A Certain Girl Read online

  “Yeah. Already told them I’ll be out at least another three days, maybe five.”

  “I worry about you when you’re not home.”

  “I worry about you, too, Ma’am.”

  “I can take care of myself,” she said.

  “But it’s my job to take care of you.” He knew he was close to pouting and really didn’t care.

  “You are taking care of me,” she gently said. “You’re hard at work. I don’t want you working yourself to death, though.”

  “You know what I mean. I’m not there taking care of you.”

  Eliza got the dogs called in and gave them their cookies before she headed for the bedroom with the tablet. “I don’t want to say good-night yet, sweetie, but you need to go to bed.” She sat on their bed, propping the tablet on his side of the bed before she stretched out on hers, on her side, facing him.

  He missed her so much it made his heart ache in bad, bad ways. “Aren’t you going to get undressed?”

  She smiled. “Not until after we say good-night and I sign off. You’re not exactly in a naked-friendly place, honey. No show for you tonight.”

  He grumbled but realized, no, he didn’t want anyone else seeing her like that. “Love you.”

  “I love you, too, Rus. Please think about doing something when you’re back in your room.” He shrugged, which he damn well knew she understood, because she sighed. “You’re stubborn.”

  “Sorry, Ma’am.”

  “Wasn’t meaning you needed to apologize.” She reached out toward the screen, and he couldn’t help but do the same. “Go on and go to bed. Sweet dreams.”

  “I’ll dream about you.”

  “I’ll dream about you, too. Love you.”

  “Love you, too, Ma’am.”

  Eliza was nearly always the one to end their calls, because he couldn’t bear to. Especially when he’d been away from her for so long. Once she was gone, he closed the tablet cover and sat back, rubbing at his eyes after removing his earbuds. After settling his tab, he trudged back to the hotel, weary through to his core.

  Sure, he’d take a hot shower and collapse in bed, but sleep wouldn’t be soon in coming.

  Not because of all the coffee he’d consumed, but because he was alone. He never slept well without Eliza in bed with him.

  She helped keep the worst of his nightmares away.

  Chapter Two

  “So what do you think?”

  Eliza realized Cali had been speaking directly to her. “Huh? Sorry.”

  “What do you think of the idea?”

  Eliza sat back and rubbed at her eyes. “Sorry, my mind drifted. I’m not at my best today. Run it past me again, please.”

  “Having Sean and Rusty gimped out in T-rex mode at the next critters night we hold at the club. One of them in the office, one out in the dungeon, complete with some sort of bondage or rope harnesses and wearing DM name tags.”

  Loren snorted. “I think it’s fucking hysterical.”

  “I’m good with that,” Eliza said. “When is it, again?”

  “Three weeks.”

  Eliza did a few mental calculations. “Rus will be home by then. He’s a tentative yes. I don’t like to plan too much for him right after one of these trips. I need to evaluate how he’s doing when he gets back. He might need a few weekends of down-time.”

  June seemed to be studying her through narrowed eyes. “Are you all right, honey?”

  This was their nearly weekly girls’ morning out late brunch. This Thursday, their group was comprised of Eliza, Cali, June, Loren, and Leah. The attendees varied from week to week, depending on who was available. Sometimes Essie and Marcia joined them, sometimes Shayla did, as well. And a few others. Tilly was too busy to make them lately, unfortunately.

  “Not sleeping well with Rus gone,” Eliza admitted. “And I’m worried about him.”

  “Worried how?” Leah asked.

  “He doesn’t do well on these long trips. I mean, he handles his work part okay, but he gets to where he can barely sleep toward the end. This trip will be almost four weeks long by the time he finally makes it home.”

  Cali sucked in a sharp breath. “Yikes. Sorry. Where is he?”

  “Europe. Frankfurt, Germany, but he also has stops in Brussels, London, and Paris. No downtime for him at all. A couple of conferences, and a lot of meetings with clients who needed face-time with him for various reasons.”

  Cali smirked. “I still can’t believe he’s a doctor.”

  June playfully backhanded Eliza’s shoulder. “I can’t believe you don’t dress him out in a suit and tie for more of the private parties. He’s an even hotter hottie then.”

  “Am I stupid? Like I want to keep fighting women off him every damn time I turn around.” But Eliza wore her own smile. She knew she had no worries about her sweet barbarian. She totally owned Rusty’s heart. Three decades together, and there wasn’t an ounce of worry in her mind about his fidelity.

  It was other women making him uncomfortable with advances that she worried about. For his part, Rus would usually retreat immediately to Eliza’s side, afraid to hurt feelings or accidentally encourage behavior. More than once Eliza had to step in a little more than in a friendly way, both at munches and at the club, when subby women tried to glom onto him.

  Once he was in pet mode it wasn’t an issue, because then it was obvious he was not the Top in their dynamic.

  But the man looked fucking hot in a suit.

  Cali nodded. “I feel you there. Max and Sean look pretty damn good dressed up, too.” Her eyes widened. “Oooh! Suit Night for a theme!” She grabbed her phone and started typing on it.

  June smiled and shook her head. “Annnd there’s the tax-deductible ‘work-related meeting’ designation we needed to write this meal off.” Her husband, Scrye, was an accountant.

  “Damn right,” Cali muttered. “I’m picking up the tab today, by the way.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Leah said.

  “I want to. You guys have been incredible helping out at Venture. Marcia told me to do it.”

  Cali was now their official volunteer coordinator. Since everyone who helped out at Venture was a volunteer, including owners Marcia and Derrick, they tried to give the volunteers a few perks when they could.

  Especially now, with Kel and Mal, co-owners of the club with Marcia and Derrick, currently unable to volunteer due to some personal issues they were dealing with. Volunteers were keeping them going.

  “Are we lacking for theme nights?” Leah asked.

  “Yeah. I hate recycling the same ones over and over again. Pirates, Ren Fair, Steampunk, Leather and Lace, Critters, Littles—and the holidays, of course.” She stared at a list on her phone.

  “Vikings?” Eliza suggested. “The show’s pretty popular. And there’s Ron’s group. Plus, Ev’s part of all of that.”

  “True.” Cali tapped the entry into her phone. “That’s a good idea.”

  Eliza was trying to think of more for her when her own cell rang, the screen reading Kailey.

  Since they were in a corner booth, and Eliza would have had to make at least two people move in either direction to get out, she opted to take the call right there. “Hey, honey. What’s up?”

  “Can Dad come help us move this weekend? I tried calling his phone, but it went to voice mail. I kinda need to know now, before I ask anyone else.”

  A wide range of emotions washed through Eliza all at once, but her years spent teaching in the county school system had helped her hone her poker voice. “You’re moving this weekend?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why did you say ‘us’?”

  “Could you ask him if he’s available?”

  “Don’t think I don’t see you changing the subject. Dad’s still out of town for a couple of weeks, over in Europe for work. He’s not getting regular calls or texts, only through the Signal app.”

  “Oh, shoot. I was thinking that trip was next month. I thought when you said he wa
s out of town you meant he’d be back this weekend.”

  Eliza bypassed mom-voice and went straight-up Domme. “Answer my question, young lady.”

  Kailey sighed. “Gerald and I are moving in together. His roommate is flaking, and Jareh’s boyfriend wants to move in with her. We found an apartment and can move this weekend.”

  Eliza was well aware of all her friends having fallen silent around the table, and were now watching and listening to her.

  She didn’t care.

  “You sure that’s a good idea?”

  “Mom, I know you don’t like him, but—”

  “I never said I didn’t like him.”

  “You nearly dislocated his shoulder!”

  “Nearly dislocating his shoulder isn’t not-liking him. That’s sending a warning shot over his freaking bow not to break my little girl’s heart or I’ll break his freaking neck. And to answer your question, I’ll come up and help. When are you moving?”

  “Um, that’s okay, Mom. We can—”

  “When. Are. You. Moving?”

  Kailey audibly sighed. “We’re starting Saturday morning at eight,” she mumbled.

  “Now tell me what the hell happened between now and when we talked on Tuesday.” She didn’t care if her friends all heard this.

  “His roommate lost yet another job, and doesn’t have the money for his share of the expenses this month. He told Gerald yesterday. We went looking at apartments and found a nice one really close to campus that we can easily afford together. Jareh’s boyfriend, Leon, has been wanting to move in with her for a while, so this works out perfectly.”

  “I thought you and Gerald weren’t quite that serious yet?”

  “We…” Kailey sighed. “Yes, we’re having sex, and have been, okay? No, we’re not getting married yet. Yes, he knows if he gets me pregnant that they’ll never find his body. That’s why we’re using doubly-redundant multiple forms of birth control. I’m not missing the Olympics. And I’m getting my degree before I even think about marriage. He knows I might never want to get married, and he’s okay with that.”

  On the one hand, Eliza wanted to drive up to Gainesville that afternoon and kill the guy.

  On the other, she remembered her own youth, and how she once swore she’d never get married.

  Rusty had been willing to wait.

  Even if it took her years.

  Still together thirty years later, they had a strong, unbreakable bond.

  How her parents had supported them.

  “I’ll come up Saturday to help you move, and—” June interrupted her by waving her hand. “Hold on, honey.”

  “I’ll drive up with you. We can take Mark’s truck. He can’t come because his back’s acting up, though.”

  If Gerald thought she was scary, June would put the fear of very old gods they didn’t even have names for anymore into the kid. “June said she’ll come with me and we can drive Mark’s truck.”

  “Really?” That was a snarky tone.

  “Yeah—June. You know June. Aunt June and Uncle Mark.” Silence met that. “Hello?”

  “Yes, Mom, I know who Aunt June is. You mean the friend you have who’s even fricking scarier than you.”

  Eliza chuckled. “The one and the same, honey.”

  * * * *

  As Eliza drove home later from the brunch, she wasn’t sure how to break the news about Kailey’s move to Rusty. He’d probably insist on doing something stupid, like flying home to keep her from killing Gerald.

  Actually, Eliza was looking forward to Gerald meeting June. The tiny woman was terrifying.

  Sure, it was overkill, but Eliza didn’t like to leave anything to chance. Especially when it came to their daughter.

  Maybe it would be better not to say anything to Rus yet.

  She hated playing the Ma’am card in a situation like this, because anything to do with Kailey was one of the few situations where Rusty would roll out with tanks and machine guns to handle it. Versus her sweet knight and barbarian, who’d defer to her over nearly everything else if she pushed him just a little.

  No, she wouldn’t kill Gerald, or even severely injure him. The mindfuck she could put the guy through after their first encounter meant he was already terrified of her.

  That was good enough.

  For now.

  At home, Eliza had to do the eager bullydog two-step around Boo and Chica to reach the alarm keypad without getting slimed by the two enthusiastic bulldog girls. Then she took them out for walkies before taking a look at the house to see what needed doing.

  Note to self—call Rebecca to dog-sit for me Saturday.

  It was weird rattling around here all by herself. She didn’t like the potential preview it gave her of one day in the future.

  Didn’t like to think about the morning Rusty’s mom died, in the very room that was now their bedroom.

  Didn’t like to remember the haunted, lost, childlike tone in Rusty’s voice when he’d called her house that morning—a call he later admitted he didn’t even remember making. The thousand-yard stare he’d worn through the next couple of days, until she’d managed to get time alone with him and bring him back to her.

  Her sweet, loving husband.

  If Kailey and Gerald felt even a fraction as much love and devotion toward each other as she and Rus felt for each other, then they likely would make it for life.

  She would never want to deny her daughter the happiness they’d had.

  But it never hurt to stack the deck with a little insurance. A lesser man would be scared off instead of riding out the storms.

  Better to find that out now.

  Maybe I should ask Scrye to take June’s gun away from her.

  Eliza hadn’t needed a gun to exact the revenge she’d taken against the monster in Rusty’s past.

  And now that man would literally spend eternity mixed with used cat litter.

  Apropos, considering the man had been a piece of shit.

  Both she and Rusty had been extraordinarily vigilant during Kailey’s childhood, carefully screening people who would have alone time with her, including the parents of her friends. She never went to a sleepover that Rusty hadn’t first paid for a full background check on the people and they’d both gotten to know them well first.

  They’d also made sure Kailey could protect herself, hence their family involvement in LARPing, Ren Fair, martial arts—all those things that meant Kailey was nearly as lethal a weapon as her mother.

  Not to mention the long talks they’d had with her, sometimes uncomfortable talks, but ones to ensure their daughter knew what was right and what was wrong, that she could always say no to someone, and that adults could be predators, even when other people liked and trusted them.

  Eliza had just changed into shorts and a T-shirt when her phone rang with an incoming Signal call a little after one.

  Rusty. He used the app when traveling overseas because he could call over Wi-Fi and not need another phone.

  Smiling, she settled on the couch. “Hey, barbarian.”

  “Hello, Ma’am.”

  She frowned. “What’s wrong?” He sounded…off.

  “I’m tired and I miss you.”

  That sealed it—she’d wait until after the fact to tell Rus about the latest update regarding Kailey and Gerald. “Are you going to go to bed at a decent hour tonight?”

  “Yeah. I don’t have anything else going on this evening. I grabbed take-out. Now I’m going to pig out and hopefully eat myself into a carb coma.”

  “You naked?”

  He tiredly laughed. “Yes, Ma’am. Being forced to wear clothes all the time is the second-worst part of this damn trip.”

  My poor guy. He really was happiest running around the house naked and taking care of her.

  Not that she minded the view in the slightest.

  “I just got home a little bit ago. All the girls say hi, and they miss you.”

  “Hi back.” She heard him let out a soft grunt and imagined him settlin
g on his bed. “I miss the gang.”

  “Yeah, well, I plan on hogging you for several days when you get home. Not sure if we’ll make it out to Venture that weekend or not. Already reminded Axel gaming’s off that Tuesday, and had Cali take us off the volunteer schedule.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am.” She heard the sound of him opening something, followed by his voice sounding like he had a mouthful of food. “My first couple of days home, I just want to move between the bed and the couch and back to bed, with stops by the bathroom and shower.”

  “We’ll take care of that for you, sweetie. Whatcha eating?”

  “Schweineschnitzel, Spätzle, and Schwäbischer Kartoffelsalat.”

  She laughed. “How many pounds have you gained?”

  “I think I’ve lost two or three. I take the stairs whenever I can, and usually walk to my appointments, unless it’s just too far.”

  “Your German’s sounding a little better than last time.”

  “Should be. I’ve had three meetings in German so far because they forgot to send translators, and their English was worse than my German. I warned Darby my third day here to contact everyone and remind them to make sure they arrange for translators if their reps can’t speak English fluently. Problem is finding qualified translators who will also sign NDAs.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetie.” She could envision him sprawled on the bed, the takeout carton propped on his chest while he shoveled the potato salad, pasta, and crunchy fried, breaded pork into his mouth.

  God, I wish I was there with him.

  At least the carb-heavy dinner would probably knock him out.

  “You going to let me talk you into rubbing one out tonight?” she teased.

  “No, I think I just want to stuff my face and collapse. Sorry, Ma’am.”

  “Honey, you don’t owe me an apology.” Yep, the info about Kailey could wait. She’d also text Kailey and make sure she kept it to herself, for now. Including keeping it off Facebook.

  Rus had enough on his plate to deal with.

  Eliza found her phone charger and plugged it in while they talked, knowing he was going to drain her phone at this rate. She was happy to listen to him eat while they chatted, her eyes closed as she pictured his sweet green eyes.