My Best Friend's Brother: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

by Lauren Wood

  “Tell me what?”

  “Roger stalked my daughter.”

  “Shit, Debbie!”

  She told me how Roger stalked Sara, the daughter that just had the baby, until Sara fled to Louisville in fear. “That’s where she met her husband, and now has her own daughter.” Debbie gazed at me sadly. “I just don’t want you hurt, but I also don’t want to see you run away like my Sara did.”

  “Did he leave dead animals for her, too?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And the police knew?”

  “They were told, but they couldn’t catch him doing anything illegal. He was never arrested.”

  I leaned against her desk, thinking. “What else did he do?”

  “Threatening phone calls, like what he’s doing to you. Horrible messages. But Sara is a sensitive girl, Izzy. She’s not as tough as you are.”

  “I hope I am, Debbie,” I replied. “I do hope I am.”

  12

  Jack

  After taking Izzy to her apartment to collect clothes and things into a suitcase, I then drove her over to Nell’s. As I had asked her to, Izzy kept her spray can in her hand, ready, until we got into the truck. Keeping an eye out for a tail, I saw nothing, and the streets behind my tailgate were empty.

  “Debbie told you about Roger and Sara?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Are you mad we didn’t tell you right away?”

  Izzy also watched the sideview mirror. “No. I understand why you both didn’t.”

  I glanced at her sidelong, seeing her peaceful expression, and half hoped she was beginning to trust me. “I told Debbie we’d inform you of what had happened if things escalated.”

  “Which they did.” She dazzled me with her smile. “I have more confidence now, should Roger hassle me to my face.” Waggling the spray can, Izzy chuckled.

  “Good. Don’t hesitate to use that if he approaches you. I called Dennis and told him about your phone call today, and he put in a protection order on your behalf.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Once Roger receives his copy, he’ll be arrested if he calls you or comes within five hundred feet of you.”

  “But if he’s not around to get a copy?”

  “It’s still in place. He’ll be arrested for breaking the order as well as stalking.”

  “I’m glad I have you on my side.”

  Again, I took my eyes off the street to glance at her, observing the way she looked at me. The way I’d wanted her to look at me all those years ago in high school. With that certain expression in her eyes, in her half smile that could easily say I love you. “I’m glad I’m on your side.”

  Nell greeted us both with hugs and ushered us into the small house. “I’m happy to have you here, Izzy,” she said, taking Izzy’s suitcase into the spare bedroom. “We can look after each other. Jack, you’re staying for dinner.”

  “I am?”

  She emerged from the spare room and took Izzy with her into the kitchen. “You are. Now be a nice big brother and pour the wine.”

  There, in Nell’s kitchen, I think I made my breakthrough with Izzy. We ate Nell’s spaghetti, drank her wine, and laughed as though we were all kids again. We talked of school, of the people we knew, and Izzy finally learned about the crush I had on her way back then.

  “No,” she gasped, covering her mouth with her fingers, her eyes huge. “You didn’t. Oh, my God.”

  I felt my face grow bright red, and I tried to cover it by drinking more wine.

  “He did,” Nell insisted. “He had it hard for you, girl. I think that’s why he spent so much time with other girls. Wishing they were you.”

  “Nell!” I covered my face with my hands, needing to hide.

  “Well,” Izzy drawled. “I suppose it’s fair to say I had it hard for you, too.”

  I dragged my hands down from my eyes, seeing her flush bright red, and looking anywhere but at my face. She chugged her wine, then held her glass out to Nell for more.

  “Oh, God, I am so embarrassed.” She laughed, then choked on her swallow of wine.

  “Don’t be,” Nell ordered. “It’s good that you both finally are seeing the light.” She lifted her glass. “Salud.”

  “Salud,” I said clinking my glass to her.

  Izzy finally lifted her own. “Salud.”

  It was late when I left Nell’s house, not quite drunk, but not quite sober, either. If Dennis or one of his pals pulled me over, I might not sleep at home tonight. Izzy walked me to the door as Nell sang a love song from the kitchen. We stared at one another for what seemed like a very long time.

  “Drive carefully,” she finally murmured. “You’ve had a bit to drink.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, no doubt something inane, then kissed her before I lost my nerve. I half expected her to pull away from me, outraged, then slap me silly. But Izzy rested her hands on either side of my face and closed her lips over mine.

  For a kiss, it wasn’t all that spectacular. As it came from Izzy, it was the best kiss I’d ever had. I grinned down into her face, her hands still on my bristly cheeks. Feeling bolder, I kissed her again, tasting the wine on her tongue, breathing in her soft scent, my hands in her silky hair. When she pulled away from me, it wasn’t from anger or outrage, but with a little embarrassment.

  As though it was her first kiss. Ever.

  “Remember,” I said, touching her nose with my finger. “Keep it beside your bed.”

  “I will.”

  I backed out the door, unwilling to take my eyes from her, fishing my keys from my pocket. Walking backwards toward the street and my truck, she rewarded me with her laughter.

  “If you fall, I’m not picking you up,” she called.

  I pretended to stumble, pinwheeling my arms for balance.

  “Clown.”

  Bowing, I blew her a kiss, then opened my truck’s door. “I’m not leaving until the door is closed and locked,” I told her.

  Waggling her fingers at me, Izzy shut the door, and I heard the distinct sound of the deadbolt. Then the porch light went out. Still tasting her in my mouth, I got into my truck and drove home.

  My cell phone buzzed before my alarm went off.

  Waking suddenly after pleasant dreams of Izzy, I blinked in the early morning sunlight streaming into my bedroom. Picking up the phone, I stared at its readout.

  Nell.

  Instantly awake as though someone had thrown icy water over me, I clicked the icon. “Nell?”

  “You’d better get over here, Jack. The cops are on their way.”

  “Is Izzy all right?”

  “Yeah. We’re both all right. Just come.”

  “On my way.”

  I found it amazing how calm my sister was. But then, she’d be the one in the middle of a house fire calmly getting everyone safely out while gathering old photos to save. Not bothering with a shower and a shave, I dressed fast, and broke the speed limit to Nell’s house.

  Like the day before, sheriff’s cruisers were parked nose in to the curb, lights flashing, while more sirens announced others were on their way. Dennis was present but in civilian jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. I guessed it was his day off.

  He shook my hand grimly. “I reckon he knows where Isabelle is.”

  I followed his gaze to the front door. Once white and innocent, it now oozed red. A great splash had struck it and droplets clung to the siding while more of it dripped down to the pavement. I swallowed hard.

  “Please say that’s paint.”

  “It’s not. It’s blood.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Cops took photos at all angles, of every drop. The county crime scene investigators arrived, took their own photos, then swabs of the stuff. Izzy and Nell watched from the big picture window, a deputy standing beside them. Unless I wanted to walk around to the back and go in that way, I had to wait until the investigators finished.

  I glanced around the quiet neighborhood. “Anyone see anything?”

  “Nope. Not that we’ve found so fa
r anyway.”

  Yet, neighbors stood on front porches and driveways, watching the drama, pointing, talking with one another.

  “Cameras here, too, Jack,” Dennis said. “Wherever Izzy is, I want cameras on every door, window, and tree.”

  “You got it.”

  “What time did you leave here?”

  I had to think. “Sometime past ten, maybe ten thirty.”

  “And that wasn’t here?”

  Scowling, I snapped. “You’d know it if it was.”

  “So sometime between ten thirty and six this morning, our boy threw blood on Nell’s door.”

  “Has it coagulated?”

  Dennis eyed me sharply. “I don’t know. I’ll ask the crime scene guys.”

  “Blood coagulates quickly,” I said. “By the smell, I’d say that was done less than an hour ago.”

  “Maybe I should deputize your nose.”

  “It was still mostly dark then,” I continued, gazing around at the big trees in Nell’s yard. “Some people might be up, but I’m guessing they’d be making coffee, taking showers, not looking out their windows.” I pointed to the ages-old oak’s trunks. “He’d have cover if he parked over there, then crossed the lawn to the door.”

  I glanced back at Dennis. “From just about any angle, he’d be hard to spot.”

  “That’s why you’re putting cameras up, my brother,” Dennis replied, “on every possible angle. This guy is making my teeth ache.”

  “Motion sensor lights, and maybe even an alarm system,” I continued with a wave toward the house. “Would lights suddenly coming on deter him?”

  Dennis shrugged. “Maybe. They tend to deter burglars, and lights suddenly coming on attract attention. He wants attention, but not that sort.”

  One of the crime scene guys ambled over with his big carrying case. He nodded in a friendly fashion to me but spoke to Dennis. “We have all we need, so that can be cleaned up. We can tell you in a few hours what critter this blood came from.”

  “What if it came from a human?” I asked sharply.

  “Then we’ll know that, too.”

  “If it did come from a human,” Dennis added, his voice hard, “then our pal just got way in over his head. Thanks, Mac, call me as soon as you have something.”

  “You got it.”

  He ambled with his fellows toward their van, the neighbors still gawking from their homes. A uniformed deputy walked toward one set, no doubt continuing to canvass the neighborhood for any witnesses. Dennis walked beside me toward the door.

  Now close, I saw the blood clotting, turning black as some of it dried. Flies buzzed over it, and if we didn’t get that shit cleaned up soon, the entire door would be covered in the swarming insects. At this short distance, the smell had become almost intolerable, and I grimaced.

  “Know any good cleaning services?” I asked.

  “Afraid not,” he answered as the door opened and the other deputy stepped out. “It’s best to probably use a strong bleach cleaner, then repaint it.”

  “I’m outta here, Dennis,” the cop said. “Got patrol.”

  “Later.”

  Both Izzy and Nell stood in the doorway as the deputy left, both wearing old, comfortable shirts, Izzy in sweats and Nell in shorts. Izzy met my eyes with no smile, her face pale and wan. Nell set her lips in a grim line, staring at the blood on the door.

  “I guess I’d better get busy cleaning that shit up,” she commented.

  “I’ll help you,” Izzy told her, her arms folded across her chest in a protective stance.

  “No, you get ready for work,” Nell replied, turning to go back into the house. “You have a job to go to, and I have the day off.”

  Izzy went with her, and, after a quizzical glance at Dennis, I followed. “I hate to sound callous,” I said to Nell’s retreating back, “but can I use your shower?”

  “Sure, you know where it is.”

  While Nell pulled a bucket, rubber gloves, and cleaners from under the kitchen sink, I put my hand on Izzy’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

  She met my gaze with a tight smile, yet the vulnerability I saw in her eyes made me pull her into me for a hug.

  “Yeah,” she said, her voice muffled against my shoulder. “Just a little spooked.”

  “I can’t blame you there. This is a spooky situation.”

  Izzy pulled away from me. “Thanks. Why don’t you go shower? I’m going to help Nell, and by the time all that crap is cleaned up, I’ll need one.”

  Holding her by the shoulders, I kissed her forehead, smiling. “Okay. Then I’ll buy you both breakfast.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Knowing my way around my sister’s house, I pulled fresh towels from the cabinet, and turned on the shower. Between the emergency yesterday, and now today, I hadn’t showered, and I certainly needed to. As I washed, I wondered where in this small town Roger Andrews might have gotten animal blood.

  As far as I knew, Hattiesburg didn’t have a slaughterhouse or a meat processing plant. There was a butcher’s shop in town, and I suspected the cops would make inquiries there first. I also wondered if the guy was cold hearted enough to kill a dog or a cat for the blood he threw on Nell’s door.

  When I dried myself and dressed, I discovered that Izzy and Nell had made short work of the door. The scent of bleach and lemon cleaners had replaced the blood odor, and Izzy ran the hose over the front stoop to wash the rest into the dirt to either side of the door.

  Nell glanced at me. “There’s still a stain, but I have paint that’ll cover it.”

  “Will your landlord make any objections to cameras and motion detection lights?”

  “Not likely. Especially if they’ll prevent any damage to the house from this guy.”

  “Then I’ll call a security service to come in,” I told her. “It’s for your safety as well as Izzy’s.”

  “I know.”

  Izzy shut the hose off and examined their handiwork. “You almost can’t tell he had thrown blood all over it. And lights and cameras will cost you a fortune.”

  “Only a small one.”

  13

  Izzy

  As though he’d blown his wad and was satisfied, Andrews left me alone. For three days things returned to normal, but both Nell and Jack insisted that I continue to live with Nell. The security company installed the lights and cameras, but other than the normal activities around the house, the only intruder the cameras caught was a feral cat invading the yard.

  The cops reported the blood as coming from a chicken, but none of the local meat processors reported selling or giving blood to Roger Andrews.

  “I bet Roger saw the company installing the cameras,” I suggested one afternoon as we went over the details of a closing.

  “That doesn’t mean he’s given up and gone away,” Jack replied absently. “Please don’t say you’re going back to your apartment.”

  I sniffed. “Nellie won’t let me.”

  Glancing past his shoulder, I saw Leo Williams standing outside Jack’s office, his hand lifted to knock. He was one of two realtors Jack had hired recently and seemed like a nice enough guy. Nor has he tried to hit on me, which raised him up in my estimation.

  “What’s up, Leo?” Jack asked, hardly glancing up from his numbers crunching.

  “I thought you should know,” he said, flicking me a friendly glance, “but the property on Field Street was vandalized.”

  I opened my mouth. That was the house I was photographing when I saw someone hanging around outside and tried to get in. I shared a long look with Jack, who asked, “Were the cops notified?”

  “Yeah,” Leo answered. “No suspects though.”

  “It’s got insurance on it,” Jack went on. “It’s a foreclosure, so the bank will have to put in a claim. What sort of damage was done?”

  “I haven’t seen it myself, but someone spray painted the siding in foul language graffiti. Lots of the word ‘fuck’.”

  “Charming,” Jack commented. “Wel
l, we don’t even have a prospect on it, so hopefully that can be repaired before we do.”

  Leo ambled back to his own office, leaving Jack and me to continue going over the loan information for the client. The closing was next week, and not only did Jack expect me to learn this stuff, but to also attend the closing with him.

  Shutting the folder, Jack handed it to me with a smile. “Will you call the client with this?”

  “Sure.”

  I started to walk away with it when his arm scooped around my waist, and he pulled me across his lap. Looking wildly toward the door and the hallway, I saw no one as Jack chuckled low in his throat. He nuzzled his face into my neck.

  “Now for a little office hanky panky.”

  His hand cupped my breast. After another quick peek down the hall, I turned my head to kiss him. His tongue pushed past my lips, and I grew hot for him, wanting his cock in me just as I had his tongue. We hadn’t had sex since that one time, but it had crossed my mind several times in the last few days.

  Laughing, I pushed him away and scrambled off his lap. Jack grabbed my hand and rubbed it against his very hard crotch, grinning up at me. I gave him a gentle squeeze, making him groan, then escaped his clutches.

  “You might like to have people watch you bumping uglies,” I said, “I don’t. Keep it in your pants, Casanova.”

  Jack laughed. “You make it very hard – get it? – hard to keep it in my pants.”

  Another quick look down the hall still showed no one looking. I bent to give him another quick kiss, then headed for the door.

  “Wait, Izzy.”

  I turned back as Jack opened a drawer and pulled out two envelopes. “It’s payday. Will you take Debbie hers?”

  “Sure.”

  I knew he watched my backside as I walked down the hall to the front portion of the office. The two newcomers, Leo and Benjamin, seemed like decent enough guys. Benjamin tended to stare the way Roger had, but not in the sleazy fashion. I didn’t mind him so much, as he was friendly without the creepiness.

  “I come bearing gifts.”