“I hear this town is a little whackadoodle over Halloween. I already see decorations going up,” I chuckled. “You seem my age…or close… I don’t know. Anyway...I’m sort of new. Anything you might recommend to do around this place beside Halloween decorations?” I offered her a shy smile and looked away myself.
“Umm.”
Her brows scrunched together unsure of my motive.
She lifted the three books in her hand. “I read.”
“Ah! Hmm.” I held my hands out to the side as if they were two scales. “Read.” I shook my left hand. “Halloween decorations and drink.” I shook my right hand then raised them both up and down like I was measuring the weight of both.
Victory. She smiled.
“I’d go with the reading.” Her words so soft, it was hard to make it out.
“You know, I’m probably creeping you out. I’m sorry. I’m Adam Stroud.”
The darkness in her eyes lightened just a bit. “You’re not creeping me out, but do I know you?”
“Good. Um…no. You don’t know me, but I’m building the house across the street from you. And I couldn’t help but notice your house not being decorated while little decorations are going up all over town.”
“Yep. Gotta have things up and ready to power on by October 1st. After her exaggerated eye roll, I offered her my ornery grin.
“What’s this I hear? Someone doesn’t like this Halloween craziness?”
“No,” she said softly.
“Well, I do like that there is one other person who feels the same way I do about Halloween.” I smiled. “I won’t keep you any longer. Sorry if we wake you up too early with our pounding.” I winked and held my breath waiting for her response.
She shook her head and smiled again.
Score…two smiles!
When she turned away from me, I didn’t want to push things, so I turned to head in the opposite direction.
“Adam?” she called after me.
“Yes?” I said too quickly as I stopped.
“Why do you not like Halloween?”
I shook my head pretending to shake away some bad thoughts. “Can I just say—difficult memories?”
Her mouth fell open just a bit as if my words had knocked the wind from her body.
“How about you?” I pressed already knowing the answer.
“The same,” she whispered with a flicker of hope in her eyes.
“Tell me your name,” I asked, keeping my distance.
Her chest expanded as she drew in breath.
“Anna…Brice.”
Respectfully, I nodded. “Ms. Brice. Have a great day.”
Taking control, I turned away from her, leaving her standing there in a way I hoped worked to intrigue her further.
Chapter 2—Anna
Stepping into my nearly uninhabited house, robbed me of the slight smile I’d carried the rest of the way home. TJ was right, I deserved to smile, but the regret and guilt of not being with them prevented me from moving on.
The toy-cluttered floor was easy for me to maneuver. I’d know the path blindfolded. The books weighed heavy in my arms, and I tossed them into the chair.
The blinds and curtains had been drawn for ten months and when I twisted the pole to open them, dust scattered in several directions then settled again. I immediately glanced outside. Even with all the gossip flying around about the ‘new, hot, construction worker’—never did I give him a second thought. But today…
Tears, which had been absent for so long, drowned my eyes. A panic gripped my chest and made it difficult to breathe. The attraction I felt to this man brought an overabundance of emotion and shame—especially since we’d only said twenty words. Through murky eyes, I peered out the blinds across the street at the construction site.
Nerves tingled inside my chest with the thought of seeing him again. When I spun around, our family picture caught my eyes. My Jack and Michael…their distinct blue eyes twinkling. Michael. My first and only love. Why did it feel as if I was being disloyal to him when I thought of the construction worker who made me smile, if only for a second?
No one had made me smile for so long. As I wiped the dust off the pictures, I realized that for the past ten months, I’d been an empty vessel, disabled and abandoned—floating through my days with hope of merely existing. Desperately praying for memories that torturously faded day by day. Smells had deserted clothing and bedding; I was left with nothing but a gaping wound of loss and mental tears.
As I stared at my front door where the police entered that night, it hit me that the ‘move on’s’ and ‘I’m sorry’s’ from the townsfolk had dwindled. When I walked through town, I know I was the lady who had gone crazy and spent time in the psych ward at the hospital after trying to kill herself. I held the honor of keeping the town entertained with gossip. And for fuck’s sake…I was the woman who wouldn’t decorate for Halloween.
But today…today was the first flicker of hope for any sort of normalcy that I’d felt in months. My heart skipped a beat as I stood in the middle of the room where three hundred and three days ago life as I knew it was shattered. My heart skipped another beat and I interpreted that as a sign—a sign that as dead as I’d been living…I was indeed alive.
Chapter 3—Adam
Sunday afternoon, I met some guys at the high school for a quick pick up game of football. I could outrun, outwit and outplay any of them. Not one knew me outside of…”Adam the construction worker.” Darrell, the contractor on the house we were building, had invited me to join their game.
I knew each of them—where they grew up, where they went to high school, every woman or man they’d put their dick in over the past five years. I knew their backgrounds, arrest records and professions. They didn’t give two shits about who I was. Just the way I liked it.
The wind bit into my uncovered legs. Clearly shorts were not the best idea. With the falling temps, everyone was cold, so we called it quits earlier than normal. Knowing TJ was taking credit for shit he didn’t do pissed me off and proved that he was a liar.
“So Teej. You nail her yet?” Darrell asked finishing his Gatorade.
TJ cocked his brow. “Do you not think I’d have told you if I had?” TJ took a 9mm out of his athletic bag and we all took a cautious step back.
My piece was in the truck and my neck ticked back and forth measuring his dumbass, irrational moves.
Darrell tossed the bottle into the trash and laughed, apparently blowing off his friend’s level of crazy.
Darrell spoke again, “Ten months, buddy. You ever given a woman that much effort? And put that thing a way you crazy fuck.”
With his tongue, TJ licked down the barrel of the gun simulating a sexual act.
“It’s gonna be fuckin’ sweet when I do though. Bang the hell out of those cobwebs. Take possession of her. Every inch of her.”
My gut wrenched at his words. Assfuck!
The other guys laughed like this conversation was typical.
“What the hell ever, I saw Melissa climbing out of your police cruiser two days ago wiping her mouth, so it sure is hell ain’t like you be goin’ without,” Tony said, punching TJ in the shoulder and causing the gun to drop and hit the bench. Instinctively, I darted out of the way anticipating a misfire. No one else flinched.
The corners of TJ’s mouth slid up as his chest puffed out. I take it he was proud of his conquest with this Melissa girl.
“Whatever,” Darrell chimed in. “Melissa sucked my cock two weeks ago.”
Images of the high school locker room flashed before my eyes, and I couldn’t believe 30-year-old men were talking like this.
“You can have Melissa and her dirty mouth, but you take one step toward Anna and well…we don’t want two murders in this town within a year now do we?”
Though TJ smiled, playing it off as a joke, there was undoubtedly truth to his words. He eyeballed me as if I was a threat. He didn’t know the half of it.
“You’d kill for her huh?�
�� Darrell asked, starting to walk away.
“A. She’s got a lot of insurance money. B. She’s a damn doctor. C. She has a pussy that needs fucked more than anyone I’ve ever known. Plus she was mine once. So…possibly.”
I chuckled out loud. Mainly because in all my years, doing what I do, I wasn’t sure I’d met a bigger piece of shit. No wonder her eyes lit just a little when I spoke to her—if this is what she’d dealt with for ten months.
“Text me next game,” I hollered over my shoulder as I tried to disappear. The more I stayed off their radar, the better.
Once in the truck I drove the twenty minutes to the bar, watching behind me for a tail. Two cars passed me when I intentionally slowed, and I watched as they drove out of sight.
Mac’s car was already there. I parked away from his and went in.
Two middle-age men played pool, an older man sat at the bar alone and a younger couple sat in a booth watching an NFL game. Mac eyeballed me from across the dark room and nodded toward the jukebox.
After playing some music, I joined him sitting across the table.
“We good?” I asked.
He nodded. “What’cha got?”
I shrugged. “Not a lot yet. Playing football,” I said staring at the big screen on the wall. “Made contact. Positive.”
“We have two new missing dogs.”
My eyes shot up.
“Puppies or dogs?”
He took a long draw on his beer then licked the foam off his upper lip. “Young dogs.”
“Has the vet been notified?” I asked.
“Yep. We don’t believe they are in this area. Yet.”
Certainly not the news I was hoping for. I released a frustrated breath.
“Just keep your eye on her. We’re adding additional surveillance.”
“Alright,” I bobbed my head then got up and walked out as quickly as I’d come in.
Chapter 4—TJ
My pants were open but not down as I watched her sway on her porch swing. Night had set in and my windows were tinted. As I held my dick in my hand, I stroked slowly up and down thinking about her mouth.
Eighteen. My senior year. That was the last time I’d tasted that mouth and I would taste it again. She’d never sucked me off before, but I’d watched her do it to Michael once. My eyes closed as I imagined her sitting next to me. I remembered the warmth…the sweetness.
Too many nights I’d sat here watching her just like tonight. While continuing to stroke, I thought about getting out of the car, walking over there and taking her. Observing her swing back and forth in the swing—I decided the first thing she needed was my tongue tasting her…dipping into her. I smiled as I thought about her crying out my name.
“Ahhh,” I cried out myself in the car as semen inched up ready to spew.
Jesus. My mouth watered thinking about her tight, little pussy and how long it had been for her. She needed me. All of me. I closed my eyes for a second imagining sliding into her, thrusting my hips urgently back and forth as she screamed.
I grabbed the towel from the seat next to me and laid it over my stomach.
“Anna,” I grunted out pumping my fist wilder.
Images flashed through my head faster than I could keep up. Grabbing fistfuls of her hair and forcing her head down to take all of me. Spewing down her throat as she gagged and fought—trying to come up. My balls tightened and released then tightened again as I panted, ready to blow.
“TJ, please,” she would beg, and as I shot the most pleasurable load onto the towel on my stomach, I knew I wouldn’t let her come up for air until she had milked me for every last drop.
As my breathing returned to normal, I smiled in her direction, aware that she couldn’t see me, but smug in the realization that someday that reality would be ours.
Chapter 5—Adam
The damn wind was cold again today. I hated winter and September was way too early for this shit. I drove into town because one of our men spotted Anna on the move. The girl walked everywhere…I’m not sure why yet.
As soon as I turned off Main Street, I saw her beautiful chestnut hair whipping in the wind. Her hair was down? Wow. It was never down.
I lifted my foot off the gas, allowing my truck to slow. She carried flowers and a drink from the coffee shop. I decided to park the loud diesel and follow her on foot. By the time I pulled over, got out and hoofed it to find her, she was crossing over to the cemetery. Clouds settled low over the hill making it eerie as hell.
This was the eleven-month anniversary. I knew that. Hesitantly, I trailed her, and once she found her knees in front of the tiny little headstone, I stood against a tree and watched.
“Hey buddy,” she said animatedly. Thankfully the wind carried her voice. “I brought you a hot chocolate since it’s getting cold. I know how much you love these. So,” she said resting her head against the stone for a second. “Even though I don’t like Halloween anymore, I was thinking you would be the cutest 3-year-old super hero.”
At that moment, I committed to memory the tone of her voice because in all the times she’d spoken, I’d never heard such a musical sound—happiness radiated from it. Then as quick as that, she was weeping.
“I’m so sorry, Jack, that I said no to superman last year,” she cried. “I had put so much time into the lion costume and I’m sorry. I’d let you be anything you wanted this year.”
Her hands caught her face when she lowered her head.
The suffocating feeling in my chest made me…uncomfortable. Every part of me felt the need to go to her…to hold her… but I stayed back. Getting emotionally involved was a downfall. I’d never fallen victim to it thus far. I wouldn’t now.
She took a long, slow breath—maybe trying to calm herself.
“Oh Michael. Why? What really happened that night?” Anger echoed in her voice. “I don’t believe you did the things they say you did.”
Those words got a brow rise from me. Maybe she really didn’t know.
A solid ten minutes ticked past before she spoke again.
“I met someone…well, sort of.”
Hearing those words, I closed my eyes, trying to listen more intently.
“Seems silly, really. I’ve only met him once, but he made me smile, Michael. He hates Halloween…that must be a sign, right?” Tears again.
As cocky and confident as I was, this knocked me on my ass. Jesus lady. We exchanged twenty words. It wasn’t that big of deal.
“I know I’m jumping the gun because all we did was chat for like 10 seconds, but Michael. This made me realize I want to be held and touched. Maybe not even sexually, I don’t know. I just need to feel. Please don’t be mad at me.”
When my cock fucking twitched, I made up my mind that I was the sickest, coldest bastard ever. She was at her kid’s damn gravestone for fuck’s sake. I dragged my hand the length of my face, wishing I could take back the feeling inside. The fog rolled closer and within thirty minutes, it would swallow us.
A harsh wind picked up and I’d bet money she was freezing her ass off. As I watched her kiss the tombstones of both her husband and son, I realized cold, hard stone is the only thing she’d probably kissed in a year.
Once back in my truck and sadly reaching a new low even for myself—I became fully aware of her vulnerability. I slowly edged up next to her as if I’d just stumbled upon her and rolled down my window.
“Is it crazy I was just thinking about you?” I shouted out the window.
Surprise and shock flitted over her face before she composed herself and smiled.
“Adam,” she breathed out my name in a rushed whisper and wiped her teary eyes.
“It’s pretty cold. Want a lift?”
Her head instantly shook no. “What are you doing?”
“I had to run some errands and was just headed home. Get in. I’ll run you by your house.”
Another shake of her head, but she stopped walking so I pushed the brakes and unlocked the passenger door unsure of her next mov
e.
“I don’t know where you live. Is it out of your way?” Her brows darted up in question in the cutest way.
“Well now, ma’am, this entire town is about two miles wide, so I suspect that it’s not too far out of my way.”
After cocking her head sideways, she approached the truck, her chin barely topping the window. She grabbed hold of the door handle.
“Promise never to call me Ma’am again and I’ll get in.”
She smiled outwardly…but her swollen, red eyes told a different story.
“Ma’am is proper,” I explained.
Watching her trying to lift herself up into the truck, I mentally noted that next time she would need help. She closed the door.
“Proper for elderly perhaps. How old are you, sir?”
We both smiled and this time her smile was brilliant—the best smile in the world.
“I’m 27. And would it be improper for me to ask your age?”
I already knew she was 31.
“It’s not improper. I’m 31. God that sounds so old.”
A shiver rippled through her, so I turned the heat up a notch.
“You are not old. Home?”
Her slight hesitation gave me hope, and then she offered the tiniest of shoulder shrugs.
“I don’t know. Home unless you have a better suggestion.”
“Actually, I do.”
With that, I gave the truck some gas and drove. The twenty-minute drive left me quietly contented. Neither of us spoke. But it wasn’t awkward—not even in the slightest.
“Is this a strip bar?” she asked as we pulled into the same gravel parking lot from earlier.
A deep guttural laugh from me broke out in the truck. She giggled too.
“You seriously think I’d bring you to a strip bar? This isn’t a strip bar, but it is a bar. I figured the town has enough to gossip about…they don’t need us on their list. I found this place a while back.”
The depth of her brown eyes was immeasurable as I stared into them. They were staring back at me with an unreadable desire—my heart found a pretty Goddamn uncomfortable rhythm.
“Shall we go in?” I asked.
A Haunted Heart Page 2
