Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
brADY
Last night hadn’t gone remotely how I’d planned.
Though that seemed to be par for the course when it came to the tornado that was Luna.
She’d dropped into Starlight Cove out of nowhere, ravaged everything in her path, stirring up things that were better left untouched, and I was worried nothing would ever be the same in her wake.
I’d lain there for a solid hour after I’d fucked her in my bed, holding her while she’d fallen almost immediately into sleep and wondering how the hell I’d ended up there.
With a beautiful woman I had no business getting involved with curled into my body and snoring softly against my chest, her skin still smelling faintly of me.
Eventually, I’d fallen asleep, only to wake a couple hours later to my alarm.
I’d slipped out from under Luna, who’d barely stirred, and left her without a backward glance—because who the fuck knew what I’d do if I turned around and caught a glimpse of her lying naked in my bed?
Sure as hell not me. I’d already proven that I didn’t know what the hell to do when it came to her.
So I’d showered in the guest bathroom, staying as far away from her as I could, before heading to the station to deal with the clusterfuck that would be today since the downed power line blocking me in had been taken care of.
The arts festival was scheduled to start this evening, but the town was a mess thanks to last night’s storm. Fallen branches and various debris littered the streets, so cleanup was in order. Thankfully, that would keep me from thinking about Luna. And last night. And early this morning.
Unfortunately, that plan went about as well as any plan where she was concerned.
By midmorning, even with everything needing my attention, I’d given up on avoiding thoughts of her.
I’d figured it was a lost cause when I found myself in the café, searching the menu for something disgusting for her to eat, before I’d even realized what was happening.
And now, I drove toward my house to greet the woman who drove me out of my mind—with frustration and need in equal parts—a green smoothie resting safely in the cupholder. It wasn’t the ass-water Beck fed her, but it was the closest thing I could get without heading out to the resort.
I had no idea why I’d gotten her anything at all.
Or why I was taking this mini-break, considering the state of the town and the amount of work still needed to get things squared away before the festival.
And considering the fact that I didn’t do breaks.
I ate at my desk or in my patrol car, radio always at the ready.
And yet, here I was. Delivering breakfast to the only woman besides my sister who’d ever been in my home.
I parked in my garage and grabbed her smoothie before heading inside, unsure and a little apprehensive of what I’d find.
I didn’t figure she’d been able to do much damage in the few short hours I’d been gone, but then, I’d made the mistake of underestimating her at first meeting, and I didn’t intend to do that again.
I set my keys on the counter, the sound startling her as she spun to face me from where she stood in the living room.
She wore the T-shirt I’d given her last night, showcasing far too much bare skin, and I couldn’t deny what the sight did to me.
Or how much I liked seeing her in my clothes and in my space.
She held a picture frame in her hand as she scanned me from head to toe, her brows lifting when her gaze zeroed in on the cup I held. “Morning, Sheriff. That for me?”
I grunted and set it on the kitchen counter. “I’m sure as hell not going to drink it.”
She placed the photo down and strolled toward me, all long legs and tight nipples that winked at me through the plain white shirt. Why the hell had I given her that and not, say, a parka?
I inhaled when she stepped close, biting back a groan when I realized she still smelled like me… And ignoring just how much I loved it.
She lifted the cup and sniffed, her eyes locked on mine, one brow raised.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“Making sure you didn’t poison it.”
I rolled my eyes, grabbed the smoothie, and took a deep pull from the straw, preparing myself for the onslaught of trash.
But I was pleasantly surprised when the liquid hit my tongue.
It might not have had all the disgusting ingredients she preferred, but it was infinitely better than the shit Beck was slinging.
“Poison doesn’t smell. It’d sort of defeat the purpose, don’t you think?
Maybe you could try that on me instead of irritating me to death. ”
“Where would the fun be in that? And I knew it wasn’t poisoned.
” She grinned as she lifted herself up onto the counter, and I tried to ignore the long expanse of her legs and the fact that she still wasn’t wearing any fucking panties.
“I just figured you could use some fruits and veggies in your diet. Done with your shift already?”
I fisted my hands, ignoring the incessant itch to slide them up her thighs, tug her to the edge of the counter, and lick up all her sweetness, just like I’d done in this spot the night before. “Not for a while.”
She cocked her head to the side, lips pulling steadily from the straw, and I steadfastly ignored what the sight did to my cock. “Then why are you here?”
That was a damn good question and one I didn’t have an answer for. One I didn’t want to dig too deeply into, either.
“Figured you’d burn down my house in retaliation if I didn’t feed you. I know what kind of irrational things you do when you’re hangry.”
“Way to save that, Sheriff.” She reached out, running a soft hand down my chest. “For a second there, I thought you were being nice.”
I grunted, glancing over to the bookcase she’d been standing in front of when I arrived home. “Have fun snooping?”
Her grin widened around the straw, her eyes dancing, but she didn’t respond.
“Find anything good?”
“No, actually.” She brushed against my uniform pants with every swing of her legs, her blue-painted toes sweeping against my thighs, and since fucking when did toes make me hard? “I was kind of hoping I’d find a sex dungeon or a box of kinky toys.”
I cleared my throat, forcing myself away from thoughts of dragging Luna into a sex dungeon or using a box of kinky toys on her. “Sorry to disappoint,” I said, my throat full of gravel, cock hard as steel.
“You didn’t.” Her eyes sparkled. “I had wondered if you’d been spawned from a demon, so it was good to confirm you came from actual humans and weren’t hatched somewhere.
” She tipped her head in the direction of the photo she’d been holding when I’d walked in.
The one of my mom and us kids taken more than twenty years ago.
“How do you know I still wasn’t?”
“You look too much like your mom.” She reached up, brushing her fingers down my temple, and I had to force myself not to lean into her touch. “The eyes are undeniable.”
I knew that fact all too well. I saw a poor facsimile of her every time I looked in the mirror, and I hated it. “My dad used to tell me that.”
She rested her hand on my shoulder, cocking her head to the side. “Used to?”
The last thing I wanted to do was talk about the shitty, fucked-up relationship I had with my father. Not when she was in front of me, her legs parted just enough for my hips to fit between them. “We don’t speak anymore.”
She made a gruff sound of commiseration in her throat. “And your mom?”
“She’s dead.”
In the almost ten years that she’d been gone, the words had gotten easier to say.
They were just words after all. They didn’t encompass the pain and grief my siblings and I had gone through in the days and months following her death.
Didn’t encapsulate what it was like to have to shove everything aside—emotions included—just to make sure things stayed on track.
Didn’t even begin to cover how difficult it was to keep moving through life when your guiding force was suddenly gone.
“Oh, Brady,” she said, her voice soft and fingers softer as she trailed them down my chest. “I’m so sorry.”
I didn’t know if it was the look in her eyes, the tenor of her voice, or the feel of her fingers against me, but I’d never before wanted to fall into someone’s embrace as much as I did in that moment, with this woman.
But down that path led only madness—or poor decisions, as it were—and I wasn’t in the market for either.
“Thanks,” I said flatly.
Without another word, I stepped away and grabbed her clothes from the laundry room where I’d hung them last night. I thrust them out at her, avoiding eye contact. “Get dressed. I’m heading to the resort to check for damage. We can swing by your van so you can grab some things.”
“Don’t you mean so you can drop me off? I have to lead a class for that journalist and give her a massage.”
“Fine, but you’re coming back here tonight. I can’t get anyone out to clear the tree today. Not with the festival starting.”
After what’d happened between us last night, would she sleep in the guest room like I’d intended, or would she sneak her fine ass into my bed again?
Maybe have that talk with my dick she mentioned in her orgasm stupor…
I clenched my teeth, forcing the thoughts out of my head.
She shouldn’t be here in my home. I shouldn’t want her here.
But I couldn’t deny anymore that I did. She drove me crazy, but she brought a lightness to my days that had been missing for far too long, and I’d begun to crave her when she wasn’t near.
She pursed her lips as she grabbed her clothes from me. “We’ll see.”
And then she hopped down from the counter, whipped the T-shirt over her head until she was standing in my kitchen bare-ass naked, and proceeded to get dressed. Slowly.