Love to Hate You: a Hope Valley novel

by Prince, Jessica

  She’d managed to give us the names of two more players in the operation, one a low-level street dealer we already had our eye on and the other an officer with the Hidalgo sheriff’s department a couple towns over.

  It went without saying that Leo and I were unhappy she wouldn’t see reason and get clear, but what surprised us both was the level of pissed-the-hell-off Linc’s guy Dalton exhibited when we told him that, once again, she’d shot down our request to let us get her out safely.

  “You either get her to accept she’s no longer a player in this game, or I’ll go in there and drag her off the board my goddamn self,” he’d snarled, drilling his finger into the top of the conference room table.

  We’d shut the meeting down after that, knowing we weren’t going to get anything more accomplished other than giving each and every one of us a raging migraine. We waited to get the all-clear from Xander, who was monitoring the cameras at the alley behind the building to make sure no one was watching before pushing through the heavy steel door and stepping into the night.

  “Don’t know about you, but I need a fuckin’ drink,” I gritted out, rubbing my temples as we moved through the alley toward the main drag of town.

  “Dani and the rest of her posse are at The Tap Room,” Leo said. “I say we head that way and throw a few back. At least, once we’re done, I can drag my woman’s ass home and into bed.”

  “Sounds good to me.” I needed a bourbon and a soft, warm woman to help shake off the ugliness I felt clinging to my skin like mist on a gray, rainy day.

  We made the short trek to the bar and saw it was packed for the night thanks to the band I could see playing on the stage through the windows.

  I pulled the heavy glass door open and stepped inside, out of the autumn chill that was starting to take over our valley. Moving toward the bar, I did a scan, in search of a couple empty stools, but what I saw instead brought me up short.

  “What’s the deal?” Leo asked when I stopped moving. He looked in the direction I was staring and let out a low whistle.

  I knew the exact reason behind that whistle. It was the same reason all the blood in my body was currently rushing straight to my dick. Leo might have been in a blissfully happy, committed relationship, but the man wasn’t blind or dead. Hayden was standing at the bar, bent forward to rest her elbows on top. Her ass was on display for every needle-dicked piece of shit in her general vicinity, and there were more than just a few taking the chance to ogle her. At the number of eyes on her perfect ass, that irrational sense of anger I’d felt at Fresh Foods the night before, causing me to act like a dick for no good reason, came rushing to the surface.

  “You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” I clipped under my breath, glaring at the woman who had the attention of half the men in this goddamn bar, myself included.

  I could feel Leo turn his attention to me, but I couldn’t pull mine off the woman who’d been fucking with my head for weeks. “What’s the problem? Figured you’d already be movin’ in on a woman like that. You don’t act fast, no doubt another man in here’s gonna beat you to it.”

  “Already had a woman like that,” I grunted. “In fact, I had that exact woman.”

  “What? When—wait.” He started laughing at my expense. “No, fuckin’ way. That’s her, isn’t it? The woman from the weekend you did your sister’s baby shower in the city? The one you had a showdown with in the middle of the refrigerated section?”

  “Sometimes I hate small towns,” I grunted to myself. I finally tore my gaze off Hayden’s ass to shoot my partner a murderous glare. “Glad you find this funny, jackass. Remind me to never confide in you about another damn thing.”

  “Are you kidding? This is great. It’s been weeks you’ve been strung up on this chick. And Christ, man, I can see why. She’s—oh shit.” His humor instantly fled. “We got a problem.”

  I shifted my focus back toward the bar and felt my blood turn to ice. “Fuck,” I hissed as soon as I spotted Cormack. The bastard was making his move right then, and he was making it on Hayden. “This can’t be happening, right now. Of all the shitty luck—”

  “Not sure how the hell you’re gonna stop that, but you better think of something. Last thing we need is that asswipe turning his attention on your girl.”

  “She’s not my girl,” I clipped, but even as I said the words, a voice inside my head was screaming for me to make him bleed if he so much as laid a hand on her.

  She giggled at something he said and tossed that thick mane of hair back off her shoulder. A sick feeling hit the pit of my stomach like a sledgehammer when he smiled at her. He shifted closer, she turned toward him, and they shook hands.

  I wasn’t aware I was moving until I nearly took down a waitress carrying a loaded tray. I issued a distracted apology and kept moving, closing in. I was just within earshot when I heard her honey-coated voice ask, “What’s the second question?”

  That prick actually had the balls to move closer to her. “The second question is, can I buy you a drink?”

  “That’s not gonna happen.”

  Hayden whipped around, her jaw hanging open in shocked anger, but I was too busy trying to melt the skin from Greg Cormack’s face with my eyes to acknowledge her wrath. He’d invaded her space. He’d smiled at her. He’d touched her. His hands were covered in Darrin Callo’s blood, and God only knew who else’s, and this fuck actually had the nerve to touch Red.

  His head tilted to the side, his chin jerking back into his neck. “’Scuse me?”

  “You need to move on, Cormack.”

  “Do you two know each other?” Hayden asked, but I ignored her question, too busy trying to keep myself in check so I didn’t choke the life out of this murderous son of a bitch in the middle of a crowded bar.

  “She yours or somethin’?” he asked, an arrogant gleam in his eye, like he was in the mood for a pissing contest.

  “Absolutely not!” Hayden proclaimed at the same time I answered, “Sure the hell is.”

  Her long hair slapped my arm and chest when she jerked around again to face me. “I am not yours, you arrogant dick!”

  For the first time since the standoff started, I looked down at the little fireball standing in front of me, a smirk pulling at my mouth. “Know how hot your pussy gets when it’s wrapped around my cock, and what your nails feel like, diggin’ into my back when you come. Pretty sure that makes you mine.”

  She sucked in a gasp so big it was a wonder her lungs didn’t burst. “I can’t—you didn’t just—that was—Oh my God! You’re unbelievable!”

  “You’ve said that before. That time when you were riding me while your hands were—”

  “Enough!” she cried, slapping a hand over my mouth to silence me and looking back over her shoulder. “Greg, I’m so sorry, but maybe we can finish this conversation at a later date? You could swing by the shop one day next week.”

  His eyes actually gleamed with triumph as he stared me down before slowly turning back to Hayden with a goddamn toothpaste commercial smile. “That’s a great idea. I’ll just leave you to handle this, and we’ll see each other next week.”

  “Sounds good. Have a good night, Greg.”

  “You too, beautiful.”

  Motherfucker!

  He walked away just seconds before I gave in to my urge to reach across Hayden and rip his throat out.

  Shifting my glare down to her, I bit out, “What the fuck was that?”

  “I should be asking you the same question!” she shouted, her sapphire eyes glazed with either rage or alcohol, I wasn’t sure which. “I can’t believe you just did that!”

  “Well, you better start believing, Red. And just an FYI, there’s no way in hell you’re seein’ that guy again.”

  “Oh my God,” she said, reaching up and raking her fingers through her hair on a bewildered laugh. “You’re insane. Completely certifiable.”

  “This isn’t a joke,” I grated, moving in closer and grabbing her arm as I lowered my voice. “I’m ver
y serious, Hayden. You need to stay away from that guy.”

  She must have seen something in my eyes that gave her pause, because instead of throwing attitude back, she lifted her chin and said, “Tell me why. You can’t issue a demand like that without an explanation, Micah.”

  “Because I said so.” It took less than a second for me to realize that was the wrong thing to say.

  The fight returned to her features in a venomous glare as she ripped her arm from my grasp. “God, I hate you.”

  I felt my defenses start to rise. It was ridiculous how this goddamn woman could turn me on and set me off at the same damn time. It was completely irrational how she was able to piss me off with just a look, but the way my body reacted to just the thought of her left me so muddled, my kneejerk reaction was anger.

  “Don’t recall sayin’ I was the biggest fan of yours either, Red.”

  Her face twisted and scrunched with rage, but, goddamn it, that look made me want to kiss her. “You know what? Go fuck yourself, Micah. I’m done with you.”

  Spinning around on the heels of her insanely sexy boots, she started to stomp off. It just so happened, she was heading in the same direction I was, toward Leo, Dani, and her whole crew.

  Every few feet, she checked back over her shoulder, frowning when she saw I was still trailing behind her. I had to bite the inside of my cheek each time to keep from laughing. Finally, we reached the cluster of tables, and I noticed everyone was staring at us in slack-jawed shock.

  Hayden whipped around, planting her hands on her rounded hips, and hit me with that attitude I kind of got off on. “Who’s the stalker now, asshole? Stop following me.”

  “Uh . . . do you two know each other?”

  At Eden’s question, Hayden caught on to the attention we’d garnered and looked back to the table in confusion. “Wait. Do you guys know him?”

  “They do,” I answered for the group. “Seein’ as I’ve lived here for years.”

  Roxanne spoke up then, her shrewd eyes gleaming, a knowing smile on her lips. “What I want to know is how you two know each other.”

  “An unfortunate run-in that I wish had never happened,” Hayden spit, skewering me with a murderous glare.

  “This is the best night ever.” That little gem came from Leo, who was having way too much fun with this disastrous situation.

  Hayden pretended not to hear him and kept me in her sights, flames shooting from her bright blue eyes. “Wow, all you have to do to ruin a person’s night is show up, huh?”

  “Oh damn,” Sage said on a giggle. “This is great. You guys, I think we just found the first woman on the planet who doesn’t go stupid at the sight of Micah Langford. She’s like our very own unicorn!”

  “I don’t know about that, Red,” I said in a murmur, leaning in so only she could hear. “Think if I got you back underneath me, I could get you to go stupid?”

  “You know, I was having a really great night before you showed up. Why don’t you do me a favor and go jump off a bridge or something.”

  “If you consider being hit on by a limp dick like Cormack a really great night, we need to reevaluate your standards, babe.”

  An adorable little growl worked its way from her throat. “I hate you.”

  “So you’ve said. Might want to come up with some new material. Your insults are getting a little stale.”

  All the women gathered at the tables started laughing hysterically. “Oh, man.” Dani giggled several seconds later, wiping at the wet under her eyes. “This is the best thing ever.”

  “Forget all those other suggestions, ladies,” Roxanne announced to the group. “Pretty sure we found the guy.”

  I wasn’t sure what the hell that meant, but my gut was telling me shit was about to get really, really messy.

  Chapter Nine

  Micah

  My plan to find a woman to help take my mind off all the stress in my life had been blown to hell the instant I’d laid eyes on a certain redheaded devil the night before. No other woman at The Tap Room held a candle to Red. None of them stirred something inside me that made me desperate to touch and taste. Only her. Goddamn woman.

  This morning, I’d woken up alone after crawling into bed the night before and jerking my dick to the memory of Hayden’s smart mouth and flashing eyes until I came all over my stomach. I’d gotten up and gone for an extended run, pushing my normal five miles to eight in the hopes of working her out of my head and from beneath my skin.

  None of that had worked, so now I was hauling my lawnmower out of the garage.

  “Yoohoo. Mornin’, neighbor.”

  I looked across the small picket fence through wild shrubbery into my neighbor’s yard. Sylvia was there in the garden like she was almost every morning, her yoga mat stretched out on the lush grass, bright teal leggings on beneath a long, flowy, multi-colored top. I’d lived next door to her for more than five years now, and she was, without a doubt, one of my favorite people in the world. For a woman in her eighties, she was constantly on the go and the life of whatever party she felt like attending. She spoke her mind and wasn’t afraid to give you her two cents’ worth. And more times than not, that came from a place of wisdom and experience. She’d lived each day of her long life to its fullest, and she had some incredible stories as proof.

  Most people would probably be surprised, but one of my favorite things to do was chill with her in her crazy garden, sipping the Tom Collins she’d make me—even though I wasn’t a fan of gin at all—and listen to her tell me about the more adventurous things she’d done.

  Moving to the fence, I tilted my chin and greeted, “Hey there, gorgeous. How’s your morning so far?”

  “Well, I woke up, so I’d say it’s off to a pretty good start. How about you?”

  My morning so far had been shit, but I wasn’t going to share that with her. She’d just dig into why, and it was bad enough I couldn’t get Hayden out of my head, the last thing I needed to do was talk about her as well.

  “Darlin’, you’ll outlive us all, and you know it.”

  She grinned and gave me a cheeky wink as she abandoned her mat and came closer to the fence line. “So, how have you been, dear? Haven’t seen you home much these past few weeks. It’s the case, isn’t it?”

  I hadn’t gone into detail about the Callo investigation with Sylvia, or anyone else for that matter, but gossip spread in Hope Valley like a nasty stomach flu. Everyone in town knew Leo and I were working lead on that case.

  “Had to pull some late nights and weekends, that’s all. Things will get back to normal as soon as we wrap up this investigation.”

  Reaching over, she patted my cheek with her small hand. “And I have every confidence you and Leo are up to the task. But you better be takin’ care of yourself in the meantime. Don’t make me lecture you on the importance of self-care.”

  Pretty sure self-care was what some might call what I’d done to myself in bed last night, but I wasn’t about to go there with an elderly woman, no matter how cool she was. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m bein’ careful,” I assured her. “Now, enough about me. Tell me about you. Saw a new car has been in the driveway the past several nights. That mean your niece finally arrived?”

  Sylvia’s face split into a huge smile that made the creases in her weathered skin carve even deeper. “That she did. Just over two weeks now. I tell you, it’s so nice to have her and her little one here. They’ve breathed life back into this old place.”

  For months, all my neighbor had been able to talk about was her great-niece coming to live with her. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen the woman so happy, which was really saying something, because she lived in a perpetual state of bliss—that wasn’t totally due to the special brownies she made on occasion—as far as I could tell.

  I’d heard one story after another about her gorgeous, talented, fiery niece. She’d told me about her from childhood to adulthood. Most of the stories were sweet or funny, but I’d also gotten an earful of her niece’s piece
of shit ex and bitch of a best friend.

  I knew Sylvia well enough to trust her judgment in most everything, especially people, and if she said her niece was good people, I had no doubt. And if she was anything like her great-aunt, I couldn’t imagine how a man could ever step out on that, unless he was lower than scum.

  Several weeks back, I’d helped Sylvia move from the big house to the small, converted carriage house near the back of the property, and since then, she’d gotten the idea in her head that her niece and I would be an incredible match, saying constantly that we’d hit it off in an instant. It was a notion I’d tried strongly to dissuade her of.

  “How’s she and her girl settling in?”

  “Oh, just wonderfully,” she answered, her face glowing with pride. “Making friends, getting the house in order, and my darlin’ girl’s taking to the shop like a seasoned pro, just like I knew she would.” She stopped waxing poetic, and her happy expression fell into a frown. “Although, this weekend was that rat bastard’s weekend with sweet little Ivy, so that hasn’t been very easy. But my girl, she pulled through. She’s one tough cookie.” She arched a single brow knowingly, and added, “And very attractive.”

  “Sylvia,” I said sternly, “not this again. Like I’ve told you a million times, I’m not the kind of man you want your niece tyin’ herself to. Trust me.”

  Her expression was full of exasperation. “Micah Langford, as I’ve told you a million times, you don’t give yourself nearly enough credit. You’re a good man. I don’t buy for a second that you’re the Lothario you’re known around town to be.”

  She’d seen the women coming in and out of my house more than I’d care for her to, so she knew better than anyone that wasn’t true. “Sweetheart—”

  “If a man wasn’t a good man, he wouldn’t start caring for the little old lady’s lawn next door without bein’ asked. You did that. Woke up one day and you were just out here, cutting and edging like my yard was yours.”