Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
With her thoughts on the devastatingly attractive man in her living room, Charley hurried through her shower and blow-dried her hair.
Dabbing on mascara and lipstick, she put on a short black dress and black stilettos.
When she joined him, Sully stood. He’d traded his sweatshirt for a button-down shirt, and it was his turn to look her up and down.
She felt her cheeks heat, and when he grinned, she did a little curtsy.
“Damn,” Sully said in a husky voice, hands splaying on his hips.
“What do you feel like eating?” she asked him.
His grin grew cocky, and he said, “You.”
“Sully!” She wasn’t a hundred percent sure what he meant, but a blast-fire of bashfulness heated her cheeks. She swallowed and asked, “How about a steak?”
“Sounds good.” Sully held out the extra keys to her that had come with the new doorknobs and locks.
“I don’t have anyone to give the extra keys to. Why don’t you keep them for now? You know, in case I lock myself out.”
Sully took her hand and locked the door behind them.
In the parking area just outside of her apartment, he opened the passenger’s door of the truck.
But before Charley got in, he pulled her to him for a kiss.
Charley’s heart raced as his muscular arms circled her and molded her to his hard body.
She rose on tiptoes, and when his tongue touched her lips, she opened her mouth.
His hand slipped under her long, loose hair to the nape of her neck, and her tongue met his.
His lips melted hers, and when he gently broke the kiss, she turned and slid into his truck.
Ten minutes down Colorado Avenue put them in the heartbeat of Colorado Springs.
“What’s your favorite steakhouse?” she asked.
“Ever been to Southside Suzy’s?”
“Once for lunch on my twenty-first birthday.”
“How long ago was that?”
She arched a brow. “Four years.”
“So, you’re twenty-five.”
“Yes. And you’re—”
“Thirty-two,” he said, pulling into a parking space. “Ever married?”
“Never,” she said. “You?”
“Never. Engaged?”
“No, and I’ve never lived with anyone.”
“Same here,” Sully said with a smile. “Yeehaw.”
“Yeehaw.” Charley giggled.
Sully turned off the engine and hopped out of his truck. He came around to her side and helped her out. He looped her arm through his, and they went into the busy restaurant. Folks from all walks of life from Colorado Springs and beyond dined at this well-known eatery.
“Hi Vince,” Sully said to the semi-retired, older gentleman behind the bar.
“Hey, Sully boy, how’re you?” Vincent South asked.
“Great. Think you have room for us somewhere for dinner?”
“I bet we do,” he replied as his daughter, Suzy, walked toward them.
“Hi, Sully, good to see you,” Suzy said. She had short, spiked hair, a sprinkling of freckles across her nose, and a big smile.
On the way here, Sully had told Charley that Suzy co-owned the establishment with her father. Her boyfriend, Richard, was the undisputed leader of the Sons of Steel motorcycle club and a longtime friend of Sully’s and the Cooper family as well.
“Suzy, good to see you too,” Sully replied. “This is my friend, Charley. She owns the ranch across the highway and down the road from Triple C Ranch-East.”
“Any friend of the Coopers is a friend of ours,” Richard, tall and slim with coal black hair and beard and wearing his motorcycle colors, said.
Charley instinctively figured Richard was a good friend to have.
But if you were a foe, he and his club were probably a force to be reckoned with. “Welcome, Charley.”
“Thank you, and nice to meet you all,” Charley replied to Richard with a smile that included Suzy and Vince.
“Not just a friend of the Coopers, she’s their first cousin,” Sully told them.
“A double welcome, Charley,” Suzy said. She picked up menus and led them to a quiet table in the corner of the busy restaurant. “Enjoy.”
They ordered salads, steaks, and baked potatoes.
Just before their entrees were served, Sully told Charley the beef came from Chase Cooper’s ranch.
Then their salad plates were cleared away and they enjoyed every bite of their delicious meals.
Deciding they were too full for dessert, Sully grabbed the check before Charley could.
When she protested, he said maybe she could pay sometime in the future.
“Promise?” Charley asked, hoping that meant he was counting on seeing her again.
“Sure,” he said with a chuckle and a wink.
Sully tipped the waitress and promised Suzy and Richard they’d be back again.
Charley didn’t miss the envious stares of other women at the bar as Sully gave Vince a wave as they exited the popular establishment.
Sully held Charley’s hand on the way to his truck and opened her door.
Heading back to her place, when he drove up the hill to her duplex, she regretted having to say good night to him.
Turning off the truck engine, he came around to her side and walked her to her front door.
“Do you feel safe staying here tonight?” he asked.
“I think so,” she said as he unlocked her door. She stepped into her apartment, and when she turned to him in the small foyer, she asked, “I don’t have any beer, but would you like to have a glass of wine?”
“Sure.”
Sully locked the front door and made his way into the living room.
On the Formica countertop of the half-wall separating the living room from the kitchen, the white orchid looked like it might survive.
From a kitchen cabinet, Charley brought out a bottle of red wine and placed it on the counter.
She set a corkscrew next to the bottle, and carrying two wineglasses, walked around the corner of the kitchen to where Sully stood.
He picked up the wine bottle and corkscrew, and they settled themselves on the sofa.
Sully opened the wine, and Charley clicked on the flatscreen.
Chatting, they had finished their glasses of wine when the late news came on.
The leading story was grim.
“Yes,” Burt Groves stated to a news reporter. “Another body was found in a cave late today here in Old Colorado City.”
“This victim brings the strangling deaths of young females to four. Correct?” the reporter asked and held a microphone toward the detective.
“I didn’t say it was strangulation,” Groves clarified.
“This young woman’s name is—” The reporter glanced down at a note in his hand and said, “Amy Ramirez. Is that right?”
“No comment,” the detective said with a fierce frown. Turning to the camera, he said, “We are urging the public to lock their doors and not go out alone at night. Please be careful.”
“But because of the toadflax in the victim’s hand, we can assume the Cave Killer has struck again,” the reporter prodded.
“No comment,” Detective Groves repeated and walked away from him.
“What did I tell you?” Charley said and looked at Sully. “The Cave Killer is murdering a girl once a week!”
“Why don’t you come home with me?” Sully said. “You won’t have to think about being safe in the country. You’ll know you’re safe with me.”
Charley shook her head. “I need to open my shop tomorrow morning, and you said your business is open Tuesday through Saturday as well.”
“So don’t open tomorrow,” Sully said and clicked off the flatscreen. “Stay closed until they catch this guy.”
“But I was planning to call the shop about my Mini Cooper tomorrow.”
“I guarantee you your car won’t be ready yet.”
“Then I’ll need a rental car.”
“Make your calls from my house. I’ll get you wherever you need to go, Charley.”
“What about Leon?” she asked and nervously ran the fingers of both hands along her scalp, brushing her hair away from her face. “He’ll be back first thing in the morning.”
“Text him. Let him know you’re not going to open right away.”
“I haven’t made that decision yet.”
“Okay.” Sully paused, looked her square in the eye, and added, “In any case, don’t give Lerfeld a new key to your duplex or shop.”
“He’s never had a key to either one. But why do you say that?”
“Just being careful like Detective Groves suggested.”
“What about your store?”
“I’ll let Roy know I won’t be in,” Sully said. “Randy is taking a small group out to ride tomorrow. But Roy can handle things in the store without us.”
“Will you stay here with me tonight, Sully?”