Desire Read online

  Dear Billy,

  Would you have lunch with me on Monday? I have to show a client a house on 7th Street at noon and it’s not far from the Park Center where you are wrestling that night. Call me at my office 704-555-0055.

  Sincerely,

  Elizabeth Bryson

  PS… Daddy’s bark is a lot worse than his bite.

  ***

  “Billy, how are the Carolinas treating you?”

  So much for sneaking in all nice and quiet, William cornered Billy as soon as he got back to the dressing room. Not that he should have minded, seeing as it was an honor for the champ to acknowledge any of the undercard performers.

  “I can’t thank you enough for getting me in here.”

  “Good to hear. I’ve already told Crockett I want to work with you at TV.”

  “I’m honored, sir.”

  “After going an hour with Paul and a night with my favorite girl, I might not have much left in me when the cameras start rolling.”

  “I’ve never seen you not have the best match on the card.” Billy laughed. “And if you don’t mind my saying, that gal’s a knockout.”

  “Indeed she is. If it wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg, I’d leave Dinera for her in a heartbeat. Don’t ever get married just love them and leave them.”

  Who was Billy to doubt the man? So far William had been right about everything else.

  If it wasn’t for William he would be up in Alaska freezing his ass off right about now. Billy had worked his notice with the Houston office and was all set to take off on that boat when William put in the call to Mid Atlantic office. The champ had hung up that pay phone and came back to the car with a big old grin on his face to tell Billy he had a start date in the Carolinas.

  When Billy pulled up to drop him off at the entrance to the airport, William handed him a hundred dollar bill saying that ought to be enough to get settled in Charlotte. It was more money than Billy had ever seen in his whole life. He still had that bill folded up, hidden in his wallet behind his driver’s license. It was a lot easier to sleep at night knowing that money was there if he ever needed it.

  With everyone watching the action in the ring, Billy found a dark corner to sit and take in the title match. Paul and William locked up collar and elbow and Billy settled down to do some learning, because watching those two in the ring was the best schooling a man could get.

  They put on a hell of a match and had the crowd eating right out of their hands. Every time Paul got close to winning, William kicked out and turned things around. By the time the bell rang signaling an hour draw, Billy stood to cheer for both of them.

  Paul got on the stick and challenged William to put the title on the line next week with no time limit. The crowd got so still you could have heard a pin drop while they waited for William to agree to the rematch. When he said he’d do it, a deafening roar filled the arena.

  Both men came through the curtain to a round of back slapping congratulations. After the show they just put on all the boys knew the place would be packed next week and everyone would make more money off their rematch.

  “Billy,” William called him over. “Would you please walk my girl out to the car? I don’t like to leave her alone backstage.”

  There was no getting around having to follow William out to meet the stunning redhead.

  “Dess, this is Billy Dalton,” William said. “Billy, this is my paramour, Odessa.”

  She smiled and nodded, as if she didn’t speak a whole lot of English. When she took his arm a chill shot straight down Billy’s spine. He breathed in the heady scent of her expensive perfume and backed up a step.

  “I only bite those who find it pleasurable,” she said, with no trace of a foreign accent.

  The hunger in her green eyes made him doubt that statement. He couldn’t meet her gaze. There was just something about her that gave Billy the willies.

  As she slid into the backseat he noticed the charm dangling on a delicate silver chain at the peak of her pale breasts. A silver star surrounded by a circle. William’s wife always wore the same pendent. Except Dinera’s necklace glistened with a fortune worth of rubies.

  There had always been all kinds of talk about Dinera being a witch. Not like a mean old hag, but the kind of witch that does that hocus pocus magical stuff. Whatever this girl might be, he had a feeling that she could give Dinera more than a run for her money.

  Chapter 3

  “Just shut up and let me eat in peace,” Paul snapped at the little blonde hovering over their table. “If I wanted to be nagged, I’d have brought my wife.”

  “But Paul…”

  “Look, I went an hour in the ring and already got some at the arena. I don’t have anything left.” Paul cut into his steak and just like she wasn’t even there asked, “You wanna hit it?”

  Billy shook his head, keeping his eyes on his beer mug.

  “But… I drove all this way just to see you.”

  “Did I ask you to do that?”

  “No.”

  Just when Billy thought she was gonna start bawling right there in front of the whole restaurant Paul gave in. “Go on and get a room. I’ll call you after I finish my dinner.”

  As soon as she was gone, Paul called the waitress over to order another pitcher of beer, obviously in no hurry to get out of there.

  “Would you look at that?” He pointed his steak knife at William walking in the front door with his arm wrapped around that redhead. “He’s got some balls carrying on out in public with that slut. Six months ago she was waiting tables and begging me for it every time I turned around.”

  “She’s beautiful.”

  “So’s his wife,” Paul snorted. “Just wait until Dinera finds out and throws some of that voodoo shit at her.”

  “Do you believe all that witch stuff?”

  “All I know is he’s looking to get caught bringing her on the road.” Paul stabbed at his steak. “I carried his sorry ass for an hour and then have to listen to my favorite girl pitch a fit about her,” he jabbed his fork in the redhead’s direction, “getting to walk in with Will and sit in the back. It’s not like I don’t have Carol Ann comped everywhere she comes to see me.”

  “Here ya go.” The waitress sat another pitcher of beer on the table, “Compliments of Mr. Fletcher.” She topped off their mugs without a hint of foam. “I get off in about fifteen minutes. Can I get you guys anything else?”

  “You could come over to my room and keep me company for a while.” Paul pulled out his wallet and handed her a twenty. “Keep the change, doll.”

  Seeing that his tip was more than the cost of his meal, she flashed him a toothy smile. “What’s your room number?”

  “111 and I’ll be headed that way as soon as I finish my beer.”

  Paul watched her walk away with a satisfied smirk.

  “You mind giving me about an hour?”

  “No problem.” What else was Billy gonna say?

  “Why don’t you give Rita a call?”

  “Who?”

  “The whiny little blond waiting for me in her room. It’s under Rita Johnson, Jackson or something or other I know it starts with a J.”

  Paul gave the waitress his best working grin when she returned with two plates of pie.

  “It’s on the house.” She winked at Paul. “Merry Christmas.”

  “It’s gonna be when I get you naked.”

  “Get a load of that ass,” he said watching her backside. “That pretty little thing is why the wives are supposed to stay at home.” He waved a hand across the restaurant. “See anything you like, I’ll be glad to make the hookup for you.”

  Now that the beer and the waitress had gotten Paul in a better mood Billy decided to go for it. “Elizabeth is the only gal I’m interested in.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  “What would I have to do to get you to allow me to just take her out to lunch?”

  “Put that monkey suit back on and go out and get a high paying ni
ne to five job. My daughter’s not dating no wrestler.”

  “Maybe that’s what I’ll do.”

  “The hell it is.” Paul might have been talking at Billy but his eyes were fixed on that redhead with William. “Most of the boys would kill for your spot. If you stick with me you’ve got quite a future ahead of you. I don’t think you’d want to risk losing all that by putting the moves on Lizzie.”

  “I appreciate everything you’re doing for me but-”

  “Don’t go whining like that little girl.” Paul cut him off with a laugh. “Okay Billy, I’ll tell you what if you can go thirty days without banging a single rat, we’re talking not even a blow job, I’ll let you buy Lizzie lunch.”

  “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

  “Just so you know I’ve been with every pretty girl in this territory at least twice, including that one.” Paul pointed at the girl with William. “If you mess with any of them, don’t think I won’t hear about it.”

  With that said, they shook hands to seal the deal.

  “Nice of Will to buy a round considering he got paid at least three times what I did for our match.” Paul finished off his beer and stood to leave. “I hope he enjoys my leftovers.”

  Billy poured the last of the beer and sat back to mull over his options. Thirty days was doable. He could handle not getting any for a whole month to be able to see Lizzie without sneaking around behind her daddy’s back. He’d gone a whole lot longer than that between girls before he’d gotten to the Carolinas.

  No sooner had he worked up his resolve when Rita, Paul’s whiny little blond, plopped down on the other side of the booth.

  “Who did he leave with?” she demanded.

  Demanded might not have been the best description word with her snorting back tears between every other word. The way her lip was quivering, she looked younger than Lizzie. Paul being in his forties had no business messing around with a girl that young and dumb.

  “I thought he was headed off to call you.” Billy lied.

  “I drove all the way down from Virginia just to see him,” She used her sleeve to wipe at the tears sliding down her cheek. “My mama is going to be so mad when she gets home from work and sees I took the car.”

  “You shouldn’t be out running around on Christmas.” Billy handed her a napkin. “It probably none of my business, but ain’t you a little young to be out driving around by yourself?”

  “I’m nineteen and I’ve been seeing him over a year. Almost every time he’s in Lynchburg.”

  “There you are.” Elena swooped in to make the save, taking a seat beside of Billy.

  “Hi, I’m Elena.” She smiled at Rita and offered some tissue. “This is my roommate Katie.”

  “Pleasure to meet you.” Billy said to the blond.

  “Paul Bryson’s not worth crying over.” Katie put a comforting arm around the girl’s shoulder. “None of these wrestlers are for that matter.”

  “I didn’t even get to give him his Christmas present.”

  “Did he get you anything?”

  There went the waterworks again.

  “Now stop that.” Katie pulled at her arm. “Let’s get you to the ladies room to freshen up your makeup. When this place closes, a bunch of people are coming over to our room to continue the party and you’re both invited.”

  “She’s one to talk,” Elena said as soon as the girls were out of earshot. “In case you didn’t recognize her from the back of her head. That’s the girl we caught going down on Paul in the parking lot.”

  “I’ll be damned.”

  “You might be if you don’t go warn Paul that Carol Ann's outside. The guy at the front desk usually just gives her a key to his room and I know he took off with the waitress.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “This ain’t my first rodeo.” She laughed. “In about thirty minutes or so he’ll send that girl to tell you to come back to the room and probably offer you a shot with her while he’s in the shower. Carol Ann is the only one he don’t share.”

  “Okay, then what do you suggest I do?” Billy couldn’t help but admire the view down the front of her sweater. The girl was stacked and she didn’t mind showing it off.

  “You’re not doing me, unless you want to wait until you’re back next week.” She playfully smacked at his chin to get him to look at her face instead of her tits. “Wrong time of the month for that. But next time you’re in town.”

  “Thirty days from now you might have yourself a date,” Billy said, regretting it as soon as the words left his mouth.

  “What?”

  “I bet Paul I could go thirty days without screwing around. If I win the bet I get to take his daughter to lunch.”

  “Damn, she must be something special,” She looked down at his crotch. “Not even a blow job?”

  “Nope. I have to behave for thirty days.”

  “In that case, you’re not invited back to our room.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and lingered long enough for Billy to get another eyeful of cleavage. “We’ll handle the kid and I’ll see you in thirty-one days.”

  Just as the guilt was about to kick in good and hard William stopped by Billy’s table with that hotter than hell redhead draped over him tighter than a second skin.

  “I was going to save this for after our match but you look like you could use it now,” William reached into his overcoat and pulled out a giftwrapped box, placing it in front of Billy on the Formica tabletop.

  The redhead checked the Rolex on William’s wrist and cackled with laughter. “I’ve never known Paul to last this long with a woman.”

  “Now Dess, save the dirty talk for back in the room.” He possessively smacked her backside and she responded with a tongue flickering kiss.

  “Apparently Paul’s only a stud in the ring,” William laughed right along with her. “I'll be looking forward to working with you at the next TV.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Billy got another round of chills just watching that broad slither out the door in a skirt so short it left very little to any man’s imagination.

  ***

  When the restaurant closed Billy had no other option than to go outside and sit on the steps to wait for Paul to finish screwing his waitress. Of course it would start raining, blowing in chilly gusts of water under what little shelter the stoop provided.

  Next time he would have to remember to at least ask Paul for the car keys or remember to get a coat. Something he’d never had any need for back in Texas. At least he wasn’t freezing his nuts off on some boat in Alaska.

  To keep his mind off Elena and back on his resolve t win that bet he pulled out Lizzie's note and kept rereading it until a red Fiat Spider pulled up beside Paul’s big blue Cadillac.

  A woman who had to be Carol Ann rolled down the window and hollered, “Billy, come here and get in out of the rain.”

  He was about drenched, so he somehow wedged himself into the tiny car. It wasn’t the most comfortable fit, but at least he was dry. There was no way he could have gotten fresh with her if he had wanted to, seeing as he was crammed in like a sardine.

  Carol Ann wasn’t what Billy had expected her to be. She looked every bit of forty and he could tell from the dark circles around her eyes she’d done had herself a good cry.

  “I’ve been putting up with his crap for over twenty years and tonight is just the last straw. I’m too damn old for Paul Bryson’s constant drama.”

  Billy just kept his mouth shut and let her rant.

  “I’ve got a key to his room.” She waved it in front of him just in case Billy didn’t believe her. “I could just go barging in on them. Normally I don’t get off work in time to go to the shows so I just wait for him over here. The desk clerk knows me and all, but this Christmas crap has everything all backwards.”

  The hell with being polite - Billy screwed the top off the pint of Jack Daniels that William had given him and took a good chug. She surprised him by taking the bottle and downing a sh
ot of her own. Before he knew it they had that bottle empty and she was still talking his head off. Any woman who could down Jack straight out of the bottle was all right by Billy.

  “He told me he was going to leave her when Lizzie got grown. That girl finished college in May and he’s still married. I was such a fool to go on thinking he was going to finally be mine.”

  She fumbled through her wallet until she pulled out a photo and held it up to Billy.

  “You tell me, who does that kid look like? He doesn’t belong to my ex-husband. That child is Paul Bryson all over again.”

  Damn, if she wasn’t right. The teenage boy in that photo looked just like Paul. Same dark hair, brown eyes, and pearly white dimpled smile.

  “I ain’t no doctor, but I reckon that’s got to be Paul’s kid,”

  Wouldn’t you know, at that very moment, the door opened on room 111 and that waitress ran across the street towards the restaurant parking lot.

  Carol Ann dashed in the room before Billy could climb his way out of that little car of hers. He had about all he could stand of waiting out in the rain, so he followed behind her saying, “Just give me the damn car keys and a blanket and I’ll leave y’all alone.”

  Of course Paul would standing there butt naked with that photo in his hand looking for all the world like he’d seen a ghost. Paul had damn well know he had to be that kid’s father.

  Chapter 4

  “Elizabeth, can you type up these contract revisions stat?”

  Like he was some kind of doctor in the ER.

  “Sure thing, Mr. Kaplin.”

  The old goat dropped an overflowing folder onto the stack of paper already making a shaky tower on the side of Lizzie’s desk. To think she went to college for this. She had the same realtor’s license as the two names on the front door, yet it always seemed like she was the new kid stuck behind the desk typing up everyone else’s contracts.

  “Kaplin and Greenbrier Relators, this is Elizabeth. How may I help you?” She tucked the phone against her shoulder and kept right on typing. “Certainly, hold please… Mr. Greenbrier, call for you on line one.”