I take a deep breath and look up at the ceiling. Liam walks in with my two suitcases, carrying them like they weigh nothing.
“Hey,” I say to him when he walks in. “This one’s full. We’re going to have to find another spot.”
He shakes his head and chuckles a little. “There’s no other hotel, honey. This is it. This is all Blackwell’s got.”
My eyes damn near pop out of my skull. “You’ve got to help me. Please,” I plead.
She purses her lips. “Look, I really wish I could help. But there’s just nothing I can do. You could try Air BNB?”
I exhale, deflating like a balloon running out of air. “Yeah, because Air BNB is going to book me in the middle of the night.”
Furthermore, this doesn’t seem like the type of town where I’d like to stay at a strange person’s place.
Suddenly, I get a crazy idea.
“Liam,” I say, clearing my throat and turning to him. His muscles bulge as he holds my suitcases in the lobby. He’s civil enough to at least have put on a wifebeater to come inside the hotel. With his clearly visible tattoos, he actually looks scarier than without his shirt. He looks so out of place standing there. He’s so rugged, and the inside of the hotel is pristine and gaudy.
Liam gazes back at me with a slight smirk, like he already knows I’m about to say something nuts.
I know my idea is crazy, but as big of an asshole as Liam is, I trust him in some fucked up way. Hey, someone who fucks that well can’t be all bad, right?
“I know this is a little out of the ordinary, but--”
“You can’t stay with me,” he cuts me off, dropping my suitcases to the ground as he reads my mind.
“How did you...wait, why not?!” I see the
hotel clerk’s eyes widen, as she probably worries she’ll be an observer to a domestic dispute.
I glance at her, then at the storm outside.
Liam follows, leaving my bags behind.
Outside in the parking lot, we stand next to his truck while the drizzle still continues to drip on us.
“I’m sorry Dagny, but the fact that you don’t got a place to stay ain’t my problem.”
I rub my temple with my fingers, my jaw almost on the floor.
“You’re...You’re…”
“An asshole. Yeah, honey. You ain’t the first person to call me that,” he shrugs. “And you sure as hell won’t be the last. I have a rule. Cars can stay overnight. Women, however, ain’t welcome.”
My face flushes with rage. I put my hands on my hips. “Oh wow, this is just precious. So, you’re just going to fuck me and never talk to me again, huh? You’re just gonna take that fifteen minutes of fucking we did in your truck and forget about me forever? Well fuck you, asshole!”
“Nah, it ain’t like that.”
“Ain’t like that? Well, tell me, how it is then?”
“It was more like thirty minutes of fucking,” he smirks. “That wasn’t no fifteen. I guess time moves pretty fast when my mouth is doing it’s thing.”
My brow furrows and I’m about to punch his throat. I lunge at him, but he grabs my wrists, stopping me like I’m a toy plaything. The man is incredibly strong. One of his biceps might be as big as my legs.
“I fucking hate you,” I breathe as our bodies touch. His chest pushes into my breasts as we stare at each other, inches from each others’ faces in the rain.
“That makes two of us.”
I scowl, turn my head and whisper so softly, I doubt he can hear me. “City boys fuck better than you anyway.”
He grips my throat and jaw, spins me around, and slams me against the truck. Another hand travels down my hips. My heart beats like crazy. “The fuck did you say?” he drawls.
“I didn’t think you heard that. Well, let me make it clear. My old city boyfriend fucks better than you!”
He growls like a feral animal and attacks my mouth with his. His huge hands frame my face, and I let my own hand travel down his back and land on his ass.
“Let’s get one thing straight now, Dagny. You ain’t in the city no more.”
“I know,” I whisper. “So let me stay at your place.”
“Fucking fine,” he grunts.
The rain picks up again, steadily pelting us with harder drops every moment, it seems.
He relents from his onslaught of my mouth for a moment, and we glance into each other's eyes from close proximity.
Liam licks his lips and squints at me, and for the faintest moment, I catch a glimpse of an entirely other persona from this tattooed giant in front of me.
It’s in the eyes, and it’s subtle, but I swear to God I see it.
I don’t see an asshole. I don’t see a predator.
I see a damaged, vulnerable soul screaming for connection behind a hard exterior.
I stare for a moment too long, and he kisses me, breaking the spell.
As he runs his hands on my hips and ass I moan again, wondering what that just was.
Was I imagining a gentleman behind this monster?
Or maybe I was just seeing my own reflection.
The rain pours so hard we can’t ignore it any more. Liam pulls off my body and opens the passenger side door.
“Get in,” he grunts. “I’ll get your bags.”
“So, that’s a yes, I can stay with you?” I clarify.
He nods, almost imperceptibly, and opens the passenger side door for me.
I step up into the truck and he shuts the door after me. The rain beats hard on the windows as I stare at Liam while he saunters into the hotel. The man seems impervious to anything the world throws at him.
I’m soaked to the bone from the hot Blackwell rain.
And I don’t just mean my clothes.
Chapter Five
Haley
“I really do appreciate you letting me stay the night with you,” I say as he drives us to his place. The rain crashes against the windshield like soft bullets. Thunder and lightning echo across the sky. Liam doesn’t say much as he drives. Not a talker, I guess.
“How can you even see where you’re going?” I ask, squinting at the road in front of us. The visibility is so poor, if it were me driving, I’d just pull over.
“Lived here my whole life,” he grunts. “Except for that stint in San Diego. So look, you can stay here for one night. Tomorrow morning, shop is open, we’ll head out there and you’ll be on your way, okay?”
“Okay,” I swallow.
I stare at the stone faced man. His jaw is so hard, you could use it to sharpen a knife. God damn, the man is naturally selected to breed. I can see why he’s as cocky and dick-ish as he is. I bet girls do whatever he wants.
Apparently I do.
I glance out on the dark night through the drips of rain on the window. I try to empty my mind, but like a boomerang, a certain thought keeps clouding my mind. I told my sister I’d be coming with a date, and I don’t have one.
I sure as heck could use an ally there. An outsider. Someone who I can have fun with and who doesn’t give two shits what my family thinks.
We pull up to a stoplight and my jaw drops at the realization I have. It’s a crazy plan. But Liam’s the perfect one to take with me to this family party.
I think he literally might not know the meaning of the phrase “caring what people think.”
He’s a brute, sure.
But damn, I wouldn’t mind spending a few more days with him.
Seeing him in a suit.
Staying in a room with him.
“What’s that look you got in your eye, Dagny?” He squints as he pushes the gas when the light turns green.
“No reason,” I croak, then turn back toward the passenger’s side window. I am a crazy person. I am absolutely insane. Why on earth am I even considering it a good idea to bring this foul-mouthed, dirty minded, brutish, muscular, straight talking man to a family wedding?
I stifle a moan.
I glance at his lap and lick my lips. My heart beats like cra
zy as I slip a hand onto his leg.
He barely reacts, just keeps his eyes on the road.
I slide my hand in between his legs, closer to his crotch.
“Aw hell Haley, what are you doing?”
His gruff voice is surprisingly sweet when he says my real name. It catches me off guard, a little.
“Haley’s not here any more,” I say sweetly. Heck, I think I even hear myself picking up a little bit of Liam’s Blackwell twang. “The Dirty-ass girl from New York has taken over,” I whisper throatily as I unbutton and unzip his jeans.
“Jesus Christ,” he grunts as he figures out what I’m doing.
“You ain’t never met a city girl like me, have you?” I tease as I slip his cock out of his jeans.
“Ohh fuck.”
I waste no time, sliding my mouth over the tip of his cock. Maybe he’s concentrating on the road. I think he is.
The side of my head knocks the steering wheel as I take him deeper.
“Damn, honey, oh fuck,” the car pulls to a stop, and I can sense that Liam’s being gentle on the brakes.
I'm not aware of where we are on the road, but thanks to the rain not a soul can make out what I'm doing as I kneel on my seat and lean across the console.
The car starts again and Liam takes hold of my hair and head. He breathes heavily.
For a moment, a ball of worry hits me and I pull up off him, gripping his shaft with my hand.
“You can still drive, right?” I ask. “Like, while I'm doing this?”
He frowns. “Don't fucking stop, Dagny. Don’t you fucking dare.”
I scowl up at him in this ridiculous position. He thinks he's got the power? I'll show him.
“What, you don't like blue balls?” I tease.
He glances down at me, then back up at the road.
“Whatever. You city girls don't know how to finish a job without some stupid comment.”
My blood curdles and anger spurs me on as I take him deep again, attacking his cock as the rain beats on the windshield. I feel him pulsate and quiver at the hips ever so slightly. I slide my hand up and down on his length, using his precum to keep it slick.
He spins the steering wheel to make a right turn, and takes the opportunity to hold onto my waist.
The fear of a crash falls away from me as I focus on his hard flesh. Liam seems like the type of guy who can multitask, anyway.
His growls intensify and the car pulls to a stop. I'm ravenous for this stranger, this man I've only just met, in a way I can't fully comprehend.
“Oh God, Dagny, Christ,” he mutters as he slides his hand along my hair and neck, massaging me as he pushes his hips up into me.
He pulses and comes like a hot geyser.
I swallow everything I can, as fast as I can.
When he's done I pull my lips off from him and glance up at him. He rests a hand on the small of my back.
“Holy fuck, Dagny,” he says, still breathing hard. “Damn.”
I sit back up in the passenger's side seat. For once, Liam looks more surprised than cocky.
“So, big bad boy,” I coo. “I have a proposal for you.”
He squints. “What are you talking about?”
I swallow. “Oh nothing too crazy. I just want to ask you to be my fake date for my sister's wedding this week.”
Chapter Six
Liam
I pull Haley’s suitcases from the backseat. The rain is still coming down pretty hard, and just the run from the truck in the driveway to the front awning under my house leaves us soaked.
As if we weren’t already totally wet.
I turn the key in the lock and I grind my teeth. Tonight, all I wanted was a little peace and quiet to work on my pet project in the shop.
Instead, I got the surprise of a damn lifetime in this fireball redhead who was dropped at my doorstep.
It’s always the crazy ones who fuck the best. I should have seen this one coming.
But I was too busy. Coming.
Dagny, Haley, whatever I’m calling her, she means business, apparently. She fucks like a champ and moves right along to making me her wedding date.
I push the door open, walk in, and flip on the lights, gauging Haley’s reaction.
“Wow,” she says as she walks around. “It’s bigger than I thought. And orderly.”
“It’s an eighteen fifties build,” I inform her. “It was my grandparents’ place.”
Her eyes are big and blue and curious as she walks through the first floor. “My grandmother was old school. She loved hosting dinner parties, cooking, and having people over for tea.” I nod toward the tea room. “That there is the tea room.”
The wallpaper in the tea room is white and overly ornate with stamps of houses on it. Honestly, I haven’t thought about the wallpaper in years. I don’t even go into the tea room anymore. But Haley is looking at everything like a little kid, and it’s making me look a little harder again.
I was thinking all along she had those crazy eyes. That beautiful, eighties red hair had me supremely distracted. I swallow, turn, and lock eyes with her.
My dick twitches again. I don’t know how the hell she turns me on so much, but I swear I’m ready to go again.
“You haven’t said a damn word about the invitation I just gave you in the car,” she says. “So are we just going to ignore that, pretend like it never happened?”
“Look, Lady,” I say.
She rolls her eyes at my word usage. She turns to me with her hands on her hips.
“Fine,” I correct. “Haley. You’re talking crazy. Ain’t no way I’m going to a wedding with you. It’s not you. I just don’t do weddings. Not my thing. Nothing personal.”
She bites her lip.
“What is your problem any way? Life throw you a couple wrong turns that make you end up here?”
I clench my fists. “So you got a fucking problem with Blackwell, City Girl? You’re too good for the fucking country?”
She must see my rage building, because she backtracks. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean, look. I know this is a crazy proposal. But let me explain.”
I cross my arms. “Please.”
“Okay. I...are you going to put a shirt on?!”
I scrunch up my face. “My house, my rules. Why the hell would I do that?”
“Okay,” she shakes her head. I guess my tattoos are distracting her. It happens. “Well, here’s the thing Liam. I know this is crazy. I don’t really know what to think about what happened back there on the road. And in the truck.”
“I do. You’re hot as fucking hell and make me want to do things I’ve never even thought of.”
Even from a few feet away I see the goosebumps form on her arm. I smirk.
“Oh God. Well, here’s what I want. If you think I’m crazy, fine. I can live with that. But I’ll kick myself if I don’t just get it out there. I need a fake date for my sister’s wedding. I’ve been telling my family for months that I’m still in a relationship with my ex-fiancé, who I walked in on cheating on me four months ago. And if I don’t have a date, it’s going to throw the seating arrangements off, and my sister is even more OCD than I am. She’ll flip. And…”
“And what?”
She shrugs. “I just haven’t been getting along with my family lately. I could use a guy like you there to distract me. And distract my family for me. I’m twenty-eight, they keep bitching at me to get married. So I tried that. And probably rushed into it with my ex.”
I take a step toward her and rake a hand through my hair.
“So you want me to come with you as your fake wedding date. Well, real wedding date. I’d be your fake boyfriend. You want me there just to...fix the seating arrangements? How hard is it to switch a damn seat out?”
“My sister is so OCD you don’t even know. And the whole ‘me not having a fiancé anymore’ thing is something I need to break to my parents in person.”
“I do know. I’ve dated some OCD girls before,” I let slip.
“Oh. So you do actually date girls for more than a night. Good to know,” she winks.
She steps toward me and puts her hand on my hip. She smells like the rain and I love it. “I have to run the shop this week,” I say. “Only shop in Blackwell.”
“What about Dick?”
“Who’s Dick?”
“The owner?! ‘Dick’s Auto Repair.’”
“Oh. Yeah Dick doesn’t work there any more. Like I said, Dick was my father.”
“Just come. Come on. Someone can sub in for you.”
I can’t believe I’m actually considering this. It surprises me that she wants someone so badly to be her date, just to not fuck up the seating arrangements and act as a buffer.
She looks up at me with these puppy dog eyes, glossy.
I brush her hair behind her ears.
Fuck it.
I’m not one to turn down an adventure. And something about this girl gives me a spark of life I haven’t felt in quite some time. As much as I love the country life, sometimes, it can get monotonous.
“I’ll do this, but on one condition,” I say.
“What?” She bats her eyelashes, staring up at me.
I lean down, put my mouth close to her ear and whisper, “If I come to this thing, I will fuck you whenever--and wherever--I damn well please.”
She wriggles her body for a moment. I keep my hand gripping her chin and ear. “Oh God, Liam.” She whimpers.
“What is it, Dagny?” I react to her whimper, forcing her to look back up at me. I skewer her with my eyes, just like I want to do to her with my cock.
“I’m wet,” she groans.
I smirk. “So, I’ll take that as a yes.”
She swallows and nods. “You can take me whenever you want.”
“And wherever,” I add.
“I mean, you’re not going to fuck me in public or anywhere embarrassing, are you?”
“Shut up, City Girl,” I growl. I reach my hand down the side of her back and slide it down to her ass. “If you say yes, I’ll do whatever the fuck I please.”
I slam her body into the wall. Her head knocks into one of the paintings a little as we make out. I slide a hand between her legs.
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