Return To Sender (The Hart Brothers Book 2)

by J. S. Cooper

  “I’m insufferable, but I’m the best lover you ever had.”

  “Well, that’s because you’re the only lover I’ve ever had.” I walked into the bathroom and over to the tub and turned the hot water on. “Do you have any essential oils?”

  “Any what?” He looked confused.

  “You know, peppermint, or eucalyptus, or lemon balm, or…”

  “No idea what you’re talking about, so no.”

  “What about Epsom salts?” I tried to ignore the fact that we were both standing there naked and he was looking at me as if he were still hungry.

  “I have salt in the kitchen.”

  “Not table salt.” I took a deep breath. “What about bath bombs?”

  “Bombs?” He frowned. “Are you going crazy? Has my good loving caused you to lose your mind?”

  “Bath bombs, they release salts and oils into the bath to make it more relaxing. Some of them also make it foamy, but that’s pretty unusual. I usually add bubble bath if I want bubbles. But you have a spa tub so maybe it’s a good idea not to add any bubble bath if we’re going to run the jets. We could have bubbles up to the ceiling.” I giggled at the expression on his face. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

  “No.” He reached his fingers into my hair and leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the lips. “I have absolutely no idea.”

  “Is there anything going on Wade,” I whispered, taking advantage of this moment of closeness between us. “Is there anything I should know about? Anything you’re worried about?”

  He stared at me for a few seconds, barely blinking and then he just shook his head, his dazzling eyes going slightly vacant. “Nope, there’s nothing you need to know, Savannah. Nothing at all.”

  Chapter 14

  “You look like you’re thinking about something real hard.” Lucy joined me out by the pool about an hour later and sat on one of the recliners next to me. “You okay?”

  “Do you think I’m a fool, Lucy?” I sighed as I lay back. “Actually maybe don’t answer that?”

  “Why would I think you’re a fool?” Lucy frowned and gazed down at me.

  “Because we just found Wade hiding out in the damn forest and as soon as he gets back to the house, I’m in his bed, with no answers, but a whole lot of loving.”

  “A whole lot of loving?” She grinned. “Good loving, I hope.”

  “If it wasn’t good, would I be in this position?”

  “True, that’s most probably a no.”

  “It’s a huge no. He’s got me hypnotized.”

  “Dickmotized.” Lucy laughed and I just groaned.

  “Not funny.”

  “So I’m taking it you got no new information or you got a lot of new information that’s not good and you don’t know how to tell me.”

  “No information.” I sighed. “But his brother Henry is coming tomorrow for dinner.”

  “Oh yay, another Hart brother.” Lucy said sarcastically. “Do you think we can get this one to talk?”

  “Well, I was hoping, slash, thinking that you would be able to get him to talk and I’d work on Wade.”

  “How the hell am I supposed to get him to talk?” Lucy pursed her lips. “I’ve never even met the guy.”

  “You could work your magic power on you.”

  “What magic power?”

  “I don’t know. Flirt.” I laughed and she made a face. “Don’t look like I’m trying to pimp you out, I’m just saying this could be a strategy and a way to get more information.”

  “How do we even know that he knows something?”

  “Because I heard Wade on the phone with him, remember. It’s both of them I can ruin.”

  “I cannot believe you’re trying to pimp me out to your bosses brother.” Lucy laughed. “I know I’m desperate, but I’m not that desperate.” Then she paused. “But just for my own knowledge, is he as hot as Wade?”

  “Some might say, he’s even hotter.” I grinned and it was true. Not that I found Henry hotter. I was all into Wade, but I could see that people that preferred a smiling face to a dark angsty one, would very much prefer Henry.

  “So what’s the plan with Wade?” Lucy changed the subject and I sat up.

  “What do you mean?”

  “How do you feel about him now and do you trust him more than before? And did he not tell you anything about why he was in the woods.”

  “He keeps saying that he just wanted to go hunting.” I shrugged. “I’m not a hunter, I don’t know how that goes. And no, he’s given me nothing else. And I don’t know if I trust him anymore than I did before.”

  “I can see why you’ve fallen for him. There’s something about him.” Lucy looked thoughtful. “He has a commanding presence.”

  “Yeah.” I shivered as I thought about the way he’d handcuffed my wrists together. “He likes to be in charge.”

  “And from the looks of it, the sex is amazing.”

  “You don’t even know. I didn’t even know it could feel like this.” I licked my lips. “It’s crazy, but it feels like more than sex. It really does. It feels like we have a real connection.”

  “That’s dangerous, Savannah.” Lucy looked concerned. “I don’t mind if you have sex with him still, that’s your right, but you can’t let your emotions get involved. Not any more than they already have. And if you think you can’t control your feelings, then you need to stop the sex. Immediately.”

  “Why are you always right?”

  “Because I was born that way.” She laughed. “Do you want to go for a swim? I’ve never had a midnight swim before.”

  “Aren’t you tired?” I laughed. “And you do know that it’s not Midnight, right?”

  “I know it’s not Midnight, but I also know that tomorrow night I might not be here, so I want to enjoy it while I can.”

  “You think we might be gone tomorrow?”

  “Savannah, I honestly don’t know. Everything is happening so quickly these days and it’s all so crazy. What if we find out that the flesh in the sink wasn’t that of a deer...” She paused and I frowned.

  “What’s that look for?”

  “I’m just saying, did you notice that he said it was deer and elk?”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So he killed a deer and an elk and we see no hair, no bones, no antlers and barely any meat.”

  “Oh.” I swallowed hard as I processed her words. “So then what was it?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged.

  “You think he’s bad, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know.” She shook her head. “If I had a really bad feeling we’d be out of here and I certainly wouldn’t have let you sleep with him again. But the more I think about everything, nothing is really adding up.”

  “I hate this.” I sighed. “I feel like we still know nothing.”

  “I think we know a whole lot more than we think we know.” She played with her fingers and sighed. “We just need to unlock that knowledge.”

  “Easier said than done.”

  “Yes, it is.” She jumped up. “So can we swim now? Tomorrow our minds will be fresh and we can think more.”

  “Sure.” I stood up. “Let’s go to your room and change and then come back out.”

  “Do you think that Wade will mind?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I just gave him a massage and a body scrub. I think he’s most probably sleeping.”

  “A body scrub?” Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Should I even ask.”

  “No.” I blushed, remembering how I’d gone from rubbing him down with my hands to my breasts. I’d never had a bath with a man before and I’d never had sex with a man in the bath before. It had been hot and sexy, but I wasn’t quite ready to tell Lucy how I’d ridden my boss to orgasm as he’d squeezed my breasts and pinched my nipples. There were some things that just needed to remain behind closed doors.

  Chapter 15

  “Lucy, you really didn’t have to help me make dinner. I could have
done it by myself.” I opened a packet of cheese and stared at my friend gratefully. “Though, I’m not going to lie. I’m so grateful to you for helping. This is really going to be a delicious dinner. Wade is going to be shocked.”

  “I bet.” Lucy laughed. “I guess he must actually like you a little bit because you’re still employed and we both know that you can’t cook for shit.”

  “Yes, I can. I made the best cheese on toast made to man.”

  “Ha ha, but man cannot live on cheese alone.”

  “You wanna bet?” I grinned and then picked up the grater. “Do you want me to grate this entire block of cheese?”

  “Yup, we’re going to make potatoes au gratin.” Lucy nodded. “You can either grate the cheese or scallop these potatoes.”

  “I don’t even know what it means to scallop potatoes.” I laughed. “I’ll stick to grating the cheese.”

  “You took the steaks out of the freezer right? They’re defrosting.”

  “Yup.” I nodded. “We can season them next.”

  “Awesome. I’ll season them and you can make the salad.”

  “I do make a mean salad.”

  “Sure.” Lucy laughed. “So what time is Henry arriving?”

  “He’s going to be here at about 6pm, I think. That’s what Wade said?”

  “And Wade is still out right?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “He’s been out all day.”

  “How was last night when you went to bed?”

  “He slept and I slept.” I sighed. “He was pretending to be asleep when I went back to the room after our chat.”

  “How do you know he was pretending?”

  “He was snoring loudly.” I made a face. “And he never snores. He’s such a bad actor.”

  “You didn’t shake him and call him out on it?”

  “Girl, if he wanted to pretend he was sleeping, let him pretend. I don’t even care. I’m over him and his lies.”

  “Aww, man.” Lucy rubbed me on the back, trying to comfort him. “Hopefully tonight leads to some answers.”

  “Do you really think it will?”

  “No, but one can always hope.”

  “You really don’t have to seduce Henry by the way, I was just joking last night.”

  “I know you were joking and honestly, it doesn’t even matter if you weren’t. There’s no way in hell that I’d seduce someone just to get information.”

  “You say that now…” I laughed and then yelped as I cut myself on the grater. “Ugh, this sucks. Did you say you also needed me to cut some yellow onions?”

  “Yes, please.” Lucy nodded and then started singing a Rosemary Clooney song that she loved called “Mambo Italiano.” I found myself singing along with her and I was pleased to find that some of my anxiety was dissipating. I had no idea why Wade wanted to have this dinner with Henry tonight. And I had no idea where he’d been all day. All I knew was that enough was enough. I needed answers. I was going to demand answers. Something was up and I wasn’t going to let it go until I knew what was going on.

  “Oh yeah, have you heard from Gordon yet?”

  “Still nothing.”

  “Hmm, that’s so suspicious man.” Lucy put the sliced potatoes into a large bowl. “Well, hopefully we’ll have some information soon. I have the request in with the library to get access to some newspaper articles I couldn’t find online.”

  “What articles?” I stared at her. “You didn’t tell me about any articles.”

  “I went online and used JSTOR and some other library searches. I found a slew of articles featuring Joseph Hart, Wade Hart, Henry Hart, and Louisa Hart. Many of them have been archived, but the great thing about the library is that they have microfiche. I’m having everything sent to me. I’ll be able to go through the articles and check them and find out more about these Hart men that have so entangled our lives.”

  “Our lives?”

  “Well, at first it was just your life, but now I’m invested and I also want to know what’s going on.”

  “Yeah, me too. When will you get the articles? I can help you read through them.”

  “I’m not sure.” She poured some heavy cream into the bowl and then salt and pepper. “Hopefully soon.”

  “Those are some weird ingredients.” I raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “Savannah, are you seriously questioning my culinary skills? You, who thinks making Pillsbury doughboy rolls makes you a baker?”

  “That was only once and they turned out pretty good.” I laughed and she just shook her head at me. I stared at the clock on the wall and realized we only had an hour left to finish the meal and get changed and I wondered where Wade was and when would he be back? I was just about to text him when I heard him coming through the front door. He’d brought Henry with him and I could hear the two men talking as they made their way down the corridor towards the kitchen.

  “Something smells good.” Henry said as soon as they entered the kitchen and even though I wanted to answer him something came over me. Wade was staring at me and there was something about the look on his face that made me keep quiet. He wasn’t smiling and he wasn’t angry, he was just there, staring, watching, studying and it made me feel like I was the only woman in the world that had ever existed. An idea for a poem sprang to mind and I wanted to rush out of the room and write it down, but I knew that I would look weird if I did that.

  “I guess no one is going to introduce me.” Henry stepped forward and offered his hand to Lucy. “I’m Henry, Wade’s much better looking brother.”

  “I’m Lucy, Savannah’s much wiser and smarter best friend.” Lucy grinned and Wade chuckled slightly.

  “Wiser and smarter huh, I didn’t know there was a difference.”

  “Are you asking me for the definitions or are you just trying to be difficult?” Lucy shot back and I stared at her in surprise. I’d never seen Lucy being so combative before, but as I saw the twinkle in her eye, I wondered if she were actually flirting?

  “If you have the definitions to give me, sure go ahead.” Henry ran his hands through his hair and leaned back as if he were highly enjoying the conversation he was having.

  “No thank you, Lucy.” Wade cleared his throat and put his arm around his brother’s shoulder. “Wade, stop teasing the poor girl. You don’t want her to think that both of the Hart brother’s are crazy.”

  “Crazy sexy?” Henry raised an eyebrow and then winked at Lucy. I was surprised to see that he was as big of a tease as Wade.

  “Is there such a thing as crazy sexy?” Lucy responded sassily. “You’re either crazy or sexy and I have a feeling you know which one you are.”

  “I do know, but do you?” Henry laughed and Wade grimaced. “Okay, we should leave you both for now, but I’m excited for dinner and to catch up with you both again soon.”

  “Let’s go Henry.” Wade shook his head and then he walked over to me and kissed me on the lips. “I’ll be talking to you later, Ms. Savannah Carter.” He winked, smacked me on the bottom and then both brothers left the kitchen. I looked over at Lucy who was silently laughing and I glared at her.

  “This isn’t funny!”

  “I know,” she said, suddenly looking serious. “I think we’re both in a whole heap of trouble and all I can hope is that we get some answers soon.”

  Chapter 16

  “They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and I feel like you two really want to win our hearts.” Henry grinned up at Lucy as we finished setting all the plates on the table. “This looks delicious.” He looked down at his plate, full of steak, potatoes and veg. “I didn’t even realize I was that hungry.”

  “Give it a break, Henry.” Wade sounded annoyed and I wondered why he’d been so moody since he’d gotten back home. We hadn’t spoken all day and I wasn’t sure if he was deliberately avoiding me. Maybe he wished he were still in the forest hunting? For some reason, he seemed to be putting up a barrier between us and I just wasn�
�t sure why.

  “Well, I hope you enjoy it Wade.” I took my seat next to him. “I know how picky of an eater, you are.”

  “Do you really think I’m a picky eater?” He looked at me with a smirk as his hand found my knee until the table and ran his fingers up my leg.

  “Yes, you’re the pickiest.”

  “That’s not what you said last night.” He grinned and I gasped.

  “Really Wade?”

  “And he says I’m immature.” Henry laughed and I glared at Wade as his hand moved up my thigh.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” My hand slapped down onto his.

  “Nothing?” He said innocently as he picked up his knife and fork. “Thanks for cooking girls, I have to agree with my brother. This looks amazing.”

  “Well, it’s not like I had a choice. This is my job.”

  “Touché.” Henry laughed. “Before we start, let me get us some drinks. Red wine for everyone? I think we have some nice bottles in the cellar.”

  “You have a wine cellar?” I looked over at Wade who was grinning. “Why didn’t I know about this?”

  “I didn’t want you drinking me out of house and home.” He laughed. “Good wine is expensive.”

  “You’re such an asshole.”

  “Am I?” He shrugged. “Because I won’t let my assistant drink my thousand dollar bottles of wine?”

  “I’m just your assistant now, huh?”

  “Well after hours you’re my bedroom whore.” He held up a hand as I smacked him hard in the arm. “It was a joke,” he laughed loudly. “Savannah, you know it was a joke, right?”

  “That was a very distasteful joke.” I glared at him. “I’m so done with you.”

  “Savannah, I apologize, you’re not my bedroom…” He stopped himself. “I’m not even going to say the word again.

  “You know the truth is often said in jest, brother?” Henry’s voice held a hint of amusement in it and Wade glared at him.

  “I will make you leave if you keep this up.” “Oops, let me keep my mouth shut and just enjoy my food and the company of two pretty women.” Henry cut into his steak and then paused. “Oops, I almost forgot I said I’d get the wine.”