“God, you were a fucking nightmare,” he said, chuckling as he continued absently running his hands over her back.
“I really was,” she said with a devious little smile that had him cupping her face in his hands so that he could kiss her only to end up groaning when she suddenly sat up and-
“So, you were telling me a story about the pretties?” she said, practically bouncing with excitement as she shifted on his lap and pulled the blanket around her shoulders as she waited for him to tell the story that he’d promised his father that he’d only share with one woman.
“It’s a long story,” he warned her as he reached up and pushed a loose strand of her beautiful auburn hair behind her ear.
“As it happens, I have time,” Joey said with a hopeful smile that had him sitting up with a heavy sigh so that he could wrap his arms around her.
“You’re planning on hiding from your brother, aren’t you?” he asked, secretly pleased when she adjusted the blanket so that it was also wrapped around him and snuggled closer.
“For as long as humanly possible,” she said, nodding solemnly.
“And how exactly were you planning on doing that?” Reed couldn’t help but wonder because they both knew that Jackson wasn’t leaving until he got what he came here for.
“By sneaking out first thing in the morning and hoping for the best.”
“You realize that plan is flawed, right?” he pointed out, pulling her closer as he shifted so that she was sitting more comfortably on his lap.
“Yet, it’s all I have at the moment,” she said with a heartfelt sigh and a wiggle that made it difficult for him to focus. “My pretties?”
“Your pretties,” he said with a nod, and because he couldn’t help himself, he leaned in and kissed her. “My great-great-great-great-great grandfather Noah was born here in Bridgewater. Both his parents came from prominent families in England, but they’d decided to move here for a fresh start after they were married. They ended up having an insane number of children who all managed to get married and start families of their own. Everyone but Noah that is. He moved out, built a small house down by the pond where he helped fill orders for his father’s furniture business and that was it. He’d kept to himself, worked, and wasn’t interested in settling down with any of the women in town.”
“What happened?” she asked as she snuggled closer until her breasts were pressed against his chest and he couldn’t help but notice just how good she felt in his arms.
“There was an accident. A small boy was playing by the river and fell in. By the time anyone realized what happened he’d already been dragged halfway to the old sawmill. Every man within screaming distance came running and tried to grab him, but the current was too strong. Noah was at the mill picking up an order when he saw the boy being dragged toward the wheel. He didn’t think twice. He just jumped. He managed to grab the boy and shift him out of the way before the wheel dragged him under.”
“I don’t know how he managed to keep that boy safe, but he did. He held onto that boy and kept him away from the wheel even as it continued to crush him. One of the mill workers managed to shut the wheel down, otherwise Noah probably would have been crushed to death. It took them two hours to get him free and by the time they did, he’d already lost a lot of blood and broken most of the bones on the right side of his body. They didn’t think that he would live, but somehow he pulled through. It took him a year to heal and by the time that he did, his parents had decided that it was time to hold him to the promise that he’d made,” Reed said, absently noting that the men in his family had a bad habit of making promises and couldn’t help but wonder how badly this one was going to end. But even knowing that this wasn’t going to end well wasn’t enough to make him end this yet.
“What was the promise?” she asked, her eyebrows creasing adorably the same way they used to when she was a little girl and was fascinated by something.
When they were kids, he used to find himself watching her, waiting for that look in her eye and wonder if he would ever love anything that much. She’d made him realize that even though he’d enjoyed working with his hands and with his family that he didn’t love it. Not the way that the he should. The plan had always been for him to take over for his father after he graduated high school, but when the big day finally came and he found himself standing in his father’s workshop, looking down at the blueprint for a replica for one of the antique desks that one of his great-grandfathers had designed, he’d realized that he was making a mistake.
“If he wasn’t married by the time he turned twenty-five, then he would go visit his uncle in England with the hopes that he would find a suitable bride during his stay.”
“Did he?” she asked, laying her head on his shoulder.
“Did he find a suitable bride?” he asked, turning his head so that he could brush his lips against hers.
“Mmmhmmm,” she mumbled with a sleepy little smile.
Chuckling, he said, “Not even close. She was disguised in his uncle’s household as a man. His uncle had originally hired her as a tutor for his grandsons, but they’d proven more than she could handle so he gave her another task, looking after his obstinate nephew.”
“That sounds ominous,” she said with an adorable smile.
“That’s a story for another time,” Reed said, brushing his lips against hers simply because he couldn’t help himself.
“Tease,” she mumbled with a sad little pout that had him chuckling.
“I thought you wanted to hear about the pretties,” he teased.
“I do enjoy a good back story,” Joey said, nodding solemnly.
“I’ll try to remember that,” he promised her with another kiss.
“I would really appreciate that,” she said as her eyes slowly began to close as she snuggled closer. “Now, tell me about my pretties.”
Lips twitching, he obeyed. “After the long and deeply entertaining story that I will one day tell you, they made their way back home. Wanting to do something special for her, he built the house she’d always dreamed of.”
“And she dreamed of having a secret room?” she asked with a sleepy little smile.
“And a big family,” he said, wondering what the small woman falling asleep in his arms dreamed of.
Chapter 34
“Are you sure about this?” Matt asked as he grabbed a bag off the bench seat of his truck and tossed it in the back to make room for her.
“Absolutely,” Joey said absently as she glanced back toward the brightly lit window on the second floor where the man that disappeared a few hours ago was probably still working, hoping that he was-
“He’s not coming,” Matt said, shrugging as he grabbed another tool bag and tossed it in the back.
“Why not?” she asked, telling herself that it was probably for the best as she threw another hopeful glance toward that brightly lit window.
“All he does is work,” he said as he returned his attention to cleaning up the truck that she really wasn’t sure that she should get in.
At least, not without first making sure that her tetanus shot was up to date.
“He has a tough job,” she said, still wondering how he’d ended up taking over as principal at their old high school. If anything, she would have thought that he would have taken over his family’s business or joined the Marines with Jackson, but instead, he’d taken everyone by surprise when he’d decided to go to college.
“Which is why he needs to relax once in a while,” Matt said as he stepped aside and gestured for her to get in.
“Umm, yeah, no,” she said, shaking her head as she took in the disturbing mess that he’d shoved aside.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he reached over and shoved what looked like a month’s worth of old McDonald’s food wrappers, dirty shirts, rags, and a collection of trash that was giving off the scent of rotten onions and other things that had her taking a step back and-
“Why don’t we take my truck?” the man who s
he hadn’t been able to sleep without said as he placed his hand against the small of her back and led her toward the large black pickup truck parked only a few feet away and-
“Not enough room,” Jackson, the man who she’d really been hoping to avoid, said, throwing Reed a curious glance as he joined them, throwing his old duffle bag over his shoulder as he gestured toward her car. “I’ll drive.”
“Why don’t we take separate cars?” Joey suggested, licking her lips nervously because she really didn’t think this was such a good idea anymore.
“Easier just to take one car,” Jackson said, already heading toward her car.
“But I cleaned and everything,” Matt grumbled as Reed led her over to her car where he popped the back, tossed his bag inside, and-
That was it.
There were no lingering touches, smoldering looks, or anything that gave away any indication that she meant anything to him, which was fine. More than fine, because that’s what she wanted. In fact, if she was going to be completely honest, and why wouldn’t she be? She’d have to say that she was actually relieved that she didn’t have to worry about him distracting her with those kisses and caresses that she liked so much. It made it easier to focus on other things.
Like this morning when she’d found herself curled up alone in her bed. Thanks to Reed, she’d been able to finish the lesson plans for the rest of the year, finally unpack her bags, Google kitty names and spent an hour trying to lure the aforementioned unnamed kitten from beneath her dresser, packed her camping gear, cooked enough food to last her through the weekend, and was ready to go by five this morning, which left her with plenty of time to take a long hot shower so that she could panic in peace. She would have preferred the safety of Reed’s arms instead, but clearly, that wasn’t an option, which was fine.
More than fine.
“What about work?” Matt asked as he reluctantly gave up hopes of taking his truck and began loading his stuff into the back of her car.
“Done,” Reed said, grabbing the large cooler that had taken her over twenty minutes and five attempts to drag outside and carried it around to the other side like it weighed nothing and slid it into the backseat.
More than fine, she tried to tell herself even as she couldn’t help but wonder if they’d notice if she took this opportunity to sneak off and hide like the coward that she was, because she really wasn’t sure that she would be able to make it through the next forty-eight hours without doing something that she was going to-
“We have a problem.”
“What problem?” Jackson asked as Joey followed Matt’s frown and nearly sighed with relief when she saw the problem.
“There’s not enough room,” Reed said, gesturing toward the space in the backseat that was just big enough for one person, which meant that she had the excuse that she needed to get out of this before it was too late.
“Joey can sit on my lap,” Matt offered with a heartfelt sigh.
“Did you want me to kill you?” Jackson drawled as he took a step toward Matt and-
“She can sit with me,” Reed finally said as he shoved his brother toward the front seat and before she could make another suggestion, she found herself sitting on Reed’s lap and trying to figure out how she was going to make it through this weekend alive.
*-*-*-*
“What’s going on with my sister?” Jackson finally asked the question that Reed was wondering several hours later as they watched Joey make her way across the busy Walmart parking lot.
“I have no idea,” he said, but he planned on finding out just as soon as the damn erection that she’d left him with went down.
Two hours of holding her had been bad enough, but then the little bastard that was following her inside the store mentioned that they were probably going to need a few things. That’s when he caught the calculating look in her eye and the wiggling and soft sighs began. By the time they’d pulled into the parking lot she’d had him hard as a rock and ready to wring her neck when she gave him one last wiggle and took off, leaving him with no other choice but to let her go.
But god help her when he caught her because he was going to spank her-
“Any idea why she suddenly wants to go camping?” Jackson asked as he absently tapped his thumb against the steering wheel.
“None whatsoever,” Reed said, knowing that he should have that talk with Jackson that he’d been putting off since last night, but at the moment all he could think about was following Joey into that store.
“Where did you disappear off to last night?” Jackson asked as he continued tapping his thumb against the steering wheel.
“Work,” he said, narrowing his eyes as he watched Matt catch up with Joey.
Nodding, Jackson continued tapping his thumb while they watched Joey and Matt disappear inside the store. “You know that you don’t have to do this, right?”
“She’s never been camping before,” he bit out, slowly exhaling as he reached for the door handle.
“That’s not what I meant,” Jackson said as a small beep drew Reed’s attention to his phone.
“I promised to look after her,” Reed said with an annoyed sigh as he reluctantly pulled his phone out of his pocket and-
Was forced to bite back a groan when he saw the incredibly inappropriate text message waiting for him that had his grip tightening on the door handle and his damn cock hardening again.
“No one would have blamed you if you’d turned her away,” Jackson said absently before adding, “Especially after what happened.”
“It’s fine,” he bit out between clenched teeth as he struggled not to think about the text that she’d-
Fucking hell, she sent another one.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive,” he said, taking a steadying breath as he clenched and unclenched his hand and-
Damn near whimpered when he saw the next text message waiting for him.
“Let me know how much you want for rent,” Jackson said, sighing as he glanced back at him and-
“Are you okay?”
“Yes,” Reed said, shoving his phone back in his pocket so that he could rub his trembling hands down his face as he resigned himself to spanking her ass. “I’m not charging her rent. She does all the cooking,” he managed to get out, deciding that he probably shouldn’t mention the real reason why he wasn’t charging her rent.
“At least let me pay the water bill since it’s gotta be high,” Jackson said with a sigh as he returned his attention to the store.
“The water bill’s low,” Reed said, wondering if Jackson would forgive him if he throttled his sister only to wonder why Jackson was looking at him strangely.
“There’s been no change in your water bill?” Jackson asked as he shot a curious glance back toward the store.
“Not much of one. Why?”
“No reason,” Jackson murmured right around the time that Reed decided that he’d waited long enough.
*-*-*-*
“That should do it,” Joey said with a sigh as she sent one last text to buy herself a little more time before she had to face the man that was-
Standing right behind her.
Really hoping that she was wrong, she slowly looked over her shoulder and-
“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling that it was probably for the best if she started her five-step apology process immediately, especially since the large man glaring down at her looked as though he’d made his peace with getting to know the correctional system on a more personal level.
“Is that all?” the man that really didn’t look happy to see her said as he placed both hands on the carriage, effectively trapping her.
“I’m really sorry,” she stressed with a solemn nod only to stop nodding when his eyes narrowed on her and a muscle in his jaw twitched in warning.
“We should probably join the others,” she murmured absently as she snuck a glance past him with the hopes of finding-
“It’s just you and me, sweetheart,” Ree
d said, leaning in closer so that she was forced to tilt her head back so that she could keep an eye on that tick that was really starting to concern her.
“Oh,” she said, licking her lips nervously before asking, “Should I mention that this store has excellent security?”
Chuckling, he leaned down until his mouth brushed her ear and whispered, “They’ll never make it here in time to stop me from spanking your ass.”
“I see,” she murmured only to sigh with a shrug and admit, “I’m actually good with that.”
There was a pained groan as Reed pulled back so that he could press a kiss against her forehead. “You’re really going to be the death of me,” he said with a sigh as he pulled back and she couldn’t help but wonder about that spanking because she was more than willing to see if the family bathroom was available.
“Start talking,” he said with a resigned sigh as he released his hold on the carriage so that he could grab a bag of chips and toss it in the carriage.
“About spankings?” she asked with a hopeful smile that had his eyes narrowing on her.
“About why your brother wanted to know if my water bill was high.”
“Because he’s very concerned about water conservation?”
“Or…”
Sighing heavily, she let her shoulders sag and found herself mumbling, “I have panic attacks.”
“What does that have to do with my water bill?” he asked, frowning down at her.
“Because that’s how I deal with them,” she admitted as she turned around and pushed the carriage down the aisle.
“I’m not following,” he said, throwing another bag of chips in the carriage.
“It’s not a big deal,” she said, heading to the next aisle.
“Then you shouldn’t have a problem telling me about it,” he said as he glanced down at her carriage and-
“What the hell is that?”
“Crickets and aluminum foil,” she said, noting that tick was now completely gone, which she decided to take as progress.
“What are they for?” he asked, picking up the small plastic container filled with a dozen plump crickets.
The Promise (Neighbor from Hell Book 10) Page 18
