Chapter 6
SILVER
Too much caffeine and a long day have conspired to put an ache behind my eyes to match the ones in the rest of my body.
It was a ton of work, but absolutely worth it.
Between the new coffees and the Harvest Fest crowd, Lucky’s pulled in a record shattering amount of money today.
Not to mention we had a constant line for coffee yesterday when we first opened the new section.
It’s always like that in a small town. I’ve seen people line up around the block when a new dollar store opens, and the only thing that outnumbers dollar stores in our area are churches. But anything new draws a crowd temporarily. The real test will be how many customers keep coming back.
Despite my tired body, my mind is still wired when I park in front of Lee’s house.
The look on his face when he saw my costume hasn’t left my mind.
I’ve argued with myself about whether it’s a good idea to sleep with him again while I’m staying here.
Calli’s warning that he will never be serious with anyone again was meant to discourage me, but it actually does the opposite.
I was done with men before I had all these other things to deal with.
I sure don’t want one now. And if he’s in the same frame of mind, then I can’t see how some mutually beneficial orgasms would hurt.
As long as I’m staying in his guest room, it won’t feel like a live-in boyfriend situation.
Okay, this might be me talking myself into satisfying that ache between my legs that started when he threatened to drag me into the office. It’s been one awful week. Give a girl a break.
Lee’s usually on his back deck in the evenings, or sometimes down by the lake at his bonfire pit, but when I let myself in tonight, he’s sitting at the kitchen bar. He’s focused on his phone and doesn’t even look up at the sound of the door.
I slide a box onto the bar near him. “Hey, I brought some donuts. Lots of jelly ones this time so you don’t need to fight me for them.”
“Hmm. Thanks.” He nods absently, only glancing up for a second.
“Is everything okay?” He’s not typically so into his phone. And he usually attacks the donuts before I can hand them over.
“Yeah, fine,” he grunts, setting the phone aside and getting up. He grabs a beer from the fridge. “It’s been a long day.”
I’m not fazed by his surly mood. It’s his default setting as far as I can tell. “Tell me about it,” I sigh, bending over to take off my shoes. “My feet are killing me.” His eyes are on me when I straighten up, and I grin at the way they sweep down my body.
“Get a good look. Last chance to see me in costume,” I tease.
His expression stays impassive but his gaze locks onto my thighs as I slowly raise the skirt a bit, displaying the lacey stockings.
A picture flashes in my mind of him tearing them off me and bending me over the couch.
It wouldn’t be a bad way to finish off the night.
He doesn’t budge, just leans against the counter, watching me. The corset string that runs down the front of the dress is mostly for show, but it does tighten things up a little. I loosen the string and let the bodice relax until it reveals the top of my breasts. “That’s better,” I breathe.
His throat bobs with a hard swallow and he takes a drink. Heat builds in his eyes when I walk toward him.
“Will you unzip me?” There’s a long moment of silence after I turn my back to him. Finally, he sweeps my hair aside slowly, his fingertips trailing across my bare shoulder. He slides the zipper down. My eyes fall closed when he runs his fingers leisurely back up my spine.
“Thanks, it was hard to reach.” A step backward lets me press my ass against him and feel his cock hardening.
“I know what you’re doing.” His voice is deep, husky.
I would hope so. Another few seconds and I don’t doubt he’ll have me pinned to the wall. Instead of letting that happen, I step away from him and pull the straps of the dress off as I walk away. “I’m going to shower. If you want to come and interrupt.”
Without looking back, I head for my room. I half expect him to stop me before I get to the door, but he doesn’t follow. Every second that it takes for me to get my clothes together, undress, and wait for the shower water to warm up is full of anticipation.
I’m not sure why I’m so worked up all of a sudden.
Maybe it’s the relief of having a good day after some terrible ones.
Or maybe it’s because Lee seems to get hotter every day.
Just the thought of his large hands on me again and his big body pinning me down has my nipples hard despite the warmth of the water cascading over me.
Minutes tick by while I wash and rinse, listening intently for the sound of him approaching. Now he’s teasing me, waiting so long.
A drop of disappointment seeps in as the time passes and he never joins me. Maybe shower sex isn’t his thing, but I did expect he’d come and grab me by now. Instead, I get dried off and throw on some thin shorts and a soft tee shirt.
When I emerge from the bedroom, I’m surprised to see him coming from his room with a duffel bag in hand and boots on. “Are you going somewhere?”
He nods, picking up his truck keys. “Will you feed and water Rogue for me until I get back? There’s a full bag of food in the bottom cabinet. I might be gone for a couple of days.”
He’s leaving for days? “You could just say no thanks to fucking me again. You don’t have to run away,” I reply, keeping my voice light. It doesn’t stop my face from heating with embarrassment. Here I was trying to seduce him and waiting in the shower while he was packing his stuff.
“It has nothing to do with you.” His phone rattles and he checks it, types a reply, and tucks it away again.
“Are you sure everything’s okay?” My ego isn’t big enough to assume something must be wrong for him to pass on getting me naked, but he isn’t acting like himself.
“Everything’s fine. I’m going to visit a friend. Just make sure she has food twice a day, alright?”
“Of course.”
It’s probably for the best anyway. I’m exhausted and need a good night’s sleep.
Unless something comes up and they need me, I’ve already let my staff know I won’t be back in until the day after tomorrow.
Things have been running smoothly, other than the health inspector debacle tonight, so it should be fine.
It feels good to go to bed without setting an alarm and even better to sleep until nearly noon.
Even once I wake, I lay in bed, scrolling on my phone for a few minutes with Goblin purring beside me.
She’s had no issue settling in here. After checking my email to find no updates from my insurance company, I toss the phone aside.
There’s nothing that demands my attention today. Maybe I won’t even leave the house. It feels strange, though, being here alone. Most of my time has been spent at the diner or running around dealing with things since the fire. I’ve really only been here in the evenings when Lee’s home.
A low cramp in my stomach warns me my period is starting and gets me out of bed in search of a tampon.
At least my IUD has knocked them down to only a day or two.
I make myself some breakfast, then spend the afternoon cleaning the place up.
I’m sitting on the porch, trying to decide if I want to take a walk around the lake when Lacey pulls into the driveway.
“Hey,” she calls out, taking a seat on the step beside me. “Is Lee working on one of the cabins?”
“No, he left last night to visit a friend. He said he might be gone for a couple of days.”
“What friend?”
“I didn’t ask. Did you try to call him?”
“No, it’s not important. I’m just looking for something to do so I won’t call Nick. We had an argument. What are you up to?”
“As little as possible. I’m off work tonight. I was thinking of getting a pizza for dinner if you want to stick around. What did Nick do?”
“Pissed me off. How about pizza and margaritas with a side of bitching about men?”
Lacey is sweet, if a little na?ve. If he’s done something to screw her over, he’d better be able to run fast. “Are you kidding? Man bashing is one of my top hobbies. Let’s go to the liquor store.”
“Yes!” she exclaims, leaping to her feet.
Lacey is a hard person to be sad or worried around.
She’s so upbeat and happy, it’s almost nauseating, even when she’s angry at her boyfriend.
We grab a pizza with a side of breadsticks from a little local place and put them in the fridge for later.
Lacey shows me where Lee keeps a blender under one of the cabinets, and I make a big pitcher of margarita.
“To a night with no men screwing things up,” I announce, sliding a glass across the kitchen bar to her.
She grins, raises the cup and taps it on mine before taking a long drink. With a rapid blink, she chuckles, “Woo, that’s good and strong.”
“Too much?”
“God no, let’s get wasted. I’ll just crash here.” She grabs her phone and connects to Lee’s speaker to turn some music on.
“Okay, spill it. What did Nick do? Did he cheat? Because I’ll bend his little hipster ass like a pretzel and stuff him in his guitar case.”
Lacey’s jaw drops and she bursts out laughing. “No, he didn’t cheat. We made a deal and he broke it, then laughed when I got mad.” She pauses for a second. “How did you know he plays guitar?”
“I know the type.”
Her eyebrows go up. “What type?”
“The soft guys. The ones who claim they’re feminists because they’re such deep thinkers.
They couldn’t possibly be beasts like other men when they own two poetry books and cried at the end of a movie once.
” Lacey covers her smile with her hand as I nod.
“And they always think they can play the guitar but only know three chords.”
“That was…alarmingly accurate. No poetry books, but a notebook of song lyrics.”
“I’m not judging,” I assure her. “That was my type too.”
“Was? What changed your mind?”