by Hayden Wolfe
“And how is your mama?”
She tensed, fingers stilled and breath caught.
Concern rushed up. “Ronnie?”
“Dead.”
His gut took a punch from the quivering in her voice. He eased back and peered into her face. Sorrow didn’t show in her eyes. Fear did. “What happened?”
“She was murdered.”
He hadn’t been expecting that. Of course, nobody ever planned for violence to strike their family. Bad stuff happened to other people’s loved ones. “They catch the guy?”
“Yes.”
Her careful response stirred his instincts. “What are you hiding?”
“Nothing. It’s an active criminal investigation, and I was told not to discuss the details with strangers. I shouldn’t have even mentioned it.”
“Strangers?” Damn that hurt. It shouldn’t, but it did. “Is that what I am to you?”
Her gaze mapped his face before settling on his mouth. “Yes. You’re not the boy I once loved, nor am I the same girl.”
“Bullshit, Ronnie. I might’ve changed, but not when it comes to your safety. You know I’d take on the damn world to protect you. Doesn’t matter if we’re lovers, friends, or strangers.”
On a sigh, she closed her eyes.
Hell no, he wasn’t about to let her dismiss him. He cupped her face in his hands. “Look at me.”
She cracked her eyelids and peered at him from under her long lashes. Her hazel eyes hypnotized him. For a moment all he could do was stare into them. A lifetime of broken promises hung between them. He shook off the sensation and focused on the woman he held, not the girl he’d planned to marry.
“What’s really going on? Your mom’s killed, and you show up bruised on some secret mission that brings you to Sander’s Valley in the middle of the night.”
“Enough.” She pushed against his chest. He stepped back, not because he wanted to but because he didn’t have the right to touch her anymore. “I didn’t come back to argue with you.”
“Why did you?”
“At the moment, I’m not so sure.” She motioned in the direction of the door. “Are you going to pay for my drink or not?”
“Yeah. Wait for me, okay?”
Her phone rang. She nodded as she pulled it out and answered.
He turned his back on her and slipped inside. Wyn stood next to the door, arms crossed and anger tightening his features. Kyle followed the direction of his stare to where the Carson twins sat, a girl between them.
Wyn jerked his chin in their direction. “What’s wrong with them? Girls flock to the fuckers.”
The Carson family had money, something the rest of the town lacked. Kyle didn’t bother stating the truth Wyn knew and settled on one less likely to irritate his brother. “They’re out for fun. Look, can you call Levi or Jack for a ride home? My plans might’ve changed.”
A smile replaced the tight press of Wyn’s lips. “You took my advice and talked to her?”
“Your advice, right.” Kyle shook his head. Kid always liked to think he was right. “So, can you?”
Wyn shrugged. “Sure.”
“Great.” Kyle made his way to the bar and paid for Ronnie’s drink. With his change in hand, he turned and smacked into Wyn.
Wyn held out a foil packet. A shit-eating grin spread on his face. “Figure you might need this. The one in your wallet’s so old it’ll probably crumble sliding over your dick.”
“It hasn’t been that long.”
“Really?”
“A year isn’t a big deal. Besides, I have no intention of tangling with Ronnie again. I just want to talk to her, find out what her deal is.”
Wyn chuckled. “Talk, huh? I remember how you and Ronnie liked to talk. I stumbled upon the two of you talking enough damn times, you know.” He waved the condom in Kyle’s face. “Take it. Better prepared than not.”
Kyle snatched the packet and slid it into his back pocket, only because he didn’t bother carrying one anymore. That and he could see Jimmy, the bar’s owner and his dad’s best friend, on his tiptoes in the rear corner of the room, squinting at them. Kyle didn’t need his dad to get a report of his son’s activities.
“Now out of my way before she thinks I ditched her.”
Wyn stepped to the side. “Sex, Kyle. Don’t make it out to be anything more.”
Kyle let the slamming door answer his brother. He didn’t need the reminder that Ronnie was only passing through.
The sounds of the bar cut off. An empty sidewalk greeted him. No Ronnie. He scanned the road. Cars lined it. He didn’t see her classic ’65 Shelby, the one her daddy had given her on her sixteenth birthday, among the pickups and dented sedans. Jimmy’s Place didn’t have a parking lot. It was a double-block row home converted into a tavern.
Not ready to admit the obvious, he jogged down the alley and followed the loop it made back to the main road. He walked the block, scanned the next two, and then returned to the bar’s entrance.
“She left me.” Too damn annoyed at himself for falling for her ploy, he leaned against the brick and went over their brief encounter. He cursed. “And she never answered my questions.”
He propped a foot against the wall and crossed his arms. At least he didn’t have to worry about getting attached to her again. Except, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever let her go, not where it counted. No matter—she’d taken the choice out of his hands. Just like last time.
Chapter 2
Kyle shoved his hands in his pockets and crossed the street. Looked like he was headed home. Alone. No way would he go back into the bar and admit to Wyn he’d been ditched.
He climbed into his truck’s cab and sat there for a long moment. The image of an all-grown-up Ronnie haunted him. Even bruised and frightened, she was still the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. She’d filled out and lost the innocent look she’d worn like a second skin. Of course, she’d been far from innocent even in high school. Wicked described her best. Naughty worked too.
He’d tried to replace her. God, no girl had ever come close to turning him on like she had. His Ronnie had been able to carry on a conversation at the local diner with their friends while toying with his dick under the table. His cock twitched at the memory. One coy look and she’d been able to reduce him to a rutting animal, uncaring of who might catch them together.
His gaze drifted to the library three doors down from the bar. He’d fucked her there. Scarf tied around her mouth to muffle her moans, he’d bent her over one of the reading tables and taken her hard.
He dropped his head against the seat. Memories of them together all over town and in the countryside flashed across his vision. He cursed.
She twisted him up, made him crazy and horny. And so damn lost. He didn’t want to think about the days he’d woken and reached for her, only to remember he’d never married her. All those times together, and they’d never fallen asleep in each other’s arms. Never woken to morning sex and breakfast in bed. Never had the future they should’ve.
He smacked the steering wheel. “Get over it. You were her summer boy toy, not the guy she wanted to spend her life with.”
The reality left him with the familiar resentment he harbored for Ronnie, but he knew it was only an illusion. Tonight proved it. Her voice had shaken him, knocked him back to that place where foolish dreams and desires lived. It was a lonely place to be and one he refused to linger in.
The pickup turned over with a rumble. Heavy rock music blasted from the speakers. He punched the button, cutting it off. Blessed silence filled the car. He pulled out and headed toward his shell of a house. Ironic that it had unpainted drywall and no flooring in most of the rooms when he made his livelihood fixing up other people’s places. He’d just never had a reason to make it into a home. He’d built it and blamed its half-finished appearance on his desire to let his wife decorate it. Only, he’d never married.
He took the road out of town. The sign for Sander’s Valley Farm came into view. His great-gra
ndparents had bought the sprawling space between the mountains in the forties. A creek ran from Sander’s Lake through the middle of it. Years of spring floods made the surrounding land perfect for farming. His parents still worked a few hundred acres of the once-flourishing farm. The rest had been divvied up between him and his brothers.
He drove past it. Ronnie’s words bounced in his head. She’d stopped at Jimmy’s Place for a reason: car trouble. If she’d headed toward her dad’s old place for the night and broke down, she might be stuck for hours. Few cars traveled that way.
She had a phone, though. She could call for a tow truck.
The image of her bruised face haunted him, however. Somebody had hurt her. Armed robbery, she’d said. Virginia wasn’t the only place where burglaries happened. There’d been a lot more crime in the county over the last few years. Factories had closed. The coal mine had cut production. Shit like that made people who’d normally never break the law desperate. No way did he want Ronnie to be in the wrong time and place again.
He flicked on the turn signal and took the right leading to her dad’s old cabin. Her parents had separated right after she was born but had never divorced. Ronnie’s dad had lived in their log cabin overlooking Sander’s Valley while her mom had stayed in Virginia. She had an art gallery there.
Kyle had heard Ronnie had taken it over and opened an auction business. His brother Jack had been on its website and commented about some of its online auctions. Apparently there was a demand for paintings that looked like what his little cousin Suzie could create. Kyle doubted hers would sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, though.
He slowed the truck around the hairpin curve leading deeper into the woods and slammed on his brakes. Ronnie’s car sat on the side of the road, its hood up. He pulled behind it and jumped out, leaving the engine running. The headlights brightened the woods. Ronnie was nowhere in sight.
He jogged toward her car. The sweet smell of antifreeze clued him into Ronnie’s engine trouble. Without a flashlight, he couldn’t see where the leak came from, but she wouldn’t be driving it anymore tonight.
He spun on his heel and scanned the woods. “Ronnie?”
A muffled cry reached his ears. He took off in the direction it came from, farther down the road. Concern rushed over him. All he could picture was the Carson twins standing way too close to her. Impossible. Kyle knew that. They were still in the bar. Still, he had to be certain.
The sight that met him stopped him dead in his tracks. Ronnie knelt on her hands and knees next to a wooden trunk, her ass in the air. A light brightened the ground under her, illuminating the spilled contents of her purse and giving him an intimate peek of her inner thighs.
She whipped her head in his direction. Her gaze locked on to him.
“Kyle?” She jumped to her feet, stumbled, and landed on her ass.
He rushed forward and tugged her up, wrapping her in his arms. “What are you doing?”
“Picking up the stuff I dropped because you yelled my name and startled me.”
He glanced from her glinting eyes to the spilled contents of her purse. “Sorry. I saw your car but not you.” He brushed the loose wisps of her hair from her cheeks. “I was worried.”
She frowned. “About what?”
“We’ve had an increase in crime lately.”
“The only thing I’d run into out here is a bear or maybe a skunk.”
At her narrowed eyes, he cursed. “You said you had engine trouble. I wanted to make sure you made it out here, okay? Sue me.”
“I never told you I was going to the cabin.”
No, she hadn’t. He’d assumed it. “Why else would you drive up from Virginia? This isn’t exactly a vacation hot spot.”
She sighed and pushed from his arms. “I should’ve taken the Benz, but Dad loved the Shelby.”
“So you came here on purpose, didn’t just get in the car and drive.” Too bad. He’d liked the idea that she’d returned because she’d needed him, or at least for the comfort home brought.
She dropped back to her knees and started throwing stuff into her purse. “I told you all you need to know.” She zipped her bag and stood. “I didn’t come here for you, Kyle. I’m sorry if that hurts, but it’s the truth.”
He didn’t know what to say to that. Hurt? It fuckin’ stung. He shrugged off the annoyance and focused on the few bits of information she’d given him. “Did the robbery have anything to do with your mom’s murder? Or did somebody break into your house?”
“Damn, you’re as stubborn as ever, aren’t you?”
He grinned and trailed his fingers down her spine. “Persistent, not stubborn.”
She huffed and twisted out of reach. He let his hand drop, curling his fingers so he didn’t reach for her again.
She draped the strap of her purse over a shoulder and grabbed the handles of the crate. “Obstinate and hard-headed, that’s what you are, Kyle Sander.”
God, he loved when she used his full name. “It’s good to be consistent, doll. People know what to expect from me.”
The light from the phone she held illuminated her face. A smile tugged at her lips. She turned away. A shame. He wanted to watch her grin spread.
“Good night, Kyle. Thanks for checking on me, but as you can see, I’m fine. No wild animal or drunk college kid has assaulted me.”
On a grunt, she hefted the trunk and started walking away from where she’d left her car. Well, shuffled described her awkward steps better. He watched her struggle with her unusual baggage, puzzled by the older Ronnie. She’d gotten good at avoiding questions. It only stoked his curiosity.
He fell into step next to her.
She glanced at him. “Why are you still following me?”
“Figured you’d need me to carry that for you.”
“I can manage.”
He glanced from her fingers tightened around the handles to the strained muscles in her arms. “Looks heavy.”
“I’m stronger than you think.”
He matched her slow pace. “I can see that.”
“Then why are you still here?”
“Well, the cabin is a good half mile up the mountain, and once you realize you can’t spend the night there, you’re going to have to carry that thing back down.”
She stopped and carefully set the trunk onto the ground. “Why can’t I stay there? I do own it.”
“So you turned the power back on and had somebody clean it?”
She licked her lips. “I don’t need lights, and a little dirt won’t kill me. I’ll survive a night. It’ll be like camping, and I’ll call a mechanic in the morning. So, you see, I’m fine. I don’t need you.”
He bit his cheek to stop his grin. “And I suppose you don’t need water or to be able to flush the toilet either.” He gave up and let his amusement show. “Need power to run the well pump, Ronnie.”
She glanced from the trunk at her feet to the road in front of her. “I need to get up there.”
“Tonight?”
She gave a small shake of her head. “I guess not.”
“How about I get you somewhere that has running water, then bring you out here tomorrow?”
“Being my hero again?”
“I always was good at it.”
“You were good at a lot of things.”
He opened his mouth to ask why she’d left, then, but snapped it closed. He would not go there. Like Wyn had said, Kyle needed to keep Ronnie’s visit in perspective. She hadn’t returned to reunite with him. It didn’t mean he’d just let her walk away without reminding her of what she gave up. The thought took hold. He’d fuck her, make her scream for him, and then he’d walk away and leave her yearning. Maybe it’d be the closure his friends always told him he needed. Nothing else had worked.
He cleared his throat. “I still am, Ronnie.”
He heard her shaky exhale and wished she were close enough to feel it on his skin.
“So am I. Better, actually.”
Her voi
ce promised sin, and her lips offered a taste of candy. He wanted both.
“Are you now?”
“Mmm-hmm. Practice makes perfect, they say.”
He bit back the jealousy he had no right to feel and lifted the trunk. He grunted, surprised by its weigh. “You are stronger than you look. What do you have in here?”
“Stuff.”
More of her evasive answers. He let it go. Her clothing and accessories didn’t concern him at the moment. He had one night with her…if he could convince her to go home with him. Otherwise he had the next few minutes. He planned to make them count.
They made their way to his truck. He tossed the wooden box into the back. It landed with a clunk.
“Oh my God, be careful with that!”
She scrambled into the bed and reached for the crate. He caught her hips, stopping her so her knees were on the edge of the tailgate. “I’m sure your clothes are fine.” He slid a hand to her belly and stepped between her legs. “You’re going to get all dirty crawling around back there.”
She peered over her shoulder. “I never minded getting a little mud on my knees.”
He stroked his fingers over the slight swell of her stomach but stopped inches above her groin. “I remember that about you, Ronnie. You never minded leaves in your hair or grass stains on your palms, as long as you got my cock inside you.” He slid his other hand down her thigh and gripped the edge of her skirt. “Are you still wild like that, doll?”
Only her quickened breaths answered him.
He dragged his fingertips back up her leg, drawing her skirt with him. “Well, Ronnie?”
“I’m not a teenager anymore. I have a nice big bed to have sex in.”
Her low voice took on a slight drawl. It caressed him, sending tingles down his spine. “Do you now?”
“Yes.”
The word came out husky, inviting. Would she let him touch her? Fuck her? He had to know. He inched his fingers higher and rubbed his thumb along the crease where thigh met groin. All the while he listened to her breathing and watched for any sign that his advances weren’t welcome.
