He tasted warm and sweet and he felt so good, and I ached for him with every fiber of my being. And then he cupped my breast with the palm of his hand and I froze.
Fuck, fuck, FUCK this stupid, analytical mind. Stop thinking and just let him do it!

Nick seemed to sense my inner struggle. He bit down gently on my lower lip and kissed me one last time. Then he wrapped his arms around me so that my head was nestled in the hollow of his neck. We laid that way until our breathing returned to normal, and then he lifted himself up on one elbow, gazing at me with those magnificent brown eyes. “You need to get some sleep, angel. You’ve had a busy day.” He drew down the covers and I slipped between the sheets. “Sweet dreams,” he said, turning out the light.

He expects me to go to sleep after
that?
It’d been four years since I’d even come close to being kissed with that kind of passion, and then I go and blow it by freaking out. What the heck was that all about? I wanted to go find him and ask if we could try it again. I’m sure I could get it right this time. Crap. He’s probably called Alana by now and they’re making love on his dining room table…not that he has a dining room table…maybe I should go check. I crept out of bed and listened at the door. No fevered grunting, no Bolero playing in the background. I got back in bed. Note to self: Stop being such a baby and have wild sex with Nick.

I slept straight through until eight a.m. Rocky was pawing at the door, trying to get out. Where was Adrian? I found him in the kitchen, mooching bacon off of Nick.

“Good morning,” he grinned.

I decided to pretend I wasn’t feeling horribly embarrassed and awkward and sat down at the counter.

Over a breakfast consisting of good strong coffee and fresh croissants, I filled Nick in on the latest developments regarding my buddy Keith. The drive had to belong to him. It was the only thing that made sense. The dog, on the other hand, clearly did not, so how did Adrian end up getting a hold of the drive? As much as I hated to admit it, I would have to track down Adrian’s owner if I wanted the answer to that question.

“I think there must be something on that flash drive besides the obvious,” I said. “The thing is, I don’t know anything about how this computer stuff works.”

“You can hide a file by erasing the file directory. It would make it harder to find, but not impossible. If you want you can leave it here and I’ll take a look at it later.”

I got up and cleared the dishes, wiping the table with a damp sponge. I knew I should get dressed and start the day, but I liked padding around in Nick’s clothes. They were oversized and smelled like him and it made me feel sexy. Nick was already dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a black t-shirt. He wore a silver band on his left wrist. Come to think of it, I’d never seen him without it. A tiny silver cross dangled from his right ear.

My phone rang and I panicked at the sound. Nick picked it up and looked at the caller I.D. “It’s okay,” he said, lightly tossing the phone to me. “It’s DiCarlo.”

“I got a message that you called the station looking for me, last night.”

“Yeah, I sorta ran into some trouble.”

“Shit,” he growled, when I told him. “Did you report it?”

“What was I going to say? Some phantom psycho is following me? He was driving a black Chevy Malibu, by the way.”

“Where are you now?”

I hesitated. Nick is not exactly on Bobby’s list of acceptable playmates and I really didn’t want to get into a fight about it. “I’m at Frankie’s.”

“His apartment or the gym?”

“Apartment,” I said. Sometimes it scares me how easily I lie.

“Put him on.”

“I can’t. He’s in the shower.”
Hah!

“Hang on a second,” Bobby said. I passed the time by eating the rest of the truffles I’d brought over the other night.

Bobby came back on the line. “You’re lying. I just called your uncle and he says he hasn’t seen you.”

“You
what?”
My only hope was righteous indignation and I was goin’ with it. “How dare you check up on me like that? Now Frankie’s probably worried sick about me. See the trouble you’ve caused? I have to call him right now to tell him I’m okay.”

“Brandy—”

I hung up before he could ask me anything else and punched in my uncle’s number.

“Hey, hon, how’re ya doin’?”

“Um, fine.” He didn’t sound all that concerned about me.

“What’s up?”

“I just thought I’d call because—” Suddenly the light dawned. Have you spoken to Bobby lately?”

“No, why?” Unhhh!

Bobby called me back but I ignored him. Nick watched me, his face a picture of pure delight. “Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“No.”

His grin got wider.

“I’m glad this is so entertaining for you.”

“You do know you’re making him nuts.”

“That is not my concern.” I turned away but I could feel Nick’s eyes on me.
“What are you lookin’ at?”

Nick offered to arrange for someone to escort me to work. He had a meeting this morning and was teaching a martial arts class in the afternoon, but Alphonso was on call if I needed him. As tempted as I was to have a personal henchman at my beck and call, I turned him down. “I can’t let Glen get to me, Nick. I’ll take extra precautions, but if I give in to the fear, he wins.”

“Just be careful, darlin’.” No lectures, no ranting about how dumb I am for wanting to handle it my way. I nodded, grateful for the vote of confidence.

I got dressed and looked out the window to check on the weather. It had snowed again in the night, which must be why I couldn’t find Paul’s car. It had to be buried in the snow. Okay, that was unlikely, which meant only one thing. Holy crap! Paul’s car’s been stolen! I am not going to have to worry about Glen killing me, because my brother is going to do it for him.

“Oh, sorry,” Nick said. “I forgot to tell you, I had your car taken in to my body shop to have the dent smoothed out. You’re driving the Mercedes truck out there. It comes with a tracking device. Hope you don’t mind.”

I almost cried with relief. But I just couldn’t bring myself to accept it. While it is true that I can be very focused on my own needs, I am not, by nature, a taker.

“You’ve done way too much for me already,” I said, shaking my head.”

“I’m just thinking about Paul,” Nick replied. “He’s going to be heartbroken when he sees what happened to his car. I’m just trying to spare the guy a little grief.” He tossed me the keys.

Well, he did have a point. I’d do anything for Paul, even if it meant driving around in a $70,000.00 truck.

I pulled up in front of the club at around noon. There was a new red T-Bird sitting out front. I went inside and found Franny, seated in one of the plush leather booths, sipping a soda. “Nice set of wheels, Fran,” I said, slipping into the seat opposite her.

“Thanks,” she beamed. “I was stopped at a light on Spruce and this really hot guy pulls up besides me, rolls down his window and says, ‘Beautiful car, but not as beautiful as the babe driving it.’ Then he asks for my phone number.”

Uh oh. The old Franny would have leaped out of the car and decked him for making such a cornball, sexist remark. But the hormonally impaired Fran was unpredictable.

“What happened then?” I asked cautiously.

“I gave him my phone number.”

“Franny!”

“Relax, it was a fake number. I just wanted to remember what it felt like to be young and free.”

“Have you discussed these feelings with Eddie, Fran?”

“Yeah, he says it’s normal for pregnant women to feel this way. He’s been reading up on the subject.” Eddie is a saint.

Paul came in carrying a plate piled high with steak fries and a burger. He plunked it down in front of Franny and she scooped up the burger and began to devour it.

“Hey, kiddo,” he greeted me. “I didn’t know you were supposed to work today. Funny thing, I overscheduled again, so you’re free to go. My mistake, so of course I’ll pay you.”

I looked around the room. It was packed with the usual lunchtime crowd and my brother was waiting tables.

“Paul, am I that much of a disaster? Be honest.”

Paul hung his head and slowly nodded up and down. “Bran, I’m sure you were a terrific reporter, but as a waitress you basically suck. I love you, honey, but you’re k- killing my business.” The news was discouraging. After all, it doesn’t look great on a resume to get fired by your own brother.

“Isn’t there anything I’m suited for?”

Paul thought about it for a minute. Suddenly, he grinned.

“Taco and the guys are playing here tomorrow night. Their lead female vocalist is down with the flu—”