Authors: Molly McLain
“Okay, fine. Whatever. I’m going to do some work outside.” If Reed showed up, these shenanigans would be on Alex, not her.
“Sure thing, darlin’.” His wink sent another wave of chills creeping down her spine and she made fast tracks to the old flower garden in the backyard.
She hit her knees and began yanking weeds, shocked when tears started to burn behind her eyelids. Her father’s face flashed through her mind and she hated that so much had changed. That she could no longer call him when she found herself in tough situations like this.
The old Clay Brandt would know how to make this right. The new one wouldn’t be able to pull his mouth from the bottle long enough to give a shit.
Sniffling, she cursed her weakness. She didn’t need him. Or anyone else for that matter. This would all be fine.
She
would be fine. She just needed faith. And maybe a drink of her own.
***
J
osh clicked off his phone and tossed it onto the console of his truck. Resting his head against the back of the seat, he closed his eyes.
He’d done the right thing. He knew he had. Didn’t mean he felt good about it. Sure as hell didn’t mean he looked forward to the wrath that was sure to follow.
He didn’t want this rift between him and Carissa, dammit. But if protecting her—again—also meant she’d hate him a little more than she already did, so be it. At least he’d sleep easier at night.
A rap of knuckles sounded on the truck window and he opened his eyes to see Tony standing outside, a still-pissed expression on his face.
Josh powered down the window. “Get in. We need to talk.”
“I got nothing to say and we got bigger fish to fry anyhow.”
“It can wait five minutes. Get in.”
Shaking his head, Tony moved around to the passenger side of the truck. “Your business is your business, man. And mine is mine. How about we just agree to that and call it good?”
Josh braced his boot against the side of the floor board and rested his elbow on his knee. “I owe you an apology.”
Tony snorted. “Dude, if I would’ve known you were doing—”
“There’s nothing going on with me and Carissa. I don’t know why I acted like I did.” He turned to look his foreman in the eye, much as it pained him. “She’s a hell of a woman and if you wanna...” He paused, not wanting to acknowledge what Tony undoubtedly wanted. “If you wanna go out with her or whatever, I won’t stand in your way. Just do yourself a favor and get your other shit taken care of first, okay?”
“I talked to my lawyer this morning,” Tony replied immediately. Then he narrowed his gaze and studied Josh for a long moment. “She’s got you all torn up, doesn’t she?”
“What? No. Hell no.” He shook his head and shifted again in the seat.
“Bullshit.” Tony cracked a grin. “You can’t tell me there’s nothing—”
“It was a long time ago, alright? It’s done and over.” Josh pinched the bridge of his nose and willed away the headache beginning to throb behind his eyes.
Tony’s laugh echoed off the windows. “Couldn’t have been that long ago. She’s only been on the market since last summer.” He stopped and arched an eyebrow. “Unless... Shit, man. Tell me you didn’t.”
Josh frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You were doing her when she was with Fletcher?”
It was all Josh could do not to reach across the cab and wrap his hand around Tony’s neck. “Get the fuck out of my truck.”
Tony laughed again. “Okay, so you weren’t. When then?”
It took a few seconds for Josh to tamp down his temper. He pulled off his ball cap and pushed a hand back over his hair. Christ. He should have just kept his mouth shut. “Before I shipped out, okay? She wasn’t living here yet. And this conversation goes no further than this truck, you hear me? No one knows and, far as I’m concerned, no one ever will.”
“Wow. At least it makes sense now. For a while there, I thought you were reneging on that rule you and Fletcher made...” Tony shook his head, the grin still plastered on his smug face. He reached over and clapped Josh on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, dude. I won’t make shit more complicated and infringe on your territory. I mean, I wouldn’t wanna embarrass you by showing her what it’s like to be with a real man.”
Josh gave a wry grunt. “A real man would’ve covered his shit before he took the dive.”
The humor faded from Tony’s face. “Yeah, well, that’s irrelevant now, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. You tell me.”
Tony pulled in a deep breath, focused on something outside the front window. “Probably.”
“I got your back, you know that, right?”
“I'm gonna need some time off, you know,
if
...”
“Not a problem.” Josh nodded, then angled his head toward the Henry estate, sitting high on the banks of the North Platte River. “Unfortunately we do have one in there that needs to be dealt with.”
***
A
lull in the hum of drills and buzz saws alerted Carissa to the sound of a vehicle door closing at the front of the house. Probably just one of the guys getting something from their truck, she decided, as she sat back on her feet and inspected her work.
Her mom would be so proud. In fact, she’d chosen the Sweet Williams just for her. They’d always been her mother’s favorite. Said they reminded her of Carissa as a little girl—small, bright, and beautiful.
She felt a stab of melancholy that she wouldn’t be the one enjoying the pretty little blooms every year, but hopefully whoever bought the house would appreciate what was sure to be a beautiful array of wildflowers and other perennials when the garden was complete.
“I don’t have to take this bullshit from you, Fletcher!”
Carissa flinched at the booming voice coming from the interior of the house.
Apparently
not
just one of the guys. Crap.
She clamped her eyes shut and pulled in a careful breath, praying this wouldn’t be as bad as it seemed. Maybe, just maybe, Reed would go against his rules and cut her some slack.
“Oh, that’s right. You used to share a pillow with the homeowner, so that gives you the right to push me around. Wrong, asshole!”
Double crap.
Carissa got to her feet and hurried to the house.
“You know as well as I do that this has nothing to do with Carissa—this is about you trying to pull the wool over my eyes on every goddamn job you do. Get your shit together, Kelly, or I’ll see to it your license is yanked faster than you can say State Board.”
Carissa slid into the main part of the house just in time to see Alex fling a hammer across the living room and right through the wall he’d hung that morning. The sheetrock punctured like ice on a puddle in spring.
“What’s going on here?” Both men turned to her, opposite expressions on their faces. Alex’s full of rage and frustration and Reed’s calm and stoic. He smiled faintly, his dark brown eyes almost apologetic beneath light brown eyebrows and spiky blond hair.
“I told you I had this under control, but you had to run and call your boyfriend, didn’t you?” Alex glared at her, his hands flexing at his sides.
She looked to Reed in question. He shook his head and blew out a breath before he explained.
“She didn’t call me, Kelly. If you really want to know, I’m here because someone else reported you for illegal work. Looks like I got here just in time.”
Someone had called her in? Oh, God.
“I can’t believe this.” Alex pushed a hand back through his hair, making it stand on end. He swung a glance over to his guys, who had all stopped working to watch the show. “You better hope I don’t find out which one of you—”
“Hold up.” Reed interrupted him with the cool grace of an upheld hand. “You’ve got bigger problems than worrying about who reported you, Kelly. How about you get to work tearing down that wall, so I can see what you’ve got going on behind it.”
“Screw you.”
Reed chuckled wryly as he pulled a clipboard from beneath his arm and began to write. “Have it your way then.” He tore off what looked like a parking ticket and handed it to Carissa. “I hereby shut this renovation down until your contractor complies, whether it’s by showing me you’re legal or by fixing what we all know isn’t.”
The room spun a little. Her knees went weak.
“Shut down?” she croaked. “You can’t shut me down, Reed. You just...you can’t.”
“I wish I didn’t have to, angel. Really I do.”
She shot a pleading glance toward Alex. “Just show him. Please. You said there’d be no trouble.”
Alex said nothing, just looked back and forth between her and Reed, his expression growing more menacing by the second, those demon eyes coming to life. She eyed the hole in the wall and bit her bottom lip.
How could she work with him now? Wondering what other problems might arise, or, God forbid, if he’d go off again.
“You know what,” she heard herself say, autopilot kicking in. “We’re done here. I can’t afford this kind of drama. I’m sorry, Alex, but if you’ve got something to hide, I can’t have you working for me anymore.”
He laugh was pure, bone chilling evil. “We have a contract.”
Reed cleared his throat to speak, but Carissa shook her head. She’d gotten herself into this mess, she’d get herself out.
“If what’s behind that wall is illegal, I’ll sue you. I don’t think you want that blemish on your record.” She shot him a challenging stare and he growled like a provoked animal. “I’ll take that as a guilty concession and give you until the end of the day to be out of here.”
“You’re only screwing yourself,” Alex ground out. “It’s the middle of June. Prime time for construction. You’re never gonna find someone else to take on this shithole.”
Carissa held her head high, though the lump in her throat made it difficult. “I’ll be back at five. I expect you to be gone.” And with that, she turned and walked out. She barely made it to the front porch before the waterworks began. Two times in one day. Pathetic.
“Carissa, wait.” Reed was on her heels. “I’m sorry. This isn’t how I saw things going down.”
She held up a hand and kept moving toward her car. She needed to get out of there. She needed... God, she needed a freaking place to live and now she had to deal with this. It was too much. Way too much.
But then a thought struck her and she swung around, brow furrowed. “Who tipped you off?”
Reed slowed to a halt several feet away. “No one wants to see you get shafted, Car. We’re just looking out for you.”
We
. As in the dynamic duo. Carissa cursed. “I’m going to kill him.”
Visions of Josh Hudson turning ‘round on a spit flitted through her head, quickly followed by ones of him strung up by his balls.
“Carissa, come on. You’ve gotta understand—” Reed stepped closer, but she held up a warning finger to keep him at bay.
“I’ve invested almost everything I have into this house. I don’t have to
understand
anything.” Then she climbed into her car, hell bent on kicking some meddling contractor ass once and for all.
T
hree years earlier, 12:10 a.m.
Due at Pendleton in less than two weeks, the last thing on earth he needed was to get involved with a woman like Carissa, who’d never before gone home with a guy she’d just met, he’d bet his business on it.
Yet, there they were, hands tangled, as
she
led
him
out of McCauley’s Pub. The night sky was clear overhead and its crystalline stars and bright moonlight only added to the clarity he’d felt the moment his brother’s girlfriend introduced them.
Mine.
She pulled him along, past the few vehicles remaining in the parking lot, and he barely contained a chuckle at her haste. When he tugged at her hand, she looked back, her long, dark hair whirling around her face, her eyes wide.
“We’re over here.” He redirected her with a tip of his head.
“Oh.” She pursed her lips and he’d bet an adorable blush covered her cheeks too. He wanted to tell her exactly how hot her wanton urgency made him, but he had to get this right. Needed to be a gentleman. Needed to slow down and make every second with her count.
“I know. I feel it too.” He stepped in, lowered his forehead to hers, and raised his free hand to the side of her face. Her skin felt so incredibly soft beneath his fingers, and damn if she didn’t smell amazing. Like wildflowers—sweet pea maybe and vanilla. He threaded his hand back into her hair, pulled her flush against him and, just as he’d suspected, they fit perfectly together.
You’re so screwed, bro.
“I’ve never done this.” Her whisper was a warm caress against his face, as her fingers found his chest and fisted his shirt. “I mean, I have, but not like this.”
“I know,” he said again, grinning his primal satisfaction in that little detail. A solitary nod of his head forced hers up and back, opening her mouth to his. Sliding his other arm beneath her ass, he lifted her off the ground and gave them a taste of what they both wanted.
The sensual glide of her tongue against his was like heaven. Slow and promising, yet hot and sinful at the same time. The erection pressed between their bodies was by no means his first, but the tug deep in his gut was.
And he knew in that moment one night with Carissa would never be enough.
***
T
uesday afternoon, present day...
Sure as shit, the entire east side of the mansion’s first floor electrical had been tampered with. Cuts everywhere. At least fifteen hundred worth of damage, which, considering the house was a million dollar project, was pennies in the big scheme of things. Still it irked the hell out of him that some jackass thought it’d be fun to dick around with one of his jobs.
After putting a call in to his insurance company and then another to the security company to bump up the alarm installation to ASAP, Josh spent the better part of the day helping the electricians pull wires, so they could start all over again in the morning.
He’d also elected not to call Henry. For one, he figured the senator wouldn’t appreciate being interrupted at the capital with news of a mishap and, two, it no longer made sense that someone targeting the politician would pull this kind of stunt. They’d be more apt to choose a personal means of raising hell. Like keying one of the man’s vintage Jags.