by Ferraro, W
Not so fun when the shoe is on the other foot, is it?
“Really? So if I told you that I lied, and Mason and I had sex on every surface of this apartment last night, it wouldn’t bother you in the least?”
Paige’s face momentarily went white before she recovered. “No, it wouldn’t.” Then with an accusatory glare, she said, “Why, is that what happened?”
“No, it wasn’t Mason.”
With what seemed like defeat, Paige walked back to her stool and took another seat before giving Colby a light shoulder bump.
“I think you are lying, Paige, but since I’m demanding to have a secret, I guess you are entitled to one as well.”
Knowing she might have crossed a line, Colby relented as promised.
Paige pulled the pink box over so it was between the two women on the counter, flipped the cover open again, and said, “Now, can we just eat these, enjoy the carb overload, and drink the coffee, or would you rather annoy the shit out of me. You know how cranky I get when I come off a night shift.”
Never one to be outdone, Colby chided, “Well, if you are so cranky, why did you come here rather than just go home to your bed?”
“I told you I tried calling you a couple of times, and you didn’t answer. I just got worried so I thought I’d bring you breakfast.”
She really is very sweet.
“But now that I know you are not always going to be alone, I’ll only use my key for when I really do fear you dead, okay?”
“Okay, now, give me the apple fritter before your lemon Danish spoils its perfection with oozing lemon.” Colby giggled with a smile.
“My lemon Danish could take your apple fritter any day of the week, you know.” Paige smirked as she picked up the large overfilled pastry from the box and took a large bite.
Colby passed her cousin a napkin and beamed, “Big talk for a cranky, exhausted deputy, you know.”
“Yeah, well, after I take a nap, I will be more up to snuff,” Paige said as she finished the pastry and licked her fingers clean.
Taking a few moments to enjoy her own delicious breakfast, Colby turned to the quickly fading deputy. “You going to just crash here?”
With a lot of effort, Paige stood up and headed over to the small couch, sat down, and kicked off her boots before lying down and throwing the quilt from the back of the couch over herself. “Unless you are going to levitate my body back to my place, then yes. That cool?”
“Completely, but you don’t need to sleep on the couch. Use my bed.”
With one last smile, Paige declined. “No thanks, God only knows what DNA could be found there. I’ll stay over here.”
Colby laughed. “Sweet dreams.”
Quickly picking up their mess and placing the uneaten pastries in the fridge, Colby made her way over to the bathroom. As she passed the couch, she noticed Paige was already asleep. Fixing the quilt so she was completely covered and closing the shades to ensure it was dark enough to sleep, Colby closed herself in the bathroom and prepared to shower.
When Paige woke up, she was going to demand some answers.
Stepping into the steaming water, Colby thought of how she was going to defer her nosy cousin off the track of finding out who she’d spent her evening beside. Colby just hoped she could convince Paige it really wasn’t important, as well as convincing herself their encounters would never be as important to Reed as they were to her.
Reed stepped through the door of Cervone’s. The size of the Wednesday night crowd surprised him as he scanned the place for his brothers. Seeing Hunter at the bar, he weaved his way through the crowd in that direction.
Just a little over six hours ago, Reed made his official announcement that he was running for the newly vacated state Senate seat. Due to the predecessor’s departure time, a special election would be held in a little over six weeks. Lacey was able to get a hefty number of reporters at the statehouse including all the big name state papers as well as a handful of regional and national journalists, proving just how deep her connections went. He gave his well-rehearsed speech effortlessly and then accepted the handshake and endorsement from the attending governor and state’s attorney general. All went off beautifully—so perfect that by the time he was back in his office forty minutes later, the television was already streaming with the news as well as trending on the local social media.
When Lacey showed up at his office just before he was leaving to come here, she hit him with her next well-planned bomb. She really wanted to portray him as the man-next-door candidate, suggesting his hometown as the perfect place for the press to meet the candidate and for the base of his campaign to be. She wanted to show that he not only truly believed in his plans for the state, but that such intentions would directly affect his own life, right there in Clearwater Falls. It was a hell of an angle—genius, in fact—but it just had one major problem.
Reed didn’t want his day-to-day life, his home life, and his family life to become the six o’clock news.
Knowing he wasn’t going to be able to change Lacey’s mind, he simply agreed to touch base with her at the end of the week about the depth of invasiveness into his life he was willing to allow.
Surprisingly, she agreed. Reed knew that wasn’t a good sign.
Being stopped a few times as he maneuvered his way through the crowd, people he knew congratulated him on his run and residents stopped him wanting to touch upon some of his plans.
By the time he actually made it to the bar, his brothers were having a good laugh.
“Hey look, Gage, we are in the presence of a celebrity,” Hunter claimed from his seat between Gage and Reed.
“Well, Hunter, I do believe you are correct. Not just any celebrity, but the Senate candidate who will clean up the entire state and make all of us a hell of a lot richer.” Gage clinked his beer bottle to Hunter’s.
Knowing he was in for a good ribbing, Reed let the comment slide as he took his seat.
“Hey, we saw your press conference,” Hunter said, putting the jokes aside.
“Oh, yeah? Is it true the camera adds fifty pounds?”
“Nah, you looked as fit on screen as you do here in that seat.”
Flagging down the bartender, Reed responded, “Well thanks, Doc, appreciate it.”
Tilting back his bottle, Hunter took a pull before nonchalantly saying, “It’s what I’m here for.”
The bartender came over and greeted Reed before going off to fill his order of Glenlivet on the rocks.
“So where are the Trouble Triplets?” Reed asked both brothers.
“Off playing pool or darts I think,” Gage said, watching the replay of Reed’s announcement on the bar’s large flat screen. When the television went to commercial, Gage looked around Hunter to where Reed was and asked with a wicked grin, “So are you going to tell us who that hot number is that we’ve now seen both on film and on television with you?”
Did you really think Hunter would be able to steer Gage off the opportunity to see how far he could push you in good fun?
Looking his oldest brother in the same blue eyes that he had, Reed asked, “By hot number, which I’m not sure your hot little wife would appreciate, you are speaking about the leggy blonde, right?”
“My wife is the hottest number out there, I’d never deny it, but I’m also not unable to appreciate the view of another beautiful woman either.”
Knowing he was poking Gage at his most volatile point, Reed goaded, “Does hot Delaney know how much and how often you appreciate other views?”
“Don’t be a dick, Reed. Are you and leggy blonde something or not,” Gage snapped.
Before Reed could answer, Casey joined them, pulling his beer bottle from where he had left it in front of Hunter as he stood behind his three older brothers at the bar. “We talking about the smoking blonde?”
“God, help me,” Hunter muttered causing all the brothers to laugh.
“So who is she?” Gage repeated.
“That, gentleman, is New E
ngland’s political scene’s version of a black widow; high maintenance but brilliant and meticulous. Her name is Lacey, and she is my campaign manager and nothing more.”
“Campaign manager? Is that what you kids are calling it nowadays?” After a quick round of chuckles, Gage probed further. “Seriously, Reed, you sure nothing else is going on that we should be aware of?”
Accepting the glass with the amber liquid, Reed raised the glass to his mouth before explaining. “Trust me, she slices and dices me on a daily basis over this campaign, and I have no intention of going between the sheets with her where my favorite parts could be the next thing on the chopping block.”
Accepting this as truth, Gage refocused on the television and said, “Shame. You two looked good together.”
“Did your wife give you your balls tonight or is she still holding them in her purse?” Reed asked him, laughing at the unusual sentiment.
“Fuck you, buddy, I’m all man,” Gage gloated.
“I have to admit I was kind of hoping you two were a thing,” Casey’s voice said from behind him, ignoring the testosterone match that had started.
Enjoying himself immensely, Reed looked away from his challenging older brother to the fairer of the twins and quipped, “Are you really stating obvious disappointment because I’m not sleeping with a woman you think I look good next to? Damn boy, have you not noticed I look damn good all by myself. I don’t need a woman to make me look good.”
“You may not need one, but trust me, nothing is better than to have a special one to call your own,” Hunter inputted.
“Hear, hear,” Gage added before once more clinking his bottle to Hunter’s.
“Yeah, married life is joyous, blah, blah, blah, moving on,” Casey joked before turning his attention solely on Reed. “I’m just saying it is too bad nothing is going on between you two other than business. She looks like she could teach a man something.”
“Whether she could or not, I already know everything I need to know,” Reed said firmly.
“You can never know everything. Besides, with a teacher who looked like that, I’d be willing to fail the subject on purpose just for more tutoring.” Casey clapped Reed on the shoulder before heading back into the crowd with his beer.
Shaking his head at Casey’s horny thoughts, Reed turned back around where he joined Gage and Hunter’s change of subject conversation.
A few minutes later, Reed heard, “Excuse me?”
Before him was the same bartender who had brought him his drink.
“Are you Reed Dennison, the Senate candidate?”
With a charming smile in place, Reed responded, “Yes, I am,” as he extended his hand over the bar and gave the other man a firm handshake.
“That’s right; my kid brother will be the next New Hampshire State Senator,” Gage injected proudly from his seat two stools over.
“What’s your name?” Reed asked.
“Brian Cervone.”
“Oh yeah, you’re Frank’s nephew, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. My uncle couldn’t take care of this place anymore, and I wasn’t doing anything in Oregon, so when the opportunity presented itself, I packed my place up, trekked across the country, and took over the business for Frank.”
After a small chat about Frank, the original owner of the bar who had been in the town for as long as Reed could remember, the conversation came back to politics.
“I’m not one for politics, but something has got to give with this economy. I have some great ideas to expand the bar and the capital to do it, but unless something is done about the current laws and mandates, I might as well just open the window and throw the cash right out it,” Brian said as he multitasked.
“I hear you. That is why if I get elected, my plan is to get small business owners like you and Frank on the correct and effective track to get the resources you need to expand without footing the bill yourself at insane interest rates.”
“This place is all my uncle’s got. I want to make it profitable enough for him to have the retirement he wants and deserves yet still yield me a comfortable enough income as well.”
Now, it was Hunter’s turn to be proud. “Then you are talking to exactly the right man.”
As the two men continued to talk about options and plans, Reed felt good that Brian and Cervone’s was a perfect example of how helpful he could truly be. He even wondered if Brian would be willing to let Reed use his case in the campaign as a visual example, so to speak. As the two continued to discuss ideas and concepts, Reed’s excitement was growing beyond measure. However, suddenly, in midsentence, Brian’s attention halted. The other man stood tall and looked toward the bar’s entryway. Reed followed the younger man’s line of sight and felt his stomach clench
Standing just inside the tavern’s exterior door, there she was.
Colby.
She looked incredible.
Whether it was his vivid imagination or confirmation of his keen observation skills, Reed noticed how every eligible male and some not-so-available men took in the tavern’s newest patron. Looks ranging from simple awareness to those of blatant not-so-innocent interest could be seen.
Reed didn’t like it. The sudden desire to walk over to her, crowd her into the oversized door and claim that perfect mouth of hers for all to see ran rampant through him.
Seemed like Colby Jackson was Clearwater Falls’ hot new commodity.
The unusual need to forgo his command for privacy didn’t dissipate with the longer he stared at her. If anything, it grew to immense proportions when Dustin Poirier came through the door and joined her. Obvious to Reed, the two came together, and this notion had Reed grinding his teeth tight with tension. He suffered in silence as the other man had the audacity to place his hand on the small of her back and propel her further inward. The nagging emotion that he had been accustomed to feeling as of late boiled through him as he watched the two lean in close to one another to be heard over the bar’s acoustics. The duo was unaware they were on a collision course to where he sat, but lucky for the young deputy, they were halted by Mason, Casey, and Jamie, whom just happened to enter from the other side of the bar’s game area.
Reed watched as the men exchanged greetings while they placed Colby in the center of their tight group, whether on purpose or not. This kept her from being jostled and bumped into by the growing crowd of standing room only.
Dwarfed by the tall, masculine battalion surrounding her, Colby appeared to enjoy that they all vied for her attention in some form; ranging from jovial to lustfully.
Reed found himself gripping his glass tighter, refusing to let his eyes waver from their grouping. He was desperate to know who would gain her attention, yet ready to curse the lucky bastard.
“Sorry about that, Reed,” Brian offered this as his only form of explanation from opposite Reed.
Trust me, man, you are preaching to the choir here when it comes to that woman!
Not wanting to look away on the off chance he would miss something important, Reed did just that and looked at the other man and said, “No worries. I’ve had your attention long enough. Your business definitely won’t succeed if you don’t go and run it. Maybe we can pick this conversation up another time.”
The two agreed to sit down together in a few days before Brian walked away.
Reed went back to looking across the bar to where the small group remained. Thankful that Gage and Hunter were involved in their own conversation, Reed was able to gape without interruption.
As if someone above was on his side, the crowd parted just enough that he had an unobstructed view of them. Whether due to the size of her muscular entourage or because someone with divine intervention was enjoying Reed’s carousel of emotions, his direct line of sight remained unmarred. Because of this, Reed was able to drag his eyes over her small form leisurely.
Damn! She looks fucking hot tonight.
His eyes began at her feet, taking in the ankle length suede boots that gave her daint
y build only about an extra inch or so. Her well-worn blue jeans looked painted on, showing signs of threadbareness at the seams and near the pockets. The soft looking denim hugged her calves and thighs before resting low on her hips, cinched by her button fly and wide black belt. As she stood surrounded, she removed her coat revealing her high neck tank top. Her shirt’s antique lace-designed hem brushed against her belt, which he was sure if she were to raise her arms, her beautiful soft skin would become visible to anyone who looked. At first glance, the cut of her top looked as if it covered her modestly, but Reed’s eyes could easily make out the outline of her pert breasts through the light material; flesh that he knew was undoubtedly bare beneath. Whether because he knew every inch of her chest by memory, or because he felt the desire to be familiar with it again, he easily imagined the two of them slipping off to a darkened corner to do equally dark deeds. His mind continued to run rampant as he imagined how easy it would be once under the veil of privacy to raise her flimsy top upward, exposing those two perfect buds so his mouth could latch onto one as his hand possessed the other.
Reed drained his glass and slammed it down too hard before demanding another from the bar staff.
Responding to something someone said, Colby turned to give him a perfect view of how those jeans hugged her ass. Their cut and fit showed each perfect globe as well as the tight lined creases below.
Reed knew the taste of that crease; thinking of its incredible nectar, his mouth began to water.
Unaware of whom or when another glass was placed in front of him, he simply picked it up and drained it before slamming it down once more. His usual collective self was unraveling by the second, and the two with the same surname as his didn’t miss it.
“Reed, everything okay?” Hunter asked quietly.
Knowing eyes that missed nothing were watching him, he painfully and reluctantly pulled his gaze away from the scene and mentally reached around for a passable excuse.
“Yeah, my hand slipped,” he answered looking his brothers in the eyes. He knew they wouldn’t willingly accept such a poor excuse, but he desperately tried to pass it off as truth as he looked back at the lingering bar staff who stood waiting. “Two is my limit. If you could get me a glass of club soda, I’d appreciate it.”
