My feet carry me to the front door, and I pull it open without thinking of my mostly undressed state.
And there is Angela Lopez looking sexy as hell in black yoga pants, a black tube top that leaves her shoulders and midriff fully exposed, with a black leather jack on but left unzipped.
I can't take my eyes off of Angela and her sexy as hell body, just as much as she can't seem to take her eyes off of my abs and muscular arms.
"Would you like to come inside?" I finally ask and step backwards fully opening the front door to allow the beautiful woman who also happens to be my temporary Training Officer into my home.
"I…" Angela looks up from my abs to my face and must see something in my eyes that I don't even know is there.
"Sure…" Angela trails off but comes inside my condo, she looks around my place with an eagle eyed gaze.
"Have you eaten anything yet? I was just about to dig into some grub if you'd like to join me? it's nothing fancy mind you, just cheese burgers, fries, chicken tenders, and mint chocolate chip milkshakes."
"I probably shouldn't…I just wanted to come and say thanks for having my back out there…you didn't freeze up and now I know I can trust you to have my back and so does everyone else at the station." Angela offers with a bit of awkwardness suddenly coming to her body language.
"Ohh, come on…we both missed lunch today with everything going on, of that I'm sure. Plus, I can't eat everything by myself and if I did Alfred would probably have a coronary…the old man worries more about my health than his own." I offer with a grin and Angela smiles back at me.
"Alright, but when you get back to the station you better not brag about chillin 'with your T.O. if you do, you'll regret it." Angela threatens and I can't tell if she's joking or being serious since she's not even the slightest ping on my danger sense nor do her words trigger the lie detector ability.
"Please, if I was going to brag about anything…I'd just brag about having dinner with a gorgeous senorita, who has a great ass…and a spicy attitude." I offer back jokingly and get a full on laugh out of Angela in return as I wave for her to follow me over to the island cook area and counterbar where I pull out a stool for her.
Before reaching into the oven and pulling out a cookie sheet piled high with fast food that Alfred finds as an affront to human decency and set it down on the breakfast bar before moving to the massive stainless steel fridge opening it and grabbing out the four super large mint chocolate chip milkshakes, setting down two next to Angela and greedily keeping two for myself.
"How are you doing?" Angela suddenly asks me as I sit down on a stool beside the one she parked her ass on.
"Alright…" I offer back and feel Angela staring me down, "Don't start lying to me now, Boot. Tell me the truth. So I can help you as my Rook and the guy who possibly saved my life today." Angela doesn't take my excuse for an answer like I expected her to.
"I…I just keep thinking that there was some other way the situation could have been handled like if I had approached Tran to pull him out of the car he probably wouldn't have tried that shit he did with you to me. I keep working through a scenario where I didn't kill a guy today. I don't regret dropping him, not really, a thousand of him aren't worth even the possibility of you getting maimed or killed. Just because some rich entitled prick thought that using violence…possibly deadly force against a peace officer was the right decision. When all that had happened was he was stopped for reckless driving and use of obsessive speed. With his and his family's connections he never would have spent more than a few hours in holding had he just surrendered peacefully-" Angela rests her hand against my shoulder and slides it down to my bicep.
"You know speaking of rich entitled pricks, this pad is pretty sweet…and not really what I expected from you. Neither is your truck. For example, I thought you'd drive a Ferrari or a Lamborghini." Angela says in a joking manner but there are hints of concern in her voice.
"You know this building was one of my first investments, and was the reason why I moved to L.A. originally after the trial and everything was over with and I was kicked out of witsec." I explain parts of Silas's backstory that are only coming to the surface now that I need them.
"Really, how come?"
"So I met this guy at a Casino in Atlanta…the guy had just inherited a fortune from his recently deceased father went on a bender of gambling, drinking and whoring and wound up dead broke with this building as his only remaining asset with the I.R.S breathing down his neck after he preached a tax shelter his father had kept the family wealth in. I offered him a game of cards. He used this building as collateral and I put down what the I.R.S. wanted in fines and back taxes.
I actually met my tenant at that game, and you'll never believe this. But his legal name is Lucifer Morningstar…and yes I'm not joking. Anyways I lost the game but the guy was desperate for more money so he wouldn't have to give up his lifestyle so I bought this building from him a fair bit under market value and then spent a fortune getting it up to codes and making it so businesses that would net a profit would actually rent office spaces here…the night club on the ground floor actually helping to grease the wheels with foreign investors if what I've heard is any indication." I pretty much ramble on but it seems like Angela listens to every word I say.
"You really aren't kidding about your tenant using the name of the devil are you?"
"Nope, I can introduce you if you'd like…" I offer trailing off only to get a muttered reply in Espanol.
"I'm good, you know you're really not at all what I expected when I heard the headliner for Forbes magazine was going to be joining us at Mid-Wilshire…"
"What…am I not tall or handsome enough?" I ask playfully only to get my arm batted playfully.
"No, trust me you're all good on both of those…it's your personality." I look to Angela and give her a disbelieving raise of my right eyebrow and get a sassy rolling of her eyes in return.
"Ahh, am I not the cocky asshole that you were expecting?" I end my question by throwing a fry at her that bounces off of her tits.
"Oh you're plenty cocky…too cocky, for a Boot. But you're not the typical rich douchebag I've had to deal with. And I've had to deal with a lot of them." Angela answers back easily, picking up the fry I playfully threw at her and eats it.
"Really?" My curious question makes Angela roll her eyes at me before she sighs.
"As you've mentioned I have a great ass…so who do you think is a top nominee when the station gets a V.I.P request from a rich douchebag?" Angela's question makes me frown, my burger not tasting quite as good as it did before.
"Right…I didn't think a hard ass like Sergeant Grey would pimp his officers out regardless of how gorgeous they are." Something in my tone makes Angela smack my shoulder.
"Hey, don't go there Sergeant Grey isn't like that…he hates the V.I.P. services as much as any of us…but it's political you'll learn the more time you spend in the department that everything and I mean everything is a political move…even your actions today will have long lasting political repercussions for you on the job and anything you might want to do. If I gotta act like the hot piece of ass that I am for a few hours during a shift to ensure a smooth lateral move to detective I will. I've spent my whole life being objectified. You just get numb to it after a while." Angela shrugs her shoulders and throws a fry into her mouth.
"You shouldn't have to…and I know I'm guilty of it myself. You know with checking you out and everything but I know you're not just a set of nice legs with a great ass."
"I know I have a nice set of tits and a great smile too." Angela jokes playfully.
"Yes, you do…would you like a real drink? I know I could use one after that moment of self-realization that I'm a pig, and I don't mean the kind wrapped in blue." My playful joke draws a snort out of Angela and a roll of her eyes.
"I probably shouldn't…" Angela answers with a reluctant but caving expression on her face.
"I've got this really good Tequila…" I answer while walking over to a liquor vault punching in the combo and taking out the handcrafted clay jar that is hand painted with gold inlays of some colorful serpent fighting a Jaguar.
Angela does a spit take as I bring the jar over to the breakfast island, and grab us two whiskey glasses out of the cupboard and set them down in front of us.
"Uhh…how did you get that? Right you're Scrooge McDuck…" Angela trails off and tentatively grabs the three finger full whiskey glass.
"I didn't actually pay for this jar, well not outright. I invested in a few dying family Agaveros operations that make this stuff together…I only learned how much they sell one of these jars for after I invested in their co-op. I thought they were insane but then I went and helped them farm the agave plant things then moved onto the whole distilling process just a glimpse into all that heritage then meeting their actual clientele with the realization that this stuff is a million times better than the fifty dollar bottle you can walk into any liquor store here and buy."
"Tell me something…" Angela suddenly speaks up.
"Anything within reason…and what I mean by anything within reason is a question that excludes my social security number, my many banking account details and if I have slept with anyone famous but beyond that I'm an open book."
"Why did you invest in a business you knew nothing about?" Angela asks me while looking over her glass with a curious but serious glint in her eyes.
I let out a sigh, sitting down on my stool and taking a sip of my drink, and damn does it taste great and barely feels like I'm drinking booze but it is strong as hell.
"So I went on this little adventure tour, and I saw these kids in poverty…skin and bone families struggling to hold onto their legacies even though they've been in the quality booze making business for hundreds of years, and have amazingly high quality products given their means and resources available to them. And I wanted to help them help themselves. It's a big world out there but their product was trapped in its region, an oversaturated region with little to no outside consumer market except for some people taking advantage of these master crafters. Master Crafters who are…were struggling to feed their kids and keep their long legacies going so…I stepped in. Invested money into them, set up a distribution network to get their limited liquid gold product out there in the real world. Providing them with security when their safety was put at risk it's part of what got me into the PMC and protective wear markets."
"There's a lot more to you than I thought, Boot." Angela teases as sips her Tequila like it's the best thing in the world.
"So what about you? A girl like you with a body like yours…you could have been a model or even an actress." I question with a bit of playfulness slipping into my voice, which makes Angela roll her eyes at me and tease her bottom lip with her teeth.
"There you go again…reducing me down to my body." Angela says in mock offense and fills my glass back up again.
"Drink!"
Time just slips away blurring as Angela and I kill the jar of Tequila before moving onto a bottle of vodka, until we find ourselves on the couch sitting way too close to one another.
"So then Tim and Talia come in with their sidearms drawn after I've got this clown in cuffs, I'm absolutely covered in glitter and the strippers are trying to get me back on the pole, it was just a big mess."
"I'd love to see you work a pole." My honest words draw a drunk giggle out of Angela.
"Well, if you had one I'd show you a few moves." Angela answers back and I don't detect a hint of teasing, reaching over to a coffee table I press a button that makes two halves of a stripper pole one descending from the ceiling the other rising from the floor to connect seamlessly.
"Well... there's your pole..." I playfully trail off and get a loud laugh out of Angela.
"Of course you have a custom stripper pole in your living room." Angela rolls her eyes at me but stands up, struggles a little with taking off her knee high black leather boots that have tall heels.
"Well, I am a rich bachelor... starting to regret your offer?"
"Nope... I'm a girl of my word." Angela answers right back as she slips out of her boots and begins twirling around the pole, my danger sense gives me a gentle warning as Angela goes for a twirl her hand slips off of the pole and she starts to fall.
I lunge myself forwards and catch her, "I think you're a little too sloshed to show off your killer pole dancing skills."
"Am not!" Angela shouts competitively.
"Are too..." I argue right back Angela tries to struggle out of my arms but fails to do so, and ends up staring into my eyes.
"Your eyes are really pretty..." Angela trails off as she slowly leans in just as our lips are about to touch my danger sense blairs in alarm. I let my body move on its own, and I roll just as an RPG explodes against the living room wall of armored windows.
Alarms are ringing and Angela feels almost limp in my arms, "Angela, Angela?" I desperately call out to her.
"I-I'm good...did someone just try to blow us up?" Angela questions uncertainly.
"Not you, me...but I don't think I pissed off anyone enough to earn an RPG to my living room window." I mutter and take Angela into my bedroom to the west wall, press my hand against the sensor that opens up the hidden elevator getting inside. I type in the code to the panic room while putting the building in lockdown mode.
"You have an elevator in your bedroom?" Angela questions in disbelief and amazement.
"Yes and a panic room in the sublevels underneath the underground garage." I answer her steadily, not even realizing she was still in my arms.
"I can stand on my own two feet..." Angela grumbles suddenly, I can't help the scoffing sound I make.
"Nah, you can't I saw how unsteady on your feet you were just trying to get your boots off."
"I hate you." Angela suddenly mutters and rests her head against my shoulder before releasing a sigh.
"Something wrong?" I question Angela softly.
"Everyone is going to know I was here drinking with my Rook... temporary or not people are going to talk."
"You don't strike me as the type of girl to let something like that get in the way."
"I'm not...that doesn't mean the rumors won't have an affect on my future."
"Politics?"
"Politics...tonight was fun though...right up until the missile, I mean."
"Yeah it was... I'm a little heartbroken that, that kiss didn't end up happening." Angela answers me back with a laugh then moves back in close the kiss starts out soft and slow, nothing like I expected her to be when taking charge but it slowly picks up in heat and passion.