“Okay. Bye, oh, and have a nice day. Be safe out there.”
“You, too.” He winked as he opened her door, and she got inside. He closed it, stepped back a bit, and waited for her to start the car and then pull out of the parking lot.
As she headed onto the main road, she glanced into the rearview mirror and saw him watching her, smiling and then shaking his head as he headed toward his truck.
She couldn’t help but feel that giddy, exciting feeling in her belly. But she was surprised when her mind immediately went to thoughts of Rusty and Reece. That had been truly something special between the three of them, but more than likely, she would never see them again. She couldn’t hold out and not explore other attractions. Not when men like Tobin and Pat drew her in and aroused her body and senses just as strongly as Reece and Rusty had. What were the chances? Maybe this was God’s way of giving her another chance. Who knows, but no matter what, she was going to make sure she stayed sober and wound up in her own bed Sunday morning. She chuckled and then turned up the radio and made her way to work.
* * * *
“You promise that I won’t get caught? That however you pull this off I’ll get the money I need?” Bricker Daily asked Lenny when they met at the convenience store parking lot.
“We’ve worked this out before. You’ll be just fine. All bases are covered. Just sign the documents securing us as your insurance agents and confirming the policy is intact. Your verbal, promise to give us our cut is good enough, and it will be great.”
“And no one will get hurt, right? I don’t want any of my employees to get injured. I never thought the business would fail like this and I would have to resort to doing something this illegal. You’re certain the arson investigators won’t be able to figure shit out?”
Lenny gave a soft smile. “If you go down, and our guy goes down, so do we. And, keep in mind, we have major money invested in this company. We’d lose everything.”
“Okay. I’ll do it.” Bricker signed the contract. He handed it over to Lenny, and Lenny folded it up and then got down to business.
“You don’t say a word to anyone ever about this. Stop in the office today. I’ll have papers waiting for you to sign with our secretary, Brighid. She’ll get those into the system, and you give that down payment of the year’s insurance cost up-front. You’re already put you in the system as a client for the past three years. Martha, one of our new employees, won’t know the difference because she just started.”
“But I never paid anything. There isn’t a paper trail.”
“In the computer there is. When your account shows only this recent check and then bogus numbers for other checks, Martha will think it’s some sort of glitch on the system. She’s new. That’s why the opportunity is now. Don’t worry about an arson investigation. It’s not going to get that far. When they do an inquiry, if they feel it is a suspicious fire, it takes time, and they don’t look for the paper trail until later, but the computer files will cover that. I’m telling you that my guy is that good. No worries.”
Bricker ran his fingers through his hair.
“God, I don’t know about this. I’m a nervous wreck. I’ve got my kids to worry about and my wife.”
“That’s why we talked about this as an option. Another few months and you’ll be missing payment dates on bills and red-flagging yourself across the board. Right now you’re squeezing by. When this pay-off comes through, you can keep the gift shop open, expand it, or simply retire. Your choice. I need to get moving. Drop those papers and the check off today.”
“Okay. Later.”
As Lenny walked away, he thought about the payments and paper trail. He would log into Brighid’s computer and change some things. He could make up a few other check numbers and account information. She wouldn’t notice a thing and definitely not from three years ago up to the current payment Bricker handed in today since he would fall under Martha’s list of clients and Martha was new. Maybe getting this job would get Stark, as he liked to be called, off their asses. They would be rolling in a pretty big payoff. He needed to adjust those numbers and call Ray. This would work out just fine.
* * * *
Jenny, Anna, Carmella, and Natalie arrived around seven in the evening Friday night. They were raring to go and already talking about how good looking the men around the town were. They unpacked their bags spread out around the living room as Jenny called dibs on the bedroom.
They were on their second bottle of wine as they got ready and tried to decide where to go tonight.
“So tell us about this place we’re going tomorrow,” Carmella said.
“Tell us about the two sexy cops you met that you’re meeting there. You’re on a roll with landing some hotties,” Jenny teased.
“I am not.” She gave Jenny a scolding expression in warning. After all, Brighid was sworn to secrecy about Jenny’s one-night stand with some sexy cop, just as Jenny was sworn to secrecy about Brighid’s ménage encounter, although that was all they seemed to talk about lately. It seemed Jenny couldn’t get the cop she slept with off her mind, just like Brighid couldn’t stop thinking about the two firefighters.
She explained about how they’d met and talked about having some reservations.
“Why? They sound delicious, and you’re single, so what gives?” Anna asked her.
“I don’t know. It’s two men, a ménage. That’s crazy stuff.”
“Sounds sexy as damn hell to me. I wouldn’t mind grabbing a few firefighters or a few cops to take to bed,” Carmella stated, and they chuckled.
“You’re so full of crap. You’re completely shy, hardly even date, and never even had a one-night stand. You’re a goody-goody,” Natalie added.
Anna, Jenny, and Brighid laughed.
“Well, maybe she’s ready to live a little. Give her a break. Maybe she’ll meet some men tonight or tomorrow night at the Station, and have her fling and party weekend,” Jenny said.
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Anna raised her wine glass. They made a toast to having a good time and to their friendship.
“So what happens if you want to hook up with your two cop friends tomorrow Brighid? Are we kicked out of here, or will you go to their place?” Carmella asked and took a sip of wine.
Brighid felt her chest tighten, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep with them. Not tomorrow anyway. She felt guilty enough about sleeping with two amazing men she didn’t know and trying to process why she still felt compelled to think about them and to feel guilty. She didn’t need to sleep with another two men she hardly knew only because there was a strong attraction. Well, a very strong one.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to sleep with them. I don’t really know them.”
“Well, if you change your mind, give the most responsible woman and least drunk one the keys to this place, and we’ll kick back here until you return,” Natalie said to her.
“What about the doorman? He was kind of weird and asked all these questions like how long we were staying and where we came from,” Anna said.
“He’s harmless. He just likes to keep a secure building. He’ll let you in now that I introduced you. So what do you say? Go out and grab dinner and hit a hot spot or stay in, order food, and save all our energy for tomorrow night?” Brighid asked.
“Hell no, we’re here to party. I saw a sign on the way in for a place called the Boathouse Bar and Restaurant. Have you been there?” Carmella asked.
“Not yet.”
“There we go. Let’s get ready and head out,” Jenny said, and they all agreed and prepared for a fun-filled night like old times.
* * * *
“I’m telling you, Rusty, she is gorgeous. I mean really classy with long red hair and big green eyes, and she’s petite. We hit it off with her so well.” Pat took a slug from his beer bottle.
“Maybe it was just the whole saving-her-from-getting-run-over thing that has you two feeling this strongly about her,” Reece said, and he seemed annoyed with them.
“Hey, we listened to you guys talk about the woman you met, slept with, and felt that there was a strong connection to. Bri is special, I’m telling you. Even Tobin likes her,” Pat added.
Reece and Rusty looked at Tobin, who remained straight-faced.
“She’s shy and probably won’t even show up tonight. Her friends came in to join her last night, and they went out to the Boathouse and got back late. I wouldn’t get your hopes up, Pat,” Tobin said, sounding unsure.
Pat looked at his watch. It was nearly seven, and he was getting antsy. She was late. What if she didn’t show up? What should he do? Call her?
He took out his cell phone and saw that there weren’t any messages or missed calls.
Then they heard some laughter, and Pat looked up toward the front entryway near the bar and saw a group of women, all smiling and laughing, and he locked gazes with Bri.
Then Reece smacked Rusty’s stomach. “Holy shit. That’s her. That’s Brighid.”
They stood up.
“Which one?” Tobin asked.
“The redhead,” Reece said, and Pat saw Bri’s expression go from smiling to plain-out shocked as her eyes widened, she stopped walking and just gaped at them. She grabbed one friend’s arm, and her friend looked at her, then at them, and her mouth dropped open, too. Bri turned around and headed out the door.