Chapter 11
AIDEN
While Lexi finishes up with Mark, I slip out of the office to make a phone call.
Owen picks up on the first ring.
“I need you to look into something for me.”
“Tell me.”
Owen doesn’t hesitate. He’s a fellow veteran and the acting sheriff of Hope, making him a good guy to have on speed dial.
I explain about the lawyers turning up at the property and give him the plates, and he promises to run them and get back to me.
“There’s something else. Did you know Vaughan Reilly?” I ask.
“As much as anyone in town knew Vaughan. He kept to himself. Was never the same after he returned from the Gulf War.”
“He was in the military?”
“Sure was. The First Gulf War. I remember him from when I was a boy. He was friendly with my father. When they were on leave together, they’d have a beer in the Landing, and I’d play with the other kids in the park across the street.”
“What happened?”
“Vaughan received an honorable discharge, and he was never the same. He stayed in that big house all on his own. It was heading into disrepair before he passed away.”
A woman pushing a stroller passes me on the street, and I wait for her to go before asking my next question.
“Do you remember how he died?”
“Some kind of road accident. Sheriff Parker was in charge then, and I was away at the time. I only heard about it when I came back.”
I explain about the will only being made three weeks before, and I can practically hear the sheriff’s suspicious mind turning over.
“Do you think you can pull the file and take a look?”
“Sure. But let’s keep this between us for now. I don’t want to start a rumor we can’t prove.”
“Of course.”
I hang up the phone as Lexi comes out of the lawyer’s office. She’s holding the paperwork that gives her ownership of the property, but for how long?
It’s time to take her back home and give her some reasons to stay.
Back at my place, Lexi toes off her sneakers and dumps her coat on the back of a chair as if she owns the place, which is fine by me. If I have my way, she’ll be moving in soon enough, bringing her light and energy and making my cabin a home.
She sinks into the couch, holding up the paperwork.
“I don’t understand any of it. Why would he only make his will three weeks before he died, and why include me when he never met me? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe he wanted to reach out earlier but couldn’t.”
I take the paperwork out of her hands and put it on the coffee table as I sit next to her.
“Or maybe he did,” she murmurs. “He might’ve reached out, but my mom might’ve blocked him.”
She hasn’t spoken much about her living parent, but I get the sense there’s more to tell here.
“Would your mom do something like that?”
She gives a bitter laugh. “Oh, yeah.” Lexi leans back on the couch and closes her eyes. “She’s an alcoholic.”
The pain in her voice makes my heart shatter. My girl only has one living relative, and she’s a slave to the bottle. I pull her into my lap and wrap my arms around her.
“I’m sorry, firefly.”
Leaning against my chest, she lets out a long, shuddery sigh. “She’s fought it for years. I never noticed when I was small, but it got worse and worse. She sold my Barbie dolls, all my childhood toys and books, anything in the house to pay for the next drink.”
I pull her tighter into my arms. “You don’t have to carry this on your own anymore. I got you. I’ll take care of you from now on.”
She pulls out of my arms to peer up at me. “But I can’t leave my mother. I hate her sometimes for the things she does, but I also love her. She’s still my mother.”
And there it is, the studies and the mother. Two reasons to stay in Jersey.
“Perhaps your mother needs a change of scene.”
She shakes her head sadly. “It’s not that easy. I haven’t told her about the inheritance. If she knew, she’d beg me for money. She needs help. I’m going to use some of the money to pay for her rehab.”
I tilt Lexi’s chin so she’s looking up at me. She doesn’t get it yet that we’re in this together.
“I’m sure we can find a rehab center in here.”
“Maybe.”
She smiles sadly, and that’s when I realize she feels it, too. This bond we have. But she’s still stuck in her other life, and she can’t see the future I do yet. She can’t see her way out of it.
Or maybe she’s too sad from today’s events. It must be hard going through her father’s things, wondering who he was. What my girl needs now is distraction.
There’s no hiding the hunk of hard wood between my legs, and I roll Lexi onto my lap so she feels it against her. She lets out a little mew.
“Why don’t you sling your leg over here so you can feel what you do to me.”
She shifts her position so she’s straddling me, and I pull her ass close so she grinds against my dick.
Lexi arches her back and closes her eyes, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than this woman straddling my dick, even with clothes on.
“Ride me like a good girl, Lexi.”
She rocks against my cock, and her mouth pops open. I slide her t-shirt off and let her breasts out of her bra. They bounce around as she rocks against my cock, and I suck a nipple into my mouth.
Lexi reaches for my cock, but I move her hand away. “Not yet. You come first, then you can take care of your man.”
Her hands grab my shoulders, and she moans my name as she rocks harder.
“Be a good girl, and come for me, Lexi.”
She rocks against my dick, the fabric between us adding to the friction until her climax makes her squeal my name. She’s still panting when I stand up, keeping my arms around her. Her eyes fly open, and they’re blazing with desire.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you to bed.”
She wraps her legs around my waist as I carry her upstairs to the bedroom.