Foolish Me Read online

  I shook my head. “Y’know, I could understand that if you were CIA or FBI, but you’re just a… a troubleshooter for Huntingdon.”

  He was silent for a beat. Then, “Yeah. Anyway, I intend to talk to Mr. Vincent about this.”

  Cold fingers chased up my spine, and again I wondered what Wills would do if Vincent told him he had to give me up, that it was me or the job.

  “Now”—he squeezed my hand—“what kind of rings do you think we should get? Dad and Mom had these bands with white gold on the outside and a band of yellow gold in the middle.”

  I knew I couldn’t let him change the subject. “Wills….”

  “I’ll have something engraved for you on the inside…. Yeah, babe?”

  “When I was talking to Vince earlier, he said…. He said he didn’t need you in a state like you’d been in because you had to worry about me.”

  “Oh?”

  “If he wants you to give me up….”

  “Is that what you think he meant?”

  “I don’t know. All I do know is that he didn’t sound happy about it. I… I’m not giving you an ultimatum, that’s the last thing I’d ever do, but I have to know. If he tells you that it’s me or your job, you can’t have both….”

  “Well, it’s a no-brainer, Theo. I’m a damned good troubleshooter—” His voice was cold as ice, and I swallowed.

  “Yeah, I… I kind of thought that was how you might feel about it.”

  “—but if those were my choices, he’d have my resignation on his desk as soon as I could type it up.”

  “Wills! You really would?”

  “Theo, what part of ‘I love you’ don’t you get? Now forget about that and tell me where you want to go for our rings.”

  Inside I felt as if fizzy bubbles were rushing through my veins. He was willing to give up the job he loved for me. I looked out the window so he wouldn’t see the tears in my eyes, and cleared my throat. “Mount Olympus has a nice selection.”

  “Good. We’ll get some sleep—” He made a pleased sound as he slid the Dodge into his parking spot in front of the house and turned off the engine. “—and after we wake up and you make love to me, we’ll go to Mount Olympus and pick out our wedding bands.”

  “Wills, park in the drive, would you?”

  He gave me a puzzled look.

  “Please?”

  “Okay.” He turned on the ignition again, made sure no cars were coming, and skirted the car in the space in front of his. He let the Dodge roll down the street and then turned into the drive. “I should put up some gates for you. Anyone could walk into your backyard.”

  “If that’s what you want to do. Drive down to the garage.”

  “Okay.” Once there, he turned off the engine again. “Now—”

  I unfastened my seat belt, unfastened his, and shoved him so his back was against the door.

  “Theo?”

  “I can’t wait! You talk about us getting rings….” I unzipped his fly, took out his cock, and licked my lips. All I wanted was to get it in my mouth. It was dark in the driveway, and I could have my way with him without anyone seeing us.

  “So this is why….”

  “Mmm.” His cock was heavy on my tongue, and I didn’t want to take my mouth off him.

  Wills groaned and threaded his fingers into my hair. He couldn’t move much, with the steering wheel on one side and the back of the seat on the other, but I didn’t need him to move. I wriggled my fingers into his jeans and ran my fingertips over his balls while I blew him.

  He positioned his right leg between mine. “Ride me, babe.”

  It was my turn to groan. The friction as I rocked on his thigh drove me wild, and when he went over the edge, he made sure he took me with him.

  THINGS DIDN’T work out quite as we’d planned.

  “I’ll empty your carry-on, babe.”

  “Just a second. I have to get Miss Su’s bowls.”

  Wills tipped over the carry-on, unzipped it, and handed me the bowls.

  “Okay. I’ll let Miss Su out of her carrier, give her some fresh water and her breakfast, and meet you in the bedroom in a jiffy.”

  He closed the case and rose. “Don’t keep me waiting, sailor.” He gave me a sultry smile and sauntered down the hallway.

  Miss Su followed me into the kitchen, and once I’d put her bowls down on the floor, I took a quick look around. The oven had been turned off, and the roasting pan was sitting in the sink, the apricot, port, and balsamic sauce a gummy mess. Scattered bits of bone and skin were also in the sink. Wills must have run the hens down the disposal. He said he’d driven down to Williamsburg to see Michael’s parents, but what time had he gotten home on Wednesday?

  Oh well. We could go shopping for another pair of game hens for dinner later.

  I drizzled some Palmolive into the pan and filled it with hot water, leaving it to soak.

  “Amuse yourself, okay, Miss Su? Poppa and Daddy are gonna catch up on all the sleep we missed.”

  When I walked into the bedroom, Wills was lying stretched out on the bed, naked and hard.

  “I thought we were going to get some sleep first.” I made sure the door was shut behind me. We didn’t need Miss Su joining us in a replay of the day he’d left four weeks before.

  “We’ve got plenty of time, and I can’t wait to feel you inside me.”

  “Okay, I’ll just get the lube….”

  “Already ready, babe.” He pulled his legs back toward his chest, and I could see the sheen of lubricant between his asscheeks.

  “Oh, baby!” I tore off my clothes, wanting nothing so much as to jump on him and bury my cock in his ass, but I approached the bed slowly. He deserved care and consideration.

  “Don’t keep me waiting, Theo!” He pulled me down onto him, arched up, and my cock slid past the tight ring of muscle that guarded his opening and into him like it was coming home.

  The velvety heat, the sensation of his snug channel clenching around me rhythmically, without the buffer of a condom drove me higher than I’d ever been driven as a top or a bottom, and I groaned, shuddered, and bit down on his shoulder, careful not to break the skin.

  He groaned, shivered, and locked his ankles high around my waist, rocking to meet each thrust, his moans and whimpers a love song to my ears.

  Braced on my hands and knees, I eased back until just the crown of my cock was in him, then drove forward, brushing past his prostate.

  Wills kneaded my shoulder with the fingers of one hand, while he lightly scratched the back of my neck with the fingertips of the other. His gaze, filled with passion, fastened on mine, and he drew a hand down my chest, squeezing and rubbing my nipples.

  I reached for his cock, but I’d no sooner touched him than he made a sound low in his throat and began coming. That was all it took to set me off. I slammed into him hard, one last time, and stilled as I filled him with my semen.

  “Oh, God, Theo! You…. It’s…. Ahhh!” He shivered, and a few final drops of come spurted from his cock.

  I leaned forward, ran my tongue over his lips, and settled on them for a deep, satisfying kiss.

  “I love you, Theo,” he whispered when I finally drew back, panting lightly.

  “I love you, Wills.” I was starting to soften, and automatically I grabbed for the base of my cock to keep the condom from spilling its contents.

  “Don’t have to do that anymore, babe.” His words were drowsy. He unlocked his ankles and lowered his legs, groaning as the pressure on his hips eased.

  “No, we don’t, do we?” I sank down on him. “Wanna go to sleep this way?”

  “You bet. Wanna wake up this way too.”

  “For the rest of our lives,” I promised.

  His arms tightened around me. “If I wasn’t already, I’d be your slave for life.”

  “You sweet-talker, you.” I caught the top sheet with my toes, dragged it to within reach, and pulled it over us, and in a matter of seconds we were asleep.

  Chapter 2
0

  WE WOKE to the sound of scratching at the bedroom door. “Miss Su doesn’t usually do that,” Wills mumbled. He stretched, undulating his body beneath me.

  I raised my head, peered at the clock, and blinked. “It’s a quarter to seven already?”

  “A.m. or p.m.?”

  I squinted at the small lettering and said, “P.m. Miss Su must be starved!”

  “Poor kitty.”

  “Are you going to feed her?”

  “No.”

  “Mind if I ask why not?”

  “Two reasons. Number one, she’s your kitten.”

  “Oh, really? I seem to remember you wrestling with me to see who gets to cuddle her. And that reminds me….” He started laughing. “What?”

  “That was just an excuse to get my hands on you.” He palmed my asscheek.

  “Yeah? Cool. But don’t think you can distract me. I have a bone to pick with you.”

  “Do you?” His smile was so innocent that I knew he was up to something. He slid his hand between us and squeezed my cock. “This bone?”

  My hips jerked, driving my cock forward into his grip, and I groaned and dropped my forehead to his. “No!” I nipped his nose. “Not gonna work, hotshot. I had to take her to the vet alone.”

  “You took her to the vet? What was wrong?”

  “To get her spayed, Matheson!”

  “Oh. I was away for that, wasn’t I?”

  I cuffed his shoulder. “Yes, you were. I had to do it all by myself.”

  “But she came through it okay, didn’t she?”

  “She came through it fine, but you owe me big-time for that. The experience left me scarred and traumatized for life.” His torso shook as he laughed, rocking me, and I cuffed him again. “I’m not kidding! If we had a kid, and our kid had to have his tonsils or appendix out, I’d be a basket case!”

  He hugged me. “We’d make such a beautiful little boy.” He sighed. “Well, we’ll have all of my cousins’ kids to fuss over, as well as nieces and nephews eventually.”

  “We… we could always adopt,” I offered, “and as I mentioned to your dad, there’s in vitro fertilization also.”

  “I guess.” He looked thoughtful, but I didn’t want to talk about kids just yet. There was plenty of time before we got serious about children.

  “So what’s number two?”

  “Hmm?” A mischievous grin curled his lips. “Babe, if you don’t know….”

  “Don’t push your luck, Matheson.” I reached down and pinched his ass.

  “Hey!”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Oh, the second reason why I won’t feed Miss Su? I can’t. You’re on top of me.” I was about to roll off, but he tightened his grip. “Not that I’m complaining!”

  A muffled “mrrow” came from the other side of the door. “Someone is. I’d better go feed her. But don’t you go anywhere. I’ll be right back.”

  I pulled on a pair of sleep pants, went out into the hall, and closed the door behind me. “Hey, Miss Su. Let’s get you fed, okay?”

  She trotted after me into the kitchen. After popping the lid on a can of Fancy Feast and spooning it into her bowl, I poked around in the pantry and the fridge and frowned. Not that they were bare, but I didn’t really feel like cooking.

  I went back to the bedroom. “Babe, how about if I make reservations at Raphael’s? Mount Olympus is open late on Fridays. We can shop for our rings and then go there for….” I stopped short. Wills wasn’t lounging in bed. “Babe?”

  “I’m in the bathroom.”

  “Are you decent? I hope not.” Grinning to myself, I strolled in, only to come to an abrupt halt.

  He was dressed in slacks and a tailored shirt, wearing his shoulder holster, running his electric razor over his cheeks and chin. “I just got a call from Mr. Vincent.”

  “I didn’t hear the phone ring.”

  He shrugged. “I have to meet him at work.”

  Shit. “Okay. Give me a couple of minutes to shower. I’m coming with you.” Vince would have to tell me to my face that Wills had to give me up.

  It took me about five minutes. By the time I was dried off and dressed, he was gone.

  I ran down the stairs to the front door, threw it open, and ran to the drive. “Son of a bitch.” The Dodge was gone as well.

  Well, I’d driven Wills to work once, and I knew where Huntingdon was located.

  Back up to the apartment, where I grabbed my jacket and car keys, and down again to the garage. I backed the Corvair out, scraping the driver’s side against the fence to the left of the driveway, something I hadn’t done in years, leaving behind a streak of taxicab-yellow paint—“Son of a bitch!”—and headed out after him.

  Traffic was heinous, and on top of that I got stuck at almost every traffic light. At each of them I worried my fingernails. While I waited at the last light before the turn into Huntingdon’s parking facility, I tore the cuticle from my thumbnail and had to suck the blood away.

  “Son of a goddamned fucking bitch!” The only parking spots I could find that weren’t handicapped were a good five-minute hike from the building. I turned off the ignition, got out and slapped the lock, and slammed the door shut, then had to open it again because I’d left the lights on. Swearing under my breath in Greek, I stuffed the keys into my pocket and began walking.

  A series of glass doors faced me, not a single revolving door in the lot. It looked kind of anonymous, nothing above the doors announcing the address or the name of the building. This was probably the employees’ entrance.

  The door I approached slid open with a subdued “shhht,” then slid closed behind me with the same sound, and I stood gazing around the lobby: a bank of elevators, but no obvious doors, no seating arrangements, no greenery to brighten the area. Fluorescent lights lined the ceiling, although during the day the glass doors would let in so much light they wouldn’t really be necessary. There was no directory listing departments and the people who worked in them. Wills had never mentioned what floor he worked on, and I realized I had no idea where to start looking for him or for Vincent’s office.

  “Can I help you?”

  I jumped and turned to face a stocky black man with salt-and-pepper hair, dressed in a maroon blazer and gray slacks. A slight bulge under his arm hinted at a gun in a shoulder holster.

  Wills’s suit jackets, in spite of how nothing special they appeared, never revealed the fact that he sometimes carried a gun.

  “I’m looking for Mark Vincent’s office.”

  “And you are?”

  “Theo Bascopolis.”

  “Wait one second, please.” He went to his station, off in a corner, which was why I hadn’t noticed it, and picked up a sheaf of papers. After flipping through them, he looked back at me. “I’m sorry. Your name isn’t on the list.”

  List? “Uh… could you call his office and ask if he can see me? I know he’s here; he’s supposed to see one of the men who works under him.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “It’s not a smart idea to disturb Mr. Vincent; he doesn’t like it.”

  “Please? I’m a friend of his.”

  He looked a little surprised. “Mr. Vincent has friends?” He cleared his throat. “Yes, okay, just a second.” He took a phone from his belt and pressed a series of numbers. “You said your name is Bascopolis?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Vincent. This is Sanford. Sorry to bother you, sir. I have someone down here who wants to see you. No, I know that, sir, but he says he’s a friend of yours. … Bascopolis, sir.” There was a brief pause. “Yes, sir. I’ll send him up.” He disconnected the call and placed the phone on his desk. “I’ll have to search you.”

  “For?”

  “Listening devices, recording devices, weapons.” He looked bored. “You understand.”

  “Uh… okay.” I held my arms out, and he patted me down—efficient, thorough, and impersonal, even when he ran his hand up my inner thigh.

  He picked up his phon
e and punched in another number. “Young, I’m sending someone up for Mr. Vincent. Yes. Bascopolis. Okay, thanks.” He hung up and nodded at me. “Take that second elevator to the right. Mr. Vincent is on seven. Security will meet you and escort you to his office.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, sir.”

  The elevator doors opened almost as soon as I touched the button, and I stepped inside and pushed seven. The elevator smoothly began its upward journey.

  I worried the cuticle of my other thumb. Would Wills be pissed that I’d followed him? Would Vince be pissed at Wills because I’d turned up here?

  There was a ding, the elevator settled to a stop, and a second later the door slid open. Waiting there was a man whose Asian heritage was obvious in the shape of his eyes. He was wearing a blazer and slacks similar to Sanford’s.

  “You are Mr. Bascopolis?”

  “Yes.”

  He gestured for me to stand to the side. “I must check you for weapons.”

  “Sanford already did.”

  He shrugged and set about frisking me anyway, and I sighed and stood there with my arms extended. Talk about a paranoid company.

  While he did that, two men wearing suits very similar to the ones my lover wore approached the elevator. I recognized one as Howard, whose picture I’d seen in the company newsletter and who’d greeted Wills at the Bee’s Knees on Valentine’s Day.

  “You’re not a senior agent,” his companion sneered at him. “What do you know about it?”

  “I may be junior to you, Browne, but I know you’ve lost this one.” Howard’s eyes narrowed as he saw the security man and me and realized we must have overheard his words.

  Browne, on the other hand, couldn’t have cared less and dismissed us with barely a glance. “Max is French, he wasn’t born yesterday, and he knows which way the wind blows.” He jabbed the elevator button repeatedly, his irritation evident, and tapped his foot, waiting for the door to open. “If I wanted him back, all I’d have to do is crook my little finger.”

  “You mean the one you lost?”