Demolished

by Cathryn Fox

  “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

  “I know but while I’m around, that’s going to be my job,” I say. I don’t wait for a response, won’t tolerate hearing no on her lips. Instead I kick Ty in the ribs, not hard enough to hurt, but with enough power behind it to get his attention. “Finish it.”

  Ty grins. “Tap out big brother.”

  “Fuck you,” Jamie says.

  I reach for Ty, but when I do, a bolt of pain shoots from my shoulder down to my back. “Christ,” I winch, and Summer steps back into me. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, just overdid it today on the roof.”

  She sets her tray on the table and puts those soft hands on me. “Let me see.” She feels around a bit, and pulls on my arm, moving it back and forth, then she steps behind me and runs her hands along my spine.

  “You need an adjustment. Tomorrow before you start on the roof, I’ll try to help you work out the kink.”

  At the mention of “kink,” my dick goes hard, and I’m guessing by the blush moving into her cheeks, she knows she picked the wrong choice of words.

  “Kink?” I tease. “Don’t toy with me, Jenna, or there will be consequences.”

  Heat colors her face, and I step into her, crowd her, let her know I’m ready to fuck again, right here right now.

  “I . . . I mean . . .”

  I angle my head, stare at her lush lip, all humor gone from my voice when I ask, “What do you know about adjustments?”

  “I . . . uh . . .” She stalls, like she’s trying to backtrack, but I won’t have any of that. “Well, my friend is a chiropractor, and she taught me a few tricks, and I think I could . . .”

  I glare at her and her voice falls off. How many more lies is she going to spill? Fuck, why is it that she thinks she can’t trust me with her secrets? Especially when she trusts me with her body.

  Oh, probably because of my reputation, my authority issues, and I did tell her one-night stands were my specialty—and they were, until she came back into my life. But she’s running from her ex—by rights I should hunt the prick down and beat the fuck out of him for putting her on the defense like this—and I’m not the kind of guy she’d ever want anything more with. She has white picket fence, minivan, and 2.4 kids in her future. No way will you catch me behind the wheel of a minivan, and when it comes to a kid, that’s where I tap out. What do I know about parenting? I’d end up fucking them up. All I ever had was a hard-ass, brutal son of a bitch teaching me how to be a man.

  Officer Walker steps into the bar, and when he sees my brother’s on the floor, he puts his hands over his gun. Shit. My foul mood returns and I grab Ty and haul him off Jamie. Walker saunters over to us.

  “Problem here?” he asks.

  “Nope, just saying hello to Jamie,” Ty says, and straightens to his full height, an intimidating bastard, but Walker doesn’t intimidate easily. Why would he when he’s the law with a gun at his side.

  “I told Sean and I’m telling you. I don’t want no trouble.”

  Summer shifts behind me and grabs her tray off the table. She scurries to the bar, and Stacey meets her. Stacey nods my way, then says something to Summer. I can’t hear the exchange from my distance, but I’m sure the other waitress is filling her in on the Owens boys—and probably warning her to stay away. Years ago, Stacey had a thing with one of the twins and has been pissed off ever since.

  “We’re not looking for trouble,” Jamie says through gritted teeth and I can tell it’s taking all his restraint not to get up in Walker’s face.

  Walker turns to me, that same shit-eating grin on his face. “How’s business?”

  I fold my arms across my chest. “Booming.”

  He scoffs. “That so?” he asks.

  “That’s so.”

  He turns, and strolls up to the bar. He speaks to the bartender Adam, then walks out of the place, taking a moment to cast us another warning look. What-the-fuck-ever. The man is really starting to piss me off.

  “I need a fucking beer,” Jamie says. He gestures to Summer again and when she arrives he narrows his eyes and glares at Ty in warning before slowly turning to her. He gives her another once-over, his gaze roaming over those freckles that make her look so adorable. “So I do know you, right?” he asks.

  Ty smirks and a snicker sounds in his throat. I join Jamie in glaring at him. He raises his hands in surrender and mouths the words, “Fine.”

  “No, I’m Jenna Garridy. I’m a friend of Summer Wheeler’s. You’re probably just confusing us,” Summer says.

  A pause, his thumb tapping a beat on the wood table. Even though he still doesn’t look convinced he shrugs and says, “Yeah, that must be it.”

  Summer’s fingers fumble with the notepad in her hand. “What can I get you?”

  He circles his finger. “A round for us all.”

  She nods and dashes to the bar. I could tell Jamie she really is Summer Wheeler, but I don’t. She’s keeping her identity a secret for a reason, one I’m certain has everything to do with her ex. So help the bastard if he shows up here in Blue Bay. He won’t just have one Owens brother to contend with, he’ll have a brotherhood, an army. Not that there will be anything left for my brothers once I’m through with him. But for now, I’ll keep her identity a secret and I’ll keep her in my crosshairs to make sure she’s safe.

  “Been by to see Gram?” Ty asks Jamie. As the two fall into conversation, I push away from the table. I pass by the booth where the two dickless assholes are sitting. How dare they have the nerve to eye fuck my girl. My girl? Well for the remainder of the season she is anyway. While I’d like to punch those douchebags in the face, I don’t want to cause trouble for Summer, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to stake my fucking claim on her.

  She has her back to me at the bar. I slide in behind her, put my hands on either side of the bar top and press my mouth to her ear. “I can’t wait to be inside you again,” I say, and her body shudders as I cage her with mine.

  “Sean,” she whispers, and her hands shake as she puts a drink on her tray.

  I inch back so she can turn. Her eyes darken with desire when they see me, and I brush her bottom lip with my thumb. “Actually, this is where I want my cock next time.”

  She darts a quick glance around, but no one can hear me, and because my body is blocking hers, no one can see the way she’s rubbing up against me like a kitten. Next time I get her into bed, she’d better fucking purr for me.

  “I . . . I need to work,” she says.

  “Okay, but if those little fuckers give you any trouble, you better let me know, and my brothers and I will take this shit outside.”

  “Those two. Don’t worry. I’ve dealt with the likes of their kind before. I used to waitress in college.”

  “College?”

  Her eyes go wide. Clearly, she just told me something she hadn’t meant to. Jesus, she has so many secrets. I should ask, I want to ask, but she doesn’t want to fucking tell me. Guess she doesn’t trust me enough. That bugs the shit out of me, but since I only asked for a casual affair, she doesn’t owe me anything more than that. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to watch over her though.

  “I . . . yeah . . . long time ago.”

  “Yeah, well. I don’t like the way they’re looking at you. If they make you uncomfortable at all. Let me know.”

  “Sean,” she says. Fuck man, I love hearing my name on her lips.

  “Yeah?”

  “I think you just made it pretty clear to them not to mess with me.”

  I grin. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

  Her pouty lips turn up and my dick hardens even more. “I need to deliver these drinks.”

  I dip my head and lightly brush my mouth over hers. She sucks in a feathery breath, and I step to the side to clear her path. I follow her back to the table, and take my seat. And we start to get caught up in each other’s lives as we shoot back our beer.

  An hour later, Jamie stretches and says, “I need to
go see Gram before she goes to bed.”

  “Yeah, come on.”

  I stand but when I do the girls drinking the margaritas saunter up to us, giggling, and twirling their hair around their fingers. I shake my head. Every girl, in every town. All the fucking same. My gaze slides to Summer who is watching the girls touch us.

  She’s not the same.

  “You guys going somewhere?” the pretty blonde asks, her hand on Jamie’s arm.

  Jamie grins. “Yeah, but we’ll be back.”

  She pouts. “I thought you might want to play a game of pool.”

  “We’ll play,” Ty says. “Just not tonight.”

  I look them over. Any other night I might have taken them up on their offer. Now, the only woman I want in my bed is Summer. I cast her a glance again and when my eyes meet hers she jerks away, and goes back to filling her tray with drinks. I follow my brothers out the door, and the girls are close behind. They stand there grinning, and blatantly staring as I jump into the truck and Ty climbs into the passenger seat. He jacks the tunes and taps his fingers on the dashboard as I drive home, Jamie following on his Harley.

  Gram is in the kitchen on her laptop, surfing Facebook when we enter. Gotta love a seventy-year-old who keeps up with technology. She jumps up when she sees we have Jamie with us.

  “Jamie, my sweet boy,” she says, and he picks her up for a hug. Her long white nightgown flares around her ankles. “Come in, come in. Are you hungry?”

  He rubs his gut. “Starved.”

  “Hey what about me?” Ty says. “I’m hungry, too.”

  Her green eyes crinkle and she reaches up to pinch Ty’s cheeks.

  “You’re always hungry.” She turns to me, but I’m focused on the computer. Would Summer have a Facebook account? If so, I might be able to track her asshole ex through it, and pay him a visit.

  “You hungry, Sean?” she asks again.

  “No I’m good, Gram.”

  She folds her arms in familiar Gram fashion. “Something on your mind?”

  “Yeah, Jenna Garridy. The new waitress at Winchesters.”

  I spin and glare at my baby brother, but he’s grinning like the damn village idiot, and unlike Jamie he has no idea Jenna is Summer and is on the run.

  “Oh, a girl.” Gram winks at me. “I’ll have to make a visit to Winchesters.”

  “No, Gram. She’s just a friend.”

  Ty mouths the words, “One you’re fucking,” and I make a mental note to smother him when he’s sleeping tonight. Gram hurries to the fridge, and I walk to the cupboard, grab some pain meds and toss them back. Damn shoulder is aching like a bitch tonight. I should probably ask one of the guys to help with the roof, but then I wouldn’t have Summer all to myself, mine to fuck anytime we like.

  I leave Gram and the guys in the kitchen, and head to the bathroom for a hot shower. The water feels good against my aching muscles, and I stay under until it turns cold. I towel off and walk to my room. I fall onto my bed and stare at the ceiling. Hours later sleep still doesn’t come, so I tug on my jeans and head to Jamie’s room. I knock.

  “Yeah.”

  Looks like I’m not the only one who can’t sleep. I open the door and shut it behind me. Light from the crack in his curtain slants across the wall, and Jamie shuffles to make room for me. I flop out on the bed bedside him, and jab my hands under my head. We lie like that for a long time, neither talking, but both taking comfort in each other’s presence. I missed him so fucking much.

  “You good?” I finally ask.

  “Yeah, you?”

  “Yeah.”

  He rolls to his side, goes up on one elbow, his eyes dark, dangerous—murderous. “Is Summer in some kind of trouble?”

  I scoff and shake my head. I should have known he’d bring it up sooner or later, and I’m glad he waited until we’re alone. “Yeah.”

  “How bad?”

  I mimic his position. “Don’t know. She’s not talking. But I suspect it has everything to do with her ex.”

  “Who is he?”

  “Don’t know that either.”

  His eyes narrow, zero in on me. “I’m here if you need me.”

  “Thanks, bro.”

  I fall back onto the mattress, dead tired after a long day.

  “I’ll fix the front porch and swing,” Jamie says, his voice low as he drifts off to sleep.

  “Okay.” A pause and then, “Jamie, are you still good with security systems?” He used to work for Eagle Security in New Orleans before opening his own tattoo shop.

  “The best.”

  I laugh. No modesty there. “Tomorrow, can you install one in the old Wheeler home?”

  “You got it.”

  I shut my eyes, visions of Summer in my mind’s eye as fatigue pulls at me, my brother’s comforting presence lulling me to sleep. But then my phone rings, and the nerves along my back tingle in warning. Something’s wrong. I feel it in every fiber of my being. I jackknife up, and pull my cell from my back pocket, and slide my finger across the screen.

  “Sean,” Summer says, her voice hushed, frightened.

  I climb from the bed. “Are you hurt?” I ask.

  “There’s a noise, outside the window.”

  “I’m on my way.” I turn to Jamie. “I gotta go.”

  “You need me?”

  “I’ll let you know.”

  Chapter Nine: Summer

  I hug myself as I rush through the cottage to shut the lights out and pull the curtains closed as I wait for Sean to arrive. I wasn’t going to call him. I swore I wouldn’t involve him, but the loud bang outside my kitchen window sounded like a gunshot. Back in California, such a sound would give me pause, then I’d go on with my daily routine. Here in Blue Bay, gunshots are unheard of and my ex is out there searching for me.

  I hear a bike idle down in the driveway, then a pounding on the door and I nearly jump out of my robe. I pad quietly across the room and do the mental math. He couldn’t have gotten here this quick. It can’t be him. I begin to back away, look for some sort of weapon. My heart and head pound in tandem and it’s getting more difficult to draw in air.

  “Open up. It’s me.”

  My God, he had to have been going at a breakneck speed to get here so fast. I suck in a breath and hurry to the door. I unlock it and open it to see Sean standing on the other side, tall, powerful an indestructible force to be reckoned. I exhale a quick breath. He reaches for me, pulls me tight against his body. My legs wobble and I feel light-headed as I come down from the adrenaline rush.

  He hugs me and brushes my hair back. “You okay?”

  “Yes,” I say, clinging to him as if my life depended on it. “I heard a noise. It scared me. I’m sorry for calling so late. I just . . . didn’t know who else to call and I didn’t mean to interrupt. I saw you with those girls and I was going to call the police, but you don’t seem to trust them so . . .”

  “Jenna, relax.”

  I bite my bottom lip. “I should have called the police.” Maybe on some deeper level I didn’t because I wanted Sean here, with me. The only person I can trust.

  “No, you shouldn’t have.”

  “I shouldn’t be bothering you.”

  “You’re not bothering me. Calling me was the smart thing to do. Who knows how long it would have taken the police to get here?”

  “You got here so fast.” I take deep breaths and try to regulate my pulse. “At first I didn’t even think it was you.”

  He holds my shoulders and inches back to see my face. He goes deadly still, his eyes hard, lethal as they glare at me. “Who did you think it was?”

  “I . . . uh . . . don’t know,” I say.

  Every muscle in his body tightens at my lie and I redirect before he can call me on it. “I have a feeling if Walker catches you speeding he’s going to take you in.”

  He looks at me, closely, carefully, “Probably, but you needed me, and I did what I had to do to be here for you.”

  A new tenderness moves over him and
I try to ignore it, try to ignore the mushy feelings it arouses in me, but the task is impossible. This is Sean Owens, underneath it all he’s a good man, a man who could have any girl he wanted—might have even been with one when I called—and despite all the lies, he dropped everything—for me. Other than my father, no man had ever put me first and I have to say it makes me feel pretty darn peculiar inside.

  “And for the record, I was home. In bed. Alone.”

  “Okay.” That shouldn’t make me as happy as it does.

  “Well, I wasn’t exactly alone.”

  “It’s fine.” Oh, God, I do not need the details. “You don’t owe me an explanation. We don’t have—”

  “I told you. Me and you. No one else for as long as you’re here. I’m a man of my word. I crashed beside my brother, Jamie.”

  A wave of relief washes over me and I nod.

  Strong, solid, never wavering, he eases me inside the house, and shuts the door behind him. Big hands that make me feel so safe go around my body and tug me close. I know I’m getting in too deep with him, but right now I don’t care. We stand in the dark, and he holds me for a long time. I sag into him, take comfort in his strength. I breathe with him, my head against his chest, moving slightly against his strong heartbeat.

  “Where did you hear the noise?” he asks quietly, breaking the silence.

  I lift a shaky finger and point. “Outside the kitchen window.”

  “I’m going to do a sweep of the inside first, okay?” He puts his hands on my hips and places me against the wall. “Stay here.”

  Panic bursts inside my stomach. “No,” I say quickly. “I want to come with you.”

  A pause and then, “Okay, stay behind me.”

  I hold the back of his shirt, as he walks through the cottage like a predator, flicking on lights and checking every dark corner. He makes his way down the hall, opens my childhood bedroom door and goes still.

  “Everything okay?” I ask, my nose pressed into his back, breathing in his clean soapy smell.