Wrong Side of the Tracks: a Hope Valley novel

by Prince, Jessica

  Oh my god!

  I knew he saw the shiver that racked my body when his pupils expanded, swallowing up the pale gold and green of his eyes. A rough, animalistic sound rumbled from his chest, and my nipples pinched into painfully tight points. My panties were dripping wet, and at that moment I wanted nothing more than for him to do what he’d just said.

  “The first time I’m inside you is not gonna be in the parking lot of a goddamn strip club,” he grunted. “We’ll have our moment. But for now, get in and go home to your family.”

  He leaned in and pressed one last kiss to my lips before stepping out of the way so I could climb into the van and start it up.

  I replayed that kiss a thousand times on the drive back home, quietly freaking out while at the same time hoping his promise of us finding our moment came sooner rather than later.

  Chapter Seven

  Gypsy

  The next day started like any other, with a mad dash to get the kiddos up and off to school. But with that done, all the errands run, and the house once again spotless, things were quiet. Raleigh was down for his afternoon nap, and the older kids weren’t due home for a while, so I found myself with free time on my hands, and I spent that time thinking obsessively about my kiss with Marco the night before.

  And that was exactly what I was doing when my front door swung open and Odette came sauntering in.

  “Hey, Detty,” I greeted from my place curled up on the couch, where I’d been trying and failing to read a book to get my thoughts off Marco.

  “Hey, honey. I was sitting at home doin’ a whole lotta nothin’, so I figured I’d swing by for a visit.”

  I gave her a skeptical look. “Uh-huh.” I laughed. “So what you really mean is you came over here to wax on about Marco, just like you have the past several days.”

  She took a seat in the armchair across from me, not looking the slightest bit contrite as she admitted, “Yep. That’s exactly what I mean.”

  Closing my book, I tossed it onto the coffee table and climbed off the couch. “You want some coffee?”

  “Child, I always want coffee., You know this. Now get to brewin’ and tell me what’s new with that sexy man.”

  I cast her an admonishing look as I set the coffee to brew. “Detty, stop. There’s absolutely nothing going on with Marco.” The moment I said it, that kiss came back to me, and I felt a flush spread across my cheeks.

  “Oh yeah?” she asked, pushing to her feet and coming to sit on one of the barstools I’d bought a couple years back for five bucks at a yard sale. The legs had been damaged, chewed up by the previous owner’s dog, but with a little elbow grease, I’d managed to sand out the worst of it. Then I’d painted them black and reupholstered the cushions in a bright paisley fabric I’d let Sunny pick out. “Then why’s your face burnin’ red as a tomato right now?”

  Damn her and her crazy ability to know whenever I was lying. “Fine,” I conceded, pouring coffee into two mugs. “So he might have kissed me last night—” She let out a hoot of excitement, and I had to wait for her to calm down before finishing. “But that doesn’t mean anything. He kissed me, and it was a great kiss. But nothing’s gonna come of it.”

  “What?” she yelped in disbelief, the whites of her eyes shining bright against her dark skin as she widened them. “Why the hell not? Girl, that boy is all kinds of fine. Have you lost your mind or something?”

  No, I hadn’t lost my mind, but there was no way in hell I was letting myself go there. I stared down into her mug as I added two sugars and a splash of milk, watching as I stirred the near black liquid to a smooth toffee color. “Fine or not, it’s not going to happen. I don’t have time in my life for a relationship. You know that.”

  When she didn’t reply, I looked up from the mug to see her staring at me in disapproval. “That’s just an excuse, and you know it. You hide behind work and those kids to keep from starting anything real with a man because you’re scared of getting hurt again.”

  I pinched my brows together in a frown as I passed the mug to her and braced my palms on the counter. “So what if I am, huh? I think it’s smart to be a little cautious given what I’ve been through.”

  “You aren’t being cautious,” she argued. “You’re stagnant. I know you’ve been hurt, honey, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on love.”

  I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Really? Because love has worked out so well for me in the past, right? I mean, first there were my own parents who were supposed to love me unconditionally but just couldn’t bother.” She opened her mouth to speak, but I kept right on going. “Then there was Trina, who’d been my best friend pretty much my whole life. I thought she loved me until I found out she’d been sleeping with my boyfriend and spreading nasty rumors about me. Oh, and we can’t forget Nick in that scenario, can we? He put in a lot of effort to convince me he loved me, I’ll give him that. But what I didn’t know was that he’d been keeping his options open all that time and seeing Trina behind my back because she was the kind of girl he could take home to his parents. Then there was Calvin, the asshole I caught stealing the money I’d given Rhodes to put into his lunch account. And do I need to mention Randy?”

  “Gypsy girl, calm down, honey. Take a breath.” I did as Odette ordered, closing my eyes to try and calm my rapidly beating heart after rehashing all that ugliness. When I opened them again, my throat grew thick at the sadness in her gaze. “I’m not gonna lie, you’ve been through more than your fair share of pain, and I hate that for you. But I hate it more that you’ve closed yourself off to the possibility of happiness. There’s no one on God’s green earth who deserves to be happy more than you. But you’ll never get there livin’ behind that wall of yours.”

  “That wall keeps me safe, Detty. Each of those people took a piece of me with them when they exited my life. I had to learn to stop giving those pieces away or I’d risk losing everything I am.” I offered her a small, doleful smile. “Besides, it’s not like I’m totally devoid of love. I love you. I love those kids with all my heart. And now I have Eden and the rest of my girls to love as well.”

  She shook her head on a disheartened sigh. “It’s not the same, child, and you know it.”

  “Maybe,” I replied, taking a sip of my coffee. “But I also know how much it hurts to be let down over and over and over again. And I’d just rather not bother with it at all. Now, can we talk about something a little less depressing?” I beamed at her to show I was ready to move past the melancholy. “Pretty please?”

  “Swear to the Lord Almighty,” she grumbled into her mug. “You and the rest of the Bradbury clan’ll be the death of me one day.”

  “Probably.” I giggled. “But at least you know you’ll go to those pearly gates laughing your butt off at something crazy one of us has done.”

  She finally cracked a grin as she mumbled, “Ain’t that the truth.”

  The conversation was much lighter from there, and I’d started rummaging around the pantry, looking for something to put together for dinner when someone knocked on the front door.

  I shot it a questioning look just before Marco’s husky voice called out, “Open up, Gypsy, before we have a disaster on our hands.”

  I rushed to the door over the sound of Odette’s cackling and whipped it open in alarm. “What? What’s the matter?” I asked frantically, looking all around to see what was wrong.

  “Here, take this, will you?” He shoved a plastic grocery bag into my hand as he shuffled into the house. “Damn handle busted on these, and we were seconds away from a spaghetti sauce travesty on your front porch.”

  I watched with wide, bewildered eyes as he carried two more bags into my kitchen and set them on the counter before he started unloading his haul.

  “Uh….” I stood completely immobile as he started pulling out all the ingredients needed for spaghetti and lining them up on the counters. “What’s happening right now?”

  “Need that bag, Gypsy. It’s got everything I need to make the gar
lic spread.”

  “Garlic spread?” I asked, still in a state of utter confusion.

  “Yeah. For garlic bread. You can’t have spaghetti without garlic bread.”

  “But… I didn’t know I was having spaghetti.”

  “Yep,” he answered simply, taking a step back to look around my kitchen. “Where do you keep your skillet?”

  “Cabinet beneath the island,” Odette answered helpfully, looking back at me with a sassy grin.

  “Baking sheets?” he inquired.

  “Drawer beneath the stove,” she offered.

  I broke into the easy back and forth they had going. “Again, I have to ask, what’s happening right now?”

  Marco bent at the waist to retrieve the dishes he needed, and I was momentarily distracted by the sight of his perfect ass covered in denim. When he stood back up, he looked in my direction, arching a single brow and holding out his hand.

  That jolted me into motion, and I walked over, extending the bag still in my hand to him. Instead of grabbing the handles, he wrapped his long fingers around my wrist and yanked, causing me to stumble until I collided with his chest. Once there, he put his arm around my waist, lowered his head, and pressed his lips against mine in a soft, slow kiss that wasn’t as heated as the one the night before, but still packed a hell of a punch.

  “I thought I’d make dinner for you and your family so you could take a load off. From what I can see, you don’t get many breaks. I’m stepping in tonight so you can have one.”

  Oh. My. God.

  “Uh, excuse me,” Odette said, drawing our focus her way. “But can I just say I love this?”

  Marco chuckled and gave me a squeeze before releasing me to get down to work.

  “Marco.”

  “Yeah?” he replied without looking up at me as he started pulling the things from the bag I’d just handed him.

  “Marco,” I repeated.

  “Right here, girasol.”

  “Will you please look at me?” I asked somewhat snappishly.

  When his hazel eyes collided with mine, I saw the determination lying just beneath the surface. I knew objecting to his lovely offer to make dinner was pointless, but I had to try anyway. For my own sanity. “I appreciate why you’re doing this, I really do. But it’s not necessary.”

  Bracing his feet shoulder-width apart, he crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a look that brooked no argument. “You already manage to forget everything I said last night, or did you just take the time between then and now to twist shit in your head and reinforce that damn shield of yours?”

  Odette snorted and smacked her palm on the counter. “Ooh-wee! I like this one! Calls you on your shit without missin’ a beat!”

  I threw daggers her way before looking back at Marco. “I didn’t forget, and I didn’t twist anything,” I clipped, mimicking his pose.

  “You twisted it, babe,” he replied drolly.

  Dropping my arms to my sides, I clenched my fists and stomped my foot like a freaking child. “I did not!”

  “You did.” He shrugged and went back to prepping for the dinner he was apparently making no matter what I said. “But that’s all right. I don’t mind taking the time to unravel it again.”

  “You can’t just show up here whenever you want and force your way into my life, Marco!”

  At my shout, Raleigh woke up, and the sounds of him fussing from his room carried down the hallway.

  “I got him,” Odette said, hopping off the barstool. “You two stay here and… I don’t know, work whatever this is out.” With that, she disappeared down the hall to soothe my baby brother, leaving Marco and me alone in my kitchen.

  Turning fully to face me, Marco rested one hand on the counter and propped the other on his trim waist. “You can argue all you want, Gypsy, but I was there last night. Not only did you kiss me back, but you were so fucking into it that you couldn’t even stand on your own.” Damn it. “You’re feelin’ this just as strongly as I am. I don’t know what’s happened in your past, and I’m not gonna push. You wanna share it with me, I’m here to listen. But I do know you are your own worst enemy, and if I give you the chance to run from this, you won’t hesitate. So I’m not giving you that chance.”

  I really didn’t want to like that, but my stupid, traitorous body just wouldn’t get with the program. Never in my life had I thought I’d be attracted to such a brash, arrogant alpha male. I always thought myself far too strong willed to tolerate a guy like that, but standing in front of Marco right then, I suddenly got why Eden was so gone for Lincoln. And Tempie for her husband, Hayes. And Nona for her boyfriend, Trick. It made complete sense now, because instead of being angry, I was insanely turned on.

  If it hadn’t already been obvious before, it was now. I was in so much trouble.

  Chapter Eight

  Gypsy

  Odette came back out with my baby brother in her arms a second later. “Sorry. I tried calmin’ him myself, but someone wants big sis.”

  Raleigh’s face was pulled into an unhappy frown, his cheeks ruddy and his eyes red. It was the same look he got when he was seconds away from exploding if he didn’t get what he wanted, that being me.

  “Ah, come here, punkin,” I cooed, holding my arms out and wiggling my fingers. He immediately lunged for me, trying to throw himself from Odette’s arms. I scooped him up and gave him a little toss, making him laugh before pulling him close. “Ah, there’s my sweet boy. Welcome back, Lee.”

  “Cee Cee,” he said, resting his cheek on my shoulder to work off the last of his sleep.

  “Yeah, sweetie. I’m your Cee Cee.” I felt something like a warm caress on my back and turned to find Marco watching me, warmth swimming in those hazel eyes.

  Something came over me just then. His earlier words, the thoughtfulness, that look. It was all too much to fight, and I moved closer to him instinctively. “Hey, baby boy. This is my friend Marco. Can you say hi?”

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Raleigh’s chubby hand come up, his fingers clenching and opening in a wave as he mumbled, “Hi.”

  “Hey, little man.” Marco spoke softly, reaching up to take his fist. “How you doin’, huh?”

  “My Cee Cee,” he declared with toddler haughtiness.

  “Yeah, bud,” Marco said on a laugh. “She’s your Gypsy. I got that.”

  Seeming happy with Marco’s answer, Raleigh began to squirm, wanting down so he could play. He waddled over to the bins in the corner of the living room and pulled it onto its side, spilling toys everywhere.

  “He’s cute, girasol.”

  “Thanks.”

  A sound like a herd of elephants trampling toward the house came from outside just before the front door was thrown wide and Holly, Sunny, Raylan, and Rhodes came barreling in with all the force of a hurricane.

  My youngest sister was the first through the door and came to a jerking stop at the sight of Marco standing in the kitchen. “Marco!” she cried, throwing her arms wide. I should have known she’d have an excited reaction to seeing him again, considering she hadn’t been able to stop talking about him since their first meeting days ago. “Did you come to visit me?”

  “Sure did. I wanted to make sure you were feelin’ better.”

  “I’m feelin’ lots better,” Holly declared. “I’m not sick no more.”

  “Anymore,” I corrected.

  She looked at me with little girl annoyance, which was more adorable than anything, and stated, “That’s what I said.”

  “I’m glad, preciosa.”

  “What’s goin’ on here?” At Rhodes’s hard voice, everyone turned to him, and I noticed his jaw had locked as he stared Marco down.

  “Guys, this is Marco,” I started, hoping introductions would tone down the overprotectiveness radiating from my brother. “Marco, this is Rhodes, Sunny, and Raylan, but we all call him Ray.”

  “Wow.” Sunny stared at Marco with unconcealed appreciation in her eyes. “Wow.”

  “All right,
down, girl,” I muttered, giving her shoulder a bump in the hopes of snapping her out of the trance she was currently in. “You’re about to start drooling.”

  She turned her big eyes my way and squeaked, “Well, can you blame me?”

  Marco’s chuckle drew her attention, and he stepped up to offer his hand. “Nice to meet you, Sunny. Dig the name.”

  “Thanks.” My sister blushed furiously as she shook his hand. “It’s actually Sunshine, but we shortened it so I wouldn’t sound like a crazy hippy.”

  “And my real name’s Holiday!” Holly crowed, not to be outdone by Sunny for Marco’s attention.

  “Well, I think they’re both pretty either way,” he stated, making Holly preen and Sunny swoon.

  “Are you two dating or something?” Ray blurted, never one to beat around the bush.

  “No,” I answered quickly, giving Marco a look that warned him not to disagree with me in front of my brothers and sisters. “We’re just friends.”

  “I’ve seen you before,” Rhodes muttered, still eyeing Marco while trying to be as intimidating as possible. “You were at Lincoln and Eden’s engagement party. You a friend of his or something?” he interrogated.

  “Yeah. I’ve worked for Linc for a few years now, and we’ve become buds.”

  That seemed to catch Rhodes off guard, and I recognized the moment the mistrust faded from his expression, quickly replaced by something that looked a lot like hero worship. “You work at Alpha Omega Investigations?”

  “Yep.”

  Seeming to catch that he was fanboying just a little, he schooled his features and cleared his throat. “That’s cool.”

  Boys.

  “What do you got over there?” Ray asked, tipping his chin to the grocery-lined counters.

  “Well, I figured I’d give your sister a night to just kick back and relax a little, so I got everything to make dinner for you guys and Odette.” At his inclusion of my neighbor, her chest swelled. Marco had just earned himself some serious points from all my loved ones. Damn it. “Spaghetti with garlic bread sound good to you guys?”