by Janie Crouch
“Whatever. Let me know if you change your mind.”
Silence. Gavin stayed put, but there was no more discussion. He stayed hidden as Lexi finally turned and walked back to her car. Once she pulled away, he jogged back to his SUV.
What the hell had just happened? He had no idea whether it was illegal or not. Whether Lexi was in danger or not.
Every time he thought he had his questions about her answered, a whole new set showed up. Maybe he should’ve confronted them, but it didn’t sound like the guy was giving her drugs or anything. And he obviously wasn’t the person in charge, just the one collecting a payment, it seemed.
If she was making payments for something, it would explain why she never had money. Was she being blackmailed? Paying for security?
He caught up with her before she was back out of the cargo district then followed her again at a distance as she headed back to Oak Creek.
She parked her car in almost the exact spot she’d pulled out of. Then once again she got out, head tucked low in her jacket, and walked over to the Eagle’s Nest.
He glanced over at the groceries on the passenger side next to him. His symbolic gesture of peace and apology for not trusting her mocked him from their bag.
Whatever was going on with Lexi, an omelet and a mimosa were not going to fix it.
13
The Eagle’s Nest was insanely busy for a Monday. The entire town was still buzzing over what had happened to Quinn—the kidnapping and subsequent rescue. That was probably why so many people were here for the lunch rush. People Lexi had never seen in here for lunch even once.
That was a small town for you. They wanted to catch Quinn and get all the gossip.
She wasn’t here, of course. It was going to take more than a couple of days for her to fully recover from what had happened. Her vocal cords might be damaged for weeks the doctors had told her.
Lexi hated that Quinn and Baby had been hurt . . . and that she’d lost her only other lunch waitress. But she was very glad to see that no one in town was looking any differently at her.
Wavy had kept her word and hadn’t told anyone that she was Alexandra Adams. No one was looking at her sideways or giving her any winks or nudges. If anyone had known the truth, they would have given themselves away. They would’ve tried to take pictures, or maybe called the press directly to get their five minutes of fame.
The fact that someone had pinged the name Lexi Johnson was concerning. That meant someone was looking deeper into her identity, and if not for the electronic persona Deshawn had built, the Lexi Johnson ID would be blown already.
Her first thought was that it was Gavin, but he’d already admitted to running her name weeks ago. This was something different, deeper. Someone was suspicious and pushing at her ID in some way, or else Deshawn wouldn’t have told her. The stalker? A reporter who thought they smelled a story?
But if so, wouldn’t they have already gotten close to her? Wouldn’t she have noticed? The only person watching her was Gavin. He was back in his booth again today, studying her like a hawk.
She had to admit she’d sort of missed him since the night he’d stayed with her at her apartment. She’d seen him around, but he hadn’t been actively studying her like he was today. She’d missed seeing his face all the time.
Now he was back, complete with broody stare. It didn’t annoy her nearly as much as it should. Those dark, hooded eyes following her every move should be a source of annoyance, but she’d missed it in some sick way.
But he was also sort of acting weird. He didn’t say anything to her the whole time he sat in the booth, actually walked over to Mac directly to make his order. She’d thought they were past the point of suspicious glares. Evidently not.
But without Quinn here to work, Lexi didn’t have much time to worry about Gavin. She didn’t even have time to send him an obnoxiously named drink, although sexy Sheriff Proper would never do something so base as have a cocktail in the middle of the day anyway.
It was midafternoon before she had a chance to slow down. Usually, she liked to go home and rest for a few minutes, sleep if she could, before coming back and working the night shift. She was trying to keep from having a repeat of her insomnia breakdown, and resting in the afternoon helped.
“Mac, I’m going to take a couple of hours. You’re going home early tonight. Don’t forget.”
Mac glared at her from over the inventory printout he was looking at on his desk. “You aren’t the boss of me, Blondie.”
She rolled her eyes and perched her hip on the corner of the desk. “Well, your cardiologist, a.k.a. the man keeping you alive, says no more than eight hours of work a day for you. Don’t make me bring Dr. Anne in here as a second opinion, because you know she will back me up on this.”
“I knew you were trouble the first moment I laid eyes on you.” He let out a huff.
She grinned at him. “You and Sheriff Gavin both. You both give me that narrow-eyed glare all the time.”
Mac laid down his papers. “I think you are a very different type of trouble for our Gavin. Looks like our Redwood might fall after all.”
“Redwood?”
Mac smiled. “That was his codename or whatever in the army. Because he’s so solid, from what I understand. Stands so firm no matter what the conditions.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Definitely sounded like the Gavin she knew and could barely get out of her mind. She stood back up. “I’ll see you at five and will expect you to be gone by eight so I don’t have to call in the muscle.”
“Be careful out there.” Mac picked up his papers again, not responding to her threat. “They’re vultures.”
She was about to ask him what he was talking about but thought better of it in case it involved more stories about Sheriff Redwood. That was the last thing she needed before trying to sleep. She headed out the back door and down the short alley leading to the parking lot. He was already in her mind enough without Mac bringing him up regularly.
Maybe she could come up with a drink that was a play on his codename—
All thoughts flew from her head as she rounded the corner and stopped in her tracks. The parking lot was full of press vans. Reporters and cameras were everywhere.
Oh God, Wavy hadn’t kept her word. The press had found her. She needed to run. To get out of town. Did they know where she lived? Could she get to her car? Her stuff in her apartment? After this morning’s payment, she didn’t have much cash left over. Should she just run with today’s lunch tips?
The panic crashed over her. She needed to get out before she was seen. She spun to escape, to run, to be anywhere but here.
But slammed into a chest instead.
“Going somewhere?”
Gavin.
“Reporters.” She fisted her hands in his jacket. “There’s a bunch of reporters out there.” She would tell him everything if it meant he could help her get out of here without them finding her. “I can’t . . . I have to . . .”
Bile rose in her gut at the sound of reporters talking behind her. “I saw someone around back.”
“Quinn doesn’t have blonde hair, Jacobs. It’s not her,” someone else responded.
Quinn. The name registered through the roaring in her ears. The reporters were trying to talk to Quinn. That made so much sense given what had happened this weekend with her kidnapping and all the brouhaha surrounding it. Of course the press would want to talk to her.
“I’m going to check it out.”
Shit. They were still coming here.
Gavin’s hands wrapped around her elbows. “What is happening right now, Lexi?”
She realized she was standing in his arms, clutching at his chest. That reporter might not be looking for her, but she still couldn’t afford to let him get too good a look at her face.
She looked up at Gavin. What could she say? “I—”
She yanked him toward her and kissed him.
She’d meant it as a ruse. As a reason for why some
one would be hovering behind a building when the reporter came to see what was going on.
But the moment her lips met his, all thoughts of subterfuge disappeared. It was fire. Just like every other time they’d kissed. Like her body had forgotten how much she was starving for Gavin’s touch until their lips met, reminding her.
She wanted him. Wanted him to give her whatever it took to ease this clawing hunger inside her. One hand slid up his chest to wrap behind his neck and keep him anchored to her.
“Whoa. Oh, sorry.” The reporter’s words barely registered, definitely didn’t stop them.
Somewhere in her subconscious, she realized the danger was gone. It was safe. The reporter was probably making a couple of crude statements about them but had confirmed there was no one around that corner that was of interest to the press.
She and Gavin could stop.
But they didn’t. This heat between them was too powerful. When he started to ease back the slightest bit, she let out a needy whimper. She couldn’t help herself.
“Jesus, Lexi. Do you know what that sound does to me?” he whispered against her lips.
Her only response was to pull him closer.
When his hands ran down her back and hips, cupping her ass and lifting her, she didn’t resist. She wrapped her legs around his hips and kept her lips plastered against his. With hardly any effort at all, he walked both of them a few feet back toward the door so they were hidden by the empty supply cases stacked along the wall. He didn’t stop until they were in the darkest corner of the tiny alley.
“Everything about you drives me crazy.” He pushed her up against the wall. “And I can’t seem to leave you alone, even knowing you’ve got all sorts of secrets and you’re not being honest with anyone.”
He was way too close to the truth, and his words should’ve sent a bolt of panic through her, but he took that moment to press up against her, tilting his hips and maneuvering hers to be exactly where he wanted them. He slowly rolled against her, and she didn’t try to stop the shudder that coursed through her whole body. Then he did it again.
And again.
So many months without intimate contact with anyone had to be what was causing her to feel this way—this blistering need.
She’d never felt this way even when her life had been completely different than it was now. It wasn’t about him; this was physical.
He rolled his hips again, and a low moan escaped her. “Oh, God.”
He hadn’t really touched her, yet she could feel the pressure building inside. Lava bubbling, ready to erupt.
“Say my name, Lexi.” He pressed hard against her then used his hands on her hips to move her in a way that had her gasping against his mouth.
“Wh-what?”
“This is us.” Another thrust of his hips. Another kiss that seemed to touch her very soul. “You’re here with me, not some random stranger. Me. Say my name.”
She knew that, even if she didn’t want to admit it. This wasn’t about just a physical touch, as much as she might want it to be. She’d never been so out of control with anyone else. She only responded to him this way.
“Gavin,” she whispered. “Only you. Us.”
The possession that lit up his brown eyes should have scared her. Should’ve had her running for cover. Driving to Reddington City to make the payment on her ID this morning should’ve reminded her how precarious her normal life here really was.
But she didn’t care. Right now, all she cared about was being close to Gavin. She wanted to be possessed by him.
He gave her what she wanted.
His fingers clenched her flesh under her jeans as he pulled her down atop him, thrust upward again. His hips forced her legs wider, opening her for him, the friction of their bodies driving her higher and higher.
She wanted them to be naked, but that wasn’t possible. But this was enough. More than enough.
When his lips moved down her jaw to her neck, her head fell back against the wall. His mouth left tiny, painless bites against the side of her neck, and all she could do was melt against him with a little whimper.
“That’s right. That’s what I want from you. Let go, Green Eyes.”
He slid his hand between their bodies and cupped her over her jeans, pressing firmly right where she needed it.
And she did let go. Groaning his name in a long, sobbing breath, she ground herself against his hand and let the waves of pleasure wash over her.
He kept her pinned against the wall, kissing softly along her neck and cheeks and hair as she came down from the waves of pleasure. He lowered her back to her feet but kept his arms around her. Good thing, considering she wasn’t sure she could stand on her own.
But it didn’t take long before her senses returned, and she couldn’t stop the tension that flooded her body. Oh dear God, what had she done? She’d let him dry hump her against a wall in the middle of an alley, and she’d loved it. What could he possibly be thinking about her?
She tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn’t let her. He was still pressed up against her. Still obviously aroused.
“You absolutely wreck me, woman. Obliterate all my control. I hardly recognize myself when I’m around you.”
She relaxed slightly, since she felt the exact same way.
They stared at each other for a long minute. When he reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, she could still feel him hard against her.
Her hands slid to his waist, trailing along the top of his jeans. “Do you want me to—”
“Jesus, no.” He stopped her hands with his and brought her fingers to his lips. “I’m damned near ready to get arrested for indecent exposure just watching you come apart in my arms. If you touch me, those reporters you were trying to avoid will definitely have a story. Maybe not the one they wanted, but one nonetheless.”
She had to smile a little at that.
“Why were you hiding from them?”
Her smile slipped. “No reason. Just don’t like to get all mixed up in that mess.”
His eyes narrowed, and his hands moved to the wall on either side of her shoulders. She wasn’t going anywhere unless he decided to let her go.
Redwood, indeed.
“I came by your apartment this morning to apologize, but . . . you weren’t there.”
That definitely wasn’t what she’d been expecting him to say. “You did?”
“I wanted to make you breakfast. Had some groceries, including champagne and orange juice to make mimosas.”
She ignored the way her mouth watered at the thought of one of her favorite beverages, one she hadn’t had in so long. “Why? When?”
He finally put some space between their bodies and pulled something out of his jacket pocket.
Her juice glass.
“To return this.”
She took it from his fingers. “I’ve been looking for that. I only have two. I thought I was going crazy because I couldn’t find the second one anywhere in my apartment. Why do you have it?”
The answer came to her just as he said it. “I took it on purpose the night I stayed with you.”
“To run my fingerprints.”
He nodded.
That explained the pinging of her ID. Gavin had been the one suspicious enough to poke at her ID. Thank God it’d held. He obviously didn’t know who she really was.
Part of her was relieved it was him. Not the press. Not the stalker. The other part was pissed.
Every single time she really thought he was attracted to her, every time she let herself get close, it wasn’t her he really wanted at all. It was her secrets.
“So we’re back to this, are we, Sheriff? Was this little seduction routine so you could get a retinal scan? Or maybe you were going for a vaginal swab but didn’t quite achieve your mission since my clothes didn’t come off.”
“Lexi—”
Why did she keep thinking these physical encounters with him were meaningful when they obviously weren’t? At least, not to him.
She held up a hand to stop him. “But I came up clean, didn’t I, Sheriff Redwood?”
At least she knew that. She wouldn’t be thrown into a panic about whether he’d discovered who she really was. Suddenly, every dime she’d paid for this ID was worth it. Every payment she still had left to make would be money well spent.
“Lexi.” He bent his knees so that they were face to face, eye to eye. “I don’t know what is going on with you, but whatever it is, I want to help.”
He said it with such authenticity that she almost believed him. Or maybe she wanted to believe him. Again.
But she couldn’t.
She pushed at his chest. She couldn’t stand to be near him anymore. What they’d done seemed so tawdry, knowing the attraction wasn’t authentic for him. She felt cheap.
Even when the press had called her a heartless harlot, she hadn’t felt this cheap.
“This was a mistake. Stay away from me, Gavin.”
She slipped around him and headed back down the little alley, back inside the Eagle’s Nest. She’d stay here. There would definitely not be any rest today.
14
“Who would’ve ever thought we’d see Christmas decorations at the Eagle’s Nest?” Finn said.
Gavin was back at his usual booth. Except it was starting to feel more like the doghouse.
At least today, he had friends with him. Gavin and Finn were on one side of the doghouse, er, booth, while Kendrick and Gabe Collingwood sat on the other.
“You know that has to be Lexi,” Gabe said. The former Navy SEAL turned businessman had moved into the area and never left. “Mac would rather shoot himself in the foot than put up Christmas decorations in this bar.”
Of course, it was Lexi. Everyone knew it was Lexi. Everyone knew that last week’s ugly Christmas sweater contest, which had hilariously mimicked a wet T-shirt contest, had been Lexi’s idea also.
“She’s talking about doing a drunk white elephant next week.” Finn grinned. “Everybody orders a crazy drink but doesn’t say what’s in it, hides it under a gift bag, and then everyone picks one, like a normal white elephant.”