by Vivian Lux
"What the fuck!" he whined, thrashing around. "Get your dick off me!"
"Ha, not a chance, fucker," I snarled, pinning him down with an elbow across the back of his neck. He choked and turned his head to the side as I ground his face into the pavement. His eyes widened in panic.
Good. "Start talking," I warned him. "Or it's gonna start hurting worse. Who the fuck are you and why the fuck do you keep messing up Bee's store?"
His lip curled in disgust but he didn't say a word.
Behind me, I heard the sound of Jackson's feet. "Let's see how long the stoic act lasts once my friend punches your teeth in," I warned him.
"Who the fuck is it?" Jackson yelled.
"No idea," I said, yanking the prowler over onto his back so I could look him in the face. "I never seen him before in my life." I closed my hands tighter around his throat. "Who the fuck are you?" I demanded. "Cut the silent act, we caught you red-handed, asshole. Or rather, black handed."
His hands were indeed black from the spray paint he had scrawled on the side of these store.
Jackson reached out, silently handing me my pants as I stood back up, but I was too caught up in my anger. I grabbed the prowler by his collar and swung him around so he slammed into the bricks. "Last chance, dickwad. Who the fuck are you?"
"Get the fuck off me," the prowler whined, clawing at my hand, but my grip was too tight. He struggled for a second, but then suddenly froze.
I heard Bee's light tread on the pavement as she approached us warily. I turned and saw her face, draining of all color as she stared at the man I had pinned against the wall.
"Zach!" she gasped.
CHAPTER FORTY
Jackson
"Your ex?" I snarled, whirling around with my fist already balled up and ready to knock him out.
"Jackson, no," Bee said faintly.
I turned and looked at her. My blood was boiling hot and red rage clouded the edge of my vision. "You sure Bee?" I asked. "Because this fucker deserves to walk away from here with a few less teeth."
"I know," she breathed, still staring at him. I couldn't read her expression, but I sure as shit didn't like the way her shoulders were stooped forward. As if the weight of remembering she used to be married to this asshole was weighing her down.
I didn't react well when Finn told me he'd caught Mercy out on a date with another man. I didn't react calmly or rationally. I punched a fucking wall.
But I never tried to fuck her over. I just walked away.
This coward screwed up the best thing he'd probably ever have in his miserable life by cheating on Bee. And now he had the gall to still mess with her? To fuck with her livelihood and scare the shit out of her too? She'd almost quit. He'd almost torn her down all over again and that was something I couldn't let slide.
I roared and grabbed him by the shirt, hauling him forward until he was inches from Bee. "You look at her, asshole," I snarled. "You take a good long look at what you lost."
He struggled, twisting in my grip. Finn grabbed him by the face with one hand, squeezing his cheeks, while with the other hand he yanked up his pants. "Look," Finn snarled. "You look her in the eye."
Bee lifted her chin as Finn forced her ex-husband's head upward. Zach was breathing heavily, in ragged, panicked exhales. "Zach," she repeated, shaking her head.
He dropped his gaze to the ground which pissed me right the fuck off.
"Come on, asshole," I snarled, yanking him forward. "Be a man and look her in the fucking eye."
He blew out a blubbering breath, spittle flying from his lips as Finn squeezed his face. And still Bee stared. Her big brown eyes were shining unnaturally bright. She swallowed, and her lip wobbled a little, seconds away from tears.
I felt Zach relax a little in my grip and wanted to strangle him all over again. This sick fuck liked that he was about to make Bee cry. A creepy grin spread across his face, and he started to reach for her. "Come on," he said. "Beatrix...."
Bee's eyes went wide. She opened her mouth...
And burst out laughing.
"Oh my God!" she yelled, clapping her hands together and then pressing them to her mouth. The bright peals of her laughter echoed off the walls of the alleyway, startling a group of seagulls that had been milling around our dumpster. She laughed so hard she doubled over, letting out a series of hysterical shrieks.
Finn chuckled and then looked at me. I felt the laughter bubbling up in my chest, and suddenly I was laughing too. It was so absurd, I couldn't help it.
"Seriously, dude?" Finn whooped. "This was your plan to get her back?"
"You thought she'd be scared and come rushing back to you?" I chuckled.
"That Bee would give up that easily?"
"Talk about pathetic," I echoed with snort. "You've got problems, my man."
Zach looked at the three of us and his mouth twisted up in a livid scowl. "Beatrix!" he snapped. "Stop it!"
Like she was some kind of bad little puppy.
I really fucking hated this dude.
At the sound of his voice, Bee's laughter trailed off, and she stood up again. She walked up to Zach and we held him tightly in place as she got right up into space. "I told you," she said to him in dangerously low voice. "I told you, I don't know how many times. Call me Bee."
Zach blinked. He opened his mouth, but Bee was already done with him, stepping back to casually glance at the graffiti that marked up her wall.
"Go home," she read. "No one wants you here."
She took a deep breath, and looked back over at her ex. "You think so? I think you're wrong. They do want me here," she said, eyes sparkling. "They want me here. And this is my home."
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Bee
I didn't press charges.
You might think that was the wrong move. Or worse, that I hadn't changed at all. That I was still stuck in my old pattern of being way too nice. That I was worried about his comfort and whether or not he'd ever make it in jail (hint: he wouldn't).
But that's not why I let him walk away.
I let him walk away because I had too much to look forward to in the future to spend any more time getting dragged back into the past.
Opening night found me standing in the doorway of Indigo with my heart in my throat.
I spotted Charlie's blonde head, bobbing in the crowd, just a nanosecond before she saw me. She rushed up with a nervous giggle. "How do I look?" she asked, smoothing her hands over her sleek, professional black uniform.
"So fancy!" I sighed, reaching out to give her a hug.
Charlie squeezed me tight. "I can't thank you enough for getting me this job," she said. "Only working nights? This is amazing. Malcolm's already down tonight and I can be with him during the day now. And with the paycheck I just got I was able to get my car fixed too!"
I was about to respond, but she held me so tightly that she squeezed the breath from my lungs. "You're a really good friend," she whispered. "Thank you so much for all of your help."
"Well…" I grinned as I pulled back. "Anything to get you away from Spiro. At least these bosses are just a tad nicer."
"Oh my God, and so much better looking too," Charlie squealed. "I mean, have you looked at them?"
I had to hide my laugh behind a cough. "Yeah," I choked. "They're pretty handsome."
"Sexy as fuck." She sighed. "Maybe someday I'll be able to date again. Like maybe when Malcolm's eighteen."
"You'll find someone," I promised her. "I can help you!"
Her eyes twinkled at that thought, then she turned and scanned the crowd. "Excuse me," she said. "I've got some General Manager shit I've gotta do now." And off she rushed to help with opening night at Indigo.
I stood in the front of the restaurant, scanning over the heads of the happy diners. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Finn, standing still and reflective, looking out into the crowd with a dazed and happy look on his face and I made a beeline for him.
Or should I say, a me-line.
"Op
ening night good luck kiss!" I cried, going up on my tiptoes to brush my lips across his smooth cheek. He'd shaved extra carefully this morning.
He chuckled. "You already gave me one," he said in a low voice.
"Well?" I asked. "Did it work?"
He looked around. "Yeah, sweet girl. It worked really fucking well." The place was packed. "Maybe I'll take another one too."
He leaned over and kissed me, just a gentle brush of his lips against mine. It wasn't deep or passionate, or even very long, but it still made goosebumps march along my skin, and my toes curl inside of my shoes.
Finn pulled back, and glanced over to the kitchen. "Jackson's cooking is on fire tonight," he grinned. "I think that little show you put on this morning inspired him."
I grinned, blushed and looked down. "Good," I said. "That's what it was supposed to do. I looked over in the direction of the kitchen. "You think I can go say hi?" I asked.
Finn laughed. "If you were anyone else, I'd say no... But since you're you..." He finished with a teasing grin.
I laughed, and made my way through the packed restaurant. It seemed like the whole town was here, either already eating, or waiting outside, lined up to get in for the prix fixe menu that Jackson had designed just for tonight. I recognized the bewilderment on the faces of the diners presented with the antenna dish, and then their laughing realization that they had to eat with their hands. I watched their wide-eyed astonishment as they bit into the sugared eggplant and remembered the explosion of flavor Jackson had conjured that night we all came together for the first time.
I sidestepped a scurrying server, and stood in the corner of the kitchen, out of the way of everyone, watching Jackson in his element.
The way he called orders, keeping his eyes everywhere, as his hands worked, skillfully plating the food... God, it was sexy as hell. Especially as I watched the line cooks respond to him with cries of, "Yes chef!"
"That's my man," I whispered, reminding myself. I glanced over back into the front of the house, and saw Finn moving through the tables, smiling and shaking hands with the diners, totally in control. "And that's also my man."
A server went by just then, carrying a plate of desserts. I looked at it proudly. "And that's my dessert."
I'd spent all morning baking the desserts for Jackson's menu. Just as an experiment. Just for tonight. It was good to try new things, I thought, grinning privately.
At that moment Jackson spied me, even though I was trying to stay out of his sight.
"There's my girl," he said, coming over for a kiss.
I went up on my tiptoes and gave him a fierce hug. "I'm so proud of you guys."
He pulled back excitedly, and squinted out into the crowd. "I'm not sure," he said. "But I think I see the reviewer for the Times."
I inhaled sharply. "Oh my God, Jackson! You're going to get your second four-star rating!" I took his face in my hand, and kissed him, hard, and proud.
Finn came up behind us, brushing his hand over my shoulder. "Javier?" he called into the kitchen.
The sous chef popped his head up. "Yes Chef?"
"You're in charge," Finn called curtly.
The two of them backed to me into Finn's office, while I giggled, and weakly protested. "Don't you have more important things to be doing right now?" I asked, gasping as Finn lifted my shirt over my head.
"Nothing is more important than you," Jackson growled. And somehow my pants were off already.
EPILOGUE
Bee
(One month later)
"You know?" I said, leaning back on my elbows and lifting my face up to the sun. "I can't remember the last time I took a day off."
Finn shifted on the blanket, so that he was closer to me. "Same," he said, turning to brush a kiss across my shoulder.
"The falls are low," Jackson observed as he packed up the remnants of our picnic lunch. "I wonder what they look like in the spring."
"I could hear them back then," I said. "But I didn't come up to see them." I screwed up my lips. "I kind of regret that."
"We'll come here in the spring," Jackson promised. "This is too amazing for words."
Time and again it hit me, especially when both of them said things like that. That we'd do things together in the future. The three of us, as a unit. Jackson was looking ahead, building up plans for his restaurant, maybe expanding to a location on the other side of town. I was looking to the future, baking dessert for Indigo twice a week while working on contracts at both the school and the hospital to bring in baked goods for their meetings.
And Finn, of course, couldn't help but look towards the future. His mind was always five, ten years out, and when he spoke about his desire to build a house up on the western ridge, I knew he was thinking about the three of us living there together.
And I knew he'd be the one to make it happen.
None of these things had been spoken aloud yet. But then again, we'd never even really discussed this in the first place. Why talk about something that didn't need to be discussed? We were together. All three of us.
A team.
"What's that?" Finn asked, sitting up on his elbows.
Jackson leaned forward. "Dammit," he grumbled. "People coming up here."
"We can't really expect to have this place all to ourselves all day long, can we?" I teased him.
"I wanted to," Jackson grumbled, trailing his fingers up my thigh. "Out here in nature? Doesn't that sound appealing?"
A shiver went up my body. "It sure does." The thought of their naked bodies burnished in the late-summer sun sent a small thrumming pulse down to my pussy.
But at that moment, a woman with bright auburn hair, emerged from the trail in the woods. "Beautiful day!" she called to us.
"Sure is!" I called back, forever the hostess. "Would you like to join us?"
She paused and looked behind her. From out of the woods a big group, two women and four more men.
And one toddler who came tearing out of the trees and made a mad dash right for the water's edge.
"Ellie no!" the redhead shouted.
Almost before I'd realized it, I shot out my arm to catch the careening toddler, who landed with a heavy thump on her diaper-padded butt. She looked at me with her big brown eyes, and her lower lip wobbled for a moment.
"Oh my God, thank you!" one of the other women cried, running up to collect the little girl. "She's a wild thing," she sighed.
"She gets it from her mother," the blond man behind her said, and held out his hand in greeting. "Callum Reese," he said.
Finn stood up and brushed off his hands on his pants before clasping Callum's. "Finn Walker," he said. "And this is Jackson Nye and Bee Henry."
Callum squinted at all three of us. "This might sound weird, but, didn't I see you in the paper this morning?" he asked
For a moment, all three of us froze. My jaw dropped and I turned to stare at Jackson who was standing stock still with his palms pressed together. Suddenly my eyes widened. "Holy shit, the review!" I squealed, clapping my hands.
"I can't believe we forgot to check for that!" Finn exclaimed. "We knew it was coming soon..."
"I didn't forget," Jackson rumbled. "I was actively avoiding it, honestly"
Callum nodded. "Well it looks like they liked you," he said. "My wife Harper and I decided to call and put in a reservation this morning for our anniversary. Before this review gets too much attention and we can't get one at all."
The brown haired woman, holding the squirming toddler squinted at Jackson. "Wait a minute, you're the new chef?"
I grinned and looked up at him. "Oh yeah," I said. "He's the chef."
Finn muttered something about ingratitude, and extended his hand. "Finn Walker," he said. "I'm the business manager at Indigo."
"Harper," she said with a confident air. "My brother Rett is over there with his wife Brynn, with the blond hair. And you saw our friend Autumn first, she's got that red hair that makes me want to murder her," she laughed. "And her husband Cole is..
. somewhere. Probably doing some kind of business deal on his cell phone." She hoisted the squirming toddler up on her hip. "This is our daughter Ellie, and that's Grayson over there with the diaper bag."
The darker haired man stepped up to us and extended his hand, "Grayson Abbott," he said.
I blinked. "Any relation to Jerry Abbott, the police officer?" I asked, excitedly.
Grayson nodded. "He's my cousin. Reckless Falls is full of Abbotts."
I pressed my fingertips to my lips. I wasn't really sure why that made me feel so excited, that I knew people here, that I had connections to this town now.
But it did.
Harper suddenly wrinkled her nose, and lifted Ellie upward. "Wow, little girl, how do you do that?" She turned and handed her to Grayson.
"Daddy's got you," he said, with a smile, and took her off to the side with the diaper bag.
I squinted, looking at the three of them. "Daddy?" I asked.
Then I bit my tongue. It was none of my business.
But holy shit. Were they a threesome too?
Harper cocked her head to the side and regarded me with a penetrating look. "Are you new to Reckless Falls?" she asked.
"Yeah, I moved here about five months ago," I told her.
"All three of you?" she pressed. The way she asked let me know she suspected me, just like I suspected her.
"Yeah," Finn answered, completely oblivious to the subtext. "Jacky-boy and I used to live in New York City."
She grinned looking between me and Finn and Jackson with a rather knowing smile. "Me too. You all seem to be settling in pretty well," she said with a smile.
There was something in her knowing tone of voice, and the way that Cal had introduced her as his wife, but Grayson had called their little girl his daughter that made me smile too, I reached out and grabbed her hand, and she squeezed it tight.
"Well, it's a little late, but welcome to Reckless Falls anyway," she said. Then she lowered her voice and leaned in to whisper in a voice meant just for me. "You should come over for dinner to our place some time," she said. "All three of you."
