Chapter 3

Gina gathered up her clothes, tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe that he'd done that to her, although she realised belatedly that she should have known better. Ramsey was cold, calculating – a natural bastard and with all his usual powerful, moneyed connections he really had no need to have someone like her. To Ramsey, she was little more than a personal servant paid to do his work and now apparently his own personal whore.

She took a final look at the man on the bed and rushed from the bedroom, closing the door behind her so that she could dress in privacy. As Ramsey heard the doors to the penthouse elevator swish closed, he got up and still naked he padded into the living room, took the video from the recorder and returned to the bedroom. He re-inserted it into the player on the dresser and turned on the television set as he lounged back on the bed. As the recording of his sexual encounter with his secretary unfolded before his eyes, his hand went down to his stiffening cock and he massaged himself with a practiced hand, timing his climax to the one recorded on the screen. As he lay gasping with a smile on his face, he realised that this was just the start.

Gina stood in the small car of the elevator, tears streaming down her face. She could never remember feeling so dirty or cheap and she longed to bathe and brush her teeth to rid herself of the memory of her boss on her body and in her mouth. Dave would never have treated her that way she knew and she found herself longing for his gentle caring touch and his soft New York brogue whispering in her ear. As she reached the pool car parked by the small garage door Gina's tears were flowing unchecked. Dave would never have hurt her. There must have been some innocent explanation for him talking to that girl and leaving with her. There must have been. This night couldn't get any worse and she heaped blame upon blame on herself as she got into the car and drove herself back to her apartment,

She slept that night although it was a restless and dream filled sleep where Ramsey morphed into Starsky who turned into a complete stranger and she slept with each of them in turn. By the morning she felt physically ill and toyed with the idea of ringing in sick to work. She could hardly bear to think of being in the same room as Ramsey and the memory of him forcing her down onto his waiting shaft left her shivering in despair.

As she got into the shower for the second time in four hours, she tried to scrub that dirty memory from her body, her mind jumping through mental hoops as she tried to decide what to do. She'd never cheated on a boyfriend before and certainly not one as special as Dave Starsky and she wondered if there was any way to salvage the situation. She was pretty sure that he hadn't seen her at the disco otherwise she was sure he would have come over to her to see why she was back.

So maybe she should just say nothing. If Starsky didn't meet Ramsey, then maybe nothing else would ever come of that horrible mistake of a night. And she was sure that she'd never make that same mistake again. Ramsey's betrayal of her was almost more than she could bear and his treatment of her made her feel cheap. As she stepped out of the shower and reached for the towel, the telephone rang.

Starsky spent the night berating himself for arguing with his girl. She was such a sweet, honest and uncomplicated woman that for the first time in a long time he felt he could relax with her and maybe even settle down with her for good. So why did he feel so uncertain and jealous about her having to work odd hours? It wasn't as though he had a regular nine to five job himself, so why did he expect Gina to be there every time he needed her? No. he'd convinced himself that he was being completely unfair to the girl and so as soon as he thought it was civilised to do so, he picked up the phone and dialled her number, waiting as the phone rang with some trepidation. It picked up on the fourth ring and before she could say anything he leaped right in.

'Gina, honey. It's me. I'm real sorry. I was an idiot. I should never have yelled at ya.'

The woman's heart leapt and then plummeted. She wasn't ready for an encounter with her man. The night was too raw and new and she needed to get her head in order before she could talk to him properly. But there again she was eternally grateful to him for phoning her and a loving warmth ran through her body as she thought of her tender man.

'It doesn't matter. It was a silly argument. It should be me apologising to you' she said quietly, realising that it wasn't just the argument she needed to apologise for. She willed herself to be careful and keep it neutral. What he didn't know couldn't possibly hurt him.

Starsky heard the control in her voice and misinterpreted it, thinking she was still angry at him. And who could blame her, he thought. He'd been a possessive asshole and she had every right to be mad at him. He swallowed. 'Will you forgive me?' he asked.

Gina felt a tear prickle in the corner of her eye and she wiped it away. 'S'ok. Don't talk about it any more. What's done is done.'

'Can I see you? Tonight?' Starsky asked a little too eagerly and felt as though he'd been punched in the stomach when there was a slight hesitation on the other end of the phone.

'Um….sure. of course.'

The brunet smiled to himself. Wonderful girl. 'I'll come over and pick you up at yours at about 8? If you aint workin'?'

'No. No I'm not working' she told him. '8 will be fine. Where are we going?'

'A nice little Chinese restaurant I found. You'll love it. I just wanted to make it up to ya.'

She sighed, feeling guiltier by the minute. 'You have nothing to make up to me Dave. Don't do anything special. Maybe we could do Italian?'

Starsky snorted. 'No Chinese is fine. I have an allergy to Italian restaurants. I'll tell you about it some time. See you tonight honey.' He put the telephone down and grinned to himself. The call had gone better than he thought and he felt happy and relieved that he hadn't lost her through his hot temper.

Across town, Gina too put down the telephone and tried to calm herself. She felt awful for being dishonest with Dave, but more than anything else, she promised herself she'd keep what had gone on between her and her boss from Starsky for ever. If she was careful, he need never know and she would be more careful and more caring in future. If nothing else, this stupid incident had proved to her that she loved David Starsky above all others.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Starsky put down the telephone and sighed. What a fantastic girl she was and what an asshole he'd been to be jealous of her working. She was smart and intelligent and so not the sort of girl he usually dated. And yet she made him feel confident and comfortable and he loved every second he was with her. And the sex? Oh my God the sex was fantastic – earth shattering even. In that department he knew he'd never had anyone like her. He didn't know whether it was because she from a different background, or whether they taught eclectic subjects at the Swiss finishing school she told him she'd attended, but she was absolutely amazing.

He finished getting himself dressed. He dressed carefully since his near death experience at the hands of James Gunther. Partly that care came from the fact that he was stiffer than he cared to let on first thing in a morning. The fifth bullet, the one that had ripped through his upper left chest and nicked his heart had taken out muscle as well as flesh and some bone and it had been that single shot more than all the others that had caused him the most problems. His left arm had remained almost lifeless for some time after the shooting and he'd sweated blood and tears in getting his dominant hand and arm to work again. Not even Hutch saw how painful it was on occasions, but the brunet knew that so long as he could hold his Smith and Wesson unwaveringly steady and shoot four golds out of five on the range, he was still in shape to watch his blond partner's back.

The other reason he dressed carefully these days was because of Gina's influence. Although he still favoured his jeans and tee shirts, she'd steered him towards fitted, designer jeans that skimmed his hips and hugged his butt to perfection and encouraged him to top them with polo shirts or Ben Sherman button down shirts open at the collar. Today he chose a pair of black Levis and a white cotton shirt, the sleeves folded up neatly to just below his elbow. With dark blue trainers, his holster and his jacket, he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Gone was the old, scraped and worn leather bomber jacket. It had been consigned to the trash can after Gunther's trial. It held too many painful memories of the police garage and Hutch's terrified entreaties to hang in here and in any event who'd want a jacket with 5 holes in it anyway?

It had been replaced some time ago by a soft, fitted black leather jacket that matched well enough with most pairs of his jeans and now he settled it in place, snagged the keys to his car and skipped down the stairs from his apartment. Ten minutes later he was outside Hutch's place, honking on the horn impatiently while he waited for the flaxen haired cop to put in an appearance. Hutch emerged a minute later, his fingers to his lips and as he got into the car he shushed his buddy.

'Keep it down will ya? Sarah's still sleepin' and I don't want to wake her.'

'Late night?' Starsky asked, turning the car and heading down town. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively

'Yeah, but not how you think' the blond muttered grumpily.

'No? No hot sex after the beach?'

'No, more like hot temper. We had one doozy of an argument and she kicked me out of my own bed. I slept on the sofa all night. And when I say slept I mean that in the loosest sense of the word. I just hope she sleeps it off this mornin.'

'Well at least you had company.'

Hutch looked sideways at his partner. 'Gina didn't come back huh?'

'Nope. That Ramsey guy has her wrapped round his little finger an' we were kinda into an argument last night ourselves. But then I got to seein' reason and I um…..called her an' apologised first thing this mornin'.'

'Wow, you did? Starsk I have to tell ya. I'm impressed. It's not like you to admit you're wrong.'

'What's that s'posed to mean?' the brunet snapped.

'Nothin' Hutch smiled innocently and lapsed into silence for a few minutes.

'What was it about? Your argument?' Starsky broke the stillness in the car and shook Hutch from his thoughts.

'Uh? Oh, it wasn't…..it was.' The blond sighed. 'Sex.'

'What, lack of it?'

Hutch snorted. 'Oh my God no. It's just she likes um….well she's real good at…..I never had anyone who did it like she did. Starsk she gives the best blow job this side of the Pacific, but….'

It was Starsky's turn to snort. 'Don't sound like there's much of a "but" to it, ya lucky dog.'

'You mean Gina doesn't?'

Starsky indicated right and ran the car up the "on" ramp to the freeway, edging his way into the traffic. 'Well yeah, she does, and she's one of the best…..well the straight sex is awesome. But she….. Hutch can I ask ya sumthin?'

'Yeah, what?'

'Um, well. When Sarah um…… goes down on you, does she um….does she finish?'

Hutch V'd his eyebrows. 'What?'

'Does she finish? Does she um….spit or swallow?' Starsky ended in a rush.

'Starsk!'

'Well ya said I could ask.'

'Uh huh.'

'So?' Starsky prodded his buddy. 'What does she do?'

Hutch's face took on a beatific look 'She um ... swallows. And where the hell would she spit anyway? Why?'

Starsky grunted and sighed 'Nuthin.'

'Uh uh. Not fair. I told ya my bedroom secrets bud. Ya can't just leave me danglin.' Ya gotta spill now.'

'She's good enough' the brunet muttered quietly and concentrated on the road.

'Wow, sounds it. What's up Gordo? Not getting' enough? She got you on short ration or somethin'?'

'No! Well…. No, I'm not goin' short exactly. Its just…..'

'Just what? C'mon buddy, don't be bashful. What's she done to get ya all tongue tied?'

'Well that's just it aint it? She's supposed to get tongue tied, or tired tongue or sumthin. But she don't. She's like……she's real good at straight stuff and I've never had a girl who's so passionate, but there's just two thinks spoilin' it an' I just wondered if I was kinda…… different.'

Hutch looked at his partner's discomfort and smiled. It was so like Starsky to be so full on with things that didn't matter to him. But the minute he got serious with a girl he came over all shy and sensitive. He tried not to make fun and started again.

'Just tell me. It's probably nothin.'

'Ok well…… She's great until I get to that point where…..'

'Where ya get that real goofy look on your face and your eyes cross?' Hutch couldn't resist butting in.

'Shudup. My eyes don't cross! Well anyway. We get to that point an' she's been busy with the tongue an' the whole scene an' I'm getting' to the point of no return an' she just gets off me an' finishes. An' I don't know what's up but she's the only girl I've had that does that an' I just….wondered' the brunet finished lamely. He looked at his partner expecting a joke, but Hutch's face was composed.

'Not all girls like to finish that way buddy. Yours just doesn't an' you'll have to get used to it. What's your other problem?'

Starsky sighed again. 'Don't matter' he pulled up outside the metro and slammed the selector into park. 'I got a date with her tonight anyway. Things'll work out.'