Chapter 7
Evan Granger Las Vegas, Nevada July 7th, 2016
My tattoo is that I don't have a tattoo
MICHAEL J. FOX,
Esquire, December 2007
T he next morning I get up at 0600 and walk down to the reception desk. I reserve the cabana right next to Cahira's for the next ten days. I know Cahira is planning to leave tomorrow, but I plan to do everything I can to get her to stay with me a little longer. I head back to my room and order breakfast for Cahira and her friends. Forty minutes later, I get a text from her, thanking me for the food and inviting me to the beach. I let her know that I have reserved a cabana today and she promises to meet me in an hour. When she finally makes it to my cabana, I stalk over to her and kiss her with every ounce of passion I possess. "How are you holding up?" I ask.
"I'm OK. The way you took those guys done was kind of awe-inspiring. I guess I should be shaken up, but instead I just feel… Well, protected, I guess. "
"You are protected Cahira. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Ever." I put as much emphasis as I can into the last word. I've got one deployment left, and then I'm not going to be leaving her side.
I feel little hands on my calves and look down to find Little Christopher trying to push us apart. He does not look happy with me.
“Cahira, you didn’t tell me I had serious competition for your affections.”
She giggles a little, and I lean down and pick Christopher up, swinging him over my shoulders so he can play piggyback. Except, things don't go quite the way I plan. I feel a trickle of warmth go down my back right before Rebecca yells, "Oh my God! Christopher just peed on Evan!" I swing Christopher back down and deposit him gently on the sand before trying to deal with the pee running down my back.
“Never thought I would get a golden shower from a two-year old, “I mutter.
Cahira lets out peals of laughter. I pull her into my arms and let the pee drip onto both of us before I jump into the water, dunking us both under the waves. We come up sputtering and laughing. Cahira gets a good whack in on my shoulder before I growl in her ear, "You wouldn't want to be spanked in front of your friends, would you Cahira?” She sputters out, “You wouldn’t dare!” But she doesn’t smack me again.
Frank and Luke join us a little later, and we hang out with Christopher while the girls go back to the hotel and change for lunch. I like both men a lot, both seem to be straight shooters and genuinely into Cahira's friends. Luke spends a lot of time playing with Christopher, and I get the run-down on Sarah's ex. Apparently, Sarah and Christopher have been through hell. After five years of putting up with her husband's beatings, Sarah finally had enough. She packed up her Chevy truck and left Victor, Idaho to move halfway across the country with Christopher. The beating she sustained before leaving put her in the hospital and her ex in jail for seven years.
"Man, that's tough. You didn't know anything was going on there?"
“Hell, no I didn’t. Would have put a bullet in the fucker’s head if I had. I think that’s why Sarah kept it from me.”
Hearing that someone put that sweet woman in the hospital has me seeing red. “You seem kind of hung up on Sarah,” I say to Luke.
"Yeah, you could say that," he replies. "Been in love with her since second grade. High school sweethearts. Made the mistake of letting her go and she met Mark. Mark swept Sarah off her feet with his money and smooth manners. Didn't see him for what he was until it was too late. I tried to move on when they got together but couldn't seem to do it. I would never wish her hurt, but I can't say I'm sorry to see that SOB locked up and no ring on her finger. Hell, always imagined we'd be the ones married with a little guy like Christopher running around. Won't make the mistake of letting her go twice." Then he asks, "Something serious going on between you and Cahira?"
“She’s it for me. Just hoping she feels the same way,” I reply.
"That's how I feel about Rebecca," Frank says directly.
"Rebecca seems pretty skittish to me. She been broken a time or two?"
“Last night Rebecca had a few too many and told me she was in the foster system from the age of six on. Rebecca told me she was taken away from her parents because her mother and father used heroin. Lived in eight foster homes in the next twelve years.” The big man looks ready to rip the arms off our lawn chairs as he finishes telling us the details.
"Look, I'm going to try and get Cahira to stay longer. I know they all have jobs lined up but Cahira is the first one to start working, and that's in three weeks. Think you two can work on convincing Sarah and Rebecca?" Both men nod their agreement, and we get to work on persuading the ladies when they return from changing. To my relief, all three women agree to stay another ten days without too much convincing. I let Cahira know I have already booked three adjoining rooms on my floor and she raises an eyebrow at me.
“You’re pretty damn confident, aren’t you?” she asks in an annoyed tone of voice.
“Nah, just persistent and cautiously optimistic,” I reply with a grin.
Frank, Luke and I leave to get in a workout and make plans to meet the ladies later for dancing. Thankfully, Sarah had already scheduled Virginia Sanchez for tonight. I saw Luke ask Virginia for a business card earlier. Luke takes it out now, and I listen as he gives the Au Pair a call. From my end, it sounds like she already has another job lined up for the next ten days. Still, Luke somehow talks Virginia into staying on with Sarah. I'm thinking the $5,000 Luke offered Virginia as a bonus might have sweetened the deal just a little. When Luke hangs up, I raise my eyebrow at him, but he just shrugs. "Not losing her again, "he says simply. I clap him on the back, and the three of us head in for our workout.
Luke, Frank and I agree to meet up first. The ladies are going to join us at 2000 in the lobby. We all decided to go the nightclub, even though I got a hunch Luke is more used to the two-step. The three women get off the elevators at the same time, but I only have eyes for Cahira. She is wearing a tight emerald green bustier with a fringe that stops underneath her breasts, a short black skirt that flares from her waist and thigh high leather boots. My jeans are instantly too tight and the night just started. I look over at Luke and Frank. Both men look like their jaws need to be wired shut. I hear Frank mumble under his breath, "Looks like we are going to be fending off the every Tom, Dick and Harry at the club tonight."
"Damn straight," Luke says. I notice his shift from one leg to another and realize he is probably in the same situation as me. Jeans just got too tight.
"They all look too damn Sierra Hotel," I mumble. Frank looks at me questioningly. "Sierra Hotel. Shit Hot. Come on; I've got your six."
Then the three of us head toward our ladies with all the swagger we can manage. It’s going to be a long, long night.