by Gemma Weir
“Good, now shall we go to the sheriff’s office?”
I take a moment to consider, then nod again. Truthfully, I don’t feel in any danger in Granger’s company now, but better he think I don’t trust him. That way he won’t want to get to know me and I won’t have to watch that like turn to loathe, just like it always does.
Instead of being annoyed, he nods, smiling brightly. “Good girl, you don’t know me, best to be safe before you put yourself at risk.”
His words almost sound like praise, but that can’t be right. Why would he praise me for not trusting that he doesn’t want to hurt me?
Reaching for my hand, he weaves his fingers with mine, holding tight and stopping me from pulling free as he turns us in the opposite direction and starts to lead me away. He doesn’t bother speaking as we walk down the busy sidewalk, eventually reaching an ugly squat building with a sign above the door declaring itself as Rockhead Point Sheriff’s office.
Granger holds open the door for me and I step inside, His grip on me is sure and unrelenting, his fingers warm and oddly reassuring. I should be appalled at his touch, at allowing him to break so many of my rules, so why do I suddenly want him to twirl me, to pull me into his arms and dip me while his lips find mine? What the hell is happening? How is this complete stranger breaking all of my rules about staying aloof?
“Hey Granger, how’s it going? Is everything okay?” a guy in a deputy’s uniform asks, getting up from an office desk and making his way over to the wooden counter that divides the space.
“Hi Cam, this here is Alice Lowe, her RV broke down and with the festival being this weekend and the town fit to burst with tourists, she’s gonna come stay at our place. I suggested she come over here to the sheriff’s office so you can vouch for her safety in my home,” Granger says casually, like having to prove he’s not a dangerous rapist or murderer is a completely normal thing for him.
Cam’s eyes take me in, his gaze running over me as his lips twitch into a warm smile. “Nice to meet you, Miss Alice. I’m deputy Cameron Cunningham and I can one hundred percent vouch for Granger and the rest of his family, you’ll be safe there, but if you’d prefer, I’ve got a spare bedroom in my apartment that you’d be welcome to use.”
The noise that comes from Granger sounds almost like a growl, but I must have misheard, because why would he be growling? That’s a possessive thing, right?
“She’s staying with me,” Granger says, dragging me slightly behind him, hiding me from the other man’s gaze.
Cam laughs loudly, slapping his palm against the wood of the counter. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Confused, I try to step around Granger, but he blocks me, pulling me into his back and almost pinning me in place, the warmth of his body surprising me.
“Miss Alice, I promise you, you’re safe and if you have any problems just call me.” There’s a shuffling of paper and when I peer around Granger’s huge frame, the deputy is pushing a small business card to the edge of the counter.
Granger picks it up, then hands it to me. As I take it, he twists, effectively pushing me ahead of him as he ushers us both out of the building and onto the street again. “Granger,” I say, trying to drag my hand free as he moves to my side and marches at a too fast a pace for me to keep up with. “Granger, stop, you’re going too fast.”
He immediately slows his pace, but he doesn’t turn to look at me, or speak, his jaw clenched tightly, his hold on me a little too firm. We make it back to the garage in a couple of minutes and he finally releases me when we’re beside my RV. “Pack your stuff, do you need me to get you a packing box?”
“I’ll just grab a change of clothes, hopefully your brothers will be able to fix my RV quickly.”
“No, I’ll get you some boxes, pack up all your clothes, with no heat they’ll get damp pretty quick,” Granger says sternly.
Opening the back doors, I step up into the RV and drop to my knees, lifting the bench seat to get to my small collection of clothes. My life is simple, and storage space in my compact RV is scarce, so I don’t really have too much and his suggestion that I’ll need boxes to pack up all my stuff is almost laughable. Grabbing my old duffle that I brought with me from my mom and Bob’s place, I stuff all my clothes inside, then grab the charger for my cellphone, my ID, the paperback I’m in the middle of reading, my toiletries bag and finally my bunny stuffy I’ve had since I was a kid. It’s kind of pathetic that almost all my worldly possessions fit into one bag, but when you live a nomadic lifestyle, you don’t have time or space to worry about nonessential belongings.
Granger comes back out of the garage carrying two huge cardboard boxes, but he pauses when he sees me sat of the step of the RV with my duffle at my feet. “I’ve got these two, I can go get some more boxes if these aren’t enough.”
“I’m packed,” I say motioning to my bag.
“I told you, all your clothes, honey.”
Dipping my chin, I point to the bag again.
His eyes narrow and his lips spread into a hard line. “That’s not all your clothes.”
“I live in an RV, I travel light, this is all my clothes,” I say quietly, not quite able to lift my eyes to his again.
“What about other important stuff? We live about twenty minutes out of town, obviously we can come back for anything you’ve forgotten, but it’s not a quick journey.”
“I have everything I’ll need,” I say again, suddenly realizing how much time and attention he’s giving me. My eyes lift and I enjoy the way he’s watching me, and I see what looks to be genuine concern on his face.
Somehow this gorgeous stranger is interested in me and even though I know it won’t last, I can’t help but want to bask in his attention while I can. I’m so used to pushing people away before they become sick of me, that I don’t remember the last time I spent this long in anyone’s company when I haven’t been forced on them for a job. It’s as nice as it is unnerving, especially because Granger seems to be one of those tactile people, always touching me, holding my hand or putting his arm around me. I’d never admit it, but I love the contact, the way it feels to have his fingers entwined with mine, the weight of his arm over my shoulder, it’s addicting, especially from him.
His eyes move from me, to the clean and relatively empty RV behind me. “Is all your stuff hidden in the cupboards?”
“Kitchen stuff is stored beneath the little hotplate, cleaning stuff beneath the sink. I keep my clothes beneath the bench seat and other than some books, there’s not much else in here. I don’t need much.”
“What about a tv or a laptop or iPad or whatever?”
“I don’t have any of those things.”
His lips purse again and he stiffens, as if the idea of me not having what most people consider normal, essential devises, is inconceivable.
“Most places I stay don’t have Wi-Fi and I’ve never really watched a lot of tv. My life is quiet, I work, I read, that’s about it,” I confess, not realizing how pathetic that sounds until the words are out of my mouth.
“Come on, I’ll put your stuff in the car, then we can go get Cora, she should be about done now,” he says, his voice gruff and low.
Standing, I close the door to the RV behind me, pushing down the lock as I hold the handle and click the lock into place. It feels strange to be leaving it behind and knowing I won’t be sleeping in my lumpy fold out bed tonight, the place I’ve slept every night for the last five years, and a wave of melancholy hits that I don’t expect. I’ve thought about scrapping the bag of crap before, but now given that the engine is shot it’s more of a reality than ever, and that makes me more sad than I’m prepared to admit, even to myself. This RV, as shitty as it is, is the last link to my family. My dad bought it, my mom moved us across the country in it more than once, and my sister used it to drive me to school and back for years when the house we lived in wasn’t on the school bus route. If the RV goes, I’ll have nothing that ties me to them anymore.
Granger picks u
p the duffel with one hand and entwines our fingers together with the other, leading me to his car where he puts my stuff in the trunk. “Jump in, we’ll drive over to Cora’s store,” he orders softly, opening the passenger door for me and then leaning in to buckle the seatbelt once I’m sitting down.
Closing the door, he circles the car and I wrinkle my nose in confusion. Why isn’t he annoyed with me yet? Maybe he’s just a really, really nice, patient person, but still, he should be starting to get pissed with me by now. Only Granger isn’t showing any of the normal signs I’d expect from someone after spending a couple of hours in my company.
I almost ask him why he’s still being nice, but swallow down the words as he opens the driver’s door and climbs in beside me. I’ve tried asking people what about me makes me so dislikeable in the past and it never ends well, there’s no way I’m going to ask him why he can still tolerate me, that’s even more ridiculous.
The drive to Cora’s store takes less than a minute and she bounds out of the door and climbs into the car before Granger can even release his seatbelt. “Huck says thank you for giving me a ride, but that he’s coming home anyway because he wants to meet Alice,” Cora says the moment her butt hits the back seat.
“Are you okay back there? You should sit up front,” I suggest, eager to put a little distance between me and this confounding man.
“I’m fine, I’ve got plenty of room back here,” she waves me off.
Granger glances back at her, then smoothly pulls away from the curb and into traffic.
“So what do you do for work?” Cora asks.
“Whatever’s available,” I answer.
“Do you live locally? You said you were just passing through, were you heading home?”
“I move around a lot,” I say noncommittally. “I was on my way to Big Mountain.”
“Oh, do you ski?”
“No.”
Cora laughs lightly. “Well, this is a great place to breakdown, I’ve been here my whole life and I can’t imagine wanting to live anywhere else.”
“I’ll be on my way as soon as my RV’s fixed.”
“Oh,” she says with a frown, glancing to Granger in the rear-view mirror. “Well, I’m sure once you’ve spent a few days here we’ll convince you to stay,” she says, her voice bright and cheery again.
She spends the next twenty minutes asking me a stream of almost unrelenting questions, that I answer with my usual one word replies, but by the time we pull off the main road and onto a driveway, just like Granger, she doesn’t seem annoyed or bored with me.
“Did Granger warn you that we’re under construction at the moment? Please try and ignore the chaos, it’s all outside at the minute and they don’t plan to break through to the main house till all the wings are water tight and have all the basic amenities.”
“I really would have been happy staying in my RV.”
“No,” Cora says a little too loudly. “No, you’re better off up here warm and comfortable than in a cold RV on the side of the road somewhere.”
We pull to a stop outside a huge log home, like Cora warned, there’s construction work happening on both sides of the main house with construction workers all over the place. Granger slows to a stop behind a shiny black vintage looking muscle car and a huge truck. Killing the engine, he opens his door and climbs out, circling the car and opening my door before I get a chance to.
Holding out his hand to me, he waits patiently for me to take it and when I don’t, he leans down and grabs mine, entwining our fingers as he gently pulls me from the car. Guiding me to the side, he closes the door behind me, then looks down at me, his eyes warm and full of something I don’t recognize.
“Welcome home, Alice.”
4
Granger
The moment the words are out of my mouth, I hear how right they sound. This is her home now, here with me, I just need to figure out how to make her realize it too. I only met this woman less than three hours ago, but she’s already mine beyond question. Though she’s skittish and more closed off than any other person I’ve ever met.
On a couple of occasions, she’s looked at me with these wide hopeful eyes, but in the next instant her gaze is on the floor and she’s hiding, as if she’s remembered she’s trying her best not to engage with anyone.
I’m not a virgin, I’ve had more than my fair share of women, but unlike my brothers I’ve never felt the urge to shit where I eat and when the urge for a woman takes me, I like to go a bit further afield to find someone to entertain me for a night. I’ve met all kinds of women, but never has anyone intrigued me as much as she does.
Her eyes are filled with secrets and I want to know every single one. I’ve always enjoyed puzzles, and Alice is most definitely a puzzle I plan on solving.
Her wide, slightly horrified eyes find mine, before she quickly looks away and I know if we weren’t miles away from town, she’d be trying to run right now. Her fingers are still entwined with mine and I tighten my hold a little as I turn and open Cora’s door, ignoring the smug way she’s looking between me and Alice with barely restrained glee. Both her and Bonnie have been looking forward to the next brother being hit by what they like to call the caveman love bug and I know she’s overjoyed that Alice is here with me, even if it’s not exactly the way I’d like to bring my woman home for the first time.
My teeth are already clenching with the fact that Alice isn’t going to be in my bed with me tonight, that I won’t be sliding between her thighs and tasting her pussy for the first time, but she’s here and at least for a few days she won’t be going anywhere. I know I can’t keep her stranded up here forever, but at least I have the long weekend to start to convince her that she belongs to me.
She tries to pull her hand free, but I ignore her attempts, grabbing her bag from the truck before following Cora into the house. The moment we step inside and I close the door behind us, I exhale a long, silent breath of relief. She’s here, in my home with me and no matter what, unless she’s married with a couple of kids squirrelled away, I never plan to let her go.
Cora walks ahead of us, dropping her purse on the kitchen counter as Huck closes the distance between him and his woman and embraces her, kissing her thoroughly as Alice and I watch.
“That’s my brother Huck,” I laugh. “Let me show you around.”
Alice nods, but she’s still watching Huck devour Cora like he hasn’t seen her in years, not the couple of hours since he took her to work this morning.
“The living space is open, so kitchen, living, dining,” I say, motioning to the large space. “All the doors lead off to a bedroom, I’m this one,” I say pointing to the second door to the right. “And you’ll be in here,” I say, guiding her to the door next to mine. It leads to the room that used to be our parent’s suite but hasn’t really been used since Mama died. I’m thankful now that Bonnie and Cora redecorated in here last month, so at least it’s bright and clean, and not full of my parents’ flowery shit.
Opening the door, I lead her into the space, through the small sitting area and into the bedroom. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay in here, this is beautiful,” Alice says, taking in the room the girls painted in a warm cream, with pale pink and cream bedding and bold black and pink soft furnishings.
“Yeah, this was our parents’ room, but it’s mainly just been empty since our mama died years ago. It’s a guest suite now, the girls completely redecorated it fairly recently and you’re the first person to use it.”
Reluctantly, I place her bag on the bed and then try to think of an excuse to stay with her, but when nothing apart from ripping off her clothes and fucking her until she understands who she belongs to comes to mind, I release her hand and take a step back. “I’ll leave you to get settled and unpack, come on back into the living room once you’re done, I’ll give you the rest of the tour and properly introduce you to the family.”
Without looking at me, she nods, gives me a polite half smile, then waits with her ha
nds clutched together in front of her for me to leave. Walking away and leaving her is much harder than it should be, but I force my feet to move until I’m closing the door to the room behind me and fighting the urge to barge back in and take what’s mine.
Huck, Cora, Beau and Bonnie are all sitting on the couch staring at me, my brothers are both looking on with sympathy, while the girls have matching expressions of amused enthusiasm.
“Sooo,” Bonnie gushes, the first to speak.
“So?”
“Tell us about her.”
“Her name is Alice, she’s twenty-three, I met her this afternoon and she’s going to be staying here,” I say succinctly.
Rolling her eyes dramatically, Bonnie tips her head to the side and waits for me to elaborate.
“She yours?” Beau asks.
“Yep,” I nod.
“She gonna have a problem with that?”
“I have absolutely no idea, I’ve never met anyone so closed off who hides everything the way my Alice does.”
“Your Alice,” Cora sighs sweetly.
“I have no idea what the hell I’m going to do,” I admit, crossing the room and sitting down on the coffee table in front of the two couples. “She barely speaks, answers every question with one word or the absolute minimum she can say. She tries not to look at me, even though when she does I can see she knows there’s something between us. She acts like she’s either on the run or hiding from something, but she doesn’t seem scared, more like she’s so used to being distant she’s forgotten how not to be.”
“Where does she live? How long do you have before she wants to go home?” Huck asks.
“From what little I’ve managed to pry out of her, she doesn’t really have a home, she moves with the seasons, finding temporary jobs doing whatever’s needed. She was headed up to Big Mountain hoping to get a job in one of the resorts when she broke down. She lives in her shitty RV, but when I asked if she could afford to get it repaired, she said she could without thinking about it, even said she might have to buy a new RV instead, so I don’t think it’s a money thing.”
