by Gemma Weir
He kissed me!
That’s something I’ve been fantasizing about for years, and… It. Was. Epic. The way it felt to have his mouth on mine was so much more than even my imagination could produce, and butterflies jump to life in my stomach just thinking about it.
I should be excited about this, and if today had just been a normal day and Beau had asked me out and flirted and then kissed me, I would be. But instead, he went from ignoring me for a year, to ordering me around like he had the right to tell me what to do, to kissing me and telling me I’m his in a millisecond.
In less than twenty-four hours he’s destroyed the romantic fantasy I’ve had of him and replaced it with this pig-headed neanderthal.
Turning the key in the ignition, I thank god that our neighborhood is safe enough that everyone leaves their keys in the car, rather than risk losing them. The truck’s engine bursts to life and I move the seat forward so I can reach the accelerator, and I peel off down the drive, leaving a shower of gravel in my wake.
I drive quicker than I should, but I don’t want to give him time to recover and come after me. I just stole his truck, so at some point he’ll have to come get it back, but right this second I just need to get away from him. Pulling onto my drive, I veer off to the right instead of heading for the main house, and a few minutes later I pull up at my brother and sister-in-law’s home.
Their house is a cute log cabin, and I slow to a stop, abandoning Beau’s truck behind Maggie’s SUV and make my way to the front door. My brother and I have a tempestuous relationship, but I have nothing but love and affection for his wife Maggie and my nephews.
Lifting my fist, I knock on the door, and a moment later Noah opens it in a dirt-streaked football jersey and pants. “Hey Auntie Bon,” he greets, pushing the door wide and letting me step in before he pulls me in for a hug. Noah’s only sixteen, but he already tops six foot and towers over my much shorter frame.
“Hey Noah,” I say, leaning into him for a brief moment before my nose wrinkles. “Jesus, dude, you stink, go take a shower,” I cry, playfully pushing away from him.
“I just got back from football practice, coach made us do suicides in all our pads,” he says, lunging forward and trying to stick his armpit against my face.
“Ewww,” I cry batting him away. “Where’s your mom.”
“I’m in the kitchen,” Maggie calls.
“I’m gonna go get washed up before dinner,” Noah says still laughing. “Are you staying to eat with us?”
“Nah, I have mine and Grandpa’s dinner already done. I just wanted to visit with your mom for a little while,” I tell him.
“Okay, I’ll see you later. You’re coming to my game next Friday, right?” he asks.
“I’ll try, it just depends on work,” I say, waving him off as I head toward the kitchen.
“Okay, love you,” he calls, as he turns and runs up the stairs.
Maggie and Caleb’s house is warm and homely. Since Mama died and Caleb started being a douche, I don’t come here that often, but I try to catch up with Maggie and the boys at least once a week before my brother gets home from work.
“Here.” Maggie hands me a glass of wine the moment I step into the kitchen, and I take a sip as I walk straight up to her and into her familiar, comforting arms.
Hugging me back, she presses a kiss to the top of my head before pulling back and looking at me with those sisterly eyes she’s been using on me for as long as I can remember. “What’s the matter?” she asks, knowing something’s wrong just from one glance.
“It has been one hell of a day,” I tell her, stepping back and plopping my butt down onto one of the stools at her island counter.
Lifting her wrist up she glances at her watch. “Cal won’t be back for at least an hour, so why don’t you start with whose truck that is you drove up here in and go from there.”
“That is Beau Barnett’s truck,” I say, lifting my wine to my lips and taking a healthy gulp.
Her eyes go wide for a minute, but she doesn’t ask any questions, waiting for me to continue.
“I told you that Beau comes into the shop most days, right?”
She nods.
“He gets there the same time as me and waits while I get everything set-up, he has a coffee, then leaves. On a night, he gets there thirty minutes before close, he has coffee and a pastry, then waits for me to close up and leaves. Same thing every day.”
“He does that every day?” she asks.
“Every day that I’m there, at least for the last year anyway.”
“Why would he drive all the way down into town for coffee twice a day? His crew are logging further up the mountain than us, he’d be going in the wrong direction,” she says, placing a lid on a pot, then coming to sit on the stool next to me.
I shrug. “I don’t know. We don’t talk. He asks for coffee, then sits and either plays with his cell or just sits and drinks.”
“It’s just the two of you and you don’t talk at all?”
“Nope. I tried talking to him a few times, but I get nervous and ramble and he just grunts, so I gave up.”
“But you’ve had a crush on him for years, you need to use the time to get to know him as adults—”
Lifting my hand up into the air I interrupt her. “Oh, I’m not done,” I tell her.
Her lips twitch into a smile and she gestures a zipped lips motion.
“So yesterday a really cute out of towner came into the shop, we flirted a little, and then when Beau turned up at his usual time just before closing, he started glowering at us. He interrupted and he was all snarly and weird. At bang on eight thirty, he tells the guy the store’s closed and practically kicks him out.”
“What?” Maggie gasps.
I tell her about Beau telling me off for flirting with the guy and me accusing him of keeping an eye on me for Caleb.
“Beau and Caleb aren’t friends,” Maggie says. “They hated each other in high school, and to be honest I don’t think they’ve said anything more than polite hellos in the last twenty years.”
“Dad said the same,” I confess. “Anyway, this morning he turns up and straight away he’s trying to tell me what to do, saying he needs to look out for me, then he told me he wants me.”
“What?” Maggie shrieks.
“Yep, no explanation, just I want you.”
“Oh my god,” she bounces excitedly. “He wants you. Why aren’t you more excited? You’ve been half in love with Beau since you were thirteen.”
“Oh, I’m not done telling you about my day yet,” I say, my smile forced.
Lifting her wine glass to her lips she nods for me to continue, her rapt attention all focused on me.
Taking a drink of my own wine, I savor the flavor for a moment before I start talking again. “Okay, so sexy out of towner came back into the shop today, he asked me out and we flirted a little. He was still there when Bay Barnett came in for a coffee. He overheard us talking, then five minutes later Beau comes barreling into the shop.”
“Oh, my, god,” Maggie breathes.
“He barged straight behind the counter and picked me up, carried me into the kitchen and kissed me. He was going on about me having a free pass for flirting with that guy because he didn’t make it clear that I was his.”
“His,” she whispers.
“Still not done.”
“This is better than a tv show,” she giggles.
“I’m home, making bread, and there’s a knock at the door. Dad goes and then comes back a few minutes later with…” I trail off and look at her expectantly.
“Beau?” she asks on a shocked gasp.
“Beau. He kissed me right there in front of my dad, then he slung me over his shoulder and carried me straight out the house and daddy didn’t say a word, he just let him take me.”
“He slung you over his shoulder,” she sighs wistfully. “Caleb used to do that to me.”
“This isn’t sweet, Mags, he kidnapped me. He locked me in his car a
nd took me to his house, to his bedroom.”
Her expression sobers. “He didn’t hurt you, did he? He didn’t do anything you didn’t want him to?”
“He kidnapped me,” I cry indignantly.
“But did he hurt you?”
“No of course he didn’t hurt me,” I admit quietly. “Apparently he’s decided that I’m his, and I’m just supposed to be grateful and go along with it now he’s decided that I’m his girl.”
“But you want to be his girl. You’ve wanted to be his girl since you were too young to even understand what being his meant. I don’t really see the problem,” she laughs.
“The problem is, that he’s ruined my fantasy of him. He’s supposed to be sweet and romantic and swoony, not growly and alpha and obnoxious. He doesn’t get to just decide I’m his when he hasn’t uttered a word to me except ‘can I have a black coffee and a bear claw please.’”
“So, what happened at his house? Why are you in his truck?”
“I kicked him in the balls, then I stole his truck,” I tell her matter of factly.
“You did what?” she asks on a burst of loud laughter.
“He was being a dick. I told him to stop manhandling me, I told him I didn’t want to go to his house. I told him I wasn’t his, and he wasn’t listening, so I kicked him in the balls and I left. I wasn’t going to walk all the way over here, so since he kidnapped me, I kidnapped his truck.”
“Jesus, Bonnie,” she says, shaking her head, laughing.
“I told off his brothers too. They were all there, I asked them for help and they just ignored me, so I told them their mama would be disappointed in them, right before I marched out the house.” Maggie dissolves into another peel of giggles, so I roll my eyes at her and stand up, heading for the bottle of wine she left by the refrigerator.
Filling my own empty glass back up, I top hers up too, then place the bottle next to us on the island counter.
“So what are you going to do?” she asks when her giggles have finally subsided.
“Nothing. I banned Beau and his brothers from the shop and I don’t see him any other time. I have a date with Dan tomorrow night.”
“Who’s Dan?”
“The sexy out of towner, he asked me out and I said yes.”
“But you never say yes,” she says, visibly shocked.
“Yeah well, I’d already decided it was time I got over this stupid crush I have on Beau and moved on. Dan’s cute and he looks damn good in a suit,” I say a little shyly.
“But what about Beau?” she asks.
“What about him? He can’t just decide we’re a couple without asking me, or speaking to me.”
The back door opens and Caleb strides in, silencing us, as Maggie turns to watch her husband, love beaming from her.
“Hey honey,” she calls.
“Hey,” he says, eyeing me curiously as he strides over to kiss his wife. “Bonnie, what are you doing here?” he asks, when he looks up at me.
“Caleb Elijah Williams, that’s no way to greet your sister,” Maggie scolds him, angrily.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he says, instantly cajoling her. “It’s just been a while since you’ve been for a visit is all,” he says, a coolness filling his eyes when he looks back to me.
“I just popped up to say hey, I should get back, Daddy will be ready for dinner and he won’t eat without me,” I say, sliding from my seat and placing my wine glass in the sink.
“No,” Maggie cries, “Olly hasn’t even emerged from his room yet. Why don’t you stay and eat with us, Cal can go get your dad and we can all eat together.”
“I already made dinner, but thanks, maybe another night. Tell Olly I said hey.”
“You could stay, if you want,” Caleb says.
“No, like I said, I already cooked. See you later, Mags,” I call, as I hurry to the front door and leave, listening to Maggie berate my brother as I close the door behind me.
6
Beau
With my teeth gritted in pain I watch as Bonnie walks away from me and into the lounge room where all my brothers are. “You’re all assholes and you should be ashamed of yourselves,” she shouts. “Your brother carts a woman in here who’s shouting for your help and you don’t even question if I’m okay before you let him cart me off into his bedroom. Your mama would be disgusted with you all.”
The entire house is stony silent for a minute until I hear the front door opening, then the roar of my truck’s engine. Slowly I pry myself up off the floor, my balls throbbing, the pain radiating up from my groin to my stomach. Collapsing back down into a heap, I suck in sharp gasps as I try again, rolling to my knees when Granger walks in, his face wincing in sympathy for my predicament.
“So, I guess that’s didn’t go that well?” he asks.
I shake my head, not capable of forming words.
“She took your truck.”
I nod, glad that she didn’t walk at least. Pulling in a slow, painful breath I push up to my feet, grabbing hold of the end of my bed for support as I wait for the worst of the pain to fade.
“Did she actually kick you in the dick?” he asks.
“Yep,” I say, my voice rough.
“You want me to give you a ride up to the Williams to get your truck, or do you think she’ll kick you again if you go near her?” he asks, amusement lacing his voice.
“I’ll be looking out for it next time. I thought she was too sweet to do that to a guy. I know better now,” I rasp, pushing fully upright and tentatively releasing my hold on the bedframe. Walking stiffly and slowly I follow Granger out of my room and into the lounge room where all of my brothers’ wince in unison at my fragile state. No guy likes to see another get kicked in the balls, it’s like we’re all linked via the universe and they feel my pain too.
“I didn’t see that coming,” Bay admits. “I mean she was cussing like a sailor, but I wouldn’t have guessed she was a kicker. Although it’s not really surprising with how angry she was, like a pissed off kitten.”
“She ripped us all new assholes too for not stopping you. I like her,” Huck says with a grin.
“Come on, let’s hope she went home and hasn’t taken your truck for a joy ride into the lake,” Granger laughs, whacking me on the back and making another surge of pain shoot through my poor abused balls.
It only takes a few minutes to drive the distance between our house and hers, but when I pull up to the drive my truck’s nowhere in sight.
“You want to drive about a bit, see if we can find her?” Granger asks.
“No,” I shake my head. “I’ll head in and wait for her; she’s got to come home at some point.”
“Your funeral, if it was me, I’d give her a few days to cool off,” he says, shaking his head.
“Nah, I’ve just got to remember that the kitty cat has claws. Now I know, I’ll be fine,” I shrug, climbing out of Granger’s car and slapping the roof as I walk with a slight limp up to the house.
Knocking on the door, I carefully rearrange my sore balls in my jeans, then step back a step just in case Bonnie opens the door and takes another flying kick at me.
“Beau,” Mr. Williams says, as he opens the door and smirks at me.
“Hey Mr. Williams, your daughter stole my truck, I take it she’s not come home yet?”
His laugh is loud and full of undisguised mirth. “Come on in, son.”
Following him down the hallway and into the kitchen, I take a seat opposite him at the table when he offers.
“Beer?” he asks, shuffling over to the refrigerator and pulling out two bottles.
“Sure, thanks,” I say, taking the bottle from him when he hands it to me.
“So, I take it she didn’t appreciate you hauling her out of here over your shoulder?” he asks, hiding his smile behind his bottle of beer.
“She kicked me in the balls, bitched out my brothers, and then stole my truck,” I admit.
“God that girl,” he sighs. “She’s so much like h
er mama, she nailed me a few times in the balls over the years.”
“Something to look forward to,” I mutter under my breath.
We chat amiably about everything except Bonnie for the next thirty minutes, until I hear the unmistakable sound of my truck pulling up outside. The door opens a few seconds later and Bonnie marches into the room, freezing to the spot when she sees me sitting at the table.
“Seriously,” she hisses angrily.
“I invited Beau to stop for dinner, you made enough to feed an army again,” Mr. Williams says, surprising me.
“I’ve had a rough day, I was actually planning to have an early night, you can help yourself to dinner, it’s in the crock pot,” she says, turning on her heel as if she thinks I’m going to let her run.
“Baby girl, sit your ass down and eat dinner with your daddy,” I growl, up and out of my chair and at her back a second later. She tenses when I touch her, but I hear the soft sigh that escapes her mouth when I nuzzle my lips against her neck. “I’m sorry for kidnapping you. Your dad invited me to stay and I’d really like to eat with you guys, so come sit down. Please.”
At the word please she relaxes a little and exhales. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, turning her chin with my fingers and pressing a soft kiss to her lips. She doesn’t fight me when I turn her in my arms so I can kiss her properly, only a slight sound of protest falling from her when I pull back and guide her with a gentle arm around her back toward the table.
“Put me to work, how can I help?” I ask, not wanting to piss her off.
“There’s BBQ pork in the oven, could you pull it out and tear it, so we can have it with the mac and cheese?” she asks.
“The bread’s in the oven too, I finished it after you left with Beau,” Mr. Williams tells her.
“Thanks Daddy,” she says, leaning down and hugging him quickly as she passes on the way to a crock pot that’s sitting on the counter by the back door.
I make myself busy, grabbing the cloth that’s hanging on the hook and pulling the rich BBQ pork from the oven. Finding a drawer, I grab two forks and get to work shredding the meat that falls apart the moment I touch it. Bonnie appears at my side, checking what I’m doing, before placing two large bowls of mac and cheese down next to where I’m standing. She disappears and returns a moment later with a bowl with a smaller portion, and proceeds to pile up the pork on top of the mac in each bowl.