― Milan Kundera
Lipstick On Wine Glass
It's not every day I'm seduced by a beautiful police detective...and I resist and send her away.
It's insane.
It's not like I'm some stud or she's desperate—I mean, she can literally have her choice of men and I'm under no delusions about my own non-existent male mystique—I don't have any.
This whole business with Malachi Bane and Great North Corp is driving everyone mad. Maggie is supposed to be investigating Bane, not doing his bidding by tempting me to have an affair with her.
I can only think the demons Bane conjures up somehow managed to use Maggie as an unwitting tool to distract us both from the real purpose—to stop Bane from using the company to influence powerful politicians and control the government.
The whole thing was making me distraught. I needed to calm my mind so I could make a plan to deal with this.
I took a sip from the chilled wine Maggie poured and suddenly, an overwhelming desire for her was ignited in me.
I must have picked up her glass by mistake and could taste the berry lipstick from her kiss on my lips again.
Arghh! I groaned, how could I have been so stupid as to let her in the door when I was all alone?
Breton was right—I’m just too damn vulnerable to fight these demons by myself. I need help.
My mind immediately went to Breton but almost as quickly I dismissed the notion. Breton told me to get out of Dodge, but I can’t leave Andie alone to fight the demons by herself.
Besides, she needs time to find a buyer for her house and to close out whatever real estate deals she was working on.
I know her and she won’t leave her clients high and dry, and I don’t blame her.
But staying in Middleton leaves us both open to attack. And I’m not sure Maggie and Noah will be much help now that Maggie has been compromised.
It crossed my mind to tell Andie about Maggie’s attempted seduction, but then I thoght better and decided that would cause other problems.
I’m a big boy and I can say no—I already did, and though it would be nice to leave town that wasn’t an option.
If Andie’s right about The Watchers then we are already protected—it will just be troubling having to contend with Maggie’s amorous intentions.
I just have to avoid beng alone with her. I think I can manage that.
In the meanwhile, I’ll have to let Bane know I’m leaving town and heading back to Toronto. I’m not sure I’ll still have a job at Great North, but if I have to find other employment, that’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.
I glanced out the window and saw a huge storm front moving in from the south—the sky looked green and ominous.
I checked the time—almost five. Andie should be home any minute.
I knew she’d be tired and hungry so I ordered in Italian food and cleaned up, being especially careful to clean the wine glasses and dispose of the bottle.
One storm on the way was enough—I had no intention of contributing to another.
At that moment my cell pinged—it was a weather bulletin for a tornado watch.
The sky grew darker and rain splattered the window. I anxiously scanned the road for Andie’s car.