Plastic Confidence (Good Bye Trilogy #1) (21 page)

“Not
a Frenchman, I take it?” I scowled. Officer McMains chuckled around the bread. He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“When they are done
processing him and getting his statement, he will be escorted off the island with a ‘no return’ invitation.” His stern voice was nice but it didn’t convince me in the slightest.

I sighed. “Is that enough? I mean I don’t want to press charges but what if he comes back?”
I objected. A bunch of crackling and thrashing came from the side door and I looked away from McMains to see what the commotion was about.

Loves and Brennan
broke through the screen door with enthusiasm and Officer McMains’ hand went to his gun. When he saw Loves, he instantly set his hand away and went back to eating his bread unaffected.

“
Julia, what is going on?” Brennan came over to me and inspected my body.

“Pierre is not Pierre. He is a
fucking PI for douchebag Johnny. He has been following me for months. Brennan, Johnny knows exactly where I am and he is... like I think he is psychotic,” I said a little more panicked as each word came out.

Brennan’s jaw had dropped very low. He pulled me in for a hug. “We will do whatever it takes to fix this.
You are not in harm’s way. You are protected here with me. I will not let anything happen to you, Julia.”

“That’s right,” Officer McMains said
as he stood up from his plate and grabbed his police hat. “We have video surveillance on the Ferry landing. We will put his and this Johnny person’s face on the monitors with the others that are not welcome.”

Brennan and Officer McMains spoke more about what they could do while I spaced out. I was
as flabbergasted as to why Johnny cared so much. He did sound like he was on something again. Maybe drugs and the tour pressure were getting to him. Did he really miss me that much to hire Mr. French Creeper? Why did it matter if Brennan was here? Why did Johnny still care after all of this time? No matter the answers, he was acting extreme and for the first time in years, I didn’t feel safe and it didn’t matter how much security there was.

I didn’t realize how much time had passed until McMains and Brennan shook hands and promised to be in touch with each other the next day
to work on their idea for more security. Brennan folded two pages of notes that he had been writing while talking to the officer. I looked down at my hands and noticed they were shaking. I hardly heard my voice when I said goodbye to my favorite police officer.

THIRTY
-THREE

BRENNAN

Julia
and I didn’t sleep much that night. I felt her shaking and Loves could tell she wasn’t good either. I tried to get her to talk but I think she just wanted time to think. I rubbed her back and her shoulders for hours. I told her how much I loved her and I would protect her forever.

Sometime during the night, she left the bedroom with Loves on her heels. I didn’t follow. She hadn’t asked but
, God damn, I wanted to know what was going through that beautiful brain of hers. Minutes later, she came back with two sheets of paper and two pens. I noticed one of them was her bucket list.

I sat up and turned on the side light.

“What is it?” I asked.

She scratched out one thing on her bucket list and I watched as she wrote “finished” across the list. She handed it to me with the most amazing smile I had
ever seen. My anxiety dissolved and I looked down at the sheet. She had crossed abstinence off of her list. Did this mean? Was she? I looked up to her and she nodded in confirmation.

There were still items on the list that obviously weren’t done. Go to Paris
. Write a book. Learn to make dough boys. I pointed to them and raised my eyebrows in question.

“This is a new bucket list. This is Jules and Brennan’s bucket list. We are one now. Let’s make a list. It really helps keep your mind off the stupid shit in the world,” she said as she started to write out the title and the date.

I laughed when I saw she had written “Have loads of orgasms together”.

“This is really one that will never be checked off,” she laughed the sweetest belly laugh.

She handed me the pen and as I took it, I started to feel uneasy. Would she like what I really desired to put on the list? I was terrified but if we were going to be one now, she had to see my expectations.

I
carved “#2: Get Married” on the paper. I made it clearly confirmed so that if people found it in a hundred years, they would consider it factual evidence that we were in love. I didn’t look at her while I handed back the very special document. I could feel the blast of warmth in my face and my heart was pounding so hard. She didn’t gasp or yell but started to write hers. She passed it back to me with just as much special caution.

She
squiggled a smiley face next to my number two and then wrote “#3: Have a baby or two?” I was so thankful and felt the immense smile on my face. Yes. We were there. We were doing this. We were in this together. I regarded her and her eyes were bursting with tears. God, in that moment, I would do anything to take any disbelief out of her mind. So I pacified the moment the greatest way I could.

I crossed out her
“two” and “the question mark” and changed it to “three” so it read “Have a baby or three." I followed up with “#4: Julia will publish book”

“Hell yeah!”
she exclaimed as she read my bucket list item. Loves considered Julia and then sighed. I was getting the impression that he dealt with her outbursts frequently.

We continued our bucket list for an hour before she took it,
dropped it on the floor, and then threw her whole body on mine. We were naked in record time. She played with me while I stroked her. When I finally pushed into her without any protection, both of our eyes went wide as we melted into each other.

“We love each other,” I said. I then yelled it. I yelled so loud and she joined in. It was so fucking liberating. I pumped into her and we moaned together over and over.

We had number one checked off... for that night anyway.

The next morning, I went to my office and started to make calls about our own personal security cameras. I wanted the shots of the Ferry landing, too. I wasn’t letting anything happen to my new family.
Julia wandered in and I minimized the screen.

“No lies, Bren,” she said. “No secrets.”

“I want cameras,” I said firmly.

She nodded and came over to sit on my lap. She had a mug of coffee that I immediately rescued from her hands. I kissed her on the cheek as she clicked the browser back on.

“Where we get to watch the fun from? Shit, now I don’t have to go down there to make fun of people,” she said. She was smiling and laughing until she thought of something and her face went slack.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Pierre... Mark... Whoever he was. That’s what we used to do. We would go to the landing and make fun. He was such a great friend. I just can’t believe it. I can’t believe I won’t see him. He never existed. It is so fucking weird. Creeps me out,” she said on a shiver.

“Well, I like making fun of people. I will be your new French tutor,” I taunted with my eyebrows waggling.

She pushed the curls out of my face. She grabbed the beanie off my desk and put it on her head.

“Nah, I am going to cancel Paris. I really liked the idea of publishing that book. It is going to be about the
murder of that girl that came through the OUIJA board,” she said out into space.

“Whatever you want.
I will do whatever you want. I do have some jobs to get through this summer but the fall looks open. Let’s plan a trip somewhere, okay?” I asked with hope.

She nodded and slowly kissed my lips. I put my hand on the back of her head where my beanie met her hair and got aroused all over again. She
placed the coffee onto the desk and then straddled me in the chair. Within minutes we were panting out each other’s names and I screamed so loud. It felt so good to love this woman in my office in our home. It was one of those moments that I realized that despite the past and its awful, painful memories, I was content. We were moving forward. Julia amazed me more now than ever before.

When she got up
and off of me, she slithered her panties back on and declared more coffee. I sat there in paradise long after she left the room. I went back to looking for camera systems while I kept myself out in case of a repeat performance.

She didn’t come back. An hour later, I found her out in the garden. She was humming and Loves was lying in the sun next to her. I got down on my knees and pulled her to my body.

“Well, hello there my beautiful man,” she said.

I was so God
damn lucky. Yes, Julia, I am
your
man.

“Hey,” I said, a little hoarse. “I am going into town for some things. How about I make you dinner tonight?”

She gave me a look that said I didn’t know how to cook and my look back said you want to make a bet?

“Ten dollars,” she stated without emotion.

“You are on,” I retorted and kissed her nose as I got up to head into town.

I went to the only jeweler in town. A nice looking woman saw me come in and I noticed her once over of my body. Sure, I might be a bit on the good looking side but my days of entertaining women were over. Open relationships were a joke. I had learned in therapy that Amelia had done a number on me. Several
numbers, actually. She ran my life and the moment I caught a whiff of the air outside of her imprisoned walls, I started to see more clearly.

“Hello, what can I help you with today?” she asked in a seductively low voice. I smiled at her.
Dimples and all. I wanted a good deal.

“Engagement ring, please. Large,” I said, pointing down at the glass cases of jewelry. It took her a moment for my words to register but she
recovered quickly. I wondered if she knew Julia. She would be laughing her ass of at this woman right now.

“Of course.
We have sets over here and we also have an onsite custom jeweler if you want to go with something of your own design,” she said, much more professional now.

I shook my head. The engagement ring was for the moment I asked
Julia to be my wife and my only lover forever. However, our rings would be permanently inked onto our fingers on the day of our wedding. It would most likely be her first and last tattoo. I laughed at the look she probably would have sitting in the chair. Poor girl and it was going to hurt like a bitch.

“Just your largest square cut,” I said in a decided tone.

“Largest?” she questioned in amazement.

I nodded and started to pull out my credit card. Money was no object when it came to
Julia. I would offer to buy half the house that I knew she already owned out right but it would all become ours anyway.

“Is eight carats okay? Oh, and don’t you need it sized?” she asked, looking at my credit card with a perplexed expression.

“They are all sixes, right? That is standard?” God, I hated the fact that I knew this. This was to be my first marriage. Amelia didn’t count anymore.

“Yes, that’s right,” she answered.

“Well, it turns out my girl’s left ring finger is a size six, so wrap it up,” I said.

Ten minutes later, I had the ring. I got a chill as I walked out of the jewelry store. I felt like someone was watching me. It was an odd feeling and as I made my way to the market, I couldn’t help feeling like I was being followed.

After a beautiful dinner that I prepared, Julia handed over the ten dollar bill and gave me a smacking kiss.

“That was awesome spaghetti.” She rubbed her belly and burped.

“Nice,” I beamed as I took a sip of my wine. She got up to get the wine bottle, noticing that my glass was empty. I strategically placed her ring in its box in front of her cleared plate and waited.

When she sat back down, she poured our wine and sat back. Only seconds passed before she saw it and gasped.

“Holy hell, that is a big piece of ice, Brennan,” she squealed. She tore it out of the box and I got down on one knee.

“
Julia, I love you. You know that too much has kept us apart for too long. I want you to be my wife, take my name, and have a family with me. I will follow you to the ends of the earth for just one kiss. But right now, I just want one word. Please marry me, my love?”

She wasn’t even looking at me when she said yes. She was inspecting the fucking ring. I barely saw the
damn thing when buying it and now she looked at it like it was her favorite toy. I inched it away from her.

“Tell me yes, lady. Say it to my face! Tell me!” I
shouted with animation.

“Yes, Brennan Curtis.
I want to be your wife. Right now. Can we be husband and wife right now? Let’s go to Vegas!” She screamed right back at me. We were yelling and excited and so fucking in love.

Despite my absolute joy,
I shook my head and tsk’ed her as I leisurely put the ring on her left ring finger. She and I kissed peacefully deep. I noticed a flash of light come from outside. We both looked up.

“Heat lightning?”
Julia asked, as she appreciated the ring again with the biggest smile I had ever seen on her face. God, she was so fucking beautiful. And she was mine. I never thought it would happen. I never thought I would be this happy again. I can be with Julia every day of our lives.

I shrugged
at her question and went back to kissing her. As I picked her up and took her to our bedroom, I noticed another huge flash of light come from outside the window, and I tried to look out to see the sky.

“It must be,” I said through my kisses.
It didn’t occur to me until we were about to fall asleep in each other’s arms that it was a clear sky that night. That flash was from someone watching us.

I put the camera system in the following day and
watched every magazine for months. Someone had stolen our moment and I would seriously hurt whoever it was.