I already had my jeans, shirts, and a couple pairs of sweatpants to sleep in piled in my arms. So I was just waiting on Marley and then we'd finally go eat something.
I leaned my good shoulder on the wall next to her room. "You need any help in there?" I let my voice carry the notes of someone who was frustrated, but it had absolutely nothing to do with waiting for her. It was something else entirely.
"I could use some help," I heard behind me. I turned to find a woman peeking out, smirking. "Wanna help me?"
I smiled. "I'm pretty attached to this one here." I jerked my thumb toward Marley's room. "But thanks."
She shrugged with a coy smile and disappeared. When I turned back, Marley was peeking out at me. She had a little smile on her scarred lip that I couldn't figure out. She grabbed my shirt front and pulled me into the room with her. Shutting the curtain, she turned to me and then turned back around, putting her back to me. "I do need some help actually."
There was a half-done zipper on the little blue dress she was wearing. I put my hands on her shoulders, gulping because she was soft in a way that I didn't know women could be. "Up or down?" I asked, but it was a growl if I ever heard one.
Goosebumps ran across her skin then, making me burn in all sorts of ways.
"What?" she breathed. It took me a second to register her shaking.
"The zipper. Up or down."
"Oh," she whispered and took a couple of heaving breaths. "Down. It fits." I didn't move. I didn't dare move yet. "Do you like it?"
"It's a pretty dress," I said evenly, stepping forward a bit.
She turned, letting the zipper-talk go, and looked up at me. "Do girls hit on you everywhere you go?"
"Yes," I answered truthfully. "Girls, women, and even a guy once."
"Your ego must be the size of Lambeau Field."
Holy hell! Did she just make a football joke? "Packers fan, are you?"
"Who isn't?"
Oh, my...gah.... I wiped my face with my palm. "No, my ego isn't the size of a football field because I know they only want to use me. And I used to want to use them, so it didn't matter. I'm the kind of guy that girls want to have a few fun times with, I'm not the settle-down-and-marry kind."
"Why do you say that?" she said incredulously.
"The first woman I was with made sure I knew that." I wasn't bitter about it. It is what is it. I wasn't proud though, and even if Marley left, I'd never be that guy again. "That is a dead life made to trick you into thinking you're living. Girls were the vice and provided the numbness."
She nodded, understanding, but I could tell she didn't really want to know. "I wish I could go back and do things differently."
She smiled sadly and whispered, "Don't we all." I stuck my hands in my pockets, more confused than ever. One minute, I was sure, the next, I was more in the dark than before. What did this girl want from me?
"By the way, that woman was an idiot."
"For hitting on me?" I quirked an amused brow and nodded toward the other changing room.
"No," she laughed. "That, I understand. The woman who told you that you were nothing but a toy...that's not true. I can see you finding that guy that's chasing you, breaking his neck for what he did to your mom, and then you settling down...being a great husband and dad one day."
Dad. That thought had never, ever crossed my mind.
"Really?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"Funny, I see the same about you." I smiled at the picture in my head. "A little girl that looks like you on your hip, all blond hair and pretty cheeks."
She smiled at the floor. "One day," she promised herself. She touched her lip in thought, or self-consciousness.
I lifted her chin until she looked up. I pulled her closer, letting my thumb run down the curve of her nose and stop to rub over that scar. She tried to pull away, but I just held tighter to her cheeks, holding her hostage, trying to give her back a little bit of all the healing she'd given me. She pleaded with me with her eyes, but I refused to release her gaze. The scar was soft and barely made a ridge at all. The pad of my thumb caressed and fell in love with that spot.
"Jude, don't."
"Why?" I said, truly baffled in that moment that she didn't see how I was falling hard for everything about her.
"It's...ugly."
I shook my head, knowing that was going to come out of her mouth. But I understood. I hated my scar, too. And hated when anyone said anything about it. But I... "It's not ugly. I've never wanted to kiss something as much as I want to kiss that scar right now. Gah, Marley, you are absolutely beautiful."
She melted, her body losing it rigidity and her face softening. She pulled one of my hands away so she could reach my jaw. My teeth clamped together. I should have known she'd turn the tables on me. She caressed the scar's length with her thumb as I had done. I stayed still for her ministrations, but wanted to bolt. But when she looked at me, she didn't look at me like it was sexy or like I was some bad boy. She looked at me like she knew exactly how I felt.
That was the only thing that made me stay.
When she leaned forward, pressing her lips to it, I stilled. She reached up on her tiptoes and placed three kisses spread out along it. I waited for it to be over, and begged for it never to be. She leaned back a little and ticked her head to the side. "It's a battle scar, Jude," she said, touching her lip. "Battle scars just remind us that we survived."
I took her face in my hands once more. "We did."
She watched me. "You said you wanted to kiss my scar..." I nodded. "Will you?"
She didn't have to ask me twice.
I lowered onto the sweetest mouth I'd ever tasted and I never wanted to taste another for, God, thank you, she was the only thing that kept me from falling over the edge to the end of me.
I felt her hands bunch in my shirt and that lit my fire. With full pressure and caressing, I gave her everything. Her lips were as soft and hypnotic as I imagined. She was timid and let me lead. I was intrigued by that, but right then, I wanted to hold the reins. I wanted to show the girl what she had done to me and for me. But later...I wanted to duel.
When I licked at her bottom lip, she gasped in my mouth a little, effectively opening the heavens to me. I was drowning in her taste, living in the air she breathed, swimming in the first moan that escaped her.
The dressing room was small and there were no chairs or benches, just three walls, one mirror, and a curtain. So I couldn't help myself as I turned us and pressed her to the back wall of the dressing room. One of my hands escaped and found its way to her leg. I lifted it to my side, my hand settling in the crook of her knee, feeling how warm and supple she was all over.
Her fingers went into my hair, tugging and pulling like a pro. I pressed harder, conveying all the things she was doing to me. Her tongue was timid like she was, but it was nice to feel it brush mine softly, like she was taking her time and savoring me.
Then she reached around and stuck her hand in my back pocket. I felt my eyes roll to the back of my head under my closed eyelids as a barely-there growl rattled its way into my throat.
We both jerked when a loud bang resounded through the store. I leaned back, curious. I peeked through the curtain side and my blood ran cold and boiled at the same time.
Biloxi.
Hell.
I looked at her and put my finger over my lips to tell her to be quiet. Her face changed from confused to frightened. I shook my head and whispered in her ear. "It's all right. I'll keep you safe. Do what I say, OK?"
She nodded.
I grabbed Marley's clothes and mine and peeked out once more. He was creating chaos as he badgered the store clerk with a picture. Two pictures. He said, "Have you seen these people?"
Dang. He was looking for Marley, too. He wasn't going to let her go.
"Come on, sweetheart," I told her and we inched out, her fingers gripping my shirt back. We almost made it to the back door before a shot rang in my ears and the window beside our heads explod
ed.
Marley screamed and I pulled her in front of me in case the shots weren't finished. People screamed everywhere, yelling, scrambling, running. He'd only made it worse on himself. Now it was harder for him to catch up to us. He was slipping, getting greedy, getting careless. But why?
I pushed her out the door before me and we took off running. We had to ditch the truck, I knew that. I had all our cash that was left on me so we'd be OK if we could just get the heck out of dodge.
We ran across the street just as we heard the alarm go off at the store behind us. Cops would be there soon. At the gas station, an older guy had just filled up and was going in to pay. I grimaced. I hated to do it, but if only he hadn't been trying to pay old school.
I jumped in, throwing the armload in the back. Marley climbed in and scooted to the middle of the bench seat of the old Cutlass. I cranked it up and slammed it into drive. He came out, yelling and cussing, but we were long gone. I flew out onto the highway and looked in my rearview mirror to make sure we were clear.
We weren't.
Biloxi was in my truck and he was closing in. It was a four lane with a light every block or so. I banged my fist on the steering wheel and cursed at my bad luck. Marley turned to look and gasped. She looked at me with wide, begging, innocent eyes, like I had all the answers.
"Just keep your head down. It'll be OK," I assured her and hoped I wasn't lying to her.
"Jude...be careful," she said worriedly and kept looking back.
"Just lay down, baby," I heard myself say as I pushed her head down to lay in my lap. She probably thought I was just comforting her, but if he started shooting, I didn't want her hit. She turned sideways as she lay, gripping my leg like a life raft.
I ran the first red light and he followed me. Horns blared and I looked around for a way to lose him. Swerving through traffic that was going thirty-five while I was going fifty and gaining wasn't what I wanted, but that bastard wasn't letting up.
I realized something right then. When we made it out of this situation, I was no longer going to sit back and wait for him to come find me. No. I was going to start looking for him as I promised so long ago.
I looked down at the scared girl who just wanted a normal life. I was going to find out what he wanted with me if it was the last thing I did. I deserved it. She deserved it. It was going to take some shady dealings, but it had to be done.
That murderer was mine.
Nine
A phone rang and I jumped. The old man's phone was in the car, sitting in the empty ashtray. I opened the ancient thing and pressed End Call. Then I got an idea. A genius idea. I told Marley to hold on tight, pressed the button for the camera to come up, and slammed on the brakes.
We flew forward in our seats and in seconds, Biloxi was right next to me out my driver's window. He was so shocked by my maneuver that he didn't even try to fire, but I did. I snapped a picture of his stunned face and then veered off onto a one-way street, going the wrong way, leaving him screeching to a halt and backing up. I was back on the main highway going west instead of east before he made it.
But the big guy was smiling down on us today because a delivery truck pulled right down the one way. There wasn't enough room for them to fit by each other and they both stopped in the middle of the road. I saw him lean out the window, beating his fists on the truck top, before the scene was stolen by a passing building. I relaxed a little and leaned back.
"You can get up. He's gone." She sat up slowly, looking around to affirm my words. "But just to make sure," I said and made a quick turn down the exit for the interstate, "we'll change things up a bit and take the interstate."
"He'll be after us soon, won't he?" she asked, her voice still shaking.
"Yes. He doesn't stop." I didn't look at her for what I said next. "It was the reason I was going to leave you and go on by myself. I didn't want you to be in danger. But he had your picture in there along with mine." I shook my head, wishing I'd been strong enough to do what needed to be done before. "It's too late. He's looking for you, too."
"But wouldn't he assume you'd ditch me?" She turned, her knees in the seat, but she was still next to me. "We didn't know each other. Why would he still be looking for me if he didn't know we were together?"
"I'm not sure, Marley. He's just desperate, I guess."
I sped as fast as I felt safe enough to do without getting pulled over. We only had about two hundred and fifty bucks left, so we had enough for a hotel tonight somewhere. We didn't have enough for a gun, however, and that was next on my list. I'd have to find some work, stat.
We rode in silence, except for the radio. Both our minds were running, I was sure, but I was determined not to let Marley get all scared and worried about this. She sat beside me the entire time, like sitting next to the window would somehow be unsafe. She gripped my arm and let her fingers follow the ridges of my skin to keep herself busy. I knew it was so she wouldn't be taken away by the wave of panic currently settling over her. I felt like a guilty man on death row because all this was my fault. All I could do now was make sure she stayed safe.
After over five hours on the road, I pulled into an old, dilapidated steakhouse with some guy's namesake. "You did promise me steak and yeast rolls."
She smiled at me—the first smile in hours—and reached into the back seat to get one of the pairs of shoes we got. I hadn't even realized she'd been barefoot the whole time.
I was so exhausted from the day we'd had and driving all afternoon. We hadn't stopped to eat for lunch either. My arm ached a little, but I knew the medicine had done its job and I was going to be fine. They sat us at a booth on the side with a clear view of the stage that was currently being occupied by a large woman belting out some Frank Sinatra's Fly Me to the Moon.
We both ordered sweet teas and the waitress brought us a loaf of bread and butter. We dug in. I buttered a piece and put it on her plate for her. She smiled coyly at me. I almost sighed out loud. I figured the fact that she had to know she was in danger because of me was going to be a mood killer. I was glad to see it wasn't.
It was easy for me to shift gears from running to pretending that things were back to normal. I'd done it all my life. But her, she was a rookie at this game, and it surprised me in the best way to see that she didn't fall apart so easily.
"It smells so good in here," she groaned. "I'm going to start eating napkins if they don't bring the food soon."
I laughed. "I'm right there with you." I swallowed my bite and cleared my throat. "I know we're avoiding it, but…I'm sorry about today."
"You mean the shopping spree? Thanks for that." She snapped her fingers. "Rats, we didn't pay!"
"That's not what I mean and you know it," I said softly.
"I know." She scooted over until she was right up against me. I put my arm around her. Her face was so close to mine that I felt her breaths against my cheek. "He's the one with issues, not you. You could have ditched me already and you didn't. I got dumped on you by some weird twist of fate. If you had dropped me off somewhere, he would have me now. You do know that, right?" I let my fingers trail her wrist and it shocked me how satisfied I was when more goosebumps appeared. "You saved me."
I didn't want to hear it. I wanted to wallow and be angry with myself. She pulled my face back up with her cool palm to my cheek. "You don't get to blame yourself."
I sighed and closed my eyes. I let my forehead rest on hers. She was this amazing girl who had dropped into my life, this gift that I didn't know how to accept.
"Thank you."
"Thank you," she rebutted. "For saving my life twice."
One of her feet moved between mine, caressing my ankle and leg as she reached her hand around the back of my neck. She was playing footsies with me? I chuckled to myself. No one had ever played footsies with me before.
Instead of over-thinking and being a total girl about this whole 'thing' going on between us, I just lifted her chin and kissed her, because that's exactly what I wanted to do. Her p
liable, eager body against mine made it very warm in that restaurant.
It wasn't the frenzied attack it had been at the store. No, this was different. It was an unhurried assault on my senses that I'd never really experienced with someone before. I didn't get enough time to analyze it before the waitress was making shrill noises in her throat to let us know she was there.
She put my plate down. "Aw, are you newlyweds?"
"Uh, no." I laughed, but looked at Marley. "Not quite yet."
I was testing her, seeing if she'd freak. She didn't. Not even a look of shock appeared. Instead, she got this evil little look in her green, sparkling eyes. "No, we're not engaged yet, but my honey here just graduated from college! He's a real, live gynecologist now!"
I choked on my mashed potatoes. She patted me on the back as I took a sip of water. The waitress' eyes widened and she smiled. "Well, congrats. You look a little...young to be a doctor."
"Oh, he worked so hard." Marley's voice had morphed into this cross between a southern bell and cute little hillbilly. "He worked his butt off, he did, and graduated from high school at just sixteen."
"Wow," the waitress said, impressed. "Wow, that's amazing."
"He's a prodigy. My baby." She kissed my cheek, winking and thoroughly enjoying herself.
Alrighty, two can play.
"Well, that's nothing compared to my sugar dumpling here." Marley was barely containing her laughter. She squeezed my thigh under the table. "She won Miss Sweet Corn pageant. That's right, took home the whole shebang, and now we're traveling up for the Miss Watermelon Seed." I looked at her lovingly. "My baby's gonna win and be a star."
"Aw, my goodness! You two are so sweet!" she spouted, clutching her chest.
"Well, thank you."
Marley took a big bite of a roll and spoke with her mouth full. "You wouldn't happen to have a Congratulations, I'm a doctor now cake back there, would you?"
"Um..." she looked around. "No. Sorry."
"That's OK!" she waved her fork at her. "Don't you worry about it."