10. Myer
M yer~
I didn’t stop until we reached my house, and as soon as I opened the door, I ushered Calista inside, trying to get her as far away from that scumbag as possible.
Religious prayer meeting my ass.
As Calista got comfortable at the kitchen island, I went straight for the fridge and the beer. “Do you want a beer?” I asked. “I also got some hard liquor if you need it after that shit.”
She laughed before saying, “A beer is fine.”
After grabbing two bottles from the bottom shelf, I slid hers over to her as I stood on the other side of the marble counter, still trying to process what’d just happened. I mean, while I’d been expecting something new and different, I hadn’t ever expected that.
Looking at the beauty across from me, I asked, “So, am I the only one thinking that Jury Patton has himself a little sex sect?”
Calista shook her head. “Nope.”
“What in the hell?” I remarked absently. “I mean, seriously.”
“Did you notice how they all looked similar?” she asked. “I mean, if that isn’t a dead giveaway, then I’m not sure what is.”
I eyed her as I said, “He seemed particularly interested in you.”
“Oh, please,” she huffed. “His GQ smooth moves might have worked on his little quartet over there, but not me.”
Then, because I needed to know for my own personal reasons, I asked, “Do you have a boyfriend? I mean, is my lie going to come back and blow up in our faces?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No, we’re good.”
The relief that I felt at this moment was very telling and a bit scary.
I didn’t realize how much I’d wanted her to say no until she’d said the word, and it had me wondering if it was too soon to ask her out on a date.
Of course, just because she’d said that she didn’t have a boyfriend didn’t mean that I had a chance.
For all that I knew, she could have a crush on a co-worker or something.
After a few seconds, I asked, “Do you think that he has Louise recruiting for him?”
Calista immediately scowled. “That sounds a lot like trafficking.”
I shrugged. “Maybe a subtle version.”
“Well, if she is, then she’s stupider than I thought,” she replied seriously.
“All the same, I think that we should internet stalk him,” I suggested. “The way that those women never uttered a word has me feeling like Satan’s raking his fingernails across the bottoms of my feet.”
“Well, that’s a cheerful nightmare that I can look forward to tonight,” she grumbled.
That made me grin. “Just make sure that you don’t fall asleep with your leg hanging over the side of the bed.”
“Because demons are only under the bed?” she sassed back. “I don’t think so.”
Then, overstepping when I shouldn’t, I said, “Do me a favor and stay on this side of the street from now on. I just...while I don’t think that you’re in actual danger, I don’t like the idea of you being anywhere near those people.”
She looked at me pointedly. “I have been staying on this side of the street. For a few months already, might I add.”
“Yeah, but now that Jury Patton has met you in person, I think that they might become more aggressive in their pursuit of you.”
Calista took a drink of her beer- super unimpressed by my possessiveness -before saying, “You know, I’m thirty-six, Myer. I’m officially a big girl.”
“I just don’t want him anywhere near you,” I told her. “That whole...kneeling and not speaking is super weird, and I’m beginning to wonder if Louise’s fruit baskets are really gifts or if she’s trying to apple poison you like Snow White.”
“The big difference here is that the apples in Snow White were edible,” she retorted. “Louise’s fruit baskets are a danger to the environment.”
“Nevertheless, just don’t answer the door if she knocks,” I said. “And the next time that she delivers you a basket, we’re throwing that shit out where she can see.”
“Awwwe,” she cooed. “You really are worried about me.”
“This isn’t funny,” I scolded.
Calista just waved away my concern. “While I agree that their Stepford Wives thing is creepy as all get out, I really don’t think that they’re dangerous. Plus, there’s no chance in hell that I’d ever fall for their nonsense.”
While she was probably right, jealousy was controlling the wheel right now.
Even though Calista wasn’t interested in Jury Patton, the fact that he was interested in her was enough to raise my hackles.
Yeah, she wasn’t my girlfriend, and I really didn’t have a right to my feelings of possessiveness, but I was all for ignoring logic at the moment.
“That’s not what I’m implying,” I assured her. “I just...even if they’re not dangerous, I don’t want them or that fucking guy around you.”
Calista arched a brow, a smirk on her lips. “He really pissed you off, didn’t he?”
“Predators tend to do that,” I deadpanned.
“While I agree that he’s a predator, I’m predator safe,” she assured me. “The last thing that I’m interested in is becoming a kneeling mute.”
Wanting to make sure that Calista never saw me in the same light, I said, “I’m also sorry that I told them that I was your boyfriend without running it by you first.”
She just shrugged. “We were running for our lives, so I’m not going to question your methods.”
I eyed her as I said, “Well, we weren’t exactly fighting for our lives, Calista.”
“You don’t know that,” she retorted. “Who’s to say what was in those refreshments, huh?” She took another sip of her beer before adding, “I mean, we’re talking about crazy people here.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“Just...again, do me a favor and avoid them as much as possible,” I repeated. “At least, until we find out more about Jury Patton.”
“Do you know any cops?”
That took me back by surprise. “Uhm, my brother’s in the military, if that counts.”
“Which branch?”
“Navy,” I answered warily. “He’s a Seal.”
Her back immediately straightened. “Your brother is an honest-to-goodness Navy Seal?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Do you think he has friends in the CIA?” she asked, and I had to roll my lips in to keep from laughing. “I mean, those kinds of connections would be really helpful right now.”
“Not sure if a cooky neighbor and her weird friends warrant the resources of the US government,” I told her. “Though, I’m pretty sure that Zach doesn’t know anyone in the CIA.”
Calista arched a brow. “Would you know if he did? I mean, that’s probably information that he’s not able to share with people.”
That got my lips twitching. “Again, I’m pretty sure that he doesn’t.”
I watched her shoulders sag as she said, “Well, that sucks. We could use those kinds of connections right now.”
“How about we just stay on our side of the street from now on, and if Louise keeps sending you baskets, then we can file a complaint of harassment with the police,” I suggested.
The woman just shrugged. “Like I said, I’ve been staying on my side of the street, so you can hardly blame me for all this mess.
” With a knowing look, she added, “I’m not the one who accepted an invitation to Louise’s creepy speed-dating-prayer group.
Remember, I’m the one who offered to burn down your house to get you out of it.
“Yeah, just for reference, arson usually isn’t an accepted form of problem solving.”
“Says who?” she challenged.
“Almost everyone,” I answered pointedly.
“What if you’re trapped in a rickety old farmhouse by some deranged killer, and the only way out is to set it on fire?” she posed.
I scowled at that. “Am I still inside? Because that would seem to defeat the purpose.”
Calista set her empty bottle on the counter before standing up to leave. “Would you rather burn to death or have some maniac disembowel you while you’re still alive?”
“Those are my only two choices?” I asked, setting my own bottle on the counter.
“I’m just saying,” she said, making her way to the front door. “Sometimes, arson is the answer.”
Yeah, pretty sure that I was toast at this point.
I mean, who didn’t love a woman that appreciated fire?