Page 12 of Her Last Hope
Wow.
She shook her head, running her fingers through her wet hair. Thoughts of screwing the man senseless needed to stop. It shocked her that she’d even thought about another man other than her husband that way. In the last year, her family had decided it was time for her to date. She’d put them off, but her mother wouldn’t let it go and went about fixing her up with every single man she knew.
Some of them were hot, too, but she couldn’t picture herself getting naked with them, much less wanting to take their manhood into her hands and mouth, or anywhere else for that matter.
Ugh.
She finished getting dressed before putting on her makeup, trying to hide the dark circles that had suddenly appeared under her eyes. She’d tried to get a couple of hours of sleep once Nick had helped her back through the bedroom window at Ramos’ house, kissing her gently on the lips, telling her to be safe, and if at any point she wanted out, all she had to do was call him and he’d come rescue her.
The theme song from Batman raced through her mind.
Taking her phone, she made her way down the long corridor to the kitchen where the smell of rich coffee mingled with bacon and cinnamon, causing her stomach to growl.
Stay away from starch, especially in the morning, because it will set the tone of the day.
Her mother’s words rattled in her brain. Leandraknew her mother meant well, now. But when she’d been a freshman in high school and weighed in at one hundred and seventy pounds, the words sent her into full-out body shame, something that took the love of a good man to get rid of.
She rubbed her wedding ring finger. Taking her diamond off had been almost as hard as watching the Marine Corps Chaplain and her late husband’s commanding officer walk up the short path from the street to her front door. She’d held the knob for what seemed like an eternity before she’d been able to pull it open, collapsing to the floor, sobbing.
“Good morning.” Ramos leaned against the sliding glass door that overlooked the pool and faced the lake.
Alicia nodded from behind her computer screen. Leandra couldn’t figure her out or what exactly she did for Ramos, but the woman seemed to always be around.
“Morning.” Leandra smiled in her direction, but Alicia barely smiled back.
Leandra turned her attention to the stunning view of the lake. Five boats were anchored in the water not far from the house. Leandra wondered which ones were part of the team Nick had assembled. The resources that man had were astounding.
“Sleep well?” Ramos asked.
“I did, thank you.”
“Did you hear from your man?”
Game on. “He wants to meet at eleven in the morning. Here.” Ramos stood behind her, hands onher shoulders, rubbing. The sensation made her body stiff and cold. His touch felt like a snake coiling around her stomach, ready to squeeze the life out of her.
Alicia continued to stare at her computer screen, her fingers tapping away.
“I don’t know about here.” Ramos sat down and waved the cook over, who set a plate of French toast, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and a cup of coffee in front of her.
“You control the situation here over meeting somewhere else.” She sipped her coffee, inhaling the bitter scent as the aroma of cinnamon tickled her nose. She’d always had a healthy appetite, and she’d been active, playing field hockey and other physical sports. The idea that a woman should be a twig had been a foreign concept to her, but society dictated the perfect body for women, and she didn’t fit the mold.
“Thank you,” she said politely to the cook before setting down her mug and cutting into the thick sourdough bread. Nothing like a hearty breakfast.
Fitting the mold was for those who wanted to blend in, not stand out.
“What’s this man’s name?”
“Nick,” she said, knowing he was on the lake, looking in at her, watching her, protecting her.
An odd thought because she never thought she needed protecting.
Ramos leaned back in his chair, fingers scratching the small patch of hair on his chin. “And what are yougetting out of this, because the finder’s fee I’m paying you doesn’t seem worth it.”
“Nick and I are partners,” she said, doing her best to be casual. Nick remembered everything, something she’d learned in her first hour with him last night. Her memory? It was good, but they hadn’t spent much time developing this plan, which meant the margin for error was greater than she’d normally have.
“Are you fucking this man?” Ramos traced his finger up her thigh toward the hem of her skirt.
“He’s my husband, so yeah, we fuck.” She brushed Ramos’ hand from her thigh. “And he wouldn’t take too kindly to you hitting on his wife.” She swallowed as the word ‘wife’ left her lips. That hadn’t been part of her and Nick’s carefully laid out plan, but she hoped Ramos, who valued loyalty more than anything, would now keep his greasy paws off her.
