Can't Get You Out Of My Head
Chapter 3
Elizabeth stepped out of the elevator, took two deep breaths, and turned to Sonny's penthouse door. She saw the guard on duty and sighed her relief.
"Hey Max, how you doin'?" She did her best impersonation of Joey Tribbiani from Friends.
He laughed, tried to mimic her exaggerated flirty tone. "Hey hey sexy thing. Ten times better now that you're here. Knowing there's a possibility that you're beautiful smile will make it up this way is the only thing that keeps me sane while guarding these crazy bastards."
"And I pray every time I hit that elevator that its you I'll be relieving of your boredom."
"I'll bet you say that to all of us big, strong, bodyguards." He fluttered his eyelashes.
"Actually no." Elizabeth turned serious. Well, at least as serious as she could be around Max. He was such a goof. "Marco's a bit young, still acts like one of those soldiers you see in England. You know, the ones that stand very still and can't talk." She imitated their stance. "And Johnny." She shook her head, shrugged. "Don't know what his deal is. He's never been as great as you, but he's even worse as of late."
"Well, as of late, you haven't been on Sonny's list of favorite people. And we all know Johnny's world revolves around Sonny."
He leaned in, whispered. "And I'm pretty sure he has a crush on Mrs. C."
"Nah uh!" She shrieked. "Did he say that?"
"No way. It's just little things I've noticed. Like whenever he helps her with her coat, he lets his hands linger a little too long on her shoulders. He mumbles a lot when she's around too. And then, oh my God, the other day Carly was bitching about losing one of her hair scrunchies and I swear I saw it sticking out of his pocket!"
"Oh my God." The thought was just.revolting! "I cannot believe that! Johnny? Oh man. Just disgusting."
She ran her hands through her hair, tried to get the thought of a crazy stalker Johnny out of her head. "So, on to a more pleasant subject. How's your life? Are you still with that rock star chick, Reese?"
"Nah. She was a bit too freaky for my tastes, into the vampire thing. So I'm flying solo again."
"Join the party." She laughed. "But we ought to be able to find you a girl. Oh." An idea came to her. "Now, I know you said no before because she'd just broken up with someone, but Penny's been single for about six months now." Her expression was trying to push him into saying yes.
"I don't know, Elizabeth. She's kind of young." And she was one of those people that are nice to everyone, so it was harder than hell to tell if they were interested. He was insecure enough.
"Oh, she's twenty-one. And you're what? Twenty-six? Twenty-seven?"
"Twenty-eight."
"See? That's only seven years difference. There were eight years between me and Jason, and I married Ric who's eleven years older than me!"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "And look how those relationships turned out. The first was too stupid to keep you, and the second, too crazy!"
She had to laugh. Only Max could make her think lightly of her horrible track record with men. "Point taken. I can't pick'em. But Penny's smart as a whip, and sane as.well, something that's really sane."
"Well, I'll take your view point into consideration. Thank you." He gave her a peck on the forehead. "However, not to get too serious on you here, but about Ric. I had a chance to get to know him pretty well when Sonny had me guarding him at the safe house. He's really not that bad of a guy."
"Max, he kidnapped a pregnant woman, planned to steal her baby, and give it to me." She tried to keep her voice light and easy, but her pain was seeping through. "Did you know he fed me birth control pills so I couldn't get pregnant? Even paid a doctor to tell me I couldn't have children so I'd want to adopt. Then, here's the kicker. He tried to smother me to death!"
"Well, I never said he was sane. Actually, a couple of seconds ago I said just the opposite." He ran a hand through her hair. "I'm just saying that everything he did, in his own way, he had good intentions. And he loves you. You can tell just by watching him when you're name is merely stated. Hell, I could tell he loved you back before it came out that he was Sonny's brother."
"What? No." She shook her head. "We hadn't even."
"I'm telling you what I saw!" He said firmly. "I remember seeing the two of you dancing at the Cellar one night. I think it was the night that Sonny and Jason had that big beef there. Well, I saw how much he loved you then, Elizabeth. And it's only grown."
She smiled. "What am I going to do with you? Always confusing me, but making me happy, too."
"Hey, what are ex-'guys that used to get paid to follow you around' for?" He winked at her. "Now, Mrs. Lansing, why don't you tell me the purpose of your visit here today."
"I need to talk to Carly."
"Eck. Stupid girl. It's always best to avoid the she-devil."
She laughed at that. "Even so, I do want to see how she's doing. Ric told me that Scott dropped the charges against him. Lack of evidence."
"Yeah, they weren't too happy about that."
"I just figured it was the polite thing to do; come over and try for civil."
"Civil? You and Carly?" He sighed. "Never in a million years. However, if you're going to start a fight, make sure to keep it calm. Sonny'd kill me if anything happened to her on my watch."
"I'll try."
Max knocked on the door. After a long minute, Carly answered.
"What is it, Max?"
"Mrs. Lansing to see you."
Carly looked over at her, sneered, then waved her in. On her way past, Max squeezed Elizabeth's shoulder, wished her a silent good luck. Then the door shut behind her, and she was alone with her enemy.
"Sonny isn't here if you planned on badgering him about Ric." Carly sat on the sofa, went back to flipping through channels. The best way to get rid of a pest, she thought, was to pay it as little attention as possible.
"I'm not here to see Sonny. I wanted to talk to you."
"Really? What about?"
Elizabeth bit her lip. She knew this game. Carly was ignoring her so she'd leave. But she had something to say, and she wasn't leaving until she was satisfied.
"I just want to say I'm sorry about what happened with Ric. About Scott dropping the charges. I know that must hurt, after everything he's done to you. I'm sorry."
Carly looked up at her now. "I figured you'd be happy that your husband is free."
"Carly, he tried to kill me, put me in the hospital, wanted me to believe I couldn't have children. I think he should have to pay for his crimes. Its terrible that he gets to walk because the state couldn't come up with more evidence."
"Evidence?" Carly smiled wickedly. She loved when Elizabeth walked into situations blind. "You think that's what the problem was?"
"Yeah. Lack of evidence. What other reason is there?"
"The reason is, Elizabeth, your psycho husband made a deal with Scott. They came up with a plan to say that I was having an affair with Ric. They said I went there voluntarily."
"What?"
"That's right. He's making me look like a whore and treating your marriage like its nothing. Its strange that everything he does winds up hurting us both."
"Carly, I'm sorry. I had no idea. That's terrible."
"Well, he'll get his." She went back to flipping channels.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Elizabeth asked, fearing the answer.
Another hateful smiled played on Carly's lips. "What? You think Sonny'd just let him get away with this?"
"So what are you saying? Sonny's planning to kill him.again?"
"Duh!"
"Oh my God." Elizabeth put her hand to her heart, tried to slow the beating. "You people are sick."
"Here she goes again." Carly muttered under her breath.
"Excuse me?"
"You're defending Ric again. It's the same story over and over Elizabeth." Carly looked up. "When are you going to learn?"
"No. I'm not defending anything Ric has done. I'm just saying you have no right to play God. Don't you understand how twisted you people are?" Elizabeth wanted to go on, but decided it was pointless. They never get it. "No. No. I'm not fighting with you, again."
Carly stood now, walked to Elizabeth as she started to the door. "Know you won't win?"
Elizabeth turned around. "No. I just know you're too far gone to understand how sick you are." She through her arms in the air. "God, haven't you ever heard of compassion? Human decency?"
"And what compassion, human decency did you're crazy, psychotic husband show me, huh?"
"You said it right there, Carly." Her voice was loud now. She knew Max would be enjoying the show. "He's psychotic, mentally ill. He doesn't deserve a Goddamn bullet through his skull. He needs counseling, help."
"Can you ever come here without starting a fight with my wife?"
She heard Sonny's voice behind her. She turned to him. "No. I didn't start this one. I tried to leave, but Carly started running her ignorant, uneducated mouth about my husband!"
"Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth. You're still defending that scum."
"Do I have to explain this again? I'm not defending what he's done. He's done terrible things to me, to you. But you're not God. You don't get to decide who lives and dies! You're not a judge, or a jury!"
"The judge and jury didn't come through on his one, Elizabeth. Someone has to make him pay."
"God. Who in the hell are you, of all people, to judge anybody? You kill people for a living, Sonny!" Elizabeth smiled, bitterly. "Oh, no, wait. You don't kill people. You send your brain dead, robot to do it for you. But either way, you cause other peoples death without blinking. And why? To make money! At least Ric has an excuse. He's sick, he's damaged. Ric needs therapy because he has been so screwed up. But you? You twisted, sadistic, sonofabitch. What is your fucking excuse?"
Elizabeth stormed to the door, threw it open. "You're too good, Max, to work for these sick, murderous bastards." She left, practically ran to the elevator.
"Close the door, Max." Sonny ordered.
Max did as he was told, before following Elizabeth. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, with an edge she regretted using on Max.
"What happened?"
"Nothing. It's fine. It's over."
"Hey." He lifted her chin, forced her to look into his eyes. She knew then that he wasn't going to let her go anywhere before explaining.
"Oh, fine." She rested her hands on her hips. "That stupid Barbie in there started going off about how Sonny was going to have Ric killed, and how stupid I was for standing up for him."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You stood up for him?"
"Well, not really." She leaned against the wall. "I don't defend anything he's done. He was wrong. It was sick. He committed horrible crimes, Max."
"I know he did."
"But that doesn't give Sonny, the almighty, the right to have him killed."
"I agree."
She sighed. "But its like talking to a brick wall with the two of them. They don't understand how sick their way of thinking is!"
"But that's the way the mob thinks. And Ric was stupid enough to get into this life."
She looked up at him, questioning. "So you think that Sonny should be allowed to have him killed? You agree with that?"
"No, of course not. I'm just saying that there's no way around that way of thinking for Ric. He messed with Sonny, and he knew Sonny was Sonny."
"God, he was so stupid." She hit the door to the elevator with the palm of her hand. "Why in the hell isn't this thing opening?"
Max reached around her and hit the down arrow. "Must not have pushed it right. It's temperamental."
"What's all of the noise out here?"
They both looked at Courtney standing in her doorway as the elevator opened.
"Oh, fuck off, Skipper!"
Max couldn't suppress a laugh as the elevator doors slid shut, and Elizabeth vanished.
~*~
Elizabeth threw the wet rag on the table, started to wipe it clean. Who in the hell do they think they are? They sit up there in their dark, dank, drab penthouses, presiding over Port Charles like they're Batman and co. But that's not them at all. They were like the Jokers, the Penguins, the Catwomen. Yeah, that's who Carly reminded her of: Catwoman. But not the gorgeous Michelle Pfeiffer version, the cartoon one from TV.
Disgusted with herself for letting her mind wander back to the four antagonists in her story, Elizabeth tossed her dishtowel back on the tray covered with dirty dishes and headed back to the counter.
Working the lunch rush had been good for her. It kept her busy thinking about the customers. But now all that was left was the tedious task of clearing tables and making coffee for the occasional regular. It allowed her mind to wander. She could think about Ric, and everyone else who thought it necessary to interfere in their life.
And even more, she had Emily to worry about.
When was this nightmare called Elizabeth Webber Lansing's Life going to end?
"Hey, Liz. Can you help me?" Georgie Jones asked, standing in front of the register confused. "I can't figure out how to open the register without doing a sale, but I forgot to grab the change for a customer."
"Yeah, sure." Elizabeth went to stand by the newest Kelly's employee. "You, um." She looked at the touch screen register and cringed. She didn't know why they needed to update their system when the old worked just fine. "Oh, you hit in your number, enter, no sale, then it asks you why. You just type in the comment box 'making change' or something like that."
Elizabeth waited until she was finished with her customer before speaking again. "Hey, Georgie. I just want to apologize for acting so crabby earlier. I had a really bad morning, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry."
Georgie smiled. "It's okay. I could tell there was something bothering you, so I just figured I'd leave you alone. But, I'm a really good listener if there's something you need to say."
"Thanks." Georgie was such a sweet girl. "Right now though, I'm not really sure what I'm thinking, but when I do and if I still need to talk, I might take you up on that."
Elizabeth went back to the dining area with a clean tray and starting clearing another table. When she was bent over wiping it down, she felt a strong arm wrap loosely around her waist, play seductively at the buckle of her jeans. The other arm came to rest a foot in front of her face holding a long, narrow, velvet box. She felt the warm breath on her neck and heard the low, husky voice in her ear.
"Surprise, Beautiful."
Her first instinct was to ease closer to his hard torso, let him surround her like his presence had her life. It would be so easy to surrender to the kisses that made their way from her neck, to her ear, her cheek.
But then everything came back to her. All of the lies, the tears, the heartaches.
So instead of falling under his spell yet again, she pulled away, turned, propelled her hand hard and fast across the smooth surface of Ric's face.
"Don't you ever touch me again!"
TBC
Chapter 3
Elizabeth stepped out of the elevator, took two deep breaths, and turned to Sonny's penthouse door. She saw the guard on duty and sighed her relief.
"Hey Max, how you doin'?" She did her best impersonation of Joey Tribbiani from Friends.
He laughed, tried to mimic her exaggerated flirty tone. "Hey hey sexy thing. Ten times better now that you're here. Knowing there's a possibility that you're beautiful smile will make it up this way is the only thing that keeps me sane while guarding these crazy bastards."
"And I pray every time I hit that elevator that its you I'll be relieving of your boredom."
"I'll bet you say that to all of us big, strong, bodyguards." He fluttered his eyelashes.
"Actually no." Elizabeth turned serious. Well, at least as serious as she could be around Max. He was such a goof. "Marco's a bit young, still acts like one of those soldiers you see in England. You know, the ones that stand very still and can't talk." She imitated their stance. "And Johnny." She shook her head, shrugged. "Don't know what his deal is. He's never been as great as you, but he's even worse as of late."
"Well, as of late, you haven't been on Sonny's list of favorite people. And we all know Johnny's world revolves around Sonny."
He leaned in, whispered. "And I'm pretty sure he has a crush on Mrs. C."
"Nah uh!" She shrieked. "Did he say that?"
"No way. It's just little things I've noticed. Like whenever he helps her with her coat, he lets his hands linger a little too long on her shoulders. He mumbles a lot when she's around too. And then, oh my God, the other day Carly was bitching about losing one of her hair scrunchies and I swear I saw it sticking out of his pocket!"
"Oh my God." The thought was just.revolting! "I cannot believe that! Johnny? Oh man. Just disgusting."
She ran her hands through her hair, tried to get the thought of a crazy stalker Johnny out of her head. "So, on to a more pleasant subject. How's your life? Are you still with that rock star chick, Reese?"
"Nah. She was a bit too freaky for my tastes, into the vampire thing. So I'm flying solo again."
"Join the party." She laughed. "But we ought to be able to find you a girl. Oh." An idea came to her. "Now, I know you said no before because she'd just broken up with someone, but Penny's been single for about six months now." Her expression was trying to push him into saying yes.
"I don't know, Elizabeth. She's kind of young." And she was one of those people that are nice to everyone, so it was harder than hell to tell if they were interested. He was insecure enough.
"Oh, she's twenty-one. And you're what? Twenty-six? Twenty-seven?"
"Twenty-eight."
"See? That's only seven years difference. There were eight years between me and Jason, and I married Ric who's eleven years older than me!"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "And look how those relationships turned out. The first was too stupid to keep you, and the second, too crazy!"
She had to laugh. Only Max could make her think lightly of her horrible track record with men. "Point taken. I can't pick'em. But Penny's smart as a whip, and sane as.well, something that's really sane."
"Well, I'll take your view point into consideration. Thank you." He gave her a peck on the forehead. "However, not to get too serious on you here, but about Ric. I had a chance to get to know him pretty well when Sonny had me guarding him at the safe house. He's really not that bad of a guy."
"Max, he kidnapped a pregnant woman, planned to steal her baby, and give it to me." She tried to keep her voice light and easy, but her pain was seeping through. "Did you know he fed me birth control pills so I couldn't get pregnant? Even paid a doctor to tell me I couldn't have children so I'd want to adopt. Then, here's the kicker. He tried to smother me to death!"
"Well, I never said he was sane. Actually, a couple of seconds ago I said just the opposite." He ran a hand through her hair. "I'm just saying that everything he did, in his own way, he had good intentions. And he loves you. You can tell just by watching him when you're name is merely stated. Hell, I could tell he loved you back before it came out that he was Sonny's brother."
"What? No." She shook her head. "We hadn't even."
"I'm telling you what I saw!" He said firmly. "I remember seeing the two of you dancing at the Cellar one night. I think it was the night that Sonny and Jason had that big beef there. Well, I saw how much he loved you then, Elizabeth. And it's only grown."
She smiled. "What am I going to do with you? Always confusing me, but making me happy, too."
"Hey, what are ex-'guys that used to get paid to follow you around' for?" He winked at her. "Now, Mrs. Lansing, why don't you tell me the purpose of your visit here today."
"I need to talk to Carly."
"Eck. Stupid girl. It's always best to avoid the she-devil."
She laughed at that. "Even so, I do want to see how she's doing. Ric told me that Scott dropped the charges against him. Lack of evidence."
"Yeah, they weren't too happy about that."
"I just figured it was the polite thing to do; come over and try for civil."
"Civil? You and Carly?" He sighed. "Never in a million years. However, if you're going to start a fight, make sure to keep it calm. Sonny'd kill me if anything happened to her on my watch."
"I'll try."
Max knocked on the door. After a long minute, Carly answered.
"What is it, Max?"
"Mrs. Lansing to see you."
Carly looked over at her, sneered, then waved her in. On her way past, Max squeezed Elizabeth's shoulder, wished her a silent good luck. Then the door shut behind her, and she was alone with her enemy.
"Sonny isn't here if you planned on badgering him about Ric." Carly sat on the sofa, went back to flipping through channels. The best way to get rid of a pest, she thought, was to pay it as little attention as possible.
"I'm not here to see Sonny. I wanted to talk to you."
"Really? What about?"
Elizabeth bit her lip. She knew this game. Carly was ignoring her so she'd leave. But she had something to say, and she wasn't leaving until she was satisfied.
"I just want to say I'm sorry about what happened with Ric. About Scott dropping the charges. I know that must hurt, after everything he's done to you. I'm sorry."
Carly looked up at her now. "I figured you'd be happy that your husband is free."
"Carly, he tried to kill me, put me in the hospital, wanted me to believe I couldn't have children. I think he should have to pay for his crimes. Its terrible that he gets to walk because the state couldn't come up with more evidence."
"Evidence?" Carly smiled wickedly. She loved when Elizabeth walked into situations blind. "You think that's what the problem was?"
"Yeah. Lack of evidence. What other reason is there?"
"The reason is, Elizabeth, your psycho husband made a deal with Scott. They came up with a plan to say that I was having an affair with Ric. They said I went there voluntarily."
"What?"
"That's right. He's making me look like a whore and treating your marriage like its nothing. Its strange that everything he does winds up hurting us both."
"Carly, I'm sorry. I had no idea. That's terrible."
"Well, he'll get his." She went back to flipping channels.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Elizabeth asked, fearing the answer.
Another hateful smiled played on Carly's lips. "What? You think Sonny'd just let him get away with this?"
"So what are you saying? Sonny's planning to kill him.again?"
"Duh!"
"Oh my God." Elizabeth put her hand to her heart, tried to slow the beating. "You people are sick."
"Here she goes again." Carly muttered under her breath.
"Excuse me?"
"You're defending Ric again. It's the same story over and over Elizabeth." Carly looked up. "When are you going to learn?"
"No. I'm not defending anything Ric has done. I'm just saying you have no right to play God. Don't you understand how twisted you people are?" Elizabeth wanted to go on, but decided it was pointless. They never get it. "No. No. I'm not fighting with you, again."
Carly stood now, walked to Elizabeth as she started to the door. "Know you won't win?"
Elizabeth turned around. "No. I just know you're too far gone to understand how sick you are." She through her arms in the air. "God, haven't you ever heard of compassion? Human decency?"
"And what compassion, human decency did you're crazy, psychotic husband show me, huh?"
"You said it right there, Carly." Her voice was loud now. She knew Max would be enjoying the show. "He's psychotic, mentally ill. He doesn't deserve a Goddamn bullet through his skull. He needs counseling, help."
"Can you ever come here without starting a fight with my wife?"
She heard Sonny's voice behind her. She turned to him. "No. I didn't start this one. I tried to leave, but Carly started running her ignorant, uneducated mouth about my husband!"
"Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth. You're still defending that scum."
"Do I have to explain this again? I'm not defending what he's done. He's done terrible things to me, to you. But you're not God. You don't get to decide who lives and dies! You're not a judge, or a jury!"
"The judge and jury didn't come through on his one, Elizabeth. Someone has to make him pay."
"God. Who in the hell are you, of all people, to judge anybody? You kill people for a living, Sonny!" Elizabeth smiled, bitterly. "Oh, no, wait. You don't kill people. You send your brain dead, robot to do it for you. But either way, you cause other peoples death without blinking. And why? To make money! At least Ric has an excuse. He's sick, he's damaged. Ric needs therapy because he has been so screwed up. But you? You twisted, sadistic, sonofabitch. What is your fucking excuse?"
Elizabeth stormed to the door, threw it open. "You're too good, Max, to work for these sick, murderous bastards." She left, practically ran to the elevator.
"Close the door, Max." Sonny ordered.
Max did as he was told, before following Elizabeth. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, with an edge she regretted using on Max.
"What happened?"
"Nothing. It's fine. It's over."
"Hey." He lifted her chin, forced her to look into his eyes. She knew then that he wasn't going to let her go anywhere before explaining.
"Oh, fine." She rested her hands on her hips. "That stupid Barbie in there started going off about how Sonny was going to have Ric killed, and how stupid I was for standing up for him."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You stood up for him?"
"Well, not really." She leaned against the wall. "I don't defend anything he's done. He was wrong. It was sick. He committed horrible crimes, Max."
"I know he did."
"But that doesn't give Sonny, the almighty, the right to have him killed."
"I agree."
She sighed. "But its like talking to a brick wall with the two of them. They don't understand how sick their way of thinking is!"
"But that's the way the mob thinks. And Ric was stupid enough to get into this life."
She looked up at him, questioning. "So you think that Sonny should be allowed to have him killed? You agree with that?"
"No, of course not. I'm just saying that there's no way around that way of thinking for Ric. He messed with Sonny, and he knew Sonny was Sonny."
"God, he was so stupid." She hit the door to the elevator with the palm of her hand. "Why in the hell isn't this thing opening?"
Max reached around her and hit the down arrow. "Must not have pushed it right. It's temperamental."
"What's all of the noise out here?"
They both looked at Courtney standing in her doorway as the elevator opened.
"Oh, fuck off, Skipper!"
Max couldn't suppress a laugh as the elevator doors slid shut, and Elizabeth vanished.
~*~
Elizabeth threw the wet rag on the table, started to wipe it clean. Who in the hell do they think they are? They sit up there in their dark, dank, drab penthouses, presiding over Port Charles like they're Batman and co. But that's not them at all. They were like the Jokers, the Penguins, the Catwomen. Yeah, that's who Carly reminded her of: Catwoman. But not the gorgeous Michelle Pfeiffer version, the cartoon one from TV.
Disgusted with herself for letting her mind wander back to the four antagonists in her story, Elizabeth tossed her dishtowel back on the tray covered with dirty dishes and headed back to the counter.
Working the lunch rush had been good for her. It kept her busy thinking about the customers. But now all that was left was the tedious task of clearing tables and making coffee for the occasional regular. It allowed her mind to wander. She could think about Ric, and everyone else who thought it necessary to interfere in their life.
And even more, she had Emily to worry about.
When was this nightmare called Elizabeth Webber Lansing's Life going to end?
"Hey, Liz. Can you help me?" Georgie Jones asked, standing in front of the register confused. "I can't figure out how to open the register without doing a sale, but I forgot to grab the change for a customer."
"Yeah, sure." Elizabeth went to stand by the newest Kelly's employee. "You, um." She looked at the touch screen register and cringed. She didn't know why they needed to update their system when the old worked just fine. "Oh, you hit in your number, enter, no sale, then it asks you why. You just type in the comment box 'making change' or something like that."
Elizabeth waited until she was finished with her customer before speaking again. "Hey, Georgie. I just want to apologize for acting so crabby earlier. I had a really bad morning, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry."
Georgie smiled. "It's okay. I could tell there was something bothering you, so I just figured I'd leave you alone. But, I'm a really good listener if there's something you need to say."
"Thanks." Georgie was such a sweet girl. "Right now though, I'm not really sure what I'm thinking, but when I do and if I still need to talk, I might take you up on that."
Elizabeth went back to the dining area with a clean tray and starting clearing another table. When she was bent over wiping it down, she felt a strong arm wrap loosely around her waist, play seductively at the buckle of her jeans. The other arm came to rest a foot in front of her face holding a long, narrow, velvet box. She felt the warm breath on her neck and heard the low, husky voice in her ear.
"Surprise, Beautiful."
Her first instinct was to ease closer to his hard torso, let him surround her like his presence had her life. It would be so easy to surrender to the kisses that made their way from her neck, to her ear, her cheek.
But then everything came back to her. All of the lies, the tears, the heartaches.
So instead of falling under his spell yet again, she pulled away, turned, propelled her hand hard and fast across the smooth surface of Ric's face.
"Don't you ever touch me again!"
TBC