“It’s just me and you,” I say, and I don’t know why my stomach is going nuts. I don’t know why I’m so scared for this one kiss. I’ve kissed a man before, but I just haven’t experienced the whole belly flutters with clammy hands.
“It’s just me and you,” he whispers. He lowers his head, and right before his lips touch mine, we hear a soft knock. I roll my lips while he groans. He looks at me one last time before rolling out of bed and storming out of the room.
“Yeah, Mom.” When I hear him, I pull the covers aside and sit up. I’m wearing pants and a shirt, but I am still going to be coming out of Casey’s room. Even though nothing happened, I don’t know if she’ll think something happened. I’m still contemplating whether to go out there when I see Casey standing in the doorway.
“Are you okay?” He looks worried.
“Yeah,” I say softly. “I’m fine. I just …” I look down at my hands. “I didn’t want your mom to think I spent the night with you.”
“You live here.” He walks over to me, squatting down in front of me, and takes my hands in his.
“It’s just I didn’t want her to think …” I shake my head. “That I slept with you.” Looking at him, all I can think of is cupping his face and kissing him. I lift one of my hands to his face, and the stubble stings my hand just a touch as my thumb rubs his cheek. “Yesterday,” I say, “was one of the worst days of my life.” I shake my head. “I mean, the past month has pretty much been the worst ever.” I smile just a touch. “But when you took my face into your hands, and I thought you were going to kiss me, I forgot.” He just looks at me, his eyes going a light shade of blue. It’s the blue you can get lost in; a color blue you can look at every day for the rest of your life and never get tired of. “For one second, I forgot my life was in an uproar. I forgot everything.”
“Darlin’.” He says my nickname, and I smile. He leans up, and I wait for the kiss. I wait for it, holding my breath, and right before his lips touch mine, the sound of an alarm fills the house, and my body starts to shake. Looking around frantically, I have the sudden urge to run and hide.
“It’s okay,” he says. The alarm silences, but the tears are now coming. My heart pounds so hard in my chest that I think the whole world can hear it. “It’s just Kallie.” Kallie comes into the room.
“Jesus Christ,” she huffs. “Why the fuck is this place wired up like Fort Knox?” she asks and then sees me with tears running down my face. “I’m so sorry I scared you.”
“It’s fine,” I say, shaking my head. “I just …”
“Kallie, why don’t you go put the coffee on?” Casey suggests as his hands still hold mine. She looks at me and then walks out. “I promise you,” he says, letting one of my hands go to wipe away the tear rolling down my face. “Tomorrow, you won’t shed a tear.” I don’t tell him not to make promises because I haven’t had one promise stick. No one has ever made a promise and kept it. Even when I was four and my mother promised to take me to McDonald’s if I got first place in the pageant. After I won, she smiled for pictures, pretending she was the perfect mother, then made me grilled chicken and steamed veggies because it looked like I was getting a muffin top. I learned then and there that promises were just a ploy.
“Coffee is ready. Mom is coming, so stop smooching and come out here!” Kallie yells, and I smile.
“We should go,” I say, standing. He drops my other hand now, and when I go to walk around him, he stops me.
“I’m also going to promise that before tonight is over, I’m going to kiss you, Olivia,” he says, and just the way he says it, my heart speeds up for a different reason. “I’m going to close the door, and if I have to barricade us in a room, I will. This kiss is going to happen.”
I swallow, trying to make a joke about it. “Promises, promises, cowboy.” He’s about to say something else when the front door opens and then slams.
“I’m here.” I hear Charlotte. I don’t know what I’m expecting, but it’s not walking out to the table being set by Jacob and Kallie while Billy comes in carrying two bags full of food.
“What is all this?” I ask. Charlotte comes over to me and takes me into her arms.
“This is all your favorite food.” She smiles when she lets me go. I look over at Billy who puts the bags down and begins to unpack the containers.
“She’s been up all night cooking.” Billy shakes his head. “I told her it was too much.”
I watch him unload the bags, and I’m speechless. The words stick in my throat. I want to say so much, but I know the minute I do, it’s going to come out as a sob. Casey walks past us, going straight for the coffee. He makes two cups and brings one over to me. Charlotte leaves me to go prepare the plates as Casey hands me the cup.
“Breathe, darlin’,” he says, and I look down.
“I’ve never had anyone take care of me,” I say quietly. “Not once.”
“Well,” he says, taking a drink of his black coffee, “you better get used to it.” I don’t say that I can’t afford to let myself get used to it. I don’t think my heart could take it. “Is that fried chicken?”
“It sure is,” Charlotte says. “Buttermilk just the way she likes it.”
“This is …” I finally say. Putting the mug at my lips, I take a sip, and the hot liquid burns all the way down. “It’s too much.”
“Oh, please,” she says. “Let’s sit and eat.” Billy takes the seat at the head of the table, and Charlotte sits at the other end. I sit next to Casey while Kallie and Jacob sit in front of me. “I don’t know about all of you, but I’m starved.”
“Oh my God,” I say. “Is that mac and cheese?” My eyes go to the platter, and Casey scoops some out for me. “And biscuits and gravy.”
“Hot from the oven,” Billy says. “You need to eat up.” He points at my overflowing plate.
I sit at the table and eat until my eyeballs are almost out of my sockets. “Don’t fill up now.” Casey leans over, and when his shoulder nudges mine, just his touch sends my senses into overdrive. This is crazy, I think to myself. “Mom didn’t take out dessert yet.”
“I can’t eat another bite.” I turn to him, and our faces are so close, and I suddenly forget about everything. Looking into his eyes for just one second, I forget that my whole life has been tossed out, and that the wolves are chasing me. “I also think I need a nap.”
“Are you tired?” he asks, worried all of a sudden, and he looks like he’s going to get up and kick everyone out.
“I’m getting there,” I say. Casey looks over at Kallie. The two of them share a look, and she just nods.
“Okay, let’s get this cleaned up, so Olivia can relax. This might be too much for her.” I’m about to say that it’s not when I suddenly feel like I’m being watched. When I look over, I see that no one is there, and I’m looking out the window. Shaking my head, I remind myself that it’s all in my head, and that no one is watching me.
“Are you okay?” I hear Casey from beside me.
“It’s fine,” I say, and then I look around again. “It’s just, I feel like I’m being watched.” His eyes look at me, and then I see him scanning outside. “But I’m sure it’s just my imagination.”
“Might be.” His voice is tight as he pushes away from the table. “I have to go for a bit. Kallie.” He calls her name, and she looks over at us.
“You need to stay with her until I get back,” he orders. I’m about to say that I’m fine when another alarm goes off. Jacob and Casey both run out of the house this time. The commotion all around me feels like a dream as the doors are locked, and Billy stands in front of me with his back to me as he holds up a shotgun.
Chapter Twelve
Casey
The minute the alarm goes off, I’m running out the door with Jacob behind me. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s the alarm for the south side,” I say, jumping into the truck and peeling off while I call Derek.
“What do you have?” I ask him. Rocks hit th
e truck as I speed to that part of the property, and for the first time, I’m pissed my land is so big.
“You have movement at the southern border. P17,” he says. “You had movement of a man right before the feeds went dead.”
“Fuck,” I say out loud, speeding through the fields. “I want all feeds sent to my computer in two,” I disconnect. “Are you packing?” I look over at Jacob, who just nods, lifting his shirt and showing me his gun. When I pull up to the fence where the feed cut out, I lean over and grab the gun from my glove compartment and then look at Jacob.
“Just so you know, I’m going to shoot first and ask questions later.” I don’t even wait for him to answer. Instead, I jump out of the truck and walk over with my gun drawn and aimed at the pole where the feeds went down. Jacob walks beside me, his gun also drawn as we get to the fence. Looking around, I see that the grass has been disturbed. When I look up, I see where the wire has been pulled down.
“Whoever was here is long gone,” Jacob says from beside me as he looks around. I put my gun down and look at the wire.
“Cut right through,” I say. “No accident there.” I look around, and Derek’s ringtone fills the air.
“Yeah,” I say, answering after one ring.
“We got nothing,” he says. “I can see a bit of an arm, but other than that, the guy was a ghost,”
he hisses. “He knows what he’s doing, and he cut four more wires.”
“I’ll have them fixed in an hour. Meanwhile, I want cameras put on the roads that lead to my house.”
“Working on it.” He says something I don’t know. “It’s going to be done by tomorrow.”
“Make it happen, Derek,” I say. “He’s getting on my land somehow. I want to know where it is, and I want to know what he’s driving.” I hang up and then look over at Jacob.
“What are you going to tell Olivia?” he asks. I look down and then look up at the sky.
“The truth,” I say. “She’s been lied to before. I refuse to be in that category.” I turn and walk back to the truck, then look out toward the field, but I don’t see anything in the distance. I study the side where the trees start to fill in again. “He’s coming in through there.” I point out to Jacob. “It’s the only way.”
“Or by there.” Jacob points over at the small clearing on the side that I hadn’t looked at. “It leads right to the side of the creek, and you can get onto the road by there.” I turn the truck around, making my way to the road, and we see tire tracks.
“I’ll call Grady,” Jacob says. I nod and make my way back to my house.
When I pull up and walk into the house, my father stands there with his gun pointed straight at us. “Jesus Christ,” Jacob says from behind me. “Can you put the gun down?”
My father lowers his gun. “Did you find anything?”
“Nothing. I need the wires at P17 put up again,” I say, and he nods, taking out his phone and making sure someone gets to work.
“Where is Olivia?” I ask him, and he just motions to the family room. “They tried to get her to go upstairs, but she refused.”
I walk past him and into the room to see my mother sitting on the couch next to Kallie, who is shaking her leg while biting her nail. Olivia lies beside her with her eyes closed. She must sense that I’m in the room because her eyes open, and she sits up.
“What happened?” she asks as my mother and Kallie look over at me.
“Someone cut the wire.” Walking into the room, I sit on the coffee table in front of her. “They were long gone by the time I got there.”
“I should go,” she says softly, looking at me. “If I go, all this will go away.”
“Over my dead body,” my father barks out, and Olivia looks at him. “No way are you leaving here until I feel it’s safe for you to.” He folds his arms, and Kallie looks like she wants to laugh. Olivia just stares at him.
“He’s sexy when he’s assertive,” my mother says. I close my eyes to block out my mother’s words while Kallie groans.
“But I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.” Olivia stands now. “All of this is because of me, and I can’t watch you guys—”
“Don’t go off getting madder than a wet hen,” my father tells her. She looks at him and then looks back at me, then at Kallie.
“I don’t even know what that means,” she whispers to Kallie.
Kallie leans over. “It means calm down.” She gets up and walks over to Jacob, and he takes her in his arms. “We have to go get Ethan.” She then looks over. “I’ll call you later,” she tells Olivia, who just nods. My mother gets up and walks over to give Olivia a hug.
“We will call later to see if y'all are hungry. I’ll send Dad with some food,” she says, and then my father looks at Olivia.
“I mean it, young lady.” He puts his hands on his hips. “There is no running.”
I look down, trying not to laugh at him being all in charge. Even Olivia tries not to smile, but she can’t, and it fills her face. “Okay, Billy,” she says softly. He grabs my mother’s hand, and they walk out.
She sits on the couch in front of me, and I look at her. “My father was never a father.” I just listen to her. “He stuck around as long as he could or as long as the money lasted.” I sit here while she gives me another piece of herself. I sit here with the rage pouring through me. What kind of man just leaves a child? “Don’t get me wrong, he did come back a decade later when he thought I was sitting on a nest egg of money. When he realized nothing was there, he was gone just as fast as he arrived.” She shrugs, but I can see the hurt in her eyes.
“Then it’s his loss.” I push the hair away from her face. “It’s his loss that he didn’t see what an amazing woman you turned out to be.”
Her eyes come up to look at me, and I lean in. “If I turned out so amazing, I wouldn’t have to be hiding,” she whispers.
“If you didn’t do any of that …” I swallow down the actual words I want to say, and instead, I say, “Then you wouldn’t be here.” I lean in a little bit more, and her breath hitches right before I finally claim her mouth. My hands go to each side of her head. My tongue comes out and meets hers. I swallow down her moan as she moves closer to me. I turn my head deepening the kiss. The whole time, her tongue rolls with mine. She climbs onto my lap and wraps her legs around my waist. Her arms go around my neck, and she presses herself into me. I wrap my arms around her waist and get lost in the kiss. The past couple of weeks catch up to me, and my hand roams up her back and into her hair. I grab it, pulling it back just a touch, and when she moans, I see her eyes are closed.
“Casey.” She whispers my name, and I smile. My name on her lips makes me want to puff out my chest.
“Yeah, darlin’?”
“Is there anything that you can’t do?” she asks, and I see that her lips are swollen from my kisses.
“Not that I know of.” I laugh, and I kiss her again. Her legs get tighter around my waist, and my cock feels her heat. I’m the one who moans now as she trails kisses to the side of my lips and then to my jaw and then up to my ear.
“You are all that and a bag of chips, Casey Barnes,” she says right before she nips my earlobe. I pull her hair back and attack her neck. “If you give me a hickey, I’m going to kill you,” she mumbles. I think about what it would be like to have my mark on her neck, and it just makes me lose control. I suck in just a touch harder, and she moves away. “Don’t you dare, Casey Barnes.” She makes me laugh when she uses my full name. I’m about to go in again when my phone rings, and I see her eyes go from light to dark.
“I have to …” I say as she untangles her long legs from my waist.
“I’m going to go lie down,” she says. She walks to her bedroom, and I don’t stop her to say she can use my room. The phone ringing again brings me out of my daze, and I see it’s Jacob.
“Yeah,” I say when I answer it.
“I just got off the phone with Grady. He saw a strange car around your property, and he pu
lled the plates.”
I close my eyes and hold my nose. “Let me guess? It’s stolen.”
“Well, the plates have never even been in the system. When he went back, the guy was gone.”
“What are the numbers?” I ask and get up to grab a pen.
“If we couldn’t find them in my system …” Jacob says, and I laugh.
“Humor me,” I say, and he shoots off the number. I snap a picture and send it to Derek. “I’ll let you know what I get,” I lie.
“Yeah, right,” he says. “How is she doing?”
I look back toward the hallway. “As can be expected.”
“Let us know if she needs anything,” he says before he hangs up.
I’m about to put my phone down and walk to her room when the phone rings again. This time, it’s Derek calling. “Hello?”
“Where did you get this plate number?” he asks right away.
“Jacob got it from one of his deputies,” I say. “Noticed a strange car. Ran the plates but got nothing.”
“I would say.” He laughs. “The plate must be code for something. I’m running it through a couple of systems. But I did get info on the guard who called in sick.”
“Yeah?” I wait for him to continue.
“His ex-wife received a wire transfer of twenty-five thousand dollars,” he says, “from an offshore account. The paper trail is going to need some looking into.”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” I say and look over to make sure she isn’t standing there.
“None of this makes sense.”
“I was going to say the same thing,” he says, and I do something I know I should have done a while ago.
“I need you to run the name Dominic Albano,” I say.
“Why does that name ring a bell?” Derek asks.
“He was in the news the past couple of weeks.” I don’t say anything else.
Southern Comfort Page 7
