by Liz Crowe
"You're right. I... I should go."
"Tonight." She whirled on him. Her eyes glistened in the waning light of the late summer day. "Don't wait another minute." She bit her lip.
"I do love you Sara. You know that."
She shook her head. "No. You don't. Stop saying it. You love the idea of me. You always did. But the woman you do love is waiting, patiently. Make it worth her while. I know you can." She touched his lips. "I release you."
He grinned, ran his hand through his hair and took off running back up the beach. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and dashed off a quick text.
"I'm coming home tonight. Be ready for me." By the time he'd reached the cabin he had his answer.
"Hurry. I'm waiting."
Sara sat, let a single tear fall, then took a breath and congratulated herself for the first selfless thing she'd done in a while. Even if Craig were Katie's biological father, his place in her life had been fleeting. He could remain an uncle. She sighed and sat back. The dilemma remained.
How to convince Jack she was serious.
The sound of her name made her jump up and start back towards the steps. Anxiety ripped through her at the sound of Katie's cry. When she reached the cabin, Craig had the girl on his lap, trying to examine her foot. Blood poured from a huge gash in her instep. "What happened?" Katie was positively shrieking, gasping with sobs unlike her. Sara looked over at Blake. He motioned for her to come outside.
"Jack called. He's not coming." Well, that explained Katie's hysterics.
"Why not?"
Blake led her further away from the open window. "It's his sister. She's…I guess her husband is dead." Sara gasped, automatically heading inside for her phone so she could call him. "No, Sara he's already on a plane to Germany. He said he'd call you when he got there. Katie got the word and ran outside to find you. Must have stepped on a stick in the yard. Craig found her on his way back up." Blake gave her an odd look. "Craig said he had to go too."
Sara gave her brother a hug. "Yeah, honey, he and Suzanne…" Blake sighed into her neck.
"Good. She deserves someone like him."
Sara's head pounded. She should go with him, help, or something. She'd only met Maureen and Brandis once but knew how important they were to Jack. She walked back in to find Katie calming in Craig's arms, her foot covered with a bandage.
"She won't need stitches but should stay out of the water and sand tomorrow, sorry."
Sara found her phone, trying Jack's number in spite of Blake's insistence that he couldn't be reached. The sounds of an airline staff preparing for takeoff met her ears. "Hey. I'm glad you called."
"Jack, do you want me to come too?"
He sighed. "No, it's... I'll handle it but I don't know how long I'll be gone. You and Jason are in charge, okay?" It took her a minute to realize he meant of the real estate company. "I gotta go or the air marshal is gonna confiscate my phone. I'll call you as soon as I land."
"I love you." She blurted into the phone, but it had already gone dead. Sighing she pulled Katie out of Craig's lap, and flopped down on the couch with her. Craig stood, pressed a kiss to her and the girl's foreheads and left.
Chapter Twenty
By the time he hit the Ann Arbor exit off Interstate Twenty Three Craig had worked himself into a frenzy. The four-hour bike ride had not settled his nerves like it usually did. Instead, his skin felt like something he could shed, like a snake and still be jumping out of it. Annoying. He switched off the radio headphones and drove onto Suzanne's quiet, mansion-lined street.
"I don't have a pretty story," she'd said. He pondered how bad it could possibly be as he observed the stately Italianate-style home with its long, tree-lined driveway and massive wrap around front porch. Suzanne's Mercedes was parked in front of the three-car garage. He sat on his bike a minute, letting the dark descend fully, working up his nerve. The nearly five years he'd spent apart from her and Sara and all he'd come to love about them both had played hell with his nerves. He'd channeled the frustration into school, diving in deep to emerge with a degree, and a urgent need to get back to Michigan he could hardly control.
Suzanne had come to Nashville twice, used the opportunity visit Yazoo and a few of the newer craft breweries in the area. The first time they'd fallen into bed and hardly seen the light of day. But, by the time she left she'd done her distancing thing, emotionally, and Craig had vowed not to let it happen again. Two could play. The next year and a half they spoke, texted, keeping it light and sexy. But every time Craig felt a little bit of himself dying when they hung up.
Female company in the highly charged, competitive atmosphere of medical school was pretty easy to find. He had more sex with more women than he cared to admit or even remember. Wincing at the memory of one woman in particular who'd been hard to dislodge from his two room apartment, he dismounted, took off his helmet and took another moment to gather his words.
Suzanne couldn't have come into his life at a stranger moment. The whole year with Sara and Jack and all that fucked up energy had nearly killed him. But he had returned to the slight redheaded brewery owner again and again. And now, he knew exactly what he wanted. She had to let go of her whole arms-length crap, accusing him of still having too much "emotionally invested" in Sara. Fuck that. He had nothing to prove to Suzanne any more, other than the fact that he loved her and wanted to be nowhere else but with her, all the damn time.
"About time," He started, looked up and saw her at the top of the porch steps her slight frame draped in a sundress that shone yellow against the deepening gloom. At that moment there was nothing else but her and the few steps separating them.
He took them in less than six strides, picking her up and covering her lips before she could protest. She wrapped her arms around his neck, opened her mouth to his tongue. She tasted magnificent, just like he remembered. The half-hearted erection he'd maintained more or less all the way down from Manistee sprang to life, making him cringe as blood rushed from every other part of his body. It had been so long, too long. He was about to fix that, permanently.
"Suzanne," He muttered into her neck, smelling her, tasting her, loving her. "Oh my God," he sighed and sat on a huge lounge nestled in the corner of the porch. "I'm sorry. I've been so…"
"Shh…" she muttered, straddling his lap and cupping a hand under his hair. Her tongue darted out, licked his lips, then ran along the line of his jaw, nibbling as she sighed and pressed into his cock. "Take me Craig. Right here. Please." She brought her face to his. Tears stood in her eyes. Craig's chest tightened as he cradled her face in his hands.
"No crying. I can't take it." He brushed away the one tear that had fallen with his thumb, slanted his mouth over hers, ran his hands down her back to her ass and back up, reveling in her perfection. Their tongues met, their sighs filled the night air around them as she reached down to unzip him, fisting his hard flesh. "Hang on tight," He muttered into her ear. She wrapped arms and legs around him as he stood and slid jeans down and off. She shifted as he sat, and he felt her body envelop him, hold him in the delicious, warm glove of her sex.
Groaning into her neck he slid the thin straps of the dress down, moving the soft fabric aside to reach her small pert nipples. She gripped his shoulder as he sucked one between his lips, grinning as her pussy flexed and gripped him tighter. Moans filled the dark porch as he rocked into her, suckling her flesh, holding fast to her hips. "I'm gonna come. Craig. Oh... shit."
Her whole body shook and pulsed and Craig's entire life felt complete as the glory of her orgasm took him to the edge. "Look at me," His voice sounded rough. She kept trembling, wouldn't do it, so he tilted her face up, stared into her brown eyes, once again filled with tears. "I love you." She kissed him then, blocking out anything and everything but his need to be right here, right now. He gripped her hips harder, thrust deep and his climax roared up from the base of his spine, nearly blinding him. "Dear God!" He whispered into her neck, the orgasm rolling through him, his body turning into
one pulsing erotic nerve.
"That's it baby," She threaded her hands in his hair, kissed him again, as their bodies stayed joined, cooling in the night air. "I missed you." She sighed and stood, releasing him to flop back against the couch back, still breathing heavy, head spinning, heart racing.
"Come back here. It may take me a minute to recover." She smiled and let him tug her down next to him. He draped an arm around her, kissed her forehead, her hair, unwilling to let the amazing moment end. She snuggled into his side, a perfect fit. The sounds of the summer night soothed him, the distant noises of a passing train mixing with the clicks and murmurings of whatever she had living in the pond behind her house. Content beyond imagining, he was about to slip into a brief refractory nap when she spoke, jarring him and everything he knew about his world to a new level.
"I killed my first husband. I mean, I did it accidentally. But he spent the last four years of our marriage taking out his frustration of being a marginal doctor on me. With his fists. And his cock. And anything he could lay his hands on." Craig lurched to his feet, turned and stared at her.
"What the fuck are you…"
She held up a shaking hand, kept her seat. "I have to tell you Craig. I won't hide this from you anymore. Blake," her voice broke. "Blake nearly beat him to death when he found out. When I missed being at the brewery for an entire week because he broke my ribs. I never went to the hospital. I loved him you see." She dropped her chin into her hand, staring at him.
"How can you... I mean... what... who... Christ!" He ran a hand through his hair, paced the length of the porch once and then again before she spoke.
"Calm down. Let me finish. Blake and I, um, he had a huge crush on me. That's what we called it anyway. I flirted with him too much. And then, there we were, one night, alone in the brewery. My ribs were still sore but I was restocking some of the Tap Room swag and nearly fell off a ladder. He caught me. And then kissed me. The rest is history. Sordid, but mine."
Craig shook his head, tried to clear it, but it buzzed as if full of bees. She kept talking, her legs curled up under her body as if trying to make herself small. A small target. "Fuck!" Craig clenched his fists. He had a very mild temperament. Always had. But at that moment he needed to hit something so badly that his fist already ached with anticipated contact.
"Please, calm down. Sit. I have to finish." He did, but his jaw already hurt from clenching it. "Mitchell was a handsome man, tall, wealthy, but insanely jealous and, at the end of the day, really not that smart. I mean, his money came from five generations of banking so we never wanted for anything, materially speaking. Not even for a minute. I thought I'd really scored. He adored me. Worshipped the ground I walked on. When I started working with Evan, it all unraveled. About the same time he kept getting passed over for promotions at the hospital, which was just about the time I met Blake." She heaved a deep sigh. Craig put a hand on her knee and she took it, pressed it to her lips.
"So I became a bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy as far as he was concerned. I did fuck the "kid" in the brewery. But I hadn't screwed every other man in my immediate universe, like he thought. The last time, when I finally told that yes, I was with Blake and I wanted a divorce…well, that did land me in the hospital."
"I don't want to hear anymore," Craig's throat was tight, his eyes burned. He had never, ever felt so fucking furious in his life. What do you know? You really do see red. He stood.
"You have to." Her voice was soft, comforting. He grimaced, now mad at himself for making her do the soothing. He sat, but the beast inside him was growling in his ear, making his skin crawl.
She took a deep breath, wiped her eyes once and looked straight at him. "Blake came here the day I got admitted to the hospital. Evan tried to stop him. By the time Evan had followed him here though, Mitchell was nearly dead already. Blake is, uh, a black belt."
"So I've heard."
"I got out of the hospital a day before he did. Jack picked me up, drove me home, and stayed with me a while but I made him leave. Evan was due to replace his vigil. I wouldn't let Blake come out. I was," she stopped, a sob breaking through her monologue. But she held up a hand, indicating he should stay seated. "Angry with him I guess. But mostly I was afraid if he showed up, I'd leave with him and by then I had decided what to do. I'd already had Jack confirm all of Mitchell's assets for me. He was a trusting guy when it came to his money. No prenup or anything. Then I had divorce papers drawn up, had them in my hand. I sat here." She ran a small hand over the cushion, her eyes awash with memory. "Waited for him."
"Once he started up the steps, I knew I'd crossed a line. That he would likely kill me that day. I'd stood at the top of the steps, there," she motioned to the huge granite slabs. His leg was weak. Blake had nearly broken it when he broke his nose, his arm and gave him a concussion. 'Come here Suzanne.' He said to me. So I did. And I reached out," She lifted a trembling arm as Craig watched, never more familiar with the term "watching a train wreck" in his life. "And pushed him backwards."
She stood, pulling Craig to his feet. He crushed her to his chest, then leaned down and covered her tear streaked face with kisses. But she struggled out of his embrace. "I'm damaged Craig. In more ways than one. I still barely sleep at night without waking up screaming. I'm married to my job as a result. Obsessed with it. It was all I had at one time. It. And Blake."
Something told him to save that part of the history lesson for later. He held her closer, felt her shaking cease finally, closed his eyes when her arms slipped around his waist. "Shh..." he tried to soothe, but frustration poured through him.
Suddenly he had a bit of insight into what may have gone wrong with her and Blake.
"Listen," He held her at arm's length. "I don't give a shit about any of that. Sounds like the bastard got what he deserved, and then some. From you and from Blake. I won't obsess over it I promise. You're here with me now. That's where I want you to stay."
"I can't have children. Thanks to Mitchell and some of his more creative methods of punishing me for 'being a slut.'"
"I don't like kids." She grinned at him, wiped her eyes.
"Bullshit."
"Suzanne, let it go honey. Please. You've been holding it so tight, so close. Obviously you haven't let anyone in on the worst of it." Except Blake, he thought but forced that out of his mind. "It's over. I'm here. Give some of it to me." He sounded desperate, unsure, but he didn't care.
"I don't know Craig. I've ruined one perfectly good relationship over my own lame bullshit."
"Leaving you available for our relationship." He brushed her tears away. "Karmic, really." Pulling her into his arms again, he shoved his temper away, he'd deal with that later. Talk to Gordon about it and get another version of the story. That made him pause. "Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"
"I made them promise. So I could tell you. Pretty much everyone who knew about it agreed that was best." She tilted her face up to his. Craig smiled, kissed her then broke away, still holding her close.
"I'm staying here tonight." She raised an eyebrow. "Or you are getting on the bike and coming back to my not so luxurious extended stay hotel. Your choice. But I am not letting you out of my arms. Not tonight. Not ever."
"If you insist." She laid her head on his chest. "I'm not so sure you want all my drama."
"Bring it, Red." He held her tight, and they stayed that way a while, listening to the beat of one another's heart.
Chapter Twenty-One
"Where the hell is…" Sara stood at Jack's enormous desk, which sat, devoid of anything cluttering its rich walnut surface. His laptop docking station and huge monitor took up one corner. The only other thing she could find were business cards in a sleek black holder and his Mont Blanc pen; the very one she'd given him as a birthday present during the months of their brief, turbulent engagement. She smiled at it but refocused, realizing she'd need Jason to help her locate the mediation file.
He'd been delayed in Germany after his brother-in-law's funeral,
helping prep his sister's family for a return to the states. Maureen had apparently been near catatonic from the beginning and was only just coming around long enough to cry for the bulk of each day, leaving Jack in charge of the kids, the military's paperwork machine and other details. So, she and Jason had to handle this week's high-level mediation between one of their oldest and most respected agents and a buyer who claimed the agent and seller had withheld crucial information about a house's plumbing system. Michigan's standard real estate purchase agreements locked all parties into an industry supervised "conversation" prior to anyone filing lawsuits and cases rarely went past that stage, with one party typically acquiescing and paying out to settle the case.
This one she wasn't so sure about. The agent in question had been one of their top producers in her day, but had lately shown signs of something alarmingly close to dementia, refusing any offers of help or the not so subtle suggestions she retire. Sara sighed and dropped into Jack's huge leather chair. Her nerves were on fire from the stress of handling operations for the whole company for nearly a month. She needed him here. Period. She put her head on the desk, getting a quick whiff of Jack's subtle, citrusy cologne. It nearly made her cry.
"Um, hi. Is Jack around?"
The soft female voice made Sara's body tense as she looked up to see one of the most shockingly attractive women she'd ever laid eyes on in person. She wore a slim fitting brown suit, matching pumps, had her chestnut hair piled up in a carefully messy up-do. Bright blue eyes seemed confused at the sight of Sara in Jack's chair. Sara wiped a hand across her eyes, sucked in her gut and stood. "No, he won't be back for at least another week. Can I help you? I don't think we've met." She knew she ought to come out from behind the desk, shake the gorgeous woman's no doubt perfectly manicured hand. But something made her stay still.
