Page 6 of Sip
PS This picture is from our last clean-up project. I’d love to have you join us this Saturday at Silver Beach. It’s a fun group who may or may not enjoy a few beers afterward! ? ? ? I’ve included my number on the back. Just text me if you’re free.
Even with wind-tangled hair and sunburned cheeks, she’s gorgeous in the photo. The stupid dick next to her thinks so too. All the other kids in the image have their arms draped casually around each other. Not this fucker. He has her tucked close with his palm flat on her stomach just centimeters from her perfect breasts and his chin resting on her shoulder. Too stupid to realize she’s off limits and should never be touched. Where the fuck are her bodyguards?
Probably her stingy idiot of a father doesn’t have any on her. I need to fix this. I grab Shane’s parcel but realize from the thinness of the package, his doesn’t include a photo. Which thrills me for some stupid reason. She invited me and not him.
Not that I’d want to spend any of my time volunteering. With the ten or so bags of plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and food wrappers piled at their feet, she still grins after working her ass off. Ironic how different her image is from the other woman who sends me pictures.
Raquel kicked me out that night when I tried to talk to her. Attempting to have an authentic conversation instead of just fucking and leaving like usual. I pissed her off asking about her dreams, her passions, her aspirations. Annoying her enough that she instructed me not to return until I’m myself again. Now she attempts to entice me back with the only thing she wants from me, teasing me with her huge tits and plump ass. Which is all I ever really wanted from her too. Or any woman for that matter. But the t & a pics do nothing for me anymore. I scrub my face trying to clear my head. I don’t know what the fuck’s wrong with me.
I slide out my phone and load Grace’s digits.Got your card. Thanks for the invite, but I’ve got plans this weekend.
Although I don’t know what the fuck they are, I’ll be damn sure to find some better than hanging out with a bunch of oblivious dorks who think they can save the world. Yet I find myself smiling when she answers back. I’ve lost my damn mind.
Grace:That’s a shame. It would’ve been fun to have you there. Maybe next time!
Old-fashioned hand-written notes. Smiley faces. Exclamation points. This girl isn’t real. No one can be so cheerful.
My cell rings in my hand. Actual calls are rare too, and the tone shocks me almost as much as the person calling me.
Grace.
What the hell? I hit the green button and put the screen to my ear, surprisingly eager to hear what she wants. “What’s going on?”
When her heavy gasps float through the speaker, she lights the wick of fury that someone or something is hurting her. “Baby girl?”
“Hi! Sorry I’m out of breath…I’m trying to get my run in and it’s easier to talk than type.”
She laughs, a sweet god damn sugary laugh without a care in the world when I’m standing here about to have a fucking melt down that was going to end with many deaths and her over my knee for scaring the hell out of me.
“We’re going kayaking on Sunday…It’s business mixed with pleasure…” Another light-hearted giggle pleases my ear. “We have to check to see if the mustard grass has returned to the area we sprayed last year…Contain the invasive species you know…I thought you might want to go along since you seemed interested in volunteering.”
Once again I rub my blazing face. This girl drives me crazy in so many ways. “Where are you?”
“Hurley Park…They have the best trails in the city.”
My suspicion surges from how reckless she is after seeing her photo. “Are you by yourself?”
“No, of course not.”
Thank fuck. Maybe her father has come to his senses now that she’s engaged and put the protection on her that she requires.
“It’s a beautiful day…There are people everywhere…running, walking dogs, riding bikes, playing on the playground.”
God damn it. “I mean is anyone with you. Are you with a friend or a bodyguard?”
“Why would I need a bodyguard?”
Genuine surprise billows in her question. How can she not realize how important she is? How easily she could be used as a pawn to hurt us? “I’m coming to get you.”
“What? Why?”
That she has to ask is all the proof I need to pick her up. I stride out of the house and into my SUV parked at the bottom of the steps. I’d planned to go out but not on a rescue mission.
“Killian? I don’t understand.”
“Nothing to understand. You shouldn’t be alone. It isn’t safe.”
I hit the ignition and roll to the gate, waiting for the damn thing to slide open. My fingers ache from clenching around the steering wheel, and I get more spun up when her breathless voice comes through the speakers after my cell synchs with the vehicle.
