Chapter 11

 

A soft and relaxed expression was on Keisha's face as she came to work the next morning. The time spent with Hunter had really set her mind and libido in a better place.

After dining on the food, she had carried over they had spent a good portion of the early morning chatting and getting to know each other even more, telling a little more of their pasts before another round of sex ensued; in the shower.

The warm water cascading over them paired with the heat generated by their bodies had been perfection as Hunter had taken her on the warm tiles. Keisha had gone back to her home in a high of pleasure to get ready for work and thirty-five minutes later she was now behind her desk.

It was with some relief that there were no more bouquets or gifts on her desk and she could concentrate on her work freely- until she opened the drawer where she had stashed the large envelope.

Trepidation was in her chest when she finally broke the seal and spilled the contents on her desk. What spilled out was a stack of photos and when she took the first one up her eyes widened.

It was a picture of her and Etienne; her younger self had her head thrown back in a scared but delighted laugh with her arms locked around his neck in a death grip as Etienne was giving her a piggy-back ride.

She took up another one and saw her and him in a park sharing a cone of ice-cream. The memory of that day came up instantly; Etienne had just been contracted to design the headquarters building of a new telecom building in Charleston, South Carolina.

It was where they had happily lived and where she had planned to start a family with him… until his wife had accosted her.

A bittersweet feeling had settled at the base of the throat as she flipped through the rest of the photos. There was one with her and Etienne at one of his company’s mixers, another one of them riding the carousel at a state fair and another one of them under a moonlit sky, with her hands wrapped around his neck.

She stared at herself who was looking at the man bare inches away from her with the star-stricken look of young love.

A manicured hand pressed on her eyes as the memories the photos had unearthed were vibrant in her head. A small choke came from her throat when she remembered how heads-over-heels she had been with Etienne and then came the pain.

Oh, how she wanted to strangle Etienne when she saw him again. It was nothing less than cruel to do this to her, just when she was on the verge of moving on.

And that was an ‘if’; if she was really moving on. The events of last night to this morning had evoked a longing of her waking up with Hunter on the other side of the bed. She envisioned a fantasy of giving him a deep massage after a long day and a dream of Hunter hugging her to his chest and comforting her when she was upset.

But now; these memories of how she used to be- with him, had thrown her mind into a somersault.

The emotions for Etienne were resurging at an alarming rate and battling with the new ones for Hunter.

With a frightened move, she grabbed all the photos and shoved them into the drawers and slammed it shut, only to hunch over her desk while breathing hard. She couldn’t let Etienne win; not now and not after she had gone so far.

 

*****

 

With a mysterious smile, Hunter meandered through the hallways of the PD after coming from the Cyber Crimes Dept.

From the moment he had stepped into the workplace with a satisfied smile on his face, rumors about why he surly man was so now genial had sprung up like wildfire.

Hunter had heard everything from the outrageous ‘he won the lottery’ to the illegal ‘he took some Ex last night’ to the most normal one; ‘he got laid’.

The detective didn’t give a damn what his colleagues came up with, all he knew what that he was satisfied. The two rounds with Keisha had sparked his endorphins levels up through the roof.

The suggestion that Jackson had given him, about the location being under surveillance had struck gold. Directly from where the desktop had been, a mini camera with a Wi-Fi relay had been found. Another one was in the back corner of the room that had a panoramic view. Needless to say, someone had been watching them.

Half an hour ago he had pushed in the door to the technocrat’s lair, and immediately gravitated to the table where Jackson tapping away on his comp and another tech was analyzing the cameras that they had gotten from the location.

The other analyst told him that the cameras were run of the mill tech and they could be bought from any tech store in the country. Jackson, on the other hand, had told him that he was fettering out the end relay for the Wi-Fi feed and he’d update him soon.

A little hopeful Hunter had left them to their work and went back to his. While Jackson was tied up with finding the end of the relay, he was going to find this elusive Etienne.

Keisha had reluctantly told him that her ex was a structural engineer and if he was such a big shot as she claimed, he had to be recorded somewhere; most likely the newspapers.

Getting behind his desk he cracked his knuckles and pulled up a general search engine. In the search field, he narrowed down the parameters and hit search. As the list popped up Hunter darkly clicked the first one while darkly muttering; "Where are you, you son of a bitch?"

 

*****

 

The landline on her desk was beeping with the intercom from her assistant’s line and while marking off something in another file, she grabbed the phone and cradled it between her ear and shoulder.

“Yes, Lila?”

“Keisha, I have Mr. Dubois on the line,” Lila replied, “He says he’d like to speak to you, should I connect him or not.”

The moment Lila had utter Etienne’s name Keisha had gone still and her mind was in a flurry; should she hear him out or not?

“Keisha?”

With high trepidation Keisha replied, “… Put him through.”

“Sure, hold please.”

“Bon après-midi, ma petite tigresse,” Etienne purred, “How are you?”

“Much better than when you used to call me, ‘mon petit hibou,’” Keisha replied evenly, “I never like being called a little owl.”

“That’s because you were up all night buried in books,” Etienne replied smoothly, “I remember having to bribe you to come to bed.”

Keisha took a little pause, “…What do you want Etienne?”

“Have a late lunch with me, Cherie,” Etienne requested, “Just for old time’s sake.”

Keisha shot a look at the wall clock and was a bit startled to see it was close to three; she really needed to stop skipping meals, but what was she to do with Etienne? Was it right to go with him? Besides the peace they had made a few days ago and even with the fact that she had wanted to strangle him a few moment ago; should she go?

What if he had an ulterior motive and was using this ruse as a way back into her better graces?

“Cherie?”

She rolled her eyes, “You need to stop calling me that, but yes; I’ll go with you.”

“Perfect,” Etienne replied with obvious pleasure in his voice. “I’ll pick you up in fifteen.”

“No!” she hurried to refuse, “Just tell me where and I’ll meet you there.”

“Keisha, s’il te plait,” Etienne replied with a stricken tone, “Let me do this, just to appease my pride.”

The young mogul pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation. “…Fine.”

“Bon,” Etienne replied, “I’ll be there in fifteen.”

 

*****

 

The upscale steakhouse restaurant they walked into was more of a bistro in the afternoon but transformed into a fine dining hall in the night. Even with the relaxed air inside, it did a little to nothing to settle Keisha’s nerves.

In chivalrous style, Etienne guided her to a table flush against a window and pulled out the seat for her. With murmured thanks, Keisha sat and waited as he did the same.

Sharply dressed in personally tailored dark pants and a maroon shirt that contrasted his chocolate skin perfectly, Etienne always dressed to impress. Tugging at the onyx stone cufflinks of his shirt Etienne slanted a soft smile to her.

“I’m glad you decided to come.” He said softly, “I can’t tell you how happy you made me when you accepted.”

“It wasn’t that hard,” Keisha said a little tightly, “I didn’t want to harm your ego.”

Etienne let out a deep laugh and took up a menu, “Touché; what would you like to drink?”

“Iced tea, please.”

“I’ll have the same.” Etienne replied while gesturing a waiter over.

They placed their order with the leeway of putting in their order for their meals after. Keisha titled her head to Etienne and said, “You seem… different.”

He flashed her a white-toothed smile, “How so?”

“You have this easy and settled air to you,” Keisha replied, “Things must be going well at the conference otherwise…”

“Otherwise what…” Etienne teasingly grinned.

"You'd be edgy and tight," Keisha replied sagely, "And you'd give one-word answers. There would be a deep furrow in your forehead and the side of your mouth would twitch."

A light sprung into Etienne’s eyes and he grinned as the waiter settled their drinks on the table, “That’s the Keisha I know, so intuitive.”

Reaching out to take her iced tea Keisha sipped some with her eyes down. It was a slightly pathetic way of avoidance but she just wasn’t fully ready for this meeting.

“Why did you send me the pictures?” she blurted out before a strong urge to slap her hand over her mouth swamped her mind.

Etienne stilled for a moment with his glass to his lips before he took a small drink and set the glass down.

“Do you hate them?” Etienne said quietly, “Because they were some of the best moments of my life.”

Those simple words seemed to slap Keisha in her face, her breath caught in her lungs for a moment. Never in her life would she have expected Etienne to even think of that much less admit it!

His dark eyes met hers and she found herself trapped in his gaze. Etienne leaned forward and said, “Please don’t let me think that their mine alone.”

The words dug right into her soul and the memories the photos had resurrected were dancing behind her eyes. It was an ugly truth but she had to admit it; they had been the best moments of her life too.

“They were…” Keisha replied, “…until you shattered it.”

"And to my dying day, I will regret that." Etienne said in a low and sorrowful tone, “The pain you suffered was my fault.”

“No one’s arguing with you there,” Keisha replied while reaching for the menu. “It was.”

Etienne reached out and closed his hand over hers and Keisha looked up to meet his eyes. Once again, they were trying to suck her in but she dared herself to hold the look. She wasn’t going to fall this time… his look was innocent but the small circles from his thumb on her skin was another story.

Keisha slowly pulled her hand away and she furiously fought the clenching her gut. Etienne would do that whenever he saw a way to start flirting; she knew that look in his eyes she wasn’t in for it. Her mind rejected the motion but her gut rebelled and grabbed at it.

What the hell was it about him that still controlled a part of her?

“S-so.” Keisha internally cringed at how her voice cracked and the triumphant look in Etienne’s eyes. She twisted her head and cleared the throat, “So, how are you?”

His hand rose up and she went still as he tucked another dratted lock of her hair behind an ear, "Good…very good now that I have you back in my life."

Her eyes narrowed at his sultry tone, “Etienne-”

He pulled back, “Je sais, Je sais- I know, I don’t have you like that but at least you’re talking to me, that’s a point in my book.”

His words were casual but his eyes were heated and she felt so wary, “Etienne, I can’t-”

“Get into anything with me,” He once again interrupted, “I know and I respect that.”

Internally, Keisha grimaced, why the hell did she put herself back in this firing ground once more? What the hell was wrong with her? Was she a glutton for pain or what? How many times in her life had she uttered, ‘you’re no good for me Etienne’ but had still been drawn to him like a moth to a furnace?

And here she was again, doing the same thing.

"Thank you," Keisha replied reaching for her menu hoping her subconscious would get with the program and let him go.

 

*****

 

“What the hell do these people take me for, some kind of lackey?” Hunter mentally and vocally snarled as he stepped into the steakhouse to grab the lunch order that the officers back at the department had put in.

His search for this Etienne had so far proved fruitless and just as he was about to go to the DMV to chance another angle he was ordered to go and retrieve their dinner. He went straight to the pickup counter and gestured for an attendant.

“I’m here to pick up the Mecklenburg-Charlotte PD order.” Hunter said tightly, “Make it snappy, I don’t have much time.”

The server nodded, “We’ll be right with you, it’s almost done.”

Almost went on to be over thirteen minutes and by the time Hunter was handed the bag, he was fit to be tied. And then he turned to the door where Keisha and a man were walking out too.

The man’s eyes skimmed over to him and narrowed, instantly Hunter slipped into his professional mode.

“Ms. Al-Habar,” Hunter said evenly, “What a surprise.”

Keisha, whose back was to him, spun around with a look on her face that was between surprised and frightened, “…Oh… Detective Blake; you’ve startled me.”

The young woman had obviously to taken his hint and responded in kind; perfect. She shifted her handbag over her left shoulder, “How are you today?”

Hunter lifted his bag and smiled deprecatingly, “Doing grunt work.”

Annoyance flashed over the dark-skinned man's face and tightened around his eyes. In a move that was nothing else than a man proving some kind of claim around what he thought to be his, angled his body between Keisha’s and Hunter.

“Keisha, Cherie,” the man said smoothly, “Introductions, s’il te plait?”

Hunter didn’t miss the irritation that had flashed across Keisha’s face when the man had uttered the clearly Cajun word for ‘darling’.

The room seemed to get smaller and the air got tense and the tight smile on Keisha’s face and the polite but decidedly unpleased expression on the man’s face only made the situation worse.

“Um,” Keisha twisted her head between them, “Okay, Etienne Dubois, please meet Detective Hunter Blake of the Mecklenburg - Charlotte PD.”

Hunter didn’t show any noticeable reaction but internally he was feeling the irony. Here he was stressing about finding this Etienne and here was, playing bulldog over Keisha.

“Detective,” Etienne said sticking his hand out with a genial tone although his eyes were ice cold. “Good to meet you, how did you and ma cher get acquainted anyway?”

Again, a very irritated look flashed across her face and Hunter didn’t need to ask that his postulating was getting on Keisha’s nerves.

Deliberately, he slid his eyes over to Keisha and said, "I… helped her out with a… personal problem."

A deeply incensed look shot across Etienne’s face but in second it disappeared, “Oh…that’s good then; what was that problem, by the way?”

Hunter unashamedly grinned and bowed a little to Keisha, "I'm honor-bound to not tell the good lady's secret. You're from the south, you know what that is.”

Etienne’s face twitched even as he squared his shoulders, “I do, actually; it’s bred into all from the Old Quarter.”

“Louisiana,” Hunter nodded while widening his stance and bringing himself to his real height, “Been there once, I went to Mardi Gras at eighteen on a dare. Why so far from home?”

“I’m at the engineering conference at the Marriott,” Etienne said with clear smugness in his voice. “And I live in the state, actually.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, Hunter spotted Keisha rolling her eyes at the clear machismo going on between them.

He checked his watch and then with a smirk said, “That’s good and all, but I have to run. Good evening Mr. Dubois and Ms. Al-Habar, if the problem comes back you know where to reach me.”

Walking away Hunter grinned to himself while taking his keys out. He knew he was going to get an earful later but it was worth it. Etienne, even being her ex, clearly didn’t know anything about Keisha or he wouldn’t crowd her.

The anger in Etienne’s eyes spoke a lot. The man clearly viewed him as a threat and that was very titillating to Hunter. Besides his instant and obvious hatred, Hunter then realized that even if he had found anything on Etienne it would have taken a long time to get it; the man was from Louisiana and cross-state inquires took a while.

The second thing that sparked another gut feeling was, how on earth did Etienne, a major suspect in his book, just show up so goddamn coincidentally? Keisha had told him they had been done for over five years, so why now?

Again, if there was something Hunter trusted it was his gut and he felt this guy was up to something. Slipping into his car Hunter grinned to himself, “But now I have something stronger to work on.”

 

*****

 

The call came at nine just as he was stepping into his house. He cocked the phone to his ear and grinned.

“Hello?”

“I hate you,” Keisha said mildly.

Hunter grinned, “And I love to make you hate me.”

“How old are you?” Keisha asked, “Like seriously, I thought you were more mature but after all that testosterone blasting in the air, I was an inch away from asking, ‘should I get a measuring tape’.”

Hunter kicked his door closed behind him and walked to his kitchen to set his grocery bag on the counter, “A measuring tape, for what?”

"I figured if you two were going to get into the metaphorical equivalent of ‘whose bigger', I might just speed things along and go ahead and measured," Keisha answered dryly.

Hunter’s head threw back and he laughed so hard his chest hurt, “I’m probably bigger anyway.”

Keisha huffed, “Think so, huh.”

Leaning on his marble counter he grinned salaciously, “Do you want to recheck?”

“Oh, no thanks,” Keisha replied wryly, “I’m already way too much acquainted.”

“I’m sure,” Hunter said drolly while sitting on a chair and pulling the file from under his arm with the name ‘Etienne Dubois’ scrawled in bold. He put his feet up on the table while spinning a page. “But I wouldn’t mind another visit.”

"Bastard," Keisha replied with no heat, "Do you know the bull I had to spin to get him off my case. He was like a ten-year-old pulling my pigtails."

“He doesn’t know much about you again, does he?” Hunter hummed while skimming down her ex’s history.

“What makes you think that?” Keisha asked.

“Because he doesn’t know to give you your space,” Hunter replied while reading over a juvenile record for Mr. Dubois. “He was basically breathing down your neck.”

Keisha was silent for a moment, “…. Remind to never underestimate you,”

Hunter closed his eyes and tilted his head back. It never surprised him anymore how much Keisha’s voice seemed to sink into the lowest parts of his gut. Just hearing her speak lit a low thrum of desire in him. “The feeling’s mutual.”

“…Don’t do that,” Keisha replied this time her voice had gone all low and breathy, “Please.”

“Do what?” Hunter replied, a bit curious.

“Let your voice go all husky bedroom and wet sex on me,” Keisha replied, “It makes me want to want you again.”

A smirk crossed the detective’s face and he deliberately dropped his tone, “Are you complaining?”

“…I’m hanging up now,” Keisha replied, “Goodnight Hunter.”

And she cut off the call with Hunter grinning to himself. “The feelings more than mutual Keisha- in other ways, I want you too.”