by ANDREA SMITH
I left going down the back staircase and slipping silently out of the rear entrance. The night was chilly, but the stars were out in a clear sky as I let them light the way through the parking lot, past the barn and up the cement steps leading to the cottages.
His porch light was on. The only cottage that was, but I couldn’t see Mandy or Carter’s cottage from here because they were located further down the hill with a shroud of trees in between. It was just as well. Nobody needed to know my business except me.
He opened the door before I took the final step up onto the porch. God he looked hot. He was shirtless, wearing a pair of jeans and his muscled physique seemed as if it was chiseled to perfection. I swear Bryce Slater could be a male model if he so chose.
“Hey babe,” he greeted with a sexy smile as he held open the screen door for me.
I stepped inside, immediately noticing how clean and neat his cottage was once again. The stench of Mandy was gone.
“Hey you,” I replied, taking off my jacket.
Within moments we were tangled up with one another, our lips finding common ground, the familiar current pulsing between us.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he breathed, taking my hand and leading me to his bedroom. I stood there while he undressed me with his eyes and then his hands. I loved the way he studied every part of me in a possessive fashion. Because the truth was, I wanted him to claim me; to possess me in a way that only lovers can. To make his mark; to own my body and nobody else’s. Bryce was mine. The fact there was a chance Mandy carried his baby gutted me and I knew that sounded hateful. But again, I’d never loved anyone the way I loved Bryce. If anyone should have his baby in their belly it should have been me.
Had it happened too quickly? It had taken months upon months for me to feel as though I loved Trent; and then when I decided I did, it wasn’t like this feeling at all.
His hands caressed my bare skin wherever a piece of my clothing had been carefully removed by him. Strong hands. Man hands. Calloused from the work he did; beautifully adept hands that were working their tender magic as they explored my most sensitive areas. Cupping a breast, sliding downward over my hip, caressing my inner thigh until I released a moan and pushed back. “My turn, Bryce.”
He lowered his lips to mine, kissing me softly. “Have at it, babe,” he whispered against my mouth. “It’s all yours.”
His words were said so intimately I knew they were the truth; his truth. And my hands fumbled with his fly, my breath hitched as his erection sprang free and he assisted me in shedding his jeans. I lowered to my knees, and took him into my mouth. I heard his sharp intake of breath, and his fingers tangled into my hair, releasing it from the clasp so it fell to my bare shoulders.
“Oh baby,” he growled huskily, “That’s it. You’re so fucking beautiful, Avery. I can’t wait to be inside of you. I’m going to fuck you first because that’s what I need. And then I’m going to make love to you because that’s what we both need.”
I felt him fist my hair, pulling me up from him. His eyes burned with need. He cupped my face with his hands, and crashed his mouth to mine, pulling me up against his hard muscled body, I felt him bring me along, as he took several steps backward, his mouth never leaving mine, as he pulled me down on top of him on the bed.
Our hands explored each other with a passion and fury we’d never displayed before. It was a primal hunger for one another. Our movements were almost frenzied. So caught up was I in the passion, I didn’t realize he’d rolled a condom down his length until he raised me up and lowered me down onto him.
The fullness of him inside of me was perfection, and we moved together in a cadence that was ours. It was familiar. It had been missed. His hands braced my hips, as his dark blue eyes locked with mine. In an instant he flipped me over so that I was pinned beneath his weight, and my legs instinctively wrapped around his torso. He pounded into me with a fervor never shown before. Bryce had always been a good lover; tentative, slow and methodical, this was different. It was so intense, so primal, and when he moaned I nearly lost it.
“Come with me baby,” he whispered, “I need it, Avery.”
And that was all I needed to topple over the edge and spiral into wave after wave of pleasure.
He raised himself up on his elbows and pulled his lips from mine. “I need to see your face when you come. Yeah, that’s it baby, keep coming for me,” he coaxed as I felt him go rigid inside of me as another climax unfurled from deep within me. I cried out his name, and my hips bucked up against him as we became one in our love.
True to his word, Bryce and I made love. Afterwards, we stayed curled up in his bed, our limbs intertwined, my head resting on his chest where I listened to the strong beat of his heart.
“I’ve missed you, can you tell?” he asked.
I felt my smile widen. “You’ve missed this,” I challenged coyly.
His hands reached down and lifted my face so our eyes met. “You know that’s not true, Avery. It’s not about the sex, it’s about you—about us. I love you. And trust me, I’ve never said that to anyone else.”
My heart fluttered at hearing those words from him. I knew it was no small thing for Bryce Slater to put his emotions out there like that.
“I loved you first,” I replied softly.
“Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?”
“I think I started loving you the night Tula delivered her foal.”
“Imagine that,” he said with his crooked grin, “Same here, A-Girl.”
Bryce wanted me to spend the night, but with my parents in town for the Thanksgiving holiday, I knew I’d be pressing my luck keeping my absence from being noticed.
“I can’t. Not until my parents go home.”
“Let me walk you down then at least.”
And so he did. With his arm wrapped around my shoulders, Bryce walked me down to the manor, and when we got there, we kissed for a long time in the moonlight. “I love you,” he said for the second time. I’d never get tired of hearing those words from him.
“I love you too, Bryce.”
Chapter 29
“The more I see the less I know for sure.” - John Lennon
Bryce
It was close to midnight by the time I got back to my cabin after walking Avery back to the house. The evening we’d spent together was like no other I’d ever experienced. I felt almost giddy—like a chick, which I needed to temper or risk becoming pussy-whipped I decided.
As soon as I stepped back into my cottage, I knew she was there.
“Well, Bryce, it smells like sex in here. Trust me, I know the scent well.”
“I just bet you do, Mandy. Why are you here?”
She was flopped down on my sofa, and I saw that she’d helped herself to one of the beers I had in my fridge. “Should you be drinking?” I asked, frowning at her apparent disregard for this baby she was carrying.
“Oh look at you,” she said, her voice a slur, “All of a sudden Bryce Slater cares about the well-being of his son or daughter. How fucking sweet.”
I grabbed the beer out of her hand and dumped it out in my kitchen sink. “You’re drunk. What the hell is your problem?”
“Hey, don’t preach to me! You seem to have no problem getting beer in this fucking Bible Belt hell hole,” she snapped.
“Yeah? Well, I’m not pregnant. And hey, if you don’t like it here, you can always go back home. Nobody is forcing you to stay here, Mandy.”
“Oh, you’d just love that wouldn’t you Bryce? I see what you’re up to. Getting in the little rich girl’s panties, planning your future together? Looks like you want a piece of the action at this place, not to mention a piece of ass.”
My blood boiled at her vulgar reference to Avery. “Get out, Mandy. I swear to God, I’ve done all I should be expected to do for you until the verdict’s in on your baby’s paternity. You will never be part of the deal. And if you don’t like it, get the hell out of Bristol.�
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I must’ve put the fear into her drunken ass because she shot up from the sofa, moving faster than anybody that pregnant should in my mind. “Whatever, Bryce. I only came by to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Feel free to communicate by phone or text in the future, Mandy. Don’t come into my cottage without an invitation, clear? “ I replied not masking my anger.
“What the fuck ever,” she snapped, slamming the door on her way out.
It wasn’t until she left that I remembered the missed phone call I had while at the Sinclair’s earlier in the day. I pulled out my cell and checked, but no message had been left. It was too damn late to do a call back. I’d check it out later.
Chapter 30
Avery
I woke up Friday morning when my cell did the vibration dance on my nightstand. It was only eight in the morning. And I was on break. Who the hell was calling me this early.
Hannah.
“You better have a good reason for calling me this early, Hannah.”
“Get up. Get ready. We’ve got some investigating to do.”
“Huh?” I asked, running a hand through my sleep-tousled hair, “What are you talking about?”
“I was blowing your phone up last night, apparently you had turned it off. Must’ve been busy or something, huh?”
“I’m waiting.”
“So yesterday after you left, Aunt Becky got a call on her cell while she was still at the house. It was Mandy. She told Aunt Becky she couldn’t come in today because she has a doctor’s appointment.”
“So? Not following.”
“Well, how in the hell does she get a doctor’s appointment on Thanksgiving for the next damn day?”
“I give up, Nancy Drew, how?”
“Listen Avery, I’m gonna be there to pick you up in ten minutes. I’ll park on the road out front. I’ve got Reese’s car. I don’t believe for one damn minute she has a doctor’s appointment. If it was scheduled, she wouldn’t have had to call Aunt Becky on Thanksgiving to let her know she wouldn’t be in today. We need to tail her.”
“Oh my God! You sound like somebody from an old P.I. movie. Hey, but I’m game. Got nothing better to do. I’ll see you in ten.”
I dressed in jeans and a black sweater. I piled my hair up into a ball cap and put on a pair of sunglasses. If we did follow her, she wouldn’t know it was me.
Ten minutes later Hannah pulled up on the road out front. I could see she had the same thing in mind when I got into Reese’s silver Mustang. Hannah had sunglasses on as well, and she’d donned a knit toboggan. “Her car is still in the lot,” I said as I fastened my seat belt. “How are we going to follow her if we don’t know when she’s going to leave?”
“We wait,” Hannah replied pulling away and making a left at the first road past the manor. She turned the car around and pulled up near the intersection, shutting off the engine.
And that’s exactly what we did for forty minutes. We talked, we waited. Hannah pummeled me with questions about Bryce. I shared with her that we’d expressed our mutual love for one other.
“That is so cool,” she said, getting all dreamy eyed. “You two are so perfect for each other. Sarah thinks so too. Did you make love?”
“Hannah! That’s personal,” I replied, feeling my cheeks warm.
“C’mon, just give me something. I live vicariously through you.”
I thought for a moment. “Okay, how’s this? Guys that moan fuck me up.”
She squealed in delight. “Oh my God! He’s even got you talking dirty! I’m so proud of you, Avery!”
We were still giggling when we saw a car pull up to the end of the drive at the manor. “Look,” I said, pointing, “There she is.”
Hannah started the engine and waited until Mandy had made a right onto the road before pulling out and following her. She was headed into Bristol which made sense because that was the heart of town. It was where the businesses and professional offices were located. But when Mandy pulled into a parking lot attached to the D & S Trailer Rental she threw us each for a loop.
“What the hell?” Hannah said, pulling down the street and parking. “There’s no doctor’s office around here.”
I looked at the side mirror and saw Mandy walk into D & S. Fifteen minutes later she came out, but she wasn’t alone. “Shit, that’s Carter Sims,” I said. “He must’ve been inside waiting for her.”
We watched as they both rounded the corner of the building to the parking lot. A couple of minutes later, Carter pulled out in one of the Sinclair Stables trucks he was permitted to use, and Mandy was sitting in the passenger side of it now. They’d left her car behind. “Duck,” Hannah ordered, sliding down in her seat. I did the same.
When we popped back up, they were in the next block, so we resumed our surveillance. They headed east on River Street and went about four blocks, pulling into the parking lot of Acme Hardware and Lumber.
“What the hell?,” I said, “This is a supplier to the ranch. It’s where we get our building supplies, plumbing and electrical stuff. What is she doing?”
Hannah sniffed. “I’ll tell you what she is doing. She blew off work to hang with Carter and run errands with him.”
“But why? This doesn’t make sense,” I replied. “They can see each other after work, at night, in the morning, what’s the point?”
“She’s a bitch in lust. She’s trying to find a daddy for that baby,” Hannah replied. “Even if the blood tests prove Bryce is the father, there’s no way he’s going to give you up. Don’t you see that Avery?”
“Yeah, but I know Bryce. He’ll want to do right by the child.”
“I agree. But that doesn’t include ole’ Mandy in the mix, you know? I say she’s working on finding this baby a stepdaddy.”
“I don’t know, Hannah. I think I need to talk to Bryce about our snooping. I don’t want him to feel like I’ve blind-sided him or anything if this does prove to be something.”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh, “I get it. Maybe he’s got some info he hasn’t shared either. I think we should pool our resources.”
I had to give it to Hannah. She totally went with her instincts, and that probably wasn’t a bad thing. She was way more objective than me or Bryce could be in this particular situation.
“Okay, I’ll talk to him this evening when I sneak over to his place,” I said with a naughty grin.
“Girl, you are sooo in love,” she chided.
I couldn’t deny it.
Chapter 31
Bryce
I’d just finished up for the day when Avery surprised me as I was clocking out.
“Hey gorgeous,” I greeted as she poked her head inside the barn. “I thought you’d be out with all the Black Friday crazies shopping for my Christmas present,” I teased.
“I was out and about earlier,” she replied, her tone serious, “but it wasn’t to shop. It was more like… spying. I need to talk to you, Bryce.”
“Let’s go up to my place,” I suggested. “This sounds kind of serious.”
“I’m not sure about that. I just don’t want you to be mad at me.”
When we got to my place, I changed out of my work clothes while Avery sat on my bed and relayed what she and Hannah had discovered.
“Wait… you guys searched her cottage?”
She nodded. “It’s only because both of us have this instinct that she’s hiding something. I know it was stupid, and an invasion of her privacy–”
“Screw her privacy,” I replied with a chuckle. “What did you find?”
Avery was totally acting skittish. It wasn’t her style to snoop, I could see that, but damn I was glad that she had. “Just a pair of men’s underwear, and a wad of cash under the mattress.”
That piqued my interest. “How much cash?”
“Hannah said it was eighteen hundred dollars.”
“Holy shit,” I said, “The bitch hit me up for five
hundred a couple weeks back. Anything else?”
She was picking at her nails now.
“Avery?”
“Okay so fast forward to this morning. Hannah picked me up. Apparently Mandy called off work yesterday telling Becky she had a doctor’s appointment today. Only Hannah found that suspicious because yesterday was Thanksgiving and being she worked Wednesday, why wouldn’t she have told Becky then instead of calling her on Thanksgiving with the news?”
I thought about that for a moment. It was strange Mandy hadn’t mentioned the doctor’s appointment to me when she’d been waiting in my cottage last night. I wasn’t about to mention that to Avery at this point. She hadn’t been here at my invitation and I sure as hell wasn’t going to invite further drama.
“Yeah, it does seem as if she would have told Becky ahead of time, but I’ve got to tell you, Mandy never was the sharpest knife in the drawer if you catch my drift. She was kind of a… well, for lack of a better word, scatterbrain.”
“Let me finish,” Avery said, “Hannah and I followed her. She didn’t go to any doctor. She ran errands with Carter Sims.”
I had to laugh in relief. “Thank fuck.”
“What? You don’t find that strange at all?”
“Avery, babe, you need to know that Mandy is a predator. She’s going to hang with any dude that will have her lazy ass. Apparently Carter is either hard up, horny, or both. I look at this as a good thing. I sure as hell don’t want her thinking her and I would ever be a couple… or even friends. Good luck to Carter.”
“Seriously? You don’t think she’s up to anything then?”
“I didn’t say that. Like I said, Mandy is a survivor and a predator. Her best resources are clueless dudes. Apparently she’s found one and I couldn’t be happier.”
She sighed. “Hannah thinks the same thing. So, you’re not mad at me for nosing around in her business?”
“No way, babe. You’re looking out for me and I kind of dig that.”
I pulled her up from the bed and wrapped my arms around her. “Now how about we forget about Mandy and make dinner together. I’ve got some kick-ass leftovers thanks to your mom.”