Chapter 24
Alyssa
“Savannah called me this weekend. Asked if I wanted to move in with her,” Casey says as she chomps on her bacon. She keeps eyeing my sausage, but she knows she’s not fast enough to take it without getting slapped.
“I mentioned it to her when she was at The Haven last week. I think it’s a good idea,” I tell her.
“I do too,” Gabby says. “Savannah was an excellent roommate, although she was hardly ever there. Between her regular job, working with that sleaze bag photographer, and volunteering with Alyssa, I’m not even sure when she sleeps.”
“I think I’m going to do it. I’ve had three months of solid income from my commissions and have saved pretty much all of it. I mean, if I tank as a realtor, worst-case scenario is I just move back in with Mom and Dad.”
“Just let us know when you’re ready to move, and we’ll help,” I assure her. “I’ll volunteer Brody’s muscles.”
Casey giggles. “That’s hilarious.”
“What?” I ask with confusion.
“You volunteering Brody… like he’s yours to command.”
“He is mine,” I tell her with a devilish grin. “Maybe not to command, but mine all the same.”
“You’re f*cking adorable.” Casey grins, and Gabby starts laughing.
But then I see the smile slide off Gabby’s face, and I turn to see what she’s looking at.
Walking through the door of The Sand Shark is none other than Stacy Hutchens. She’s with another woman about her age. Both of them are dressed head to toe in designer clothes. Stacy is laughing at something the other woman says, and it pisses me off that she’s laughing at all. She should be leading a miserable existence because it’s no less than she deserves.
Standing up from the table, I start to walk toward her. Casey reaches out and grabs my arm.
“What are you doing?” she hisses.
Turning to look at Casey, I say calmly, “I’m going to have a little chat with Stacy.”
“That’s probably not a good idea,” Gabby says carefully. “You look like you’re going to kill her.”
“Besides,” Casey adds with a squeeze to my arm. “She’s not bothered Brody again. I think she’s going to stay away.”
Pulling my arm gently from Casey’s grasp, I give her a reassuring look. “I’m just going to ensure that’s the case.”
“I’ll come with you,” Casey says.
“No. Let me talk to her privately. I promise it will be peaceable.”
Casey shoots Gabby a worried look, but then she shrugs her shoulders. “Okay. But I’ll bail you out of jail if things get out of hand.”
Giving them both a grin, I turn and head toward Stacy, who has now taken a booth nearer to the door. When I reach the table, she looks up at me with a pleasant smile on her face, but when she recognizes who I am, it slides a little.
“Oh, hey,” she says hesitantly. “Alyssa, right? From that dog pound place?”
“It’s a no-kill animal shelter, but yes, you remember me?”
“Sure. It’s nice to see you,” she says brightly, but I can tell I make her uneasy. I have a tie to Brody, and she’s not quite sure what it is other than I run the shelter where he works.
“I’d like to talk to you, if you don’t mind.” I pin her with my stare, and she swallows hard.
Good. I make her nervous.
“I’m sorry,” she says without a hint of apology. “I’m here with a friend of mine. So maybe we could get together later.”
Yeah, that’s not going to work for me.
“Stacy… I know about your secret with Brody, and I want to talk to you about it. Now, we can do it here, in front of your friend, or we can talk privately. But I’m going to start talking in about ten seconds, so make your choice.”
I can’t help but savor the way Stacy’s face goes chalk white, but she doesn’t hesitate for even a moment. Sliding out of the booth, she looks down at her companion. “I’m sorry. I need to handle this, but I’ll be back in a few minutes if you want to order me some coffee.”
Stacy doesn’t even look at me as she walks past, straight out the door. I follow her, because I don’t care where we talk… but we’re going to talk. She leads me out into the parking lot and several yards away from the building.
Doing a quick glance around to ensure we won’t be overheard, she levels a glare at me and hisses. “What the f*ck is your game?”
“No game,” I tell her sincerely. “I know that you were driving the car that night.”
“Brody would have never told you that,” she hypothesizes. Weirdly, she seems to be incensed on his behalf that I might insinuate that.
“No, he wouldn’t have. I overheard you two that day at The Haven.”
Flames leap in her eyes, and she steps toward me with teeth bared. “If you so much as breathe one word of this preposterous allegation, I will ruin you.”
“Save it, Blondie,” I tell her with annoyance. “You can act innocent and affronted all you want and you can threaten me until you’re blue in the face, but it doesn’t change the message I’m getting ready to deliver to you.”
“And what’s that?” she sneers, looking down her nose at me.
“Your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell a soul, and you can go on living your lie.”
I pause so what I’m saying sinks in.
She considers what I’ve said but eyes me with skepticism. “Why would you do that?”
“Because in return, you’re going to leave the Outer Banks. I want you to pack up and move by the end of the week. I don’t care where you go, but don’t come back to this area again. You seem to be staying out of Brody’s way for now, but this is a small community and he’ll run into you at some point. You’ve caused him enough pain, and he shouldn’t have to look at your vile face ever again.”
Stacy’s mouth drops open, and she stares at me in disbelief. “I’m not moving away. This is my hometown. All of my family and friends are here.”
“You will move, and you’ll do it by the end of the week,” I tell her confidently.
“Or what?” she sneers. “You’ll tell my secret. No one would believe you anyway, and there’s no way you could prove it.”
I step in closer to Stacy and lower my voice to a deadly thrum. “No, I won’t tell your secret. Ever. Because I promised Brody I wouldn’t. But I will ruin your family if you don’t do what I say.”
Stacy narrows her eyes at me. “Oh, yeah… how’s that?”
“Because I hired a private investigator, who took some very lovely photographs of your dad having an illicit and very sexual tryst with his aide. Now, I don’t know if you or your mom are aware of this, and frankly, I don’t care. But I do know the press will have a field day with it, and your father can kiss reelection to the senate goodbye. When I get done with him, he won’t be able to win an election to the local city council.”
Now Stacy’s face goes green. I can tell she had no clue her father was cheating on her mother, but I can tell she believes the truth of what I’m saying.
“Why are you doing this?” she asks quietly.
“Because I’m not stupid… I know you’re here to try to start something back up with Brody, and he doesn’t want anything to do with you. You’re selfish and you’ll keep after him, causing him more pain. I’m not going to let that happen, and the best way to do that is run your ass out of town.”
“You’re a f*cking bitch,” she grits out.
I find it ironic she thinks I’m a bitch, especially since she helped send an innocent man to jail.
I give her a sweet smile, just before I turn around to head back into The Sand Shark. “End of the week or I email the photos to the press. Have a nice day, Stacy.”
I don’t wait around for her reaction, and I don’t wait for an answer. She’ll leave—I know it. She’s not going to risk her entire family going down in shame and ruin just so she can live a cozy life in her hometown. She has no clue that I’m bluffing her. I learned my lesson about those photos and had destroyed them immediately after my fight with Brody. I have nothing to back up my tough act.
But Stacy doesn’t know that.
When I walk back into The Sand Shark, I can’t help the triumphant smile on my face.
***
Brody and I are laying more pine shavings in both stalls in preparation for two rescued horses to come in. Midget has been gone for a few days, and I wasted no time reaching out with feelers to open my doors to some horses in need. It took no time at all to arrange transport of two that had been seized from a farm full of starving animals. They were being parceled out to different rescue agencies, and I got two of the horses.
Wiping the back of my hand against my forehead, I remove the sweat only to have more pop up in its place. It’s freakin’ hot outside today and even hotter inside the barn. Having the doors opened isn’t making a bit of difference.
I watch Brody as he bends over, pulling out handfuls of shavings and spreading them around. God, he’s gorgeous… covered in dirt and sweat, and I’m thinking about jumping his bones right now.
Walking up behind him, I stick my fingers in the back waistband of his shorts just a few inches. He jerks briefly, then straightens up and turns my way. His arms come around my waist, pulling me in, and our sweat-soaked bodies are wrapped up in each other. It feels like heaven to me.
“What are you doing?” he asks huskily.
“Thinking about taking advantage of you,” I answer truthfully.
“Right here?”
“Right now.”
“Where?”
Turning my head, I nod. “How about you bend me over that sawhorse?”
“F*ck,” he says in wonder. “You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack. Get down and get dirty with me, baby.”
Brody grins, leaning down to kiss me. “You are like the perfect woman. How fast can you get naked?”
“Hopefully not before I can close my eyes,” I hear from the barn doorway, causing me to scream in fright and jump backward from Brody as if he burned me.
Wyatt stands there, one hand on the doorjamb, bent over laughing, while clutching his stomach. When he straightens up, he wipe at his eyes, still laughing at us. “That was classic.”
“A*shole,” Brody mutters, but his lips are curved upward.
“That was also hot,” Wyatt continues razzing us. “Just going to bend her over that sawhorse? Broad daylight? I didn’t know you two were so kinky.”
I glare at Wyatt and go back to spreading out pine shavings. It’s so I can avert my burning hot face that he overheard us, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“F*ck off, Banks,” I hear Brody tell him, and he’s not sounding so amused any more. He walks over to me and starts spreading more shavings alongside me.
Wyatt doesn’t say anything for a moment, and then walks in closer. “Just came by to check on things.”
“Peachy keen, jelly bean,” I say automatically, because that’s just something I’ve always said.
“It’s been over a week with no sign of him,” Wyatt says conversationally. He’s talking about Chad, of course, and that is a fact that hasn’t escaped our notice. Brody and I were just talking about it last night, hopeful that he played his game and now he was gone.
“I’m not ready to dismiss him yet,” Brody says straightening up. “We still need to be vigilant.”
“Agreed,” Wyatt says. “But I’m not going to be able to keep cruisers watching Alyssa’s house. They want me to put those resources back on regular routes.”
I nod in understanding. “That’s fine. I’m careful and when I’m home, I’m locked in tight with a great alarm system.”
“Good girl,” Wyatt says, turning back toward the door. “Just wanted to stop by and tell you I had to pull the cruisers, so keep your eyes peeled.”
“Thanks, man,” Brody says with a wave, and I give him a smile. Walking to the door, I watch as Wyatt heads back toward the kennel where he parked his car. I still have a twinge of uneasiness where Chad is concerned, but every day that has passed with no incident makes it a little easier to put down my guard.
Stacy is out of the picture and hopefully Chad is too. I want to bury these parts of our past good and deep, so we only have to concentrate on the brightness of our future.
“I talked to Hunter today… gave my notice,” Brody says.
I turn and he’s pulling off his work gloves, the rest of the shavings evenly disbursed.
“How did he take it?” I ask as I pull my own gloves off.
“Like a champ,” he says with a grin, walking toward me. His eyes turn dark, and I know his mind is back on the idea of bending me over a sawhorse.
“He was happy for you, right?” I fathom a guess.
“Yeah… completely happy,” he says as his arms slide around my waist and pull me in close. “Thought it was an awesome idea, sad to be losing me as a bartender, but definitely happy for me.”
Leaning back, I smile at him. “He’s a good guy.”
“The best,” he agrees and leans down for a kiss.
As always with Brody and me, a slow, sweet kiss can turn carnal in a few seconds. We’re still new in our relationship, and we are insatiable. I hope to never be sated where he’s concerned. I always want this ache… this need I have for him, because when it’s fulfilled, it’s the most magnificent feeling in the world.
Brody’s mouth leaves mine, moving across my cheek, feathering over my ear and working down my neck. “Wanna f*ck you, baby. You down with that?”
“Oh, yeah,” I half whisper, half moan. “I’m always down with that.”
That’s all the encouragement Brody needs before he has my shorts unbuttoned and his hand between my legs. I’m amazed at the ease with which he slides his finger in me, telling me I’ve been turned on since I first mentioned the sawhorse.
My hand goes to his shorts to cup his erection against my palm, relishing how rock hard it is. He’s ready… always ready for me, just as I am for him.
It doesn’t take long for our clothes to come off. Brody does indeed bend me over the sawhorse, but only after positioning it to face the open barn door so we can make sure no one pulls up on us. We shouldn’t have any other visitors this late in the day, but better safe than sorry.
When Brody enters me from behind, he does it slowly, sinking in all the way to the hilt with a soft groan. His hips immediately tilt back, causing delicious friction that makes my blood sizzle, and then he’s pushing back in. He holds my hips carefully, so I don’t scrape against the rough wood I’m bent over.
“Alyssa?” he says as he sinks in, and my name comes out of his mouth like a prayer.
“Yes?”
“It’s never been better,” he says as he thrusts into me just a bit harder.
My head spins from the sensation of him inside of me and the rawness of his words. I push back against him extra hard and say, “Never.”
“Not the sex,” Brody grunts as he slams in to me, and I can’t help the cry that falls out of my mouth. He pulls out and slams in again. “Not talking about the sex.”
I don’t understand what he’s saying, but I don’t think I can even formulate words to ask for clarification because he’s pulling out and driving into me now hard and fast and I’m just hanging on for the ride.
Brody snakes his hand around my front and straight in between my legs. He circles his fingers expertly while driving into me, and my orgasm crashes through without warning. I cry out softly, the feeling so exquisite a tear runs down my cheek. Brody pulls out and rather than slam back into me, he sinks in slowly one last time as he starts to come. I feel him pulsing inside of me as his breath rushes out in release.
When the last shudder leaves his body, he bends over me and presses his chest into my back. Placing his lips near my ear, he says, “My life, Alyssa. My life has never been better.”