Falling for Owen

by Jennifer Ryan

  “I never used to hit women. I guess you could say, she taught me to hit her the way she likes it. The payoff is usually so fucking good I can’t wait to smack her around just to see that wild side of her come to life. Lately, it’s not enough to keep me in line by calling the cops because I’m too drunk to know my own strength. Though the make-up sex is damn good. Those are the times she’s real sorry and does all the things I like.”

  “The last time you went to jail, you hurt her bad.”

  “I lost my temper. She wouldn’t stop nagging me about the house and living a better life. I get she wanted better. Well, I wanted better, too. If she didn’t call the cops all the time, I’d have kept all those jobs I lost. It’s her damn fault, too. I didn’t do anything she didn’t want or ask for in the first place.

  “Then, you stepped in and she fell for your good looks and charm. Now, all she wants is to be a lawyer’s wife, live in that big house with you, and share your money and your bed. Watch out, I tell you, she’ll turn you into me in no time.”

  “I’m not interested in her. Even if I was, I don’t hit women.”

  Dale compressed his lips and shook his head. “You think that now, but I’m telling you, the first time you grab her ass just a little too tight and you hear her sigh and moan for more, you’ll do it again. She’ll ride you so hard and beg for you to do it again. You will, too, because she wants it and you want her.”

  “Believe me, Dale, if you have to hurt someone to get them off, that’s not making love, and I can do without it.”

  “I thought that once, myself. Now, all I do is think about those times it all went right, and I was a happy man.”

  “Yeah, and look at you now. Shackled and chained and about to face some serious jail time for hurting Claire.”

  “I’m real sorry about that. I never meant for that to happen. The booze, you know. Still, when I told Shannon what happened, well, I think she came without me even touching her.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “The morning after I hurt that lady. I saw Shannon that night, but she wouldn’t let me in the door on account of my being drunk and acting stupid. But the next morning I sobered up and went back to see her to try to make things right. She got pissed off and shouted a lot, but she wouldn’t take me back. Said I could rot in a cell for all she cared. She was going to have you and a better life and that was that. Pissed off and drunk, I followed you. Was going to get you good. Then, I saw you with the pretty blonde. You kissed her at her shop and later at her house after your dinner. I figured you really wanted her and not Shannon, which would piss her off, and she deserved it for ruining my life and making me want her even though I didn’t want to. Well, I’ll tell you what, I lit out of there. I didn’t want to spend another day in jail for that bitch.”

  “And you haven’t been back to town since?” Dylan asked.

  “Not a once. If I hadn’t gone to town and stayed out at my cousin’s place, I’d still be there now. No reason to come back, and a whole lot of reasons to stay away. You get me.”

  “We get you, Dale,” Owen confirmed. “Why didn’t you ever tell the cops she instigated the fights and wanted to get hit?”

  “Shoot, I told the cops every time they came, but they just shook their heads and called me a drunk fool. Would you believe me if I told you she wanted it? One look at her and that sweet, young face and no one would believe me. Like I said, she got off on people thinking she was one way when she was really a freaky piece of ass.”

  “Shannon called the cops, said you’d been to her place, you two fought, and you bashed her head into the counter. She had a lump the size of a golf ball on her head and a nasty cut,” Dylan said.

  “Did she now?” Dale asked, a one-sided smile tilting his face. His eyes danced with laughter.

  Dale leaned forward in the conspiratorial way, and Owen leaned in to hear what he had to say. “Sometimes, when a woman doesn’t have a man around to take care of her needs, she’s got to take matters into her own hands. One hand between her legs to take care of her pussy. The other she’d use to pinch and bruise the inside of her thighs and her titties.”

  The shock must have registered on Owen’s face. Dale cackled and laughed and fell back into his seat.

  “I told you. She’s a wild one. Bashing her head like that must have set her off good. Ya see, when the cops showed up to arrest me, not all them bruises was from me. She done plenty of that on her own to get herself off.”

  Owen truly didn’t need Dale to spell it out for him anymore. He got the picture and his stomach went tight, revolting from this new awareness about a client he’d thought needed protection, but turned out to need a psychiatrist.

  “Sounds to me like Shannon’s tried everything to get your attention. Did it work?” Dale asked, a mix of sadness and anger in his eyes.

  Owen gave him the truth. It might make Dale feel better to know his suspicions had never proven true. “I never slept with Shannon. I’ve never been interested in her that way. I’ve tried to make that clear to her on numerous occasions.”

  “She won’t listen,” Dale commented with another shake of his head. “She’ll wear you down until she gets what she wants.”

  “It won’t work. I’m marrying Claire.”

  Dale’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Well now, there’s some news. If Shannon knows that, you’d best find your lady and protect her. Shannon can be a jealous bitch when she wants to be. In your case, I think she’s proven that if she’s been messing with your lady all this time.”

  “She doesn’t know I’m marrying Claire.”

  “She might,” Lynn interrupted from her seat across the room. “I saw her going into Claire’s place earlier today as I was coming out. Believe me, if she saw Claire, she didn’t miss the skating rink on her hand,” she added, referring to the diamond ring Owen gave her this morning.

  “You’re sure?” Dylan asked.

  “About her being at the shop and the ring,” Lynn confirmed. “That ring was gorgeous. You did good,” she told Owen. “Your Claire makes the best blueberry muffins in town.” Lynn held up the white bag with Claire’s store logo on it.

  “Shit. We need to find Claire.”

  “I’d do it fast,” Dale suggested. “If she knows, she’ll want your lady out of the way, maybe even for good if she’s determined enough to have you.”

  “I’m going to have her behind bars before anything happens,” Owen promised.

  “Lock him up,” Dylan called to his deputy.

  “Yeah, you bring her here,” Dale said, standing to go with the deputy to the holding cell. “I have a few things to say to her myself.”

  Alone except for the few remaining office staff, Owen turned to Dylan. “We need to get to Claire’s place, make sure she’s okay before we go after Shannon.”

  “We are not going after Shannon. This is a police matter, and I’ll handle it with my deputies,” Dylan said.

  “The hell you will. Your plan will still work.”

  “Not if she knows you’re marrying Claire.”

  “I’ll convince her that we had a fight and broke things off. It could still work.”

  “You’d have to be hell of convincing.”

  “Then I will be. No matter what, that bitch is getting locked up for everything she did.” Owen thought about Dale’s admissions. “You know, most of the times Dale got arrested and convicted of domestic abuse are probably nothing more than foreplay gone wrong. She asked for it. Literally.”

  “It’s like anything in this gray world. I’d rather err on the side of morality. You do not hit women, even if they ask you to do it.”

  Owen opened his mouth to argue on Dale’s behalf, though he wondered why he even bothered after what he’d done to Claire.

  Dylan continued. “If things went wrong and she called the cops to get him to stop, I say she’s got that right, like any woman who says no. No means no, and I don’t care how far things have gone when she says it.”

  Owe
n had to admit, when seen that way, it made sense, even in this twisted scenario. Dale had to know after all the times he’d been with Shannon what crossed the line and what didn’t. Maybe a slap across the face got her off, but a punch in the eye just pissed her off.

  Ah hell, he didn’t want to think about it anymore and turned to leave.

  “Where the hell are you going?”

  “I need to see Claire.”

  “Call her, then we’ll go get Shannon.”

  “Not good enough. I need to see her and tell her what’s going on.”

  “Owen—”

  “I need to see her,” he said again, shutting up Dylan’s next protest.

  “Okay, let’s go see her. I’ll drive. We’ll pick up Shannon after and bring her back here.”

  “Whatever,” Owen agreed, walking out the door and sliding into the cop car. “It’s strange sitting in the front seat of one of these.”

  “If it makes you feel better, I can handcuff you and shove you in the back.” Dylan didn’t break a smile, but Owen laughed all the same.

  “No thanks. I’m good.”

  “Don’t make me do it when we find Shannon. By the book, man. We’ll lock her up for what she’s done.”

  “By the book,” Owen agreed, and hoped he could keep that promise.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  * * *

  CLAIRE CLOSED THE box packed with the last of the living room decorations and grabbed the tape. She held the box closed and ran the tape over the lid, once, twice, and across for good measure since most of the items were breakable. She’d used the box to move here, and now she’d use it again to move to Owen’s place. She couldn’t wait to settle in with her things mixed with Owen’s. They’d make a nice compliment to his guy stuff, adding a layer of elegance and whimsy to his classic, sparse surroundings.

  Thoughts of moving in with Owen took her upstairs to her bedroom. She scanned the room she’d barely spent any time in over the last weeks. She’d start with her pretty bathroom. The pictures and decorations would complement Owen’s master bath. She’d pack them up and take them over later tonight. It wouldn’t take long to decorate the bathroom there, start making his place their place. The thought sent a thrill of excitement through her system.

  An hour later, her bathroom bare, she took the two boxes she’d packed downstairs and straight out to her car. She put them in the backseat and went back inside to start on her room. First, she stripped the bed and tossed the bundle of sheets and blanket in the hall outside the bedroom door. She grabbed one of the boxes she’d left there earlier and the roll of padded wrap and packed up her pretty things.

  By the time she put the third box from her bedroom and all the hanging pictures and antique mirrors in her car, she felt tired and dirty. She headed back into the house to take a shower and change before Owen arrived and they went to his place. She shut the front door, bolted it, and set the alarm, not that she really needed it with Dale in custody, but it had become a habit and made her feel safe.

  She wondered about Owen and what was happening with Dale, but curbed the urge to call him and find out. He’d be here soon enough to give her the details. Finally, this would be over.

  The pile of sheets and blankets still lay in the hallway. She’d have to take them down to the laundry room after her shower, along with her wet towel. She stepped over them and surveyed her near-empty room. Nothing but the furniture and her clothes left, she waited for the feelings of trepidation or anxiety to come. Nothing but overwhelming happiness and excitement fluttered in her gut. She couldn’t wait to be Owen’s wife, live with him full-time, and spend their lives together.

  She pressed a hand to her belly and smiled. Soon, she’d get pregnant, and they’d have a child. She undressed and stepped into the shower, thinking of their child growing up with Owen’s nieces and the baby Rain carried now and their cousin, Dylan’s son, Will. She thought of family barbeques, birthday parties, and holidays together as one big family. The thoughts made her smile.

  Dried off, the towel wrapped around her middle and secured at her breasts, she brushed out her wet hair and walked into the bedroom, pulling out clean underwear and a bra to wear. With a shimmy, she slid her underwear up her legs and over her hips. She pulled on the matching cream bra and secured it behind her back.

  “Sexy, yet sweet,” Shannon said, standing in the bedroom doorway, her hands casually behind her back. “Is that what Owen likes? Do you let your hair fall over your breasts to hide them, make him want to push it aside and see what you’re hiding?”

  “What are you doing here? How did you get in?” Claire asked, trying to sound casual and unafraid.

  Scared still, she made herself take a breath to calm her racing heart. She needed to think. Something seemed off in Shannon. That sweet face disguised the cunning in her eyes. The soft way she spoke hid the ominous undercurrent laced in her words. It all came clear, the facts of the last months aligning and finally adding up.

  Shannon. The crush on Owen that had turned to obsession and a need to be with him all the time. The trivial reasons for her dropping by to see him. The way she was always polite and cordial to Claire with just a hint of frost to her words.

  He was supposed to be my future. Not Dale, but Owen, before Claire got in the way.

  “Did you think an alarm system would keep me out? Easy enough to follow you home, wait for you to disarm the thing, then slip inside through the back door while you bustled around packing up this and that. Do you really think I’d let you move in with Owen and live happily ever after? That’s my life you’re stealing, bitch.”

  “I didn’t steal anything from you.”

  “We had something going when you showed up. The beginning of a relationship is always the best part, don’t you think? The flirting and getting-to-know-you phase. Well, I had to take things slow, let him want me, all the while I only hinted at how much I want him. Men. They so love the chase.”

  Claire grabbed a pair of black yoga pants and pulled them on, trying desperately not to break the tension in the room and set Shannon off.

  “I know exactly what it’s like to love someone and have another woman get in the way.”

  “Yes, your ex cheated on you, didn’t he? That’s why you left him.” A smirk lit her face, changing everything about her. Claire saw the woman beneath the veil she wore to hide her true self from the world.

  “He did. So, you see, I know how it feels to watch the man you love choose someone else. I know the pain and hurt you must have felt seeing me with Owen. But, Shannon, you and Owen do not have anything beyond a friendship based on a professional relationship. He is not and never was interested in being with you in a romantic way. He made that clear the first day we met and he’s made it clear since then by word and action whenever you’ve injected yourself into his life.”

  Shannon shook her head. “Like with your ex, you just don’t want to see what is so obvious. He wants me, but felt sorry for you after what happened with Dale.”

  “You don’t believe that,” Claire said. “If Owen fell for that BS, you’d have had him enamored with you after all the helpless, wounded-soul routine you put on for him.”

  “Some men like that shit.”

  “But not Dale, he liked something else about you.” She guessed at the nature of their relationship and Shannon’s true nature.

  Shannon gave her another of those disturbing smiles. “Dale knows exactly what I like and how to please me.”

  “Yes, until it goes too far, right?”

  “He wasn’t quite the drunk he is now. He used to control himself.”

  “Right, because you get off on the danger. Will he take it too far? Will it sting or hurt, and how bad?”

  “It’s not easy to find someone willing to cross that civilized line. Dale learned to do things my way, but he’s unpredictable.”

  “Adds another layer,” Claire guessed. “But no matter the games you played with him, there is still a line that shouldn’t be crossed. If
you’re hoping Owen will be your match, give you what you want, and not cross that line, you’re wrong. He’d never hit a woman. For any reason,” Claire added.

  Shannon laughed and reached up, tracing her finger down the center of her chest and over her breast. “I can be very persuasive when I want to be.”

  “I’m sure you can, but that doesn’t change who Owen is at the core.”

  “Dale has some of Owen’s immense strength, but lacks Owen’s control. Once he gets a taste of me, he’ll be the perfect lover.” Shannon licked her lips and took on this far-off look, fantasizing about Owen. It pissed Claire off.

  “You’re right about Owen’s strength and control, but you’re wrong about everything else. Underneath everything, Owen is an honorable man. What you want from him isn’t inside him to give. He’d never hurt someone on purpose the way you want him to do. It’s just not in him.”

  “That’s what you think?”

  “That’s what I know. Don’t forget, I’ve been with Owen for months.”

  “Well, that’s about to change.”

  Claire had never really been in a fight in her life. As an only child, she’d never experienced wrestling and roughhousing, which put her at a serious disadvantage against a charging woman. Despite Claire’s two-inch height advantage, Shannon’s attack overwhelmed her. Shannon planted both hands on her shoulders and shoved her into the dresser. It caught her on the back, hitting and bruising her hips. Her shoulders hit the wall, stopping her from falling, but putting her off balance on her feet. Shannon had the advantage, held her hand back, and swung, slapping her across the face, cutting her lip on her teeth. Claire tasted blood and came out fighting. She grabbed Shannon by the arms and shoved her back, gaining her feet again. Shannon wasn’t deterred or slowed down. She planted her feet and pushed against Claire’s grip. She tried to hold Shannon off, but she swung her hands up through Claire’s arms and out, breaking Claire’s hold. Stumbling forward, Shannon shifted and knocked Claire to the ground. Shannon landed on her back and grabbed her hair, pulling hard and lifting her head. The sting in her scalp brought tears to Claire’s eyes.