Robin and Her Merry Men (7 page)

John
watched her closely as he put her to bed. There was no denying the question etched across her features, and deep down it made his heart jump. She wanted him to stay. After all these years, Robin the mighty, hard
-
as
-
stone wanted him. Her look of relief when he walked to the other side and climbed in beside her was worth more than gold
. A small, satisfied
smile tugged at his mouth.
Robin didn’t know it yet, but she was his.

John wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. Robin sighed in contentment. Being locked in his embrace felt like the safest place in the world. She fought the sleep that threatened to consume her. “John?”

“H
m
m?”

Robin hesitated, unsure what to say. She didn’t want to be one of those women who pathetically poured out confessions of true love and forever, but wanted him to know she was having feelings none the same. Finally she spit it out. “I’m glad you are here.” There. Safe, but still gave him an option to continue things and see where they went. T
he ball was in his court…
now only time would tell if he would bolt like all the others had in the past.

“There’s no place I’d rather be
,
love.” His words slurred in a half
-
asleep mumble. Robin fell asleep smiling, fading off during a silent prayer of hope and love.

The next morning, John woke to the sweet aroma of breakfast
, making his stomach rumble
.
It had been awhile since a woman had cooked for him, but he couldn’t remember the last time the meal was breakfast. He hadn’t been in a serious relationship since his sophomore year in coll
e
ge. Amy Burnheart had done just as her name suggested, two days before he was to propose. In a romantic attempt to surprise her with dinner from her favorite
restaurant
,
complete with two dozen roses, John had quietly snuck in
to
her apartment with his key. The last thing he expected for their romantic evening was to share it with one of his best friends, Mike Guyer. Finding Mike balls deep with Amy bent over the kitchen table wasn’t exactly
on the itinerary
. Amy obviously hadn’t expected him to show up either. After Mike was beat black and blue with blood seeping out of random or
ifices and Amy baw
ling at his side curled up in the floor, John
had locked his heart up tight…
until now. Little by little his childhood crush warmed an emotion he never thought would be useful again.

The s
un peaked through the lace curtains, reminding him
of
where he was. Memories of the night before fl
ooded his thoughts and awakened
other parts that strained his already rock solid morning wood. With a huff, he got up and headed to the bathroom to attempt a morning piss without spraying the
celling
. By the way his dick stood at attention, he thought it best to just sit and forget trying to aim. Ten minutes later, he washed his hands and tugged on his boxers
and clothing
that had been
neatly folded and laid out
on the sink.

Robin hadn’t heard John walk up beside h
er. She was busy getting the b
is
cuit
s out of the oven when he spoke and scared the shit out of her. “Mmm
,
that looks delicious.”

She jumped, bumping the hot pan against her forearm sear
ing a deep red strip. “Ouch!” s
he yelped. John snatched up a towel and took the pan from her, setting it on the stovetop.

“Shit! Robin
—
I’m sorry!” He
jerked
her arm under the faucet and ran cold water over the already blistering streak. She sucked air in between her teeth in protest, pulling away.

“That stings!”

“I know. Keep it under the water while I get ice.” He turned and pressed the ice machine lever in the fridge door, palming a few chunks that fell out. “Here. Keep this on it.” The cold numbed the wound some, easing the pain. She looked up, noticing how he watched her intently for the first time. Concern wrinkled his brow, tugging his normally full lips into a thin line.

“It’s just a little burn…
I’m fine. I gotta stir the gravy.” She tried to pull away but he grasped her waist, leading her over to the
barstool
.

“You sit and ice that down. I can manage the rest without screwing it up
,
I think. Grilled cheese sandwiches are about the extent of my culinary capabilities, but since you have everything almost done
, let’s hope I can handle it,” h
e snickered, relieved to hear her giggles.

Ten minutes later, John s
e
t a heaping plate of
cheesy scrambled eggs, biscuits
and gravy, bacon
,
and hash
browns in front of her. She couldn’t help but grin. He had taken it upon himself to add
shredded
cheddar cheese to the
almost cooked eggs. Without realizing what she was doing, she made a mental note to remember his egg
preferences
before scolding herself for looking too far in to what was going on. As much as she didn’t want this to be a
one-time
thing, it still topped her list of dating experiences by a mile. It was almost too easy to see them doing this every morning.

“Thank you…
I wanted to cook for you, not make you do all the work.” She piled her fork full and took a bite, humming approval. “Mmm. Food is so much better when I don’t cook it myself.”

He had shoveled four bites in to her one, and could only nod around the mouth full. When he finally managed to chew and swallow, he agreed. “Yeah, nothing I cook tastes worth a damn. If you wouldn’t have had this almost done, I guarantee your opinion would be different
,
”
h
e snickered.

“Oh now, you did the cheese all by yourself. I never remember to put it in my eggs. Most of the time I am just hurrying to get something in my belly so I
can get out the door.” She took another bite, realizing neither of them had anything to drink and stood to go get it. “Coffee or
O.J.?
”

“Coffee,
please, thanks. Here I got it.
”
He felt somewhat guilty for her waiting on him, especially since he was the reason she now would more
than
likely have a scar lining across the inside of her arm.

“Oh please, it’s a burn, not a broke
n
bone.” She waved him off, pouring them both a cup and grabbing the cream and sugar before juggling them back to the table.

“Thanks.” He reached for the cup of black
Joe
and took a swig. “Mmm. Now that’ll put hair on your chest. Most people make it too weak. Coffee is meant to be strong.”

“Ye
p. Not that I want hair on my chest…but it is the only way I function. I’ve
already
drank a pot and made a fresh one before you got up.” He eyed her, shaking his head.

“Ever think to j
ust save time and pump it in intravenousl
y?”
h
e joked.

“Yeah, but I hate needles.”
She winked, turning her attention back to her plate. They spent the rest of the morning chatting casually over breakfast. After the dishes were put away, Robin’s phone rang. She answered without looking to see who it was and wanted to kick herself in the ass when Mary’s voice cut through the line. Knowing the questions were coming, Robin cut her off before she could end up wrapped in a one sided conversation about John that would lead to her answering simple suspicious yes a
nd no’s.

“Is he still there?”
Mary asked, not ready to drop the subject until she got a few juicy details first.

“Yeah. Mary, listen, I’ll give you a call later. I need to get down to the office and turn in my last article before the editor has my ass.” Yes, she had dropped Mary’s name on purpose, and her best friend picked up on it.

“Oh hell. You like him! So, are you seeing him again then I take it?”

“Yes and I don’t know. I gotta go. Call ya later.” Before Mary could trap her in a
two-hour
interrogation, she hung up. John sat lounging on the couch, smiling at her.
Shit. Too obvious
,
Robin. Way to look like a total looser.

After an embarrassing long silence, he spoke
,
“So, you have to go in today?”

“Huh?” She wracked her brain, trying to figure out what he meant when it ding
ed. “Oh! Um,
yeah
. I have an article due
about
the new Elementary school they are building. I interviewed the school superintendent and the architect who planned the first ever modernized ‘green’ public school. It’s set to hit the front page Monday morning.”

“Wow, that’s cool.
I haven’t heard anything about it.”

Robin smiled, unable to hide her excitement. “I know. That’s because I’m the only reporter who was lucky enough to be granted interviews. Anyone else who covers it will be getting their information from me until after it is completed.” It was no secret that Robin had a way with people, nor that she used it to her advantage. The city and officials had been closed lips about the whole project until she charmed her way in. It was a pretty big step in her career, even if said career was going to be shorter than she
originally
had hoped. With the way things were going, she was almost convinced that her night job would become her only job, which meant her giving up her apartment and technology for a tree fort with Franny and the others. The only question was, would they still want her out there? What
about
Mary? And John? There was no way either of them could ever visit. It was too risky. If she didn’t hurry and figure something out, it was inevitable that the law woul
d be banging down her door some
day also. As it was now, her family never visited her home, and as far as she knew
,
didn’t
even
know where it was. They had made it perfectly clear of their disapproval of her lifestyle and until she
fell back into the recesses of social status and riches, they wanted nothing to do with her. Even now when she dropped by to visit
,
they made sure to lecture her and turn every family dinner into the most painful two hours of her life. By cocktail hour, she was slamming drinks to prevent voicing her true feelings and possibly blowing her cover.

“I need to be going too.” He stood and walked toward her. Robin held her breath, waiting for the moment of truth. Either he would blow her off, or make plans. Either way, she didn’t know what she wanted. True, she liked him…a lot. The timing was just horrible. Two months ago she would be jumping
at
a chance to see where things could go between them, but now her main focus needed to be on
what mattered
—
helping those who couldn’t help themselves.
“But I want to see you tonight.
What time will you be done?”

Robin froze. For som
eone who was independently
self-sufficient
and a
badass
ninja thief by night, she felt like a giddy
schoolgirl
. No. There was no room for…this. It would only end badly. “John, I
—”

John reached up and tilted her chin up to meet his gaze. “No, Robin. I told you, I’m going to help. Being a part of the family business requires my name, not my brains. I show up for a meeting here or there. That’s it. I have no purpose. If I could get away with skimming money to help the peo
ple you take care of, I would. You can’t keep flying solo, Robin. Sooner or later it’s going to catch up to you.” She absorbed his words, hating that he was ri
ght. Mary helped drive the get
away car from time to time, and was the occasional decoy. With the robberies becoming more frequent
, she
needed a partner. Time to put him to the test.

“I have a lead I’m going to check out tonight. We had a report come through
that a very rare art collection has been purchased by one of Seattle’s founding families.
”
Since there are only three left, it wasn’t rocket science
,
narrowing it down to the mayor himself. Edward Nottingham took his position as the mayor of their city as all of his ancestors before him.
They had an election, but as the entire population knew, it was total bogus
horseshit
. If her plan went the way she hoped, the overtaxing prick would get a taste of his own handiwork.

“Shit
,
Robin. You’re serious?”

“As a heart attack.” John paced a few steps back and forth, rubbing his chin with his index finger and thumb. After a brief pause, he nodded.

“This could be a make it or break it heist. Either we get
the message through that
he lower
s
taxes and stop
s
stripping the general population, or we get caught and the lesson is turned against us. We can’t rush into this one, Robin. One mistake and there is no doubt he will see to it that we rot in a maximum security prison for triple the normal sentence.” He loved how enthusiastic and genuine she was about making a difference, but the idea of harm coming to her made his gut twist in knots. He was f
inally getting a chance with the one woman he had been in love with for over half of his life
. There
w
as
no way in hell he could lose her
now, not after all these years.

Robin waved him off with a flick of her wrist. “Don’t be so dramatic. I
won’t
get caught. If you’
re afraid, I’m not making you. Either way, I’m getting revenge on that succubant asshole.”

“What kind of art are we talking about?”

“The Portrait de l’Artiste sans Barbe
.” Her mout
h curved up into a wicked grin. John’s
jaw hit the floor.

“As in, Van Gogh?” He swore his heart stopped. Robin slowly nodded, walking up in front of him, taking his hands in hers. “Fuck! Robin…
Do you have any idea how much that painting is worth?”