21. Lark
LARK
Despite his filthy words, Wyatt’s tenderness came through loud and clear.
He never rushed but made sure each measured stroke was designed to light my nerve endings on fire.
The rough edge of his whispers against my ear made me dizzy as I pulled him deeper into me. When both of us were sweating and spent, I curled into him, stealing his warmth and being comforted by the slow, steady rhythm of his breathing.
Wyatt’s hand moved in lazy stretches up and down my back. The grip he had on my heart was tightening.
The wild look in his eye when he finished and made good on his promise to watch his cum seep out of me was dirty and delicious. The possessiveness that filled his gaze had my heart tumbling, and when he swiftly moved to help clean me up, my throat grew thick.
After a long stretch of minutes, I walked him to the door. Indecision was warring in his eyes—he didn’t want to leave any more than I wanted to see him go, but we both knew it was for the best.
He had Penny to look after, and whatever was blooming between us was supposed to be casual. Friendship with a side of lewd and deliciously naughty sex.
Wyatt stroked my face before he kissed me gently, and I tried my best not to swoon against the doorframe.
Watching him leave was yet another poor decision.
He stopped on the driveway, lit only by the moonlight and the glowing bulb at the base of the stairs.
He looked up, smiled, and placed a hand over his heart.
I needed to remind myself that this was temporary. I had a whole life ahead of me that didn’t include professional football players or sexy single dads or even men who know how to balance dirty sex with tender touches.
Still, it was hard to not let myself get lost in wondering what it might be like to be chosen by a man like Wyatt Sullivan.
* * *
“Prop it there. To the left.”
“Dude, you’re in my shot!” Joey balanced my phone on a little cooler, a novel, and my beach bag before stepping back. Michael and Kevin were looking at the lines I’d scribbled on paper and checking themselves out in the camera.
I looked around again. “Maybe I should do this somewhere quieter.” We had found a little alcove with massive sand dunes looming over us, providing a little bit of privacy, but I still felt incredibly shy and awkward.
“No way. It’s authentic.” Joey stepped back and nodded. “It’s perfect.”
I smiled at him. “Ready for your directorial debut?”
“Director and leading man,” he corrected with one finger pointing at me.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Yes, of course. How could I forget? Ready, Pen?”
I had only just confided in the players that I needed to record a scene to submit for the upcoming television series.
Surprisingly, they had jumped all over it and were determined to help.
Joey had even asked if I could introduce him to Chase Singleton when I got the role.
I laughed and rolled my eyes but was also touched at his confidence in me.
Penny grinned from her seat in the sand, ready to push the record button. “Let’s do it!”
I cleared my throat and dipped my chin to signal that I was ready.
We bumbled and laughed through seventeen takes.
Michael and Kevin were taking their roles of background beach bums so seriously. They pointed off in the distance, inspected seashells, even splashed together in the surf.
I dissolved in a fit of giggles when Joey walked up, looking like a young Johnny Depp with pursed lips and brooding eyes.
He sighed and planted his hands on his hips. “You aren’t very good at this. Stay in character.”
His annoyance only ratcheted my laughter higher. My sides and cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. I had to get it together.
I cleared my throat and tried again. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Do you want this job or not?”
I laughed again and pushed away the tiny little thought of eh, not really that popped into my head. “Of course I do. I’m used to performing in person. I think the camera is messing with my head.”
Joey planted his hands on my shoulders. He was a running back—a fast thinker, quick on his feet, and strong.
His lanky frame loomed over me, but his young face made my heart soften.
Despite his carelessness at times and flippant attitude, he was a really good kid.
My grin was cheesy, but I couldn’t help it.
“You’re right.” I schooled my face. “I’ll be serious. I promise. From the top?”
It took another eleven tries before Director Joey was satisfied.
It was a simple scene where I was supposed to frantically ask another beachgoer if he had seen my missing child.
Very emotional and slathered with drama.
I imagined little Penny in the role of my daughter—lost and in danger—and it was surprisingly easy to drum up the emotions I needed to give a convincing performance.
Together we watched the final playback.
“Dude, are you guys holding hands in the background?”
Kevin and Michael grinned. “We were being an authentic beach couple. What about it?”
As the clip ended, I hugged our group and thanked them again for their help. It was perfect. I slipped the phone back into my pocket. I could decide later if I would even send it out. “All right. Lunch is on me. Sand Dollar or Derpy Dogs?”
Penny’s little fist shot straight up into the air. “Derpy Dogs!”
* * *
The next week at book club I no longer felt like an outsider. Welcoming smiles greeted me as I pushed open the door to Bluebird Books. While I was still most comfortable sitting near Annie, I’d even ventured out and made friends with the other women, who’d become my weekly girl-time comrades.
Bug was delightfully grumpy, but women flocked to her for advice. Anything from fertility to child discipline to trouble with your in-laws—Bug had an answer.
Mrs. Fritz was always working to bring fresh new ideas to Outtatowner.
She worked with other nearby towns to have representations at local festivals, publish newspaper articles about our local farmers, and even organize events from the towns’ business owners.
If Outtatowner was going to stay on the map, Mrs. Fritz would surely have a hand in it.
Mostly we avoided the conversation of bubbling tensions between the Kings and the Sullivans, but it was becoming harder and harder to ignore as summer wore on.
More and more the town was becoming divided over the Kings’ apparent takeover of many local businesses.
Some saw it was a hostile takeover, while others viewed it as a way to bail out small business owners that were otherwise in trouble.
I landed somewhere in the middle. Impartial. Switzerland.
But maybe partially dipping a toe onto Team Sullivan.
“Looks like being Wyatt’s personal assistant agrees with you.” Cass, the reporter and Huck’s fiancée, smiled at me as she balanced a small plate of fruit on her lap.
Though I bristled a little at the label personal assistant , it was hard to deny that, essentially, that was exactly what I was. I smiled back. “Huck was a great boss, but I truly was a disaster. He’s probably still finding shards of broken dishes somewhere.”
Affection took over her face. “That man has the patience of a saint. Settling in, then?”
I looked around, surrounded by friendly faces. I had never felt so at home in a town I was supposed to just be passing through. Every woman in the room had a story, a whole life beyond the bookstore, but once we were inside, the stressors melted away. We laughed and chatted and drank too much wine.
“I like it here.” Admitting it out loud felt dangerous. Real.
She pointed a blackberry at me and winked. “I warned you... something in the water.”
Recalling my first meeting with Cass, she was right.
Though she’d worked in Chicago for a newspaper, Outtatowner—and Huck—had soon claimed her as their own.
Perhaps I should have listened to her playful warning more carefully.
Day by day the town and its quirky residents were tightening their grip on my adventurer’s heart.
I sighed. It was silly to get lost in the what-ifs. I had a whole plan already in motion. I certainly couldn’t hang around and be Wyatt’s personal assistant for the rest of my life.
What a joke .
Wanting anything but to talk about what it truly meant to be Wyatt’s assistant, I leaned in close. “So as someone who doesn’t pick a side... whose side are you really on?”
Cass grinned. “Depends on the day.” She crossed her legs and leaned in to whisper.
“The King men are trouble. Rough and ready to fight at the drop of a hat. But it’s hard to deny that they don’t have a hold on this town.
They’re smart businessmen. And holy shit, have you seen them in suits?
” Cass whistled low and smiled. “But then you have the Sullivans. Strong, hardworking. Real salt-of-the-earth men. If you need a job done, and done right, you call a Sullivan.”
I looked around, finally getting some intel on the true underbelly of this strange little town. I craved more. “So what’s the real deal? Why do the Sullivans and Kings hate each other?”
She shrugged lightly. “It’s anyone’s guess.”
Disappointed that she wasn’t sharing more, my lips twisted. Then Cass looked around and lowered her voice even further. “But there are rumors...”
My eyes widened.
“Some say Red’s grandfather ran off with a King and started the whole thing. That seems unlikely, because as far as I can tell? The rift really started with Red’s dad and Amos King.”
Red’s dad? Wyatt’s grandfather.
I nodded for Cass to keep going. She was a local reporter, so maybe she’d been looking into the whole thing. I needed to know more.
“See, Red’s dad, Henry, was a farmer but also a tinkerer and businessman. I found some really old public records that Amos King and him were partners at one time.”
“Partners?” I whispered. “So it was a business deal that went wrong?”
“I think it was more than that. Something about patent rights. Whatever it was, it’s buried.”
“Are you investigating it?” My eyes went wide.
Cass looked around. “Not officially. Huck would be pissed if he knew I was sticking my nose into the Sullivan–King rivalry, but I can’t help it. I just know there’s something there.”
“Something where?” Bug’s voice ripped through our cozy cocoon of whispers.
I withered under her harsh stare, but Cass only smiled and popped another piece of fruit into her mouth. “Bug! It’s good to see you. Loving your new haircut.”
The firm line of her lips cracked enough for me to release the breath I was holding.
“Can I get you ladies any more refreshments?” Bug asked.
I did my best to give a genuine smile and shook my head.
Cass had been brought into another conversation, and I was disappointed that I couldn’t hear more about Wyatt’s family and the mystery of the town’s infamous rivalry.
It seemed everyone knew about it, acknowledged it, and even took sides, but talking about it was strictly off-limits.
For the rest of book club, I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibilities. Forbidden love. Backdoor business deals. It was all too scandalous to ignore.