And damn if his words don’t feel like a promise. Fuck, I need to get laid. A vibrator is just not cutting it anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The soft strains of a saxophone playing a melancholy tune float up the stairs from the bar below.
I toss the pen onto the desk and push my chair back before standing and stretching. Twisting my neck from side to side, I wince as the movement sends a sharp stabbing pain into my overly tired brain.
Hitting redial on the phone before switching it to loudspeaker, I walk over to the window and peer through the venetian blinds to the cobbled streets below.
The view is the same as it was the first time I saw it, but now it’s bustling with life. Couples making out, groping each other with heavy hands and barely contained lust as they wait for cabs home. Alcohol has lowered their inhibitions, making the thought of people watching them more of a turn-on than a deterrent.
Drunken revelers spill out of the various clubs and bars, singing out of tune songs about love and heartbreak, as the still sober people maneuver around them with small knowing smiles and shakes of their heads.
I had brought division twelve back to life and I felt a strange amount of pride in not only the division, but the people’s resilience to bounce back. It hadn’t been easy, but then nothing worth having ever is.
“Yo, boss lady, what can I get you?” the voice calls over the phone.
I roll my eyes at the moniker given to me by a man old enough to be my father.
“I need coffee, Gary, lots and lots of strong coffee before I slip into a coma. I don’t know why I hired all this security when the only thing guaranteed to kill me off is paperwork,” I complain, making him snort.
“Ah, feeling sorry for your bitchy self now, are we?” He chuckles as I watch a young girl turn an alarming shade of green before she bends at the waist and pukes all over her shoes.
Classy. I grimace in distaste but keep an eye on her until I see two other girls approach. One takes her shoes from her hand, the other holds her hair back. Friends, I surmise. All of them seem a little wobbly on their feet, but only the one girl looks to have overdone it.
Walking back to the desk, I realize I didn’t answer Gary. “Shit, sorry, Gary, I spaced out. This is exactly why I need coffee, and I’m not bitchy, I’m tired and hungry,” I pout.
“You need more than a few hours of sleep at night, that’s what you need,” he gripes.
“And how do you know how many hours I sleep, Gary? Have you been spying on me?” I tease.
“No ma’am. I like my balls right where they are, thank you very much.”
I smile even though he can’t see it.
“I’ll make you some coffee and I’ll find you some of those pastries you like. Beth made a fresh batch that will blow your mind.”
He hangs up before I can thank him, but then two seconds later, the phone rings again, so I answer it with a grin. “Ready to blow my mind already?” I laugh, but the voice that answers back definitely doesn’t belong to Gary.
“Name the time and place and I’ll be there. Better yet, let me up and I’ll fuck you over that desk of yours,” Reid growls.
I shake my head, the smile falling from my face. “What do you want Diablo?”
He laughs before it turns into a hiss, making me frown.
“Buzz me up, Cherry,” he orders, making me bristle. The last thing I want is to deal with him when I’m tired, horny, and my defenses are lower, but that hiss sounded like he’s in pain, and as per usual, it’s me he comes to for patching up.
It’s always been me.
“Fine but behave. I’m not in the mood for your particular brand of drama.”
“You wound me, woman,” he jokes before hanging up.
I make my way over to the attached bathroom, snagging the first aid kit from beneath the counter, pausing to check my reflection in the mirror.
I look like a siren today in my scarlet wrap dress that hits mid-thigh and dips in the front to give a hint of cleavage. My hair escaped its confines earlier, and after spending the last few hours running my fingers through it, it looks like it’s been gripped tight while I’ve been fucked hard.