Axel (Men of Mirror Lake Mountain, book 1): A Penny Dee Spicy Bites Novella

by Penny Dee

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  “I just need you to know that it can’t.”

  Her eyes sharpen. “And I just need you to know that it wouldn’t.”

  A tight silence falls over the table. Our earlier truce seems to be over.

  Finally, I clear my throat. “Have you thought any more about who could be behind the plan to have you kidnapped?”

  A small frown wrinkles her brow. “No. I’ve been thinking, trying to work it all out, but the truth is, I have no idea. Unless it’s something to do with my father. Or maybe it’s simply a case of someone knowing how rich my father is and wanting to make some money.” Her eyes soften and she sighs as she puts down her fork. “Thank you. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you didn’t …”

  “Don’t think about it. What could’ve happened never did happen. You’re safe now. And after breakfast we’ll ride to town and call your father. But it’s important to let him know that we don’t know who was involved, so we need to proceed with caution. It could be someone he trusts.”

  She nods. Her plate is empty and so is mine. As she clears our dishes and fills the dishwasher, a strange silence fills the room. It’s not awkward or tight like it was before. It’s… sad.

  “Are you okay?” I ask.

  “No. I’m angry as fuck.”

  “Good.”

  She raises an eyebrow. “Good?”

  “Stay angry. It will keep you alert.”

  The sound of a car pulling up draws our attention out the window.

  This time it’s definitely not a grocery delivery truck.

  It’s a sedan with a set of rotating lights on the roof and the words, Mirror Lake Lodge Security emblazoned across the doors.

  Fuck.

  They’re here because of Lauren.

  I look at her, and her eyes dart to the window and then back to me.

  “I need to brush my teeth,” she says. “Do you have a spare toothbrush I could use?”

  I nod. “In the bathroom. Second drawer under the sink.”

  Her look lingers on me for a moment longer before she hurries through the cabin and out of view.

  I answer the door before there is a knock and find a security officer stepping onto the front porch.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Sorry to turn up on your doorstep unannounced.” He tries to sound friendly, but there’s something off about him. Something shifty. Something shady. He’s got cold blue eyes and his friendliness is forced. “We’re visiting folks to see if they’ve seen any unusual activity on the mountain, either throughout the night or this morning.”

  “Unusual activity? Like what?”

  “Someone broke into the lodge last night. Assaulted some security officers.”

  The badge on his dark blue shirt tells me his name is Hardy.

  “And you think they escaped up into the mountain?”

  “Witnesses suggest they did.”

  “What did the sheriff’s department say?”

  “Oh, there’s no need to bother the sheriff with such a minor disturbance.”

  My eyes narrow. The police haven’t been called?

  And Lauren’s abduction is considered a minor disturbance?

  I keep my eyes fixed to his as I try to process what this means.

  “So, did you? See anything unusual, I mean,” he asks.

  “No, sorry, I didn’t see anything.

  I take a step back to close the door, but he takes a step forward.

  “You look familiar.” He is cordial but he eyes me distrustfully. “What did you say your name was?”

  “I didn’t.” He’s suspicious. And my own suspicion isn’t helping the situation. “I do casual work at the lodge usually when they have a big event taking place. Laboring, construction, that sort of thing. I’ve been there the last few days helping set up for the wedding.”

  “So you know about the wedding?”

  “Only because I helped set it up. Why is there a problem with the wedding as well?”

  His cold blue eyes are searching my face. “No, no problem.”

  I reach for the edge of the door. “Look, I was kind of in the middle of something when you turned up…”

  He opens his mouth to reply, but before he can answer, Lauren calls out from the bathroom.

  “What’s taking you so long, baby? What does a girl need to do to get some big dick around here?”

  The security officer’s eyes shoot to mine. He looks uncomfortable, and it’s hard for me to suppress my smile.

  “Who’s that?” he asks.

  Good question.

  “That’s my…ah, that’s my girlfriend.” I’m surprised how easy the words slip off my tongue. “She’s visiting for Thanksgiving.”

  Again, Lauren calls out. “I’m wet and I’m ready, baby. Come and give me that big cock of yours.”

  Her words send a flash of desire through my already tight and needy body.

  I look at Hardy. His ears have reddened and he doesn’t know where to look.

  I shrug at him and grin unapologetically. “What can I say? My girl has a big appetite. And what my girl wants, my girl gets…”

  His eyes actually drop to the front of my sweats. He can’t help himself. He’s checking to see if I really have that big cock.

  His eyes meet mine just as Lauren calls out again.

  “I’m warning you, big boy, if you don’t get in here now and fuck me hard, I’m going to start without you!”

  Hardy backs away. “I… um, well, I’ll let you get back to it.”

  “My girlfriend sure will appreciate that,” I say, unable to resist using the word girlfriend again.

  Hardy gives me an awkward nod before he turns and walks away from my front porch.

  Chuckling to myself, I watch him trudge through the snow to his patrol car and climb inside.

  As he drives away, I call out to Lauren. “You can come out now.”

  She appears on the steps leading to the bathroom, and it looks like she’s been laughing hysterically.

  But when our eyes meet, both our smiles fade.

  The question hangs in the air between us. Why didn’t she tell the officer what was going on? She could’ve told him everything and been on her way back to the lodge by now.

  On her way back to her fiancé.

  Her wedding.

  I watch her walk toward me, my heart thumping like a rabbit’s foot. She stops in front of me and looks up, and I feel the need to touch her grow harder and stronger inside of me.

  “Why?” I ask, my voice gravelly.

  She looks at the floor as she bites the inside of her mouth. Her blonde hair falls around her lovely face, and the urge to kiss her is so damn powerful in me, I almost give in.

  “Because you’re right.” Her lashes lift and her dark eyes fix to mine. “We don’t know who is involved in this. And until I speak to my father, you’re the only person I can trust.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  LAUREN

  Mirror Lake is a charming, small mountain village with picturesque little buildings covered in a fresh layer of snow. Old-fashioned streetlights glow in the wintery air, while smoke curls from shingled rooftops. I’m taken back by its beauty. It looks like something out of a snow globe.

  Axel parks the Jeep outside the post office.

  “While you call your father, I’ll check my mail.” He hands me a fifty-dollar bill and some coins. “You might want to buy yourself something warmer to wear until I can get you back to your father.”

  I look at the crumpled money.

  “This is too much. Besides, I don’t need anything. I’ll be back at the lodge soon…” My words die between us. In a matter of hours, this will all be over and I will be back in my old life.

  With Vince.

  And I will never see Axel again.

  I frown. Because I don’t know how I feel about that anymore.

  I don’t know how I feel about anything anymore.

  “Take it,” he says,
his jaw flexing, his face unreadable. “The phone booth is just over there.” He nods toward the end of the row of storefronts. He looks at me, his warm eyes suddenly filling with second thoughts. He’s wondering what I’m going to tell my father.

  Before he can say anything, I slide a hand over his. “I’ll make sure he knows you did this to protect me from a security breach.”

  He smiles and it’s gentle and delicious, and I have to push down that part of me that wants to feel his kiss on my lips. Because today is my wedding day. And there is a good chance I’ll be Mrs. Vince Preston by sunset. Vince won’t see the sense in canceling the event. Kidnapping or not.

  “Tell him I can deliver you in person back to the lodge. But I need to talk to him. His security is incredibly flawed, Lauren. Someone tried to kidnap you and they’ll try again. Your father needs to know how to improve your safety.”

  “You can help him with that?”

  “I will help him.” His eyes find mine. “If it means you’ll be safe.”

  The gentleness in his voice makes me want to forget about making any phone calls today. Especially one to Vince. In my mind, I see Axel working for my father, consulting him on security, and a spark of hope ignites in my chest. Because I don’t want to say goodbye and him working for my father means I won’t have to.

  “Thank you,” I say softly, and our gazes linger a moment longer before I climb out of the Jeep.

  The phone booth is outside of a quaint little bakery with Thanksgiving decorations in the window, and a mouth-watering aroma of pumpkin pie, cinnamon, and sugar drifting out through an open door.

  Inside the phone booth, I try to call my father, but there is no dial tone. Impatiently, I tap the hook switch, but nothing happens. The line is dead.

  “Lines are down,” says a voice behind me. It’s a woman, possibly in her forties or fifties, carrying a massive tray of pumpkin pies toward a van parked next to the phone booth. She is struggling so I rush to help her, and together we get the tray into the van without losing one single pie.

  “Thank you,” she huffs.

  “No problem.”

  She thrusts out a hand. “Name’s Nan.” She points to the bakery which is aptly named Nan’s Pie Shop.

  I’m about to tell her my name is Lauren but stop myself.

  “Kate,” I say, shaking her hand. Kate was my mother’s name.

  “Nice to meet you, Kate. Thank you for your help.”

  “No problem.” I glance over to the phone booth. “Any idea when the phone lines will be working?”

  “Technician was here earlier. Said last night’s storm knocked out the mountain’s exchange. They’re working on it now. Said things should be back to normal by nightfall.”

  “Nightfall!”

  “Not that it’ll do you any good. Another storm is coming.” She nods to the dark clouds boiling in the sky. “Looks like it’s almost here too. You might have to come back tomorrow and pray this one doesn’t take out the exchange again if they can even get it fixed before the storm rolls in.”

  “Does it storm like this often?”

  “Every fall and every winter. Last year we did Thanksgiving without power for two days thanks to a terrible snowstorm. That one kept us inside for three days. You need to get a hold of someone in a hurry, honey? Is everything okay?”

  No. I’ve been kidnapped and need to call my father. Where is the sheriff’s office?

  Is what I should say.

  But I don’t.

  Instead, I lie.

  Only, it’s not a lie.

  “Yes, everything is fine.” I’m suddenly flooded with warmth when I realize I’m going to have to spend the rest of the day—possibly another night—with Axel. And in that moment, standing on the snowy curb talking to the pie lady with a kind face, I suddenly realize that I’m happy. For the first time in … hell, for the first time in a long time. “Say, where can a girl get a new pair of pants and a jacket ’round here? We packed light, and what I did pack got wet.”

  “Oh, you’ll want The Emporium. Speak to Hazel. She’ll sort you out.” While she gave me directions, she slid a pie into a paper bag. “Here, take this with you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course. You can let me know how delicious it was when I see you next.”

  “We’ll be leaving tomorrow, hopefully. So, if I don’t get the chance to tell you later, I’m sure it was delicious.”

  Her smile is warm.

  “Oh, don’t worry about that, honey.” Her eyes glimmer with knowing. “Something tells me I’ll be seeing a lot more of you.

  Chapter Fourteen

  AXEL

  While Lauren goes to call her father, and probably Vince, I head inside the post office, which also doubles as the sheriff’s office.

  Inside, Sheriff Willard is tied up with Harold Urlich, the town’s grumpiest old man. He makes tinctures and balms in his old bootlegger’s shack a mile out of town. I’ve seen him a few times when I’ve visited Salem’s Bar on the odd occasion I’ve felt the need to break my isolation and have some human contact. He’s always as mad as a cut snake. He likes his beer and he likes to complain. But beneath the cranky layers, he isn’t such a bad old dude. We’ve had a few conversations over a beer in the past few years, and I’ve got a soft spot for the cantankerous old man. He’s a war vet who caught two bullets in his body while serving his country.

  Today he is complaining about Mavis Lipman, his neighbor, and her passionfruit vine. Apparently, it’s encroaching on his property by several inches. I cross the room to my post office box and pull out my mail, smiling to myself as I listen to him complain to the sheriff. He and Mavis are constantly at war with each other. If he’s not complaining about her dogs barking, or the smoke from her smokehouse filtering into his kitchen window, she’s complaining about the noise of his diesel generator, or how he tends to his tomato plants in nothing but a pair of boots and his underwear.

  Oddly enough, she’s never complained about his tomato plants not actually being tomato plants.

  Personally, I think it’s some kind of weird foreplay, and these two are secretly vibing each other. And one day they’ll lay down their guns and admit their true feelings for one another. But until then, they seem set on performing this weird, argumentative mating dance.

  “Boundary lines are boundary lines, Sheriff. They’re not open to interpretation. You need to arrest her. She’s stealing two inches of my property!”

  Sheriff O’Connor gives him a pointed look. “You really want me to come out and check out the boundary lines, Harold? How are those tomato plants coming along?”

  Before Harold can reply, the door opens and a rush of arrogant energy rushes into the room in the form of a man in an expensive suit.

  My body tenses.

  Hello, Vince.

  “Where is the sheriff?” he demands.

  Sheriff Willard looks over at him. “I’m right here, sir. Just take a moment and I will be right with you.”

  “I don’t have a moment. My fiancée has been kidnapped.”

  I look away and begin to busy myself checking through the mail in my hand so I don’t catch his attention.

  Not that I need to worry. Vince is clearly only aware of himself and his needs. He pushes himself in front of Harold.

  “Someone broke into the Mirror Lake Lodge and kidnapped my fiancée.”

  “When?”

  “Around midnight last night.”

  Willard looks at his watch.

  “Your fiancée was kidnapped ten hours ago and you’re only reporting it now? Why didn’t you report this last night?”

  “We thought it was just her getting cold feet.”

  “But now you think otherwise?”

  “She was seen leaving with a man. We think he either took her against her will, or he assisted her in disappearing.”

  The sheriff scratched his beard. “You think she might have faked the kidnapping? A bit over the top, don’t you think?”

  “Sh
e’s an over-the-top kind of woman. Rich. Spoiled. You know the type. Anything is possible with a woman like her.”

  The way Vince speaks about Lauren makes me want to take him by the throat and rip his tongue from his mouth.

  “Have you tried calling her phone?” Willard asks.

  Vince looks irritated. “Of course, I tried calling her phone. But she didn’t take it with her when she was busy being kidnapped.”

  “What makes you so sure she was actually kidnapped?”

  “Thirty minutes ago, we received a phone call demanding twenty-five million for her return.”

  My head jerks up.

  What the fuck?

  My eyes narrow in on Vince. He’s agitated. He is losing his patience.

  “Do you know who I am? Let me save you the trouble of wasting both our time any further and answer it for you. I’m Vince Preston. And my fiancée is Lauren Carmichael. And in five fucking hours, we’re due to be married at the Mirror Lake Lodge. Now, for heaven’s sake, will you pull your small-minded head out of your small-town ass and help me?”

  While Vince continues his rant, I pull down my cap and leave. The sooner we get out of town, the better. But on my way back to the car, I spy two men walking toward the convenience store.

  They’re so out of their element here…pure city. Custom suits. Expensive jewelry. Completely out of place in Mirror Lake.

  I follow them into the store. They don’t notice me because they’re so wrapped up in themselves.

  And wearing so much cologne they should come with a radiation warning.

  Inside the store they go one way, and I go the other, but make sure I stay close enough so I can hear them.

  “You have any theories,” says the guy who is wearing a Rolex.

  The second one picks up a Vogue magazine while his friend scopes the antacid products.

  “Probably found out he spent last night with that hot bridesmaid, what was her name? Sharon? Shawna?”

  “Shanna.”

  “Yeah, Shannnnaaaa. Nice tits.”

  “Can’t blame him, it being his last night of freedom and all.”

  “Being married isn’t going to stop him. Vince can’t help himself when it comes to a hot piece of ass. Especially that hot piece of ass.” Mr. Vogue scoffs. “Not that the wedding was ever going to take place anyway.”