KING
Cato's Place wasn't the type of restaurant I'd visit, if given the choice. It was way overpriced for what amounted to a glorified deli – at least, that's what it was in my eyes. The plates were smaller, the sandwiches were called panini and the damn things cost twice as much as a typical sandwich. I looked at the menu posted outside and saw that the soups all had fancy French-sounding names and the salads were filled with spinach and kale instead of good old fashioned lettuce. Even worse than that, they all came with fruity dressings instead of the stuff people liked – Ranch or Thousand Island. Not that I cared all that much for salad anyway, but still, once in a while, I got a craving for one and I sure as hell didn't want some weird vinaigrette slop thrown on top of it.
Maybe the worst of the whole experience, though, was that when I showed up, I looked as out of place as I felt. I usually didn't care what people thought of me, and maybe it was just because I was meeting Abbie, I didn't know, but I felt like a dog walking on its hind legs wearing a tuxedo when I stepped into the place.
The people in the joint openly stared – some of them not even bothering to hide their disgust – when I opened the door and walked inside. Maybe I should have changed out of my white shirt and leather vest into something a little more discrete. But then I thought, screw them. I wasn't about to change my appearance to fit in with a bunch of noses up in the air, snooty assholes who paid steak prices for a soup and salad. They were idiots for pretending it was somehow better than the deli down the street because they paid more for it.
One woman with her hair pulled in a tight bun atop her head and dressed in church-attire scowled at me as I walked through the place, looking for a table. She looked me up and down while shaking her head, whispering something to the man sitting next to her. He had a goatee and a ponytail. Enough said. The man also looked at me, but there was something in his eyes. Something that said he wasn't disgusted with me, but, in fact, might envy me. Or was at least seemingly fascinated by me. The look on his face said I had the freedom he didn't – a freedom he longed for.
Of course, if I had to bed down next to an uptight ballbuster like the one sitting next to him every damn night, I'd probably be longing for freedom pretty bad, too.
A younger girl, possibly their daughter, sat at the table with them and also stared at me. But she smiled at me with a very wanton expression on her face. She was cute, but was obviously jailbait, so I didn't smile back. The last thing I needed was to get jammed up for nailing an underage girl.
I chose a corner booth, far away from the judging eyes of the family and the flirty smiles from their daughter. Crossing my arms in front of me, I surveyed the room as a waitress came over with a glass of water. She smiled at me, but at the same time, she looked uncomfortable. She looked – scared. Like she didn't know if I was there to eat, rob the joint, or kill somebody. But at least she attempted to smile.
“Hi there,” she said, not making eye contact with me as she put my glass of water down. “Just one today?”
“No, I'm waiting for someone to join me.”
“Okay, then,” the girl said, putting down two menus. “My name is Luna and I'll be serving you today.”
Luna. Of course her name was Luna. She had that sort of hippie child look to her, so the fact that she was sporting a hippie child kind of name wasn't all that surprising. Or maybe it was just a nickname. The girl – and yes, she was very much a girl rather than a woman, likely no more than 18 years old – had dark brown hair and large, round brown eyes. The picture of innocence and hipsterdom, all the way down to her flannel shirt and skinny jeans.
“Thank you, Luna,” I said with a smile, catching her eye for the first time. She looked away and walked off, suddenly, leaving me alone once more. I sipped my water – which had a twist of lemon, because of course it did; lemon made it all the fancier, even if it was water that came out of the damn tap – and waited. I saw a couple of older women staring at me, disapproving looks on their faces, so I raised my glass and smiled wide at them. They turned away quickly, heads bowed together as they whispered to one another in earnest. Probably deciding whether or not they needed to call the cops or a SWAT team or something.
I shook my head and then felt my breath catch in my throat. I saw Abbie the moment she stepped inside the restaurant – because how could I not see her? Her caramel-colored hair flowed over her shoulders in soft waves that carried soft highlights. Her hair framed that beautiful face that made my heart skip a beat. I kicked myself inside for going all googly-eyed and sappy the moment I saw the woman. But I couldn't seem to help myself. Immediately, flashes of that one epic night together came flooding back – and I felt myself growing stiff under the table. I adjusted to a more comfortable position and waved at her.
Abbie's eyes caught mine right away and she smiled, a shy smile. A sweet smile. She was wearing a black pencil skirt that hugged her hips perfectly while also showing off her very well-defined calves. Her silky purple blouse also hugged her in all the right places, even allowing her nipples to show through. Was she cold? Or simply excited to see me? Obviously, I was hoping for the latter.
I watched as she walked toward me, listening to the sound of her high heels clicking against the floor, seemingly in time with my heartbeat. As I watched her, it was as if there was no one in the room – it was just me and her – and I heard every step, saw every breath she took as I stared at the rise and fall of her chest. Then again, maybe I was just using that as an excuse to stare at her tits, I won’t lie. Abbie had a very full, nice looking chest – especially in that tight little shirt. As I stared at her, I found myself needing to adjust my sitting position once more.
“Hi there,” Abbie said, sliding into the seat across from me, “thanks for agreeing to meet me here. I know it’s not your type of place, after all.”
Yeah, you could say that again.
“No, thanks for meeting me,” I said. And I meant it – though, I felt a slight sense of satisfaction that my desperate little gamble had paid off and got me what I wanted all along.
The booth was so small, our knees touched beneath the table. Feeling bold – not to mention horny as hell – I reached down and stroked her knee. She didn’t pull away, but her eyes did grow wide and I heard her suck in a quick breath.
“Listen, King, I agreed to meet because we need to talk,” she said, biting her lip as she spoke. She looked around the restaurant, taking in the rest of the diners as if realizing we weren’t alone for the first time.
Luna chose that moment to step up to our table, looking at the two of us curiously, as if we were a horribly mismatched pair that didn’t make sense together. And I guessed that maybe we were. Not that I cared. All I cared about was that Abbie was sitting across from me and I had a small window of opportunity – one I didn’t intend to waste.
“Are you guys ready to order?” Luna chirped.
Abbie stared down at the menu as if lost, but then looked up and said, “I’ll have an iced tea and a Panini Caprese, please. No fries. Just a side salad will do.”
Luna took her menu and turned to me. I had no idea what a Panini Caprese was, but decided it was easier than trying to figure something else out.
“Same, except I’ll take the fries. No salad.”
Luna looked surprised, as did Abbie. But what in the hell was I supposed to do? Try and interpret the menu for myself? With Abbie sitting across from me, taking all of my attention and making it hard to think, I didn’t think I was capable of doing it. Besides, the damn thing looked like it was written in goddamn Chinese anyway. I would have preferred something like wings or a burger. Or hell, if Abbie was so insistent on a sandwich, a cold cut sub from Max’s Deli would have done the trick. But since that wasn’t an option and I was stuck in this place, I figured it was better to just go with something simple. If nothing else, at least I had fries.
“Would you like iced tea, as well?” Luna asked me.
“Oh no, I'll take a Coke.”
She nodded, and took the menus as she rushed away from the table.
“I'm guessing I can't get some rum in that Coke here, huh?” I winked at Abbie, trying to lighten the mood. Or at least take the sour look off her face.
She smiled, looking slightly amused, but did so without laughing. “King, I'm just going to get right to the point. We can't see each other again. What happened the other night between us, it was great and I really enjoyed myself, but – ”
“It was better than great,” I added, giving her a lascivious smile. “You are pretty damn amazing. I haven't had a throw like that – ”
She held up her hand to cut me off and blushed, looking down at her hands in her lap. “Yes, yes it was all that, I won't deny it. But we can't let it happen again. I'm not an idiot, I know you're not the settling down type, and let's face it, I am. I want more than just a fuck buddy, King. I want something more. Something real. And oh yeah, I'm also not into whatever it is you do – all the illegal stuff. I don't want to get caught up in all that. I've got too much going on and the last thing I need is to get tangled up in that sort of – lifestyle.”
“I understand, but listen, Abbie – ”
“No, you listen to me, King,” she said, finding that spark inside of her again.
It was the same spark that caused her to scream and yell at me and the boys that first night when we were in her parking lot and she was pissed off. She looked around and pitched her voice low, but I could still see that fire smoldering behind her eyes. And damn if it wasn't a turn on. Of course, if I was being honest, everything about this woman was a turn on.
“You need to tell me the truth,” she hissed. “Is there anything else at my place I should know about? Anything illegal? Anything the cops might be looking for? Anything you did that might get me in trouble?”
“No,” I said flatly.
“Promise?”
“Would my promise really mean much?”
Staring blankly at me, she sighed. “Probably not. But it's all I have at the moment. I have to take you at your word.”
“You have my word,” I said. “There is nothing else you need to worry about.”
“Yeah, I'm not entirely sure about that yet,” she said. “I need you need to tell me something and I need you to be honest. Who were those other guys out there? The Hispanic men? Do I need to be concerned about them coming back and causing trouble for me? Do I need to worry about them hurting me?”
There's no way I could tell her about the Incas. The less she knew, the safer she'd be. I couldn't guarantee anything as far as they were concerned, but I could – and would – do everything in my power to keep them from causing her any trouble. Hopefully my word would be enough for her. “They're dangerous men, Abbie. The type of men you don't want to get involved with – ”
“More dangerous than you and your friends?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Far more dangerous,” I said, lowering my voice and leaning closer. “Personally, I'd rather not be involved with them, but I have to be. I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice, King.” She leaned closer, too, her eyes staring deep into mine.
I wanted to pull away, to sit back, but found that I couldn't. Abbie held me firmly in place with nothing more than her gaze. Damn, when did I allow myself to get so caught up in this girl? And why? What was so special about her? I couldn't place it, but as I stared into her eyes, I wished I'd made better choices in life. Choices that would have allowed her to see me as more than just a thug or a criminal. Yes, some women out there liked bad boys – it was a stereotype I'd used to my advantage on more than one occasion.
But women like Abbie were different. They were smart enough to know how dangerous we could be, and they knew to keep their distance. And yet, despite knowing I had about a snowball's chance in hell, I'd allowed myself to get completely wrapped up in someone who wasn't willing to get involved with someone like me. What were the chances? I was more of the one and done type when it came to women. Move them along as quickly as possible. But with Abbie, it was completely different and it was screwing with my head.
Hell, maybe I liked her because she was smart. Or part of me wondered if it was because deep down, I knew I could never have her, that she'd reject me.
“Yes, I do. I admit that, Abbie. I know I've made some bad choices in life, but some were thrust upon me. There's a lot you don't know about me. You think I want to live this sort of life? You think I really want to live the type of life that could get me killed any time?”
She shrugged and I could tell by the expression on her face that she – or at least part of her – thought I really did enjoy this lifestyle.
“Okay, maybe when I was younger this life appealed to me. I enjoyed the whole outlaw aspect of it, I'll admit that. But I'm older now. Wiser. And believe it or not, I'm ready to settle down.”
A look of surprise flitted across her face, but Abbie quickly caught herself and smoothed her expression back into a more neutral posture. Her iced tea had come, but instead of drinking it, she twirled the straw around in the glass, focused on the small whirlpool she was making. It was clear that she was doing everything in her power not to look me in the eye or to even speak to me.
I took the fact that even though she'd said her piece, she didn't get up and leave as encouragement to continue, that maybe she was actually listening to what I was saying, so I kept going.
“I know you're going to believe what you want to believe about me, Abbie. But I'm telling you I'm not a monster. I was only making this deal so I could retire and get out of this lifestyle once and for all. I want out so I can stop looking over my shoulder, so I can settle down and focus on my bar and, more importantly, living a quiet life.”
Abbie shook her head as if answering some silent question in her head. I stared at her, waiting for her to say something. Anything. The longer her silence went on the tighter and more painful the knot in my stomach became.
“I'm not that type of girl, King. I'm not the kind of girl who would ever be comfortable in your world,” she said softly, taking the napkin from her lap and placing it on the table in front of her. She stood up, continuing to shake her head, her whole body trembling. “Just promise me there's no more trouble coming my way.”
I slumped back in my seat and sighed, avoiding her eyes. “Yeah, I promise.”
“Okay, then,” she said, sliding out of the booth before I could stop her. “Then this is goodbye, then. I can't see you again, King.”
And she walked over the counter, said something to Luna, handed her come cash and was gone before I even knew what hit me.
She was gone. Abbie had just walked out before we'd even gotten a chance to eat these overpriced sandwiches together. I felt like I'd been kicked in the gut and there was a pain in my chest that I hadn't felt in a long, long time.
Luna came over and set my plate down in front of me, giving me a sympathetic smile before turning and walking away, leaving me alone in the booth.