CHAPTER 13
Lainey woke up to the smell of bacon. She was naked and under the warm covers of her own bed, but alone.
She’d fallen asleep feeling the weight and warmth of Robert next to her, dozing off listening to his deep breaths knowing he’d passed out after round two. That happened, right? Like really happened? She asked herself.
Lainey sat up. She was sore all over, but a good sore which told her, yes.
She hadn’t dreamed it. Bright sunshine peeked from behind the curtains telling her it was much later in the morning than she’d planned on waking up.
She found her phone on the nightstand. There was no way she was making it to church this morning.
But she’d need to come up with an excuse before attending Sunday dinner at her in-laws, where she’d retrieve her daughter.
She threw on a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt before following the sound of sizzling bacon. Walking down the hall, she could hear kitchen drawers opening and closing. This man shouldn’t be on a self-guided tour of her kitchen. She should make him breakfast, not the other way around.
She walked to the kitchen. His back was to her as he flipped a pancake with a spatula. He was in a gray tee and shorts. There was a wet spot between his shoulder blades. Had he just returned from a run?
Robert glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “How’d you sleep, champ?”
“Goo..” she cleared her throat, “Good.”
He turned to add a pancake to the stack on the plate beside him. “I tried to make coffee, but there’s something wrong with your coffee maker.”
She went and examined it. It wouldn't come on. She unplugged it, then plugged it back in.
“I tried that already,” he said.
She sighed, “I’ll run up the street real quick. There’s a drive-thru coffee shop close by. Black?”
Robert placed the spatula on the counter, then pulled her to him. He hugged her. “Yes, black, but I can get coffee later.” He kissed her forehead.
“You’re sweaty and in different clothes,” she said, returning the embrace before he turned to the skillet again.
“I went for a run. I had some PTs in my truck.”
A run? How did you have the energy?
He laughed. “It was a short one, believe me. Only a couple of miles.”
She shook her head, repeating in her brain, Only a couple of miles.
“How long has the floor tile in front of your stove been loose?”
“You noticed that, huh?”
“Kind of hard to miss when you’re standing right on top of it?”
Lainey sighed, “It’s gradually gotten worse over the last three months. I keep forgetting to have Mac look at it.”
“I can do it,” he said curtly.
“You may not need coffee right away, but I do,” she said. “You can shower while I’m gone. Where’d you park?” she asked, grabbing her handbag.
“On the street, as you’d requested, madam.”
Now he was being cheeky. She’d asked him the park on the street across from her house in their last phone call before he came over. She didn’t need her nosy neighbors speculating about her dinner guest, who had become an overnight guest.
“Just making sure you didn’t block me in. I’ll be right back.”
“Sounds good. This’ll keep until you come back.” He turned the burner off. “I’ll jump in the shower real quick.” He smirked at her. “You wanna join me before you go?”
She felt herself blush. This man was something else. “No, take your shower. Help yourself to my cucumber-melon body wash. That’s pretty much your only option. Sorry.” She giggled walking out the door.
She hit the button to open the garage door and backed out. She was in such a hurry to get coffee and get back to the man she’d left alone in her house that she sped away, leaving the garage door open.
Robert turned on the shower and looked at the purple loofah hanging from the knob. He’d already opted to use some liquid hand soap he’d found underneath the sink instead of her cucumber-melon body wash. There was no way he’d let the trainees get a whiff of that scent on him.
He was already reminiscing about how great last night had been. Little Susie-homemaker was a freaking cat in the sack.
Remembering her calves draped over his shoulders as he was slamming into her was getting him hard all over again.
He’d dreamt about those long legs encompassing him for quite some time, but he’d had no idea how she could pretzel those gorgeous limbs around him until last night. Holy hell, he’d screwed her brains out, and she’d taken it like a champ. How was she even able to walk this morning?
Oh, and she was tight. So tight. She felt amazing. Obviously, it’d been a while for her. But no complaints from his department.
He should’ve insisted she get in the shower with him and had one last round before he had to report back to base, but after playing a midnight round of hide the pickle, he knew they both needed coffee to make it through the day.
Rubbing his chin, he determined he’d need to do a quick shave back at his apartment before he reported for duty.
He finished his shower and grabbed a towel off the rack. As he slipped on his jeans from last night, he heard rustling coming from the office next door to her bedroom.
She was back a little sooner than he’d expected. He forgo putting his shirt on, wanting to air dry his damp back. He walked out of the bedroom and turned the corner toward the office.
Lainey was nowhere in sight. There was a man with a screwdriver trying to jimmy open her locked file cabinet.
Robert tackled the man, forcing him onto his belly, and came down with a knee against his spine, yanking the man’s forearms behind his back, shoving his wrists up to subdue him. “Who the fuck are you?” Robert demanded.
The man tried to fight against Robert’s weight, but couldn’t. He could turn his head sideways, but even at that, his face was forced against the floor. “Who the fuck are you?” the man asked in return.
“Oh, my God!” Lainey screamed. Robert looked up. She was holding two cups of coffee standing in the office doorway.
“Call the police, I caught this guy breaking in,” Robert strained, still pressing all his weight down on the man.
“Mac?” Lainey said, stepping closer.
All Mac could do was grunt from the pressure.
“Get off him!” Lainey yelled.
“You know him?” Robert asked but didn’t budge.
“Yes! Get off him!”
He released Mac and stood up.
Mac whipped up quickly, taking a combative stance. “Who is this motherfucker, Lainey?”
“I’m the motherfucker?” Robert chortled and lunged at him, but Lainey stepped in.
“Everyone calm down!” she yelled, still holding to go coffee cups in each hand. “What is going on? Why are you here, Mac?”
“I thought you and Viv were at church. I came in here trying to find the house paint color. I was going to paint it next week and surprise you.”
“He was breaking into your file cabinet,” Robert clarified.
“Like I said, I wanted to surprise you,” Mac said, picking the screwdriver up off the floor.
“Why on earth would you think I kept the paint color in the file cabinet?” Lainey asked.
Good. This isn’t making sense to her either, Robert thought.
“Geoff told me he kept a file with everything about the house, manuals to the appliances, a list of stains and paints used, etc. Like I said, I wanted it to be a surprise. The guys at the firehouse are going to chip in and cover the expense.”
“I didn’t even know the house needed to be painted. Does it?” she asked.
Damn it. She’s buying this guy’s bullshit.
“It’s showing signs of peeling on the west side,” Mac quickly changed the subject back to Robert. “Who’s this asshole?”
What the ...? Robert stepped closer.
Lainey shoved one of the coffee cups into his chest. “Robert, take this,” she demanded.
He reluctantly did.
“Mac, this is Robert. Robert, Mac.” Shaking hands wasn’t going to happen. She continued, “Mac, this isn’t a good time. You need to leave.”
Mac didn’t argue and showed himself out.
Once gone, Robert asked, “What the hell? That’s Mac? He lets himself into your house when you’re not home?”
“He’s never done that before,” she said.
“That you know of.”
Lainey rubbed her temple. “Yes, I admit it was strange. But I think you need to leave too.”
Shit. He’d screwed up. “Don’t be mad at me. How was I supposed to know that guy was a friend?”
She sighed, “I know, but me finding you on top of him just ....”
“Just what?”
“Just put things into perspective. Please put your shirt on and go.”
Seriously? This morning wasn’t supposed to happen like this. He softened his tone and reached for her. “Lainey..”
She withdrew, shaking her head. “Just go. Please.”
“Fine,” he replied. He wouldn’t argue. He was pissed she was sticking up for this Mac fucker anyway. He retrieved his shirt and left without saying another word.
* * *
Seeing Robert suppressing Mac like he was a criminal was the end to their playing house this morning. It forced the situation with Robert into perspective. She was going against the grain of who she was, who she still is.
She was Geoff Wickham‘s wife, and Mac’s presence was a reminder she would always be Geoff Wickham‘s widow.
This brief journey into La La Land with Robert was over. It should never have happened. He could’ve hurt Mac in Geoff’s house. Geoff’s closest, most loyal friend had been attacked in the house he was caring for in his absence.
Lainey knew it wasn’t Geoff’s house anymore, but to Mac it was. And if she was being honest, it was to her too. Yes, redecorating the bedroom had helped make it feel like her own, but the rest of the house was still the same as when he was alive.
Between Detective Moore popping by last night asking questions about Geoff, to the freaking smoke detector going off, Lainey was already on edge. But then, with Robert attacking Mac this morning, the universe was speaking loud and clear.
This thing, this relationship, whatever you want to call it with Robert, should not be happening.