Twisted Rock

by Jill Sanders

  “What else is there besides books to fill a dark, rainy night?” he asked.

  She turned to him, her eyes running up and down his fit form. “Some would claim sex is a good time filler.”

  “It can be…” he said in a deep voice, his eyes locking with her own.

  “With the right partner,” they finished together.

  She turned and glanced at a picture he had hanging up in a frame until she could get herself back in check.

  “You?” She ran a fingertip over the image of a young boy who looked a lot like Sawyer. Leaning in, she vaguely remembered the summer at the pool. “I think I remember you.” She turned and squinted her eyes in his direction. “You complimented my dive?”

  He smiled. “Yup, that’s me, Mr. Smooth.”

  She laughed and walked over to the window. “You left an impression on me. What about your parents?”

  “Dad passed when I was ten, which is why my mother decided to start shipping me up here every summer to spend time with my grandfather, so I could be around a man.” He rolled his eyes. “Really, it was because she had a new boyfriend and they liked to travel without a preteen boy tagging along.” He shrugged.

  “Siblings?” she asked, a little more curious.

  He shook his head. “Never got lucky in that department.”

  After a moment of silence, she turned and sighed. “We’d better get to work. This deck isn’t going to repair itself.”

  He nodded and followed her down the stairs. Ozzy sat in her lap as he drove them towards her place. It took less than five minutes before they pulled into her driveway. As Sawyer pulled the truck towards the back of the house, she gasped.

  “Oh!” She felt shock and anger at what she saw and quickly set Ozzy aside and jumped from the still moving truck.

  “Rose!” Sawyer called after her, but she was already stepping onto the small deck area that jutted off the back of her kitchen. The small deck was her biggest joy come spring since she hadn’t gotten the walled garden repaired and planted yet. She’d set up the area with a table and chairs and several large pots full of herbs that she used when she cooked.

  She and Hunter had moved a lot of the massive pots aside so that several of the deck boards could be replaced.

  As she stood there, tears rolled down her cheeks at the destruction.

  All of the pots lay in shards surrounded by heaps of dirt and wilting greenery. Her lawn furniture was twisted or broken in pieces. Even the decking that hadn’t been destroyed now had what appeared to be ax marks in the once-smooth wood.

  “I’ll call it in,” Sawyer said behind her.

  “Why? Who?” She sighed as she bent down and hugged Ozzy, who had come up to her and scratched at her leg for attention.

  Rose sat back and let Sawyer do most of the talking. He knew what time they had left, how long they had spent looking at dogs and at his own place, picking up Ozzy. She rarely even kept track of lunchtime and frequently forgot to break through the day to grab some food.

  She was thankful when Sawyer’s partner, Carson, offered to help them clean up the mess. He swept the dirt and old plants into a bin. There were several plants that could come back, and she set them aside in the temporary plastic jars that she’d purchased them in last spring.

  She had planned on buying a large cart to wheel the plants into the sunroom and out of the cold this winter. Now she was looking at purchasing more pots and even a few new plants as well.

  “Hey.” Sawyer got her attention again. “I made us sandwiches.” He set the plate down in front of her.

  He’d already hammered the table back together and had fixed two of the four chairs.

  “Oh.” She blinked and looked around. “Where is Carson?”

  “He left a few minutes ago.” He touched her shoulder lightly. “Maybe after eating, you should go lie down. I can work on replacing these boards.”

  “No, I…” She shook her head. “I’ll help.” She smiled. “We’ll need more boards.”

  “I don’t think so. Remember, I suggested you buy a few extras. I think we purchased enough.”

  “Good,” she said.

  “Rose.” The way he said her name had her looking over at him. “Eat. Whoever did this obviously wanted to get to you. Don’t let them win.”

  He was right. It had obviously been someone out to hurt her. Someone who knew how much her herb garden meant to her. Raising her chin, she nodded and picked up her sandwich.

  “So,” he said after she took a bite, “want to tell me who hates you?”

  She sighed. “I was wondering the same thing.” Her mind played over several names.

  “Before you say anything, I should tell you that Schneller made bail late last night.”

  “You don’t think…”

  “My chief had a talk with him about crossing property lines.”

  “Oh.” She set her sandwich down and glanced around. “Yeah, I could see him doing this.”

  Sawyer nodded. “So could Carson. He’s over there now taking his statement. As well as talking to him about my truck tires.”

  “Right.” She frowned and looked towards the property line. “Should I expect more of this?” She motioned to the area where the mess had been.

  “Possibly. You might want to install cameras. There’s nothing we can do unless you catch him in the act.”

  She sighed. She didn’t want to always have to listen for her crazy, strung-out neighbor breaking something of hers.

  “Okay, cameras it is,” Sawyer said. “I’ll do some research and let you know the best ones out there.”

  She leaned forward and smiled at him. “Thanks.”

  “Now, eat the rest of that. You’re going to need your strength to get all this work done.”

  He wasn’t joking. They tore up the old damaged and rotted boards and found they had miraculously purchased just the right number of pieces.

  Since they had bought the right length boards, there wasn’t any cutting required. Sawyer nailed the boards in place while she sat back to watch him work, once again enjoying the way a simple T-shirt and worn jeans fit him perfectly.

  They completed the entire deck in just over an hour, leaving plenty of daylight to enjoy.

  “I plan on painting and sealing the entire thing.” She smiled down at the new decking. “Maybe next weekend.”

  “We’re supposed to have rain all week into the weekend,” he mentioned.

  “Then maybe the following week. The men are working on replacing all the windows this week.” She glanced up at the side of her home. From here, the place didn’t seem so massive. Maybe that’s why this was one of her favorite spots.

  “All?” he asked. She turned to him.

  “Yes, the ones in the basement too.” She smiled. “Come on, I’ll give you that tour now.”

  After seeing his place, she once again felt self-conscious about the tidiness of her own place. Not to mention the heat that was still coming off Sawyer every time they brushed against one another as they moved.

  On the main level, she walked him through the kitchen. “The kitchen.” She motioned like she was Vanna White, causing him to smile. “Pantry.” She opened the heavy wood door and when he leaned in to get a look, his shoulder brushed her arm and she felt her breath catch. So, instead of focusing on him, she glanced over and noticed that the shelves were almost bare. She hadn’t really enjoyed cooking since Isaac… She turned away from the dark closet.

  “This is a dumbwaiter.” She slid open the wood doors in the stone archway. There were two rows of shelves. “The cooks used to send up meals so that the staff could feed the owners.” She leaned in. “Can you imagine what it must have been like back then.” She rolled her eyes. “Breakfast in bed every day…” She shut the doors and continued on the tour. “The back stairs lead up to a doorway in the main hallway upstairs and to the attic.” She turned and walked into another room she hadn’t used since Isaac’s death. “The formal dining room.” She used to really enjoy this space
, but now she ate most of her meals at the smaller table and chairs in the kitchen area. “The living or great room, which you’ve seen already.” The new flooring was cleaned, and the wood gleamed in the light that came in through the large windows. She had hung thick curtains over the windows to give some sense of privacy and to keep the chill out, but now that the windows were going to be replaced, she was thinking of changing to a lighter material.

  He was silent as he followed her through each room. The office where Isaac used to work when he was home that now only collected dust. The library, a room she used often and enjoyed a lot. There was a smaller fireplace there, and on cold nights she could often be found snuggled up in front of it. The den, another room she rarely used since it reminded her of Isaac. There were two bathrooms downstairs, a full one between the den and the library and a half bath in the hallway near the kitchen.

  They climbed the front stairs and she showed him the guest rooms, each with their own bathroom. She had decorated them after Isaac’s death. She’d taken her time stripping the old wallpaper off each wall, choosing paint colors, and hunting down the right furniture for each room. The work had been her saving grace, filling her time with movement so she didn’t have time to wallow in self-pity and loneliness.

  Now, at the closeness of Sawyer, it was hard for her to control the steamy thoughts that kept sliding into her wicked mind. She tried to stay focused on showing him around and making mental lists of things that still needed to be done to the place as she continued down the hallway and showed him the door that led to the back stairs.

  “Go down and you’d end up in the hallway between the kitchen and the dining room. Going up leads to the attic room.” She imagined at one point the space had housed the maids for the home. Since moving in, she had turned the massive room into her art studio. There was a small bathroom up there, which still needed some work done to it.

  Sawyer’s dark eyebrows shot up and she motioned for him to climb the wide wood stairs. Here, she hadn’t yet gotten around to painting the walls. The dark cream color was in desperate need of a lighter shade and maybe some colorful art to brighten the climb she made every day.

  Stepping into her favorite space, she stood back as Sawyer looked around.

  There were two large windows on either end of the room that let in the natural light. The windows would be replaced with double-paned windows and their larger size was the reason for the delay in the window order. RJ had indicated that the manufacturer had to specially make the windows in order for them to fit perfectly.

  In the room, canvases, easels, and art supplies of every kind filled shelving along one windowless wall. Stacks of finished pieces leaned against the opposite wall.

  Since she hadn’t been focused on selling her artwork since Isaac’s death, there were close to a hundred finished pieces overrunning the space.

  “So, you are an artist,” he said, looking around. The fact was, she hadn’t let anyone up there since Isaac. Not even Hunter had stepped foot up here yet.

  “Yes.” She twisted her fingers behind her back, hoping to hide her nerves as he walked around and studied the pieces she’d done in the past year.

  “These are great.” He turned and studied her. “Do you sell them?”

  “I… used to.” She sighed. “I haven’t for a while.”

  He turned to her. “Since Isaac?”

  She nodded. “When I feel ready, I’ll call Julie, my agent. Until then”—she glanced around and smiled— “they stay in my cave.”

  He moved over to a stack of paintings. “May I?” he asked. When she nodded, he started going through them slowly.

  Her heart skipped when he came upon one of the first pieces she’d done after Isaac’s death.

  The mirror image of Sawyer stared back at its subject with obvious desire behind the matching green eyes. He reached down and pulled out the canvas and set it on the empty easel, so he could study it further.

  She walked over and stood next to him. She’d learned the best way to deal with situations like this was head-on.

  “What do you think?” She kept her eyes on the painting.

  “I think it’s incredible.” It was a low rumble. “I’ve never been captured so… perfectly.”

  She turned to him, her heart in her throat. “Not everyone sees the same things.”

  He turned to her, his eyes searching hers. “No, they don’t.”

  Six

  There once was a man…

  Sawyer couldn’t stop the pull towards her. Rose’s blue eyes beckoned him until he was a breath away from her. His hands moved up to her shoulders and he closed the short distance separating them. Her chest pressed into his as he lowered his head. She reached up on her toes and met him halfway.

  The feeling of her soft mouth under his had his fingers tightening on her skin. A soft moan escaped her, sending his body into overdrive. He pulled her closer until she was pressed against him completely, wrapping his arms around her. Holding her to him, he nudged her back until she bumped into the massive work table that sat in the middle of the room. It was covered with paints and supplies.

  He placed his hands on her waist and lifted her until she sat on the edge of the table. He nudged some of the items aside, making room for her.

  “Sawyer,” she said as he rained kisses down her neck. Her fingers dug into his shoulders. “I need…” She moaned as he tugged her shirt over her head.

  “I know.” He almost growled it out. He had known each time she’d looked at him with desire. Every single instance had caused his body to react and his desire to spike.

  Seeing the soft lace covering her, he dipped his head and tasted her skin. She was sweeter than honey and he desperately wanted—no, needed—more. A wave of pleasure hit him when her fingers dug into his hair to hold him in place and guide him to where she wanted his attention.

  The soft moans she made were driving him crazy. He didn’t know how much longer he could hold himself back.

  His hands had stilled on the waist of her jeans, but when she wrapped her legs around his hips, he moved closer and traced the line. Her breath hitched as he circled her navel.

  His lips returned to hers as his finger dipped below the seam of her jeans. She arched back, giving him better access to more of her skin.

  “Yes,” she cried out when he leaned back to jerk the buttons open, exposing a matching pair of panties. He stepped closer again and dipped his fingers beneath the soft material. When he plunged a finger into her softness, she arched and cried out. She leaned back on the table, holding herself up with her arms as her eyes closed, and she threw her head back.

  Dipping his head, he enjoyed her breasts as his hands worked on pleasing her, exploring the smoothness of her skin everywhere not yet exposed to his view. Her hips moved in sync with his motions and he sensed she was close to coming. He vaguely heard his cell phone buzzing but tuned it out. She cried out in release as he watched her, enjoying the site of her letting go.

  Slowly removing his hand, he pulled her closer until he felt her heart settled next to his. Then she wrapped her legs around him and rubbed her still jean-clad pussy against his hard-on.

  “My god,” he sighed. “There is nothing I’d like to do better than slide into you right now.” He rested his forehead against hers.

  “What’s stopping you?” she purred.

  “The fact that my cell phone is buzzing, and I fear it’s work. I’m on backup duty starting…” He glanced at his watch and groaned. “Half an hour ago.”

  “Oh.” She leaned back and frowned. “I…”

  He stopped the awkwardness by leaning in and kissing her again. “My god, if it wasn’t for work, I’d spend the entire night making love to you.”

  She smiled and nodded. Just then they both heard Ozzy bark downstairs as a car pulled up outside.

  She rushed to pull on her T-shirt and snap her jeans.

  He took out his phone and groaned. “That’s Carson. He knew I was here with Ozzy and on the bik
e. He’s going to take Ozzy home for me.”

  They walked down the stairs together, and at the base of the stairs, he turned to her and kissed her once more. “Night.”

  “Night.” She smiled back at him. “Be safe,” she added before he scooped Ozzy up and walked outside.

  The bike ride home allowed him to cool down some. Still, as he pulled on his uniform, he couldn’t get the sight of Rose opening for him out of his mind.

  The call was about an overturned semi on the state highway, which took up most of their night. Most of the crew was out there directing traffic or taking statements from the people involved in the four-car pileup that had ensued after the semi had crashed.

  Before he could take a break, the sun was coming up. Carson dropped him off at the house when they were done. He let Ozzy out just as the heavy rain started. Then he climbed the stairs, peeled off his uniform, and slid between the sheets in just his boxers.

  Ozzy jumped up and, after circling a few times, lay down in the middle of Sawyer’s legs, one of his favorite spots.

  He didn’t wake again until his cell phone buzzed, and Ozzy barked to wake him up.

  “I hear it,” he told the dog, reaching for the phone. “Hello?”

  “There’s been an incident at the Clayton place.” His chief didn’t bother with hellos.

  He ran his hand over his face and tried to clear his mind. Then it dawned on him. Clayton. Rose Clayton. He sat straight up. “Is Rose okay?”

  “All we know at this point is that there is a body. We’re heading out there now. Meet you there. Carson’s on his way to pick you up.”

  His heart actually stopped. He’d never felt light-headed before, even when he’d been shot. Now, however, everything went white and he could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

  He dressed quickly and was out the door waiting for Carson to pick him up.

  He tried calling and texting Rose several times, with no reply. He thought of searching for Hunter’s number, but Carson arrived quickly, and his energy was better served making his partner drive as fast as he could.