Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Angus
Goof
I got the job
GUS
I knew you would. Congrats, Goof. I’m happy for you.
Goof
Thanks.
They still think we’re married.
GUS
Then they likely think I’m a much luckier man than I am.
Goof
I can tell them the truth.
GUS
Don’t do it on my account.
Goof
I’ll have to list you as my emergency contact.
GUS
Works for me.
Goof
Gus.
GUS
Mia, just put my name down.
Goof
You sure? You can back out any time. This is my problem, not yours.
GUS
That’s not the way this works. Your problems are my problems, wifey.
I ’ve been an anxious idiot since I read my sister's text telling me she and Mia were coming by the bar tonight to celebrate.
When Mia texted three days ago to tell me she got the job, it fucking electrified something deep inside me. I know it’s not real but this new connection to her and Sawyer, fake or not, has brought me to life. My therapist is worried this fake connection feels too real. She’s worried about how this may end. The thing is, I’m pretty sure heartbreak is the inevitable outcome, on my end, anyway. I’ll worry about that later. For now, I’m going to ride this fake relationship as long as I can.
The good doctor also thinks Mia and I should try something real. After examining all the feelings our night together brought to the surface for me, Dr. Laughlin thinks I’m selling myself short. That I deserve Mia. Which means I deserve Sawyer, too.
I would do anything to make a life with them a reality. Our family connection is something we could overcome. I have enough faith in my family to know that much. My secrets and the demons that continue to haunt me, are the real hurdle.
I’d give anything to keep my miserable soul out of their lives. I’m determined to, even though the thought of a life with them consumes nearly every one of my thoughts.
It’s been five days since I left her teary-eyed in my bed.
Five days of fighting the urge to show up at the cafe.
Five days of not driving to my house for some bullshit reason just to set eyes on her.
Five days of fucking my hand in the shower every morning to visions of her fisting my sheets, writhing in pleasure while I eat her like she’s my last meal. Dark hair spread across my pillow, perfect pink lips swollen from hours of ravaging, her moaning and screaming my name the most sublime sound I’ve ever heard.
Damn those perfect fucking lips of hers. They were mesmerizing before I knew what they looked like wrapped around my dick. Now? Now, the thought of them on anyone else makes me sick to my stomach.
No matter how tightly I grip my cock, it will never come close to what it felt like to be inside her tight pussy.
Heaven.
Every inch of her is heaven right here on earth and was mine for a night. She was more than I imagined she could have been and more than I deserved, but of course, the selfish bastard I am wants another night. Who am I kidding? I want endless nights with her.
I’ll ride this fake husband thing as long as it lasts and love every damn second of it. Along the way, maybe I can earn her trust and encourage her to tell me the secrets she thinks would turn me away.
I want to be her person.
Her protector.
The only one who touches her and makes her feel the way she did five days ago.
I’m mindlessly chatting with Loten, who works at the family hardware store, when the electricity in the room changes.
She’s here.
Peeking over my shoulder to confirm my intuition, my heart rate doesn’t just pick up its pace, it thunders against my chest like a drum. A strange feeling churns in my stomach, like the one I got as a kid on Christmas Eve when I was too excited to sleep because Santa was coming.
Fuck.
That’s what she is.
Christmas.
Every. Damn. Day.
Drawn to her, I don’t even excuse myself before striding away from Loten. She and my sister take off their coats and slide onto their two favorite barstools, laughing at the Reserved signs I’d taped to the seats. Better to avoid having to kick someone else off them when the girls arrived.
The smile on her face kicks those Christmas feelings into high gear, but when she spots me coming her way and her smile ratchets up a notch, lighting her from within, well, fuck me running, because there’s just no feeling like it.
Closing the distance, I open up my arms to her and she walks right into them, accepting my hug and setting me on fire.
“Congratulations, wifey,” I whisper in her ear. Her arms tighten around my neck while mine around her waist do the same.
This is the only touching we’ll get again, and we take full advantage of it. “Let me know when you tell them you’ve left my sorry ass, but feel free to take your time.”
When she pulls away, our eyes lock on one another too long to be considered friendly.
She’s so close.
What I wouldn’t give to wipe away the barely there distance between us with a kiss.
One night.
That’s all it was.
One. Night.
Letting go of her and stepping away is almost painful.
“Two skinny margaritas coming up.”
She nods and sits on her reserved stool, looking as dazed as I feel. The struggle in her eyes tells me she’s battling her emotions, too, both of us pushing down the need we have for one another.
Busying myself with making their drinks, I decide it’s safest to keep my pathetic ass behind the bar for the rest of the night. Fortunately, it's busy. I purposely let Laurie work Mia and Daisy’s end of the bar, but the struggle is real.
She and Daisy hit the dance floor, and I can’t take my eyes off her. I would feel like a creep, but the kicker is... she can't take her eyes off me, either. She watches me, watching her, the magnetic pull between us nearly impossible to fight, yet we do.
When Rhen Mitchell approaches her, gesturing for a dance, I smack a hand on the bar and prepare to jump over it, but she doesn’t need me to rush in and save her. No matter how badly I want to. She rolls her eyes, hard, and says something that looks like “I’m good,” before walking away, Daisy on her heels with a disgusted look on her face.
Leaning my hip against the counter where Laurie is pouring a rum and Coke, I angle my body in the opposite direction of Mia and Daisy. “Hey, what’s the deal with Rhen Mitchell? Why do the women in this place hate him?”
She chuffs. “He’s a dick.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, he seems nice enough on the surface, with that pretty face of his, but trust me, he’s a dick. He thinks he can do and say what he wants with no consequence. Not to mention he often has to be told no more than once. But his daddy is a senator, so he thinks he’s special.”
Crimson rage infiltrates my vision. I’m no longer seeing straight.
“Why the fuck haven’t you ever said anything? If I had known, I’d never have allowed him in here.”
The monster that’s been lying dormant deep inside me for years stretches awake, coming out of his slumber and readying himself for release.
“Hate to break it to you, but if you didn’t allow inappropriate men in this place, you’d lose half your customers.”
She delivers the rum and Coke to her customer at the other end of the bar. I think about what she’s saying. Are there really that many assholes in this bar, in this town? Have I turned a blind eye to things happening right in front of me?
“I refuse to believe it’s that bad,” I disagree when she returns.
She stops at the register and keys in her code. The drawer pops open. “I’m sure you do, and that’s cute and all, but you’re wrong.” She sorts the cash into the drawer, pushes it closed and turns her eyes on me. “Most men don’t even realize they're being gross. This is a bar. They drink too much. They look, they comment, they make us uncomfortable. It is what it is. Most don’t step too far over the line. Rhen wasn’t like this growing up. He was just like any other cowboy in town. But since his divorce, he’s been a dick.”
“Has he ever crossed a line with you?”
As shitty as it would be if he had, please tell me he has. Give me permission to jump this bar and rip his arms from his body.
She huffs. “He knows better.”
“What about anyone else?”
“Gus, if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. It’s not my story to tell. Besides, I make his drinks weaker than most. The more he drinks, the more of an asshole he becomes.”
How the hell did I not know this?
The urge to check on Mia and Daisy becomes a necessity I can’t resist. Glimpsing over my shoulder to check for perverts lurking in their general vicinity, I’m met with big blue eyes that don’t look away when our gazes lock.
MINE!!!
My monster roars, ready to slay any dragon that dares to even look in Mia’s direction. The selfish need to bury myself inside her, to claim her as my own, bellows inside me, forcing me to remove myself from the situation. I push through the door to the kitchen and don’t stop until I reach my office.
Slamming the door behind me, I move the mouse on my desk, bringing the monitors to life where I can watch her and my sister from the safety of the tiny eight by eight room. Rhen is throwing darts with Loten and the girls are chatting with a couple of their girlfriends who work at Christie’s Kitchen over in Redmond.
Thirty minutes later I’m still watching from afar, just like I always have. When the girls begin to put their coats on and appear to be getting ready to leave, it forces me from the safety of my office. Stalking through the kitchen, behind the bar and then out to the main floor, I approach, but I don’t touch.
“You two leaving?”
“There you are. Where have you been hiding?” my sister asks.
Mia pulls a baby blue hat with one of those fuzzy balls on the top onto her head, bringing out the blue in her eyes.
“Had some paperwork to take care of.”
Daisy eyes me warily, clearly not believing me. Fucking siblings. There’s no getting anything past them.
“You two okay to drive?”
“We parked at my place and walked down. We’re fine.”
The Hell they are. These two must be out of their minds if they think I’m going to let them walk home at midnight alone. Especially after my chat with Laurie.
“Let me get my coat. I’ll walk you.”
Daisy huffs. “It’s three blocks, Angus. Relax.”
“I’ll relax when I know you’re home safe. Be right back.”
I run up to my apartment and grab my coat and hat, but by the time I get back, they’re gone.
“They’ll be fine, boss,” Laurie says. Her expression says she’s amused by my antics. She shakes her head at me like I’m ridiculous.
My sister and Mia may be fine. I, however, am nowhere close.
Pulling the bar door open, I can hear the two of them giggling before I spot them two blocks up, arm and arm running like little kids getting away with something. Following behind them but hanging back, my heart speeds up when they round the corner onto Daisy’s street and disappear from sight. I pick up my pace and round the corner just as the front door closes behind them. Leaving an unlit front door that I don’t hear Daisy lock behind her. Standing on the sidewalk outside the house I pull my phone out, cursing them as my thumbs get to work.
Angus: Lock the damn door and turn on your front porch light.
Daisy: Oh, my God. Did you seriously follow us home?
Angus: Just do it.
Daisy: I think you need to talk to Dr. Laughlin about these new stalking tendencies. It’s creepy.
I have a hell of a lot more to discuss with my doctor than making sure Daisy and Mia get home safely, but this will probably make the list. Along with my conversation with Laurie and how badly I wanted to rip Rhen’s limbs from his body. The entire night will make the list, I’m sure.
Regardless, I’m not moving until I know they’re safe inside.
The light turns on and I hear the deadbolt slide into place. My blood pressure drops. Not counting my mom, my two favorite women are in that house.
Angus: Thank you.
Daisy: Love you, Gus. Now go away.
Angus: Love you, sis.
I take my time on the short walk back to the bar. The icy air cools my lungs, and I will it to clear my head and quell the burning rage inside me. The one that wants to destroy any man who so much as looked at Daisy and Mia in anything less than an appropriate way.
That’s my sister and my wife we’re talking about. I would murder anyone who caused them harm.
And yes, I realize I just called Mia my wife.
Fake or not, she’s mine and fuck any other man who goes near her.