Chapter Four
Axton
“For the love of…” I fought the blow-up mattress and rolled onto my back. I stared, blurry eyed, at the unfamiliar ceiling, remembering my encounter with Beare Beckett.
I couldn’t believe I’d been jolted from sleep on my first night here by a crazed beef cake making so much ruckus. I bet the loud squeaky sounds could be heard on the other side of Lake Superior.
At first, I’d been scared shitless as I approached the big guy. But my gut told me to trust him and I’d relaxed slightly. I wished I’d been able to see his face more clearly. The night and the shadows created by my cell phone light had obscured his features. Even so, I wasn’t sure what to make of the encounter. Or him.
“Beare.” It felt sinful to say his name out loud, especially as I laid in bed while thinking of the hulking man.
Banging on the front door jarred me out of my stupor. I nearly fell off the mattress. Still slightly off kilter from lack of sleep, I stumbled to the front door and opened it.
“Yes?” I blinked several times at the morning sun shining in my eyes. I rubbed them and stepped back, out of the light.
“Good… Morning.” Beare moved and stood in the threshold. His towering form created a shadow that loomed over me like a Goliath.
“Morning,” I squeaked, then cleared my throat and repeated in a calmer tone. “Good morning.”
What stood in front of me was far more than just a man. He was an Adonis in a plaid shirt. My very own lumberjack eye candy—I mean not my own, but… Damn. Beare was hot. Gorgeous to the nth degree.
He was definitely older than me. Twenty years at least. A hot daddy lumberjack with a barrel chest I could easily snuggle against. His broad shoulders could hold the weight of the world, and his piercing blue eyes—they were cutting deep into me and had my knees turning to jelly.
The black and red plaid suited him, and so did his dark denim. I swallowed hard and looked away before he caught me being a creeper.
“Are you done?” His abrupt question startled me out of my trance.
My spine snapped straight. “Done with what?” I wasn’t sure what he was referring to… or maybe I was.
“If you’re done staring me down like I’m your breakfast burrito, I want you to come out so I can explain what I’m doing. I don’t want you to get into a snit with all the noise in the next several weeks.” He turned his back to me and strode away.
“Umm…” My eyes automatically dropped to his jean-clad butt. “Damn,” I uttered quietly to myself. Then I realized I wasn’t wearing anything but my boxers. And a slight boner to boot.
Jesus, Ax. I was a total creeper.
I slammed the door and rushed to the bathroom. I relieved myself, then dressed in the blue sweatpants and a white t-shirt. After snagging my hoodie and sliding into my shoes, I headed outside to Beare.
“Okay, I’m here.” I reached his side, wishing I had brewed some coffee first. But I’d been too tired when I got here to poke around the kitchen. I’d blown up the mattress and went straight to sleep.
I must still be groggy, because I smelled coffee—a dark, rich roast. I glanced over to where the fabulous aroma was coming from: the camper’s open door. I groaned, as my mouth watered for a taste.
I was obviously not paying attention to what Beare was saying because I jumped when his large, solid hand gently gripped my shoulder. “Axton?”
My eyes darted up to his face, as my awkward brain regrouped. “What?”
“Coffee?” Beare waved a cup in my face, before he sipped and offered it up to me again. “It looks like you need some.”
I opened my mouth to say no thank you since he’d had his mouth on the mug. Then I thought about my mouth on where his…
Beare placed the cup in my hand and started pointing to the wide area next to my house. He was rambling on like he had my full attention, but my eyes were on the nearly full cup.
Fuck it.
Placing my mouth where his had been, I took a sip and nearly choked on the strong brew. But I took another, much longer drink and savored it. Five sips in, and the sleep fog dissipated as caffeine flooded my veins.
When Beare mentioned something about how close his place was going to be next to mine, my hand shot up to stop him from talking. “What?”
“What—what?” Beare’s eyebrows furrowed deep.
I blew out a breath and eyed the man. “How close are you going to be to the house?”
Beare walked over to the wooden stake pounded into the ground. He sliced an arm through the air. “Here.” He cast a glance over his shoulder and a smirk crossed his face like he had a secret.
“Isn’t there some sort of ordinance prohibiting you from building so close to another structure?” I asked. I walked over to my side of the property and followed the invisible line Beare showed me.
“There’s no such ordinance. These are the woods, Axton. There’s no town.” The gleam in Beare’s eyes was one of triumph. And the way he said my name, it sounded predatory.
“Umm… I don’t think so.” I looked at the imaginary space again and grunted out, “No.”
“What do you mean no?” Beare stepped into my space like he owned the air I breathed. “I can do whatever I want. This is my land and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Blood whooshed in my ears as I panicked. I so wanted to backpedal and run in the opposite direction. But I was damn tired of relenting, especially from anyone I feared. It was about time that I took my life by the balls, face whatever adversary got in my way, and fought for what I wanted.
Yet, there had to be a diplomatic way to fix this, a way to compromise. If only because we would be neighbors.
“But why so close?” I didn’t move, just looked him straight in his gorgeous blue eyes. “You have so many acres to choose from, why here?”
We stood there for long minutes before his sly smile dipped into a frown. He moved back a step. “It’s the best vantage point to see the lake.”
He wasn’t wrong. The view from my bay window was divine. But that still didn’t mean it was alright to build his home literally inches from my property line. Geez, if there was a window planned on that side of his house, he could see right into my bathroom.
Hell, no to that.
“There have to be some sort of rules.” I remembered my aunt had a dispute with the town we—she lived in, about her pool being past the boundary lines or something.
The sly grin back on his chiseled face said it all. “Like I told you, this isn’t a town.” Beare strode over, took his coffee cup out of my hand and headed to his camper. “By the way, this is just a courtesy. My cousins will be here in a few days and the building will be up soon after that. There will be noise at all hours.”
“But, that’s not ok—” Before I could finish my sentence, he raised a hand to stop me from talking. Beare Beckett clearly didn’t know what courtesy meant.
His eyes narrowed into pinpricks and my entire body prickled with alarm as though I was his prey. “I’ll give it you to straight, Axton. This land—what you bought for whatever amount of money—”
“One dollar,” I cut in.
His nostrils flared and red crept along his neck, up to his cheeks. “My mother sold you this acre for one dollar?”
“Yes.” I was still shocked at my good fortune, but I kept that bit to myself.
“No matter. What I’m trying to say is that this land—including that acre you’re standing on, has been in my family for generations. And I want to keep it that way. So, you can see I’m not happy that my mother sold it to you.” His growl was deep and a river of apprehension rippled through me.
“I didn’t know,” I defended.
Beare took a long, audible breath, as tension left his wide shoulders. “I know this isn’t your fault, but is there any way I can buy the land back from you? I’ll pay any price.”
His sudden earnestness had me thinking maybe I should. But then, I glanced at the house, and thought of the future I desperately wanted and something snapped inside me. I couldn’t leave this place. Not when my heart was already invested.
I took a not-so-confident breath, looked into Beare’s pleading stare and said, “No.”
The gentleness in his eyes left, replaced with hard determination and something else I couldn’t decipher.
“No matter.” Beare spun toward his camper, climbed in, and slammed the door.
I hot-footed it back into the house, closed the door, and double locked it with shaky hands. I didn’t know if it would keep Beare out, but he didn’t seem the type who would do any damage or harm others.
Not twenty-four hours in my new place, and I already had problems. I had hoped the transition to my new life would be easy and quiet.
But now, with the jerk-face plopped right next door, then add his cousins, easy and quiet was the last thing I was going to have in my life.