Authors: Cheryl Richards
Lloyd’s eyebrows raised on inch.
“Licensed to kill,” I joked, as the waitress
replaced our drink orders.
He gave me an appraising glance raising his glass
to his lips and swallowed his whiskey sour in one gulp.
My dad rattled on. “Do you own a gun?”
“No,” Lloyd said briskly.
“Sam has a gun doesn’t he, Sunny?”
I wanted to die. Autumn squeezed my hand under
the table.
“At least I know he can protect my little girl
when he’s out with her.” He challenged Lloyd with a cruel smile and a knitted
brow.
“With all due respect sir, if you’ve trained
Sunny correctly on the use of that Beretta, she really doesn’t need
Sam’s
protection or mine.”
Bravo! I thought. I sent him a radiant smile
across the table.
My dad conceded. “Good point, Lloyd,” he said
with a fleeting grin. He motioned to the waitress and she came over. “Give this
man another drink.” He slapped Lloyd on the shoulder.
Lloyd told the waitress to make his a double this
time around.
When my dad excused himself to go find Aggy, Alan
told Lloyd, “I’m impressed. The old man still hates me for living with Autumn.
Not only am I getting the milk for free, the cow shares my house.”
Lloyd laughed and his mood lightened
considerably. He and Alan started up a conversation about fishing. My dad
returned and started talking to Nino about austerity in Greece, so Autumn
decided it was okay to ignore them and talk to Spring about the wedding.
When our meals arrived, we were finally treated
with Aggy’s presence. “Aggy.” Nino stood as his cousin approached the table.
Lloyd looked up immediately. Aggy was coming up from behind him. I saw the
corners of Alan’s mouth curl upward and Autumn squeezed my hand. “Aggy,” Nino
repeated. “You need to meet Sunny’s friend.”
As Aggy came around the table, Lloyd reached for
his cocktail. He gulped just before Aggy turned toward him. Lloyd’s face turned
beet red when his eyes rested on Aggy and he started choking. I put my napkin
in my mouth to stop my laughter, Autumn bent down like she was searching for
her purse and Alan’s eyes watered.
My dad slapped Lloyd on the back and Alan and I
laughed out loud.
“That’s not funny. He was choking,” my dad
scolded Alan and I.
Lloyd found his voice and smoothly said, “Just
went down the wrong pipe. I’m okay. Thanks.”
He shook his head at me.
Aggy sent a waitress over with a glass of water.
“Have some water. I hate when that happens.” He turned to me. “Friend of yours,
Sunny?’ he said.
“Aggy, this is Lloyd Harper.”
“A pleasure,” Lloyd said relieved. “Heard you’ll
be standing up with Sunny in the wedding.”
Aggy smiled and bent down, resting his revolting
chin on my shoulder. “Beautiful Sunny will be mine for the entire night, won’t
you Sunny?”
“Well,” I said, “lots of
things to do as the maid of honor, Aggy.”
“Yes, but I get to dance with
you. So Sunny, do you want to go to the horse races with me Tuesday night.
Arlington Park. High stakes. My horse, Goldenboy, is racing.”
Lloyd heard the invitation and raised his
eyebrows. He looked at Alan, who whispered, “See, I wasn’t lying. Asks her out
every time she comes.”
I politely declined saying I already had plans
for that evening. He shrugged.
“Well, enjoy the meal,” he said. “I need to check
on my other guests.”
The rest of the dinner went smoothly. We ate our
desserts, said our goodbyes, and returned to Alan’s SUV.
Lloyd and Alan were more than a little drunk, so
Autumn took the car keys. “I’ll drive home, lover,” she said. “Pour yourself
into the back with Lloyd. Sunny come up front with me.”
Alan opened the rear door. “After you. Apparently I’m too drunk to drive,”
he said sarcastically.
Lloyd got in and leaned between the seats to kiss
me. “I’m not drunk either.”
“Yeah, right,” I laughed. “Can’t blame you
though. My dad gave you a rough time.”
“So Alan, think Sunny will give me some money
when she marries Aggy?” Lloyd asked seriously. They both laughed hysterically.
“Great. He’s turning into Alan,” I said to
Autumn. “I knew I should have kept him away from the family.”
“Can’t protect him forever,” she said. “God, what
are we going to do with them when we get home?”
“I have a suggestion,” Alan laughed, pantomiming
various sexual acts.
Lloyd laughed, holding his
side and added a few of his own.
“Omigod, Autumn. You should see what they’re
doing back there. I say we drop them off at the next stop and make them walk
home.”
She glimpsed into the rearview mirror. “Alan,
grow up,” she said and started laughing. I joined her.
She pulled into her garage and we got out. We
assisted the men into the house.
“I think we better get going,” I said to Autumn.
“It’s getting late and we all have to get up early.”
Alan winked at Lloyd. “She wants you, bad.” He
came around and embraced Autumn from behind. “Bet you can’t wait to get me
alone.”
“That’s because I don’t want our guests subjected
to your ride on the porcelain bus.”
“She loves me,” he said sheepishly. “Well, Lloyd,
it’s been real. Sunny.”
I thanked them again for driving and escorted
Lloyd outside. This time I opened the passenger door for him. “Get in, I’m taking
you home,” I said and he hopped in. When I sat in the driver’s seat, he smiled
at me.
“Alan was right,” he said closing one eye and
wagging his index finger at me. “You do want me badly.” He laid his head on the
headrest and fell asleep.
I pulled up into Lloyd’s driveway and parked. He was
still sleeping. I reached over and kissed him softly on his mouth. His eyes
opened and he gave his head a little shake. Then he ran his hand through his
hair and looked at me. “Sorry,” he yawned. “Didn’t mean to doze off on you.”
“That’s okay. Difficult evening.”
“Nah, it was okay. Your dad is just very
opinionated. A little difficult to have a conversation with him.”
“Yeah. Not so much once you get to know him
better. Believe it or not, the guy can be fun.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.”
“Bet you don’t remember promising to go range
shooting tomorrow night.”
“I did? Shit. Maybe Alan has a big ass gun I can bring along to impress
him.”
I laughed. “Maybe. If not, you may use mine. I
haven’t shot my foot off yet, so it’s not that hard.”
“Come here,” he said pulling me into his lap.
“Watch the shift. We don’t want to end up in the neighbor’s yard.”
I managed to get onto his lap with some
difficulty and put my arms around his neck. His hands slid underneath my jacket
and sweater as his lips found my mouth. As his kiss deepened, as his fingertips
caressed me, causing me to moan softly.
“Want to come inside,” he whispered in my ear.
“Yes,” I whispered back, “but we both have to get
up early for work.”
“Do you care that much about work?” he said,
gently biting my neck and earlobe.
I sighed with desire. “Uh uh. Let’s go.”
He reached over, turned off the engine, and
lights. Then he opened the car door and let me get out. He closed the door and
hugged me close to him as we walked to his back door.
When we reached the back of his house, he opened
the door and an envelope fell down. Bending down, I picked it up. Just a plain
envelope with his name in script. I handed it to him after he entered the
kitchen and closed the door.
He opened it. As he read, I watched the passion
drain from his eyes as anger and a tinge of fear replaced it. “Crazy bitch!” he
mumbled as he crumpled up the paper. He tossed it on the counter and pulled off
his jacket.
“What is it?” I asked, annoyed that the letter
ruined his mood. I took off my coat and placed it over a kitchen chair.
“Nothing important. Really, Sunny.” He took me in
his arms and kissed me so passionately I nearly collapsed as my knees weakened.
He lifted me up and carried me into his bedroom. Rufus ran after us, thinking
it was playtime.
He placed my feet on the floor and unbuttoned my
sheer white blouse. As he kissed my neck and shoulders, he pushed the garment
off, onto the floor. He reached around and unzipped my skirt. It too fell to
the floor in a pleated, navy rayon puddle. I unbuttoned his purple and white
striped, dress shirt as he unzipped his black jeans.
Undressed to our underwear, he moved me to his
bed, where we came darn close to going all the way. Smiling and panting in each
other’s arms, we laughed when Rufus joined us on the bed and caterwauled.
Sam was above average in bed, but somehow Lloyd
exceeded Sam’s talent every time I was with him. Maybe it was his passion. All
I knew was it would be mind blowing when we actually went all the way, now that
we really knew each other.
At midnight, I got out of bed to use the bathroom.
When I was done, curiosity got the best of me and I snuck into the kitchen to
read the letter Lloyd crumbled and tossed on the counter.
I opened it up and held it under a night light.
You’re
mine, Lloyd. You seem to forget that.
I won’t let you keep her. End it now.
My eternal love, L
It had to be Lauren. I crumbled the letter and
tossed it back on the counter. Looked like she wasn’t going away. I’d have to
do some target practice in the near future. Best not to get rusty with a nut
job on the loose.
Chapter
47
Monday,
February 27th
My stomach tied into an ulcerated knot as soon as
Lloyd and I entered the gun range Monday night. There, in the middle of the
room, stood my dad and Sam in a jovial conversation. Seemed like an unlikely
coincidence, more like another calculated Sam scenario. His marksmanship skills
were awesome to say the least, so I knew he was there to show up Lloyd, who to
my knowledge, never held a gun. We continued to approach them against my better
judgment, my mind screaming at me to turn face and run like hell.
I heard Lloyd whisper “great” before my dad
yelled out “Sunny, Loy.”
Sam snickered.
“It’s Lloyd, Dad,” I said, already dreading my
decision to stay.
“Lloyd. Ready to get started? Sam agreed to
partner with you while I work with Sunny. Then we can rotate.”
“Omigod,” I said under my breath. “Dad, I think
it’s better if I work with Lloyd.”
“Nonsense, sweetheart,” Sam smiled. “I know a lot
more than you. You don’t mind, do you Lloyd.”
“Not at all,” Lloyd smiled sweetly.” I’m sure
after a few tries; I’ll have enough accuracy to put a bullet between your
eyes,” he said coolly.
“Not good sportsmanship but I like the way you
think,” Sam replied.
I offered my gun to Lloyd but Sam insisted he use
his Glock. My dad was waiting so I left them to practice.
After twenty minutes, I managed to sneak away to
check on Lloyd. The level of testosterone in the stall was suffocating. Both
were edgy and the competition seemed fierce.
Sam felt my presence first and turned around,
followed shortly by Lloyd. They both moved one of the ear protectors off an
ear. Lloyd was reloading the gun, keeping his eye on Sam.
“Sweetheart? Come over to
show him how it’s done?”
“Give her the gun, Lloyd,” Sam requested. Lloyd
handed it to me. “Let’s show him how it’s done.”
I raised my brows and shrugged. With my ear and
eye protection in place, I got into my shooting stance. Sam came up very close
behind me. He moved one of my legs over with his knee and placed his arms over
mine to line up the shot. It was unnecessary and done only to provoke Lloyd. I
squeezed off three shots that hit my target near the heart. On the fourth shot,
his hands had moved to my waist and my shot went wild and hit the target in the
neck.
“Messy,” he said, “but still deadly.”
“Nice grouping,” said Lloyd dryly, his eyes
resting on Sam’s hands on my hips.
I handed the gun back to him. He stood and fired
two shots. Both hit the target in the groin, and Sam winced.