by J. H. Croix
“Really,” I told him.
“This is the best news I’ve ever gotten.” I heard him yell out to someone that he was taking off earlier today. Phoenix, I thought, yelled back that he would lock up before Evan’s voice came back on the line. “I’ll be over in a little bit to help you pack.”
Wow. This was happening. I took a breath, focusing on the familiar scenery of my drive home after we ended the call. It was surreal to think that by tomorrow, this wouldn’t be the way to my home anymore.
A spark of excitement traveled through me. It was time to start a new chapter, one I’d never imagined could happen for me.
“I brought reinforcements,” Evan grinned when I opened the door. Beau stood right behind him, and Sonny was pulling up. “I called them for help with moving your stuff.”
Pulling me into his arms, he held me close to him and whispered against my hair, “Thank you for agreeing to do this.”
“Thank you for loving me enough to ask,” I replied, brushing a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw.
“Seriously, guys, I would say get a room, but that’s why we’re here. Instead, I’ll say wait until you get to your room.” Sonny guffawed somewhere behind Evan.
Beau chuckled. “You took the words right out of my mouth. Good to see you, Sadie. I would say welcome to the family, but I think my condolences are more appropriate.”
Sonny punched his arm as he walked past him into the house, rolling his eyes. “We’re not that bad.”
Unexpectedly, he hooked an arm around me and yanked me away from Evan so I landed with a crash against his chest, and then he swept me up in a crushing hug. “Welcome to the family. We’re a little crazy, but we’re a good one.”
I warmed at their words, their easy camaraderie. It was exactly what I always imagined being part of a real family would feel like. Not that I was officially part of their family, but they made me feel like I was. “Thank you.”
“Speaking of family,” Beau said as he followed us into the house. “Where’s Jeremy? I didn’t expect to see Tyson here because, well, Tyson. Jeremy, though? He should be helping.”
“He’s off the hook.” Evan shrugged. “He’s working late to meet a deadline on a construction job. It was kind of short notice for him. As for Tyson, well, as you said. He’s Tyson. He’s always working late. I put in a call anyway, but he said he couldn’t make it.”
“He never can,” Sonny grumbled, but then he spotted Emery coming around the corner from the living room and dropped to his knees to greet her. She babbled nonstop and grabbed his hand, leading him to her room to help her finish packing.
He tossed us a wink over his shoulder. “I’ll be back. I think I might be getting the easy job this time around.”
I laughed, calling out after them, “You haven’t seen her room yet.”
A low groan sounded from his lips right before they disappeared down the hallway. Beau, Evan, and I got busy with the rest of the house. With so much help, three trucks, and not having so many possessions, we were done a few hours later.
Beau had a beer when we got to Evan’s house after he helped us unpack all the bags and boxes, and then he took off. “I’ll see you guys. I have an early meeting, and I can’t afford to be half asleep for it.”
“Thanks for all your help,” I told him. It felt inadequate. I should’ve had something to thank him, but I didn’t. Making note of the beer he favored, I decided I’d get him some as a thank-you the next time we saw him.
Emery and I ran a bath for her. Once she was settled into it and playing with her favorite pair of ducks, I met Sonny and Evan on the back patio. The sun was long gone, and the night was quiet. They were talking on two lounge chairs, beers in hand.
Evan scooted over when he saw me, patting an empty space on his chair. “Come here and join us. Sonny was giving me an update.”
“I have to give you an update too,” I admitted.
Both of their heads snapped to me. Evan put a hand on my thigh, giving it a light squeeze with concern in his eyes. “Something happened I don’t know about?”
“It only happened earlier today,” I told him, recounting my run-in with Ken and his friend. They exchanged a dark look when I was done. Clearly, they were not happy with my news.
Chapter Fifteen
Evan
Waking up next to Sadie—knowing it was how it would be from now on—felt so damned good. She was sprawled out on the bed next to me, the reddish tint in her auburn hair bright against my white sheets.
Long black eyelashes rested against her eyes, her plump lips were slightly parted, and her smooth, pale skin almost glowed in the early morning light. She was fucking beautiful.
One of Sadie’s arms was curled up above her head while the other rested on her taut stomach. Dusky pink nipples topped her pert breasts, rising and falling with her chest as she breathed.
If I could draw, I would’ve been able to draw her like this for the rest of my natural goddamn life. Stopping myself before I started waxing too lyrical, I decided to focus on something I could actually do. Drawing wasn’t a talent of mine but making out sure was.
A quick glance at the clock told me if I woke her now, we had a bit of time before we had to leave. I had tried persuading Sadie to take the day off with me today before we fell asleep, but she said we shouldn’t. Something about setting a bad precedent.
She never said anything about not waking her up early so we could get some us time in before we had to be responsible adults, though. Rolling onto my side to face her, I hooked one of my feet around her ankle and gave it a gentle tug to spread her legs apart a little.
Moving my hand to her thigh, I trailed my fingers along the silky skin there and dipped my head down to take her nipple into my mouth. A soft moan fell from her lips, followed by the gasp when she woke up.
A soft, lazy smile spread on her lips. “Is this what living here is going to be like?”
“Waking up to an orgasm every day?” I cocked my head, smirking. “I sure hope so.”
She chuckled, spreading her legs wider. “Have at it then. Don’t let me stop you.”
Jesus. She was so fucking sexy when she teased me. It didn’t happen often that she was so bold and flirtatious, but it drove me crazy whenever it did.
Sliding my hand up to her neck, I cupped the side and lowered my mouth toward hers. My other hand snaked up her thigh, and I could feel the heat radiating from her. I was so hard at this point, I was ready to explode.
My mouth was close enough to hers, I could practically taste her when there was a loud knock on the door. “Wake up, sleepyheads! I can’t get ready for school because I can’t find anything.”
Sadie giggled beneath me, her breath ghosting across my skin. “You still sure you can handle having a kid around all the time?”
Groaning, I rolled away from her and hopped off the bed. I grabbed a pair of pajama pants and tugged them on. “No. I have a feeling I’m going to learn a whole new meaning of the term blue balls, but it’s worth it.”
“Welcome to my life.” She smiled, tugging a tank top over her head before calling out to Emery. “I’ll be right there, honey. Open the bag with Winnie the Pooh on the front. It’s got your outfit for today in it.”
“Good thinking ahead,” I told her, trying to get my cock under control. The view of Sadie’s sweet ass as she stood up to slide into a pair of shorts wasn’t helping. “I’ll be right out to help with breakfast and coffee. I’m going to…”
“Need a minute?” She lifted a brow and gave my crotch a pointed look.
I narrowed my eyes, throwing a faux glare in her direction. “You think it’s funny? Wait until it’s you.”
“Oh, no need to worry. I understand,” she told me, which also didn’t help my situation. But then she sighed and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. “This is life with a kid, though. Hormones and everything else all have to take a back seat to her.”
“I get it.” Emery was a great kid. She was sweet and funny but ha
ving a kid around was going to take some getting used to. If Jeremy could do it, I could too. It was just new to me.
By now, I’d been part of their morning routine a few times. It was different being part of it this morning, though, again thanks to the knowledge it would be this way from now on.
It was a little chaotic since Sadie and Emery weren’t settled yet, but we managed to get out the door on time. I offered to drive them, and first dropped Emery off at school and then Sadie at the diner.
It felt good, being part of their lives in this way. Whistling as I drove, I headed in the direction of the garage. As I was pulling out onto the road, I saw Stan Rickman waiting at a traffic light where I had to merge with the traffic to get on the road to the diner.
As far as I could tell, he didn’t see me. His eyes were staring straight ahead, and his jaw was tense. He was headed in the opposite direction of the garage, which made me think he wasn’t on his way to pay me, or any of my brothers, a visit. We were all in the opposite direction from here.
On a whim, I decided to follow him. Fuck it. The man knew enough about my life—about all our lives. For the first time, I knew where he was when he didn’t necessarily want me to. I wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass me by.
Discreetly, I turned onto the road a couple of cars behind him. We drove slowly out of town, passing by shops, restaurants, and smaller office buildings. When we finally got through the meandering downtown street, I realized we were on the road out to the cemetery. I knew it well.
My brothers and I came to visit our mother’s grave each year on the anniversary of her death. I liked to come out to see her a little more often than the rest. Stan parked outside the wide, rusting gates and hurriedly made his way across the gravel lot to undo the chain around the gates and slip inside.
I couldn’t exactly park next to him, so I kept going until I found a spot behind a thicket of trees that still had a view of most of this side of the cemetery. The groundskeeper building was right in front me, but apparently, that was where the action was about to be since Ken was standing in front of it.
He walked out to meet Stan when he spotted him entering the cemetery. They stopped almost directly in front of me. I silently congratulated myself on my excellent vantage point.
The two men talked, and I would’ve given about anything to know what they were discussing. I didn’t know all the details, but I knew the former internal affairs agent, Maclin, had been murdered there. It was all over the news when Chief Harris went on trial and killed himself.
Sonny was involved in that whole mess. I knew about some of his involvement but not all. Only that he was instrumental in exposing what had happened in that very same cemetery.
As I watched Ken and Stan talk, wishing I could read lips, I noticed I wasn’t the only one with curious ears around here. Yates, the cemetery groundskeeper, was listening nearby. It didn’t look like he was part of the conversation. The men were totally ignoring him.
Most everyone thought Yates was out of it. I was an exception to that rule. The man was wacky but crazy like a fox. He’d been the groundskeeper for as long as I could remember, and he creeped everyone the fuck out.
He spoke to, and of, the dead as if they could hear him. He even looked like the quintessential grim reaper with his sallow skin, thinning and tufty hair, and milky eyes. To put it mildly, if I ever saw him at night, I would scream louder than Emery and run far, far away. I happened to know that however macho all my brothers pretended to be, they shared the same sentiment.
Stan and Ken shook hands eventually, nodded at each other, and parted ways. When their cars pulled out of the parking area, I drove away before either of them could see me. Deciding to stay off the main road where my truck would stand out like a sore thumb as the only one on the road with them, I drove a long loop around the cemetery.
It meant I ended up back at the entrance, but I parked and went onto the grounds under the guise of visiting my mother’s grave. It was the kind of morning she used to love. The sun was out, but it wasn’t too hot. The skies were blue interspersed with puffs of white cloud.
A light breeze rustled the long grass that grew around the cemetery in the areas where there weren’t any graves. Wildflowers blossomed around the perimeter fence and gave a hint of cheer to an otherwise dreary place.
The graves themselves were well tended. The grass was vibrant and trimmed. Yates was creepy, but he was good at his job. Personally, I thought even the vandals were too afraid of him at night to take their chances in his cemetery.
Though I hadn’t originally planned on it, I ended up visiting my mom’s grave. I missed her like crazy. Being here, although I knew she wasn’t, made me feel a little closer to her.
A crunch of gravel behind me snapped me back to awareness. I whipped my head around to find Yates standing not too far away. “Mr. Lovett. It’s good to see you. Your mother has missed you.”
A shudder traveled down my spine as it always did when he said stuff like that. I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “Yeah. Thanks, Yates. How are you doing? I saw you had some visitors earlier.”
“I don’t have many visitors,” he mused.
“Sure. Sure.” I nodded. “You know who those guys are? I haven’t noticed them around here before.”
At first, he stared at me blankly. It was like that with him sometimes. He often checked out of a conversation for a couple of minutes at a time. He blinked and lifted his eyes to mine. “You should be careful, Mr. Lovett. Everything is not the way it seems in this town. Take care of yourself and anyone else close to you.”
It was an ominous warning. I tried to press him into giving me more, but he didn’t. With a worried sigh, I said goodbye to Yates and headed back to my truck. I felt unsettled when I left, more so than usual. Yates hadn’t mentioned her name specifically, but I was afraid that when he told me to take care of those I cared about, he had been talking about Sadie.
Chapter Sixteen
Sadie
The coffee shop smelled like dark roast and heaven. Steam escaped from pods on top of various machines, and a barista called out someone’s name from time to time. Round tables were scattered around the small floor space and photos, signs, and sayings of and about coffee hung on the walls.
It felt homey, and since they also made great coffee, it was a popular place in town. Lori was already waiting in line for our names to be called when I arrived. She smiled the moment she saw me. “Look who’s finally emerged from her love nest.”
I scoffed. “It’s hardly a love nest. Emery is there. It’s a perfectly respectable home where we do perfectly respectable things.”
“Until the lights go off.” She waggled her eyebrows at me. “Doing respectable things with a man as hunky as yours is not what put that dreamy look in your eyes.”
“Yeah?” I challenged, but more for the fun of it. “What do you think did then?”
“Evan Lovett’s di—”
I clapped my hand over her mouth, heat flooding my entire face.
“Lori!” I whisper-scolded. “You can’t say stuff like that in public.”
She shrugged, a devilish look in her eyes that made me keep my hand across her mouth. When she made to bite my hand, I jerked it away. She tipped her head back and laughed. “No one’s listening to us. Besides, half the women in town would love to hear about Evan’s di—”
I cut her off with a sharp look. Shoulders shaking with quiet laughter, she dug around for our receipt when the barista called our names.
There would be no getting away from talking to her about Evan. Plus, I wanted to. I just didn’t want everyone else in the Coffee Bean to overhear our conversation, so I chose a small table in the back.
Lori dropped into the chair across from me, leaning forward with her cup between her palms. “Tell me everything.”
“Where to begin?” I said in a singsong voice. “It’s been so great. We had such a great weekend together. Everything was so—”
“Grea
t?” Lori supplied, her eyes shooting to the ceiling before dropping back to mine. “You’ve got to give me more than great. I’ve never seen you in such a dreamy mood. I want details, not ‘great.’”
Details. Hmmm. There were so many, but I wasn’t always sure where the line was between girl talk and male privacy. It wasn’t a problem I’d dealt with myself before, certainly not to this extent. Girl talk, except for my chats with Lori, was a foreign concept to me.
Before her, I’d never had a friend I talked to about my life. Even with Lori, it wasn’t like I’d had tons of guys to talk about. Sure, I’d talked to her about Evan before, but now I was living with him.
It felt like that changed things. Lori lifted a brow and reached across the table to poke my shoulder. “Details, woman.”
Holding my hands up, I said, “Fine. Let me start with the night I moved in.”
I had no idea why it was so interesting to her, but every little thing about my and Emery’s lives with Evan apparently deserved attention. I didn’t tell her everything, though. Some of it felt too intimate and too personal.
For example, I didn’t mention to her how worried Evan had been all weekend. We had fun together with Emery, but it was as if part of his brain was always concentrating on something else. To his credit, he’d talked to me about what happened at the cemetery when he followed Stan there. It felt like he was including me in things, which was awesome.
It was exactly what I wanted. We were equal partners in this relationship, and he was treating me like it. Considering how my father had been when I was growing up, I had a high tolerance for stress as long as I knew what the stress was about.
With Evan not hiding anything from me, I could handle the stress fine—both his and mine. The investigation was bothering me. I wanted to know what the state investigator found out about Stan Rickman and preferably what they were doing about getting him off the streets, but I had to live with not knowing that.