Chapter 4
FOUR
Reid
Dove .
My little bird who flew away.
Now she’s trying to do it again. Only this time, I’m not letting her go.
It’s an interesting situation that we find ourselves in. Out of all people in a hundred-mile radius, it’s her mother who I had to loop into my nefarious plans.
It wasn’t by choice that I had to get a fiancée suddenly, but out of necessity.
Meanwhile, for the past couple of months, all I have been able to think about is my little forest nymph. The one who I stumbled upon and didn’t want to let go of that night. The one who got a spark in her eyes whenever I mentioned our little game of cat and mouse.
Once I laid eyes on Dove that night, I knew I wanted her to be mine. That’s why I tempted her so much. She asked questions about what I was doing out there and accepted that I couldn’t tell her why. The underlying trust that she had in me made me even firmer in my resolve that she was meant to be the one.
The only problem is that my dear Dove knew the woods far better than I did. I should have expected it. After all, I was freshly new to the area and had only spent weeks scoping out the happenings of Lamb Creek Mountain.
If I hadn’t been so blinded by her beauty sitting on that tree, I would have realized that the beautiful girl in the woods would know them far better than I did. Why else would someone like her have been out there so late at night? It must be a trusted safe haven.
Dove is unpredictable prey. Only now, I’ll get to know far more about her than she wants me to. This time, I’m not going to give up so easily.
“Heading off so soon, little bird ?” I taunt as I continue my methodical steps to where she waits.
Dove’s breathing becomes more rapid the closer I get.
Keeping my hands inside my pockets, I’m finally mere inches away. It’s taking everything in me not to reach out and put the ends of her hair in between my fingertips after the way she was taunting me during brunch.
Everything with this mysterious creature has to be well-timed if I’m going to do this correctly.
“Little bird,” I murmur.
Her chest rises and falls as she remains still in my presence. My chest is close to her back, and I wish I could pull her in flush with it.
“Did you really think you’d be able to escape me for good?”
Unable to resist, I trace one of her shoulders with my fingertips. As they graze against her skin, she starts to melt into my touch. This I can work with.
Suddenly, Dove’s shoulders straighten as she comes back to reality.
Truthfully, if I didn’t need a cover for my plan, I would have tracked her down sooner. Finding Dove has been an obsession all this time.
The problem was I needed to get my other predicament handled first, and that included finding a cover for my life in Dossberry. Step one to the cover was finding someone to pretend to marry. Now I just wish it hadn’t been Jill who I met at that cocktail bar.
Dove’s breathing finally subsides.
“What are you doing with Jill?”
Of course that’s her first question. I can’t help but note the way she calls her mother Jill and not Mom or something more affectionate. At least that should work to my advantage while trying to claim Dove.
I’m not letting her get away.
“How was I supposed to find you without your name?” I retort.
That catches her full attention.
“I thought someone like you would have been more resourceful. I suppose I don’t know you at all. I shouldn’t have made any assumptions about the man I met that night.”
That’s meant to sting a little.
The night we met. The one I know changed her as much as it impacted me. Dove liked that I guessed her desires correctly. When I took a risk and asked her to run, the excitement that flashed in her eyes all but confirmed that she could be my match.
Dove twists around suddenly to face me directly.
“Why are you marrying Jill?” she asks harshly.
She crosses her arms over her chest as her breasts heave up and down. It’s a distraction I can’t focus on, no matter how much my mind wants to remember how she liked the way I teased them that night.
I mirror her pose as I remove my hands from my pockets and cross them over my chest. She bites down on her lower lip as she focuses on my arms. I can’t help but smirk, knowing that she wants me as much as she did that night despite being angry.
Dove’s eyes dart up to mine, and I see a newly lit flame behind them. One that emulates her fierce spirit.
“Well?” she asks.
“It’s complicated.”
“Right,” she scoffs and throws her hands in the air.
“It is,” I answer truthfully.
“Complicated. Jill said the same thing about you two.”
“Did she now?”
“She wouldn’t tell me how long you two have been dating. That is before I found out that the elusive Mr. Samuels was actually you.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Are you out of your mind? Of course it does. You are marrying my mother, for crying out loud.”
Dove paces around in a small circle before coming back.
“It really doesn’t matter.”
“Okay, Reid. Or am I expected to call you Daddy now?”
She places her hands on her hips and gives me a blank expression.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what? I barely know you.”
I try and remain stoic even though I want to take her back to my place and teach her a lesson for this attitude.
“Jill was a necessity. I’ve been waiting to find you.”
She laughs wildly in disbelief.
“How can you possibly say that? You literally are sleeping with my mother.”
Dove turns her back to me and begins fiddling with her keys. Taking this as my opportunity, I step closer and bring her soft shoulders into my hands.
I begin teasing them lightly with the tips of my fingers to ease this tension, knowing she loves the feeling. Anything to get her in my hold and calmed down.
My dear little Dove.
“Little bird,” I whisper as I continue to let my fingers tantalize her senses.
It’s fascinating that her name is Dove. The perfect nickname for my sweet girl.
Naturally, her body eases, and it wants to fold into mine.
As if Dove can hear what I’m thinking, she tenses.
“I promise with time, it’ll all make sense. Jill means nothing to me. She’s not you.”
Her breath hitches, but she won’t allow herself to come undone again. I capture her shoulders with my palms.
“How can you say that?” she asks.
“As I told you, it’s complicated.”
I watch as her head bobs up and down. It looks like a promising sign. Maybe she does believe me. She turns back around, causing my hands to fall to my sides. A sly smile takes over her expression.
“Fuck you, Reid.”
She turns on her heels and tosses her long hair in my face.
“I don’t think so,” I say with a chuckle.
She quickly tries to get into her car. Right as she’s about to slam her door shut, I catch it with my hand to stop it.
The anger blazing in her eyes as they dart from my hand gripping the car door to my gaze is such a turn-on. I can feel my cock twitching in my slacks.
The fire in them that says she somehow isn’t afraid of me or what I am is intoxicating. It’s why I know I won’t be able to do what I should and walk away. Let this end since I know I shouldn’t take her as mine.
“Back off,” she spits out.
“Never.” I can’t help but grin as she grows even more frustrated.
She settles back in her seat and closes her eyes. I open the door wider to be able to get closer whenever the time is right.
As I wait for her to finally speak, I can’t help but admire her in this dress. It’s nothing I would have ever expected her to wear, but I can appreciate the way her breasts look with the scooped neckline.
“Tell me something real—something true. Can you do that?” she asks.
“Yes. I told you, I won’t lie.”
I grip the top of the car door roughly. What she doesn’t seem to realize is that the truth is always black and white, surrounded by gray.
“Are you actually going to marry Jill?”
Dove still refuses to look at me, almost as if I’m about to break her fragile heart.
“No.”
That’s when I get her attention once more.
She looks over my way, and I can see confliction in the eyes I’m infatuated with. She knows I’m up to no good after seeing me out in the woods that night. But she didn’t press then, and she’s not going to now.
It’s interesting that she doesn’t seem to get that she’s placing her trust in me so easily.
“Then why?”
“The truth of the matter is rarely simple. What I do know is that I need to see you again. Let me come with you.”
Her eyes widen in disbelief.
“What?” I ask.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Deadly.”
Her body shivers as she takes my words in.
I step back, waiting for her to decide. She’ll do what’s right for us to figure out our next steps. I know this undeniable attraction isn’t one-sided.
As indecision continues to weigh, she reaches for the handle and pauses. Looking up at me, she gives me a small smile.
I knew she would make the right decision all on her own.
The smile widens and turns into a curled one.
“Wait,” I shout right as she slams the door shut and immediately locks it.
Dove tilts her head to the side and shrugs.
“Let me in,” I demand as I bang on the door with a closed fist.
“No,” she mouths through the window.
She starts the car, and within seconds, she’s reversing it as I’m trying to hold on. People going into the country club are staring, but I don’t fucking care.
Dove gives me a dismissive wave as she takes off, leaving me literally in the dust with dozens of watchful eyes and no sure way to contact her after this.
I certainly can’t ask Jill; that is already a situation I’m going to have to handle. Frankly, I’m surprised she allowed me to leave her in the country club, waiting like this for so long. She’s a needy one.
I stretch my neck from side to side before adjusting the edges of my sleeves. No matter how much I want—no, need—to follow Dove, I can’t. I have too much at stake to just disappear on Jill. Not only for my plan to continue but so I can mitigate any rumors that are about to start from the parking lot incident.
This cover of mine is crucial to my plans.
My sweet girl thinks she got away once again, but she hasn’t. I know who she is now. I’ll track her down and make sure she knows that she’s not allowed to run away anymore. Dove is mine, whether she likes it or not.
“What took you so long?” Jill pouts with a fresh Bloody Mary in her hand.
“Dove had car trouble,” I lie.
She nods in acceptance as she takes a sip of the drink.
I doubt that this is her second drink because she’s not whining like she usually does when I disappear for long periods of time. She must have seen someone and had another Bloody Mary while I was outside.
Jill likes to lean into this curated lifestyle that those who are members of Dossberry Country Club live. It’s one of the reasons I picked her to be my fiancée. Jill wanted to be part of it all and was easy to manipulate.
For only spending a short amount of time in Dossberry, it’s perfect for my plans. I had a gut feeling it would be when I first came to town.
Money works wonders for people like this. It doesn’t matter who you are if you start donating to popular initiatives, join clubs like this one, and befriend the right people. I knew how to play the role, and it got me into the inner circles immediately.
The community acts as if I’ve been here all along compared to being treated like a newcomer.
“I’m sorry about Dove; she’s always been…” Jill starts.
I hadn’t been paying attention, but if Jill is willing to talk about Dove, I’ll take all the intel I can get. I had been planning to pry later on, but I’ll happily start now.
“She was fine. Emergencies happen.”
Earlier it made sense that Jill and I would sit next to one another; now that Dove isn’t here, there is no reason for us to be on the same side of the table.
I cross to the other side to sit in the chair Dove was in. I inhale the remainder of her floral scent that is still lingering and lean back to get more comfortable.
“She’s different. Always been a bit odd, but as her mother, I’ve tried my hardest for her to fit in and find her way,” she continues.
Another lie I’m being sold, but one I’ll play into.
“Different? How so?”
“Well, she’s always loved the mountains, and I don’t mean to just hike or ski, that type of thing. She likes to sit out there for hours.”
Here we go. The spot I found her the first time.
“And you don’t like that?”
I take a sip of my coffee as Jill takes another long gulp of her Bloody Mary. It’s interesting seeing her trying to keep up the facade of an attentive mother versus someone who I know could care less.
One of my strengths is my ability to read people. I’ve had to learn this skill throughout the years, and it makes it relatively easy to see who Jill is. Someone like her doesn’t know she needs to have her walls up at all times, that others could be playing her just as she’s trying to do to them.
“It’s not that I can’t… appreciate the beauty of nature. It’s just different. It’s hard to explain,” she admits.
“Does she still go out in the woods often?”
Jill laughs like I said something obvious.
“Yes, well, I suppose more than often.”
Leaning forward, I tent my fingers against my lips and rest my elbows on the table.
“How often?”
“Every day. It’s hard to get her off the damn mountain.”
Jill flags down our server and asks for another drink. At this rate, it’s going to be easy to once again make up an excuse why I can’t stay over after I drop her off at home. I never have and don’t intend to.
“Every day?” I ask skeptically.
“Yes, every day. She lives on that damn mountain, right off the main pathway up to the top.”
I lean back in disbelief. Looks like she more than knows that mountain; my sweet girl lives out there. It all makes complete sense.
“Isn’t that dangerous for a young woman?”
“She isn’t that young,” she replies, annoyed.
There it is, the jealousy coming to the forefront. I had been expecting tension between Jill and her daughter before I had even discovered it was Dove. The way Jill spoke of her was chilly, not the way I would have expected a mother to discuss her only child. At the time, I clearly didn’t care. It’s none of my business, really. I had insisted on meeting Jill’s daughter because I knew it was part of the act I needed to play. If not for Jill’s sake, then for appearances with our friends at the club.
“She’s what, twenty-four? Twenty-five?”
“I had her when I was really young; that’s why I think it’s so easy for people to consider me her older sister instead of her mother.”
Jill is attractive, but clearly, this is a sore spot.
“I was going to say you look like sisters.”
This makes Jill happy as her previously tense frame begins to settle back to how it was earlier. Leaning back in my chair, I’m pleased with how easy this was. I take a sip of my coffee and realize that I’m interested in a conversation with Jill for the first time in our pseudo-relationship.
“She’s twenty-six.”
That makes me closer to Dove’s age than I thought.
“What happened to Dove’s father?”
Jill is taken aback by my sudden question, and I am too, in fact. The problem is I need to know about the man who might still be in Dove’s life. My fixation on Dove is all-consuming, and now I get access to the one person who might know the type of details I won’t find on the internet.
“It’s not important,” she says with a smile, one that is no doubt meant to be alluring enough to get me to drop the subject she’s uncomfortable with, but I won’t.
“Why is that?”
“It was so long ago.”
My eyebrows furrow together as I contemplate what this means for Dove.
“When Dove was just a child?”
“I mean, we were all practically children,” she laments.
“What’s his name?”
Jill downs the rest of her drink, uncaring of the perfectly curated persona she’s been giving our relationship. The perfect future wife for the wealthy new man in town.
She looks down at her nails and tries to pretend as if she’s discovered something worth buffing from them. A tactic that Dove also tried earlier at brunch.
Anything to stall because I’m not moving on without an answer. I need it. As I catch her line of sight, she sighs heavily.
“Todd. Todd Barlowe.”
“Todd,” I enunciate.
“Yes, but he’s history. I promise.”
“I believe you.”
That makes her happy once more. Jill spots someone she knows from the club and starts to excuse herself to say hello. The server drops off her latest Bloody Mary right before she goes.
As Jill disappears from our table with her new drink in hand, I know what I’m doing tonight—visiting Dove Barlowe at her home on Lamb Creek Mountain.
I’ll be seeing my little bird one way or another tonight.
It wasn’t difficult to convince Jill that I couldn’t stay over as I was dropping her off at home. After a few whines, she eventually gave up. At that point, she had half a dozen Bloody Marys in her system.
When I initially met Jill, I assumed she would need more from me than she has been willing to accept. It’s made this whole arrangement so much easier to deal with.
She’s fine marrying me purely because of my perceived status. It’s all a show, even if she isn’t actually happy with me. It’s not like I intended to stay long in Dossberry. Now that I’ve met Dove, everything is even more complicated than before.
My little bird is mine. I just have to figure out how to keep her for good.
Outside of her house, I watch Dove flitter around her home in nothing but a tiny pair of white panties and an excuse for a thin white tank top. The tank top reminds me of the same one she wore the night we first met.
It’s almost as if she’s trying to enter into a game of chess with the devil, but I’ve caught on to how quick she is.
After a brief online search, I was able to find her address and came right over. It’s been a few intoxicating hours of watching her from the darkness. There have been a few moments where she stilled and looked right out the kitchen window to where I’m standing, as if she could feel someone watching her movements.
I’m used to having to blend in. I could stand in this same spot for hours, just watching her living life unfiltered. The way she’s been moving about in and out of each room, lugging camera equipment and going into what has to be her darkroom and bedroom, is ballerina-like.
My Dove is fascinating to watch.
Later tonight, when she’s finally asleep, I’ll make my move. I need to be closer to this enigmatic creature. Since she’s furious with me, I know I have to play this right. I can’t waltz in there while she’s angry, and I don’t have any answers to give.
In the darkness, she’ll be mine tonight.
Dove is mine, whether she knows it or not.
I just need to make sure she can handle all of me. I’ll do that slowly, making sure my sweet girl can handle the truth.
An animal howls in the distance, reminding me I’m not alone out here in the woods. The loudness of the howls has caught Dove’s attention too. She’s entranced as she looks outside the same window I’m watching her through.
One would assume a woman living out alone in the woods would still be nervous by the sound of repeated howling in the distance, but Dove doesn’t appear to be.
Oddly, she seems relaxed, if anything. There is no bunching of her shoulders or a furrow between her perfect doe eyes. One thing is for sure—she’s not scared to be out here alone.
She will be.
She doesn’t know I’m out here yet.
Watching. Preying. Dying to claim her as mine.
Dove finally retreats away from the kitchen. Lights are being turned off room by room until finally, she’s about to disappear inside her bedroom, the one I’m begging to find relief in by being able to touch her again.
As I watch her figure sway from side to side before finally leaving my view, I can’t help but fully drink her in.
There’s a reason I’m so addicted to this woman. She’s everything.