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“Not by the way the two of you act. You met somehow somewhere along the timeline. You act like my wife and I do. Anticipating each other’s moves and phrases, and eyes always searching for the other one in a room.”
I swallow hard. He hands me a twenty-dollar bill. “Dinner’s on me. Vending machine is back there in the breakroom. He’s alone in his holding cell, I’ll clear it for you to visit.”
“Thank you.” I hug the giant man. He pats my head, and I release him.
“Happy day after Valentine’s Day.” He winks at me and leaves the building. I pull my slightly tattered dress into place and wipe the remains of my eyeliner and mascara from under my eyes. I pull my hair into a chignon at the base of my neck and secure it with a pen. I apply a touch of lip gloss, and now I feel ready for my Valentine’s Day date.
I pile all the vended preservative-laden goodies into an evidence bag along with one of those scratchy blankets cops always seem to have to soothe the victim in movies.
We round the corner, and he’s sitting on the floor in the middle of the cell with his head in his hands. I’m sure if there were other people around, he would’ve been joking and laughing to hide away himself. But I see he’s upset. I place my hand on the officer’s arm and put my finger over my lips. He smiles and leaves.
I sing loudly, “Hoh ah, hoh ah. That’s the sound of the men. Working on the chain gang...” He leaps to his feet. His face is framed by the bars as his hands go to hold them. I stand in the middle of the room and put my hands on my hips. His eyes light up the entire room. My whole body is squirmy and warm, simply being around him. Having his intense gaze on me is everything I could have dreamed of tonight. His charcoal shirt is pulling across a taut chest, and his sleeves have been rolled up, giving a peek of a tattoo on his forearm dusted with dark hair. His tie is gone. Still standing about six feet from him, I cock my head to the side trying to get a look at his ass. He smiles and turns around slowly. I take in his long legs and see the burn hole in the back of his pants. He pauses and clenches his ass for me, and I laugh. Then, when his eyes are on me again, he puts his finger in the air and twirls it. I do a slow turn for him. When my back is to him, he hisses low and sexy. I clench my ass cheeks, and he chuckles. I turn back around and smile at him smiling at me.
“Is this a conjugal visit?” I laugh hard and shake my head a little. He’s so damn funny. “Why are you here? I thought you’d be long gone.”
“Ricky cancelled on me. I had time to kill.”
He beckons me with a crook of his finger. “Come here.” I set my goods down on the chair and walk over to the metal bars.
“I’m here.” I get as close to him as I can.
“And thank god for that.”
His hand reaches for mine, and the touch is electric, and not just because I have a prison fantasy brewing in my brain. I kiss him through the jail bars—we can’t kiss the way I’d like, but it’s a jolt of affirmation. It says all the things I was prepping to tell him, all the words that would rush out if I gave them a chance.
“I don’t want to be anywhere else,” I say.
He squeezes my hand and looks at me with an intensity that could cut through a crowd but is only meant for me.
“I’d like to be somewhere else. Kind of anywhere but jail.” I laugh again. His lips curl a little up to the right, and I see his slightly puffy light green eye. His cobbler war wound. He’s still hot as fuck. I’m not that special, yet this man treats me like I’m precious, perfect, and his.
If someone gave me a catalogue of all the men in the world, I could flip through and pick. I’d choose him—every time. And even if it’s only for one night, I choose him. I don’t know how to tell him I'm leaving tomorrow.
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21
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PATRICK
“Well, there’s one place I’d like to be more than any other.”
“Where?”
“Between your thighs, but alas, I’m going to have to pay my debt to society first.” I see her shift her weight as desire settles in the exact place I just described. Fuck, I want to give her that relief.
“What if I told you I have two surprises?”
“Besides you and the fact I ended my Valentine’s Day in jail?”
She spreads a blanket at the edge of my cell. I mean, what the fuck is this night? As she sits, her dress gaps a little. I get a hint of a delicious lace bra that matches that scrap covering my future destination. I exhale and sit across from her.
“I have a picnic and they’re processing you. The manager got the story from the sexy bartender.” What the fuck? I sit ramrod straight, and she giggles.
“Did you fuck the bartender while I’ve been inside?”
She laughs and flexes her fingers as her royal blue eyes knock me off my game. “Life had to go on.” I would fucking rip that guy apart.
