“Then maybe we are suited.”
In this unguarded moment, she spoke her mind. “You’ll leave. Work will pull you away. I know that because we are a lot alike that way.” Gently she stroked the side of his cheek, kissed him, and imagined how she’d like to make love to him again. She wiggled out from under him, coaxed him on his back and climbed on top.
He cupped calloused hands on her hips. “You’ve got me all figured out.”
“Doesn’t take a rocket scientist. Two divorces under your belt are warning enough.” She moved against him, smiling as he hardened. “But I don’t want forever. I want now.”
His hands trailed up her arms to her shoulders. He pulled her toward him and kissed her hard on the mouth. He hadn’t disagreed with words but his kiss had a possessive edge that said otherwise. He rolled her on her back and entered her again.
She hissed as her body fired to life again. However passionately Deke kissed or made love, he wasn’t going to hang around. And that was okay. It was.
She kissed him on the lips and felt his body respond. This taste of sweetness would leave her craving more.
Baby stood in the new chapel, hands prostrate, staring at the simple white cross hanging above the altar. Hands clasped tight, tears welled. “Lord, let him change his ways. Let him see that he’s a sinner and make him the man he needs to be.”
Two bodies should have been lesson enough. What would it take to get him to really stand up and do the right thing?
“Who’s there?” Pastor Gary’s voice echoed in the empty chapel. He wore khakis, a white shirt buttoned to the second to top button and simple brown shoes.
Baby burrowed deeper into the folds of the hoodie. “Pastor Gary.”
A smile deepened the creases around his eyes, which conveyed surprise more than welcome. “Baby, I thought that was you. I got your message.
“You said there was a problem. Are you having a bad time?” Pastor Gary shook his head as he approached, a warm smile softening his gaze. “Remember the first time I called you Baby? You couldn’t have been more than two.”
The gentle tone of the pastor’s voice softened some of the hate in Baby’s heart. The Pastor Gary standing here now was the man so many people loved. “I don’t remember the first time. But I can’t remember a time when you didn’t call me Baby.”
Pastor Gary was silent for a moment. “Why are you here?”
“I come here sometimes when I’m troubled.”
He stood silent and tense. “Why are you troubled?”
Baby shrugged. “I’m troubled with too much temptation.”
Pastor Gary’s gaze roamed, taking in faded jeans, sweatshirt, and loose jacket. “We are all tempted.”
Baby’s head cocked with curiosity. Fingers slid to the .38 tucked in the folds of the hoodie. “Have you been tempted?”
He cleared his throat and glanced around the arena sanctuary. He saw no one but lowered his voice. “Of course.”
“Why do you give into temptation?”
“I pray to God when the devil beckons. I pray for help and guidance.”
That wasn’t true. He ran toward temptation with open arms. And until now, Baby had forgiven him. “But do you sin?”
Pastor Gary cleared his throat. “What’s all this talk about sin, Baby?” He moistened dry lips. “What have you done?”
“Lots of things.” No hint of regret darkened the words.
A frown furrowed Pastor Gary’s brow as he clasped his hands in prayer. “Baby, you were one of the nicest people I knew. I’d have known if you did bad things.”
“Would you?” Baby wasn’t sure. “You’ve never really paid attention to me.”
“I’m always paying attention.” The confidence humming under the words spoke to his pride. He prided himself on knowing his congregation’s sins and secrets, hearing their confessions and knowing the bleakest part of their souls. However, he didn’t know Baby’s secrets.
The need to confess and maybe even pride pricked at Baby. “You received my warnings, didn’t you?”
“Warnings?”
Baby squared broad shoulders. “Dixie. Rebecca.”
Pastor Gary frowned, his pale eyes reflecting fear. “What did you do, Baby?”
Baby’s right hand remained on the gun, fingering the cool metal. “I took out the trash.”
He frowned as if a memory flickered in the shadows. “Someone else said that to me once.”
Baby nodded. “So you do remember?”
Pastor Gary took a step back. “Who sent you to me?”
“No one. I decided to come on my own.” A shrug lifted square shoulders.
“What do you want?”
“It annoyed me when you stopped coming around to visit. So I sent you the first warning with Dixie.”
His face paled as if he recalled the news accounts of the singer’s death. “I don’t understand.”
Laughter bubbled. “We both know there are two less sluts to tempt you.”
His unnaturally smooth skin strained against a frown as the weight of the words settled. “Who else knows about this?”
Baby savored his discomfort. “You look pale, Pastor Gary.”
“Dear Lord,” he muttered. “You and Rebecca . . .”
“I took care of her, too.”
Horror gave his eyes the wild look of a caged animal. “You need help.”
“Maybe I do. I’ve sinned, but you’ve sinned more, haven’t you, Pastor Gary?”
He glanced around the sanctuary, cringing. “I’ve made poor choices.”
Baby tugged at the cuff of the hoodie rescued from the church’s goodwill bin. Waste not, want not. “You are ashamed?”
He shoved manicured hands into his pockets. He jangled loose change. “I have asked God for forgiveness.”
“Is that all it takes? If I were to ask God to wipe away my sins would that be enough?”
“Baby, you hurt those women.”
“Hurt, no. Killed, yes. And I liked it.”
Color drained from his face. “My God, Baby.”
Baby raised a finger to smiling lips. “It can be our secret.”
He straightened his shoulders, clearly already assessing the fallout of this confession. His eyes sharpened with ambition. “You expect me to keep this secret?”
“I’ve never told your secret. Lots of times I could have told but I never did. Reasonable you can keep mine.”
“Baby, I can’t keep this quiet. I can’t.” His hand trembled when he shoved tense fingers through his hair. He took a step back. “Why?”
“To punish you. To show you who is really important to you.”
Disgust contorted features made smooth by Botox. “I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“I don’t believe you.” Baby had expected him to be upset. No one liked to be punished. But this punishment was in his best interest. Soon he’d see and he’d be grateful.
Revulsion darkening his features, he pointed a finger trembling with retribution. “You are the devil.”
His anger wasn’t unexpected. “You gonna tell?”
“Yes.”
He’d never tell. He didn’t have the nerve to risk endangering his empire. “The world will find out about you.”