Perfectly Imperfect Mine (Garrison Brothers Book 1)

by Amelia Shea

  Stone released a heavy sigh as he tapped on the steering wheel. They were about fifteen minutes away from the meeting point. Stone was sure he would hear shit from Ethan about not answering the phone. He deserved it. The job was the reason they were in Cedar Bluff. He needed to get his head out of Sadie’s trailer and back to the job. She was a distraction. An unrelenting irresistible distraction. Mine.

  “Sorry to barge in back there,” Roxanne said softly, her face serious.

  Stone was so far in his own head, he’d almost forgotten Roxanne was sitting next to him. He reached over the console and patted her hand that rested on her knee.

  “It’s all good, Rox. I should have been out sooner.” He exhaled. “But I was preoccupied.”

  Roxanne smirked and snorted. “Oh, I know.”

  They continued the drive with the music being the only sound. The usually talkative Roxanne was eerily quiet. Stone was sure her mind was on the job. This assignment had become almost personal for all of them. They had to see it through.

  Roxanne broke the silence. “She’s really pretty.”

  “Yeah,” Stone answered, keeping his eyes on the road. Discussing Sadie with his sister was not something he wanted to do right now.

  “And she seems sweet.”

  Stone was silent.

  “And a little sassy, too.” Roxanne giggled. “‘I’m his side piece’, that was awesome!”

  “Yeah.” Stone rolled his eyes at hearing Roxanne repeat Sadie’s words. He had almost flipped on her when she said that. As if she’d ever be just a side piece to him. Hearing her even joke about herself that way had him livid.

  “Ya picked a good one, big brother.”

  He did. Sadie was a good one, the only one.

  Stone smirked. He looked over to Roxanne who was grinning.

  “Now don’t screw it up.”

  Stone laughed.

  He pulled into the dirt driveway and drove two miles in. As he came closer to the shack, he saw T’s truck and Ethan’s car to the left, and a black Jeep on the right.

  Everybody was here.

  Roxanne and Stone got out of the truck and walked toward the shed.

  This meeting wouldn’t end until they came up with a plan to finally close the file on this job.

  Chapter Eight

  “Hey Willie!” Sadie greeted with a wave.

  “Hey Sadie!” he said, looking up from the grill.

  She rushed to the break room to dump her stuff in the locker. She was a few minutes late. She had spent extra time adding a bit more makeup and playing with her hair. She never put much effort into getting ready for work, but knowing Stone was coming in to see her, she wanted to.

  Sadie walked out to see Tracey, the new waitress, slither out of Bernie’s office adjusting the buttons on the top of her uniform. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening inside. Sadie’s immediate thought was Slutbag.

  “Oh, hey girl, how’s things?” Tracey said as she walked past her.

  Sadie gave her best fake smile. “Things are great.” Slutbag.

  Sadie walked on by and hoped Tracey didn’t start talking to her again. Before she could get to the floor doors, Bernie called her to come into his office. Sadie turned around and walked by Tracey again as she headed to the dining room. Sadie swore she saw a smug look on Tracey’s face. Slutbag!

  Sadie knocked only as a courtesy and walked into Bernie’s office. He was behind his desk playing with papers as he looked up. “Sadie. Look, kid, I know we talked about moving you to days but I’m going to have to keep you on nights for a bit longer.”

  “What? No… Bernie, you promised when you hired a new girl that I’d being doing mostly days. You promised me and…”

  “I know, I know, but right now I think it would be best to keep you on nights. In six months, we’ll talk again about bringing you on days.” He looked almost regretful.

  Sadie was livid. “Six months? Are you joking? Six months? You told me when you hired Tracey, you would move me to days. That’s what you said.”

  And now looking at his face, she saw it, she recognized guilt. Sadie realized Tracey just fucked her way to her day shift. Her face flamed and her hands balled up in fists. She couldn’t believe this. Her body started to shake. God, she wanted to hit him, she thought as she stared daggers at him.

  She had finally reached the breaking point. She was promised that day shift. It was hers. She was done with taking this shit. She. Was. Done. She would not be a doormat.

  Before she could even stop, she screamed at the top of her lungs. It was so loud Bernie jumped in his seat and looked like he might either shit himself or grab his gun. She must look crazed. Well so be it, she was crazed.

  I’ll quit! That’s right, I will fucking quit this shitty ass job. I quit, Bernie! You can take this job and shove it up your fat hairy ass. Fuck You! I’m done, I’m outta here, I quit!

  She would have loved to say it, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. She needed this job. She couldn’t afford to not work at this shitty fucking job. She was stuck.

  She closed her eyes and took in four deep breaths—in and out, in and out. She needed to pull it together, reel it in. Sadie inhaled a few times and began to calm. She finally opened her eyes and stared at Bernie. She was so angry. She took one more deep breath.

  “Okay. I’ll continue nights, Bernie.”

  His face lit up a bit but he was still leery. He opened his mouth but Sadie put her hand up.

  “I’ll continue my nights in two weeks. Starting right now, I’m taking the next two weeks off. I’ll be back the Sunday after Thanksgiving.”

  “Sadie, sweetheart…” he tried to persuade her.

  “Don’t you ‘Sadie, sweetheart’ me, Bernie.” She pointed her finger in his face. “I have three weeks of vacation coming to me. Be thankful I’m only taking two.”

  “I know, but we are so busy, and…”

  Sadie snapped and leaned in close. “You allowed Tracey to fuck her way to a shift that was promised to me. A shift I earned legitimately from working my ass off for four fucking years. I deserve that shift! Now, I’m leaving and I will see you in two weeks.”

  A thought occurred to her. She didn’t trust Bernie. He had completely screwed her over. She would quit eventually but she needed the money. She planned on spending this entire vacation looking for another job. But she needed the security of knowing this job was still here when she came back. She walked to the door, grabbed the knob, and called out, “Bernie? Does Marge know Tracey got the day shift?”

  His face paled.

  “She’ll probably wonder why I turned it down. She’ll probably ask me personally, don’t you think? I’ll be sure and tell her I had a change of heart. I’ll tell her this in two weeks. Do you understand what I’m saying, Bernie?”

  He nodded.

  Sadie rushed back to the break room, grabbed her bag and coat, and dashed out. She completely ignored all the calls of her name and curious looks. She walked out the door, opened the car and slid in. She’d be home in fifteen minutes and free to drown her anger in cheap wine and leftover enchiladas.

  ****

  Stone peered through the parking lot as he pulled into the empty spot at Bernie’s. The lot was dead, only two big rigs and a car in the lot. He wanted to get there earlier, but they met up with Trent and Declan later— business came first, for now at least. Stone hopped out of his truck and followed behind T to the front door. Sadie’s car wasn’t parked on the side in her usual spot. Taking another look around, he didn’t see her car at all.

  Stone took longer strides, passing T, and opened the door to the diner. Stone tried to bury the worry that was building at not seeing her car. Now, standing in the entrance, his concern only grew as he didn’t see her anywhere. There were two guys at the counter and a booth filled with three women. Aside from the older waitress Sadie usually worked with, there wasn’t anyone else.

  T tapped him on the back. “C’mon man, I’m starving.” T pushed his way
past Stone and walked over to a booth on the right.

  Stone stood a moment and scanned the diner again. Where is she?

  “Sweetie, you can sit anywhere, I’ll get your waitress for you.”

  Stone looked over to see the older waitress, Pearl, smile at him. He nodded and walked over to the booth where T was sitting looking over the menu.

  Stone slid into the seat, ignoring the obvious perusal from the table of women behind him. There was only one woman he wanted to see. Where the hell is she?

  “Man, relax, you’re wound tighter than a virgin on prom night.” T snorted, still looking at the menu.

  “Shut up.”

  T laughed, setting down his menu. “She’s really gotten to ya, huh? Never thought I’d see the day that some girl would have you by the balls.”

  She’s not just some girl.

  Stone glared up at T who was smirking at him. Stone should have expected the ball busting. Truthfully, no girl had ever come close to doing what Sadie had done to him. He was falling fast and he knew it. Unfortunately, so did his brothers, and they weren’t going to let him live it down. He was about to say something when he saw T look over his shoulder and his face lost all traces of humor.

  “Fuck!” T muttered.

  Stone looked over his shoulder to see the waitress from the other night walking over. This was the same one that Sadie caught blowing T in the bathroom. When she looked up from her notepad her face transformed from easygoing into angry as hell. Stone turned back to T and it was his time to smirk.

  “Speaking of balls, man,” Stone uttered. “She looks like she wants to rip yours off.”

  She stopped abruptly at the edge of the table. Stone looked up to find her glaring down at T.

  “Are you ready to order?” Stone could have sworn he heard her whisper “douchebag” but he couldn’t be sure.

  “Where’s Sadie?”

  The waitress looked over at Stone. “Not here.”

  “I can see that. Where is she?” Stone asked again, growing annoyed at her tone with him.

  “What’s it to you?” she snapped.

  “You can lose that fucking attitude. She knew I was coming in to see her, so I’ll ask you again, where is she?” Stone’s tone was harsh.

  The waitress stared at him and took a deep breath. She looked back and forth between him and T, who was now glaring at her. Her face paled slightly. T wasn’t a bad guy but even Stone could admit he was scary as hell, the last person you wanted to piss off.

  Reluctantly, she answered with a sigh. “She came in for her shift but stormed out after talking to the boss. I tried calling her but didn’t get an answer, she seemed really upset. I know Pearl tried calling too but she just got her voicemail.”

  Stone immediately got up from the booth and the waitress backed up.

  “Let’s go,” he said to T, who was already getting up.

  They stalked to the door and headed to the truck. Stone had a million scenarios running through his mind, all of them bad. Why wouldn’t she answer her phone? Did something happen with her boss? If he laid a hand on her, that guy was fucking dead.

  They were just about to the truck when T grabbed Stone’s keys out of his hand.

  “I’m driving, the last thing you need is another fucking ticket,” T said as they hopped into the truck.

  ****

  “Sadie, c’mon, let me in. I’m freezing my balls off out here!”

  Sadie stared at her bedroom ceiling. This was not happening. She heard more banging on the door. He’d been banging on her front door for about ten minutes now. Tyler Ripley. The first and only guy she ever thought she loved. The only man she opened her heart to, and the man who ultimately broke it. The bane of my existence!

  “I know you’re in there, let me in,” he shouted followed by more pounding.

  Sadie sat up in bed wondering how long before Mr. Baylor next door came out with his shotgun. The banging continued. She could call the police but they would take too long to get there, if they even bothered to show up at all.

  She waited a few more seconds but the banging started up again. Mr. Baylor must be passed out drunk tonight. She got out of bed and grabbed her sweatshirt off the floor. The banging got louder as she walked down her narrow hall. Exactly ten steps and she’d be in the kitchen. She waited in hopes that Tyler had decided to give up.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! It was not her lucky day it seemed. Sadie turned on the light and unlocked the door. She swung it open and Tyler stumbled in nearly falling face first onto her floor. He was a drunken mess. She shouldn’t have answered.

  “Jeez, what took you so long? It’s fucking freezing out there,” he spouted off as he righted himself.

  She sighed. “What are you doing here, Ty? It’s one in the morning.”

  He smiled at her as he stalked over. “I just wanted to see you. I miss you, Sadie,” he slurred. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her against his body.

  Sadie was frozen.

  There was a time when those words would have had Tyler in her bed, and in her good graces, in seconds. She really thought she loved this guy. He was her first for everything. For two years she spent making her entire life about Tyler Ripley, and in one surprise visit it was over.

  They had just reached their two-year anniversary when she decided to surprise him with a full seduction. They had had sex plenty of times but she always felt like he led it in the bedroom. Sadie wanted to show him her sexy, and attack. She had started to read romance books in high school. She decided to live vicariously through books. After she met Tyler, she moved up to erotica. At first, she was shocked at what she read. Eventually, the shock became intrigue which turned into full blown arousal. So she did it. Saved up for some sexy lingerie, a red lacy bra and matching thong. She made his favorite dinner, lasagna, and headed over to his place.

  He told her he was beat from work and wanted to delay their anniversary date until Saturday, which she agreed to. However, the sex kitten get-up was sure to wake him up. He lived in the Ash Brook apartments on the North side. It was a slightly better section than the trailer park but not by much. He had a ground floor apartment so she was just passing his open bedroom window when she heard, “Harder, baby.” When she peered into his room, her stomach dropped. He was naked on his bed lying on his back. An equally naked bleached blonde girl was straddling him and riding him. Sadie was completely in shock as she watched his hands reach up to tug on her nipples. She moaned even louder. In a quick move, he flipped her over and entered her from behind. He began pounding in her and slapped her ass as he screamed out, “Darling, you are the best fuck ever.”

  That memory was one that had played over in her head too many times. That memory broke her heart and boiled her blood at the same time. She stared at Tyler’s face and imagined slapping him. Sadie wished she had the guts to do it. God, she hated him.

  Sadie pushed him away and snarled, “How’s Brandi?”

  He backed up and at least he had the decency to look apologetic. Brandi, aka beach blonde moaner from their anniversary, began telling everyone that Tyler was her new man shortly after the break-up. Sadie had seen her around since that night six months ago. She tried not to but she caught herself comparing herself to Brandi. What did she have that Sadie didn’t? Why her? She even asked Tyler but he gave no good answer. He said he had a moment of weakness. He was in the bar and she came onto him. They started drinking, and before they even left the parking lot she had gotten down on her knees and was giving him a blowjob. Yes, the jerk told her that. He promised her it wouldn’t happen again. He swore he loved her. He even talked about marrying her.

  Sadie Wallace was many things, and naïve might be one of them, but stupid was not. She ended things with Tyler immediately. He tried to win her back but after a week he gave up. One week was what Sadie was worth to him.

  He stumbled back to the couch and sat. Sadie was briefly aware of headlights flashing through the windows as they continued their staring match. Seconds wen
t by and she was jolted out of her stare by the sound of car doors slamming. He won by default, she thought as she blinked. He frustrated the hell out of her.

  “Get out! It’s late and I want to go to bed.” He was still staring as he cocked his head. “I mean it, get out, Tyler! Now, you cheating lying piece of shit!!” she screamed.

  His being there reminded her of their relationship and all that she put into it. And all he hadn’t. He was a jerk who had been disloyal and never loved her. She wanted him away from her and out of her house. She let out another breath prepped for another shout when he spoke.

  “You want to know why I got with Brandi?” he said with a smirk. He was going to try to hurt her with his next words, she could feel it. He had always been a nasty drunk.

  “Because she’s a better fuck than you ever were. Brandi is hotter and sexier than you could ever be. My dick gets hard just thinking of her now. You know, I used to have to think of her just to get hard when we were together. Brandi is a woman, not a timid, frigid bitch like you. You didn’t excite me anymore so I had to find someone who knew how to be with a man.”