Chapter Five

 The banging startled Cash to say the least. No one knew that he was there and he had yet to meet anyone. Even the chief didn’t know that he had arrived and as far as neighbors were concerned, he had none. However, the knocking on the other side of the door meant business He quickly jumped up and flattened himself against the wall to look out the window without being seen. There in his drive sat a limo tinted Rolls Royce Ghost with a suited driver standing at attention. If he wasn’t out in the sticks he’d mistake his company for the mob and hell, maybe they were and had tracked him down. That fucking newspaper article write up on him was some real bull shit. The banging resumed and he looked to the kitchen from the living room to see his gun sitting on the counter. “Damn it.” He thought. How many were there? Was he surrounded? He hadn’t  heard a thing. He had been so engrossed in his computer that his guard was down. He flattened again against the wall and looked harder around the window to see what stood on his porch. Without a mistake he knew exactly who had come to call. “I’ll be goddamned.” He said under his breath. “What are you? Batman or something? Did you see my signal?” He questioned relaxing just a bit and stepped away from the window and shut his computer Screen closed on his way to the door but not before grabbing his gun ticking it under his shirt behind his back. He wasn’t going to pretend to be clueless. He wanted Negan to know that he was boss and that he had already had pulled his number. Truth be told he hadn’t  actually figured shit out yet. The furthest that he had gotten was reading up on the marathons that Negan had ran all over the world. That had zero relevance outside his own personal interest but he figured he knew enough to fake his way threw this. He opened the door and the back draft brought in his cologne. A split second assessment of Negan dressed in a three piece suit told Cash that pictures did not do this man justice. “Negan Anthony Coldwell.” Cash greeted filling the door frame with his broad shoulders. Negan needed to know that he knew just who he was and for that matter, Negan felt the same. “Cashous James Howlett.” He replied squaring his jaw. Negan’s voice was as deep as his black eyes. It sounded deep, harsh and wet if not muddy. “You’ve done your homework.” Cash replied stone faced for Negan would have had to do some serious digging to find his birth name and Negan knew he had the upper hand. Since Cash had used his full name first he thought he’d meet him tit for tat. “Likewise.” Negan agreed locking in on Cash’s glare. Cash wasn’t exactly sure what was happening here but something felt different on a personal level. Maybe it was because he had just spent however many hours reading and looking threw photos of Negan. “You’re a busy boy.” Cash said In reference to his research holding the door. “And you need to find yourself a hobby.” Negan tisked with his tongue in reference of what he had found on Cash and showed Cash the bottle of port that he had brought for him. “May I?” He questioned inviting himself into Cash’s cabin. Cash wasn’t sure why he had pushed the door fully open with his finger tips and stepped aside to show Negan inside. What in the hell was he thinking he thought to himself watching Negan cross in front of him and closed the door behind him. You just didn’t go inviting a possible criminal into your home and accept a bottle of wine from them. Cash knew that he knew he better but here they were. Negan scanned the room to mentally bank his surroundings for later and decided that he didn’t totally hate it. In fact, he found it incredibly sexy. Even the heavily scent of mouth balls worked in this room. It would easily cling to his clothes and he’d remember this meeting. “That’s some entertainment center you got there. Where can one pick up something like that?” Negan smarted but the truth of it, he’d give his left nut to watch a football game on it with him. “Nostalgia.” Cash narrowed as Negan turned to face Cash’s smolder. “Joking.” Negan winked in reply. “Place came furnished.” Cash covered with catching the wink and wasn’t sure why he even owed Negan an explanation. “Big spender.” Negan witted that just couldn’t be helped. Cash was making this way too easy for him. Cash snorted a chuckle. Ok, that was funny Cash thought. Negan smiled more so in his heart then what he allowed to be shown on his face. “So, you’re a smart ass?” Cash asked crossing his tree trunk sized biceps over his wide chest. “Part of my charm.” Negan replied absolutely taking notice of how Cash seemed to be too big for the room. “Mmm..” Cash hummed with a nod sarcastically and tucked his hand under his arm pits. Yup. He was starting to sweat. Negan didn’t mind the dance and Cash wasn’t sure why he was tolerating it either. Negan stepped  just in front of Cash to set his bottle of port down on the Formica counter. “You might want to save that bottle for a hot date and when you get something other than that rat infested sofa you got there.” He pointed as he pulled out a bar stool for himself and swept out the seat of his jacket to sit. “It’s on my to-do list.” He answered with slight embarrassment and the immediate next thought to follow was what in the fuck was he doing just helping himself to a seat in his kitchen. “Joking.” Negan reminded him of. “Cops. No sense of humor. Dry as a bone.” Negan added shaking down the cuffs of his jacket and shirked his shoulders to straighten  his nerves more or less. This was going better than he had anticipated and kicked out the stool next to him. “Not to mention shitty hosts.” He said putting out a palm for Cash to find himself a seat. “You haven’t left me much room for an opportunity.” He covered and nudged the stool back in towards the bar with his boot that to tell Negan that he would not be subservient in his own damn home. He needed to gain back control because he was rapidly loosing all credibility and this wasn’t like him at all. But here he was letting this guy dominate as if he was handing it over to him. Cash rounded Negan’s shoulder to the other side of the bar to be across from him and grabbed hold of his fridge door handle and knuckled two long neck bottles. “Cut the bull shit, Negan. Why are you here? He questioned popping the caps off each bottle and set one down in front of Negan. “Just make it easier on us both. Tell me what you want from me.” Cash added and tipped the lip of his bottle to Negan before taking a drink. “No.” Negan declined waving a Finger in rejection. “I don’t give up my secrets on a first date.” He said raising his brows, taking hold of his bottle the way he’d cradle a wine goblet and tipped his lip to Cash before he took his first drink. Cash laughed out loud and shook his head. Maybe it was nervous laughter. Negan smiled more visibly now having made the officer laugh twice now. Cash brushed it off as smart assed banter and leaned up against the pantry door casually. “Ok.” Cash said bowing his head a for a moment, “ something is going on here and I’m not going to go for it.” Cash remarked speaking of Canton and Negan thought that he meant the energy exchange that was between them and felt his face heat. “It was a fucking joke.” He darkened crossly. “What?” Cash questioned in true confusion of Negan’s snap of a reply. “What’s a fucking joke?” Cash repeated. “This being a date.” Negan hissed. “Oh, hey, I fucking thought this WAS a blind date. You show up on my door step dressed to the fucking 9’s, bringing me booze to loosen me up. Is your over night bag out in the car?” He asked looking towards the door “or are you planning on using my razor in the morning?” Cash jabbed back. If Negan could dish it out he was going to take it too. “Is that rose in your lapel to leave on my pillow when you skate before I wake?” He asked breathing quite evenly and he supposed that he really wasn’t even joking. His voice was even and the thought oddly enough didn’t offend him or seem far fetched. If he were to ever to nail a guy Negan would be it. Negan saw the challenge and rolled his tongue along his inner bottom lip to taste his reply before speaking it. “I don’t bring port to someone that I intend on splitting on. That bottle is worth more than this entire fucking place.” He cracked and circled above his head. “Take it back, Howlett. He demanded. Was he being serious? Cash wasn’t real fucking sure. He sure the hell took to the defense real fucking quick. “Look, let me level with you here.” Cash offered before his guest would explode. “I see you have some real fine horses. My guess is that Mackey does too. I need to sort this out and I will. If you run, I’m going to catch you and I don’t give a flying fuck in you’ve ran the Irish countryside which by the way, those were gorgeous photos.” Cash ended with a compliment. “My marathons have not a damn thing to do with my horses.” Negan was quick to add but was curious that Cash had found the irrelevant interest. Cash shrugged. “No. It really doesn’t. I just thought it was pretty fucking cool.” He brushed off and took another drink wondering himself what in the hell was happening. This wasn’t at ALL how he thought this was going to go. He kind of just wanted to shoot the shit with him. Negan relaxed his accusatory tone. “What do you do for fun because I couldn’t find jack shit about you and you know quite a bit of a lot of nothing that’s clearly none of your cop business.” Negan asked. Now Cash knew that Negan was on the other side of the law even if he did play for the good team. Negan was still a citizen and had no business knowing anything about him but then again, for some strange reason it did kind of feel like a date he didn’t know he was on so what the hell? When in Rome. “I like to hunt and fish.” He answered and turned to the counter to grab the can of nuts he had bought earlier, opened them and put them on the bar next to Negan’s elbow and took a handful for himself. Negan supposed it looked good too and helped himself.. “Need another?” He asked and lifted Negan’s beer to feel that it only had a swallow left in it. “Do you bar tend in your spare time?” Negan questioned. “Why? Are you interested in running a tab?” Cash joked and got in the fridge for a couple more beers. “Does your driver want to come in and join us?” Cash asked handing Negan over his second beer. “He’s good.” Negan passed. “Well, don’t go busting my balls over being a shitty host later.” He stated and leaned back up against the pantry door. “I’d redeem that statement but I just watched a field mouse run across your counter and disappear behind the stove.” He pointed to behind Cash. Cash instinctively looked back at him at nothing. “It went behind the stove.” Negan added again. “Oh, act offended why don’t you? You May have million dollar stud horses but they are still horses that live in barns. Barns have mice.” Cash challenged back slightly embarrassed. “You need a cat.” Negan answered pleasantly and immediately thought of one of his barn cats that would make for a perfect companion. “Yeah, I figured as much.” Cash started to say before having been interrupted by his phone ringing on the coffee table across the room. He looked to the clock. Was it really that time? “It’s the dealership. I ordered a truck.” He smiled offering an explanation to excuse himself around Negan’s back to get his phone. Negan couldn’t believe that this was going as well as he thought it would either and listened to Cash speak with a pep in his voice. Ending the call Cash looked to the clock again and grumbled a little bit to himself somewhat regretting having to cut this visit shorter then he’d like to. “I gotta...” He trailed. Negan shook his head that no apology was needed and took one long last drink from his bottle before standing. “Shitty host, right?” Cash asked in a sigh that he actually meant. “We got jack shit accomplished.” Cash chuckled. “I wouldn’t necessarily call it a waste. I now know that you like to hunt and fish and that you are really nosey about shit that doesn’t concern your problem. So no, it’s not a waste.” Negan said and looked down to his lapel and pulled the pin to release the rose. “Like I said, I don’t bring port to just anyone. This here is to be continued.” Negan repeated and laid his rose  next to the can of nuts. “This was nice, Howlett. Enjoy your new truck.” He said stepping towards the door. “But work on that living room set.” He pointed as he reached for the door handle with his other. “Dually noted.” Cash smirked. “To be continued.” Negan repeated opening the door to see himself out. “Are you going to make a habit of this?” Cash asked meeting him at the threshold. “Just showing up?” He clarified. “You have my number correct?” Negan asked catching Cash off guard and Negan read in the expression that yeah he did. “Call me.” Negan ended as Cash watched him step out and off his porch and as soon as he had, his driver emerged. Cash wasn’t sure what to think. Did that really just happen? He thought watching Negan being escorted into his car and disappear behind the door that was being closed for him. His driver acknowledged Cash with his two fingers placed to his brow and nodded. Cash found himself nodding back and closed the front door slowly. “What in the FUCK had just happened?” He asked himself again but this time out loud and looked to where Negan had left his two beer bottles and rose. He glared at the perfect petals briefly “Well played, Negan.” He added and accepted the rose by picking it up with no intentions of tossing it conflicted in his thoughts and defiantly with what he was feeling. Yeah, that was indeed well played but it also was hot as fuck. He’d never be that smooth he thought and went to the cupboard to get an old jelly jar that had been used for a drinking glass that he had seen earlier, filled it full of water and placed his rose. “To be continued.” He said quietly to himself and replaced the rose on the bar at Negan’s new seat.