by Gen Griffin
Addison lowered the rum bottle without actually drinking from it. “This is about me now?”
Katie pursed her lips at him. “You're the one who said I love you.”
“I do love you.” There was no hesitation in his words.
“When was the last time you were in a steady relationship?” Katie asked him. “And no, the long-term friends with benefits thing you had going with Makinsley doesn't count.”
He frowned at her.
“Don't give me that look,” Katie told him. “You want to have an honest conversation, fine. We're having it. You're a slut. You've been a slut for as long as I've known you. I bet you've slept with over a hundred different women in the last ten years.”
“I'm...not taking that bet,” he said.
“Because you know I'm right.”
He nodded reluctantly and then took a swig from the rum bottle.
“Why would I want to be one-night stand number 101?”
Addison choked on the rum.
Katie waited for him to quit coughing before she spoke again. “You would destroy me, Addison.”
He gaped at her. “What?”
“You would destroy me,” she repeated.
“No.” He was almost too beautiful for words, his blonde hair looked silver in the moonlight. His profile was all strong jaw and smooth lines. He was everything she could ever want and nothing she would ever be exciting enough to keep. “I would never hurt you.”
“You suck at commitment.” Katie pressed her lips together until they formed a thin line. She wanted to breakdown completely but she wasn't about to let herself show that much emotion. “I need commitment. Being cheated on has made me a jealous, stressed out wreck. I can't handle not knowing if the man I'm with is coming home to me at night. I need a guy who I can trust.”
“You can trust me. Have I ever let you down?” He closed the distance between them. He took her chin into the palm of his hand. “Katie, look at me. Do you really think I would cheat on you?”
“No.” She had to close her eyes to keep from falling into the depths of his. “I think you would sleep with me, let me fall head over heels in love with you and then dump me when someone prettier came along. Which probably wouldn't take that long because lots of girls are prettier than me.” Katie felt the tears start to fill her eyes and slide down her cheeks. She pulled away from him and then turned her back to him, hugging herself tightly with her own arms.
His arms went around her. She felt herself being pulled backward into the strong warmth of his chest. He didn't speak as he held her, his chin resting lightly on the top of her head. It felt so good to be in his arms. For the briefest of moments, Katie allowed herself to fantasize about what life could be like if she had Addison for keeps.
“I don't think you've thought this through,” Katie whispered into the night air. “Because I need commitment. More than commitment. I don't need a pretty face or a great body. I need someone who wants to be a husband to me and a good daddy to Hannah Mae. I need someone who won't mind coming home to me after work. A man who won't mind helping do the dishes or washing a few loads of laundry or fixing breakfast for Hannah Mae once in awhile. I need a grown up, Addy. Not a playboy.”
“I can do grown up,” he said.
“Can you?” Katie asked. “Because last I checked, your Granny still does your laundry.”
He sucked in an unhappy breath. “Katie-.”
“No,” she cut him off. “Hear me out because I'm only going to say this once. I might...just might...just maybe... love you too.”
She felt him freeze against her.
“Do you?” He asked.
“It doesn't matter,” Katie said. She laid her head back against his chest and tried not to think about how bad it was going to hurt when she lost him forever. “I can't date a guy who won't marry me. I won't sit at home at night with the baby and wonder where you are or who you're screwing in the backseat of that flashy new truck of yours. I just can't do it. I deserve better than that.”
“You'll have better than that.” He squeezed her gently. “I'm done acting like a kid. If you want to know the truth, it's gotten pretty boring lately. Give me a chance to prove myself to you.”
“I don't want my heart broken again,” she sniffled.
“I won't break it.”
“How many times have you made that promise in the past?” Katie asked. “How many other girls have you told that you love them and won't break their hearts?”
He was silent for a long moment before he spoke. “None.”
Katie didn't think she'd heard him correctly. “None?”
“None,” he repeated. “Other than Gracie, I don't tell girls I love them. You're the only one.”
Katie swallowed and then twisted around in his arms so that she could see his face. His expression was completely serious, with no sign of teasing or joking as he shifted his grip on her waist. Her bare breasts were pressed against the heat of his chest and she tried not to think about how good his wet skin felt against hers. She needed emotional commitment, but she wanted him too. She wanted him so damn badly that it made her ache inside.
“Give me a chance, Katie. That's all I'm asking you to do.”
Katie bit her lip and then stroked her fingertips down his jawline. “What am I supposed to do when you break me?”
“How about trust that I won't?” He countered.
Katie leaned her head into his shoulder and let him hold her. She could hear his breath in the quiet night. She shivered as a breeze blew across the water. He held her tighter.
“Don't let me go,” she whispered. “If you're asking me to love you then you can't ever let me go.”
“I've got you,” he promised.
Chapter 21
“Ain't never seen anything so pretty as a big ol' pile of cash.” Joe beamed at the stack of money that was laying in the center of Maggie McIntyre and Frank Chasson's dining room table.
“Dude, it feels so wrong to be counting out and dividing up stolen money on the Sheriff's table,” Lowery said.
Ian laughed. “It shows we're living right.”
“What's in the tackle box?” April Lynne asked.
Joe flipped the locks on the box and dumped the contents into the center of the table. Gold, silver, and gemstones spilled out. “Jewelry.”
“Hmph. Wonder where Pappy got that?” April Lynne dug both of her hands into the jewelry and began holding up different bracelets and necklaces in the light of the overhead chandelier. “I ain't never seen any of these before. I bet they're family heirlooms and he's trying to hide them from my Mom so she can't get her fair share.”
Ian shrugged. He'd found a mason jar of homemade moonshine in the freezer and had been sipping on it ever since they'd arrived at his parents' house. His hair and clothes stunk of smoke from the fire.
Ian hadn't wanted to stay and watch the house burn, but Joe and April Lynne had insisted they weren't leaving until they heard sirens.
The sirens never came. The house was so isolated and set so far back from the road that no one noticed the flames. The house had burned to the ground without the fire department ever showing up.
“Look at these diamonds,” April Lynne held up a particularly heavy looking diamond and gold necklace. She draped it around her own neck and grinned. “I feel like a million bucks.”
“You look like a million bucks,” Ian told her with a grin.
April Lynne's eyes were sparkling as she reached back into the pile of loot on the table. “Looky what we have here,” she said as she picked up the gun.
“It was in the safe,” Joe said.
“It's Cal's gun,” April Lynne explained as she spun it around in her hands. “He's quit carrying it because he says there's something wrong with the trigger. He's keeping it in the safe until he gets time to take it up to Silver City for repair.” She rolled her eyes. “He won't let anyone touch the damned thing. He bitches at me every time I go in the safe.”
“Cal's always b
een overcautious.” Ian was far more interested in the cash than he was in Cal's gun.
April Lynne had her index finger inside the trigger guard of the revolver. She spun the gun around on her fingertip. “Cal acts like I'm some kind of idiot. 'Don't touch my gun, don't touch my gun' you're going to shoot your damned-.”
Kablaam!
The .357 revolver went off in her hand with a bang.
“Holy hell!” Lowery yelped, leaping backward from the table.
“Jesus,” Joe said. “Ol' Cal might have been right about that trigger being fucked up.”
“No kidding.” Ian had his hand over his pounding heart. “That scared the shit out of me. April Lynne, are you alright?”
She didn't answer.
“April Lynne?”
The diamonds around her neck were flecked with blood. Her right hand fell back down onto the table, the gun still clenched between her fingers.
“April Lynne?”
Blood began running down her neck. Her brown eyes were still wide open but they were out of focus and unseeing. Her dark black hair was suddenly looking too shiny. Too wet. Bloody.
“Oh shit. Oh shit.”
Ian sat frozen in his chair as Lowery jumped up and rushed to April Lynne.
“Call 911. Call 911!” Lowery grabbed up the tablecloth off the table and tried to jam it into the wound that was directly underneath April Lynne's chin. “She's shot herself in the head. Call an ambulance!”
Joe didn't move.
Ian made a choking, gagging noise.
“Hurry,” Lowery repeated as blood began to soak through the tablecloth and pour down his arms. Blood was starting to come out of April Lynne's nose and mouth. “Hurry! Call for help.”
Ian threw up on the floor as April Lynne collapsed in Lowery's arms. Her body began jerking and thrashing.
“Call 911!” Lowery yelped.
“We can't,” Joe said. “We can't call 911. We stole that gun.”
“Ian, do something. She's dying!”
Ian was too busy throwing up every drop of beer and booze he'd drank all night.
April Lynne fell to the ground, let out one last gasp and then fell still and didn't move again. Lowery had his hands on her throat. He was trying to find a pulse.
He looked up at Ian with wide, frightened eyes. “She's not breathing. I can't find a pulse.”
“She's dead,” Joe said. “She's dead, Lowery. Give up.”
“We need to call for help. We've got to get her to the hospital.”
“We can't.” Ian was shaking all over. “We'll go to jail.”
“Who cares?” Lowery demanded.
“I care,” Joe snapped. He was beginning to pull himself together. “Get up, Lowery. She's dead. You can't help her. She ain't going to survive no matter who you call. The bullet went through her brain. She's dead.”
“No,” Ian whispered.
“She's dead.”
“No.” He choked on the word.
“She shot herself. She's dead.”
“Please, no. No, no no no no.” Ian slipped out of his chair and landed on his knees. He reached for April Lynne's hand and took it in his. Her skin was still warm as he shook her.
“April Lynne, baby, wake up. Please wake up. Wake up!” Ian wailed. He began to sob as his girlfriend bled out on the floor of his parent's dining room.
Chapter 22
“Frank is probably going to fire me,” Katie said as she crawled under the covers of the queen size bed that occupied most of the deck space inside the houseboat's only bedroom.
“Why?” Addison was already laying in the bed. She'd made him wear his boxers and then decided to use his t-shirt as a nightgown for herself. He was laying flat on his back with one arm under his head and the other stretched out so that she could lay on his shoulder when she joined him in the bed.
“Because I'm divorcing Ian.” Katie sat down on the bed.
“Frank won't fire you,” Addy said confidently.
“He will if he finds out that you and I are...” She didn't have a word to describe whatever it was they were considering doing.
“Dating?” Addison supplied.
“I'm not even going to call it dating yet. Dating involves going on actual dates. We haven't made it that far.”
Addison snorted. “I've already promised you monogamy, lifelong commitment, and my eternal devotion. Surely that qualifies as something?”
“We'll see how well you do at keeping your promises,” Katie informed him as she laid down and then snuggled into his side. “You're warm.”
“Always.” He wrapped his arm around her and then let out a contented sounding little sigh. “I've wanted this for a long damn time.”
Katie closed her eyes. “You realize that we can't just suddenly be a couple, right?”
“I know.” He didn't sound happy. “It would ruin your reputation.”
“Yours too.”
“I don't have a good enough reputation to be concerned about ruining it,” he said. “People expect me to misbehave where women are concerned.”
“Don't remind me.”
“Not trying to, but it's the truth. No one would be that surprised to find out that I was involved with a married woman. You, on the other hand, you would be horrified if people thought you were cheating on Ian with me.”
“I need to get him out of my house and my divorce paperwork filed with the court.”
“Is Trish going to help you?” Addison asked.
“I don't know. I haven't talked to her. I don't know where David stands on my divorcing Ian. He is his cousin.” Katie let her fingertips trail across Addy's chest. His skin was surprisingly soft to her touch.
“David knows Ian has turned into a loser. He'll understand why you're divorcing him.”
“Will he understand me being with you?” Katie pressed him.
“David doesn't care who sleeps with who. You ought to know that by now.” He smiled reassuringly at her.
“What about Frank?” Katie asked. “He is your uncle.”
Addison sighed. “That one is going to be a problem. I'll give you that. Uncle Frank loves Ian like a son.”
“He may fire me just for kicking Ian out of the house and filing divorce paperwork,” Katie said. “I know he'll fire me if he finds out that I'm even considering getting involved with you. He may fire you, too.”
“He can't fire me. He's not my boss. He'll just do whatever he can to make my life a living hell until he gives up and gets used to the idea of you and me being together.”
“I somehow don't see Frank Chasson ever warming up to you and me as a couple,” Katie said. “Family holidays may be off the table for all of eternity.”
Addison laughed. “Family holidays were already miserable. I won't miss them.”
“You'll still have to do family holidays,” she informed him. “I love my family.”
“I actually like your family too,” Addison said. “So that works. Unless you think they're going to hate me now?”
“No, you're good. My family doesn't like Ian.”
“No one does.”
Katie flicked the barbell on his right nipple with her index finger. “We can't date publicly until after the dust settles from my relationship with Ian.”
“I know.”
“I guess it would be unfair of me to say you can't date other people in the meantime,” Katie said.
Addison snorted. “Except that I don't want to. And if I did want to, you'd view it as a sign that I wasn't grown up enough to handle being committed to one woman.”
“Well...” She almost smiled.
“Yeah, no. That's a trap if I've ever seen one.”
Katie couldn't help laughing. “I'm not trying to trap you. I'm trying to be fair.”
“Stop being fair. It's a fucking disaster and half of what has gotten you into your current mess. Don't be fair to me, Katie. Just tell me what you want from me.” He smiled up at her. He had the most perfect, straight white teeth she'd ever s
een.
“I'm still working on figuring that one out,” she told him.
“Be selfish with it,” he suggested. “Tell me that you'll chop my nuts off with a rusty steak knife if I so much as look at another girl. At least then I'll know you really care.”
She laughed. “I do care. Too damn much.”
“Good. That's what I want to hear.”
“I'm not sleeping with you until I'm sure we're going to be in this relationship for the long haul,” Katie informed him. “Are you going to be able to survive without sex?”
“I've been surviving without sex since Mak and I called it quits,” he informed her.
“What if it takes months for me to get comfortable? Or even years?”
“It's not going to take you years to realize I love you and would never hurt you,” Addy said dismissively.
“Months is realistic.”
“I've been waiting to sleep with you for years. A few more months won't hurt my feelings none.” Addison wrapped his arms around her and pulled her on top of him. “Relax babe. We're going to be fine. Everything is going to work out.”
Katie shook her head at him and then decided to let it go. He had a way of coasting through life that she envied, especially since his 'live and let live' lifestyle usually seemed to reap better results than all her careful planning. Maybe he was right.
Katie straddled Addison's chest. She leaned down so that her mouth was only inches from his. “Have it your way. That way, when everything goes all to hell, I can blame it on you.”
Addison laughed as he stretched upwards and planted his lips on hers. “Everything is going to be fine,” he promised just before she lost herself in his kiss. “Just trust me.”
Chapter 23
“We can't call for help or we'll go to jail.” Joe jammed both of his hands in his pockets.
“What do we do?” Lowery demanded. He was sitting on the couch. His shirt was soaked in April Lynne's blood.
“We're gonna have to get rid of her body,” Joe said. “Ain't nothing else for it. She's dead and we're going to jail if anyone finds out how she come to shoot herself with a gun that we stole out of the safe at Walker Hardware.”
Ian let out a low moan. He'd been huddled on the floor for the last hour.