The Hard Way

by Jill Sanders

  He woke sometime later when Mel sat on the edge of the bed.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked, her eyes running over him.

  He’d slept like the dead and felt like he’d been hit by a train.

  “Better,” he lied, and her eyes narrowed.

  “I thought we agreed to be honest with one another,” she said.

  He smiled. “Okay, I feel like death,” he admitted. “But I’m hoping whatever that is will help.” He motioned to a platter of food that was covered with a cloth as he sat up slowly. He winced when the pain shot through his ribs as he moved.

  “Need help?” she asked, moving closer.

  “I’ve got it.” He leaned against his headboard.

  She grabbed the tray and set it on his thighs, then removed the lid to expose a plate with beef tips, rice, and gravy.

  “Today’s special,” Mel said with a smile. “It’s really good.”

  “Did you eat already?” he asked, taking a bite and letting the meat melt in his mouth.

  “Yes, I had a quick lunch a while ago. It’s crazy busy down there.” She glanced out the window. “The back patio is full, as is the dining room.” She smiled. “There was a line out the door a while back. I need to head back down there.” She glanced towards the door.

  “Go, I’ll be okay.” He already felt better now that the food was hitting his stomach. “I may be down in a while.”

  She turned back to him and winced. “You might want to shower and take a look at the mirror before you do. You could end up scaring some of the families away.”

  “That bad?”

  She nodded slightly.

  “Ouch,” he said.

  She shrugged. “We are going to be honest with one another, right?”

  He chuckled. “Go, get back to work. I’ll stay up here and hide my ugly mug.”

  She stood up, then leaned over him and brushed a kiss across his forehead. “If you need anything…”

  “I’ll text you,” he replied, then he watched her go before finishing off his meal. Setting the tray aside, he slowly got up and walked down the hallway to the bathroom.

  Taking a look at himself in the mirror, he winced. He’d known his clothes had been torn, since Mel had removed them before helping him into bed. Now, standing in front of the mirror, he could see one large bruise forming over his left ribs where he’d been kicked repeatedly. His left eye was swollen almost all the way shut where he’d taken one of the first fists. There was a large scrape on his chin, most likely where he’d hit the pavement.

  He ran his hands over his ribs and hissed at the pain. After assessing it, though, he figured he was just bruised and nothing was broken, as the pain wasn’t terrible.

  He turned on the water and stood under the hot spray until it turned cold. Climbing out, he figured he felt at least eighty percent better than he’d felt earlier. Still, after pulling on a clean pair of jeans and a shirt, he figured Mel was right. That puffy black eye and the scrape along his jawline weren’t too appealing.

  It had been almost three months since he’d taken a day off. He almost didn’t know what to do with himself. Almost. Making his way to the sitting room, he turned on the television and lost himself in reruns of a hockey game.

  He must have fallen asleep again, since he woke when Mel sat beside him on the sofa.

  “I wondered if you ever used this room,” she said, running her eyes over him. “You look better.” She reached up and touched his eye. “Your black eye isn’t as swollen.”

  “The steak helped.” He pulled her closer to him. “Are you going to take a nap with me?” he asked as he pulled her down onto the sofa next to him.

  “I wish I could.” She smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “But my boss is playing hooky today and someone’s got to do some work.”

  He smiled. “I don’t think your boss will mind if you take a few moments…” He bent down and kissed her, letting his lips linger over hers while he slid his hands up and cupped her breasts.

  She arched into them and moaned softly. He took that moment to dip his tongue in and taste her, enjoying the way she melted underneath him.

  “I’m sure TK and the crew can handle things down there for a while,” he said, nudging her shirt up until her crisp white bra was exposed to him. Dipping his head down, he ran his mouth over her silky skin, pulling the material away until he could take her nipple into his mouth.

  Her fingers sank into his hair, holding him to her breasts.

  “Brent,” she sighed as she wrapped her legs around his hips.

  “I want you,” he said against her skin. “Don’t make me beg.”

  “No,” she said softly, “I’m the one begging.”

  He doubted there would be any returning to normalcy after he’d had a taste of her. The more he was with her, the more he wanted to be with her. Not just like this, with her panting underneath him, but in every aspect of life.

  He knew that if he wasn’t careful, he was bound to hurt her, even though he’d promised he wouldn’t. His entire life he’d been a screw up. He just wasn’t built for happiness. It wasn’t in his cards. At least he hadn’t thought so.

  But now that Mel was here… He looked down into her hazel eyes and watched desire flood them as she reached up for him. He knew without a doubt that she was his one shot at happiness. He just needed to make sure that he didn’t fuck it up.

  Chapter 16

  Mel couldn’t stop herself from wanting Brent. She’d come upstairs for a quick break. Her back was hurting her from being on her feet all day, but more importantly, she had wanted to check up on him.

  She’d been slightly surprised to see Brent fast asleep on the sofa in the television room when she’d come upstairs. She’d spent a few moments just looking down at him.

  His dark hair fell over his forehead, and somehow he looked even more handsome with the black eye and scratched chin. Maybe it was because she knew he’d been a little vulnerable or maybe because she knew that he’d chosen not to fight back. That was something Ethan would have never done.

  The stupid thing was, she’d fallen for Ethan since he’d been the strong controlling type. Man, had she been such a fool. She’d believed that he would take care of her, watch out for her. Never in her wildest imagination had she believed that he’d turn and control her instead.

  Everything she’d said or done, he’d been there, hovering over her, criticizing, accusing, and yelling at her for the choices she made.

  She hadn’t known Brent all that long, but there was no doubt in her mind that he wasn’t that kind of man. Not after the conversations she’d had with his sister and everyone else that knew him.

  Dylan had been honest with her about her brother’s past struggles, none of which Mel could judge too harshly, since she’d had a few of her own struggles.

  But when she was around him or when he started kissing her, she melted against him and everything was forgotten except for the way he made her feel.

  It was as if her body had a mind of its own. The more he touched her, the more she opened for him. Her legs wrapped around his hips, pulling him closer, needing to feel his hardness against her.

  It had been a long time since she’d felt this much about anything or anyone. Her hands shook when she reached for the snap of his jeans. She’d already gently removed his shirt and quickly assessed the bruising over his ribs. He was blue and purple, but she noticed that he wasn’t hissing with pain when he moved like before.

  When they were finally skin to skin, she doubted that she could wait much longer to feel him inside her. The anticipation of being with him was almost more than she could bear.

  He hovered over her, but instead of gliding into her, he held there, looking down at her.

  “Mel,” he frowned, “what does that stand for? Melony?”

  She tensed and her instinct to pull away, to run, flashed quickly in her mind.

  “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he s
aid, leaning in and kissing her until she relaxed again.

  “Soon you’ll trust me enough to let me in. I want to know who I’m making love to,” he said between kisses.

  “Brent.” She nudged him until he slid into her. Part of her wanted to tell him her name, tell him everything else she’d kept from him, but the fear kept her from speaking.

  Instead, she held on to him and enjoyed the moments she had, knowing that someday they too would come to an end like the rest of the good days she’d had.

  After she’d dressed again, she left Brent upstairs and headed back downstairs to help with the after-dinner cleanup. She hadn’t been stretching the truth when she’d told him there had been a line out front earlier.

  Even now, there were a handful of people standing out front, waiting for tables. When she stepped out the back hallway door, the patio area was full as well.

  She made a mental note to talk to Brent about the possibility of making a designated smoking section, as several people had suggested it or complained about the smoke.

  There were also a handful of other suggestions she wanted to talk to him about, but she figured they could wait until he was feeling better.

  Just before closing, she glanced towards the front door and froze. Seeing the man in uniform walk in the door had her pulse jumping. She couldn’t stop the panic from almost consuming her, even though the man looked nothing like Ethan. Ethan had been fair skinned with curly blond hair and a lean but athletic build. Dale Alaqua was taller and had jet-black hair and darker skin that showed his heritage. His arms were the size of tree trunks. Yet when she’d spoken to him at the party the other day, he’d been kind and funny. But he hadn’t been wearing his uniform then, and she hadn’t been intimidated by him like she was now, as he walked up to the bar and talked to his cousin.

  It was the uniform more than the man himself that had her shaking. Since Ethan, she’d never been able to look at a police officer without fear.

  She had to take several deep breaths before she could walk over and talk to him.

  “Evening,” she said, trying to sound casual.

  Dale turned to her and smiled. “Good evening. Mel, right?” he asked her, and she could have sworn that her heart stopped beating.

  “Yes,” she said, trying not to hold her breath. “Did you get the guys who attacked Brent?” she asked, hoping he would relay the information quickly and leave.

  Instead, the man leaned against the counter and took the soda Jamie had set in front of him.

  “Sort of,” he said after a sip. “How’s he doing?” the man asked, running his eyes over her.

  “He’s resting. He has a black eye, bruised ribs, and his chin looks like it went through a shredder,” she supplied.

  “Well, Everett and Matthew Phillips, father and brother to Mark, previous owner of this building, are sitting down in my jail cell at the moment. But by the time I’m done drinking this Coke, chances are that they’ll be out on bond.” He shook his head. “I’ll want to get Brent’s official statement, for the records and all.”

  “Right, I can—”

  He stopped her by raising his hand. “No rush.” He glanced around. “It looks like you guys have been busy,” he said, changing the subject.

  “Yes.” She felt her nerves almost exploding.

  His eyes narrowed and he leaned closer.

  “Is it the uniform? Most women find it an added bonus.” His smile almost doubled. “But you seem downright jumpy around me right now. We had a nice conversation a day ago when I was in civilian clothing, so I have to figure it’s the uniform.”

  She swallowed and figured a hint at the truth was good enough.

  “My ex is a cop,” she said.

  Dale winced. “That bad, huh?”

  Nodding, she motioned for Jamie to get her a water.

  “Well, I won’t keep you from your work. Tell Brent I’ll be around tomorrow to get his statement. I’m going to head back to the kitchen and see what I can beg off my sister,” he said with a chuckle. Then he leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Not all cops are asses, like I assume your ex is.” Without waiting for a reply, he walked back into the kitchen.

  She kept herself busy until the last customer walked out the front door. Then she locked the door and turned around to cheers.

  A glass of wine was put in her hands by Jamie.

  “What’s this for?” she asked, smiling.

  “To a successful first day. Even without the boss man,” TK said. “We did it.” TK held up her glass and everyone cheered. She laughed and then took a sip of the wine.

  She hadn’t expected everyone to hang out after they finished cleaning up, but they did, and the more she hung around them, the more it became apparent that everyone already knew one another.

  “If this keeps up, we’ll beat out the Moose as the most popular place to eat in town,” Jamie said.

  “Eventually, the newness will wear off. Trust me,” TK added. “People are just excited about some new options.”

  “Especially the wings.” Everyone glanced over as Brent walked into the room.

  “Ouch,” TK said. “You look like…”

  “I got jumped in the parking lot by two men twice my size?” Brent offered.

  “Yeah.” Jamie sighed. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I got jumped in the parking lot by two men twice my size,” Brent said with a shrug. “I could use a beer.”

  Jamie stepped behind the bar and grabbed a beer, opened it, and slid it down the slick countertop.

  “You did a fine job with this beauty,” she said, wiping the bar top with a rag.

  “Thanks,” Brent said after a sip.

  Mel noticed that, after Brent showed up, some of the employees had shuffled back to the kitchen. She thought they’d left, but a few moments later, they returned with a tray full of food.

  To her surprise, everyone sat around the tables and shared leftovers while they talked about the day.

  It surprised her, seeing how everyone acted. Like one big family. They laughed, joked, and even hassled one another. She had to admit that it was nice.

  She brought up the few changes she’d thought of to Brent as they ate, such as hanging a few flat-screen televisions behind the bar for patrons to watch sports on.

  She also mentioned a few issues she’d come across, like the lack of trash cans behind the bar. There was one, but it wasn’t big enough to hold all the trash created during a shift, and she’d watched Jamie empty it more than half a dozen times during the lunch rush.

  She lost track of how long everyone sat around talking about improvements that could be made around the place. Brent considered each and every idea and even suggested an immediate change.

  When people started leaving, she overheard Jamie saying to her sister that she appreciated a boss who actually listened to them for once.

  “You made an impression,” she told Brent once they were finally alone.

  His dark eyebrows shot up. “How so?”

  “I think everyone appreciated that you listened to their ideas.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? I want to keep them and the customers happy.” He glanced around. “Besides, they had some really great ideas.” He motioned to the bar. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of hanging a few televisions up back there myself,” he said with a slight sigh. She could see that he was tired. His eyes were dull. Well, at least his right eye was. His left one was still almost completely shut.

  “Dale stopped by earlier,” she blurted out.

  “Oh?” He glanced at her. “What did he have to say?”

  “That Everett and Matthew Phillips were probably going to be out on bail tonight.”

  He nodded. “I figured as much. I was never in for long myself,” he said with a half smile.

  She gave him a surprised look. “Have a lot of experience with being arrested?”

  His smile slipped slightly. “A few times in my past. I used to get in trouble a lot. Nothing serious, but…�
�� He smiled again. “Dylan was always there to bail me out.” His eyes met hers. “I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been to have her all this time.”

  She felt her heart jump in her chest and her knees turn to jelly at his admission of love towards his sister. How was it that she had come to trust this man so quickly? What they had between them wasn’t anything like what she’d had with Ethan.

  The more she looked back on their relationship, the more she realized Ethan had pursued her and had hidden everything from her. Brent was anything but guarded. Every aspect of his past and his life was right there in front of her.

  Just looking into his eyes she could see how far he would go to safeguard against the destructive behavior Ethan had engaged in. She doubted that Brent would even raise his voice towards her.

  He stood up suddenly and walked over to dump his empty beer bottle in the trash can. Then he turned to her. “Since I probably won’t be up to a hike tomorrow, what do you say we head into Helena and do some shopping. It appears I’ll need some new trash cans and a few television sets.”

  She thought about the few items she’d like to get, now that she had a paycheck, and nodded. “What are the chances of me getting an advance?” she asked him.

  He smiled. “I think after today, you proved your worth.” His eyes narrowed suddenly. “Did we ever decide on just how much I was paying you?”

  She laughed as she shook her head. “I think we were both too desperate.”

  He laughed as he walked over to her and helped her stand up. “I’ll agree with that.” He kissed her lightly. “But I’ll have to be honest with you. When it comes to being with you, I’m still very desperate.”

  Chapter 17

  By the time they climbed the stairs after locking up downstairs, he was exhausted. He’d thought that heading downstairs after closing time would allow him to release the burst of energy he’d felt after being with Mel. He’d had no idea it would drain him completely instead.