35. Nonconsensual dazzling
35
NONCONSENSUAL DAZZLING
HAZEL
Annoyance and revenge plots had me getting out of bed early the next morning. By the time the Bishops rolled into my driveway at 7:30, I was up, dressed, and ready for battle. I’d deployed every weapon in my feminine arsenal: wardrobe, hair, makeup, and disdain. Cam had embarrassed me and pissed me off. And I wanted him to stew about it.
I cracked open my breakfast Pepsi, planted myself behind my desk, and opened my email. The unbothered portrait of a woman he shouldn’t have offended.
The front door opened, followed by the manly clomp of work boots on hardwood.
I fixed my gaze on my laptop screen and skimmed an email from Darius.
“ …excited to hear your funding solutions at tomorrow night’s council meeting… ”
The footsteps were getting closer. Deciding it would look better if I were actively working rather than just staring at my screen, I typed a line of straight-up gibberish.
“You’re up.”
I refused to look up at Cam’s gruff greeting.
“Yep,” I said, continuing to busily type absolute nonsense.
“Brought you something.” Levi’s sheepish tone had me abandoning my charade and looking up.
Both brothers stood in the doorway holding massive bouquets of wildflowers.
The romance novelist in me wanted to swoon. Two huge flower arrangements from two gorgeous men? Yes, please. The scorned woman in me, however, wasn’t ready for swooning yet.
I raised an eyebrow. “What are those for?”
“For being dicks,” Cam said succinctly.
“He was a dick,” Levi corrected. “I just put you in a shitty position and asked you to lie for me.”
They tentatively entered the room, approaching cautiously like I was a jungle cat who might decide they were breakfast.
Cam set his bouquet down on the corner of the table that served as my desk. The flowers were arranged in a chipped ceramic pitcher. Levi followed suit, placing his glass vase on the opposite corner.
Romance novelist curiosity won out. “Where did you get flowers so early in the morning?” I asked.
Both brothers cracked wicked smiles. “Stole ’em from Mom,” Levi admitted.
“Vases too,” Cam cut in. “Might want to hide those if she pays you a visit.”
It was right about then that I noticed they were sporting bruises on their faces. “Did the flowers fight back?” I asked.
Cam ran a hand over the bruise under the stubble on his jaw. Levi touched the butterfly bandage on his eyebrow.
“Woke up like this,” Cam lied with a hitch of his shoulders.
Levi winked at me.
Two gorgeous grown men had thrown punches over me and then brought me flowers. I didn’t hate it.
“Goddamn Dominion.”
The snarl came from the hallway.
“What’d those assholes do now?” Cam asked when Gage appeared, looking like he wanted to throw his phone across the room.
Gage drilled a finger into Cam’s chest. “You need to call that ex of yours and tell her to knock it off.”
Cam slapped his brother’s hand away. “Let’s talk about this later,” he growled.
“Who? Nina?” I asked.
Cam’s gaze whipped to me. “How do you know her?” he demanded.
“The roofers aren’t coming back until next week because Nina stole them for an ‘emergency’ job at city hall. Dominion’s paying them time and a half to cover some patio for employee lunch breaks,” Gage continued in rare temper.
“Fucking Dominion,” Levi agreed.
“I’d like to steal something back from them for a change,” Cam muttered.
The idea hit me like a plot twist. A sudden aha lightning bolt to the brain. I pushed my chair back from my desk and sprang to my feet. “I have to go…research something,” I announced, gathering up my notebook and phone.
“Need help?” Cam offered wolfishly.
“I haven’t decided if your research services are required anymore,” I announced and hurried out of the room.
“Why do you guys look like you stayed up all night punching each other, and are those Mom’s vases?” I heard Gage ask as I headed for the front door.
I spent the morning sweating off my makeup armor, cursing the fact that I didn’t have a vehicle with air-conditioning, and spying my way around Dominion. I pedaled around the town, zigging and zagging up and down streets, dodging the late-summer tourists.
I even swung by city hall and watched from the shade of an oak tree as Nina herself, in lemon-yellow stilettos and a matching sundress, delivered cold drinks to my roofers.
After my reconnaissance, I ducked into a souvenir shop, bought a ball cap and a bottle of sunscreen, then chose a restaurant at random for lunch, where I hunkered down at a corner table in the busy dining room and organized my notes.
I took a break when my Cobb salad arrived. It was wilty, and the kitchen had skimped on the chicken and dressing. However, judging from the lunch crowd, quality didn’t appear to be hindering them. Next to me, two sunburnt parents tried to simultaneously wrangle three cranky kids under the age of five and flag down the server for the check. I added more notes.
My phone buzzed on the table, and I picked it up.
Cam: You move out without telling me?
Me: Do you want something or are you just texting to annoy me?
Cam: Little bit of both. Just making sure you don’t need a ride. It’s a hot one.
Me: If I do need one, I don’t think I’d be calling you.
Cam: Still mad?
Me: Backing off mad and entering annoyed territory. The flowers got you a few points.
Cam: Mine are bigger than Levi’s.
Me: So is your black eye.
Cam: His gargantuan fist has more surface area.
Cam: He told me about the writing stuff.
Me: Was that before or after you two beat the snot out of each other?
Cam: Before, during, after? Who can remember? Point is. I was an asshole. And maybe I was jealous.
Me: Did your brothers really tell you not to pursue anything with me?
Cam: Where are you? My thumbs are tired of texting.
Me: I’m busy.
Cam: You can’t avoid me forever. I work in your house.
Me: Challenge accepted.
I considered running my idea by Cam but immediately discarded that thought. We had other things to deal with. I’d have to find a less aggravating citizen.
I paid the haggard server and swung by the restroom for a pee break and to mop the dampness from my armpits. I had just closed the stall door when someone else entered the restroom. Yellow stilettos clipped smartly past me.
“Let me worry about that. You just keep feeding me information. Once we absorb Story Lake and start construction on the golf course, I’ll make sure you’re rewarded for choosing the right side,” Nina said into her phone.
My mouth dropped open in a silent scream of indignation.
Bishop Farm sat on the outskirts of Story Lake, on the opposite side of town from Dominion. By the time I turned my two wheels onto the gravel driveway between the white split-rail fences, I was exhausted. The gentle incline to the two-story stone farmhouse proved to be too much for my overworked legs, and I ended up pushing my bike into the shade of twin pine trees across the drive from the house.
Laura’s SUV was parked in front of the detached garage. Beyond it, a cheery red barn sat nestled between pastures and more pines. I spied a trio of cows lounging in the shade of the barn.
The farmhouse’s front door opened, and Pep Bishop waved at me, looking farm-fresh in a pair of old jeans and a white tank top.
“Hi,” I wheezed, shoving my limp bangs out of my eyes.
“You look bushed. Come on in!”
“Thanks. I’ll try not to ruin all your furniture.” I dragged myself up the porch steps and let the sweet promise of air-conditioning pull me the rest of the way inside.
I caught a glimpse of living room with comfy furniture and shelves packed with generations of knickknacks and photos before following Pep into a spacious addition that housed an airy eat-in kitchen.
“You look like you fell in the lake,” Laura observed from the end of the table. Melvin and Bentley scrambled up from their naps and welcomed me with tails and tongues.
“Poor thing rode her bike here,” Pep said, gesturing for me to take a seat.
“I’m not sure if I should sit. My sweat might eat through the wood,” I said, eyeing the pitcher of ice water on the table.
“Honey, these chairs have stood up to three boys turned teenagers turned men. I think they can handle a little perspiration,” she assured me.
“You need a car,” Laura observed, pouring a glass of water and handing it to me.
“Yeah,” I agreed as politely as I could manage before guzzling it down.
It took two refills before I felt coherent enough to reach for one of the cookies arranged on the tray. “Ohmygod, that’s good,” I murmured through a mouthful of lemon square and powdered sugar.
I realized that Pep and Laura were both looking at me expectantly.
I grimaced. “Sorry. Dehydration and rage always make me forget my manners.”
“What did my sons do now?” Pep asked. “Besides steal two of my best vases.”
“I’m sure they’ll be returned safely,” I croaked guiltily.
Mother and daughter shared a look that I couldn’t decipher. My own mother and I had never had the kind of relationship that made knowing looks possible. Baffled? Yes. Irritated? Definitely. But knowing? Nope.
“Interesting,” Laura mused.
“But I don’t think that’s why you came to see us. Is it?” Pep slid the cookie tray closer.
“Originally, I had an idea I wanted to run by you. But on my way here, something happened that convinced me we need to do something.”
“I’m officially intrigued,” Laura said.
“I take it this doesn’t have anything to do with the book you’re working on,” Pep guessed.
“It’s about something Cam said.”
“Try not to take it personally,” Pep advised. “He can be a bit of an ass, but we still love him.”
I choked on my second lemon square. “Uh, no. It actually wasn’t anything like that. He said he was tired of Dominion stealing from us and that it would be nice to steal something from them for once.”
“I’m in. Do we need ski masks? I’ll be the getaway driver,” Laura volunteered.
“Maybe. First, I’m not supposed to tell anyone about this, but since the town meeting is tomorrow night, I figured it wouldn’t be the worst thing I’ve done since moving here.”
“Is this about the sewage treatment plant upgrade?” Pep asked.
“How did you—never mind. Small town. I forgot. Anyway, so you also know we don’t have the money for the upgrades, right?”
“None of us are looking forward to that tax hike,” Laura said.
Pep shook her head. “This is gonna chase even more folks out of town.”
“Well, it’s either higher taxes or we walk around knee-deep in shit,” Laura pointed out.
“Unfortunately, there’s even more at stake,” I said and quickly filled them in on my restroom eavesdropping and what Nina had said.
“That sneaky, manipulative little turd,” Pep said, slamming her palm down on the table when I finished. “A golf course? What’s she gonna do? Bulldoze Story Lake for the ninth hole?”
“We’ve got a rat on the inside. I’m gonna need some wine for this.” Laura pushed back from the table, then wheeled around the end of the kitchen island to the wine cooler.
“I’ll get the glasses,” Pep said.
“I think I have an idea about where we can get the money,” I said when they returned to the table and started pouring. “But I need you two to tell me if it’s stupid and doomed to fail.”
“Why did you come to us? Cam’s on the council, and our dear teenage mayor thinks you’re the Story Lake equivalent of Batman come to save us,” Laura pointed out.
“Cam is going to shoot me down no matter how good my ideas are, and Darius thinks I’m a genius and would throw his support behind anything I suggest no matter how terrible it is. You two know this town better than anyone.”
“You’re staying for dinner,” Pep decided.
I looked up from my notebook, which now contained more save-the-town notes than work-in-progress notes. “Huh?”
“Text your brothers,” she ordered her daughter.
Laura smirked. “Cam’s already on his way since he found out Hazel was visiting.”
Crap.
“I should go,” I said.
“Not gonna happen,” Pep said cheerfully. “We’ve got twenty-four hours to prepare for the town meeting. This is an all-hands-on-deck situation, and that means we call in the boys. I’ll start the meatloaf. You should invite your friend Zoey. Someone with her background might have a few ideas on how we can pull this off.”
“Mom’s meatloaf is basically the best ever,” Laura told me. “You don’t want to miss out, even if it means sharing a table with the three stooges I call brothers.”
We all heard the slam of a truck door, and I flinched. I’d know that slam anywhere. Cam.
“I guess I’ll go call Zoey…somewhere that’s not here.”
“You can use my office,” Pep said. “Through the door at the foot of the stairs.”
I grabbed another lemon square and jogged for my life with as much dignity as I could muster. I had just ducked into the doorway when I heard Pep. “What in the hell happened to your face, and why is my flower pitcher missing?”
“Where’s Hazel?” Cam demanded.
I closed the door as quietly as possible and leaned against it. He wouldn’t say or do something stupid in front of his family. Would he? We had an agreement that all the naked things we’d been doing and would probably do again were between the two of us. Although Laura knew about our fake date. And Levi obviously knew the real score, thanks to his brother’s outburst. But he didn’t seem like the gossiping type…or the talking type.
No. Cam wouldn’t corner me in front of his family. There’d be too many questions. Too many assumptions. Too much explaining.
Breathing a sigh of relief at my rationalization, I dialed Zoey’s number and looked around the room while I waited for her to answer.
It was tiny, square footage wise. But the Bishops had made the most of the floor space with a custom two-sided desk. One side was ruthlessly organized with a laptop and up-to-date monthly calendar. The other was stacked high with a jumble of unopened mail, small mechanical farm parts, and other office paraphernalia.
“Hey,” I said when Zoey picked up.
“What’s up? Did your characters finally stop having sex long enough that you could figure out the conflict?”
The door swung open, and Cam stepped into the room, taking all the space and oxygen for himself.
“Ummm,” I croaked.
He closed the door and stood in front of it, legs braced, arms crossed, pinning me with his gaze.
My pulse started hammering at the base of my throat.
“So we’re invited to dinner at Bishop Farm,” I said in a near squeak. “It’s meatloaf.”
Cam’s mouth quirked at the corner.
“Are there free-range animals on this farm?” Zoey asked.
“I saw some cows. But they were behind a fence.” I tried to look anywhere but Cam’s face and body. Unfortunately, said face and body took up the entire room.
“I don’t know, Haze. A farm seems like the perfect place to get trampled by livestock.”
“I refuse to let you add all animals to the list of things you’re afraid of. Fish and birds I get. But I’m not letting you go through life terrified of cows too.” I covered the phone with my hand. “Don’t you have someplace else to be?” I hissed at Cam.
“Nope.”
“Aren’t you worried your mom will think there’s something going on?”
“She probably knew the second I unhooked your bra the first time.”
My facial temperature spiked to a thousand degrees. I uncovered the phone. “Look, Zoey. It’s important, and it involves Cam’s evil ex-girlfriend and the fate of Story Lake. Also, I’m told the meatloaf is worth the trip.”
Cam took a step closer. “Hang up the phone.”
“Who’s that?” eagle-eared Zoey demanded.
“No one. The TV. I’ll text you the address,” I said quickly, backing into the desk as Cam closed the distance between us.
His grin was pure sin as he took the phone from me and ended the call.
“What are you doing?” I asked as his thumbs moved over the screen while I performed an advanced yoga-worthy backbend.
“Texting Zoey the address.” He tossed the phone on the desk behind me and settled those big hands on my hips.
My entire body melted like wax.
“I’m still mad at you,” I insisted, putting my hands on his chest.
“No, you’re not.” He reached up and brushed my hair back from my face in an almost tender gesture.
“Fine. I’m still annoyed with you. And now your family is going to think there’s something going on between us.”
“Let me worry about that.”
“Don’t you want to know what Nina is up to?” I asked hopefully.
“I have more important priorities,” he insisted.
That hand slid over my jaw and around the back of my neck. His face was getting closer and closer to mine.
“You are not about to kiss me in your parents’ house right now!” I hissed.
“Don’t tell me what I’m not about to do,” he warned a split second before he sealed his warm, hard mouth over mine.
Nonconsensual dazzling. That’s what this was, I decided as my entire body leaned into his gravitational field.
His hand wrapped around my ponytail and tugged, angling my head back. He deepened the kiss in a way that had my already-exhausted legs losing their fight against gravity. My head spun. My breath caught. His tongue expertly twined its way around mine until I was clinging to him so hard my knuckles hurt.
Cam grabbed my leg and hooked it over his hip, grinding his spectacular erection against me.
I whimpered into his mouth, and he devoured it ravenously.
“Fuck, Trouble,” he rasped, his voice like sandpaper.
I wanted him naked, inside me, looking at me exactly the way he was looking at me now. Heavy lids, hard mouth, desire etched on his handsome face.
A sudden thumping on the office door had me careening back into reality. I tried to jump out of Cam’s grasp, but he wasn’t having it.
“What?” he snarled.
“Huh?” I blinked twice before I realized he wasn’t talking to me.
“Mom says get your ass out here and help peel the potatoes,” Gage’s voice called through the door, sounding just a little smug.
I wriggled up onto the desk to get some space from Cam’s magnetic hard-on. He looked down at my chest, and I saw his eyes go lusty. I realized my nipples were doing their best to force their way out of their confines.
He looked at me hungrily. I slapped a hand to his chest and held him off. If he kissed me again, we were screwed. “Thank you for explaining sheepshearing, Cam,” I said loudly and unconvincingly.
He tugged my hair again and brushed an amused kiss over my swollen lips.
“Anytime,” he replied.
A door banged open somewhere in the back of the house, and a chorus of greetings rang out.