Page 9 of Judas

He laughed, “Oh, no. We never did much dancing when I was a child, not like this. I was once friends with a tremendous jazz singer and she taught me everything I know. She was a wonderful teacher.”

Judas revels in the flooding memories of all the nights he spent in Harlem listening to Billie singing and all the mornings they shared, still sitting by the bar or tearing up the dance floor. She was such a beautiful woman, inside and out. He felt extremely lucky to have known her.

“You look so wistful, thinking about her,” Eliza said. She would never admit it, but the look on his face when talking about this woman who taught him to dance, sent shockwaves of jealousy through her. “Is she the one that got away?”

Reading the look on Eliza’s face, Judas realized what his trip down memory lane must have looked like. He laughed, “Nothing like that. She was my friend. I enjoyed her company and she enjoyed mine. No, hanky panky or innuendo. I promise.”

She was embarrassed that he so clearly read her intentions. She bowed her head and looked at the floor. He squeezed Eliza tighter against him and checked their surroundings to make sure they weren’t being watched too closely. He then leaned closer to her and lifted her chin to meet his gaze. He bit his lip, overcome with the weight of their close proximity. Their faces so close he felt the warmth of her breath.

He seemed to stare straight to her soul, “With each passing day, I get the feeling that the one that got away may end up being you.”

Chapter five

Eliza stared at him, breathless, only the fading out of the music into a new song about red, white, and blue patriotism registered in her mind. Nothing else in the room even slightly penetrated her consciousness. At that moment, she stared only at Judas and his sparkling hazel eyes.

He seemed just as swept away as he took her by the hand whisking her away from the busy room. Leading her out a doorway and into the hallway, he released her the second they were away from prying eyes. She wanted to plead with him to wrap her up in his arms. She wanted to feel him as close to her as she could get him. He wanted the same but was too desperate to clear his mind from the fog she’d placed him in to take any action other than to create space between them. He paced the hallway for a few moments, running his hands through his black, shoulder length hair. This woman was quickly turning his world upside down. He was usually cool, calm, and collected, but Eliza seemed to steal away all of his careful thoughtfulness. Shemade him feel impulsive, needy. She made him want to give up everything for every stolen moment he could have with her.

After a few steadying breaths, Judas returned to her side, “I have to make rounds to check in with the rest of my security staff. I’m sorry I was so forward and distracted you from your night. You can go back in and enjoy yourself. I’ll see you later, okay?”

Eliza stared at him for a long moment. Did he seriously think he was bothering her? Has he lost his mind? How can he not see that she was feeling equally drawn to him if not more?

“Can I come with you?” she asked.

He was taken aback by the request, “Would you want to?”

A giggle spilled from her, “I would rather be anywhere but back at the party. Especially if it’s somewhere with you.”

Judas felt warmth spread through him as a smile took over his face. Eliza delighted in his obvious joy at spending more time with her.

She threaded her arm through his as they began to make their way down the darkened hallways. The only lighting was the red glow of the exit signs and the moon shining through the few windows. It set a candlelight-like glow on their skin. Almost simultaneously, they thought to themselves how perfectly the ambiance compliments the other. How his eyes sparkled in the dim light. How her hair shone against the darkness. So completely in sync, both feeling the same, but neither really brave enough to admit it.

They walked a distance in companionable silence, but Eliza had so many questions about this beautiful stranger and was finding it impossible not to ask. Inquisitive by nature she contained herself as much as possible already. “So… security? How did you get into that? Are you like an ex-CIA operative or something?”

Judas raised an eyebrow at her, “What kind of back story have you created for me in that head of yours?”

Eliza humored him with all her wildest ideas, “Well, I think first you were probably in the military and they decided that you were so smart and wonderful that some super secret government agency scooped you up and placed you in the heart of danger and let you fight your way out. You probably know jiu-jitsu and taekwondo and how to kill a man with nothing but a ballpoint pen.” She sighs now, as if picturing him in all his glory, “But then you grew tired of the assassin’s life and decided to put down roots in good ole small town Texas.” She looked up at him expectantly, “How’d I do?”

Laughter filled the space, “So very, very bad. Excuse me for a moment.”

Judas stepped away to check in with the man in a black suit standing at the rear exit of the building. After just a few seconds, he returned and offered Eliza his arm once more before continuing, “I've spent some time in military service, but I was never more than a foot soldier. I do know several variations of martial arts, but I’m really more partial to yoga. Never been in the CIA or any other secret government agency and definitely never been an assassin. I just like to protect people and I think I’m pretty good at it.”

“Someone in the CIA wouldsosay all that,” she responded with a grin.

Judas shook his head laughing out loud as he left her side to speak with another shadowy figure, this one larger than the first. He was out of sight for a much longer period, but when he returned, he somehow magically materialized two champagne flutes full of the bubbling spirit. She took hers from his hand and they cheered one another in the darkness. The bubbles tickled Eliza’s nose and Judas felt his heart squeeze looking at her silly, scrunched up face. She was absolutely perfect in every way.

They continued their journey down the halls, “What about you, Miss Eliza? How did you end up as a political coordinator?”

She made a gagging noise and stuck out her tongue before answering. “I'm most definitely not in or into politics of any kind. I’m simply the resourceful daughter of a wealthy man who decided to run for office for some god-forsaken reason,” she finished with a roll of her eyes.

“I can’t imagine you not doing this professionally. You are very good at it,” Judas offered.

“I am just good at handling my father,” she said with a snort, “The rest is all just leftovers from finishing school and cotillion classes.”

“So what do you really do? I can’t imagine you don’t have a profession of some kind.”

“I started out as a prosecuting attorney for the county. I put bad guys away all day, every day. Pretty easy to do in a state that prioritizes law and order over everything. One day I just came to the realization that we weren’t just putting bad guys away. They were fathers, mothers, sons, daughters. And a lot of them, more than I’m comfortable admitting, could very likely have been innocent. I couldn’t live with knowing that my job was tearing families apart like that, ruining lives. So, I quit and I started a non-profit to help innocent people who were wrongly convicted get the justice they deserve.” She shrugged nonchalantly.

Her words slammed into him in the deepest parts of his soul. Judas had always felt like an outsider because of his past. He always felt as though he was unredeemable because of the assumptions made and lies told about him. This woman before him made an entire career out of giving others in the same kind of torment respite. She forgave and redeemed the wrongly accused as her day job. He had never felt more safe with another human on this planet and it filled his throat with emotion.

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