Be Your Everything [All for Love] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) (15 page)

Slipping his arms around Heather, Manny straightened with her, walking deeper into the apartment heading straight for the big, overstuffed sofa positioned against the far wall of the living room. Circumventing the coffee table, he sank into the end cushion with his precious burden and Heather relaxed into him. He knew it was a temporary truce. His woman was emotionally drained, spent. He dreaded the confrontation once she was back to form.

Bryce poked his head around the corner. “USB stick. Wrapped in plastic and stored in Heather’s plant. Grayson didn’t want to leave anything to chance. He didn’t know where else to hide it, according to Moesha. He tumbled to you a week or so ago, saw you in the city when you were supposed to be back east. Grayson shared that much with McAllister, probably because he’s in shock, and that woman Moesha is just a fountain of information.

“I think Grayson ran off at the mouth, thinking he had his data and could access the system in time. Moesha says it poked his ego and he bragged on that, too—he does have a remote system set up. Maybe he’ll turn his partner in to buy some good will. Sounds like his partner is more than just a partner. He’s a she. Seems our perp is an adulterer too.”

Manny just nodded, reluctant to disturb Heather, and Bryce nodded back. “I’ll give you a call in a bit, catch you up. Uh, good luck.”

Watching his partner’s head pass out of sight, Manny turned his attention back to Heather. Moesha hovered on his peripheral vision but she didn’t speak. He heard a clink of glass on glass and a beaker of clear liquid was set in front of him on the coffee table, followed by another. Moesha sank down beside them and raised a glass to her lips. “Cheers. Salud. Whatever. What an asshole.”

Uncertain whom Moesha was referring to, Manny debated about joining her in a toast. Heather weighed in, struggling upright on his lap, reaching for the glass closest to her. She wouldn’t meet his eyes but he took heart when she didn’t climb off his lap. Leaning to clink glasses with Moesha, Heather downed the shot. And the next one Moesha poured.

“Can you tell me what happened?” He thought he should ask the question before the women were incoherent.

“Nope. Already told your partner and I’m gonna have to make a statement, probably testify against the old goat, too.” Moesha struggled up and took the bottle with her, stalking toward the kitchen.

Heather squirmed off his lap and pointedly took a seat in the little chair positioned just out of arm’s reach. Well, the truce was over. He took a breath and prepared. “Heather? Can we talk?”

“I just had a life-altering experience,
Manny
. I brought a crazy man to my best friend’s home and it wasn’t good planning that took him down. More like Keystone Cops. And I can’t help but think if you hadn’t come into my life I wouldn’t still be shaking in my shoes and Moesha wouldn’t be cleaning up a mess in her foyer, never mind both of us probably having to attend court!”

“And Grayson would have absconded with an unbelievable amount of his clients’ money and Meredith Fox would have died for nothing.” He had to say it.

“I know that,
Manny
. I’m not stupid.” Heather was obviously seething, eyes flashing, color high in her face. Manny wished he’d kissed her while she was so acquiescent in his arms. She flounced back in the chair and winced.

“What’s wrong?” He was at her side in one long step, nearly overturning the coffee table. Heather shuddered and shook her head.

“Heather.”

“Grayson might have stabbed me a little.”

Holy God. Manny snatched her up and lay her facedown on the couch.

“I’m okay. It can’t be much. Just feeling it now the shock’s worn off.”

Ignoring her protests, he pulled up her shirt now, noting the dark stain nearly hidden by the pattern in the fabric. Carefully easing the material from what appeared to be a small cut in the centre of Heather’s back, the blood nearly coagulated, he breathed a sigh of relief. Wringing Grayson’s scrawny neck wasn’t possible, but he made a mental note to have assault with a deadly weapon added to the charges.

“Moesha?”

The woman appeared in the archway, a dust pan in one hand, broom in the other. She squinted, first at him, then at Heather, facedown on her couch. “Holy shit! She got hurt?” The items clattered to the floor.

Words muffled by the sofa cushion, Heather tried to reassure her friend but Manny cut her off. “Can you get me some peroxide and gauze, a large band aid? I want to clean this up and cover it.”

“You got it.”

Idly stroking Heather’s satin skin while carefully avoiding the cut, he breathed in her scent. Heather quivered under his touch. A hand appeared in front of his face as Moesha wordlessly offered a bottle of peroxide and cotton wool. A band aid fluttered to land on Heather’s curved buttocks.

“I’m gonna take the trash out and stop by the super’s place so as to get my door fixed, maybe tell my downstairs neighbor about the excitement.” Moesha punctuated her statement a moment later with a slam of the front door, followed by a curse when she had to wrestle with the thing to fit it into the splintered jamb.

Heather flinched at the sound and Manny soothed her with a press of his lips on her back, just above the sweet dimple of her waist. “This will probably sting a little, sweetheart, but it needs to be cleaned. Your tetanus shot up to date?”

“Uh-huh. Company policy.”

Dampening the cotton wool peroxide, he worked to clean off the blood, reopening the tiny stab wound to thoroughly cleanse it. Heather breathed through the pain, and Manny waited for the area to dry before applying the band aid.

“What you and I have, Heather, has nothing to do with the investigation. I was going to tell you the night before, to prepare you, but you already knew. I’m sorry. I had to do my job, but being with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me. And you always had Manny Baker, right from that first date.”

Sighing, Heather rolled carefully to her side, and he stood to allow her enough room to sit up. She swung her feet to place them on the floor and stared up at him, heavy sheaf of dark-blonde hair framing her sweet face, bottom lip pouting forward to meet the upper one. “I was gutted. Shattered. I trusted you and those seventeen dates were with Matthew Bourke. I don’t know Manny Baker.”

Manny went to his knees again, grasping both of Heather’s hands, relieved she didn’t pull away. “You know Manny Baker. Matthew Bourke was all about fringe benefits, on the job and off. Manny Baker got the job done this time but I found it damnably hard to concentrate. I hated to leave and couldn’t wait to return. I fell in love with you, Heather. I should have waited before we—”

“Oh, let it go, Manny. Waited for what? I’ve been thinking, not always a good thing in my case, believe me. But I know you well enough, even as Matthew Bourke to believe you weren’t getting some because you thought it was the last time to take advantage. I would have gone to bed with you on date two. It meant a lot to me that you waited until we knew one another better.”

Manny knew he was gaping. Like a fish. He would never, ever understand women. Heather had left the city in high dudgeon, preparing her apartment for a lengthy absence, deliberately building distance between them. She couldn’t know he would have ferreted out her whereabouts and come for her, or could she?

“I had a lot of alone time to think today, Manny. I know you started out cultivating me, but you hardly ever asked about my boss, my ex-boss, the killer, after a few dates. And you could have pulled back when it was clear I didn’t know squat about Grayson. You didn’t.

“I went home to Mommy. I just wanted somebody to ease my hurting. But as usual, Wanda can’t be there for me. So that leaves you, Manny. I don’t have anybody else. Scared?” Heather’s gaze didn’t waver.

“Terrified, but only of saying the wrong thing, sweetheart. I’ll be your everything if you’ll have me.”

Two perfect tears welled in Heather’s eyes and tracked down her cheeks, one sliding faster to drop free, falling to her shoulder. He leaned in and kissed the other away.

“Can we go back to your place? Your friend gave us some space, but she can’t visit other people forever.”

“I need to stop and pick up a few things, Manny. I kind of emptied out the place.”

“I know, Heather. I should tell you Mrs. Humphries and I checked out your apartment.”

Heather laughed. “Poor Mrs. Humphries. She’s an incurable romantic. I suppose she told you I might have gone to see my mom, too. She tends to share.”

“She likes roses, too.” Manny smiled as Heather flushed and looked away. “It’s fine, Heather. I had visions of you feeding each one to me, thorns and all. We’ll pick up the essentials. I have a feeling it’ll be a weekend of rest. McAllister will want his statements, but everything else can be wrapped up without either of us.”

“Not too restful, I hope.”

Well. He supposed he was up for
that
challenge and a certain part of his anatomy agreed. Helping Heather to her feet, they headed to the door.

“My keys!” Those particular items lay on the table by the door.

“That’s what alerted us, Heather. Smart move to drop them.”

“I was shaking so hard I could hardly manage to let them drop down the front of my leg and try to absorb the bounce with my foot. But Grayson didn’t hear them. He was too busy being the big, scary jerk.”

Manny gestured for Heather to precede him and set Moesha’s door into place, wedging the knob with a piece of wood salvaged from the jamb. He had no doubt the super would be on the scene shortly to repair it, considering Moesha’s strong personality and definite appeal.

They entered the elevator and he backed Heather against the wall, careful of her injury. He hit the lobby button right before he took her lips, holding her steady against the tender assault, pouring all of his suppressed emotions into the kiss. When they broke apart Heather gasped for air and clung to him.

“I was scared shitless, Heather. I thought he’d taken you.”

Lifting a hand to his face, she gently pushed at his hair, feathering it back from his forehead. “I was scared, too. But Moesha looked out through the peephole and saw both of us. She knew something was up from the stuff at the office and saw Grayson had shaved his head. But she wasn’t going to leave me out there with him, so my brave friend let him in.”

Manny walked Heather out to her car, respecting her thoughtful silence, opening the passenger door and ensuring she was buckled in before closing it. He rounded the vehicle and climbed into the driver’s seat, adjusting it when the steering wheel constricted his chest. The mirrors also required adjusting before he started the engine and backed out of the lot.

“If you hadn’t come when you did I would have…hurt him.”

“I doubt that, Heather. But you scared him spitless.” Manny was glad he’d interrupted that particular event. He didn’t want that vision in his head, but he was going to be Heather’s everything for the rest of his life. She and Moesha had seized the day, and overcoming their assailant would likely mean fewer nightmares and less anxiety over time. Heather would have been far more traumatized had she actually harmed Grayson.

She actually chuckled. “Yeah, he wasn’t such a tough guy flat on his back with a knife at his neck.”

The domesticity of purchasing groceries charmed him and appeared to settle Heather. She put things chosen just for him in the cart, items she would never eat. They stowed them in the car and headed back to her place. Manny thought about that stripped bed with more attention than behooved a gentleman, but he needed Heather desperately, her brush with evil intensifying his need. As soon as they entered her apartment, hauling her suitcases and the grocery sacks, he gave Heather a gentle push toward the bedroom.

“Make up the bed, Heather, while I put the perishables away. We’ll eat later.”

Eyes huge in her face, glittering with desire, Heather nodded wordlessly and went. He put things away in record time before ensuring the deadbolt was set on the door as well as the safety chain. An errant thought that Mrs. Humphries might come to check on Heather had him fumbling for his cell.

“So she’s home? And is she all right?” The older woman’s voice was anxious.

“She’s home and fine,” Manny assured her. “I’ll have her call you later after she’s had a rest.”

“Oh, of course. She’ll need a rest.” Mrs. Humphries didn’t sound like the naïve old woman he recalled from a few hours ago, and he smiled before saying good-bye. He went to find Heather.

Water ran in the bathroom and Manny pulled his clothes off, tossing them over the bench at the foot of the bed. Plain cotton sheets adorned the mattress and he decided they had more shopping to do, because Heather deserved the best. There were limitless possibilities and experiences ahead of them.

Legs tangled with Manny’s, pinned to the mattress by the weight of his shoulder on her hair, tethered in a very acceptable way, Heather stared sleepily into the dark. Manny slept deeply at her side but she wanted to savor the moment. She could sleep any time. All the stress and turmoil of the past few days had fallen away under the experienced tutelage of his lips and hands, the driving thrusts of his hard shaft.

Emerging from the bathroom earlier, having freshened up and changed into a nightgown, her first sight was of a very naked Manny, standing in the middle of her bedroom. His need for her was obvious, although his face was tender, eyes gentle. She went to him and he caught her up in his arms, once again kissing her breathless. Her nightgown inched up her thighs, aided by Manny’s questing hands. He stepped away far enough to pull it up and over her head, allowing the silky material to float to the floor.

“You are so lovely.”

She closed her eyes against the overpowering need in his, her breasts tightening in response, her sex swelling and dampening to prepare for him. He took her down with him to the bed, turning at the last moment to lower her body over his, protecting her injury. The hard, muscled heat of him spiked Heather’s senses and she dipped her head to trace Manny’s lips with her tongue before peppering little kisses over the delineated muscles of his pectorals, drifting lower to the ridges of his abdomen. He groaned his pleasure and ran his big hands over her sides.