Always in my Heart (The Subzero Series, #2) (7 page)

Me – Just like your inability to seriously answer a question.

Tyler – Hey! You told me that was all a part of my boyish charm!

Me – Don’t you have drums to tap?

Tyler – As soon as you stop harassing me...wear the prettiest frock you own.

At exactly five o’clock, I am dressed in a black eyelet dress with a white belted bow and black heels, waiting anxiously for Tyler to get home. I sit down on the couch and flip through a magazine while I’m waiting. Ten minutes later, I hear the door open and close and I see a flash of blue as Tyler runs past me yelling “Sorry I’m late! I have to change my trousers!” 

I’m still trying to figure out what just happened when he reappears wearing black slacks, a grey button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a black vest.

“You look beautiful,” He says as I stand up. “Maybe we should stay home instead. We can call for Chinese takeaway and I can ravish you until you can’t stand it anymore.”

“Hmmm...that sounds tempting but we can do that any night.”

Tyler places his hand on the small of my back. “Well, my lovely, I hope you are prepared for an evening of good food, refreshing spirits and possibly dessert so delectable you will want to be sick.”

“Sounds romantic.”

“Terribly.”

~*~

T
yler groans as he wipes his mouth with a white linen napkin. “Now that is what I call a top notch steak. Best I’ve ever had.”

He raises two fingers to get the waiters attention.

“We’ll take the check please my good man.” He says as the waiter appears at the side of our table.

“But of course.” The waiter replies.

I scrunch my nose. I never really know what to expect from Tyler. He’s like a cross between a frat boy – well, if there are any frat boys with tattoos and blue hair – and a proper gentleman. One minute he’s challenging people to back flip competitions off of roofs and into pools and the next minute he’s grocery shopping for our elderly neighbor. That’s one thing I love about him. He’s impulsive and compassionate and he acts like he doesn’t care what people think about him but really he does care...a lot.

Tyler signs his receipt and slips his credit card back into his wallet. His fingers slid across the table and he picks up my hand, drawing it up to his lips for a tender kiss.

“Are you ready for something totally amazing?”

“Always.”

He doesn’t let go of my hand as we stand up and he leads me out of the dining room. I start to walk towards the exit but he pulls me towards the coat check window.

“What are you doing? We didn’t check anything.” I whisper.

“Just trust me.” He whispers back.

We walk up to the coat check window where a bored looking attendant is standing, flipping through a magazine..

“Name?” She asks.

“Hemingway.” Tyler responds confidently, as if that really were his name.

The attendant’s eyes flicker to the right. We move over as she discretely glances around.

She walks over and pulls back the burgundy colored curtain. Tyler walks through, pulling me behind him quickly. He leads me down a stone hallway that is lit by a few dim sconces hanging on the wall. We walk towards the end of the hallway, which looks like it is just a dead end, but there is a narrow staircase off to the left that is hidden so well, you could walk right by it if you weren’t looking for it.

As we walk down the staircase and come to a plain metal door, I start wondering if Tyler is just goofing around. I keep thinking we are going to open up the door and find ourselves outside in an alley. I certainly didn’t expect to walk through that door and find myself transported back to the prohibition era.

The walls are covered in striped burgundy wallpaper and maple trim. Portraits of people dressed in clothes straight out of the roaring twenties are displayed through the room. Crystal chandeliers are lit just enough to provide a romantic ambiance. Leather couches and wingback chairs are placed throughout the room and give it a feeling of exclusivity. There are poker and black jack tables in the back and the band on the small stage is playing the amazing sounds of Clarence Williams, Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy Dorsey and Jelly Roll Morton.

I turn to look at Tyler with wide eyes. “Is this supposed to be like a speakeasy?”

Tyler grins. “Pretty ace isn’t it?”

“Completely ace! How on earth did you find out about this place?”

“Why do you look so shocked like I am some sort of uncultured buffoon?”

I give him a look.

“Don’t comment. Our manager, Collin, told me about this place. I thought you might like it.”

“You thought right.” I say as I move along with the sounds of the music.

We find a vacant antique brown leather tufted sofa and sit down. Tyler puts his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him.

“Hey there Mac,” A waitress dressed up like a flapper sets a plate of canapés down on the table in front of us. “Can I get a little giggle juice for you and your dame?”

“Two manhattans please.”

“Coming right up.” She turns and walks off, the delicate fringe on her dress swinging as she does.

Tyler picks up a canapé and holds it out in front of my mouth. I lean in to take a bite and, as I do, our eyes lock. He puts the other half of the canapé back down onto the plate. His hands dive into my hair as he brings my face to his, crushing his lips to mine. His kisses are hungry and passionate, like he can’t get enough of them.

“Hey, yous two,” a bartender calls out; his accent has a New York gangster sound to it, sort of like Lucky Luciano’s. “No hanky panky in my establishment. Yous wanna neck, you save it for the struggle buggy, capiche?”

“Oh Sal, quit being such a wet blanket,” another bartender says. “You’d be doing the same thing if you had a pretty little tomato like that.”

“But I don’t, hence the reason I don’t wanna see it,” Sal glances over to me and winks. “You ever decide to tell this poor sap to beat it, you come see me. Ya got that doll face?”

“I’ll keep that in mind but this one here,” I turn back to Tyler. “He’s a keeper.”

“Ain’t yous two sweet. Hey Corinne, those two drinks are on me.”

“You got it Sal.” Corinne says as she places our drinks down in front of us.

We pick up our glasses and clink them together. I take a sip, closing my eyes as the smoky taste of whisky slides down my throat. Tyler reaches over and trails his fingertips up and down my bare arms.

“We have to go...now.” Tyler says as I take the last sip of my drink.

“Is everything okay?” I ask.

“Yes everything is fine but Sal here says no hanky panky and I’m slowly losing the ability to sit here without
touching
you.”

I laugh as Tyler jumps up and grabs my hand, pulling me to my feet.

“Bye Sal.” I call out as we walk past him.

“Goodnight Doll face. Yous two come back ya hear? Yous are welcome at my juice joint anytime.”

~*~

W
e barely make it inside the door to our apartment when Tyler pushes me up against the wall and crushes his lips to mine. He reaches his hand behind my back and in one quick movement he unzips my dress and pushes it to the floor. I grab the bottom of his vest and pull it over his head, discarding it onto the floor with my dress. My fingers quickly move to unbutton his shirt, which he shrugs off as I reach the last button. As I undo his belt buckle, he reaches down to push his pants to the ground.

Tyler’s hands dive into my hair, pulling my face up towards his as he kisses, nibbles and sucks on my lips. Reaching my hands up, I thrust my fingers into his hair as he dots kisses along my jaw, up towards my ear and bites his way down my neck.

His hands slowly move down the side of my body, gripping onto my hips as he moves his body closer to mine. He picks me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. I kiss and nibble on his neck as he turns and starts walking us down the hallway toward our bedroom.

He lays me down on the bed and slowly moves up my body, placing soft kisses along my belly, my breasts and my neck. His hands slide along the curves of my body. He pushes my arms above my head, his fingertips traveling slowly up them and when he reaches my hands, he clasps them tightly in his. His mouth finds mine and his tongue slips quickly inside as we begin kissing each other with burning desire.

Tyler moves away from me long enough to remove his boxers and slide my lace panties down my legs; He tosses them aside and climbs back on top of me. I caress his back slowly with my fingertips and I feel his body shiver underneath my touch. His hands grip my hips as he slides inside of me. I bite my lip as he rocks slowly in and out of me. My back arches, pushing my body even closer to his as a quiet moan escapes my lips.

Grabbing on to my thighs, Tyler brings my legs up wrapping them around his waist and I wrap my arms around him in anticipation of what he is going to do next. In one swift movement, Tyler rolls us so that I am on top of him. Without breaking rhythm, he places one hand on the mattress, keeping the other one planted firmly on my hip, and moves himself so that he is sitting underneath me. His hands roam up my back and into my hair. He gathers my hair into one of his hands and gently tugs on it, pulling my head back and exposing my neck to him. Leaning in, he alternates between kissing and lightly sucking on my neck. My arms wrap around his shoulders and I run my fingernails up and down his back, just enough to make him shiver beneath my touch. Tyler finds that spot right below my ear that drives me wild and nibbles at it and it throws me over the edge.

“Tyler.” I gasp.

He wraps his arms around my waist pulling my body tightly to his. My hands dive into his hair as I press my lips to his, sliding my tongue into his mouth. My body starts to quiver as feelings of ecstasy explode through me, right to my core. Within seconds, his breathing picks up as he joins me.

We sit there, wrapped up in each other, for a few minutes as we try to catch our breath. I climb off of him and we move to lie down on the bed facing each other. Tyler reaches his hand out and begins to caress my hair. It feels so relaxing that, within moments, I feel my eyelids start to droop and I barely have a chance to tell him I love him again before I fall asleep.

––––––––

“H
ey...hey...blue haired guy...”

I turn around, confused, trying to figure out who is calling out to me. At first I don’t see anyone but then I notice a stocky man hiding on the side of Jack’s truck. I walk closer, making sure to keep a little bit of a distance between me and him.

“Can I help you?” I ask.

He straightens up and takes a couple steps towards me. He glances around nervously and runs a hand through his short brown hair.

“Do you, ah, do you know Cath Healy?” He asks.

“Yeeeees.”  I reply cautiously.

“Is she here?”

“How do you know Cath?” I ask.

“We’ve...known each other for a long time.” He replies.

“How?” I ask.

“We used to be friends.”

I cock my head to the side and raise an eyebrow. I don’t see it. Cath is all tattoos and pink hair and she’s just...cool. This guy is...boring.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “But you don’t seem like someone she would hang out with.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” A pained look crosses his face as though I may have offended him.

“I don’t mean anything by it. You just...never mind.”

“I just what?”

“It’s nothing, anyway, I don’t know if Cath is in there or not. I haven’t been in myself yet.”

“Well...can I walk in there with you?”

I shake my head. “No, sorry.”

“Why not?” He demands.

“Because I don’t know you. How do I know you really used to be friends with Cath?”

He chews on his lip, his brow furrowed, looking deep in thought. Suddenly, his face brightens up a bit.

“She has a tattoo of an anchor on her right side!” He says excitedly, obviously proud that he has this information.

I shrug my shoulder. “Yeah, I haven’t seen her with her shirt off so I honestly have no idea if she really has an anchor tattoo or not.”

He shifts nervously from one foot to the other. There’s something odd about him. He’s acting a bit off, but there’s something else that I can’t quite put my finger on.

“I just want to talk to her really quickly...to say hi.”

“Look, I have to go in there now. If Cath is in there, I’ll let her know you’re here and if she wants to talk to you, she’ll come out.”

The guy nods and moves back to crouch down on the side of Jack’s truck. I stare at him for a moment, trying to figure out what his deal is, but give up and walk inside, shaking my head.

“Good Morning Clara.” I call out to the reception.

“Good Morning Mr. McDermott.” She says back.

I cringe. I have asked her at least a dozen times to call me Tyler but she insists on calling everyone by their last names. I don’t really like it. It makes me feel...old. It also makes me feel like I am more important around this place than I actually am, which I guess isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I don’t really want to be important though, I just want to be the drummer of an amazing rock band.

“Is everyone in yet?”

Clara nods. “I think they went up to the cafeteria for some coffee.”

I take the steps two at a time up to the second floor where the cafeteria is.

“Hey Cath,” I say as I walk in. “There’s some guy outside asking for you.”

She furrows her brows. “What guy?”

“Don’t know his name, he didn’t say and I didn’t ask. He seems to be a bit nervous to me...sort of odd too.”

Cath sets her cup down and an odd expression crosses her face. “What does he look like?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know. Average height, I guess, stocky build, dark hair, and a very unfortunate receding hair line.”

She looks at Ann and Marie and at the same time they all say “Jesse.”

“So you do know him? You guys are friends?”

“No, we are not friends.” Cath says sternly. “We were sort of friends once, years ago, but we aren’t friends anymore. He’s not supposed to be here. He’s not supposed to be following me at all and he manages to show up everywhere we are.”