Colton's Secret History

by Jennifer D. Bokal

“I was thinking about tomorrow,” said Luke. “If you want, we can ride together. No sense in taking two cars.”

  “Especially since mine might not be fixed yet,” she added.

  “True,” said Luke with a nod.

  Headlights sliced through the night and the outside world passed in a shadowy blur. The purr of the engine and the rumbling truck were enough to lull Bridgette into a trance.

  “About your car,” said Luke.

  “Yeah,” she mumbled as her stupor neared sleep.

  “I think I know what happened. What I don’t know is why.”

  Adrenaline rushed through her veins. She sat up. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you remember the woman you saw on the street the other night?”

  “Your ex-girlfriend? Julia?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “What about her?”

  “After you came over, I called her mother and told her that Julia had been hanging out at all hours. Her mother was shocked. Julia said she had been at work. I think Julia was upset that I’d contacted her mother, and slashing your tires was retaliation. What I don’t get is why would she vandalize your car? Why not damage my truck?”

  “That might not be much of a mystery,” said Bridgette. “I saw her at the coffee shop the next morning when I grabbed breakfast for the two of us. Megan said your name when I picked up the order. Julia overheard, I’m sure of it.”

  “And then?” Luke coaxed.

  Bridgette’s face burned with a blush. Thank goodness the cabin was dark. “And then I told Julia that you and I dated in high school.”

  “Is that all you said? And how did that come up in conversation, anyway?”

  “I might have let her believe that I spent the night with you, as well.”

  “You what?” Luke jerked the wheel as he gaped at her. They rumbled over the shoulder, kicking up a cloud of dust. Righting the truck, he smiled and shook his head. “I can’t believe you implied that we’d been together. What were you thinking?”

  “I guess that was the problem,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking at all.” Bridgette stared out the window at the miles and miles of plains that stretched out forever.

  How could she have been so stupid with Julia? Speaking to Luke’s ex had been a rash decision that went against her cautious and thoughtful nature. “I was trying to help,” she began. “You told me that she’d been lurking around your store for months. I hoped that if she thought you’d moved on, then she’d do the same.”

  “If she’s the one who flattened your tires, I’d say she hasn’t moved on at all.”

  “Obviously not,” said Bridgette. “I didn’t mean to make matters worse, but it seems like I have.”

  “Julia’s never been destructive before,” said Luke. “The fact that I don’t know what else she might do bothers me.”

  “It does a hell of a lot more than bother me.” She leaned back in the seat and rubbed away the tension between her brow. “Maybe it would be best if I just moved back to my parents’ house.”

  “You can if you want, but I was thinking of something else.”

  “What else can I do? Are there other apartments to rent in Braxville?”

  Luke stared straight ahead and worked his jaw back and forth. “Well,” he began. “You can stay with me.”

  * * *

  Julia drove in the dark. The headlights on Luke’s truck cut a wedge out of the darkness. Yet driving without lights—or even being seen by Luke—wasn’t Julia’s main concern. It was Bridgette Colton. The other woman’s silhouette was unmistakable in the passenger seat.

  Hands trembling, Julia gripped the steering wheel so tight that she feared it would break. Sweat dripped down the back of her shirt. Her head throbbed and her stomach roiled. But it was no malady of the body.

  Julia was stricken with disbelief and heartache.

  Were Luke and Bridgette really an item?

  Luke had taken Bridgette to her parents’ house. He’d stayed. He was bringing her home. It was almost as if they were on a date. Had Julia caused this to happen? Had her ploy to get Bridgette to move back home only brought her closer to Luke?

  It seemed impossible. Yet, in front of her, in the cabin of Luke’s truck was the proof. As they drew closer to Braxville, subdivisions branched off the main road. Above, streetlamps spilled pools of light across the asphalt, giving off enough illumination for Luke to see her car.

  If he did, what then?

  She didn’t want a repeat of the encounter with her mother. Letting her foot off the accelerator, Julia turned into a nearby neighborhood. Small houses sat behind chain link fences. In the distance, a dog barked.

  Julia found a house that was dark except for a sconce above the door, and she parked at the end of the drive. Turning off the ignition, she leaned back in her seat. She had time to wait. She knew where he was going.

  What she didn’t know: Was there anything beyond friendship between Luke and Bridgette? She intended to find out.

  Chapter 11

  As Luke turned his truck onto Main Street in downtown Braxville, Bridgette was exhausted both in body and spirit. Seemingly, a million different problems filled her mind. A night of uninterrupted sleep would help her sort out the answers.

  But there was one issue that she couldn’t escape.

  How did she feel about Luke?

  Bridgette glanced at him as he drove. Silvery light from the dashboard turned the angles of his face sharper, his eyes a deeper shade of blue. In the light, his lips were the color of spilled wine and she imagined the feeling of his mouth on hers.

  This was no adolescent memory.

  It was an all-too-real adult fantasy. Her pulse began to race, and Bridgette looked away.

  “What’s on your mind?” he asked.

  Damn. He’d caught her staring. What was she supposed to say now? “I was just thinking about how Braxville looks exactly the same as it did when I was a kid. In reality, everything is different.”

  “Or maybe you’re just noticing new things for the first time,” he said.

  “Maybe,” said Bridgette as Luke parked his truck at the curb. His grille was next to her rear bumper. “Will my car be safe here tonight? I’ll have it towed in the morning.”

  “I hope so,” he said. “Like I said, usually crime is low in Braxville.”

  True, she and Luke were having a conversation. So far, neither one of them had said much of anything. Although the air in the cabin was warm, the hair on Bridgette’s arm stood on end. She glanced at Luke again. Her eyes were immediately drawn to his lips a second time.

  Luke interrupted the silence. “I meant what I said before. You can stay in my apartment if you’d like. My sofa is comfortable enough.” He paused. “I promise not to be a slob in the bathroom.”

  Bridgette laughed. “I’m sure you’d make a fabulous roommate.”

  “So you’ll stay with me?”

  “I moved out of my parents’ house because I’m a grown woman and I need my own place. How would moving in with you keep me independent?”

  “It’s more for your safety,” he said.

  “I know,” said Bridgette. “Truly, I do. I appreciate your concern and offer. But you’re right across the hall. If I need anything, I can come to you.”

  “Of course,” said Luke. “At least let me look through your apartment and make sure everything’s in order.”

  Bridgette wasn’t sure if Luke’s precautions were justified or not. “Thanks,” she said. “That’d be great.”

  In less than a minute, they stood in front of Bridgette’s apartment. She opened the door. The room beyond was dark as pitch. Luke flipped a wall switch and a table lamp glowed, filling the room with light.

  A blanket was draped across the end of the sofa. A plate, filled with crumbs from her morning bagel, sat on the kitchen count
er. A mug, with the dregs of her coffee, sat in the middle of the plate. “It looks like it did when I left for work,” she said.

  “Mind if I check out the bedroom and the bath?”

  Bridgette hadn’t unpacked, much less made a mess worthy of embarrassment. “Help yourself,” she said.

  Luke disappeared through the single door and she moved to the window. Bracing her palms on the sill, she looked down onto the street below.

  Luke said that Julia had been lurking outside his store for months.

  Was she watching them now?

  “Everything looks good,” he said, stepping into the living room.

  Bridgette used the mirrored glass and looked at Luke without turning around. “Thanks again for checking out my apartment. And for driving me to my parents’. And staying at the bonfire, even though my family can be nutty.”

  Luke slipped the tips of his fingers into the pockets of his jeans. “Everyone’s family is a little crazy. Still, you Coltons are good people.”

  Bridgette wasn’t sure how to respond and returned her gaze to the street below. She half expected to see Julia standing on the sidewalk, but the road was empty.

  “Well, I better get going,” said Luke. “Tomorrow’s a busy day at the store.”

  Maybe it was just a bunch of kids who’d flattened her tires. Maybe the destruction had been random. Maybe Julia had nothing to do with the damage done to Bridgette’s car. If that was the case, why did Bridgette suddenly loathe the idea of being left alone? “Let me make you a cup of tea,” she said. “It’s the least I can do.”

  “The food and the company tonight were more than enough, but thanks.”

  “Sure,” she said, turning back to the window. “It’s late. I understand.”

  There, just across the street, in the recessed entrance to a hair salon, Bridgette saw something. Movement? A flash of color where there should only be shadows? She sucked in a breath. With her pulse racing, she took a step back.

  “What?” Luke asked as he moved to her. He was so close that his chest brushed against her back. She liked the heat from his body. Liked the feeling of his hard muscles next to her skin. Liked that being near Luke reminded Bridgette of what it meant to be a woman.

  He asked, “What is it?”

  “I’m not sure,” said Bridgette. “I thought I saw something.”

  She moved back to the window. Her breath fogged the glass, and she wiped it away with her sleeve. “In the doorway across the street, something caught my eye.”

  Luke stood behind her, his hand resting on the small of her back. “What’d you see?”

  “That’s just it. It was only a glimpse of...whatever. It startled me.”

  A cat darted out from the doorway and sprinted down the street, its fur gleaming in the streetlight.

  Bridgette laughed. “I guess I did see something.”

  “Your property was damaged,” said Luke. “It’s totally natural to be on edge.”

  She pivoted where she stood, coming face-to-face with Luke. Her fingers itched with the need to touch him. She reached up and then paused with her palms halfway to his chest. What was she thinking?

  Balling her hands into fists, Bridgette forced her arms to her side.

  “You know,” said Luke, moving closer to her. “I might just take that cup of tea.”

  “Let me put water on to boil,” she said, yet she didn’t move.

  “Maybe you should,” he said. His voice was low and deep, and sent reverberations through her chest. He leaned to her. His breath washed over her cheek.

  She moved closer still. Their lips were close but not yet touching.

  Then Bridgette reached up and ran her fingers through the short hairs at the nape of Luke’s neck.

  “Are you sure you want to do this again? Get involved with me?”

  “To be honest,” said Bridgette, “there’s only one thing I know. Only one thing that I want.”

  “Oh, yeah?” he asked. “What’s that?”

  “I want you,” she said, “to kiss me.”

  * * *

  Bridgette’s invitation was all Luke needed. His mouth was on hers, and his world shrank until it filled the apartment, and Luke and Bridgette were the only two people who mattered.

  Moving his hand from her back upward to her hair, he wrapped his fingers in her long tresses. Luke pulled back on her head, exposing her throat. He licked her neck. Sucked on her earlobe. When she let out a mew of delight, he returned his lips to hers. Slipping his tongue inside her mouth, Luke explored, tasted and conquered.

  “Luke,” she said into his mouth, their breath becoming one. “Oh, Luke.”

  He pressed her into the window, his hand traveling from her hair to her stomach. He worked his fingers under the hem of her shirt, just to see if she felt as soft as he imagined.

  She was.

  His fingers traveled farther up her stomach, and the tips of his fingers grazed the lace of her bra. Luke pressed against the fly of his jeans. He wanted Bridgette. And it wasn’t just tonight. He’d always wanted her. Hers was the face that came to him in dreams and fantasies alike.

  And then the window exploded. Glass rained down as a piece of concrete skittered across the floor. Luke went numb for the span of a heartbeat. Time slowed as he recognized danger. Pulling Bridgette away from the window, they dropped to the floor. He covered her with his body.

  “What the hell just happened?” she asked.

  Luke didn’t have an answer. Rising up, he glanced out of the window. The street was empty—except for a lone figure running down the road.

  Even from his vantage point, he could clearly see the retreating form. Moreover, he knew exactly who had broken the window.

  It was Julia.

  “Son of a bitch,” Luke growled. His hands shook with rage. He’d honestly tried to be reasonable with her, and it hadn’t done either one of them any good.

  “What’s going on, Luke?” Bridgette asked, her eyes wide. “What happened?”

  Holding out his hand, he pulled Bridgette to her feet. “It was Julia. Looks like she threw a piece of concrete through the window.” Bits of glass sparkled in Bridgette’s hair. He dusted them away. “Are you hurt?”

  She drew in a shaking breath. “Just startled, that’s all.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” he said. “Obviously, I knew that Julia had an unhealthy attachment, but I never imagined she’d be destructive, much less violent.”

  “I guess everyone’s full of surprises,” she said with a wry chuckle.

  He supposed that Bridgette keeping some of her sense of humor was a good thing. Yet Julia’s behavior was no laughing matter, especially since her animosity was directed at Bridgette.

  “Grab whatever you need for the night,” said Luke.

  “Why?”

  “There’s no way I’m letting you stay here alone. You can crash at my place tonight. Tomorrow, we can figure out what to do next.”

  Bridgette looked at the door leading to her bedroom, to the chunk of concrete on the floor, and then back at Luke. He could well imagine the arguments she was forming. She was a grown woman. Julia was now long gone. Even if Luke’s ex came back, she couldn’t get into the stairwell that led to the apartments.

  Before she said a word, Luke held up his hand. “I don’t want to fight with you, but I insist that you keep yourself out of harm’s way. This apartment isn’t safe for you—not tonight anyway.”

  To his surprise, Bridgette nodded her head. “You’re right. Give me a minute and I’ll be right back.”

  And then Luke was alone. He pulled the phone from his pocket and placed a call that he had never intended to make. It was answered after the second ring. “This is Detective Reese Carpenter.”

  “Hey, it’s Luke Walker. I have a problem and I need your help.”

  * * *r />
  Bridgette needed only a few minutes to pack an overnight bag. She returned to the living room and set the bag on the floor. Luke stared at her, his jaw tight.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “You know Reese Carpenter?”

  “Of course. He’s Jordana’s partner on the police force.”

  “I called him about Julia,” he said. “At first, I thought she was only lovesick, but this is more than I can deal with—and I definitely can’t ignore what she’s done. Not when she’s threatening you.”

  Bridgette wasn’t sure how to feel. Was she terrified that she was now a target of Luke’s ex-girlfriend? Or was she touched by Luke’s caring and concern?

  Like always, Bridgette needed more information.

  “What’s Reese going to do?”

  “Come here,” said Luke. “I suppose he’ll get pictures of the damage. Take a report. And, most important, he’s going to talk to Julia.” Whatever he was about to say next was interrupted by the pinging of a message on his phone. Luke glanced at the screen. “He’s here. You’ll be okay while I let him in?”

  “Of course,” said Bridgette, though her heart raced at the idea of being alone even for a few seconds. Folding her arms across her chest, she continued, “Go ahead. I’m fine.”

  Luke didn’t bother to shut the front door, and the sound of his footsteps on the staircase were unmistakable.

  “Thanks for coming, man,” said Luke as he opened the door.

  Bridgette recognized Reese’s deep voice. He replied, “It’s my job. Let’s chat here for a minute. Can you tell me anything more than what you said on the phone?”

  “Not really. Julia, the woman I dated over the summer, continued to hang around after we broke up. I told her to stop. She didn’t. I figured she’d have to get bored eventually and go away, right?”

  “I’m guessing that you were wrong.”

  “Bridgette Colton rented the apartment across the hall on Tuesday.”

  Reese asked, “As in Jordana’s little sister?”

  “The same. Anyway, Julia has taken a great disliking to Bridgette. Earlier, all four of Bridgette’s tires had been slashed. Then tonight, someone threw a brick through Bridgette’s window.”