Seeing Is Believing Page 7

"Me, too." She stroked his cheek. "What about you?"

  "I'm not worried about me. Watching you come was the best Halloween treat I've ever received."

  "It's not Halloween yet."

  "You're right. I'll be back for a command performance that night. Promise."

  Chapter Six

  On Monday morning, Leslie's body still tingled from the wonderful weekend. Reed had stayed at the house, determined to "follow the rules." But that didn't stop him from making her peak several times. The one time she'd tried to return the favor he'd pushed her hand away, telling her it would open doors that were better left closed, for now.

  On Sunday evening, as they lay watching a movie, she turned to him, fastening her gaze on his eyes. "It's okay, you know, that you're not staying, that you won't be back. I'm a big girl."

  The look he'd given her had made her insides quake with need. "Who says I won't be back?"

  She'd laughed softly and shook her head slowly. "It doesn't happen that way. You know how you have to see things to believe them. Well, when it comes to men I'm the same way. I know that once you leave, you won't be back. But I have great memories."

  He'd responded by bringing her to orgasm again, fastening his lips on her neck until she was sure he'd left a mark. "Now you can see how much I want you," he'd whispered in her ear as she'd gently come back down to earth, cradled in his arms. "I promise you, I'll be back."

  Now, she looked into the mirror and then pulled up the turtleneck she'd worn that day to hide his love bite. She was too old to have a hickey. Still, it was concrete proof of his, and her, raging hormones. But it wasn't proof he'd be back. Not by a long shot.

  She fluffed her hair, then put it up behind a bandana and headed toward the kitchen to do some baking. She paused at the backroom as voices, belonging to Reed and Chester, drifted toward her. Her sweet feelings about Reed turned to anger as she listened. Sure she probably shouldn't be eavesdropping, but they shouldn't be keeping her out of the loop, either.

  Right now they were making plans to bust Pat and Mark when they came into the store tonight to collect whatever came in the boxes set to be delivered to the cafe that afternoon. It wasn't so much the plan they were making that upset her. She wanted to see the two men busted.

  What made her see red was their plan to keep her "out of the way." After her fantastic weekend with Reed she thought he trusted her more than this, more than to shut her out.

  "So much for busting them at Blade tomorrow."

  Rage boiled up inside her as she thought about them thinking they had the right to conduct their little sting operation in her store without telling her about it first. She wasn't sure exactly what she should do. There was a huge part of her that wanted to bust in on them right now and slap them both. There was another part, however, that wanted to walk in on them tonight and insert herself into the middle of things. But that hadn't exactly worked out last time, had it?

  Her butt had been sore for a day after her doing what he told her not to. There had to be something she could do to make sure she was here tonight. After all, this was her place of business, her livelihood.

  She decided to take the bull by the horns, and tell them she could hear them. She pushed through the door and adopted her best, "I'm mad and I'm not going to take any more of your crap stance," putting her hands on her hands and standing with her legs slightly apart.

  "Hello," Reed said with a grin. She tried not to remember what those lips had tasted like, how those fingers had skillfully brought her to orgasm again and again. She narrowed her eyes at him.

  "Don't you dare try to keep me out of things."

  "I wouldn't dream of it," he said, his eyes twinkling in merriment.

  "Then why are you trying to decide how to keep me away from the store tonight?"

  "I'm going to let you two talk, and I'll be back later." Chester left so fast Leslie wondered if he was running some sort of race.

  "Well?"

  "I'm not going to be able to convince you to stay home, am I?"

  "Not by a long shot. Tell me what's going on." His heavy sigh didn't do anything to soften her resolve. There was no way she was leaving.

  "We're not going to arrest them here," Reed said. "Turns out, as I said before, this is a small part of a huge operation that the big guys have been investigating for quite some time. All they want me to do tonight is watch. I'm going to set up a special video camera, several of them actually, that will capture our friends taking things from the boxes. After they've left, they'll be arrested."

  He took a step closer to her and she tried not to look into his beautiful eyes.

  "When they walk out that door, my part in the investigation is finished. I might have to give some testimony at times, and you might too, but for the most part, I'm done."

  Her stomach roiled at his words. She wanted to be mad because he was pushing her out, but instead all she could think about was how boring life would be without him around. He'd go back to having fun in Dallas, and she'd stay here, in sleepy Dante's Peak, telling people about the outlaws who used to roam the area. She'd be here missing Reed, missing his lips, his hands, his touch.

  "Stay home tonight, please." The genuine concern in his voice almost made her agree to do as he asked. Almost.

  "No." She shook her head. "Try and pull some stunt on me like you did last time and I'll raise quite a fuss, I guarantee it."

  "What if I tell you I'll spank you, again?"

  "Go ahead, see if I care. It will be worth it." She sneered, and fought to keep the sneer from turning into a huge grin. "You can't scare me with your caveman tactics."

  "Caveman?" He jerked his head back in mock surprise. "Wow, that's amazing. Do you really think I'm a caveman?"

  "Yes, I do. Only a caveman would think he had the right to spank a woman."

  "Would a caveman be content to watch his woman wiggle in passion over and over while his cock throbbed with need all weekend?"

  She smiled at him, the pitter-patter of her heart turning into a thump-thump at his use of the words "his woman." Then shook her head. "Maybe not, but if think I'm staying away tonight, you're nuts. So don't even try and stop me. I'm not leaving after closing."

  She stalked back to the front room, hoping her posture would convince him of how serious she was. The afternoon was busy, and as she waited on customers and chatted with Tambi, she pushed tonight to the back of her mind.

  When her delivery came on schedule she signed for it, her fingers itching to tear into the boxes and see what was inside. Reed stood nearby, standing guard.

  "Open one," he said. "Pull a few T-shirts out to make it look like you wanted to see how they were made, to make sure the order was right. That will look realistic."

  She did exactly that, then pushed her hands down among the soft material until she felt something hard. Leslie looked up into his eyes and nodded and he gently pulled her hand away before leaving a few shirts hanging over the lid and backing away.

  "One more time," he said. "Please go home."

  "No. Threaten to spank me, I don't care. But I'm not leaving."

  "Fine, I will spank you. Later." He stormed off, and Leslie could tell from the set of his shoulders that he was angry. The idea didn't give her pleasure, but it didn't hurt her feelings, either. This was her store, and there was no way a bust was going down without her being there. When the cafe closed she shut the front door and locked it, pulling down blinds like she normally did, turning on one light that would illuminate the shelves.

  When she went into the back room she expected to find Reed setting up the cameras. She didn't see him in the main room, though. She checked her office, the kitchen, the rafters and then, in desperation, she checked the alley. He was nowhere to be seen.

  Worry snaked through her as she stepped back inside. With his plan to take video tonight, he should be here. She stepped into the back room, wondering if she should call Chester and tell him she couldn't find Reed.

  Fear that something had happened to hi
m, that Pat and Mark had shown up early and either taken him as some sort of hostage, or worse yet, harmed him in some way, snaked through her. She hurried to her office, in search of her cell phone. She'd just made it to her desk when the door slammed shut behind her.

  She turned, expecting to find the door locked. Instead she found Reed, danger written all over his face.

  "This is your last chance. Go home, or I spank you, right now."

  "Spank me, then. Because I'm not leaving." When he advanced toward her she took a step backward. "You wouldn't dare. They could be here at any minute."

  "Bull. It's early. Last time they didn't show up until after ten. You're just trying to get out of your spanking."

  Leslie tried to sidestep him and open the door but he grabbed her and maneuvered her until she was bent over the desk. He slapped her ass and she yelped, frustration surging through her as he started to spank her, harder and harder, his hand landing in almost the same spot. The only consolation to her was the fact she was still wearing her slacks, and he hadn't tried to take them off.

  She refused to scream and yell or fight him this time, instead holding as still as possible as he slapped her ass. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of fighting him back. The spanking had barely started when his cell phone rang. Seconds later hers rang as well, and then the store phone rang.

  Reed let her go immediately, grabbing his phone and pointing at her to answers hers. His curt, "What?" made her laugh, but seconds later he slammed the phone shut and pulled her down under her desk with him, pushing her in as far as she could go.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Hush, this is why you shouldn't be here. That was Chester. They're turning into the alley now, and the police have decided to bust them here, now."

  "Now?" She tried to crawl out from under the desk, but the look on his face made her stop.

  "Please stay put. Something has happened to make the police change their plans, and if Pat and Mark know what's going down, they're dangerous. They just want their drugs and they'll hurt anyone who gets in their way. Please stay."

  And then he grabbed her and kissed her, his lips demanding, his tongue darting inside her mouth and claiming her. Her heart raced as he broke the kiss, then stole another one before darting out the door and she could hear him running up the stairs. She knew he would be turning on the cameras, ready to catch the two crooks in the act. She wanted to follow him, felt the need to follow him, but she knew he was right.

  The best place for her right now was where she was at, safely hidden away from what might take place. Besides, she could sit here and savor the kisses he'd just given her, the fantastic taste of him. They fueled memories of this weekend and she wanted more. Much more. She prayed he'd made it up the stairs without being seen. Muted noise filtered in from the back room: the sound of a door opening, and footsteps. She figured it must be Pat and Mark. She could hear muffled voices, and the rip of tape from a box. They weren't being careful this time, that was for sure.

  There was a loud thud, and then all hell broke loose. She heard the words police and stop as shouting and the sounds of heavy footsteps filled the air, followed by noisy thumps as someone hit the floor. For once she did exactly as Reed had asked her to do, staying in place until the turmoil calmed down.

  She clutched her knees and prayed that no one, either bad guy or good guy, was hurt, and when she heard Chester softly calling her name she peered around the desk and smiled at him.

  "Is it over?"

  "Yup. Come on out, we need a statement from you, and we want you to identify Pat as the man you saw in the store the other night."

  When she entered the back room her eyes widened, shock filtering through her system. Men and women mulled about, taking photos and going through boxes. She knew this was more than just the sheriff's department, because she'd never seen these people before.

  A large man stepped forward and offered his hand, introducing himself as Mr. Baker from the DEA. Then he started to ask her questions in a dizzying whirl that made her head spin. She answered as best she could, and positively identified Pat Michaels as the man she'd seen taking what she'd figured were packages of drugs from the boxes in her store last Tuesday evening.

  It all passed in a huge whirl, and when it was over several hours later, everyone was gone but her and Chester. She looked around, expecting to see Reed come down the stairs, or through the main door. But he didn't appear, and Chester put his hand on her shoulder.

  "He had to go with the big guys to help put this thing in its place. This operation was huge. Our part was just a tiny sliver of it."

  She nodded, a strange feeling of hurt passing through her because Reed hadn't stuck around to talk to her, or even say goodbye. He'd just taken off.

  He's doing his job, she reminded herself. He'll be back tomorrow, just wait and see. Then he'll tell you good-bye and be gone. For good.

  *****

  Leslie flipped the remote control for her TV, wondering if there was anything decent to watch. It was Halloween night, and she'd been busy, running back and forth to answer the door and hand out treats.

  Her treats this year were coupons for the store, offering two free cookies to the bearer. It was a win-win situation as far as she was concerned. She'd handed out quite a few, and would give away lots of free cookies because of it, but that was just fine with her. It got people into the store, and hopefully buying some of the trinkets she'd bought.

  Not that she needed to offer too much incentive for people to eat, and shop, in the cafe. After news of the bust made its way across town, the store had been busier than ever, with people coming in to see where the action had taken place.

  Sales were up, and she'd sold every one of the trinkets she'd bought, and was now on her second batch. Things were looking up, financially.

  She wished she could say the same about her personal life. Reed had phoned the day after the arrests, explaining he had to go back to Dallas immediately. He was sorry he couldn't come by to talk to her, but he'd keep in touch, he promised.

  Of course he hadn't kept his promise and she hadn't heard from him since then. Not that it mattered. She didn't care. Not really. She snorted out a "yeah right, you don't care," then reached for a cookie.

  Why should she care? Just because he spanked her, and then ran. Just because he'd brought her to the most fantastic orgasms he'd ever had, and then ran. Just because he'd sucked on her neck until he'd given her the first hickey of her life, and then ran.

  Tambi had been amazed to hear the whole story, and she'd been quick to defend Reed, saying he was probably taking care of things and would be back.

  "I saw the way he looked at you, and you forget, I walked in on him spanking you, too. I'm telling you there were feelings there. He cares about you."

  "Right," she responded, "cares enough to leave the next day, call once, and then disappear off the face of the earth."

  She ate the cookie, reached for another one. If she wasn't careful she would sit here and eat the whole plateful. If she did that, her jeans wouldn't fit the next morning.

  A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she dropped the cookie back on the plate. She'd been dumped, yes, but she didn't need to gain ten pounds in her anguish.

  Her fingers hovered over the plate, and she looked up as the doorbell rang out. A glance at her watched showed it was after nine. Sort of late for trick or treaters, but this was a small town, and it didn't surprise her too much.

  She picked up her coupons and went to the door, opening it without checking the peephole. Her eyes widened as Reed turned to her and grinned, "Trick or treat."

  A smile lit her face, and she quickly tamped it down, frowning at him.

  "What do you want?"

  "A treat, of course. Isn't that how this works?"

  "Go away." She walked away from him but left the door open. She heard him enter, then come up behind her.

  "I'm sorry, really I am."

  "Right." She wheeled on him. "You think you have the
right to spank me not once, but twice, and then play with me, physically and emotionally and then just leave? Go back to Dallas."

  "Why? None of my stuff is there." He grinned at her, tried to capture her face in his hands but she pushed him away.

  "What?"

  "The firm's opening a branch in Amarillo, and I'm the new director. It took me a little bit of time to find an apartment, get moved, and then come back here. Sorry I'm late."

  This time she let him cup her face in his hands, let his lips come down on hers gently, his tongue sliding into her mouth and tasting like heaven.

  "Does that mean you're staying here?"

  "Well, in Amarillo, yes, but it's only a little more than an hour's drive. I wanted to stay here with you, in your house, but I thought that would be a bit presumptuous on my part to just invite myself to live with you."

  "Is this a trick?" There was a tiny part of her that wondered if this wasn't true, if he was somehow messing with her. But the larger part knew he wasn't. That wasn't Reed's style, to get her hopes up, and then crush them. Still, she wanted to hear it from his lips.

  "No, it's a treat, or at least I hope it is." He kissed her again, his thumb caressing her cheek as he nibbled on her lower lip. "Are you going to kick me out?"

  "No." She laughed softly. "Although I think I should."

  "No, you don't. You want me as much as I want you."

  "Maybe. No more spankings, though."

  "Behave then." He lifted his brows and then cocked his head playfully. "You know what? I never had the chance to finish that last spanking. We were interrupted."

  Leslie pulled free from his grasp, putting her hands over her ass in a protective manner. "No more spankings."

  "We'll see," he said with a laugh, and then he turned her around, lifted her hands and swatted her behind. He delivered several more slaps. The feelings were quite different from the last ones. Somehow the fact that he'd come back made all the difference in the world.

  "Take down those jeans so I can finish this properly. Good spankings are given on bare bottoms."

  "And if I refuse?"