Deadly Proposal(21)
“That’s the plan.”
“You might want to try and get some sleep,” Finn said. “Mandy is going to figure out something is up. She might be distracted and blurry from the medication for a few days, but that won’t last.”
“I’m hoping the nightmares go away now that she’s home,” James said.
“And if they don’t?”
“I’ll figure it out.”
Grady and Finn exchanged dubious looks. They were both worried that the opposite was closer to the truth.
“I’M NOT sure I understand,” James said. “The mobster is considered a hero?”
Mandy and James were lounging on the couch, James arranging pillows under her lower back to shift her into the most comfortable position he could manage. He was sitting at the opposite end of the couch giving her a foot rub while they watched General Hospital.
“He’s not really considered a hero,” Mandy countered. “He’s just the lead.”
“But he’s a mobster,” James said. “How do all these women keep falling for him if he’s a mobster?”
“I think it’s the dimples.”
“Ah.”
“Plus, I don’t think he’s a very good mobster,” Mandy added. “He doesn’t appear to run drugs or stolen merchandise. They keep talking about shipments – but I have no idea what’s in the shipments.”
“And that’s his kid?”
“Yeah, Dante.”
“And he’s a cop?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s a cop with a mobster for a father?”
“Yep.”
“And he’s married to the daughter of a rapist?”
“Yep.”
“This makes absolutely no sense.”
“It’s a soap opera. It’s not supposed to make sense.”
“Why doesn’t the chief of police just arrest the mobsters?” James asked. He was really getting into the soap. To be more accurate, he was getting into tearing the soap apart.
“They make her act stupid so the mobsters don’t go to prison,” Mandy explained.
“But she’s your favorite character?”
“Her and her daughter, Robin, yes.”
“And Robin unfroze a bunch of super villains and is now being held hostage while her husband sleeps with the brunette with the big … smile.”
Mandy laughed. “Yes. The brunette with the big smile has pretty much slept with everyone in town.”
James kept his eyes glued on the television as he shifted to Mandy’s other foot. “I think I would be a good mobster.”
“You just want to sleep with all the women he’s slept with,” Mandy countered.
“I’m fine with my lone woman,” James teased. “I just want to own a restaurant and a coffee business. I think that sounds fun.”
“You would.”
Once the closing credits of the soap started to roll, James shifted out from under Mandy’s feet. “Do you want something to eat?”
“I’m not really hungry.”
“You didn’t eat much last night either.”
“The medication upsets my stomach,” Mandy said.
“And your back hurts too much to throw up,” James finished. “I get it.”
“Hopefully it will be better in a couple of days.”
“Yeah, because you can’t afford to lose any weight,” James said. “You barely weigh anything now.”
“That’s not what you said when you were carrying me up the stairs yesterday.”
“That wasn’t because you were too heavy,” James said. “That was because it was just an awkward position.”
“We’ve had sex in that position,” Mandy reminded him.
“Not when you couldn’t move your back,” James replied. “Although, I’m not ruling out that position in the future.”
Mandy snorted. “Honey, you won’t rule out any position.”
“This is true.”
“You know, just because I can’t eat, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t,” Mandy said, looking him up and down. “You look tired.”
“We both look tired,” James said. “It’s been a tiresome couple of days. I’ll be fine.”
Mandy bit her lower lip, her mind clearly busy as she regarded the man leaning against the kitchen counter with conflicted blue eyes.
“What?” James asked.
“I’m worried about you” Mandy admitted.
“You’re worried about me? I’m not the one who was injured,” James said. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not sleeping. I know you’re not.”
James sighed. He was wondering when this would come up. “I’m just hyper-vigilant right now,” James said. “It will pass.”