Sarah's Private Dick Page 11

  Her phone rang again, interrupting her reverie.

  "I'm coming, I'm coming," she said into it and then hanging up, getting a little of her own back by not allowing Patricia to actually speak.

  Getting down the stairs was interesting. Her muscles started to loosen and feel a little more workable the more she moved. Well, the exterior ones at least. Her vagina felt like she might have broken it. Part of her thought that it would have been worth it, except that now she wanted more nights like last night. Where was Derrick? Going down the stairs she became aware of the smell of coffee intermixed with something that smelled sweet, like a bakery.

  When she opened the door Patricia gaped at her in shock.

  "What?"

  Patricia burst out laughing and Sarah felt like snarling at her. She considered slamming the door in her best friend's face, but Patricia managed to tamper her laughter down to giggles.

  "Have you looked in the mirror?" she asked.

  "What?" Turning Sarah headed over to the mirror on the wall next to the coat closet. When she got a good look at herself her jaw dropped immediately. No wonder Patricia was laughing at her. Not only was her hair a ridiculous, tousled disarray of a bird's nest, her t-shirt was on backwards, and her lips looked swollen. Probably from all the kissing. Despite her hair and the slight bags under her eyes she looked kind of... glowy. Side effect of multiple screaming orgasms perhaps? "Oh my God."

  "Do I smell muffins?" Patricia asked, heading towards the kitchen. Sarah scurried along behind her, not sure whether or not to hope Derrick was still in her house. The kitchen was empty except for a plate of freshly baked muffins on the counter, not entirely cooled, and a full coffee pot. Underneath the plate of muffins waved a piece of paper.

  If her vagina hadn't been broken Sarah would have been able to move more quickly, but as it was Patricia spotted the paper first anyway, having preceded Sarah into the room, and she pounced on it before Sarah could do anything. And being Patricia, she immediately began to read it out loud.

  Sarah,

  I had a wonderful time last night, you're an amazing woman. I'm sorry I had to leave so early, you were sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want to wake you up. Enjoy the muffins.

  ~D

  "And who, pray tell, is 'D'?" asked Patricia archly, grinning as she dangled the paper in front of Sarah, enjoying the blushing look of pleasure on her friend's face.

  "Give me that," said Sarah, grabbing the note. Quickly she tucked it into the pocket of her pants. "D is... hopefully not a mistake."

  "Is D the same tall, dark and studly that you had lunch with at the restaurant yesterday?"

  Sarah groaned. "You've been talking to Angela."

  "Honey, everyone's been talking to everyone."

  Even worse. Sarah turned and sat down at the kitchen table heavily, a lot of mixed emotions now running rampant through her body. It was a good thing that Derrick had left and Patricia was here, she had a lot she needed to think through, but she didn't want to be alone right now. Plus Patricia usually helped her think. Once she was done being annoying, anyway.

  With a sympathetic look Patricia took charge. "You stay right there honey, I'll get you the coffee and a muffin."

  Coffee... yes, coffee would help. The incredible thoughtfulness that Derrick had shown in leaving her coffee and breakfast before leaving was just dawning on Sarah. She truly wasn't quite awake yet. Part of her worried that he regretted last night, but then why would he take the time to make her coffee, much less muffins?

  Truly fresh muffins, she realized with a start as Patricia placed a plate in front of her. The blueberries were obviously the fresh ones she’d had in her fridge, not the tiny ones that came in a can with the mix. Wow. Amazing sex, explosive orgasm and he cooks. What on earth did he see in her?

  And would he hate her this morning, in the light of day when he had the chance to think about what she’d exposed him to last night? Her hormones had gone completely wild, his dark, muscular body and talented fingers and tongue wiping away all her resistance, but that really wasn’t an excuse. Sarah prided herself on her self-control, her intellect. What about Derrick had completely wiped out that part of her?

  “Earth to Sarah,” she heard her best friend say, and looked up to see Patricia watching her with concerned eyes. “What’s going on honey?”

  Sarah spilled. She cried a little again as she told Patricia about Martin’s infidelity, the graphic pictures. And was angry at herself for still feeling betrayed and hurt over that rather than outraged. Although it looked like Patricia was enraged enough for both of them, from the way her fingers gripped her coffee cup, until her knuckles went white. Quickly Sarah moved on to the much more enjoyable, and shaming parts of the night. The incredible sex, Derrick’s dinner, more incredible sex, and ended with her worry about what she had exposed him to. On one hand, she couldn’t regret it at all, and on the other hand she knew she’d regret it for the rest of her life if it ended up turning him away from her.

  “I don’t know why I didn’t stop him, I should have.”

  “He’s a grown man honey, he can make his own decisions,” said Patricia, but she looked a little worried. “The best thing we can do is get you in to be tested today.”

  “Right,” said Sarah. She rubbed at her face. “I need to go by the restaurant too. I don’t want Vincent around any of the women there anymore.”

  “What are you going to do?” Patricia asked. “Do you have the money to buy him out?”

  “Maybe… once Martin’s estate is settled.”

  Patricia pursed her lips. “You know, Lloyd has mentioned before that he wouldn’t mind owning a stake. Maybe not as much as much of a share as Vincent has, but we might be able to help you out. I’ll talk to him.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Sarah said, although she felt a rush of relief go through her at the idea that the restaurant wouldn’t be her complete and whole responsibility.

  “I said he‘d already mentioned it before,” Patricia reminded her, smiling. “It’s not an out of nowhere offer. I mean, it sort of it, but not out of nowhere for me. So what do you want to do first? Restaurant or clinic?”

  Sarah ended up calling the clinic and making an appointment for that afternoon, so they decided to go to the restaurant first.

  ********

  Derrick had felt unexpectedly reluctant to leave Sarah’s house that morning. He’d wanted to stay curled up next to her in bed, although he didn’t think she’d be up for another go around. Not that he should anyway. What had he been thinking? She needed to be tested. And now he did too. Although he would have needed to be tested anyway, after their first bout of incredible sex. Maybe that’s what he’d been thinking. Already exposed, might as well just keep on going and get the maximum of pleasure out of it.

  Yeah, real smart. It was pretty obvious which head had been doing the thinking last night. At the same time, he couldn't regret it. He might if he turned out to have something, but some goofy inner instinct kept telling him that everything would be okay. It was probably wishful thinking. Ignoring that little voice seemed like the best idea for the moment. Even if it had led to one of the best nights of his life. Sarah was like an addiction. He couldn't get the taste of her out of his mouth, the feel of her off of his skin, or the image of her out of his head. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to badly enough.

  But he had things to do. Underneath all those pictures had been an entirely new set of ledgers. He'd packed the pictures into an envelope and put them back in the drawer, tucking it under the desk so that Sarah didn't have to look at them unless she really wanted to, and then taken the ledgers with him. Hopefully these ledgers were for the missing money that Martin had been skimming.

  He'd called Nick and let him know he was on his way over.

  "Hey buddy," he said when Nick answered the door, thrusting the small stack of papers at him. Nick rolled his expressive dark brown eyes. Derrick's best friend looked like an accountant, although a ver
y in shape one. Tall and slightly gawky, he had a good amount of muscle from running constantly. Definitely not a body builder, his lanky and lean body was incredibly fit and he'd never had any trouble picking up girls who went for the geeky type. The two of them made an interesting looking pair, both so tall, but Derrick being much broader and dark as night where as Nick had lily-fair Irish skin that burned the second he stepped into the sun. Even though he wasn't a redhead he hadn't been able to escape the curse of the fair skin.

  And, being Derrick's best friend, Nick knew something was up the moment he looked at his friend. A man couldn't have a night of incredible, mind-blowing sex without it leaving behind a kind of glow. He raised his eyebrows at Derrick as he let him into the house.

  "What have you been doing?"

  Derrick realized that he had a rather goofy grin plastered on his face. One that wouldn't quit even when he tried to tone it down. "Ah. Gathering evidence." He nodded at the stack of papers that Nick was now holding. Nick eyed him suspiciously.

  "Gathering anything else while you were at it?"

  Although it was impossible to see a blush on Derrick's dark face, he could feel his mouth stretch even more. Damn smile gave him away completely. Not that he ever lied to Nick anyway. "Ah... maybe."

  "Not an immediate yes followed by a shrug? She must be special."

  Huh. Despite the many times Derrick had responded to Nick's question about a woman, he'd never noticed his automatic response before. Yes, Sarah was special. He didn't want to shrug her off. He wanted to go back and do it again, and again, and again... after a moment he realized that he was staring into space and now Nick was looking at him with his own loony grin.

  Letting out a low whistle, Nick laughed. "Oh, you've got it bad. Who is she?"

  This time Derrick did shrug, but in a defensive kind of way. "The client. Her name's Sarah."

  "You dog!" It was not said in a complimentary way, and Nick punched his shoulder. Hard. "She's a widow!

  "I know," Derrick said, backing up with his hands in the air. "It just kind of happened. I found a hidden drawer that those," he pointed at the papers as he backed away from his righteously indignant friend, "were in and it also had a bunch of pictures of her husband and several other woman. And then she just... kissed me."

  Nick stopped advancing, but he was still glaring. "What, so you threw her a bone? Pun intended."

  "No. Look... I like her. We had lunch yesterday, sort of by accident, when I went by to check out the office at the restaurant. I liked talking to her. And then we went back to her place so I could look through the home office again, and I found that stuff...." He ran his hand over the top of his bald head in frustration. "Look, it would have taken a saint not to respond when she kissed me like that. She's gorgeous. She wanted me. I made her dinner afterwards. And breakfast this morning."

  "THIS MORNING?!"

  Aw crap. That's what he got for babbling. Derrick spread his hands wide in front of him, shrugging helplessly. To his surprise, Nick burst out laughing.

  "Man have you got it bad. Well I guess I should tell Janie to cancel that dinner date tonight. Doubt she’ll be disappointed when she founds out why.”

  Shaking his head, Nick turned and headed towards the kitchen. Relieved that the third degree was over, Derrick followed. Was Nick right? How bad did he have it? Considering that part of him was already thinking about making another stop by her house today, for no other reason than to tell her that his friend was looking over the ledgers that he'd found, Derrick was sure that Nick was right. He had it pretty bad.

  ******

  With Patricia for moral support, Sarah arrived at the restaurant. She gave the manager on duty, Veronica, instructions to make sure Vincent stayed away from the staff and to tell him to call her. After visiting with the servers and the kitchen for about half an hour, just overseeing the general flow of the restaurant and talking to some of the regulars, Sarah was feeling much more relaxed. Also, still sore. While she couldn't move without thinking of Derrick, she was able to distract herself somewhat by immersing herself in the busy bustle of the lunch rush.

  A few of the servers came to her, as much as they did Veronica, with small issues and requesting that she stop by a table to say hello or reassure an anxious customer that their lunch would be out shortly. Patricia sat at the bar and had a Bloody Mary, talking with Linda who was tending bar that day, while she waited for Sarah. Being at the restaurant, involved in an actual shift, made Sarah feel a lot more confident about taking Vincent's share of the restaurant away from him. She still might sell it one day, if she ever found someone that she trusted, but for now she realized that she could handle being the owner. That she wanted to be just as involved as Martin. Well, not that she knew when he was actually working and when he was sleeping around with other women.

  For a moment she saw red, but she pushed it away. There was no reason to let him ruin her day today.

  After a couple of house she picked up Patricia from the bar and they headed out to the back, where they found Vincent smoking just outside the employee entrance.

  "Sarah," he said, by way of greeting with a lascivious smile on his face.

  What a pig. She got an iron grip on her emotions. "Vincent. I'm glad you're here." It was almost true. She was glad to be able to get this over with and glad that Patricia was here to back her up. "I'm going to have to say no to your offer to buy my portion of the restaurant. However I'd like to offer to buy out your share."

  "What?"

  Sarah fixed him with a glare. "I found the drawer with the pictures, Vincent," she said, her voice dripping contempt. The man suddenly looked terrified. Was he that scared about having his sex with prostitutes discovered? Or maybe it was the former employees. Sarah hadn't really looked through the picture. Were any of the girls under age? She quelled her stomach, which had heaved with that thought. "I don't think you're a suitable owner. Even if you don't sell me your share then I don't want you anywhere near the premises of this restaurant."

  For a moment Vincent looked confused. Then something shifty entered his eyes. "Fine. That's fine. You can buy my share. I'll have the attorney draw up the paperwork this afternoon."

  "Okay..." said Sarah, suddenly suspicious. She exchanged a glance with Patricia, who was frowning. Sending the paperwork to the attorney that they used for the restaurant was exactly what she had been going to suggest

  When they turned back, Vincent was scurrying off. Both of the women watched him hurry away, completely perplexed.

  Patricia turned to her friend. "I definitely missed something, what just happened?"

  *******

  The two women exchanged several theories that day, none of which seemed particularly realistic, as they waited for Sarah's turn at the doctor's office. Dr. Margolis not only took her blood, but he reassured her that Martin was regularly tested for STDs and had been clean as of his last test, last year. Trust Martin not to take care of his diet or exercise, but to make sure that he didn't catch gonorrhea. Obviously he hadn't realized which had been the greater threat to her life. It was a major relief to hear that Martin had at least taken care of that part of his health which would have affected her the most if he’d been having sex at the same time he was cheating on her.

  Was that why? Probably not the entire reason, considering that their sex life had completely stopped several years ago. But it made her feel a little better, to think that he might have been trying to protect her. After all, Martin wasn't really a bad guy. Finding out what she'd been missing all these years, that spark of attraction and chemistry, not to mention the phenomenal orgasm with Derrick, had made her slightly more sympathetic to Martin searching for sexual satisfaction outside of their marriage. Neither of them had been getting it. That didn't make her less mad at him, because he should have let her go so that she could find someone that she actually clicked with. Like Derrick. Rather than living like a roommate with her best friend when there was no real romance between them.

  "Do you wan
t to get away?" asked Patricia, breaking the silence in the car. "Go for a spa weekend or something? Maybe a trip to the beach for a week?"

  "I don't know," Sarah said slowly. "I'm not sure I can leave the restaurant right now." She made a face as she repeated Martin's phrase, but this time it was true.

  "Oh, right," Patricia said with a small laugh. "I'm so silly. Don't worry about it, you're absolutely right. I was just thinking that for your sanity it might be good to get away. But work is good too, and you'll be out of that house." She gave Sarah a sly look. "Plus, tall, dark and studly looks like he's done wonders for you already."

  "Oh hush," Sarah scolded.

  "No, seriously. You're glowing today. I mean, you're also walking funny, but you're glowing." Patricia laughed as Sarah smacked her on the arm, blushing furiously. It was probably true. She was very tender between her legs today, but in the best way possible. And knowing that Martin had been disease-free had taken a major weight off of her mind. Speaking of...

  "I should call him, shouldn't I?"

  "Aren't you too sore for that today?"

  "Patricia!" Sarah threw up her hands in exasperation at her friend as she chuckled without one iota of remorse. "I meant to tell him that Martin tested clean last year, so he doesn't have to worry about any STDs."

  "You should absolutely tell him, as soon as possible, so that he knows he can come over and do it again, and again, and again."

  "Hush," Sarah ordered, holding up her phone, indicating that she was going to call him. Patricia smirked and turned her attention back to the road. The phone rang twice before Derrick picked up.

  "Hello? Sarah?" The phone really did absolutely nothing to lessen the effect his deep, rich voice had on her. The bass reverberated down into her bones, and even though she was sore she could feel herself dampen a little bit just hearing it. The man was like an aphrodisiac.