Never Me (21 page)

“What do you want?”

“Whoa, chérie,” the guy said in a slur with an accent that in no way entertained he was Creole or a native of New Orleans. “Just coming through to give a greeting.”

“We don’t want a fucking greeting,” I said in the most venomous voice I could muster. Spencer, who was just now coming around, quickly put me behind him and confronted him head on.

“Just fuck off, man,” Spencer said heatedly.

I knew this could turn out very badly considering we were unarmed. I couldn’t see the man clearly. I surveyed him from head to toe and all I could make out from the street light was that his nose had a bump on it like it had been previously broken, and he was missing teeth, lots of them. His head was covered in a sweatshirt hood and he was sweating profusely. I was burning up in shorts so I immediately drew drugs as a conclusion. There was no reasoning with drugs, ever, but I had to try.

“Nice shoes. Limited edition, right?” I said, rounding Spencer and coming closer to the guy than I should.

“Nadine, what the fuck?” I heard Spencer immediately protest and take a step toward me. I stopped him with a firm wave of my hand.

“Limited, yeah.”

He lifted his head up and I could clearly see the outline of his face. He had a scar stretching from his temple to his lip. Easily identifiable and he definitely didn’t care now if we saw him. That was a bad sign.

“Looks like they could use some new laces,” I said, my voice wavering just enough to let him know he scared me. Shit.

“Yep, I could use a lot of things,” he said sloppily. He was definitely drunk. There was no way he was taking us both in a fight, but the confidence he was letting off led me to believe he was packing more than a nice pair of shoes.

“Let me buy you a pair of new laces.” I walked up to Spencer, reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet. Spencer eyed me and shook his head vehemently.

I opened the wallet fully so the man terrorizing us could see that I was giving him everything inside and held up the folded offering to him while handing Spencer his wallet back.

“No fucking way, Nadine. No way.” I glared at Spencer for two seconds then turned back around.

“Thanks, Miss Nadine?” He fully smiled at me and grabbed the cash as he walked past us. “I would love a new pair.” He eyed us speculatively as if he was weighing what more he could get away with.

“I sure hope that’s enough, Mr.?”

“Brown, James Brown.” If I wasn’t so terrified I would have burst out laughing. I felt Spencer pull me back to him protectively and nodded my head at Mr. Brown’s hand full of cash.

“Well, Mr. Brown, we both hope that will be enough.” I said the last words with so much emphasis there was no questioning my stance. Unless he intended to use the gun he was hiding, he was in for a fight. He tilted his head at me and smiled a toothless grin.

“It’s ‘nuff. Now hear me, chérie, you two best be getting back up the street. I have some friends all over who need new laces.” Wow, he liked me. Thank God for that. Spencer and I quickly made our way back to the more cluttered area of The Quarter. I knew Spencer was livid.

“I will give you every dime of the few hundred back, Spencer.”

He paused in the street a few blocks from our hotel. “You think I’m pissed about the money? No, I’m not. I’m wondering how I will ever get the use of my balls back. I should have taken him down. That was totally emasculating, woman!”

I burst out laughing and he grabbed my shoulders.

“Why did you do that? I could have handled that.”

“He would have killed us without batting a lash. I don’t think I like James Brown.”

“That’s not funny,” he said seriously, scorning me but breaking out into a nervous smile of his own.

“It’s kind of funny,” I said smiling, still full of adrenaline. “Besides, you going all commando would have gotten us killed.”

“I wouldn’t have given him all my money.”

“Then neither one of us would be having this conversation right now.”

“How are you so damn sure?” he asked, tilting his head, doing his best to figure it out.

“He had a gun. Your balls had no chance, I promise. Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not really. I’m…” He shook his head again grinning at me.

“What?” I said grinning back.

“Glad you’re okay. That we’re okay. It’s the best two hundred dollars I’ve ever spent.”

“Good.” I saw the sun begin to peak behind him. We were out of time. He noticed my gaze behind him and my face fall and turned and saw it too. He shook his head and looked back at me. “Me too.”

We walked into our room exhausted as the sun came up. I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and freshen up. I was praying he wasn’t too tired and was thankful he wasn’t in bed yet. I pulled off my shirt and sat on the edge to find him staring at me in the dresser mirror. The look he gave me was heated, very similar to the one he gave me when he had me on that dresser gasping his name.

"It's not so bad is it, Nadine?"

"What?" I said breathlessly. I felt my sex twitch and was amazed at how quickly my body responded to him. My nipples were drawn tight, ready for him.

He turned around to face me as a small smile graced his lips. He knew exactly what he was doing. “Being courted. Well, aside from the near death experience."

"Is that what that was?” I said in my best southern accent, keeping his eyes on me as I stripped my clothing off piece by piece.

"Yes, and now finally as repayment you should do as you are told." He jumped on the bed as my body racked with laughter and his hands tortured me, making me jump and beg him to stop.

"So if another man decides to court me in the future, I’m to do what I’m told?" I said, still laying the southern on thick. His face hardened and he looked at me with his jaw set.

“I don't want to think about anyone else touching you, ever." He shook his head as if to rid himself of the thought. “I’m not a man who needs to be told what I want, Nadine. I just know. I have always known since I was young.” He reached up and lifted me further up the bed, cradling my head and adjusting us so he was between my legs. I let go of a sharp breath as he got closer to me and felt his sex so close to mine.

“And what I want is every inch of you covered in me. I want you to remember me.”

"Then touch me," I said with pleading eyes. His hands caressed me endlessly. I was mesmerized by his touch alone. He didn’t kiss me, he simply followed his hand with his eyes as he traced my skin with his fingers. He finally made his way down low and when I gasped as his fingers entered me, his beautiful eyes finally met mine.

“You will remember me.”

Two amazing and easily earned orgasms later and a plea for food and with no sleep, we ended up going for beignets at the famous Café Du Monde. It was torture waiting in a ridiculously long line for our fried donuts with powdered sugar, but we ate so many of them that when we returned to the hotel we settled into a deep sleep. Our peaceful slumber was interrupted a few hours later by the crew. We had to pack, it was time to go.

They all piled out of the room, giving us our space, making sure we stayed awake and packing. Spencer closed the door on Rory who was giving me a huge smile and I gave her one back. I looked to Spencer and wondered if he could see what I felt. He walked over to me and kissed me, turning me away from him and brushing his lips from my neck to my ear.

“Don’t. Don’t, it’s not over yet. Don’t.” He turned me to face him and I felt the sinking in my chest.

“This is why I don’t do this,” I whispered to him, touching my chest then his and back again.

“Right now I don’t blame you,” he said apologetically. “If I make love to you, will you forgive me?”

“I already won’t forgive you,” I said, sighing my submission as he pushed me back on the bed. He caressed me with his mouth starting at my ankle, kissing his way up my calf and thighs, placing a small kiss on top of my sex, and trailing his way up to my mouth. When he reached my lips he hovered and I brought my hands around his face, which was now covered in a stubble shadow.

“Spencer…” I felt the lump in my throat.

“Me too,” he said, surrounding me in a complete cloud. When we finally let go, we packed quickly, not having any idea how long we stayed in our room. They greeted us happily, as if they hadn’t seen us in years.

It had all been a mix of time from the beginning of our trip to New Orleans with the group to the fog I was under where only he and I had spent time here. Spencer was right, he had shown me two totally different worlds and I was already mourning the loss of one of them.

“You two look absolutely miserable,” Rory said as Spencer put our luggage in the back of the SUV.

“No… We’re good,” I said, fake smiling at Spencer who refused to return mine. He was feeling the same way I was. “We had a blast. Hell, we even met James Brown.”

Spencer burst out laughing and I gave him a wink. The rest of them looked between the both of us puzzled. He smiled at the ground as he closed the trunk.

We made it back to Pensacola in record time. Or maybe it only felt like that because Spencer and I were completely passed out. I caught him laughing at me between our ins and outs of getting comfortable sleeping. I caught him catching the drool coming out of my mouth. I swatted at him angrily as I settled back to sleep, not giving a damn how I looked. He kissed me sweetly as he lay down on the seat, curling me into his arms until our breathing matched. When we arrived in Pensacola, I stretched and gave Rory a smile.

“Tonight’s it, babe. Make it count.”

“Yeah, yeah, your happiness is getting irritating,” she muttered dryly.

“I thought you weren’t going to be that friend.”

“I lied,” she said, swatting my ass and grabbing her bags.

I had no idea what to do at that point. Do we say goodbye from here and go to our rooms? I grabbed my bag from the man who held it and heard him whisper, “Not yet.”

I looked into the sad brown eyes and nodded. I was on the verge of tears. This was ridiculous. I had to stop this now.

“Maybe it is time, Spencer. Maybe it should be.”

I saw him calculate what was going on in my head and he shook his adamantly. “No. No way, Nadine.” I didn’t want to argue.

We all went to our hotels and Rory and I took turns taking a much needed shower. I stood under the water, my body sore in places I never knew existed until this weekend. I smiled at the same time my eyes burned. Spencer had completely ruined me. Rory insisted I meet up with them for the farewell dinner, but I couldn’t do it. I promised I would catch up, just not now.

I left the room in case Spencer decided to look for me. I just needed a little time to get my head together and my new emotions in check. It was too painful. We were all leaving tomorrow and I was never, or would ever, be one for goodbyes. Not the kind I had to give Spencer. I knew seeing him again was inevitable, but I needed to think, without his all-consuming personality around me. He was like a force of nature, a damn wrecking ball. I laughed to myself as I walked the beach. I must have walked for miles and miles letting the waves soothe me. This is how I survived, this right here. This is what I needed. This is how I dealt with the world—alone.