by Codi Gary
“When the time comes, Something Borrowed is going to plan Dustin Kent’s wedding—and it is going to be fabulous.”
* * * *
Dustin stood on the edge of the dance floor, scanning the room for Rylie. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t leave the festivities no matter how mad she might be at him.
“And who are you looking for?” his mother asked.
He hadn’t even noticed her move up next to him and he gave her a hug. “Just Rylie. You know, my partner in wedding planning.”
“Oh, I just saw her talking to your employer, Kelly. I have to say, at first, I couldn’t understand you wanting to do this, but after seeing everything you and Rylie put together, I get it.”
“Sorry to disappoint you then, but I quit three days ago.”
His mom stared at him. “Why?”
“Because it wasn’t my thing.”
“Ah. So what are you going to do now?”
“Real estate investments and restoration,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yep. We’ll see how this first project goes, but I’m hoping to bring Charlie in as my partner. Won’t you be happy having two of your boys here?”
His mother’s eyes filled with tears. “I would love it.”
Dustin caught sight of Rylie across the room and kissed his mom’s cheek. “We’ll talk later, okay? I’ve got to run.”
“Give Rylie my best.”
Dustin didn’t have time to respond before he was standing in front of Rylie, holding his hand out to her.
“May I have this dance?”
She slipped her hand into his with a smile. “It’s not time for dancing yet.”
“Well, I have a playlist on my phone, and it’s a beautiful night outside. I think that’s as good a reason as any to dance.”
“I’m only going with you because I want to talk, not dance.”
“You haven’t heard my playlist though…or seen my best moves.”
“Oh, I’ve seen all of your moves and there will be no move making until we have a very frank conversation.”
Dustin led the way, ready to get this over with. Once they’d put the appropriate distance between the reception and them, Dustin dropped Rylie’s hand. He faced her with his arms over his chest, ready for the explosion. “So, I’m waiting for you to blast me. Go ahead.”
To his shock, she stepped into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I already talked to Kelly and know that you pulled the book deal. And I also have a pretty good guess that it was because you didn’t want me to lose my job. How am I doing?”
“Spot on, baby.”
“But see, I have a confession too. Kelly actually asked me to keep an eye on you and report any suspicious behavior.”
Dustin quirked an eyebrow. “And did you?”
“No. There was nothing to report, and besides, I couldn’t very well admit that I had slept with the enemy.”
He unfolded his arms with a grin and wrapped them around her. “What a couple of star-crossed lovers we are.”
“Not anymore. Since you no longer work for Something Borrowed, there’s nothing standing in our way… Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
“Nope. In fact, I was wondering if I didn’t have to wait until Monday to ask you out.”
“Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?”
Dustin gave her a deep, fast kiss. “Meet me right here at ten and I’ll show you.”
Chapter 26
Rylie held the bottle of champagne in one hand and the skirt of her dress in the other. She stood beside D’agostini Pond, a large reed and tree-filled swamp that was just outside of Somerset. The D’agostini family owned a lot of the area.
When they’d left the wedding, and headed out of Sweetheart, she hadn’t minded when Dustin had taken a left down the private dirt road that led to the pond. She’d even been cool when he’d parked the Jeep and announced they were going to play sexy truth or dare. It had sounded exciting.
Until she’d picked dare for the second time. “Let me be clear, you inferred that this was to be a date and that it would be fun.”
Dustin laughed from his position beside the Jeep. “Sexy truth or dare is fun!”
“No, there is nothing sexy about swimming in a swamp. Why did I let you talk me into this? This is something small town high school kids do when they lie to their parents about going to the movies!”
“Are you punking out?” he challenged.
Rylie glared at him.
“I do not want to swim in this. It is slimy and there are probably snakes!”
“Nah, the snakes are all sleeping.”
She started to inch her toe near the water and could have sworn she saw something move beneath the surface. She stumbled back with a squeal. “I hate you.”
He sighed as though he was a benevolent king granting her greatest wish. “All right, you want to use your pass on this one?”
Rylie nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, yes!”
“Fine, my turn.”
Rylie pulled out her phone and scrolled through her music. “I dare you to strip while doing the Macarena.”
“Yeah, I’m not doing that.”
“Oh come on! That’s easy compared to what you wanted me to do.”
“Okay, but if I see your camera come out, you’re taking a swim.” He hopped down from the hood of his Jeep and Rylie climbed in to flip on his headlights.
“What are you doing, trying to bring the cops down on us?”
“You need a spotlight if you’re going to perform.” She pressed play on her phone and giggled. “You’re up, Chippendale!”
She took a swig of champagne from the bottle as she watched Dustin do a very clumsy version of the Macarena. When he crossed his arms, he pulled his bow tie loose and by the time he put his hands on his hips, he pushed his pants down to around his ankles.
A flash of blue and red from the main road caught the corner of Rylie’s eye, and she turned off the music and lights. “Shit, it’s the fuzz.”
“Did you just say the fuzz?”
She ran over to him and grabbed his hand. “Come on, we’ve got to hide.”
“Or we can just get in the car and if they happen to meet us on the road, we can just tell them we came down here to make out.”
“Again, not in high school. We are adults. And I am too tipsy to deal with this situation.”
Dustin bent over and pulled his pants back up. “Get in the Jeep, Tipsy, and let’s get out of here.”
By the time they started backing up, a patrol car had blocked them in.
“Ah, crap! They’re going to think we were going at it.”
“Do you want me to tell them the truth?” Dustin asked.
“Oh, God, where do I put the champagne bottle?”
Dustin took it from her and stuffed it under the backseat.
A lit flashlight tapped on his window, and when he rolled it down, Rylie recognized Luke right away.
“Hi, Luke,” she said.
“Rylie. Dustin. You two know you’re on private property, right?”
Dustin slid his arm behind her seat and squeezed her shoulder. “Yeah, sorry, Luke. We were coming back from the wedding at my mom’s winery, and Rylie said I had to pull off so she could kiss me and—ow!”
Rylie pinched him on the arm and shouted, “He’s lying, Luke! He tried to get me to go skinny dipping in the pond.”
Luke shook his head and rubbed a hand over his face. “Guys, I am way too tired for this. I’m going to write you a ticket for trespassing on private property and then I want you to take your extracurricular activities home. Capisce?”
“You got it, bud. Still invited to poker this week?” Dustin asked.
“Only if you bring two hundred bucks and promise to be on a losing streak.”
When Luke walked away, Rylie shoved his shoulder gently. “I cannot believe you did that.”
“Well, since we’ve been ordered home…your place or mine?”
“Hey, buddy, I don’t know who you think I am, but I don’t put out on the first date.”
Dustin tangled his fingers in the curls falling from her up-do and kissed her so thoroughly that her toes were practically double-jointed by the time he’d pulled away.
“You were saying?”
She licked her lips. “My place, but you have to give me five minutes to pick up.”
“Come on, I don’t care what your house looks like.”
“Easy for you to say, Victoria always has your home looking like a magazine and I had four women over last night. I still think there are little dick straws all over the place and I need to do some damage control.”
Dustin laughed and kissed the side of her neck. “Fine, I’ll go home and grab a bag while you clean up. Think a half an hour will give you enough time?”
“That’s perfect.” She kissed him sweetly, which turned into a full-on make-out.
A tap on the car door broke it up and Luke cleared his throat. “If you two don’t separate immediately, this ticket is going to double.”
Dustin took it from Luke and his jaw went slack. “A thousand dollars?”
Luke grinned. “Next time you want to get it on, take her back to your castle, rich boy.”
Once Luke was backing away, Dustin turned to her, flashing her an evil smile.
“I am going to destroy him on poker night.”
Fifteen minutes later, Rylie hopped out of the Jeep with her tote from the day in hand and blew him a kiss. “See you in a half an hour.”
“Not a minute more,” he said.
She closed the door, floating all the way to her house. She put the key in the knob and then turned it. As she was coming through, she realized she hadn’t heard the click that usually happened when she unlocked the door. Had she forgotten to turn the deadbolt when she left this morning?
She shut it behind her and heard Raider’s frantic barking from his crate. Still buzzed from the champagne, she fumbled in the dark toward her bedroom.
“Hey, baby, do you need to go potty?”
As she passed by the bedroom, it registered two seconds too late that there had been a large shadow on the wall.
Suddenly, she was slammed against the wall in the hallway, a sweaty hand covering her mouth.
Raider’s barking became high and hysterical and the clink of metal told her he was throwing his body against the cage. She tried to scream, to tell him to stop, but she couldn’t make a sound. She stared up at the ski-masked face, his eyes glittering in the dark.
“If you make one sound, you’re dead. You understand?”
Oh, God. She knew that voice, and it wasn’t Asher.
It was Will.
Chapter 27
Dustin whistled as he pulled out onto Highway 16, pressing a little harder on the gas. He was eager to go home, pack, and get back to Rylie. He’d had Victoria pick up a bunch of ingredients he needed to bake his mother’s scones, and he was hoping that he didn’t screw them up. He wasn’t exactly a culinary master.
Something silver flashed between the trees on the right and for some reason, Dustin slowed down to a crawl to see what it was. He flipped around half a mile up the road and came back, pulling off across from the place. He got out of the Jeep and jogged across the road, listening for oncoming cars, since the curve was blind.
Using the flashlight app on his phone, he pushed through the trees and shone the light around.
It was a silver Chevelle in mint condition. He stood there for a minute, trying to figure out why someone would leave such a nice car behind the trees and where he’d seen it before....
He looked in the window, and when he saw that the door was unlocked, he opened her up. The car was immaculate, and there wasn’t even a receipt lying around.
He opened the glove box and found a black leather wallet and a metal box. He peeked inside to find a driver’s license and froze.
It was Will. Rylie’s date.
Parked less than a mile from her house.
Dustin dropped the wallet and ran through the trees before taking off across the street. The flash of high beams and blare of a horn scared him shitless, but he kept going. He frantically turned the key and shoved the Jeep into drive, peeling out onto the road.
I’m coming, baby. Just hang on.
* * * *
Rylie fought back tears as Will kneeled in front of her, waving the long, serrated knife just under her nose. He’d strapped her hands together behind her back with zip ties, and set her down in one of the kitchen chairs. She hadn’t called him by name, or given any hint that she knew who he was, hoping it would keep her alive. So far he’d only spoken to issue orders, but hadn’t told her what he wanted.
Finally, tired of his silence, she asked, “What do you want? If it’s money, I can give you my card and pin and you can just go—”
“Shut up. I don’t want your money, whore.”
Whore?
Panic settled into her gut. God, if Will had been the one to throw a brick through the window, then she really had ruined Asher’s life.
But she didn’t want to accuse him of anything, so instead, she tried to remind him who she was. That she was a person.
“I’m not a whore. My name is Rylie Templeton. I’ve lived in Sweetheart all my life. Both of my parents are dead—”
“I said shut up,” he shouted.
Pain exploded across her cheek as he backhanded her, knocking her off the chair. She hit the floor hard, crying out as her shoulder popped.
Losing her calm, she screamed, “I don’t understand! If you want to kill me, then just get it over with!”
He lifted her off the ground and back into the chair.
“It’s not always about what you want. I know you think that we should worship the ground you walk on, but whores are only good for one thing.”
Rylie watched in horror as he adjusted himself through his pants, and did what she did best.
She pulled her legs up and kicked him so hard in the jewels that he flew back, smacking into her kitchen cabinet.
And the chair fell back, her head cracking against the wall.
Then she felt nothing at all.
* * * *
Dustin came in through the laundry room just as he heard two crashes. With the hammer he’d found out back in his hand, he came around the corner, ready to bash the bastard’s head in.
He lowered the hammer as he looked down at Will in a ski mask, crying and moaning on the floor.
Then he spotted Rylie.
Every instinct told him to rush for her, to make sure she was all right, but he needed to take care of Will first. He’d already called the cavalry, which should have been pulling in any second.
He hauled Will to his feet and planted a hard-right hook in the middle of his face. The guy slumped to the ground, and Dustin dragged him into the living room, where he found a gym bag full of twist ties, knives…
Condoms.
Dustin resisted the urge to pound the guy into meat. He bound his legs and hands with zip ties behind his back and added a bit of duct tape for good measure. Once he was sure he wasn’t going anywhere, Dustin raced back to the kitchen.
“Rylie, sweetheart, talk to me.” He kneeled next to her and cupped her cheek. “Please, be okay. Help is on the way.”
Sirens wailed down the driveway as the kitchen lit up blue and red.
“Do you hear that? They’re already here.”
Then he heard her voice, hoarse and soft.
“About time.”
His laughter broke as he lifted her into his arms and held her tight
, rocking with her as uniforms burst through the door.
“He’s in there,” Dustin said, waving toward the living room.
When Luke came through and joined them, he smiled grimly. “Long time no see.”
“Yeah, I know. She needs to go to a hospital,” Dustin said.
Rylie shook her head, then moaned. “No, I’m fine.”
Dustin scoffed. “She always says that. Don’t listen to her.”
“And he’s always bossy, so don’t mind him.”
Luke’s gaze shifted between them and then he burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny? She’s hurt, man,” Dustin said, anger leaking into his voice.
“Sorry, it’s just…never mind.”
He got up and walked into the other room. When the paramedics came in and got her onto the gurney, he kept a hold of her hand.
“You’re going to stay with me, right?”
He squeezed it. “Sure, I’ll stay.
Chapter 28
On Monday morning, Rylie woke up with her face buried in the back of Raider’s fur, the smell of baked goods wafting into the room. She started to sit up and winced as her hand grazed the bump on the back of her head.
Raider flipped over onto his back, giving her a goofy grin. The poor guy had several cuts and abrasions on his muzzle and body from trying to break out of his cage during her attack. She’d made Dustin take him to the vet to make sure he was all right, and found out that afterward they’d gone through the McDonald’s drive through for burgers. The last thing she needed was her already spoiled dog thinking he’d get cheeseburgers during every car ride.
“Who is mama’s brave boy?” She kissed his nose and climbed out of the bed, padding down the hallway to the living room. Dustin had wanted her to come back to his home after she’d been discharged, but she refused to let Will ruin her first chance to be on her own. She had been grateful that Dustin had hired someone to clean it before she’d come home. She didn’t want to see blood on the ground where Will’s nose had gushed after Dustin had broken it.
She shivered as she thought about what had almost happened in such a small, idyllic town. And from what they found in Will’s car, it turned out she wasn’t the first woman he’d stalked and…
