by Jill Sanders
He nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed, not wanting to explain to the man that it had been his twin, Corey, that the man had seen at Baked instead of him.
“Great food,” he added. “Have you been here long? In town that is.”
Carter wasn’t one for small talk and it seemed as if the man was stalling or… trying to get something from him. “A while.” He decided to be vague. “Where are you from?” he asked, turning the tables on the man.
“California,” he answered easily.
“Vacationing?”
“Somewhat. We’re dealing with some… family issues.” For a split second, a look of frustration crossed the man’s eyes.
“Family can be… complicated,” he agreed, feeling like he understood more than the man could guess. “How are you liking Pride?”
The man glanced at the cabin next door as if seeing it for the first time. “I’ve stayed in worse. Nice view though.”
“I’ll agree to that.” Carter didn’t know why, but now he was curious to find out more about the man. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a military man.” He answered and glanced just over Carter’s shoulder. “Oh, here comes my girl now.” He motioned to a pretty woman who was walking back from the beach path. The woman had a large sun hat on and dark sunglasses. For a moment, something about the woman was familiar. The fact that she was covered from head to toe in clothes didn’t seem odd to him, since he knew that on the beach, the cool air coming in from the Pacific could sometimes be bone chilling.
Not wanting to chit-chat any longer, he decided to make his escape.
“Enjoy your stay.” He turned to go back inside and then realized he hadn’t had any dinner when his stomach let out a loud growl. He looked around the small kitchen and figured that whatever he could pull together from the supplies there paled in comparison to a hot pizza.
After waiting a few minutes to make sure the Wicks had gone, he locked the cabin up and made his way back to his car.
Pride Bed and Breakfast was easily the best spot around town. Riley’s aunt and uncle had turned the small cabins into something really special. Each of the buildings were identical, except for the brightly colored doors. He was staying in the cabin with the brilliant blue door, which had one bedroom. He knew from hearing Riley and Lilly talk about it before that some of them had two bedrooms and bigger kitchen areas.
The pathway leading to the parking area was well lit and had colorful flowers planted along the passage.
It reminded him of a summer camp he and his brother refurbished when they’d worked for their father.
There was a large main house just near the parking area where he’d been invited to join her family for dinners, but the pizza was calling him.
Driving through town, he pulled into his normal parking spot in the alley behind Baked. He walked in and instantly got a look from both Robin and his brother.
“I’m just here to eat,” he said, holding up his hands.
“You can go sit with Lilly and Riley.” Corey motioned to the back booth. “I’ll have a pie out to you soon.” He turned back to the oven.
Carter glanced across the crowded dining area and saw the cousins’ heads huddled together in the back booth. Grabbing a beer as he walked by, he took a fresh batch of cheese bread and marinara from the warmer to the table with him.
“Carter.” Riley smiled up at him. “We were just talking about you.”
“Yeah, my ears were burning.” He slid in next to Riley, who instantly grabbed one of the slices of bread from the basket.
“So, if this mess isn’t your parents’ fault,” Lilly started as she too grabbed a slice of bread, “then it has to be Reece again.”
“Lilly told me the woman got out of jail a while ago,” Riley added, dipping the bread in the sauce.
“Apparently, everyone knew but me,” he said dryly.
“I just found out.” Riley laid a hand over his.
“Me too,” Lilly added. “Which is why I’m pissed at your brother.” She shot the man a look across the room. As if sensing it, Corey turned around and blew a kiss towards Lilly. “But since I can’t stay mad at him for long…” She sighed.
“Sucker,” Riley said softly and earned a soft kick under the table from her cousin.
“Has the lawyer gotten back with you about Reece’s whereabouts?” Lilly asked.
“No, I was expecting his call soon.” He moved aside when Corey set two pizzas down in front of them.
“Yours is coming up,” he said to him and then sat down. “What are we talking about?”
“Reece,” Lilly said, before taking a bit of the pizza.
“Have you heard from Triggs yet?” Corey asked him.
“No, you?” He grabbed a slice of Riley’s veggie pizza while he waited for his meat loaded one.
“No.” Corey sighed. “I’m hoping it is her. You know. So, we can quickly catch her and whoever is working with her and be done with it.”
“How do we know someone’s working with her?” Lilly asked.
“There were two people in the house. Remember?” he said, motioning to Riley, who nodded in agreement.
“What about our folks?” he asked. “I mean, chances are, they had something to do with this mess. Even if they were in Seattle as Triggs claims.”
“I don’t know. I mean, getting a lawyer to lie for you…” Corey let the rest hang. “That’s pretty big-time stuff. Our folks aren’t smart enough to pull something like that off.”
“Okay, so if we rule out our parents on lack of intellect, and if we find out that Reece was nowhere near Pride…”
“Who the hell would want to kill you?” Riley added.
“Us,” he corrected. “Most people in town can’t tell us apart. You expect someone we don’t know to?”
“They were in your house, twice,” Corey reminded him.
“Yeah, but you were there the night before,” he added as his own pizza was delivered by Emma. “Thanks,” he said as she set the pie in front of him.
“I’m glad you’re okay.” Emma touched his shoulder. “Sounds like you two have had a scary twenty-four hours.”
“Thanks,” he answered.
“Why now?” Riley asked after Emma left. “I mean, if Reece has been out of jail for a while…” She let the question hang.
“It could be because of our parents’ new lawyer,” Corey suggested.
“What would that have to do with any of this?” he asked, biting into a meat-covered slice.
“If Reece found out about our parents’ new lawyer, she’d want to act now, in case they actually had a chance at overturning Grandfather’s will.”
“That still doesn’t fly. I mean, she had no legal foot to stand on when it came to the money. All she had was a… sexual arrangement. If she even had that.”
“There was no proof of it either way, other than her having the code to his place,” Corey added.
“So, again, why now?”
“It could have to do with our marriage,” Lilly suggested. “The announcements were in the papers last week.”
Everyone was silent for a while. “Then why come after me? The party was a surprise. It’s not like we sent out announcements for it.” He turned to Riley. “Right?”
She shook her head. “No, it was private invite only,” she agreed.
“So, how did they know that my house would be full that night?” he asked.
“Luck?” Riley suggested. “After the party got started, you could hear the music and see the lights for miles.” She pushed the rest of her pizza away.
“Why were they in the house? I mean, if they wanted to get to one of you… wouldn’t they…” Lilly shrugged. “I don’t know, show up here instead?”
Everyone looked around the semi-crowded restaurant.
“This would be a better place… I mean, they could make it look like a robbery gone wrong,” Corey suggested.
“Great.” Riley groaned. “Now I have to worry about the two of y
ou while you’re working every day.”
“I’ll call Robert…” Lilly pulled out her phone. “It couldn’t hurt to have someone drive by more often than they do.”
“Hell.” Corey laughed. “Speak of the devil. Half the time they’re in here anyway, grabbing a slice.” He nodded to the door as Robert walked in. Lilly tucked her phone back into her purse and waved the man over.
Carter sat back and listened to the two cousins try to convince Robert that now even Baked needed someone to watch it twenty-four-seven. Of course, Robert patiently explained that he had a small police presence in town and went on to explain that Carter and Corey’s gun permits were clear and that he would be happy to have a target and training class with them if they needed. To which they both explained they had already attended several defensive shooting classes. When Robert’s order was finally ready, he assured the women once more that the men could handle themselves, but he would be stepping up security, and then he left.
“I somehow don’t feel any better.” Riley laid her chin in her hands.
“That’s because you’re low on chocolate,” Lilly said. “Didn’t you promise her some?” She turned her eyes on him.
“Yeah, but I left it all back at my place.” He nudged her knee.
“I have some at my place,” Riley piped up.
“You’re staying with us,” Lilly said.
“I am not.” Riley frowned. “Aaron cleared me medically. There’s no reason I need to be watched.”
“I would feel better if you weren’t alone tonight,” he added.
She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Is that an offer?”
He almost swallowed his tongue. Coughing, he tried to clear his throat.
“Easy, big boy.” She laughed. “I was joking.”
“Right,” he finally managed after swallowing the rest of his beer.
“You can’t sleep with her,” Lilly started, “but you can walk her home.” She nodded out the window. “Since I can’t seem to convince her to stay with us.”
During the time they’d been talking and eating, the sky had grown darker.
“Looks like we’re in for a storm tonight,” Corey said with a frown. “I’d better get back to work.” He stood up. “You’re back on shift tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, boss,” he joked.
“Good.” Corey cleared the table and went back to manning the ovens.
“How about you?” he asked Lilly. “Who’s taking you home?”
“I’m sticking it out here until he closes up.” She nodded towards Carter. “We drove here together.”
“Good.” He turned to Riley. “I’ll walk you home.” He slid out of the booth, then took her hand to help her out.
“I can walk—” She stopped when he shook his head.
“I’ll walk you,” he said again. “No argument.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow at work,” Riley called back as they left.
“This is just silly,” Riley said once they were outside.
She’d forgotten a jacket, as had he, since it had been nice when they’d walked in earlier. Now the wind had kicked up, and he could already feel the rain in the air. Taking her arm, they started across the street after the single car on the road passed them.
Normally, during the daylight hours, the small town of Pride was busy. But now the place was a ghost town, other than the crowd at Baked. He knew that the Golden Oar was probably just as packed as the pizzeria was, but it was down the street and off the main road.
Even Patty O’Neil’s grocery store was devoid of movement other than the clerk sitting behind the counter, reading a book until someone walked in.
Riley’s apartment was on the second floor above the store. Long narrow stairs led up the side of the building to the one-bedroom apartment.
“Are you going to be okay staying at the cabin?” Riley asked when they reached the base of the stairs.
“Yeah, I should be,” he said, wanting to follow her up the stairs.
She stopped and turned towards him. “You could always…”
His chuckle stopped her. “What? Stay here with you? We’ve already established I’d be the Jordan’s most wanted if I did that.”
Riley visibly slumped against the stair railing. “I don’t get it. All my other cousins have moved in with someone. I mean, Lilly and Corey moved in to this place”—she nodded her head towards the apartment— “before they were even officially engaged. Sarah and Parker lived together before they were married.”
“What are you suggesting?” He was frowning. “We aren’t even dating.” Nor could he allow himself to drop his guard around anyone else again. She’d been hurt because of him and his screwed-up family.
“No.” She stood up straight. “I know, it’s just… You’re a friend…” Her face turned a light shade of pink. “I’m just trying to help…” She turned to go, but he stopped her by placing a hand on her arm.
“I’ll walk you up. Make sure everything is okay.” He nodded towards the doorway. After last night and today, he wanted to make sure she was safe.
She slumped her shoulders again and motioned for him to head up the narrow stairs first.
“Are you going to check in my closet and under my bed too?” she joked when she opened the door and he stepped in before her.
“If necessary.”
She waited by the front door as he moved around the apartment, checking every corner.
There wasn’t any place to hide in the small place. The main room, which consisted of her kitchen and living room plus a small dining room, was the biggest space. Her bedroom was half the size of the other room and seemed to hold most of her belongings. There was a large walk-in closet that he checked, and a bathroom the size of the kitchen that he also peeked into.
Once he was done ensuring that every space was clear, he came back to her.
“All clear,” he said.
“I could have told you that.” She almost laughed.
He surprised her by lifting his hand to her face, gently cupping her cheek. Her eyes grew wide and, after a moment, she smiled and leaned her face into his palm.
“I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you again,” he said softly. He just couldn’t stop from being drawn to her. Not when he cared so much about her. It was getting harder to hide his feelings.
She swallowed and was about to say something when he dropped his hand and stepped back.
“I’m sure Lilly’s watching the door, counting the seconds until I leave.” He nodded to the large windows that overlooked the main street of Pride.
“She can wait.” She stepped back towards him. His hands went to her hips, as if he was prepared to hold her away from him. But when her lips touched his, his hands fisted and pulled her closer to him.
She tasted and felt too good to deny himself this moment. He just had to have more of her.
Tilting her head, he took what he needed, removing the hold he had on himself. He took and took, running his hands over that sexy little body of hers, cupping her breasts through her shirt. He lost even more of a hold on himself as he swallowed the soft groans that were coming from her lips.
Her nails dug into his shoulders as she tried to move closer to him.
When his hands reached under her shirt and touched bare skin, she reached up under his T-shirt and ran her perfectly manicured nails across his stomach. He sucked in his breath.
It was like a bucket of ice water being dumped on his head. He blinked a few times as he looked down at her. Damn. He’d told himself he wasn’t going to do this.
Dropping his hands, he stepped back and watched her sway as she tried to focus her eyes again.
“Carter?” She frowned up at him.
“I… have to go.” He turned and stepped outside quickly.
The rain hit him in the face, waking him even more from the spell he’d been under.
He’d almost gone against his better judgment and stepped too far. He knew that if he ever touched Riley
, actually touched her, there would be no coming back from it. He’d be lost forever.
Chapter Twelve
The rest of that week, everything was quiet. Corey told Riley that their lawyer had found out that Reece’s whereabouts were unknown. This pretty much confirmed, at least in her and Lilly’s minds, that it was Reece, the crazed woman who had held them at gunpoint.
To be safe, every moment they spent at the store, one of their friends or family members wasn’t far away.
Her parents had convinced her and Lilly to allow either Lilly’s brother George or her own brother Jacob to work in the store while they were there.
She didn’t know why they had agreed to the deal, since her brother and cousin ended up just sitting on one of the sofas playing on their phones the entire time.
By the end of the third day, she got fed up with George’s feet on one of the tables and kicked him out of the store.
“Expect a call from my mother,” Lilly told her. “Or worse, one from your mother.”
“I’ll handle them. It’s ridiculous having one of them here. We handled Reece the first time,”
“You handled her.” Lilly smiled. “You used a flying tackle on the woman, to be exact.” She laughed. “You should have earned your wings that day.”
Riley laughed. “I have two brothers. I know how to fight.”
“True.” Lilly smiled and nodded towards the door. “Customers.”
“I’ll handle them,” she said, since she knew Lilly was working on a project in the back. She pasted on her best smile for the couple that walked in. “Afternoon.”
“Hi,” both of them said at the same time.
“Oh, what a cute store,” the woman said, moving off towards the rack that held the purses.
“If you have any questions or are looking for something in particular…” she said, watching the couple closely.
The man was tall and thick shouldered and had a scruffy reddish beard. He wore a thick dark grey jacket, since the rain had started the night before and had yet to let up. The woman had on a stylish black jacket and had her hair up under a black beanie. She hadn’t removed her dark sunglasses when she’d walked in, but she had been drawn to the rack with purses quickly.