Changing Lanes (Highway 17 #1)

by Leaona Luxx

  “Just give me a call, I’ll fit you in. I reserve time for special clients, it’s how I met Lachlan.” Her smile stretches across her face when she talks about him.

  “Gosh, I wish I had someone to make me smile like you just did.” I envy her for more reasons than one. She’s so open about their relationship.

  “Torrie, you do. I had my doubts about you. Brannon and I have known each other for years. I was worried he was hung up on someone who didn’t feel the same. Then, you started talking about him. Your eyes sparkled, your cheeks flushed, and you become a shy girl with a coy smile.” Maisyn’s line of sight shifts to over my shoulder.

  Scanning my surroundings, my gaze catches what she’s looking at. A man, dressed in a three-piece Armani blue suit, saunters toward us. His sunglasses reflect her in them as he gets closer, his focus is on one target.

  Taking his hand from his pocket, he runs it through his jet-black hair, cropped tight to align with his chiseled jaw. A smile breaks his face, and Maisyn sighs loudly beside me. “Lachlan, I presume?” Elbowing her as I ask.

  “Yeah.” Her face glows as she begins to fidget the closer he gets.

  “You’re gorgeous, stop moving. He’s in love, you have nothing to be nervous about,” whispering so he doesn’t hear. Or read lips.

  Just as I’m about to excuse myself, I’m goosed from behind. Screaming from the unexpected contact, “AHH. What the fuck?” I swing around just to be wrapped in the one set of arms I prefer. “You. Damn it.” It comes out so much worse than I meant it to, I was scared.

  Brannon releases me, his hands in the air, his face smashed up from anxiety. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Torrie.”

  “Are you alright, lass?” Lachlan stands with Maisyn in his arms. He doesn’t realize I saw him wink at Brannon.

  “I’m good, but I may kick his ass. Hi, I’m Torrie and for some reason, I think you already know Brannon.” Smiling, I shake his hand.

  He winks. “He’s a lad of mine. It’s good to finally meet you.”

  “Really? What have you heard?” Narrowing my eyes at Brannon, he looks worried, poor baby. Smiling at him, I grant him a reprieve from my wrath. “I know it must be all good.”

  “It is, very good. Brannon, how’s business?” Lachlan shakes Brannon’s hand.

  “Good. I’m working for Torrie and One at the moment. One’s asked me to join his team before the new baby comes,” Brannon says proudly, oddly making me smile with pride. Brannon side eyes me, studying my face.

  “Wonderful. Maisyn’s going to open a second shop, ground up. You interested in designing it?” Lachlan is in serious business mode, I love it.

  “I can attest to his mastery; Brannon is a wonderful untapped talent. Perfect man for the job.” I heap praise on him like a doting wife, to everyone’s amazement. “I mean, from what I’ve seen of his work so far.”

  “Looks like you have a job.” Maisyn grins.

  “Thank you. And thank you, Torrie, for the words of encouragement.” He shakes Lachlan’s and Maisyn’s hands, placing his hand on the small of my back.

  Trembling from his touch, my words fall from me, “You’re welcome. It was good to meet you both.”

  “Call me. We’re gonna run.” Maisyn hugs me.

  “Yes, it was great meeting you. Brannon, we’ll be in touch.”

  “I do appreciate your recommendation,” Brannon says as they walk away.

  “I meant it. You’re doing a great job.” We stand there, staring into each other’s eyes.

  “So, where were you going?” He breaks the silence.

  “Just window shopping and girl talk. Want to join me?” I give him my coy smile.

  “Girl talk? Hell, yeah. I’m pretty good at that now.” Waving his hand in front to coax me.

  “Good. I was looking for tampons and Twizzlers.” I giggle at the look on his face. “What’s wrong? Did you think you might get lucky? No way, mister. Not on the first date.” A devilish grin graces his face.

  “It’s not our first date.” He tweaks my side, and I jump with a squeal.

  “Damn it. Now you will wait.” Sarcasm laces my words.

  “Wait. What? Are you saying we were gonna sleep together? I’m confused.” He grabs my arm, stopping me.

  “Let’s just see if we can walk down the street without wanting to kill the other first, okay?” I say jokingly.

  “Good idea. I can see why you’re the brains and I’m the looks of this duo.” He flexes his muscles, subsequently making my mouth go dry.

  “You’re so full of shit, country boy. Come on, I still need to know what ‘muddin’ is.” Jerking him by the shirt, I pull him behind me.

  “Oh, you remember that, do you, country club? Well, I’ll have to show you another day, you’re too pretty today.” I bump his shoulder with mine.

  “Flattery will get you everywhere. How’s Andi?” Strolling down Main Street without a care in the world, we catch up.

  “Good. She likes you, that’s for sure. How have you been, Torrie?” He watches me as I spy on him in the windows.

  “Good. It’s been tough, but I survived.”

  “I’m sorry about that.” His eyes squint when he turns his face to the sun, drawing a deep breath.

  “Okay. Stop with the apologizing. I feel like shit enough,” I huff.

  His head spins as he glares at me. “Why do you feel like shit? I never meant for you to.”

  “I know. But we were in a relationship, and neither of us trusted the other. We both failed.” Shrugging as I explain how I see it.

  “True. I think we need to start communicating better, maybe even talk once in a while. ”

  “I agree, talking’s good. Especially when I don’t feel as though I could choke you,” I say, nodding.

  “I guess that would be most of the time anymore.” He drops his head shaking it.

  “You know, if you’d keep your women at bay, I might like you better.” Rolling my eyes, I gag.

  “Oh, come on. I don’t have women. Well, I do have one, and I need to go pick her from school.” He glances at his phone.

  “Of course, Andi first. It’s been, nice.” Trying to conceal my disappointment, I smile.

  “It has been, country club. Good to know we haven’t lost it all.” He grins at me.

  “Apparently, not.” I smile at him.

  “Sometimes, when there’s so much between two people, we tend to make it harder than it is.” Searching his eyes to see if I can figure out what he’s thinking, my face flushes.

  “You’re getting hot.” He swallows when I lick my lips.

  “Yeah, I’m thirsty. Umm, you better get going.” I step away from him.

  “Yeah, I need to pick up, Andi. I’ll see you.” He doesn’t move, neither do I.

  “Yes. Soon. It would be nice to continue talking like this.” Closing my eyes, I dream about kissing him. Remembering how good it was, how good he was.

  “Hey, y’all. How’s it goin’?” Thayer and Hardy walk up. “You both are still alive, that’s good.”

  Fuck. “Hi, it’s good. Yes, we are. We are both still here.” I smile but I think it’s a grimace by the look on Thayer’s face.

  “I was just leaving to pick up Andi. I’ll see y’all later. Torrie.” Brannon nods at me before leaving.

  “So, it went okay?” Hardy asks.

  “Getting there. Maybe, we’re just making it harder than it should be.” I can’t help but grin.

  “That may be the case. It’s just in time, can you run by the office tomorrow around five?” Hardy asks.

  “I can,” I say as I watch Brannon pull away. “He’ll be there.” Hardy grins. “See you tomorrow, Torrie,” Hardy says as he and Thayer walk away.

  I rush home, thinking of Brannon all the way there. He’s starting to wear me down, he smelled so good today. Pulling into my house, I run inside to pick out my clothes for the next day. It’s like I’m fifteen, I roll my eyes as I try to find my sexiest dress.

  For the first time in
a long time, I sleep. Filled with dreams of Torrie, I wake with a smile on my face. I’m hoping that after yesterday we’ve turned a corner. I drop Andi off at school then drive over to the site. It’s going up quickly, almost too fast for me. She’ll be gone before we can make any real progress. I walk the site, checking on projects, making sure things are done right. My cell vibrates with a text, it’s One.

  Hey, can you run by the office around five? he asks.

  I’ll be there, I shoot back to him. My phone buzzes

  I arrive at the office around four-forty-five. One is busy on the phone when I walk in. I nod and walk to my office. “Hey, sorry about that. Want to join me in the conference room?” He jerks his head.

  “Sure thing. What’s up?” I ask as I follow him.

  “Just wanted to check over the Harrington’s plans, make sure we’re tight on everything,” he says as he rolls the paper out.

  “Oh, yeah. I went over today just to look around. Everything looks to be on track.” A noise at the door draws our attention, it’s Torrie.

  “Hey, Torrie. Glad you could make it. Brannon and I are just going through the plans, tidying up some things. I thought now would be a good time for you to look over it, in case we need to tweak anything,” One explains as she takes a seat across from me.

  “Sure thing, fill me in.” We spend the next hour going over everything we’ve done, to which she signs off on.

  “Looks great. So, does it look as though we’ll finish on time?” She types into her phone as One gives her a timeframe.

  “Three weeks barring any weather or material issue. And again, it’s just structural, we’ll move ahead with electrical and landscaping after,” One explains. She nods, never looking at me.

  One’s phone vibrates, and as he checks it his face pales. I know it must be Lea. “What’s up?”

  “Ahhh, could you lock up for me? Lea needs me,” he asks, already on the move.

  I don’t hesitate to answer. “I gotcha. Let us know if every thing’s alright.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it. Thank you, Torrie. I’ll be in touch.” He runs out the door.

  “I hope everything’s okay,” I say while picking up our papers. “Do you need a copy of these?” I show her the files.

  “Actually, I do. Ummm, copy machine?”

  “Yeah, in here. We’ll get these copied and you on your way.” I hold the door open for her to walk through, her perfume hits me full on; she smells nice.

  “It was good getting to talk yesterday. Maybe we can do it again before I leave.” She glances over at me.

  “That sounds great.” I send up a thank you. “Hang on, we have to go to the back of the building, let me hit the front lights and lock the door; if someone walked in, we’d never know.” Jogging over and back, I nod down the hall. “It’s this way.”

  “So, what have you been up to the last few years?” Really, she wants small talk?

  “Raising my daughter, working the farm, and finishing school. You?” Glancing at her, I can tell she wants to know more but right now, she’s wondering about something.

  She stops suddenly, turning to me. “Wait. What do you mean by raising, working, and school?” She frowns in confusion.

  “I transferred to a local college when I had to come home. It took me a lot longer to get my degree, but I did it.” I smile at her and my accomplishments.

  She nods, prompting, “And the rest?”

  “I worked the farm while I attended college. After Andi was born, my mom helped me with her. That’s another reason we still live with her.” She nods her head but still looks confused. I point her to the supply room where the copier is.

  “So, you all live on the farm?” She tilts her head toward me as we copy and separate her papers.

  “We do. Mom, Andi, and myself. I told you, I’m not married. Nor am I with anyone.” Keeping my head down, I don’t want to get excited if she likes what she hears.

  Her voice raises in suspicion. “Ava?” I glance over at her while she watches me.

  “Yes. The night before I left for college, I had a little too much to drink and didn’t protect us. She was supposed to be on the pill, but she wasn’t.” I shake my head at the thought of fucking up.

  Torrie steps away from me, shocked. “She trapped you.” She’s not asking, and I’m not saying. I honestly have no clue.

  “I’m not sure but when we—when I came home Christmas—she told me then. I had lost you, so I gave up. Stayed home and raised my daughter.” I shrug with my explanation.

  She crosses her arms over her chest. “Why didn’t you marry her?” Now, I’m shocked.

  “You know why.” Taking a step closer to her, I search her faces.

  “I’m not sure.” For someone who couldn’t take their eyes off me, she refuses to look at me now.

  “I don’t love her.” Her eyes snap up to mine.

  “But Andi?” She bites her bottom lip, holding her breath as she waits for my answer.

  “She knows I love her. I raise her, Torrie. She lives with me.” Her eyes are focused on my mouth. By God, I can’t take much more. “Look at me. Look at me.” Raising her chin with my finger, her eyes meet mine again. “I’ll always love you. I’m so sorry I never told you.”

  Her eyes become glassy, and it’s all I can take. I rub my thumb over her lip as it trembles. Her eyes close as her tongue darts out to taste the tip of my finger. I’m instantly hard. I run my hand around her neck, grabbing hold. Her eyes pop open, looking into mine.

  Taking a ragged breath, I snake my other hand around her waist, dragging her to me. Spreading my hand on the small of her back, my thumb makes small circles at the nape of her neck. I can feel her warm breath against my lips. Her scent fills me.

  I press into her, allowing her to feel the length of my cock. She gasps, giving me my opening. I take her lips, pressing into them hard at first until I can regain control. Sliding my tongue across her lips, she opens more for me.

  Her tongue sweeps against mine, and as I circle hers, I moan, long and loud. She still tastes like heaven. Holding her against me, I run my hand down her thigh, grabbing her leg to wrap around me. She teeters on one heel, so I slip my hand under her ass and she climbs me, locking her legs behind me.

  Pushing her against the door, I cup her breast. Her nipples are pushing through her shirt, begging me to touch them. I trace them with my thumb, making them impossibly hard. Moving my mouth to her neck, I bite and suck my way to her breast; she leans back, taking her shirt in one hand and pulls it overhead.

  I find her breasts with my mouth, kissing the top as she spills out of them. She reaches between us, fumbling with my button, I spin her around to the table. Papers scatter around the room in the flurry of us undressing each other.

  Laying her back, I tug her pants off. She sits up, helping to unbutton my pants, breaking the zipper as she rips it apart. I toe them off after she pushes them down to my knees with her feet. Her legs are around my hips as I lean over, releasing her breasts from their confines.

  Taking one into my mouth, I palm the other. Sucking her until her back arches from the table. I pinch her other nipple between my index finger and thumb, making her groan, long and deep. Taking her panties in my hand, I tear them on the side, ripping them away.

  Sliding her ass off the table, her feet dig into my ass while I cup hers. She locks her hands around my neck, and I stand there looking into her eyes, waiting. She stares deep into mine and then nods. I impale her with my cock, hard and deep.

  Gasping, she grabs my hair while I wait for her to acclimate. She’s wet and hot. I want to move but know she hasn’t relaxed, so I take her mouth. Fucking it, the way I want to fuck her. When I pull back, she surprises me with her words.

  “I’ve missed this, you. Take me, Brannon. I’ve waited ten years, fuck me.” She takes my mouth by force, and I begin to move deep inside her.

  Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pick her up as I slide out to the tip, slamming her back down as I top ou
t deep inside her. Our rhythm fast, hard, and with need. I need to hear her scream my name as she comes on the head of my cock.

  She releases my hair, locking her arms around my neck. I spin back to the door, pressing her into it. My feet finding purchase, I pound into her. Hitching her leg over my arm, I open her wider to me. Her free foot digs into my ass, as my legs begin to tremble.

  Her eyes open to find mine. There are no words spoken, only the things we can say with our hearts flood through our eyes, speaking volumes to each other. The only sound comes from our bodies as they meet, becoming one.

  Her pussy clenches, pulling me deeper. I know she’s about to come. I drive into her hard and fast. Pushing her up the door, when her pussy grabs my cock deep within her, she begins to come. Breathlessly murmuring my name.

  I meet her orgasm with my own, filling her until I spill from within her. I pulse and twitch as she grips and releases me. Our orgasm slowly releases us into euphoria. Laying my head against her neck, I pull her from the door. Holding her legs around me, I lower us, slowly to the floor.

  My back is against the door as Torrie lay wrapped around me. Our hearts beating together, as they should be. When she trembles, I realize we need to get dressed. We haven’t said but very few words since we started.

  “Hey. We need to get you dressed, you’re shivering.” I try to pull her away, but she doesn’t move. “What is it, Torrie? Regret?” She shakes her head, and that’s when I feel her tears on me.

  Taking her face in my hands, I wipe her cheeks. Moving her hair that sticks to her, I work on drying all that’s wet. Her tears fall too fast, and I’m beginning to get nervous. I wrap her in my arms again, holding her while she cries. After a few minutes, she calms.

  “Tell me. We’ve spent ten years away from this, what we know to be good and right. I will never not talk to you again. Tell me, please.” She leans back, regarding me.

  “There’s so much. Questions. Concerns. Love. Oh, God. I love you. I should’ve told you, Brannon. It’s always been you.” She kisses me. My lips, cheeks, nose, even my eyes.