by Rica Grayson
She grabbed a single cupcake and bit on it before she jumped out of her seat and waved. “Cream cheese frosting, by the way!”
After I heard the screen door slam shut, the silence was all the more pronounced. Now it was just me and Liam.
I grabbed a cupcake from the box myself and took a bite of it. Maybe it was cowardly, but sometimes a girl needed a cupcake to boost her confidence… Or maybe to delay a conversation that was bound to happen. It burst with flavor from the cream cheese, perfectly complementing the red velvet cake. Kiera had been too modest. This was great.
I saw the elegantly-designed baking cups and then I remembered that I used the same ones back then. It came back to me—the punch of shock and the crushing disappointment when I’d seen him with someone. I had no right to the feeling. But I looked at my cupcakes and thought that sometimes, things weren’t meant to be.
It turned out I was completely wrong about him.
“A few weeks ago…” Better to get it out of the way. “I made you a batch of cupcakes.”
He didn’t say anything. He just waited for me to continue.
“I—I threw them away.”
“You threw them away,” he echoed, and his eyes darkened. “What the fuck? Why?”
“I was nearly going to give them to you.” I crumpled the delicate baking cup. “I was finally going to make you see me. I walked out and… And then I saw you with her. You gave her roses.”
“Oh I knew who you were.”
It was the last thing I expected him to say. “But…” I stopped, absorbing what he’d just said. “How?”
“Hell, Bree, everyone knows who you are. And every time you look at me with those blue eyes, it fucking draws me.”
I’d once considered him out of my league. That one person that put a smile on my face every morning, and the person I’d nearly given up on.
And he’d just practically told me he’d noticed me all this time. Not just little more than a passing thought, but real interest.
I blinked. “R-really?”
Hearing the uncertainty from my voice, he closed the distance between us, trapping me against the counter.
“I’ll make it up to you with some of my choc-mint ones,” I went on, running through some of my killer recipes in my head. “Or maybe—”
“Tomorrow,” he whispered against my neck.
“But—”
“Right now, I can think of another way you can make it up to me.” He slid the curve of his nose along my neck, his lips nipping at the tender skin. I shivered. I was pressed against him, my knees turning weak.
But he had to know.
I turned to him. “Liam, I—I don’t have much experience with… with this,” I confessed, unable to look in his eyes.
He froze. “Bree,” he breathed out, understanding my inexperience. He tilted my chin up to meet his eyes, a tenderness in the gesture. “Am I your first?”
I shook my head. “No. My last boyfriend… He was rough, and it hurt.”
There. At least now he knew that sex hadn’t been great for me. I didn’t have high hopes for it.
His expression hardened, a scowl expressing his displeasure. “He was an idiot.” It happened a while ago, but that he’d said it at all had me smiling.
His hands roamed down my arms, until they stopped to brush the sides of my breasts. My breath caught in my throat at his touch.
He looked at me like he wanted to take me right here. “Let me show you. It’ll be good between us.” He shot me a wicked grin, all his devastating charm focused on me. “I fucking promise it will be.”
“I—I don’t want to mess it up.”
“Nothing you do will.”
My stomach dipped, hearing his words. His mouth came down on me, and I opened mine, inviting him in. His tongue stroked mine, soft and slow at first, going just a little deeper each time.
We were tugging each other’s clothes off.
His hands were rough. Hands of someone who worked hard and long. And yet it was a contrast to the way he touched me—gentle, yet teasing.
“Too fast?” he asked huskily, both of us breathing hard as he pulled back.
“No,” I protested, burying a hand in his blond hair and pushing his head back down.
It didn’t matter anymore if we were going fast or slow, or if it was perfect. Pleasure—feeling it and giving it—did.
I pulled him close.
He flicked a thumb at my taut nipple. Pleasure shot straight down. I let out a whimper from his touch. A torture in itself.
It no longer felt weird or clumsy. It was frantic, wild, and fueled by pent-up need.
He guided my hands towards his cock. I rolled a condom on him that he gave me. He groaned as I slid it on.
He ran his knuckles over my cheek, taking my mouth again. He slid inside me slowly.
I gasped at the sensation, feeling so full.
He stopped. “Too much?” His breath stroked my skin.
I shook my head, unable to form coherent words. This was easy. Natural. And so right.
All the feelings he was stirring in me started to crest as he slid slowly back out before he drove back in. Then he hit a spot inside me that made me moan.
“Liam.”
“That’s it. Let go, baby.”
He thrust deep, and circled my clit with a thumb. My nails dug into his back as I came, hard, clenching around him.
He came after as I rode the wave, his mouth crashing against mine.
I’d once heard that falling in love was like diving off a steep cliff. First came the spontaneity of it. It was dangerous. Unpredictable. Crazy, maybe. Then there was the action itself—the way your heart raced, the sensation at the pit of your stomach, like you were falling.
I had.
He’d held me close as he slept, a silent strength he didn’t know he’d lent me by being near. With Liam, I couldn’t tell when it began, but I knew in an instant that everything had changed between us. I’d let him in.
Tomorrow, our relationship could dissolve into nothing and I’d be picking up the pieces of my broken heart.
I was going to hold on while it lasted.
And as I pressed my lips against his, he mumbled something in his sleep—something that sounded a lot like my name. My heart swelled in my chest with words I couldn’t say to him.
Not yet.
He wasn’t offering a relationship. I had to remind myself that this was temporary. Fleeting.
I sighed deeply, pulling the covers up. My eyes nearly closed when I noticed my bare wrist.
My heart stopped.
My bracelet was gone.
Chapter Eleven
Bree
Maybe I’d dropped it outside?
After a quick search, I tiptoed my way out of the room, careful not to wake Liam. I went to the kitchen and the living room next, looking under tables and chairs.
I didn’t hear my bracelet fall. I didn’t feel it slip off, either.
I definitely had it yesterday morning, but I couldn’t remember if I still had it last night after I closed Sprinkles and Stardust.
I traced my steps back.
I rang the restaurant we went to last night, but no one said anything about finding a bracelet.
The only sensible place left was the bakery. The shop wasn’t going to open until later, so I could give it a quick check before we opened. It was also time I picked up my car from the repair shop.
My bracelet was probably in the bakery, and I was just needlessly stressing myself. I didn’t want to disturb Liam by waking him up, so I left quietly. This wasn’t going to take long, anyway.
The street was uncharacteristically quiet when I got out of the car and jogged towards the bakery. I opened the shop, leaving the sign as CLOSED for anyone who happened to pass by.
I set a small box of the red velvet cupcakes down on a table. I’d drop them over for Rona after I found my bracelet.
I heard the door squeak open, followed by the shuffling of footsteps.
>
“It’s closed,” I called out.
But I didn’t get a response back or hear anyone move. The hair on the back of my neck stood. Before I turned to look at the visitor, I felt the cold metal of a gun barrel on my back.
“Bree Carmichael,” the man’s voice said evenly. Before I got to ask how he knew, he pressed the barrel harder against me. “Surprised? Yeah, I know you. You’re going to listen to me, and you’re going to do what I tell you…”
Liam
My phone woke me up.
The screen glowed with Rona’s name.
“Hey, Liam. Are you with Bree?”
Disoriented, I rubbed my eyes. I sat up slowly.
“Yeah. She’s…” I looked beside me. No Bree. “Wait, hang on. Bree?”
No answer. I didn’t hear any sounds from the bathroom, but it couldn’t hurt to check. I stood up, stretching my neck. I pushed the bathroom door open. It was empty. “Bree, baby?”
I pushed the door open on the room beside hers. The kitchen opened up to the living room, and both showed no signs that Bree was there.
“She called to tell me she was going to drop by with some cupcakes after checking something in Stardust. But she hasn’t made it yet, and she’s not answering my calls.”
“How long ago was that?” I asked sharply.
She sighed. “She was meant to be here around an hour ago. I waited since I thought maybe something held her up. It could probably be nothing, but Stardust opens soon.”
I’d stepped on something rough, and looked down. Her charm bracelet. I picked it up, closing my fingers around it. She wouldn’t go anywhere without it.
“I’ll call her and check, yeah? Will let you know if she answers.”
“Okay,” she replied, a little uncertain.
“Come on, Bree,” I muttered, pacing along her kitchen after I dialed her number. “Answer your phone…”
Maybe she just left it somewhere, and she didn’t hear.
I tried twice more.
She wasn’t picking up.
Fuck.
Why would she leave? Was I too rough earlier? Did I hurt her? Why didn’t she say anything?
I checked the room again, but there was no note. All these questions, but no Bree.
Someone was calling.
More calls. Christ.
My screen flashed and showed me that it was Pete, my friend and hacker extraordinaire.
Somehow, somewhere along the way, someone decided I was the guy people went to when they needed something fixed, or when they needed a favor. Or when they needed a ride somewhere. Turned out, it led me to getting closer to Bree.
I didn’t mind most of the time, but right now I needed to find her.
“Pete, this isn’t—”
“Liam.” The voice stopped, unsure. “Man, I’m sorry.”
Bree immediately came to mind. “Explain,” I said, my voice tight.
“I’m sorry for calling at seven am,” he said as if reciting the line. “I won’t be a dick and next time I’ll wait until ‘normal’ hours.”
Yeah, I could just imagine him holding out a notepad and reading what he wrote. I bit back a laugh. “Did she make you say that?”
“No. But I concede she had a point. Called you this morning,” he admitted sheepishly. “She basically told me you were sleeping and to call back when you woke up. Didn’t look it, but feisty woman, that Bree. She’s a keeper.”
A quick glance told me I had three more messages, all varying versions of an apology.
“Yeah, she is.”
I just needed to find her.
Rona said she was going to drop by after she went to the bakery. It looked like I was going to have to take a trip to Sprinkles and Stardust.
Chapter Twelve
Bree
“What do you want from me?”
“You don’t get to ask the questions. This car,” the man whispered harshly in my ear as he indicated the car in front of me.
“But—”
“I know this car is yours. Get in.”
He plastered a smile as someone walked past.
“Bree! Are you opening early today?” Matilda asked. She owned the salon nearby, which locals often frequented.
The man glared at her.
“Is this guy giving you trouble?” She frowned, putting a hand on her hip.
I didn’t forget that there was a gun behind me, hidden by the man’s jacket.
I shook my head, afraid my voice would waver if I said a word. I looked around, hoping other people would see us. He poked me with it again. Matilda didn’t look convinced, but I was forced to take a couple of steps forward.
He pushed me inside the door and shut it. He ran to the other side.
“Hey!” I heard someone yell outside.
“Drive.”
My hands shook, but I had no choice but to comply. I took a deep, steadying breath. The silence was deafening in the small space.
“Why me?” I tried again.
I thought he wasn’t going to answer at first, until his lips curled back, and he finally said, “Your man’s been asking too much questions. We’re making sure he won’t do it again. Turn right here.”
“My man?” I repeated blankly. Did he mean Liam? “He’s not…” Coward. I couldn’t bring myself to complete the statement. Because to say that there was nothing between us was also a lie.
“Shame.” His eyes swept over me. I only had time to grab an old shirt that was probably a size too small, since I was in a hurry. “Maybe I’ll get to have some fun with you later.”
I shifted further away from him on my seat, as far as the small space would allow, a sick feeling in my gut.
“Questions about what?” I tried not to think about him so close next to me.
“Curious, aren’t you? But no more talking. Take that exit.”
Oh God.
I had my phone in my back pocket, but I didn’t know how to use it without him seeing it.
He kept looking behind me. Either he was antsy, or overly cautious. I inched my hand toward my pocket slowly. When he looked back at me, I froze, putting my other hand back on the steering wheel.
Liam
Sprinkles and Stardust opened, but the sign still showed CLOSED. I went inside anyway, pushing the door open.
“Bree?” I called out.
No one answered back.
I took a brief scan around, and everything was still in place. I found the box of cupcakes on the table. She was definitely here. It was like she went inside, took something, and then… She left. Without locking the door?
What the fuck was going on? I walked further in, “Bree, it’s me.”
My shoe bumped onto something, and I looked down. It rolled, thudding as it hit the wall—the charcoal-colored menu holder I saw when I sat down here most days. To its left was the menu that had also fallen. It looked as if had been knocked down.
My blood went cold. I slipped the phone out my pocket and dialed a number. I didn’t wait long. He answered in two rings.
“Cal, gonna need your help.”
I made another call straight after.
It looked like today was the day for calling in favors.
Chapter Thirteen
Bree
He led me into an old warehouse. It was full of boxes except for the small space in the middle. He met with three guys inside, who were in the middle of a card game.
I immediately scanned for potential exits. They were too far away. If I had the chance to use my phone…
My captor pushed me towards a chair, tying a rope around my wrists and feet despite my struggle. He stuck tape on my mouth. I gave him a defiant look.
The smug asshole rubbed a hand on my shoulder. I jerked away from his grasp.
He muttered something under his breath. Then he spoke to the three guys, and then he left.
They barely paid me any attention. I tried to slip my hand in my pocket. Around the same time, one guy stood up and went for a smoke. My frustration gre
w.
Patience. I needed to play it smart and be patient if I had any chance of escaping.
My captor came back a while later.
He slid a hand under my neck, making my skin crawl. He gripped my chin roughly and pulled my head up, even though I tried to pull away. He took his phone and snapped a picture of me, tied up, my hair loose.
He walked further away, and he made a call.
The rope was tight around my wrists, but if I moved a little more, I could reach my back pocket for my phone.
I strained my ears, trying to listen in on their conversation.
“We got your woman. You need to stop asking questions if you want to see her again.”
While he was preoccupied with the phone call, two busy with their cards, and the other having a smoke, I used the opportunity to slip my fingers and press my phone where I thought the emergency button was.
“What’s that?” my captor yelled angrily. He was now facing me, his eyes glittering with rage. He pulled my phone out of my grasp, threw it on the ground, stomping on it with his foot.
I released a muffled protest. I tried to break free and move the chair with my whole body, sobbing.
It was done. No one was coming for me. Now he’d never find me.
There was a screech of tires outside. I must’ve dozed off, the energy seeped out of me after crying earlier. I couldn’t see what was going on, but I heard a yell, and then the sound of wooden boxes toppling down.
What was going on? My heart pounded hard in my chest as I listened. For a brief moment, I thought I heard the sound of something crash. What followed straight after were the unmistakable sounds of gunshots.
Oh God. Why were they shooting each other? Did they have some sort of fight?
“Bree!” I knew that voice.
Two men rushed in, but my eyes zoomed in on Liam. Maybe I was dreaming. But seeing him made me feel relief.
The man who captured me earlier went behind me, holding a gun to my head. It all happened in a blur. The chair I was in got knocked to the ground, and I fell, knocking over some boxes behind me, a burst of pain shooting through my head. Then darkness claimed me.
