by Kelly Moore
“I didn’t find anything.”
The guy with the gun moves closer. “What are you after?”
“I work for Mr. Watkins on one of his projects. He mistakenly took home one of the blueprints I needed to start the job tomorrow.” Noah steps between us.
“And you thought you’d break into his house to get it.”
“Probably not the wisest of ideas.” Noah shrugs.
“Not only will you no longer be employed, you’re going to have to tell that story from behind bars.”
A siren blares from outside, and the swirl of red-and-blue lights flickers in the windows.
Chapter Nine
Ellie
I slip out of my heeled shoes when I hear Bear talking and softly tiptoe down the yellow-tiled floor of the jail. He’s not talking loudly, but his words echo off the empty walls.
“You should’ve stayed with Ian.”
“You’re welcome.” I recognize the voice of the man I spied on from under his bed.
“I didn’t need your help.”
“Oh really? You think you could’ve opened that safe on your own and gotten the information you needed?” He chuckles.
“Keep your voice down.” I hear Bear sit. “What is it you want with my father?”
“That’s between me and him,” Noah snaps.
“You seem like a decent guy. I want to help you.”
There’s a long streak of silence.
“Where are you from?” Bear asks.
Noah lets out a halfhearted laugh. “I was born in Salt Lick.”
“I know everyone in town. I don’t recall you.”
“That’s because we left right after I was born. My mother had family in Texas.”
I slip my shoes back on and walk over to their holding cell. Now is as good of a time as any before Wyatt gets here and starts cursing. “Where about in Texas?” I ask with my hands on the bars. They both glance in my direction.
“This is my sister, Ellie,” Bear introduces us.
Noah nods.
“I asked you a question, and being I’m the one that’s bailing your sorry ass out, I’m thinking you should answer.”
“Does it matter?” He stands.
I tap my finger on my chin. “Not really. The more important question is, what do you want with the Calhouns?”
“I only have an issue with one Calhoun. When I came here, I had no idea there was a slew of you.” He moves toward me.
“You look like him,” I say.
He squeezes the bars tightly.
“Who are you talking about?” Bear’s on his feet.
“Take a gander at those eyes and tell me you don’t see the resemblance.”
Noah throws his gaze to the floor.
“Quit playing games, Ellie, and tell me what you know!” Bear’s getting pissy.
“He’s a Calhoun. Those eyes belong to our daddy.”
Noah swallows hard. “I’m a Thatcher.”
“That may be your given name, but there’s no denying those genes.”
“Is she right?” Bear places his hand on his shoulder.
“Yes.”
“How is that possible?” Bear looks totally lost.
“I’m guessing you’re between mine and Wyatt’s age.”
“I don’t know.”
Bear grabs him by the shirt collar. “You’re lying. Daddy would never cheat on our mother!”
“Bear! Let him go! If it’s true, this isn’t his fault.”
“You’re working for Watkins. Did he put you up to this? You trying to steal our land?”
I watch in slow motion as Bear pushes Noah hard up against the concrete wall. Bear balls his hand and raises his arm to punch him. His other hand is curled around his throat.
“Bear! No!” I scream.
He lets him go. Noah bends over to catch his breath before he stands tall. His eyes turn the same color as Daddy’s when he’s angry. “You have no fucking idea what your precious father has done!” He tackles Bear to the ground.
“Help!” I yell down the hallway. Wyatt comes running through the door with one of the policemen. He shoves the key in the hole, and Wyatt swings open the door.
Bear manages to out wrangle Noah, and he’s on top of him. Just before Bear strikes him, Wyatt yanks him off. I move for Noah to help him off the floor.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Wyatt yells at Bear.
“Me? He’s accused our father of cheating on our mother!” Bear is still spitfire angry.
Wyatt lets go of Bear and closes the distance between him and Noah. “What is your mother’s name?”
“Why should I tell you? So you can beat the crap out of me too!” Noah spits blood on the tile.
“No. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Noah looks at me, then at Bear. “Mae Thatcher.”
Wyatt places his hand on Noah’s shoulder. “He’s telling the truth.”
“What? How do you know?” Bear snaps.
“Because I handle our father’s legal affairs.” He turns to face us. “The questions that are rolling around in your head, you’ll have to ask Daddy.”
Bear juts his chin in the air. “Unfucking believable.”
“To the matter at hand, what the hell were you thinking breaking into Watkins’s place?” He turns toward me. “And please, for the love of god, tell me you had nothing to do with this.”
“Watkins is still trying to take our property and Whiskey River. He has a ledger with a list of names of the men that are backing him.”
“So, you went after it.” Wyatt paces outside the cell.
“I have pictures from the ledger on my phone,” Bear says softly.
“How are these names supposed to help us?” Wyatt snickers.
“I don’t know, but he keeps saying he has powerful men backing him up, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to know the names of our enemies.”
“Maybe not. You should have come to me about it instead of giving Watkins ammunition against us.”
“I’ll talk to him. Get him to drop the charges,” I say.
“You’ll do no such thing. If he thinks you’re involved with the likes of these two, I’m afraid of what he’ll do to you.” He squares off with Bear. “Did you ever think about that? You’ve put our sister in danger.” Bear hangs his head.
“Don’t worry, Bear. I’ll be fine.”
Ian comes barreling down the hall. “You okay,” he asks me as he pulls me into his arms.
“I’m alright.”
Wyatt turns toward him. “You were in on this, too, weren’t you?”
“Leave him out of it,” Bear growls, storming past us.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Wyatt yells.
“To get my phone!” he snaps but keeps moving.
Ian tucks his arm protectively around my waist as we walk out of the police station.
“Here!” Bear tosses Wyatt the phone.
He slaps it in his hand. “I’ll do some digging. In the meantime, stay away from Watkins.”
Noah opens Ian’s truck door. Wyatt stops him before he gets inside. “Are you staying at the Magnolia?”
“Yes.”
Wyatt takes a card out of his wallet. “Come to my office tomorrow at noon. I’ll have the old man there.”
“I want you to ride with me. We need to talk,” Ian whispers in my ear.
“I have my own car.” I shrug away from his reach.
“I’m coming to your place then once I drop Noah off.”
“Suit yourself,” I say, slamming the door to my car.
All the way home, I try to calm my nerves. I don’t trust myself alone with him. I know where it’s going to take us. My Bluetooth lights up with Watkins’s name in neon yellow.
“I thought you were headed home,” I say casually.
“Did you have anything to do with your brother breaking into my house?”
“Of course not. I was enjoying a nice dinner with you,” I lie.
“I hope that
’s true.” His tone is full of warning.
“What my brother does is done from his own stupidity.”
I swear I can almost hear him brewing.
I sweeten my tone. “I had a nice evening with you. Thank you for the company.”
He lets out a loud sigh. “It was nice.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow at your office.” I hang up before he has time to answer. “Damn it, Bear!” I beat on my steering wheel. I’m having a hard enough time keeping up the pretense of dating Watkins. I bet in his day, he wasn’t a bad-looking man. His face probably wasn’t as hardened as it is now. I can see hints of a once good-looking man. Time has not been his friend. For a man who’s in his late fifties, he’s got thick wrinkles around his blue eyes. His belly is soft in the middle. He’s been too busy trying to build his empire than worry about his body. It’s a shame ’cause he really could be handsome.
When I drive through the ranch gate, I see the lights on at the main house. Part of me wants to storm in there and demand he tell me how he has another son. The other part of me wants to rush home and wait for Ian Daughtry. The latter wins out.
I run inside and change out of my bloody blouse and wait for the knock on the door.
The knock never comes; Ian bursts through the door like a man who’s bound and determined to get what he wants…from me. I’m in no mood to play innocent, fighting him off.
He jerks me out of the chair and into his arms. His mouth crashes on mine with the ferocity of a lion. His passion is overwhelming, and any good sense I had to say no is gone.
I can’t breathe or speak.
I can only feel him.
His lips.
His teeth.
His tongue.
His heart.
My heart.
His chest heaves when he takes a breath, pressing his forehead to mine. “If he lays one hand on you, he’s as good as dead. Please tell me you haven’t fucked him.”
I pull from his grasp and slap his face hard.
It doesn’t faze him. He seizes my body against his, capturing my mouth again. His raw passion bleeds through my body, coursing an undeniable path.
He rips my blouse off my shoulder, and his teeth sink into my collarbone.
I shove him, but he stands firm. I yank his shirt open so hard the buttons fly across the room. We both move toward each other and collide. I wrap my leg around his waist, and he grips it firmly. My skirt falls back, and I finagle my fingers between us, forcing his button on his jeans to pop open.
His hands are ripping my clothes to shreds as I do the same to his. “I want you so badly it hurts.” He growls into my mouth. “I can’t stand the thought of you with another man.”
My panties become fragments of lace material in his fist. With one single plunge, he’s inside me, right where he belongs, claiming me. Making me never want another man. I give him every ounce that he’s giving me.
My nails scratch his back, drawing a line of red to the surface. He arches back then as if I’m as light as a feather. He walks me into my bedroom, tossing me on the bed. He flips me over, entering me from behind. I scream out when he thrusts in with all his might.
“Yes!”
He pulls all the way out and does it again.
I gasp, clutching my silk sheets in my fists. He relentlessly moves his hips, hitting deeper each time. Every part of my body is shivering, and I’m unable to make a sound. Just as I’m about to let everything inside me go, he stops, his fingers digging into my hips, turning me over to look at him.
His face is beautiful, with his eyes fully dilated. It’s the only time his eyes look the same color. His lips are red and full from our punishing kiss. The muscles in his taut chest flex and his nipples are screaming for my touch as much as mine are for his.
As if he reads my mind, he leans down, drawing one into his mouth. It’s almost painful, but I’m lost in the sheer pleasure of it. His large hands dig into my hips, causing me to whimper as he steers himself back inside me. This time, his rhythm slows, and I miss his beautiful onslaught over me.
“Ian,” I whisper.
“Shhh,” he responds, covering my mouth with his hand. “Let me show you how much I’ve missed you.”
I want to shout out that I love him. It would give him the one thing he’s always wanted from me. The words are on my tongue. They could dance off so easily.
“Don’t do it!” His eyes pierce mine. “Not now.”
This gorgeous cowboy doesn’t want me to tell him in the heat of passion. He wants to hear the words he longs for whispered in his ear or maybe shouted from the rooftops. I’m not sure which.
The beast in him settles down to a crawl and makes love to me until the wee hours of the morning. As I start to drift off, I feel the bed shift, followed by the sounds of his boots being tugged on his feet.
I lie still.
His hand splays on my hip. “I love you, Ellie. I’d go to hell and back for you.” He stands, and I listen as he walks away.
As much as I try to force the words out loud, they don’t come. “Why can’t I tell him?” I crush my pillow to my face, sobbing.
Chapter Ten
Bear
“Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick,” Nita starts as soon as I walk into the house.
“Keep your voice down. I don’t want you to wake up Missy.” I toss my hat on the hook and heel my boots off by the door.
“You stay out all night doing god knows what, and you want me to stay calm?” She whirls around into the kitchen.
I bite my tongue as I follow her, taking down a mug for coffee. “I told you I might not make it back.”
She grabs the coffee pot before I can fill my cup. “What kinda work keeps you out all night?” The spot between her eyes is folded in anger. I’d say it’s cute, but she’s none too happy with me.
“You think I was out with another woman?” I laugh.
“It’s not funny, Bear. I went from worried sick to fuming mad when I couldn’t get ahold of you.”
I pry the pot out of her hand, pouring a cup. “You think all the time you were gone I didn’t picture you with another man in your bed?”
Her mouth gapes at my words.
I pull a chair out from the table and sit. “Don’t act like I shouldn’t have thought about it. For all I knew, you were gone forever. There were nights it was all I could think about. I wanted to get over you so badly that it made it easier to be mad at you.”
The fire leaves her eyes as she sits across from me. “I never slept with another man.”
“Why should I believe that? You’re a beautiful woman.”
She clasps her hands together, leaning back in her chair. “And you’re a sexy man. Are you telling me you slept with someone else?”
I take a long moment trying to decide the best way to answer her. “You stole that from me.”
Her eyes squint together. “What did I steal?”
“You mean besides my truck and my heart? Not to mention my seven-year-old’s heart too?”
She chews on the inside of her cheek while she rolls the words around in her head. “What did I steal from you?” she asks again with a little more irritation in her tone.
“I tried to go back to my bachelor ways.”
“You mean, having one-night stands.”
I sip my coffee and nod.
“I’m not sure I want to hear any more.” Her chair scrapes the floor as she stands and starts pacing the floor.
“Maybe I was wrong,” I say.
“About us?” Her eyes widen
“About picking up where we left off.” I get up, pouring my coffee in the sink.
“How did we get from me being angry that you stayed out all night to this!” She throws her hands in the air.
“You don’t trust me.”
“It’s not about trust, Bear. It’s about respect. You should’ve called me.”
“I don’t have to justify my whereabouts to anyone!” I grit my teeth.
Her
eyes squeeze tight, and I can tell she’s muttering something to herself. “That’s not how relationships work.”
“You’re going to preach to me about relationships,” I huff. “You fucking disappeared for a year. Not one time did you respect me enough to call me and tell me where you were!” I guess I haven’t worked through my anger as much as I thought I had.
Her lip quivers as tears flood her dark eyes. “I shouldn’t have come back.” She turns on her heels, high-tailing to the front door.
Fuck me. I run after her, stopping her from opening it with my hand smacked against it. “I’m sorry. This got way out of hand. I do want you here.”
She leans her back against the door. “I’m so sorry that I hurt you and Missy.”
“I know you are.” I wipe away her tears with the back of my hand. “I’m an ass. I should’ve never said those things to you.”
“You have the right to say your mind, Bradley.”
Damn woman, using my name. “Not the way I did. We should take things slower. Take time to heal the broken things between us.”
“Okay,” she sniffs. “How do we do that?”
“Missy has a therapist. Might not be a bad idea for us.” I shrug.
“I can do that.”
I slant my head down and softly kiss her lips. “I wasn’t out cheating on you. I was getting information on Watkins and landed in a bit of trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“The kind that had Ellie bailing me out of jail.” I walk over to the couch and sit.
“You were in jail?” She follows me.
“Nothing for you to worry about. Wyatt will get the charges dropped.”
“What’s all the yelling about?” Missy comes out of her room with her hair all a fright.
“We’ll talk later,” I whisper to Nita. “Come here.” I pat my knee. Missy sits, snuggling into my lap. “Sorry we woke you.”
“All the grumbling, I thought I was at Grandpa’s house.”
“Sorry, baby.” I chuckle. “That must’ve been confusing.”
“Are you two fighting?” She lifts her head to stare at Nita.
Nita looks at me to answer her.
“Sometimes adults fight.”
