Talk of the Town, page 23
We both shrug and I say, “Sure.”
“Take that fifty grand you guys won and get away from that guy. Just from what you’ve said, he sounds like an asshole.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
BREWSTER
As Gemma relays the story of her proposal, I can’t help the smile of absolute glee that creases my face. “Well, Christ on a cracker, Gem. You’re insane. But, God, how I love you.”
She nods as we sit at the bar. The same bar at the same hotel we stayed at for the broadcasters’ convention last month. “The first time in my life I decide to be completely crazy and I tell you to bid everything. You really did tell me to blow your dice,” she says with an eye roll.
“I don’t remember the few minutes leading up to that, but I remember, after leaving the restaurant, I was bummed because we’d had that conversation about marriage and stuff and I kept thinking, I hope whoever I end up with is someone like Brew. Maybe my mind and heart were finally like, ‘hey dumbass, you realize you could have the real thing, right, not something like the real thing.’”
I can’t help but laugh. “Kinda like me, comparing all those other women to you. Looks like two methods of reaching the same conclusion.”
She sips her wine. “What do you think is going to happen?”
“What, with Curtis and stuff?” She nods and I shrug. “Who knows, Pearl? Honestly, I have no clue. I know I’d love to personally make sure he walks with a limp for the rest of his life, but legally, who can say?”
We’d given the detective both of our old phones and the information about the honeymoon, still unsure if it has any bearing on the now wide-open investigation. Detective Copeland admitted it would probably take a while to see anything come to fruition, if at all, but they had enough evidence to track down the Vin Diesel wannabe and bring him in for questioning, at least. Hopefully, he’ll crack and give up Curtis.
She bites her lip. “You know, part of me always wondered if it was the alcohol or whatever that prompted us getting married and that always made me a little sad, because had I known how much I was going to love you, I would’ve pursued things with you way before then. It made me feel cowardly to think that it would take me being drunk to recognize what I truly wanted and to act on it.”
“But you weren’t drunk. Yeah, we were buzzed, but completely with all our faculties.”
She looks down into her glass, her expression full of guilt. “I know that now. But I just hate that I woke up the morning after our wedding and assumed we’d made a terrible mistake. If we hadn’t been drugged, we would’ve been so ecstatic when we woke up together. I just hate that we didn’t get that.”
I lift her chin. “Yeah, but we had Florida for that. Remember when we ate the steak and chocolate cake and we decided that’s how we were going to spend our anniversaries?” She nods. “And we decided that our first time in Florida was our real first time, right, since we can both actually remember that?”
“Yeah. It was pretty great.”
“It was fucking amazing, Gem.” She lets out a laugh and presses a kiss to my lips. “Waking up with you every morning since that first morning hasn’t stopped being my favorite part of my day. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
“Me neither, Brew. So, what do you want to do?”
“About what?”
Her expression grows stony. “Work. I refuse to work for him any longer. Not after everything he’s done.”
I hate what I’m about to say, but it must be said. “Gem, if we just up and quit, there’s a better than good chance that Curtis will get suspicious. Plus, I need to see if I can get in touch with that guy from L.A.. We’ll still need to have access to a studio, and I really don’t want to move. If we’re not anchored to a station, they may want to relocate us.
“At worst, it would only be until they arrest Curtis. I know the detective said things were flimsy, but I want to believe he only said that so that we wouldn’t get our hopes up. They have the bald guy slipping drugs into our drink. I have the video of him extorting money from Curtis and pretty much admitting what he’d done at his request. There’s no way Curtis gets away with any of this.”
A muscle tics in her jaw. “So, what, we just pretend that everything is normal? We just let Curtis continue to tell us how to do our jobs and we talk to him like we don’t know what a dangerous and conniving asshole he is?”
“I don’t know, Pearl. I just know that if we up and leave the station, the only ones who lose right now are us. If we leave, we run the risk of having to wait until another station hires us before we can get syndicated. Not that I don’t think that can happen, but I don’t want to possibly have to move. I love where we live. Lawson and his family are there, your parents and Augusta are there. I know we’ll have to move houses eventually, but for now, I like what we have.”
She sighs and her shoulders slump. “I just don’t know if I can keep my cool around him. He had us drugged, Brew. We could’ve had some kind of adverse reaction and died. Not to mention all the shit we had to do because he leaked that video of us. He sent it to my parents. And not that I’m not thankful we got to go to Florida; of course I am, I loved it. Still, everything should’ve been our choice, not foisted upon us. I’ve been so stressed and exhausted these past few weeks, my hair started falling out. I think I have an ulcer and I’m pretty sure I’m going to need dental work from how much I’ve been grinding my teeth. I don’t know how much longer I can do it.”
I’m about to say something reassuring, but as soon as I open my mouth, my phone rings. It’s after ten PM, Vegas time, so I have no clue who’d be calling me at this hour and I don’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Lincoln. This is Detective Copeland. I’m very sorry to bother you at this late hour, but I wanted to see if you could come by the station tomorrow. I need you to look at a photo for me. We think we may have ID’d the guy who spiked your drinks.”
I can’t hide my surprise. “Wow. Okay, sure. We’ll be happy to come by. What time would you like us, Detective? We have a flight scheduled for four tomorrow afternoon; is that going to be a problem?”
“No, sir. That’s fine. If you can come by around noon, I just need to get your confirmation this is the guy you recognize from your party.”
“We’ll be there. Thank you for your swift work on this.”
“We haven’t really done anything yet, Mr. Lincoln; we’re just getting started.” He disconnects the call and I turn to Gemma.
“What did he say?”
“He said they think they know who drugged us.”
Her eyes go wide. “Wow, that was fast.”
I shrug. “Maybe he’s a known criminal or something and he came up in a facial recognition search or something?”
The next day, Gemma and I find ourselves back in the same interrogation room waiting for Detective Copeland. He enters the room about five minutes after her knee starts bouncing from pent up nerves. I place my hand on her thigh to calm her. “Gem, you act like you’re the criminal. Chill. After this, we’ll get a drink before we go to the airport. And then when we get home, I promise I’ll take off every—. ”
I’m cut off by the sound of the door opening and I clamp my mouth shut lest the detective hear about the dirty things I’m planning to do to my wife once we get home. “Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln. Thank you so much for coming back. I know you’re eager to return home, so I’ll try to get you out of here as soon as possible.”
“No problem, Detective. We were honestly shocked to hear from you so quickly.”
He takes a seat across from us and I notice he has a manilla folder that he lays on the table. “So, how good a look do you think you got of the guy at your party, Brewster?”
I blow out a breath. “I mean, I never looked at him for longer than a few seconds, but I’m pretty good with faces.”
He nods. “Okay. Well, I’m going to show you some pictures and you tell me if any of them are the man. Think you can do that?”
“Sure.”
He opens the folder and lays out a line of six photos of bald white men. They’re only headshots, so I have no details of height or build or anything, but I scan the photos a few times and keep coming back to the same one, sure it’s the guy. I tap the photo. “This one.”
Copeland’s expression remains neutral. “Okay. That’s all we need. You’re free to go.”
Gemma lets out a small noise of surprise. “That’s it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Is that the guy?”
“Mrs. Lincoln, I can’t tell you that. But if we need anything else from you, we will contact you. If you all want to follow me, I’ll be happy to walk you out. I hope you all have a safe flight home, okay?”
I know I’m not the only one feeling as though the bottom has dropped out on us or as if cold water’s been dumped on our heads. It’s plain on Gemma’s face as we climb into our rental car. “What the hell, Brew?”
I shrug, just as confused as she sounds. “I don’t know, Pearl. Maybe I got it wrong.”
“I don’t think so. You’re good at remembering faces. If you saw him straight on and that was the guy you picked out, it had to be him. I just wonder why he wouldn’t have told us if you were right.”
I sigh. “I don’t know. Hopefully, we’ll find out.”
“So, what now?”
“Now, we go get a drink and then head to the airport so I take you home and make you forget about all this.”
Gemma gives me a soft, amused smile. “That might take a while.”
I take her hand in mine, lift it to my face, and press a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “I’m prepared for it to take all night.”
“Well, in that case, I’m happy to let you try.”
By the time we make it home, it’s after midnight local time and Gemma is dead on her feet, so I put off my attempt to seduce her, as she can barely hold her eyes open. I get her tucked up in bed and when I get our stuff brought into the house, I’m beyond wiped. I strip down and climb into bed with her and curl my body around hers.
Even in her sleep, she rolls toward me, and I pull her closer. Despite the crazy shit going on right now in our lives, I’m still happier than I have any right to be. I have an amazingly beautiful wife who is my best friend. Apart from the drama that Curtis has caused us, I have a career that I love. I can’t help but feel that in the last month, my life has changed so drastically, but also, not.
All I can think is, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
GEMMA
Brew and I begrudgingly make it through the next week of work and we beg off Curtis’s several invites to lunch. I’ve never been more happy to be done with a work week in my life.
This morning, I wake up with Brew’s lips on the back of my neck, his beard tickling my skin as his mouth moves over my mostly bare shoulder. “That’s nice,” I say, reaching my hand back for his. I draw it around my waist and he guides it down my hip until he gets to the hem of my nightgown.
“Yeah, it really is.” He nips under my ear and my breath catches. “I thought I might make you forget about the week we just had. How about that?”
“That’s a tall order. Are you sure you’re up for it?”
He grinds himself against my ass and heat blooms low in my belly, feeling him already hard. “You tell me, Pearl.”
I huff a small laugh. “Well, it appears you’re well-equipped at least.”
He chuckles against the side of my neck. “I have all kinds of equipment for you, wife.”
I reach back and wrap my hand around the back of his neck and into his hair. “Oh, I know all about your equipment.”
Brew’s fingers skim under the waistband of my panties. “Tell me, Gem, how do you want your distraction from this week?” His hand inches southward and his middle finger grazes my clit. I let out a soft huff and shift my hips to allow him better access. “Do you want it slow and easy, or do you want it rough and dirty?”
A soft chuckle escapes my mouth. “It sounds like you’re asking if I want you to make love to me or fuck me.”
His laugh vibrates against my back and his breath is hot against the skin of my ear, sending goosebumps down my arms. The pad of his middle finger continues to drag lazy circles on my clit and my pulse tics up. “I mean, that’s probably the simplest form of what I’m asking. Do you have a preference? I wasn’t sure, with the week we’ve had.”
I reach back, dipping my hands into his boxers to grip his cock. “You said you wanted to make me forget, right?”
He blows out a breath as I drag my hand up and down his thick length. “That was the idea.”
“Okay, then I don’t think slow and easy is going to cut it.”
“Thank fuck.” He grips my face and covers my mouth with his and I don’t even care about morning breath or the way my hair must look or anything remotely superficial. All I want in this moment is my husband.
He rolls me onto my back and tugs my nightgown up until I get the memo that he wants it off, and I sit up a bit for him to yank it over my head. “You know, of all the ways I get to see you, I think this might be my favorite, Gem.” His fingers drag down between the valley of my bare breasts and his hand cups a full mound, his thumb grazing the nipple and it puckers and tightens under his touch. “You, just like this. Disheveled and barefaced and only for me.”
I reach up and grip his face. “I’m always only for you, Brew.”
He gives me a soft smile. “Honestly, you have no idea what the thought of that does to me, Gemma. Fuck, I love you so much and you’re so damn beautiful. How did I ever do anything to deserve you? I’ll never understand it.”
I lift my head and press a kiss to his chest before running my hands down his waist to settle on his hips. “How do you need it, Brew? You’re always so giving; do you need it soft and easy today?”
Brew shakes his head, a sweet smile playing across his lips. “No, Pearl, I was just waxing poetic. I’m happy to pound you until you scream.”
I can’t help the small laugh that escapes me. “Well, okay then. I’m happy to let you pound me until I scream.”
His smile turns positively wicked as he tugs my panties down my hips and off my legs and drops them to the floor. I pull his face to mine and there’s no mistaking the heat in our kiss. It’s not sweet. It’s not tender. It’s only filled with need and hunger and the promise that I’m definitely going to feel like I’ve been fucked.
And I love that Brew knows me well enough to know what kind of sex I need. He knows when I need it loving and slow and he knows when I need his filthy mouth and the mark of him left on me for days. Today is definitely a day when I need the latter. Just the thought of all the places I might see his love bites later makes an aching heat build low in my belly.
Brew’s mouth moves down my jaw and neck, the heat of his breath making goosebumps rise on my torso and arms. His tongue swirls over the hollow of my throat before moving south toward my sternum. I sink my fingers into his hair and lift my head to bury my nose in his long locks. Still that smell that’s so him. I never knew I could absolutely crave a scent before until I got to smell him like this. That clean and earthy-woodsy smell that’s almost like a fingerprint; unique only to him.
But I do crave it; almost like an addiction. He’ll pass by me at work and I’ll get a whiff of him and it’s all I can do to not drag him into a supply closet for a mid-day quickie.
Even more than his smell, though, I crave his touch. Before we even became an us, I always loved his hugs, his reassuring squeezes, his playful nudges. But now that I’ve had his touch like this, even as his fingers skate down my waist and hips to tug me farther down the bed, I crave the feel of his skin on mine.
I’ve never wanted someone like I want him; which leads me to think that I’ve never loved anyone the way I love Brew. I mean, I already knew that, because he’s Brew, but still, I love him so much it nearly hurts.
His mouth continues its journey lower and lower on my stomach and he nips at the soft flesh above my hip until I squeal. He chuckles against my side and his hand slides up my inner thigh. “I’ll never get used to this,” he says as he presses a kiss into my pubic bone. “Feeling you and tasting you and fuck, even seeing you, Gem.” He lifts my leg and hooks my knee over his shoulder.
His fingers part my folds and he slowly licks up my pussy to my clit. I let out a sharp exhale and tighten my grip on his hair. He rises mere centimeters from my pussy and his breath ghosts across my sensitive flesh. “I love how you grab my hair when I eat you, Pearl. Like you want to use me. It’s so fucking sexy.”
His lips close over my clit and I rock my hips, needing more friction. He brings his thumb in to replace his mouth and his tongue dips lower to my entrance. My head falls back on the pillows as my breathing grows more and more shallow.
Brew continues to work me over, brushing kisses over my inner thigh before sinking his teeth in, hard enough to make me hiss and pop my head up. He quirks a brow at me, even as he kisses the bite. “Sorry, Gem; couldn’t resist. You know how I like to leave my mark.”
He brings his mouth back to my pussy and flicks his tongue over my clit before sucking hard, and I gasp. His fingers thrust and crook as he slides them in and out and my toes curl as he hits my g-spot. “Fuck, Brew. Don’t stop.” And he doesn’t, not until my body nearly quakes with a powerful orgasm and I let out a deep moan.
I blink rapidly, trying to dislodge the haze from my brain as Brew rises on his knees to shed his boxers. I watch as he drags a hand down his beard and I can’t help the pleasure it gives me to know that his face is covered by me.
He tugs my hips lower on the bed and settles between my thighs. “I think you requested a hard fuck; is that right, Pearl?” I nod and pull his face to mine, tasting myself on his kiss and as he slams into me, I let out a low moan. He drags his mouth to my ear as he slowly pulls out almost to the tip. “I love that sound you make when I first slide into you, Gem.” His hips punch forward and I grip my fingers into his hair. “It’s like I’m coming home.”
