The Truth of Yesterday (44 page)

     “That was my surprise?”

     “Well, it is a ball. I wanted it to be special and exciting.”

     “You kidnapped me to take me to a tux fitting.” I was struggling to keep a straight face. I wasn't upset, but revenge, as I may have noted before, is sweet.

     “I didn't kidnap you. Well, not exactly.”

     His expression was finally too much for me to take and I burst out laughing. It didn't take him long to realize what I'd been doing and he joined me in the laughter. The clerk just stood by looking even more befuddled.

     “If we could?” he asked after a moment. He whipped a tape measure from his pocket and unfurled it with a flourish. I had a feeling that he had practiced the maneuver.

     “Sorry,” I apologized. I submitted myself to the process of being measured from every possible angle, and after me, Micah. Then we looked through the tuxedos he had on hand and tried several of them on just to get an idea of the style. They would have to be altered to fit, but we finally decided on what we liked.

     We actually did end up eating dinner at the Chinese restaurant. For the record, I did not order moo
goo
gai
pan; I like spicier dishes. I order the double cooked sliced pork and Micah had the
Hunan
chicken. It was excellent.

     After dinner, we were off for DC. Micah had planned the whole trip so I didn't even know where we were staying after we went clubbing. I was pretty sure we weren't going to try to drive back that late at night though. Or early in the morning, depending on how you look at it.

     During the drive, I told Micah how I'd managed to get Neal's email address and phone number. He gave me a look of respect.

     “That was smart thinking,” he said. “I don't know if I would have thought of that and I knew about those chat rooms. I used to go there to drum up business when things got slow, too. Well, then tonight is all about us.”

     That sounded good to me. After being told by several people lately that I was too serious and didn't have enough fun, I was determined to just relax and enjoy myself tonight.

     “So what was all that about a surprise wedding?” he asked after a few minutes.

     “Oh, nothing,” I said. I was a little embarrassed that my mind had gone there straight away.

     “It had to come from somewhere,” he persisted.

     I sighed. It would be easier to just tell him than go through the third degree. “You know Will Keegan?” I asked him.

     “Yeah, he's a friend of yours right? He was involved in those murders about a year ago? I think we've met.”

     “Yeah, well, he was dating my cousin at the time, Aidan.”

     “The one who...?”

     “Yes. They stunned all their friends with a surprise wedding, planned by none other than Adam. None of us had any idea why we were invited over to their house, but when we arrived, everything was all set up and they were married.”

     
“Oh wow, how romantic...and tragic.”

     
“Yeah.
It was beautiful though.”

     “If Adam was in charge, I'm sure it was. And you thought that I was throwing you a surprise wedding?”

     “No! I mean...maybe. I didn't...”

     He laughed. “There was one big difference you should have seen right away. Aidan and Will wanted to get married. They were just surprising their guests. It would be a different thing all together to surprise on of the grooms!”

     I laughed too. “I didn't really think that was what was happening. It just went through my mind and I blurted it out before I could think.”

     “Well, you can relax. I don't plan on getting married,” he paused, and then added, “Yet.”

     We fell into silence as I thought about that yet and all its implication.

     Once in the capitol, Micah drove to a hotel. It wasn't quite as nice as the one we stayed in the last time we were here, but it was clean and it would be more than sufficient for the brief time we would be spending in it. We left our clothes in the room and took the Metro to the
Dupont
area. We browsed through some of the stores, the
HRC
headquarters, Lambda Rising Bookstore, and an odd little store that specialized in mystery books, among others. I even bought a Mercedes Lackey book that I hadn't read yet at Lambda. Another short
Metro
ride and we were at the Mall. We walked around the
Washington
Monument
, the moonlight shimmering beautifully in the reflecting pool. By then it was time to head on over to Michelangelo's.

     The club was just as packed as it had been the last time we were there. Bodies writhed and wriggled everywhere you looked, most of them male bodies, but not all. It was just as exhilarating as I remembered. I let the music sink into my body and allowed the beat to take over. We danced until I was completely exhausted, stopping only to drink the bottled water that Micah kept pushing on me.

     “I don't want you to dehydrate,” he yelled over the din.

     We left at three in the morning, tired, relaxed, and happy. We caught a cab back to the hotel, expensive at that time of night but the Metro had stopped running by then. When we got back to the hotel room, we both shed our clothes and collapsed into bed. I hope Micah didn't have any romantic intentions, because I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. Hey, it had been a long day! It had been a good day too. It felt good to be back with Micah and it seemed like things were beginning to go right for a change. I should have suspected that it was just the calm before the storm.

Chapter 19

     I woke up the next morning to find myself in Micah's arms for the second morning in a row. I found it was just as pleasant the second time around. I squirmed around until I was facing him and somehow he slept through my rearrangement. I watched him sleep for a few minutes, marveling that he was mine and that he wanted to be with me. Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer. I leaned forward and began to tickle his ear with my tongue.

     He twitched and rubbed his ear, but still didn't wake up, so I leaned in and tried it again. He jerked away and blinked, giving me a confused look for a moment. As his bleary eyes focused on me, I was rewarded with a huge smile.

     “Good morning,” I purred, pressing my body against his.

     “Waking up to you makes it a good morning,” he said. He trailed a hand lazily down my side, his fingertips barely grazing my skin, and I felt a chill snake its way deliciously through my body. “Am I mistaken,” he asked, “or did someone wake up a bit horny this morning?”

     “You must be mistaken,” I said with all the innocence I could manage with my obvious state of arousal sticking in his side.

     
“Really?
Then you won't mind if I go take a shower,” he said and started to get up. I grabbed and pulled him back down onto the bed.

     “You are not going anywhere, mister,” I growled.

     He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. “You fell asleep on me last night,” he said teasingly.

     “Well, I'm awake now,” I shot back. “Make the most of it while you can. If you don't do something soon I might just doze off again.”

     He flipped me onto my back with a devilish grin, then leaned forward slowly and brushed his lips across my stomach. It did a little somersault and I couldn't hold back a small gasp. “Oh, I think I can keep you awake,” he said in a husky voice. I didn't doubt him for a second.

* * *

     Adam was actually home when I pulled into the driveway later that day. Micah had dropped me off at the office a little earlier and I had decided to drive home for some more clothes before I went back to the bed and breakfast.

     “Well, Micah has made the big leagues,” Adam greeted me as I walked through the door. “I hope you're ready for the flack that going to come out of this.”

     “Huh?” I responded.

     
“His article.
Didn't you see it yet?”

     “No, we went to DC last night. We just got back.”

     He made a face. “He may wish he'd stayed there before this is over.”

     “Why? What's going on?” I asked, concerned at the tone of Adam's voice.

     “I think you'd better take a look at the article.” He walked into the living room and I trailed behind. He handed me the front-page section of the Sunday paper. “At least he made the front page.”

     I took the paper and read the main headline. “County Council Corruption,” it screamed in large, bold font, and under that, in smaller print, “Payoffs, Bribes, and Cover-ups Abound in
County
Government
.” I glanced at the byline and there was Micah's name.

     “I knew he was working on this,” I said. “Is it a big deal?”

     Adam snorted. “You'd better believe this is a big deal. He's stirring up a hornets nest and some of these hornets pack a mean sting. He'd better plan on laying low for the next few days. There are bound to be some people out for blood over this.”

     “Do you mean that literally or figuratively?” I asked.

     “I hope figuratively, but you never know. According to that article, some of these people were involved in illegal deals that are in the millions of dollars. They're not going to be very happy about losing those deals, which is probably the very least of what is about to happen to them. There will be official investigations, fines, and possibly even indictments. And we're talking about influential people in local government. You know better than anyone what happens when you mess with the good old boys club.”

     He was referring to my real father. He had been the State's Attorney in a neighboring county before an investigation into the mishandling of a murder investigation brought down his own little empire of corruption. In that case, the corruption wasn't as wide-spread as Micah's article made this out to look, and most of the blame landed squarely in my father's lap. He was currently serving a five year prison sentence.