Chapter Nine
Emerson
The damage to my car was worse than I’d imagined.
The tree branch had not only smashed the hood, but it had cracked the windshield.
All four tires had sunk into the mud to their rims, and water had seeped inside, no doubt shorting out the electrical system.
After the fifth attempt to start the engine with no luck, I sat with my head on the wheel and groaned.
“Dammit. This is not an expense I need right now.” A new car, even on a lease, would take a large part of my savings.
The cost of living might be lower up here, but a guy liked his things.
I prided myself on a stylish wardrobe when I went out, plus my gym membership. Now one of them would have to go.
“I have a feeling Starr isn’t interested in designer labels.
” I began to collect personal items out of the glove compartment, then called for a tow truck, which gave me the time to think about the shocking twist in our relationship.
“Relationship? I’m thinking that’s probably not the right word to explain what’s happening between us.
” But what was? What were we doing, and to what end?
The air had turned humid and stifling in the confines of the closed, wet car, so I decided to wait outside. Leaning on the car, I tipped my head to the sky and closed my eyes. Last night. Sex with Starr. His dick in my hand. “I can’t believe I’m even putting sentences together with those words.”
But it was true. Dominic Starr and I’d had sex, and God help me, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Or him. One minute I’m upset Natalie cheated on me, the next I’m jerking Dominic off and lying naked beside him in bed.
Was I fickle and simply led by my libido?
While I was seeing him tonight and Dominic said he wasn’t ashamed of what we’d done, he could use it against me.
“No. I don’t believe that.” Despite butting heads for two years now, I doubted he wanted to hurt me.
He might possess a cold-stone stare, but those eyes held a depth of tortured emotions he couldn’t fake.
Or…I could be reading too much into it, and last night’s explosive encounter was merely a way to put those decade-long messy teenaged emotions behind us. He could just be fooling around.
I shook my head, angry that as always, I was allowing someone else to dictate the course of events in my life. My mother had kept me from my father. Women I liked cheated on me and walked away. And now here came Dominic, setting the tone and making the decisions. Taking control.
Maybe in my heart I still believed I was that scrawny kid, desperate to be noticed by someone and doing anything to make it happen. Beginning with not running away when I caught the prince of our high school, naked in the shower, rubbing one out.
Tires crunched on the road, and I opened my eyes. “Dammit,” I muttered and watched the patrol car come to a stop. A smirking Dominic and a wide-eyed Bradford strolled toward me.
“Damn, Kane, you were one lucky dude.” Shaking his head, Bradford circled my vehicle. “A second earlier, and it might’ve fallen on top of you.”
Before I could answer, Dominic inserted his words of wisdom. “Yeah, Kane. You didn’t even get a scratch on that pretty face of yours.”
“Aww, Starr. Would that have upset you?” He flushed bright red, and inside I laughed to myself. This sparring during the day could be fun if it fanned the flames for what we’d started in the dark.
As if he’d read my mind, those icy eyes turned a deeper, smokey blue, and I wondered if I’d be on the receiving end of his wrath later that evening. That thought excited me. Meanwhile, Dominic glared at me like an angry lion.
“You’ve got to get this out of here, you know,” Dominic said brusquely. “You can’t leave the car sitting here blocking the road.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious. I’m waiting for the tow truck.”
“We can help you move it to the side. Get behind the wheel and put it in neutral while Bradford and I push.”
I shrugged. “Fine.” I did as Dominic asked, and in the side mirror had a nice view of his taut thigh muscles almost bursting through his uniform pants.
With a little effort, they managed to relocate it, and now the road was clear.
“Thanks, guys.” I saw the tow truck approaching and motioned to it. “Here they are to help me out.”
Bradford’s brow creased as he scanned the still muddy road. “How the hell did you get home last night? It was a mess. I can’t believe you found a cab to pick you up in that lousy weather.”
“I, uh, walked, and then a good Samaritan picked me up and took me home.”
“Wow, you got lucky.”
My smile was slow and wide. “Yeah, I sure did.”
“Bradford, let’s go,” Dominic snapped, the color high on his cheeks. Damn, it was fun pushing his buttons, especially as he could dish out the barbs to me, but it seemed he was prickly about being on the receiving end.
“Looks like you’re gonna need a new car. Tough luck,” Bradford said.
My teasing mood vanished. “Don’t remind me. I gotta go to the dealership. There go all my savings.”
“No more partying or taking the ladies out. Guess you’ll have to learn to use the stove and cook for your dates.” Dominic’s husky voice touched me deep in my core. I wouldn’t mind making him dinner. Damn, who the hell am I?
“That’s okay, Starr. I excel at in-home entertainment.”
A glimmer of amusement tipped up the corner of his lips. His radio crackled as the truck slid to a stop.
“4-Charlie-12, disturbance from a group of teens loitering in the parking lot outside Ackerman’s hardware.”
Dominic handled the radio as he and Bradford climbed into their patrol car.
“4-Charlie-12, show us as responding.”
“I could come and help even if I’m not on duty,” I yelled at their retreating backs.
“No, Kane,” Dominic called out. “Didn’t work out so well the last time you were off-duty and got involved. Almost got yourself shot.”
“Ass,” I grumbled.
The tow operators climbed out of their rig, and one began to hook up my vehicle, while the other joined me with a clipboard to take my information.
“Hiya. Got yourself in a real mess, huh, Deputy Kane?”
With all the car accidents and breakdowns we assisted with, law enforcement and the tow-truck operators often worked together, and all the deputies knew the guys who worked for Lou’s garage.
“You know it. Doesn’t look like it can be saved.”
“Nope. Electrical system flooded, and it’s toast.” The man was way too cheerful for my taste, but I held my tongue. I’d discovered not many people up here appreciated my sarcastic sense of humor, except Dominic.
“Can you drop me at the nearest used car lot?”
“Sure thing. That’ll be Ed’s on Route 21.”
With the wreck of my car hooked up, I sat behind Caleb, the driver, where I was forced to endure listening to how he’d tricked a woman into coming home with him.
“Yeah, man. She was hot as fuck and young. Just twenty-two and drinking shots as fast as I could buy them. Said her boyfriend dumped her and she wanted to forget the bastard. She was totally wasted when they had last call, so I offered to take her home. She lives pretty close to me, on Forestview, so it wasn’t a big deal.
Even drunk and out of it, she was better than any chick I’d ever been with.
Let me do whatever I wanted without a peep.
Left her passed out, but man, I wouldn’t mind getting another piece of that,” Caleb sniggered.
“Man, that sounds like the perfect woman. She just lies there, and you let her have it with no back talk and telling you what to do?” Chester shook his head. “You sure got lucky.”
They cackled, and my stomach turned. “Hey, guys, sorry, but can you stop by the station house for a minute?”
“Sure thing.”
They pulled into the lot, and I jumped out and ran inside. I found Lieutenant Simms and relayed what I’d heard.
His face grew taut with anger. “Piece of shit. That coulda been my daughter. I’m doing this one. His ass is mine.”
Damn. I hadn’t seen Simms this angry since he’d taken over. I followed him as, cuffs in hand, he slammed out of the station house.
“Which one?” he called out to me.
“The driver,” I answered and watched, waiting to see him in action. He stormed to the truck, opened the door, and pulled the man out.
“What the fuck?”
“You’re under arrest for rape and assault.” As he Mirandized the man, I received a nasty glare.
“Rape? Just ’cause I banged some drunk bitch? I can’t believe you told on me.”
“She couldn’t consent, asshole,” I sneered. “You’d better get a good lawyer.”
“Go to hell,” he snarled as Simms led him away.
Chester gave me an ugly scowl. “Snitches get stitches,” he hissed, and I folded my arms.
“You threatening me, weasel?” His thin lips drew tighter, but he kept his mouth shut. “Better get your ass to the tow pound and drop my car off.”
Huffing and puffing, he got behind the wheel and drove off. I hustled to the station to watch as Simms finished processing Caleb and put him in holding until his transport to the county jail arrived.
“Good catch, Kane. Again, on your day off.”
I chuckled. “Not planned at all. My car got hit by a tree during the storm last night, and I needed a tow. I’ve got to get a new car, and they were on the way to driving me to a used car lot on Route 21.”
“Ed’s?” Simms made a face. “Screw that. He’s a thief.” His brow puckered in thought, and his normally steely expression softened. “I’ve got a vehicle I don’t use, sitting in my garage. It’s only eight years old, with less than twenty thousand miles. If you want it, I’ll sell it to you cheap.”
“Sounds too good to be true. Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” His eyes grew shiny. “It was my daughter’s. She babied it, and I’ve been taking care of it.”
I sensed there was a story behind his words. None of us knew much about Simms aside from the fact that he was single and lived alone.
“Oh. I didn’t know you had a daughter.”
“She died several years ago. Drug overdose. Got in with a bad crowd down in the city, and she tried to get out of it, went to rehab and everything, but…” He shrugged and turned away.
Shit. Not what I’d expected. The unimaginable pain of losing a child never faded.
“I’m sorry. I-I know what it feels like.”
He pinned those once again sharp gray eyes on me. “You had a drug habit?”
“No way. Not me.” I put up my hands. “But someone I cared for. And it ruined my family.” There was no use going into detail about my father and his illegal activities. The ugly mess had to stay where it belonged—in the background of my life.
“That’s how it always is.” He cleared his throat and sighed.
“Only Jet knows about this. I don’t talk about it, so I’m relying on your discretion, Kane.
And about the car. If you want it, it’s yours.
We can arrange a payment plan, or whatever is best.” He named a price that was more than fair, and took a set of keys off his chain.
“I always carry them with me, and I’ve got the title right here.
Why don’t you call your insurance company and DMV to get everything transferred? ”
“Uh, okay, thanks, I appreciate it. I was stressing about this.”
“Can’t have one of my best deputies stressed. Matter of fact, I’ll make the call for you and smooth the way.” He picked up his desk phone, and within twenty minutes, he’d arranged everything.
“Now go enjoy the rest of your time off before your shift.” He checked his watch. “Which starts in two hours. So get cracking. You can pick up the car whenever you want.”
“Thanks, Lieutenant. This really takes a load off my shoulders. Thank you. I promise to take good care of it.” His brief smile informed me I should haul my ass out of there and leave him alone. “See you later.”
I left, deciding that as it was only two miles to my place, I’d walk.
By the time I made it home, I was soaked with sweat and ready for a shower.
Toweling off, I checked my neck and chest and ran my fingertips over the reddened marks and bruises.
I trembled, my mind on later tonight when Dominic and I would be together.
I dressed and texted Jet.
Can you pick me up? My car got totaled. I’ll explain on the way to the station.
His response was immediate: Sure. You okay?
I replied with a thumbs-up emoji in between chewing a hastily slapped together sandwich and gulping a soda, then returned to my bedroom to get some underwear and a T-shirt for the next day. I sat on the edge of my bed and touched the comforter.
The next time I lay in this bed, would I be alone or with Dominic? Would he be inside me? Me…inside him? I shivered at the thought.
A horn beeped, startling me out of my inner turmoil. I grabbed the clothes, stuffed them in my backpack, and locked the door behind me. I slid into the passenger seat of Jet’s car.
“What the hell happened?” he demanded as soon as my butt hit the seat. “Where’s your car?”
I couldn’t tell Jet about Dominic and me—at least not yet.
Not because he wouldn’t understand. Of all the people I knew, he’d be the most supportive.
Surprised? Hell, yeah. But he’d stand by my side.
But this thing between Dominic and me was so fresh and tentative, I couldn’t be certain it wouldn’t end before we had a chance to figure out what we were doing.
Plus, it wasn’t up to me to decide when Dominic would come out.
“After I left your house, I got caught by half a falling tree. Just missed the top of the car and smashed into the hood. I couldn’t move it, so I walked home. I tried it this morning…no go. Electrical system flooded, windshield cracked. It’s toast.”
Jet turned onto Main Street and stopped at the light. “Shit. I knew you should’ve stayed at my house. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. But I had a pretty wild morning after the tow truck picked me up.” I relayed the story, and Jet’s brows rose high.
“That Caleb guy always gave me a creepy vibe. What a pig. I’m glad he got what he deserved.
And Simms’s story is tragic. It was really nice of him to sell you his daughter’s car.
I couldn’t imagine how it feels, losing someone you love to drugs, after they tried to get help.
” Shaking his head, Jet drove past the square and down the block to the station house.
I remained silent, knowing exactly how it felt.