Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JUNE
“ W hen do we have to be out of here?” I stretch lazily under the covers of this big, fluffy bed with the view of the ocean. The way the cotton sheets feel against my naked skin is bliss that could only be made better if Apollo’s hands were on me.
“In a couple of hours.” Apollo’s stretched out beside me, also watching the ocean, his hands tucked up under his head in a lazy pose that’s damn sexy. His hair looks so dark against the white sheets. His olive skin is smooth and tight over sculpted, rock-hard abs that I like to touch way more than I ever expected to. Apollo Winchester is something to look at, and I’m pretty smug about the fact that I get to be the one to lie here next to him and stare to my heart’s content. He turns his gaze to me, and he smiles. “What?”
“Not only do you have the name of a Greek god, but you also have the body of one. It shouldn’t be fair.”
The myriad of emotions that roll over his face is fascinating. He goes from surprise to embarrassment to satisfaction, all in a split second.
“Oh, really?” He turns toward me just as my phone rings, and I slide over to answer it.
“Hello?”
“What are you doing?” Sarah asks.
“Nothing. What are you doing?”
“I have a question,” my friend says as Apollo tugs the sheet down to expose my breasts so he can leisurely tug at a nipple.
I brush his hand away.
“What’s up?”
“Have you been hanging out with Apollo? Like, apart from the group?”
“No, why?” I glance at Apollo, and from the look on his face, I can see that he can hear her.
“Because someone said they saw you together, and I said that wasn’t possible, but they insisted that they knew what they saw with their own eyeballs, and I want to know if it’s true.”
“You know I can’t stand that man,” I insist and watch as Apollo rolls his eyes.
“I don’t know…. I think something’s up.”
“I think that you’re overthinking, my friend. How’s Tanner?”
“You’re changing the subject. Don’t think for one second that I don’t know what you’re doing, Juniper Snow.”
“You always were a smart cookie,” I reply and have to bite my lip so I don’t moan when Apollo licks his way up my shoulder. “Can I go now?”
“Yeah, okay. What are you doing today?”
“Running errands and stuff for the Halloween party.” I catch my breath when his hand glides down my stomach. “Sorry, Sarah, I have another call coming in. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, bye.”
I click off and toss the phone onto the bedside table.
“You did that on purpose.”
“Duh.” He nibbles his way across my chest as his hand does amazing things between my legs. “Let me show you just how much you can’t stand me, Juniper.”
“Holy crap, Grandma, I don’t even recognize the place.”
I’m standing in the middle of what’s usually the living room but is now a dance floor with a small stage in the corner.
“You sound surprised every year,” Grandma says with a laugh. “I would think that you’d be used to this by now.”
“You outdo yourself every year.” I shake my head in wonderment at the cool draperies and all the fancy décor throughout the whole downstairs of her house. This year, because the weather is supposed to cooperate, she had the back patio cleaned up so people can sit out there to talk, eat, and socialize. “You gained some square footage out back.”
“If that weatherman is lying and it rains, I’ll be mighty pissed off.”
“He wouldn’t dare lie.” I turn and smile at her. “I love it. Lauren’s coming in tonight.”
“I’m well aware.”
“Did you get her room ready?”
“I’ve been busy, haven’t I?”
I simply stare at her in horror. “ Annabelle Snow. I offered to do it myself days ago, and you said you’d handle it. I believed you.”
“I’ll do it.”
I shake my head and stomp up the stairs and into the room Lauren used to sleep in that’s across the hall from mine. It’s being used as a catchall for things that we mean to donate or just don’t have a home for yet, and it absolutely is not ready for my sister’s arrival.
“This is a mess,” I mutter, shaking my head. “What am I going to do with all this junk?”
“What are you calling junk ?” Grandma asks as she reaches the door. “None of this is junk.”
“Pretty much all of it is,” I disagree as I move boxes off the bed so I can strip it. “I can’t believe I didn’t ask you about this days ago. If I wasn’t distracted by a million other things, I would have. I wonder if Luna has any space at the inn. We could put Lauren there for the week.”
“Nonsense. There’s plenty of room here.”
I strip the bed and toss the linens into the hallway. “We would have if we’d taken the time to clean it. Never mind, I’ll do it. She won’t be here for a couple of hours. I can do it.”
“I don’t know why you’re carrying on like you are,” she says as she grabs a pile of clothes and stuffs them into an empty tote. “It won’t take long. There’s hardly anything here.”
I glance at her, at the pile of stuff , and then back to her. “Right. Nothing at all.”
With a roll of my eyes, I carry the linens to the laundry, pop the sheets into the washer first, and then hurry back to Lauren’s room, where I find Grandma paging through an old photo album.
“You were the cutest baby.”
“I don’t have time to walk down memory lane with you, Grandma. Not today.”
“Fine.” She snaps it shut and sets it on a shelf. Then, to my surprise, she digs in and helps me clear the stuff off the floor. “There’s space for all of this in the attic.”
“Great,” I mutter and set the first box in the hallway before I pull down the drop ladder that leads to the attic. “I’m going to climb up here. Can you pass me stuff so I’m not going up and down?”
“I can do that,” she confirms. “Unless it’s heavy.”
I sigh again and close my eyes, but Grandma can’t see me because I’m already upstairs.
Without giving it another thought, I call Cullen.
“Yo,” he says when he answers.
“Can you come to Grandma’s and help me with a few things, or are you working?”
“Just got off. I can come over there now. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just need your muscles.”
“It’s so tough on a guy, being stereotyped all the time.”
“Ha ha. See you soon.”
I hang up and poke my head over the hole to let her know it’s okay, but she’s already scowling up at me.
“What’s wrong now?”
“Why did you ask Cullen to come over?”
“Because some of this stuff is heavy, and I’ll need the extra hands. Can you pass me that one?”
When Grandma tries to lift the tote, I can see that it’s too heavy, and I shake my head.
“No, don’t do it. It’s okay, Cullen will be here in a few minutes.”
“I guess I forgot about Lauren’s room,” she admits after a minute of silence. “I was so caught up in transforming the house for the party, I just forgot.”
“I should have asked about it sooner,” I reply and sit in the opening, letting my feet dangle.
When something rustles behind me, I freeze.
“Grandma?”
“Yes, dear.”
“Are there mice up here?”
“Shouldn’t be.” She scowls. “Might be a squirrel or two.”
“Oh, shit.” I scramble down the ladder and shiver at the thought of a rodent running up my back. “We need to call an exterminator.”
“That is on my list, too, but?—”
“But you forgot,” I finish for her as the front door opens.
“I’m here,” Cullen calls out.
“Upstairs in the hallway,” I call back. And when my brother’s foot hits the top step, I tell him, “There is something crawling up there, so I’m not going back up. Can you put all this stuff up there for us?”
“With whatever’s crawling around,” he says slowly.
“Yes.”
“Mice will chew right through that box.”
“Squirrel,” Grandma oh-so-helpfully corrects.
I rub the area between my eyes with my thumbs. “We don’t have a choice, Cullen. Lauren will be here in a couple of hours, and we have to get that stuff out of her room.”
“Okay.” He shrugs and starts up the ladder, but when he can see into the attic, he pauses. “There might be squirrels, but there are also mice—plural. There are a bunch of nests up here.”
“Shit,” I whisper. “Then this stuff can’t go up there.”
“What do we do with it?” Cullen asks as he climbs back down and pushes the ladder back up into the ceiling.
“Take it out to my truck. I’ll store it at the chapel until after the Halloween party.”
“Good idea,” Grandma says with a wide smile, but I just roll my eyes at her. “Now, don’t you sass me, Juniper Snow.”
“While Cullen and I take care of this, you call an exterminator. Right now. I’m not sleeping another night in this house while rodents are running around above me.”
“Fine.” She sighs as if she’s simply resigned to her fate. “Being an adult is hard.”
Cullen laughs, and I just stare at her. “You’ve been an adult for a very long time.”
“Watch it with the very ,” she says, shaking her finger at me. “Besides, that doesn’t make it any easier, you know.”
While Grandma starts making calls, Cullen and I load everything into our trucks, and then he helps me make the bed and get the rest of the room cleaned up. I vacuum, and he dusts.
It goes so much faster with help.
“This is good to go,” Cullen says as we take stock of our work. “I’ll go with you to unload everything at the chapel.”
“Thanks.” I sigh as Grandma walks into the room. “What did they say?”
“They’ll be here first thing in the morning. Those critters have been up there for a while, so they won’t do any more damage in one night.”
“Ew.” I wrinkle my nose, silently deciding that I’m staying with Apollo tonight despite it being Lauren’s first night home. “Cullen and I are taking the stuff to the chapel. Oh! Speaking of the chapel. Grandma, did you know that there’s a mausoleum in the basement? There are cremated people down there.”
She blinks and nods slowly, thinking it over. “Yes, now that you mention it, I did know that. Sometime back in the 1920s, the church had the mausoleum added to the basement because they didn’t want to take up valuable burial space in the graveyard for the cremated remains. I’m quite sure they stopped interring people down there about twenty-five or thirty years ago, though, but we have some relatives there.”
“Well, I don’t want them down there. I called the city, but they said they’ll have to look into if they can relocate them.”
“That’s pretty creepy,” Cullen says. “Let’s go over there so I can see it.”
I laugh and follow him out to the trucks. “I’ll see you later, Grandma. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks, dear. See you in a while.”
She waves us off, and when we get to the chapel, Cullen and I make quick work of unloading the boxes and totes. I decide to store it all in the old office so it’ll be mostly out of my way while I work.
“You’ve done a ton of work in here,” Cullen says after we set down the last of the boxes. “It looks really great.”
“Thanks. You don’t really want to see the basement, do you?”
“Hell yes, I do. Why? Are you afraid to go down there?”
“I don’t like it,” I admit. “You go, and I’ll wait.”
“You’re going to send me down into the basement, where people are buried , by myself? What kind of big sister are you, anyway?”
“Damn it, Cullen.” I stomp a foot, but he doesn’t back down, so I begrudgingly open the door and start down the stairs, Cullen right behind me. “Are you armed?”
“Who am I going to shoot, June? A ghost?”
“Maybe. We don’t know.”
I make it to the bottom of the stairs and flip on more lights, and then I push Cullen ahead of me and hide behind him.
“The door is over there.”
“I’ve never seen you quite this…unnerved,” he decides.
“Just wait until you see it.” I walk behind him and wait while he opens the door. “There’s a light switch to the right.”
“Got it,” he says, flipping the switch and letting out a low whistle. “There are a lot of people in here.”
“I know!” I hear the despair and fear in my voice. There’s even some whininess in there, and I don’t care.
There are dead people in my fucking house .
“Yeah, it has to be haunted, don’t you think? With all these people?”
“You’re not helping.” I punch him in the arm, and he smiles over at me.
“I could arrest you for assaulting an officer.”
“Go ahead. It will get me out of here.”
He laughs again, and then backs out of the room, taking pity on me. “Let’s go upstairs, scaredy cat.”
“Thank God.”
Once back upstairs, I close the door and then flip the lock just to make myself feel better.
“You really are unnerved.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” I ask.
“Not really. I’ll bet the city can help you,” he replies before ruffling my hair. “It’ll be okay. In the meantime, you could have someone come in and sage the place. Just in case.”
“Don’t think I won’t. Come on, let’s go back to Grandma’s and wait for Lauren. She should be here soon.”
“Shouldn’t we get some food? Maybe we should pick up some pizza.”
“Good idea. Lighthouse Pizza is her fave, but no anchovies. I don’t know how you can eat that crap.”
“They’re good for you,” he insists, making me laugh as I lock the door of the chapel behind us. “I’ll pick it up on my way over since you got lunch the other day.”
“Hey, thanks.” I wave at him and then grab my phone, deciding that, since I have a little time with Cullen picking up the pizza, I’m going call Apollo and see if he wants me to swing by and say hello.
“Hi, beautiful.”
I smile as butterflies start to dance in my belly. “Hey. Where are you?”
“I’m actually home right now. Where are you?”
“Stay exactly where you are.” I start the truck and put it in gear, heading toward his place, which is just a few blocks away. “I’m coming over.”
“You won’t hear me complain. See you soon.”
He hangs up, and seconds later, I park on the street in front of his small house. Apollo’s standing in the open doorway, shoulder leaning on the doorjamb, and his arms are crossed over his chest, and I start to salivate.
He’s delicious.
“I’m a mess, but I wanted to come see you for a minute,” I announce as I push him inside, shut the door, and jump into his arms. My legs wrap around him, locking at the ankles, and I kiss the hell out of him.
He braces my back against the wall, moans, and returns as good as he gets, not missing a beat.
I freaking love that about him.
“You don’t look like a mess,” he informs me, his lips pressed to my neck. “You look damn delectable to me.”
“I am dirty.” I sigh when he bites the tender skin over my collarbone. “I’ve been cleaning at Grandma’s, and it was dusty and dirty. I have to get back over there. Lauren’s on her way down from Portland.”
“I thought she lived in Vegas.” His mouth finds mine again before I can answer him, and I groan in anticipation, gripping on to his hair. I freaking love the way his hair feels in my fingers.
“She does. She flew into Portland and is driving here from the airport.”
I’m grinding down on him, wanting nothing more than to feel him inside me right now.
“Apollo,” I murmur when his lips travel to my ear.
“Yeah.”
“I need a quickie.”
He chuckles as he sets me on my feet. “That so?”
“Yeah. I have to get back to Grandma’s, but first, I want you.” I easily slip out of my jeans, and as soon as I have them off, he has me pinned against the wall again and is sliding into me, fucking me hard and fast, watching me with those hot, dark eyes.
“Is this what you need, Juniper?”
“Yes. Hell yes.”
I tighten around him as the orgasm builds low in my belly.
“Shit, yes, this is what I want. Jesus, it’s just so good. ”
He groans, buries his face in my hair, and pounds into me even harder than before. Then I’m falling into the sharp pleasure burning through me, and he’s pushing so deep as he chases his own release that I know I’ll feel him later.
I give myself a moment to bask in the feeling and enjoy the way he can’t seem to catch his own breath before I slide my legs back to the floor and press a kiss to his lips.
“Okay. I have to go.”
“Damn, June.”
I laugh as he follows my lips for more. “For real, though. I’m sorry, I really do have to go.”
“Come back later.” He kisses me softly. “For the encore.”
“Hell yes, I am. My grandma has mice in her attic. I’m not staying there. The others can fend for themselves.”
“That’s so… heroic of you.”
I laugh and pull my jeans back on, but then pause when I see that all the color has left Apollo’s face.
“What? Are you afraid of mice, too?”
“Fuck me sideways, June. I didn’t use a condom. I didn’t—oh, shit.”
“Hey. It’s okay. I’ve been on the pill since high school. We’re okay.”
“Really?”
He wipes his hand over his mouth, clearly upset by the thought of getting me pregnant.
I can’t blame him. That wouldn’t be ideal.
“I promise, I’m on the pill. It’s one time . And it’s my fault because I totally jumped you and scrambled your brains.”
He doesn’t smile back as he lowers his forehead to mine and cups my face.
“I would never risk you.” His voice is rough with emotion. “No matter how badly I want to be inside you, I would never put you at risk.”
“We’re safe from pregnancy,” I assure him, unsettled by just how knocked off his axis he is. “Until this second, we’ve been doubled up on the protection. We’re fine.”
“Okay.” He kisses my forehead and then my lips. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m completely sure. I never forget my pill. Besides, now I get to walk around for the rest of the day and feel you there. It’s kind of naughty. ”
He nods, relief written all over his gorgeous face, and then he grins. “That’s hot as hell, actually.”
“Should I be offended that you’re so relieved that pregnancy is off the table?”
“No, you shouldn’t be.” He kisses me once more. “It’s not you at all. I don’t want an accidental pregnancy. If—or when—that time comes, it’ll be a decision we make together. That’s all.”
“Okay. Now that I’m completely uncomfortable, I think I’ll go see my sister.”
He kisses my hand, and there go those butterflies again.
“Have fun,” he says. “And come over any time. I’ll be here.”
“Thanks. And just so you know, I’d come over even if there weren’t mice in my grandmother’s attic.”
“Good to hear.” He laughs and walks me out the front door. “Drive safe.”
I wave and get into my truck, but for the first time since I started seeing Apollo, I regret our agreement not to tell anyone about us because I’d very much like to tell Lauren all about how amazing he is.
“I missed this,” Lauren says, lifting a slice of pepperoni to her lips, just as I walk into the kitchen. “Hey!”
“What happened to you?” Cullen asks with a frown.
“I, uh, had to run an errand.” I hurry over to Lauren and wrap her in a tight hug. “Hey, baby sister.”
“You look amazing ,” she says as she grips my shoulders and pulls back to look at me. “You’re glowing, and you just look so happy. ”
“Thanks.”
“Glowing?” Grandma narrows her eyes, watching me closely. “Yes, that’s right. She’s been sleeping with someone.”
“ Grandma. ”
“Who?” Cullen wants to know.
“Spill it,” Lauren agrees.
“No one,” I reply, shaking my head and going for the pizza. “Grandma’s imagining things again.”
“I don’t imagine anything,” she mutters, shaking her head. “But, that’s fine, keep your secret. Lauren was just telling us about her latest project in Vegas.”
“What are you working on?” I ask before taking a big bite of pizza.
“A resort,” Lauren says. “A big resort with an unlimited budget. It’s going to be amazing, and when it’s done, I want all of you to come see it.”
“When will it be completed?” Cullen asks.
“Not for a couple of years, so you have plenty of time to schedule in a trip.”
“I wouldn’t miss it.” I nod at her, but Grandma just makes a harrumphing noise and walks out of the room.
“Don’t pay any attention to her,” Cullen says. “She’s grumpy.”
“She misses you,” I add. “She won’t admit it, but she wants to see you more often.”
“I FaceTime her every single week. What more does she want?”
“In an ideal world, she wants you to move home.” I take another bite. “She wants you here in Huckleberry Bay.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not going to happen. I like living in the city, but I’ll do my best to come out here more often. At least twice a year.”
“You’re living an awesome life,” Cullen reminds her. “Don’t feel guilty about that. Grandma just misses you and doesn’t understand.”
“Still, I’ll come home more often. Now, can we talk about how amazing this place looks?”
“Right? We still have a couple of days to go, too.” I reach for another slice. “It’s the biggest party of the year, and Grandma likes to knock everyone’s socks off.”
“Well, this year will be no exception,” Lauren says with a nod. “I’m so glad I bought a cool costume for it.”
“I’m glad you did, too,” Cullen says with a laugh. “We’re expected to play the part. If we didn’t, we might get kicked out of the family.”
“Not kicked out,” I reply, thinking it over. “Maybe just suspended until next year.”
“I still don’t want to risk it.”