Arson, page 10
Deep breaths overtake me as I collapse onto her, burying my face in her neck and inhaling the scent of her sweat that’s dribbling down the side of her neck behind her ear. I kiss the sweat drop away. “That felt so good, sweetheart,” I murmur breathlessly as I stroke her hair.
“Fuck yeah, it did,” she says while still panting from her last orgasm, her legs still trembling. “I don’t think I can get enough of you, Mr. Morganstern. We’re going to have to do that more often.”
“Any time you want,” I say as I curl my arms around her, pulling her even closer. Her breathing slows, and she idly runs her fingers up my back. “I’m all yours.”
The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. Shit. Am I going to scare her off? I know it’s fast, but I can’t help but hate the idea of Darby being intimate with someone else, taking another cock in her mouth or sharing herself like she just did with me. I can’t even imagine her having dinner with or hugging someone else. In fact, the thought fills me with a surprising amount of jealousy that I don’t like.
Kissing the top of her forehead, I feel her eyelids flutter from exhaustion. “Good night, sweetheart.”
“Good night, Archie,” Darby mumbles as she drifts off to sleep, and the sun starts to seep into her windows.
Chapter 12
Darby
“Coffee,” I mumble under the covers. I also feel a heavy weight around my waist. “Coffee.”
“I can’t understand a word you’re saying, sweetheart,” a voice behind me mumbles into my hair.
It takes me a minute to come to my senses and remember last night. Actually, I think I only slept for a couple of hours, so I try to remember early this morning. I do a body check of myself. Pussy with a pleasant dull ache? Check. Man behind me? Check. Exhausted from staying up fucking said man until the birds started singing? Checkmate.
“Mmm. Archie? You’re still here,” I say as I rub his arm gently.
“Of course! I’m not going anywhere. Do you have coffee? I’m assuming that’s what you’re moaning for under those covers,” Archie says against my ear.
“I have tons of coffee. I also have eggs if you want to stay for breakfast.”
“I’ll make it. I insist,” Archie says, planting a kiss on my neck and winging his legs out of bed. I catch a glance as he starts to pull his boxer briefs on over his chiseled ass. “Egg choice? How do you take your coffee?”
“Scrambled with black pepper for the eggs. Black for the coffee. And don’t skimp on grounds in the filter. It’s not coffee unless I lose tooth enamel.”
Archie chuckles to himself, “That’s my girl.”
Hearing it in bed is one thing. Hearing it in broad daylight the morning after amazing sex is another. His girl. Those two words rattle around in my head. His girl in the daytime and his whore when the bedroom door shuts. I could get used to that, and my stomach flutters just seeing him do his routine morning activities around my bedroom and walking into the bathroom.
“There’s an extra toothbrush in one of the drawers if you’d like it,” I yell after he closes the bathroom door.
***
“Thanks for doing this,” I say as I walk into the kitchen after brushing my teeth and putting my hair into a messy bun. Archie is at the stove, stirring eggs in a pan and looking smoking hot in my apron that he borrowed. It has ‘Fuck the Cook’ written on it and was Remi’s idea of a joke gift making fun of ‘Kiss the Cook’ aprons.
“Do you like the apron?” I ask with a stifled laugh.
“Love it. Maybe we should get matching aprons?” he smirks as he fills a mug with scalding black coffee from my coffee pot.
“You’ll have to go through Remi on that. I have no idea where she procured such a classy piece of apparel.”
He sets a plate of eggs in front of me along with the pepper shaker. “Enjoy,” Archie says as he fills up his own plate of eggs and gets his own mug of coffee. I notice we take it the same way. It’s the little things that make my heart soar around him. “What do you have planned today?”
“Well,” I begin in between chews of eggs. “I think I’ll take the day off and see if I can do a bit of research on that goo you fell into at the Dallas warehouse.”
“How do you plan on doing that?” Archie asks as his brow crinkles in what I take as concern.
“Well, I’m going to check with the patent office first. That may take some time to retrieve any bits of info for any patents recently filed by Dallas Industries,” I explain as I put my fork down for a moment. “Or they may be on the Internet. I’ve never searched for a patent.”
“Wow, I’m glad you’re on this. I wouldn’t have thought of searching for a patent,” Archie murmurs.
“I’ll also call Frank and see if he’s seen Porter or at least knows his last name. Maybe we can check him out on social media and do a quick Internet search? He has to have some social media somewhere, right?”
“Also smart,” Archie says, nodding his head.
“I’m also going to head to the Jensen City Chamber of Commerce. I have a friend, Patty, that may be able to pull a list of all of Dallas’s warehouses in the area. We can start researching warehouses and checking out what’s what.”
“You truly are amazing. I can’t ask for a better sidekick on this.”
“In the meantime, you need to make another doctor’s appointment and tell your doctor about the goo this time. Maybe your doctor can run some additional tests to see what happened?”
“Good idea,” Archie says as he takes out his phone and quickly schedules an appointment through his doctor’s online app. “OK, I’ve got an appointment for early this afternoon.”
“Awesome!” I say excitedly as I sip the last few drops of coffee from my mug. “I’ll clean up since you cooked. Did you want to meet back here tonight and talk about findings?”
“Can I come with you to see your friend Patty? I’m curious about the other warehouses. Think we could hit that first?”
“That would be awesome. It’ll be fun to spend some time together this morning. It’s downtown, and they have a lot of eateries so we can catch lunch and talk some stuff through, too.”
It doesn’t take long for me to clean up the kitchen, run some deodorant over my pits, and change into a sweatshirt and jeans. It’s a crisp fall day, but the sun is out, and it won’t be too cold. Archie washes his face and borrows my deodorant for a few swipes. I mentally note to pick up a few things the next time I go to the store just to make him more comfortable here if he’s here more often.
Downtown is within walking distance, and it would actually take longer to take the car and search for parking than it would to just walk there. Archie and I set out in the direction of the Jensen City Chamber of Commerce, and Archie immediately grabs my hand. Kissing the top of it, he gives me a killer smile and laces our fingers together. Even though we have a lot to do, we take our time and look in store windows on the way there. It’s been years since I had a relationship with someone, and I’ve missed the moments of just walking down the street, window shopping and talking easily to each other.
The double doors for the Jensen City Chamber of Commerce open automatically, and we step into the warm room with brass posts and railings every inch that you could possibly put brass. Cream paint and marble flooring make the building look like a bank from the 1930s. My friend, Patty Lowell, sits at the reception desk and smiles immediately after recognizing me. We haven’t seen each other in months, but it’s like no time has passed at all as I give her a quick wave and walk towards the desk.
“Darby Clausen! What have you been doing with yourself? I haven’t seen you since our team smoked you and Remi at rec volleyball in June,” Patty says in her Georgia accent. She moved here for college and decided to stay. Her eyes then catch the man standing next to me, “And who is this tall drink of water?”
“Hi, Patty. First, your team fucking cheated. It’s a ringer when you enlist a former Olympian for rec volleyball. Second, this is Archie. He’s my b-.” I stumble because I’m not quite sure if I should say the word.
“Boyfriend,” Archie fills in for me. “It’s nice to meet you, Patty,” Archie says, extending a hand as my heart does gymnastics in my chest.
“My, Darby sure did do well for herself,” Patty says, fanning herself with a piece of paper, and I swear she bats her eyes at Archie.
“Uh, Patty,” I say, trying to get her to stop eyeballing my new boyfriend. “I was wondering if we could get some help with finding out about some warehouses in the area.”
“Oh, are you looking to buy one? If so, I can put you in touch with a realtor for commercial real estate.”
“Not quite. We were actually wondering if you could pull which warehouses Dallas Industries owns. Can that be done?”
“Sure, sugar,” Patty says in her southern drawl. “That’s all public knowledge. Anyone can pull files on who owns what property.”
“How long will it take to get that information?” I ask.
“I have to run in back and pull it from the computer, but I’ll have it in about five minutes max. Wait here,” Patty directs as she moves out of her reception chair and begins to head to the back.
“Thank you,” I call after her.
I turn around and see Archie smiling at me. “She’s nice. I’m not sure about joining a losing rec volleyball team, though.”
“Haha. They cheat. They had this woman join that was almost a foot taller than everyone else. We later found out she played Olympic volleyball. That’s cheating for a rec league. Remi couldn’t even block her, and you’ve seen how tall and fit she is.”
Archie smiles and begins to speak. By the time he starts to form words, Patty is already out from the back with a couple of papers she’s printed for us. She’s smiling as she approaches her desk and fluffs her hair when she sees Archie looking in her direction. I just roll my eyes.
“Well, that was easy. It looks like they have six warehouses in the area. However, the system says that one burned down the other night,” Patty informs us as Archie and I look at each other slowly. “I guess that means they have a few left. Are you looking for something specific?”
“No. We just need to know their addresses if possible.”
“Oh, I have all of that right here for you.”
“You look. You’ll probably understand it a bit better,” Archie says as he takes his hands off the printout. “You’ll probably see something I won’t.”
We take the printouts to a nearby polished table and spread them out. Looking at them, we see that Dallas Industries does indeed have five warehouses left in the city. We have a map of the city with the locations starred, and they’re spread out all over the city. It’s not like the warehouses are all together in an industrial park. Dallas must have really wanted the warehouses spaced apart for some reason. There’s also no rhyme or reason why the warehouses are spaced the way they are. One is down almost into the suburbs, and another is by the train depot. Yet another is just meters from the city’s biggest park complex.
“Do you see any pattern here?” I ask Archie.
“Not a damn thing,” he says, stepping back from the printouts and running his hand through his hair. “There’s nothing unusual here. Dallas Industries is just a company that has a few warehouses around town, and there’s nothing really unusual about that. We’re not even sure if this stuff is at all of them or just the one warehouse. It could all have been destroyed.”
I turn back to Patty at the receptionist’s desk. “Patty, is it OK if we take these with us?”
“Sure, honey,” Patty calls without looking up from whatever she’s typing on her computer.
“What do you say we take these and grab lunch and a drink. Even though we just had some eggs an hour ago, I’m still hungry. We can also take our time and look them over before my doctor’s appointment,” Archie suggests as he gathers up the papers.
“Thank you, Patty,” I call over to Patty as she continues to type at the desk. “I’ll see you this volleyball season.”
“You’re welcome, Darby,” she calls back and then raises an eyebrow. “Oh, tell Lee’s brother that I’m available if he needs any help with his skills during the off-season. Mmm mmm. I’d butter that man’s biscuit.”
I chuckle and roll my eyes. Lee’s older brother, Linus, is the league heartthrob, and women love playing our team because they get to see him. “Will do!” I call as we head for the door.
As we walk out the door, Archie clears his throat. “What is she talking about buttering someone’s biscuit?”
“I don’t know. I think it’s a Georgia thing. You’ll see this season when you meet him. The ladies love Linus.”
“Would you say you want to butter my biscuit?” Archie asks with a chuckle.
“Butter. Jelly. We could move through the entire condiment section,” I say and pinch Archie’s ass when we get to the sidewalk.
As we leave, I shoot off a text to Frank while we walk to a nice steakhouse nearby. Archie’s going for the steak, and I’m going for their delicious salads. It’s one of the hotspots for lunch and dinner in Jensen City. As soon as we get seated by the hostess, my phone pings with a text back.
Text from Frank: “No luck on Porter. He hasn’t been in. I’ve been asking some patrons if they know him, and no luck so far. I promise to let you know when I see him. He usually pays by credit card, so I’ll look a bit closer next time and catch his last name.”
Text to Frank: “Is there a way you can pull the credit card files from the night I was there when he harassed me? Will his name show up?”
Text from Frank: “I can try in my downtime. It may take a long time to pull records from that far back. I can’t even remember if he paid that night before I kicked him out. I may have to work back further and see if I can remember when he was in here last. It’ll take awhile.”
Text to Frank: “I just appreciate any help you can give. Thanks for being such a great friend, Frank.”
“Any news?” Archie asks as he flips open the menu, and a waitress fills up our water glasses. I notice her eye Archie with either recognition or the desire to fuck him. I have a feeling I’ll have to deal with women hitting on him and slipping him their numbers. “Does Frank have any leads?”
“He hasn’t been in. Frank is going to try to pull some credit card transactions and see if he can get Porter’s last name.”
“Tell Frank that I’m thankful to him the next time you see him,” Archie says.
“I will,” I respond and squeeze his hand.
After a few minutes, the waitress comes back for our orders, and I notice that her shirt has some more buttons undone than it did the last time she was over here. I quietly giggle, but I’m oddly cool with it. I don’t think Archie has eyes for anyone but me, so the poor girl is fighting a losing battle.
Archie and I look over the warehouse information again while we wait for our food. We keep coming up blank on recognizing any patterns in the warehouses and agree that we’re in a holding pattern until Frank can give us more information on Porter. There’s no telling which warehouse Porter will try to mess with next. We even get online and try to pull up patents for Dallas Industries. No new patents have been issued for Dallas Industries in the last five years. There’s nothing new product-wise going on at Dallas. They are happily chugging away and simply manufacturing the textiles that they’ve already patented and regularly sell.
Archie puts his head in his hands and then runs his hands through his hair. “So, we’re at a dead end.”
“Looks like it,” I say quietly and put my hand on his knee.
“This is so frustrating. What the fuck happened to me?” Archie moans, clasping his hands under his nose.
“Hey,” I say, reaching across the table and putting a hand on his arm. “We’ll figure it out. It just may take more time.”
“I just feel so powerless.”
“No, you definitely have a power,” I chuckle.
“Ha. I meant I just feel like I can’t pin down why this is happening. I’m scared. What if we never figure this out?” Archie asks and takes a deep breath as if he’s trying to keep his shit together.
“We’ll figure it out. Something has to shake loose here soon. Either we catch something happening at one of the warehouses and figure out what that goo is, or we find Porter. You also have a doctor’s appointment today. Maybe she can find something?”
Archie lifts his head and rolls his neck around while taking deep breaths. “OK, you’re right. Just because we keep hitting dead ends doesn’t mean we can’t figure this out.” Archie covers my hand with his hand, and he smiles a dry smile. “Let’s talk about other things,” he says as the waitress puts his steak and truffled potatoes in front of him and my steak salad in front of me.
“Well,” I say before taking a bit of salad and chewing for a bit. “Is there anything fun you’d like to do this next weekend? Maybe we can do something to take your mind off of things? I mean, I’m not sure how much I can take your mind off of things, but I’ll try.”
“I sure as hell wasn’t thinking about anything but you last night,” Archie murmurs after he swallows a bit of steak. “I could definitely use a little more time with you taking my mind off of things.”
My face burns with the heat that moves to my face from my toes. “My mind was certainly focused on you last night, too,” I say with a husky voice as I remember exactly how well Archie fucked me last night.
“Can we hang out this weekend? Maybe you can come over. I can cook for you. I make a hell of a roast chicken with roasted veggies,” Archie says. “You can pack an overnight bag if you like.”
“Well, count me in. I’d love to,” I say as I smile at Archie. “Now, let’s finish eating and get you to your doctor’s appointment.”
Chapter 13
Archie - One Month Later
“Eh, just send in Archie,” Bennett says breezily as his boots hit the ground. Keeping his hand on the hose pull, he toys with it and looks to Zeke to see if we’re actually going to go into the building. Zeke sighs and lifts his shoulders as if he’s not too concerned with the massive warehouse fire just meters away.
