“Dude, be cool. You don’t want to mess with my mom. She’s a little bit crazy.”
The non-Dayton twin rolls his eyes. “We’ve had a few people disappear recently. We figure either you grabbed them up, or the assholes in Common Bend did.”
“If your people come to my town, they’re bound to disappear.”
“What if they want to go to the mall?” the non-Dayton twin asks.
“If they want to shop or eat at the fine establishments in White Horse, they’re welcome. If they’re doing business in my town, they become my problem.”
“But you didn’t make anyone your problem recently?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t be surprised to see you here.”
The twins glance at each other. I hate how these two big men are ganging up on my big man. I wish I could grow a foot taller and maybe gain a hundred pounds of muscle. I’d kick some major ass then. I bet I’d make a sexy as hell muscle bound man too.
I’m still imagining a hot guy version of me when the twins turn on their motorcycles. Flinching at the ferocity of the sound, I even step behind Hayes like a chickenshit. The men say something over the roaring engines, but I can’t hear them. Hayes doesn’t respond to their comments, and soon they disappear down the road and around the corner.
“What was that about?” I ask as he ushers me back into the office.
“Grab your shit. We’re going to the hotel.”
“Why?”
Hayes rests his shotgun on the spare desk. “I’m tense.”
“My vagina is not a punching bag you can use whenever tense.”
Grunting at me, Hayes is a ball of irritation. He glances down at my hand holding the pepper spray and smiles.
“You would have gone after them, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course. I have your back, asshole.”
Hayes steps closer and cups my face. “You wanted to have fun before they got here.”
“I don’t want you taking out your frustrations on my vagina.”
“I’ll be as gentle as possible.”
“So not all that gentle then.”
“I’ll do my best.”
I walk to my desk and slide the pepper spray in my purse. “Do you think I’d make a sexy man?”
“Sure. Can we go now?”
“You’d be an ugly woman. I’m sorry if the truth hurts, but you have no feminine qualities.”
“And you have no masculine ones. Well, you do scratch your crotch sometimes like you have itchy balls. I like that.”
I stand at the doorway and sigh. “Those guys won’t cause problems, will they?”
“Not for me.”
“It’s sexy how they sent two guys to scare you. One just wouldn’t do.”
Hayes locks the door behind us and takes my hand. “No, it wouldn’t.”
“Would you have shot them?”
“If I had to, but if they come for me, it won’t be so obvious.”
“Being in charge is tricky shit,” I say once I’ve slid into the truck.
“It is, but those guys are harmless.”
“They didn’t look harmless.”
Hayes turns on the truck and then frowns at me. “Did you think I couldn’t take them?”
“Of course, you could. I had your back, remember?”
Grinning, he pulls out of the parking lot, and we head to the hotel where we’ll spend a few hours grunting and groaning. I can’t complain about the perks my job comes with, but the asshole bikers leave me nervous. Hayes is always so busy scaring other people that I forget how he might face enemies not so easily frightened.
THIRTY TWO - HAYES
Candy and the kids are dressed up for dinner in red shirts and dark pants. I consider teasing their matching attire but keep my mouth shut. This is a big move I'm making, and I don’t want anyone's temper shitting on what I’m trying to do.
“Where are we eating?” Candy asks, adjusting her seatbelt.
“It’s a surprise. Don’t hassle me, okay?”
Candy grins. “Are you upset we didn’t tell you to wear red?”
The twins ignore us while playing on Candy’s phone. I glance back at them before focusing on Candy.
“Leave me alone.”
She laughs and caresses my face. “I think you’ve hit your limit for family time, boss.”
“Shut up and let me drive.”
Candy leaves me alone for a few minutes while flipping through the radio channels. She’s already reset the truck pre-sets to stations she likes, and I suspect she’ll do the same in the SUV.
Sitting at a light, I study Candy. Her face is covered by her hair as she leans forward. When she sits back, Candy grins at me.
“I saw George Strait in concert before. Have you ever gone to a concert?”
“No. I don’t need morons screaming all around me.”
“I didn’t like it either. A couple was arguing on one side of me, and these girls were cry-singing on the other side. It was distracting, but George sounded great.”
My shoulders hurt, and I realize I’m so fucking tense that I’ll probably say something overtly hostile soon.
“You look beautiful,” I say, sounding grumpy.
Candy studies me, and I feel small. I never feel fucking small. I wasn’t even born small.
“I dreamed about you last night,” she murmurs, leaning toward me. “You were climbing a mountain, and I was trying to keep up, but you were going too fast, and I fell behind. Eventually, you were so far ahead that I couldn’t see you, and I realized you’d left me behind.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Probably that you’re a force of nature, and I don’t think I can keep up.”
I lean closer to her and whisper, “You mean fucking-wise, right?”
Candy sits back and laughs. “No. I’m just impressed by what you’ve built in White Horse. Take the compliment and keep your mind out of the gutter.”
Grinning now, I feel the tension easing off me. Having Candy worry about losing me helps calm my fear of losing her. I never give people power over me. Even as a kid, I kept other kids at a distance. I’ve never trusted a single damn person, but I trust this woman. She even tried to watch my back when the Rutgers twins showed up at the office.
I take her hand and enjoy the way her fingers curl around mine. She knows I’m edgy, but doesn’t fear me. Even after our blowout a week ago, Candy remains fearless in the face of my bad temper.
Fearless until I pull down the street to my house. Her expression shifts to terror, and she reaches for my arm.
“Where are we going?”
“My place,” I announce, hitting the button for the gate. “I have the chef from The Glenn coming over to cook us steaks and chicken.”
Candy stares at me in horror. “Why?”
After pulling down the drive to the garage, I turn off the SUV and glance at her. “Why not?”
When I open my door, Candy hurries herself and the kids out of the SUV. She pulls them aside and whispers in a panic. I don’t know what her problem is, but the kids peek around her so they can stare at me. How has my grand gesture turned into a horror movie where they need to plan their escape?
Candy walks to where I wait at the front of the house. She and the kids watch me with weird, steely gazes.
“What?” I ask.
“I reminded them to behave here like they would at their grandparents.”
“Why?”
“Because your house is a precious thing you’re weird about, so they need to be very careful not to get anything sticky.”
Cricket grins at me, and I wonder if she’s planning something. I imagine her wiping sticky shit all over my walls. Taking a deep breath, I remind myself I have the place cleaned daily, and the maid is perfectly capable of removing child residue.
“I’m not worried,” I lie.
Candy still looks nervous while Cricket looks devious. Chipper is focused on the gnomes in the yard.
“Cool trolls,” he sa
ys to me.
“They’re gnomes, and my mom bought them for me before she died.”
“I like my mom too,” he says.
Feeling on the spot, I exhale hard. “Let’s go inside.”
I take them through the large foyer and down a long hall to the living room/kitchen/dining room combo.
“You really like TV,” Cricket says, staring at my 90-inch flat screen.
“Yes, I do.”
“Can we watch TV?”
“You can watch TV at home,” Candy says instantly.
Cricket peels her gaze from the TV and stares at her mother. “What are we going to do while you kiss Hayes?”
“I brought multiplication practice sheets in case you get bored,” Candy says, staring back at her daughter.
Cricket shakes her head. “I’m not bored and never will be.”
“Good,” Candy says and then looks at me. “You have a beautiful house, boss.”
“Beautiful?”
“I mean impressively massive and manly.”
A few minutes after we arrive, Chef Jerry from the restaurant arrives. He gives Candy a big, nervous smile when we join him in the kitchen.
“Tell him how you want your steak and what the kids want,” I tell Candy, who frowns at Jerry’s huge smile.
Candy gives Jerry very specific instructions for the food. I swear she’s messing with him, but she only smiles at me.
“Does this house have bedrooms?” she asks, once she’s done tormenting Jerry.
“Yes.”
“Are the guest rooms away from the master?”
Understanding her meaning, I smirk. “Actually, they are. Let me show you.”
We glance at the twins sitting on the couch and staring at my multifunction remote control.
“It’s as big as my arm,” Chipper says in wonder.
“Nightmare is in the backyard if you want to play with him.”
They look to their mother who shrugs and opens the back door. The kids hurry outside and stand on the patio in the darkening night. The dog doesn’t appear until they call his name. Then he barrels out of a hidden part of the yard where he lies in wait for people. I smile at their squealing reaction to his appearance.
“He’ll keep them safe.”
Candy walks with me down the hallway to my bedroom. “I have four spare rooms on the other side of the house. I use one as an office. Two are empty. One is a guest bedroom for the zero number of people I have visit.”
Candy says nothing until we enter my room with my massive bed in the center of the room.
“Wow! So this is where you masturbate while thinking about me.”
Laughing, I smack her ass. “I use the shower too.”
“Oh,” she says, peeking into the bathroom. “The whole place smells like you.”
“Is that your way of saying your panties are wet?”
“No,” she mumbles and hurries to the bed. “Why is it in the middle of the room instead of against the wall? Do you make porn films in here?”
I watch Candy crawl on the bed before she decides to bounce on her knees.
“Good springs,” she says, giving extra bounce to her tits. “Yeah, gotta have quality springs.”
“Are you having fun?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“Why did you bring us here?”
“I have my reasons.”
“Are they top secret?” she asks, resting on her stomach and swinging her legs. “Like your personal porn films.”
“Don’t get your dirty shoes on my clean bed.”
“Can I get other dirty parts on your clean bed?” she asks, humping a pillow. “Oh, Angus’s bedding, don’t stop.”
Laughing, I walk over and yank the pillow free from her thighs’ death grip. “Knock it off.”
“Not until you tell me why you brought us here.”
“What’s the big deal?”
Candy rubs her boobs on my comforter. “You’re the weirdo who never invites people to his house. You made this a big deal so tell me why.”
“If I do, will you stop sexually harassing my bed?”
Candy sits up and shakes her head. “Sexually harassing? That’s big talk from an employer who wants his assistant to suck him off at the office.”
“I only ask because I know you’ll say no.”
“One day, I’ll try. Maybe as an old woman with a death wish.”
“I would never kill you.”
“I’m not worried about you. It’s the boa in your pants that terrifies me,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows.
Candy takes another pillow and begins making out with it. I cup her head and force her lips on mine. She tosses the pillow aside and grips my shirt.
Candy pries her lips away and whispers, “Why are we here?”
“Because I want to prove I love you,” I whisper back.
Candy stares at me stunned for a few very long seconds before smiling casually. “Of course, you love me. I’m the best thing that ever happened to you.”
Smiling, I kiss her again and lean her back on the bed. She doesn’t remind me about the twins outside. I think of them anyway and slowly let her up.
“I love you too,” she says.
Rolling my eyes, I walk toward the door. “Yeah, fucking duh, Candy.”
“Sure, as if you had any idea. You’re not fooling anyone.” Candy grabs my arm and smiles up at me. “Thank you for bringing us here.”
“You’re welcome. I want you to know how I understand the kids are part of the deal.”
Candy pulls me to a stop before we reach the back door. “I promise I’ll never hurt you on purpose. Even though trusting people isn’t your strong suit, you can trust me.”
I study Candy and then cup her face. Kissing her softly, I feel both powerful and scared as hell. She has the power to hurt me. No one in the world can break me like Candy can now. I’ve given her this power, and I’ll learn how to live with feeling vulnerable. Until I get the hang of it, I’ll pretend to be the asshole I’ve always been.
THIRTY THREE - CANDY
The minute we turn onto Hayes’s street, I know something is up. I’m uncertain what he has in mind when we pull up to his big, modern, concrete home. Now I’m outside watching the kids play with Nightmare in the expansive, manicured backyard. A too quiet Hayes stands at my side. When he crawls into his head, I always worry. Normally, he's thinking about how many people he needs to kill to get what he wants. Now he’s thinking about me.
“I like your house,” I say, breaking the silence. “It feels like you in every way.”
“Well, it is my house.”
“I’m Candy, Hayes. Don’t put on your bullshit mask for me.”
His dark eyes find me and study my face before he finally asks. “What does that mean?”
“It means you’re overwhelmed by having us here and by saying those three words in your bedroom. You want space, but you’re afraid to ask for it. You think I’ll be mad, but I know you, and I know you’ve been alone for a long time. Space makes sense. Not only for you but for me too. I’ve been without a man all my life. Even when I was dating, I never viewed myself as part of a couple. Now I love you, and I want to spend all of my time with you, but I also want to have my life stay the way it was. I know what you’re feeling, so you pretend with me.”
“You want time away from me, huh?” he says.
“Not yet, but I will. It’s normal for people like us. We’re basically loners. If I didn’t have the kids, I’d be alone a lot, and I’d be okay with that. I don’t need to be entertained by people. I want my space, so I understand you feeling trapped.”
“You’re projecting.”
“Am I, Oprah?”
Hayes grins. “I actually did hear that word on her show. It was years ago while I was waiting at the dentist.”
“Don’t lie, boss. We both know you love Oprah. I bet you watched her every day.”
“Pain in the ass.”
“Maybe but I love you. I’m not in denial of who you a
re. I understand all the bad that comes with all the good. I know you aren’t a man accustomed to having children playing at his house or a woman rolling around in his bed.”
Hayes stares at the sky, and I catch him smirking. “What you were doing to my pillow was damn sexy.”
I smile too and take his hand. “Having us here is a big step. I don’t need you to make any other big displays for a while. Just relax.”
Hayes leans down to kiss me, hears the kids nearby, and changes his target from my lips to my cheek.
“They know we kiss,” I say, pulling him down to kiss his lips.
Hayes wiggles free. “My parents once made out in front of me. I still have nightmares.”
“No offense, but your parents weren’t as hot as us.”
“My mom was a good looking woman.”
“Yes, very handsome,” I say and then dodge his hand when he tries to smack my ass.
I walk to where the kids are petting Nightmare. The mammoth dog stares at me with his big, dark eyes, reminding me of his owner. They’re both giants living in a normal sized world. Though excited to have company, they’re also still hoping we’ll leave soon.
“He likes when I scratch him behind the ears,” Chipper tells me.
Kneeling down, I pet the dog, and he rolls on his side to get tummy love. I glance back at Hayes watching us with his dog. There’s something a little lonely about the way he stands apart. Every night, he comes home to an empty house. Nightmare is accustomed to being alone all day. They’ve only had each other for so long and adding to their little group is probably scary as hell.
I know I’m scared about my future with Hayes.
His house feels like his. Mine feels like mine. The kids just settled into their new lives in White Horse. None of us are really interested in change. As long as we keep things simple for the time being, this arrangement can work.
Unfortunately, Hayes doesn’t believe in simple.
“We ought to go somewhere for your fall break,” he tells the kids after we sit down at his dining table to eat.
“Where?” Chipper asks immediately.
I know my son wants a father figure. He tried with his real father, but Toby has no interest in children. He won’t even hold his “wanted” son, Charlie.
Chipper tried bonding with his grandfather, but Charles Eddison isn’t the warmest man. He loves his grandkids, but they freak him out. I doubted he was hands-on with Toby either.
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