That was a total lie. He knew exactly why he was going over to make sure that the women weren’t hurt, and it was because he wanted to meet the secretive redhead. He had caught a glimpse of her standing inside the alleyway. Thinking it odd that she was watching the goings-on of the town, he had witnessed Willow talking with her. Any other person probably wouldn’t have noticed the edge that was in her stance, but his ten years in prison had taught him to be perceptive. Observation was the key to life or death inside the joint.
“Mitch, will you make sure the woman is okay? I’ll get Mrs. Wheelock.”
Mitch nodded, walking around the car and pulling up on the handle of the door. He knew he was a hardened man and nothing in life ever fazed him, but seeing those light-blue eyes staring up at him made Mitch wish that things had been different. Neither of them moved for a moment, giving him time to study her features. Her oversized sunglasses had slipped down to the tip of her nose, where a sprinkle of freckles dusted her skin. With graceful movements, she removed them, all the while keeping her eyes in constant contact with his. She was classically beautiful, with high cheekbones and sensual lips that were made for kissing. The red highlights in her auburn hair shined in the sunlight, making it seem as if she were wearing a halo. The length only came to her shoulders, but its volume and chic cut accentuated her jawbone. Had it not been for Cyn asking if the woman was hurt, Mitch probably would have kept standing there like a love-struck boy. More accurately, a man who had been in prison for the last ten years and been deprived of seeing such beauty.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” His voice was deep, but the rusty way the words came out indicated that he didn’t talk much. He hoped she didn’t notice. Mitch squatted so that they were at eye level, ignoring the bite of pain from his dick being squeezed.
“Yes. Is the other woman hurt?”
“Mrs. Wheelock is fine,” Cyn said, coming over to them. “It’s a good thing she wasn’t backing out fast. There doesn’t seem to be much damage to the cars, but I’m sure you’ll want to exchange insurance information.”
Since the woman had still not revealed her name, Mitch couldn’t help but give her the nickname Ginger. And seeing as Ginger had lost all color to her face at Cyn’s suggestion, Mitch knew for sure that this woman was full of secrets. He gave her credit though, because Ginger got out of the car, forcing him to stand and watch as she went over to Mrs. Wheelock to make certain the older woman wasn’t hurt. Seemingly satisfied with what she found, Ginger nonchalantly waved her hand at the damage to her car and dismissed them turning it over to the insurance companies.
“I’m sure all it will do is raise your rates. Honestly, there’s no need to do that.”
“But, dear, I’m not sure I can afford—”
“She’s a friend of mine, Mrs. Wheelock. I’ll take care of fixing up the vehicles,” Mitch said, offering up his services. “No need to worry about cost.”
What the hell was he thinking, opening his big mouth like that? As Mrs. Wheelock and Cyn exclaimed how perfectly everything had worked out, Mitch and Ginger stared at one another. The wariness in her eyes made him want to reassure her that there were no strings attached, but now was not the time. Hell, he wasn’t sure there weren’t strings attached. He resisted the urge to reposition his cock to try and relieve the pressure.
After everyone had said their good-byes, Mrs. Wheelock finally drove away after promising to stop by the garage by the end of the week. Mitch would have to come up with some sort of plausible explanation to give to Elliott as to why they were fixing the elderly lady’s car for free. Cyn picked up her box and other items from the sidewalk and proceeded into the diner for her meeting with Elise. Mitch knew it was a daily thing between the two to collaborate on their books. As authors of anthologies revolving around ménages, they had great business sense in creating the dating website that Elliott seemed so fond of. Cyn’s departure left him and Ginger alone, for which he wasn’t sure he should be grateful. He was already regretting getting involved, but he always did like a good mystery.
“I should be going,” Ginger said, looking nervously over his shoulder. The urge to turn to see what had her uneasy was overwhelming, but Mitch kept his gaze on her. Her concern was replaced with ice-cold blue eyes. She reminded him of a chameleon. “Thank you for your offer of repairing the damages, but I won’t be needing your services.”
“And why’s that?” Mitch knew he was coming across as gruff, but it was hard to change years of attitude. Again, he saw her looking over his shoulder and then up and down the street. What or who was causing his Ginger to be so paranoid? “I never did catch your name.”
“Mitch, was Elliott able to tow my truck back to the garage?” Mitch looked over at the sidewalk, seeing Dakota standing there with grease on his face. Dakota had lousy timing. “I heard he was the one to make out on that bet the town has going on when my baby would finally break down.”
“Yeah,” Mitch answered. “I think he does get his hands on the pot. I’m heading over to the garage now—not sure if he made it back yet.”
“I’ll let you get back to work,” Ginger said, pulling Mitch’s attention back to her. Her steel mask was firmly in place. “Again, thank you for your help.”
Ginger went to walk around him, but Mitch reached out and took ahold of her arm. Too bad he wasn’t touching her skin instead of the cream jacket she wore. “You never did answer me,” Mitch said, referring to his earlier questions.
“I—”
The rumble of a tow truck coming down the street cut off whatever she was about to say. As his brother came to a stop at the sign, Mitch heard the laughter and comments regarding Dakota’s truck coming from various places. Chad, Dakota’s brother, was whistling loud on one side of the road, while Brody Jackson had just come out of his gun shop across the street, adding his hooting and hollering to the mix. Mitch didn’t smile often, but he couldn’t help but smirk at the town’s antics. Ginger’s body stiffened and her eyes started to dart back and forth between the tow truck and Brody, who was now crossing the street. There was a crack in her armor. Now he just needed to figure out who or what was causing it.
“I’m sorry, I need to go,” Ginger whispered, tearing her arm from his hand.
She hastily got into her vehicle, not bothering to give him another glance, and closed the door. She was lucky she didn’t have another accident as she pulled away rather quickly and drove out of town. His Ginger was nervous, and all of Mitch’s protective instincts went into overdrive. She seemed almost afraid.
“Who was that?” Brody asked, coming to stand next to him. “She a new applicant for Cyn’s dating service? She seemed familiar to me.”
Brody and Cooper Jackson were Cyn’s future husbands, so Mitch was sure he had the lowdown on all the applicants. Did Ginger belong to the site? Is that why she was in town? Mitch automatically discounted that. Not with the way she was acting. Plus, he just couldn’t imagine her joining one of those damn things.
“I don’t think so,” Mitch answered, now wanting nothing more than to go back to the sanctuary of his garage. “Wait. Familiar? Have you met her before?”
Brody rubbed a hand over his shaved head. “I’m not sure. It was the way she carried herself, though. I’m sure it’ll come to me. Hey, I’m going to go crash Elise and Cyn’s lunch. I’ll talk to you later.”
Mitch heard Brody start talking to Dakota, but he didn’t want to be roped into the conversation, so he made a beeline for the garage. He kept repeating her plate number in his head, feeling no guilt whatsoever. Mitch had never proclaimed to be a good man. His intention was to call an old prison buddy who could hack into anything, but before he made it to the phone, Elliott came jogging through the back door.
“You spoke with Anna? Where is she?”
“Anna? You know that woman?” Mitch couldn’t have been more surprised than if Elliott had said the garage was on fire.
“Yes,” Elliott said, walking over to the open garage door. “No.”
/> “Well, Elliott, which is it?” Mitch asked, getting irritated. Either his brother knew who she was or he didn’t.
“If I tell you, you’ll be mad,” Elliott replied. “Where is she?”
“I’ll tell you where she is if you tell me who she is.” Mitch wasn’t above lying to get the information he wanted. He rubbed his chin through his whiskers, where his scar was located courtesy of an inmate who had quickly become aware that it was best to leave Mitch alone.
“Fine. She was the woman I wanted us to have dinner with last week,” Elliott said, looking back at Mitch. “You know, the one where you said you didn’t mind if I fucked her but to leave you out of it.”
Mitch was shocked. He stared at Elliott, not sure if he believed him. Ginger did not appear to be the type to have to resort to a dating website, let alone one that catered to ménages. Mitch was positive there was something else going on with her as well, and whatever it was had her on edge.
“I told you what you wanted to know. Now it’s time for you to come clean. Where did she go?”
“I don’t know,” Mitch answered, knowing it would piss off his brother. “There was a fender bender in front of the diner and I went over to make sure everyone was okay. Mrs. Wheelock wasn’t paying close attention when she was backing out of her slot and bumped into Ginger.”
“Ginger?”
“I mean Anna,” Mitch replied, correcting himself while mentally kicking himself in the ass. Maybe if he continued on with the conversation, Elliott wouldn’t question his slipup. “Anyway, I told Mrs. Wheelock to bring her car in for us to repair at no cost.”
“At no cost?” Elliott finally turned away from the open garage door. “Since when did you become Mister Nice Guy?”
Mitch shrugged, not wanting Elliott to think there was more to the story. “The old bat was shaken up. If Cyn and I were going to be able to continue with our day without having to deal with a hysterical woman, I thought it best to make the offer.”
“There’s the Mitch that I know,” Elliott said, walking back around the counter. “So you’re telling me that you know nothing about Anna, where she’s from, where she was going, who she is?”
“No.”
He was done talking. Mitch walked straight out back, deciding to unhitch Dakota’s truck. He knew Elliott watched him leave but was grateful that he didn’t try to stop him. At least he hadn’t noticed his raging hard-on. Something was up with this Anna woman, and for some unexplained reason, Mitch wanted to know what it was. Call it boredom, but Mitch was going to make that phone call he had intended to before Elliott walked in. It had nothing to do with this physical reaction his body was having to her. He would find out all he needed to know before night’s end and then be able to go about his regular routine. It was the only thing that kept him sane anymore.
Chapter Four
Anna sat back on the couch, staring at the phone in her hand. She’d done it. The ball was now in motion and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She’d made the call that would forever change her life, for good or bad, and now would wait for the go-ahead from her new contact. Her family’s justice was now in sight. She just needed a little more patience.
Setting the phone down, Anna reached for her laptop. She opened the lid and let the screen come to life, clicking on her personal e-mail. She’d been so caught up with her alter ego, Anna hadn’t checked it in over a week. She used a completely different e-mail address for Anna Valdez. While it downloaded her messages to her inbox, her thoughts went to the events of the day. He’d been on her mind since she left Triple. What had Cyn called him? Mitch? Yeah, Mitch was his name.
Mitch had to have been at least six feet, four inches. His shoulders appeared wider than a doorway and his demeanor would scare a child, but there was something in his brown eyes that would melt butter. His five-o’clock shadow should have made him appear fierce, yet she found it attractive and sexy. His hair was longer than she usually liked on men and as dark as a raven’s wing. When his hand had stopped her from getting into the car, the strength that radiated off of him had not intimidated her in the least. In fact, it had tempted her to step into his arms for safe shelter. And wasn’t that laughable? She would never know that feeling again, not with the people that she’d brought to justice.
Speaking of that, if the stupid accident hadn’t happened, Anna never would have been in a position to almost be recognized by Brody Jackson. She needed to be more careful in the future, especially if she was going to be maintaining a presence in Triple. Her contact was calling back with the details, but at least she had made him aware that there were certain citizens she needed to keep her distance from.
The light ding that sang from her computer brought Anna’s attention back around. It was impossible not to notice the one e-mail that capitalized the subject line—MENAGE POSSIBLE MATCH. Sarah must have used her e-mail to set up the account, letting the site reroute messages to her inbox. Anna noticed there were a couple of e-mails from the dating site, including some welcome messages. This particular e-mail must have been the one she received last week before deleting her profile. The urge to open it and see what it said was too much, especially given this second chance. Anna clicked on the message and held her breath.
“No fucking way!”
Anna placed a hand over her mouth, although not sure why since no one was around to hear her. She felt like she was in one of those cartoons where a light bulb suddenly appears above the character’s head. There were two pictures attached to the brief e-mail. Mitch stared back at her with his brooding brown eyes, with no hint of a smile on his face. Now that she thought about it, he hadn’t smiled today either. In this picture, his five-o’clock shadow was a little shorter, revealing a long, thin scar that ran from his chin up his jawline. Was that why he grew the bristly stubble? The other man had similar features, although he seemed lighter somehow, as if the world wasn’t weighing on his shoulders. This man was clean shaven. He also had a smirk on his face, as if he knew a secret that no one else did and what he could do to have fun with it. She scanned down, reading their message.
Anna,
My name is Elliott Braxton and after reading your profile, my brother and I would like to get to know you better. If after reviewing our information, you feel the same, we would love to take you out to dinner this Friday or Saturday evening.
Sincerely,
Elliott Braxton
Elliott, as in the man who had been looking for her in the diner? He was Mitch’s brother? Everything started to slide into place and a part of her was relieved. At least Elliott hadn’t been searching her alias of Anna Cruz. She wondered why Mitch hadn’t said anything when he’d helped her today. He had to have known who she was, although the message was written by Elliott, so maybe Mitch hadn’t seen her picture.
She looked back at the two pictures, side by side. There was something about them that called to her. Anna felt a slight leak coming from her pussy, as if saying it agreed with her assessment. What would it be like to be touched by the two of them at the same time? Her nipples hardened and tiny shock waves shot through her breasts.
Anna rarely had time to indulge in sex, especially since she pretty much kept everyone at a distance. There were those random times she would find someone that didn’t mind something casual, but it had been a couple years. She’d been taking care of herself, but after her physical reaction to Mitch and finding herself drooling over a picture of his brother, Anna was thinking it was time to find someone to scratch her itch.
She couldn’t help but close her eyes and imagine their touch. She pictured Mitch at her back, with his arms wrapped around her and his large hands cupping her breasts. Elliott was standing in front of her, that cute little smirk hovering on his lips while he traced his fingers down her cheekbone. The other hand wrapped around her neck, tilting her head just right in order for him to claim her lips. His caramel-colored eyes darkened into molasses as he leaned in close.
Anna slipped her hand inside her swe
atpants, her fingers finding her clit. Rubbing in a circular motion, she visualized Mitch’s large fingers encasing her nipples and pinching them with just enough pressure to make her arch her back. As she gasped, Elliott claimed her lips with a hunger that she returned. She held on to his shoulders as his right hand snuck down and lightly caressed her stomach. Lower and lower, his hand glided down until his fingers slid in between her folds. Imagining that he was the one touching her, Anna increased the pressure on her clit. Pulsating blood rushed into the area, causing her to swivel her hips. A little more pressure…a little faster pace…she was almost there.
Ring!
Anna jumped, almost knocking her laptop off of her legs. She grabbed ahold of her computer with her free hand before it landed on the ground. Untangling herself, Anna snapped the lid shut and placed it on the coffee table. Snatching up her cell phone, which had somehow fallen in between the cushions of her brown plush sofa, Anna connected the call.
“Hello?” Anna hoped like hell she didn’t sound breathless.
“It’s me. I’ve got things set in motion. You’ll be the new waitress at the diner in town.”
“What?” Anna stood up, retying her sweatpants as a thousand scenarios ran through her mind—all of which were not good. “I can’t. You’ll have to figure out another way for me to get close to my target. Being in that public of a setting, where everyone in town eats, is not an option.”
“Why? This is the best I can do.”
“Well, do better!” Anna exclaimed. Needing to burn off some energy, Anna started to pace around her small living room. What she really needed was an orgasm. “There are a few people who might recognize me from that night.”
“You mean from the night you shot Sonny Jones?”
“Yes,” Anna snapped back, “but I did what I had to do to make sure that woman didn’t die.”
Imprisoned Match [Ménage.com 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 3
