Perfect Excuse (Mason Creek Book 11)

by A. D. Justice

  Kill me now.

  I just asked my husband if he has a date.

  He tries and fails to hide his amusement. “I have a semi-standing date with Grayson and his girls. I can buy more steaks before their next visit. Don’t worry.”

  “Do you want a salad with this?” We need to change the subject immediately.

  “That does sound good, but I don’t have the ingredients to make one.” His perplexed expression is too cute for words.

  “It’s okay. I’ll run down to the market and grab everything we need. I won’t be long. You can make the brownies while I’m out.” I slide my hands back and forth, emphasizing my anticipation.

  “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll make sure you’re more relaxed than ever tonight. Don’t get lost on your way back from the market.” He winks playfully before I head toward the door.

  The market is on the opposite side of town, so I power walk to my car and drive the rest of the way. It’ll be late enough as it is when we finish eating, and I’ll need my ride closer to me. Especially if he makes the extra ingredient in our dessert strong. Inside the store, I rush through the aisles to get all the fresh vegetables for our salad. As I’m heading toward the checkout lanes, I try to remember if I saw salad dressing in his refrigerator.

  “Better grab some just in case,” I say aloud to myself.

  Standing in front of the wall of every imaginable dressing flavor, I reach for one when a familiar voice on the next aisle catches my attention. It’s not the voice as much as what’s she’s saying.

  “Now that Ryder King is finally available, I think it’s time to make my move. That man is fine with a capital F me.” Cyndi McNew is one of the biggest gossips and troublemakers in Mason Creek. I’ve suspected for years she was the one behind most of the rumors about me.

  “He’s not back on the market yet, Cyn. He’s still married to Olivia. From what I hear, he’s not ready to let her go, either. You won’t tear him away easily.” Nikki Harrison, Cyndi’s partner in crime, is always waiting in the wings to help stir the shit pot.

  “Olivia Anderson-King is an idiot and a stuck-up bitch. She doesn’t deserve a good man like Ryder. She has always thought she was better than everyone in Mason Creek. Just because her parents moved here with all their money. It’s time I help move this divorce along. Maybe she’ll move away and take her tacky lingerie shop with her.” Cyndi sounds so smug.

  And jealous.

  “What do you have in mind?” Nikki’s ready to help, regardless of what Cyndi says next.

  “We need a dual attack to split up these two permanently. I’ll work on seducing Ryder and rub it in Liv’s face. Then we also have to start a believable rumor about her hooking up with some random guy. He can’t be from Mason Creek because that would be too easy to disprove.”

  “You know, I’ve been taking Photoshop classes. We could alter a few pictures to make it look like she’s meeting a guy out of town. Ryder would never stand for that. He’ll dump her on her ass.”

  Today is not the day, ladies.

  I drop the bottle of dressing in the basket and round the corner of the aisle. The shocked expressions on their faces are priceless, but I’m determined to push them both over the edge.

  “Hello, ladies. How are you tonight?” I’m playing it cool intentionally, not letting on that I heard anything.

  “Fine. It’s so good to see you, Olivia. It’s been way too long. We should have lunch one day next week if you’re free.” Cyndi is so fake. I can barely stand to look at her.

  “Yeah, of course. You know, you should come by the store and let me show you the new inventory. Those crotchless panties and matching camisole you bought from my store last year must be worn out by now. I have a lot of new items that’ll suit your activities.”

  She stammers but can’t form a coherent response. Her face turns bright red, and she avoids looking at Nikki. After trash-talking my store, she’s mortified to be outed as a customer.

  “We’re really sorry to hear about your divorce, Liv. That must be so hard on you.” Nikki tries to step in to cover for her friend, but steps directly into my trap instead.

  “Not really. The sex is even hotter now than it was before. We get along better than ever. In fact, he’s grilling steaks for us tonight. I only ran out to grab a few things for dinner. That nudist colony we joined together has done wonders for our relationship. If either of you ever get married, I highly recommend you join too. It’s only for married couples or I’d nominate you both right now.”

  “All right. Well. That sounds very… interesting. I’m glad to hear you and Ryder are doing so well. Nikki and I need to get going, but it was great seeing you.” Cyndi and Nikki hurry off in the opposite direction as fast as their lying feet can move. Too bad it isn’t as fast as their lying tongues can flap.

  As I head back to Ryder’s condo, I prepare to confess my subterfuge to him. Since the entire town will hear about our nudist colony membership by morning, with significant embellishments, I think I should at least give him a heads-up. When I finish recounting the entire story, Ryder stares at me with a completely blank expression for a moment. This is the only time I haven’t been able to read his mind.

  Then he bursts out laughing uncontrollably.

  “Ry, did you dip into the chocolate edibles without me? Those were for the brownies, damn it.” I put my hands on my hips, ready to fight. I’ve been looking forward to those chocolaty delights way too much.

  “No. No, I haven’t started without you. I just can’t believe you felt threatened by Cyndi McNew. Maybe I should be offended because you think I’d be interested in having anything to do with her. Instead, I’m flattered you felt the need to stop her in her tracks.”

  “Threatened? Who said I was threatened by her?”

  “You just did when you told me about making up a fake nudist colony you and I joined together. I couldn’t care less what anyone says about me. But you just purposely started a new rumor about yourself, even though the gossip really bothers you. Liv, you threw yourself under the bus to keep her away from me.”

  The heat in his green eyes burns through my skin and touches my soul. They hold more than carnal desire though. He loves me with his entire being. Probably more than anyone will ever love me in my life. Not that there will be anyone after Ryder. Despite our differences, he’s still my soul mate, and no one else can compete with him.

  I’m playing with fire again, I know that. I’m not naïve or stupid. Extremely stubborn and thoroughly obstinate? Definitely. But I love the way Ryder burns me, and I can’t seem to stay away from the flame.

  “Can we eat soon? I’m famished.” My words come out all breathy and sultry. He senses it too.

  “I’m good to feast anytime you want, babe.” He steps closer. “But the steaks will be ready in about eight minutes. Finish making our salads for us. I’ve got dessert covered.”

  “I’ll be ready when you are. Don’t worry about me.”

  “Oh, I’m counting on that promise. Don’t let me down.”

  Captain Obvious in my mind points out we’re not talking about the steaks anymore.

  After dinner, we move to his back porch to relax and enjoy the crisp night air. The two-seat sofa is comfortable and inviting after a long, emotional day. Ryder sits beside me with a wide grin on his handsome face.

  “Eat up while it’s still warm.” He passes the small plate over to me, and I eagerly take it.

  One bite, and I’m in chocolate delight heaven. “You really know how to make me melt, Ry. Feed me a little chocolate and I become putty in your hands.”

  “Seems like I should’ve known that little secret about you a long time ago. If that’s all it takes, I’ll have you eating out of my hand in that nudist colony by the end of the night.”

  With an amused chuckle, I pop the last piece of brownie in my mouth and settle against the back of the loveseat. Ryder points to a shooting star streaking across the dark sky, and I instinctively squeeze my eyes shut and make a wis
h. When I lean my head back again, it’s against the crook of Ryder’s shoulder.

  This feels like home.

  Chapter 10

  Ryder

  “How do you feel?” I ask with a smirk.

  It’s been about an hour since she ate two of my special brownies. I had to hide the rest of the pan before she devoured them all by herself. For the last few minutes, she’s acted loopy and laughed at everything and nothing.

  “So good. I feel more relaxed than I have in a long time. We should do this every week for the rest of our lives.” She throws her arms out to the side in an exaggerated gesture, but she doesn’t move from my arm otherwise.

  “That may be a tad excessive for you, babe. You can barely hold your liquor.” I chuckle good-naturedly, but I’m actually relieved to see her relaxing her tight grip on the control reins for once. “Just enjoy it for tonight.”

  “Thank you for taking care of me. You’re still the best man I know.”

  I’d forgotten how marijuana loosened her tongue. Livvy has always been the type to keep her innermost thoughts and feelings to herself. That’s how I know the therapy visits would be harder on her than she’d admit. My guess is she learned early to repress her feelings so she wouldn’t be hurt by all the small-town gossip. By her admission earlier, she was only able to hide the pain, not avoid it.

  “Can I ask you something, babe?”

  “Of course. You can ask me anything. You know me better than anyone in the whole wide world.” Her words suggest she’s coherent, but she’s feeling the full effects, judging by all the extra syllables and singsong voice she’s using.

  “How did we get so far off base with our life together? We always talked about traveling to different places and enjoying each other while we had time alone.” Maybe it’s unfair to ask her now, but I haven’t been able to get a straight answer otherwise.

  “Yes, we did plan that, but we were going to do it after we raised a family. You said you wanted a little girl like me and a little boy like you. We were going to have it all, you and me. But you changed our plans without talking to me first, Ry. If we leave here and travel around the world like your parents are doing, we won’t have enough time left to have kids while we’re young. We’re already thirty years old. How much longer do you think we have to wait? I don’t know of any way we can get what we want and still keep each other.”

  “Why is having children so important to you? We have each other, babe. We’ll always have each other. Is it because all your friends have kids? Or because the people here expect it and look at you differently because we don’t?”

  “It has nothing to do with them, Ry. A baby would be a combination of you and me. A little piece of each of us that carries on long after we’re gone. Something that ties us together for all eternity. Growing up as an only child was lonely most of the time. I want a house full of love, laughter, and happiness. But I only want that life with you, Ryder.”

  She leans over and lays her head on my lap. I push the hair out of her face, letting my fingers graze her skin. I’m too stunned and moved with emotion to speak at the moment, so I watch her in silence. She remembers exactly what I said about having kids while we were still in college. While part of me meant every word, another part spoke the words to be romantic. Fantasizing about our future was a fun pastime for two young adults who didn’t have the extra money to do much more.

  Her wealthy parents always tried to pay her way to make her life easier, but she rarely accepted their generosity. I thought her refusal of their help was strange at first. But then I got a closer look inside the Anderson household, and everything made so much more sense. As long as I’ve known them, her parents haven’t been the affectionate type. They made appearances at special functions and supported Liv, but it always seemed to be from afar.

  Too many people around here assumed she skated by on her family’s wealth and connections, so she wanted to prove to herself and everyone else that she could be a success on her own accord.

  “Your parents traveling all the time while you were growing up bothered you more than you ever showed me, didn’t it?”

  She turns on her side, giving me her back, and draws invisible circles on my leg. “Maybe.”

  “You never mentioned that to me, babe. Why’d you keep it from me?”

  She lifts one shoulder, a vague response she gives when she doesn’t want to talk about something. “Have you ever been afraid you’d fail at something you wanted more than anything?”

  “Yes.” I’m afraid I’ll fail to stop this divorce. Terrified I’ll lose you for good. Petrified of what I’ll have to admit when the time comes.

  “If I don’t talk about how much something affects me, I don’t have to deal with how disappointed I am when everything goes wrong.”

  I’ve gained more insight into her in one night than all our years together combined. Maybe we should do this once a week after all. Except, I may have cheated somewhat since I didn’t eat any of the brownies and had no intention to partake from the start.

  “Hey, I have another fun idea, if you’re game.” I rub the back of her neck, focusing on the knots in her muscles and the tight chords of ligaments and tendons.

  “What’s your idea?”

  “Let’s sneak out to old Mr. Davis’s bridge and go skinny-dipping. It’s late, so we should be the only ones out there. We’ll start our own nudist colony in the woods here in Mason Creek.”

  “On one condition.” I feel her cheek lift with her secret smile.

  “Name it.” Whatever her condition is, I’ll meet it with bells on.

  “Bring another brownie for us. I know you hid them. We need one for the road… or the trail. Whatever.”

  “You can have one more, but only after our swim. I don’t want you passing out while we’re in the water.”

  “Fine, but only because I’m not ready to go to sleep yet.”

  “Do you see anyone around?” She whisper-shouts at me, so if anyone is around, they absolutely know we’re here too.

  “I don’t see anyone, babe. Do you really care if anyone else is here or not though?” I smile down at her, knowing she doesn’t give a shit about anything tonight.

  “Nope. Let’s swim.” She waggles her eyebrows at me, then lifts her shirt over her head. When she’s stripped down to her birthday suit, she rushes to the water’s edge and jumps in.

  When she surfaces, she screams loudly.

  “Did you forget how cold the water is?” I can’t help but laugh as I shed my clothes and join her.

  “I’m certain it’s never been this cold before. We’ll need a dip in a hot tub somewhere to thaw out after this.” Her teeth chatter, but her happiness doesn’t wane.

  “If your lips turn blue, we’re getting out.”

  “You’ll have to drag me out of here.” She jumps on me and pushes down on my shoulders until my head is underwater. She thinks she has the upper hand until I grab her around the ribs and start tickling her.

  When I resurface, her squeals of laughter fill the air, echoing off the mountains and reverberating back to us. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire town heard her and came to investigate. Tonight, she wouldn’t care if that happened, either.

  Since we’ve caused enough ruckus for the night, I ease up on the torture and simply hold her in place instead. Then she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. Water sloshes between us as she inches closer.

  “This could be a very bad idea, Liv. You know what trouble this got us into last time.” I’m trying to be a gentleman, but she’s trying to have her way with me.

  Only one of us can keep trying.

  “You don’t seem to have the problem of a cold-water willy tonight.” She wiggles her hips against me. “Feels like Big Daddy Dong wants to play with me.”

  “There isn’t a glacier in the world cold enough to quench my desire for you, babe. If we stay like this much longer, you’ll have that hot tub you asked for earlier.”

  Her eyes
drop to my mouth. Then her tongue darts out, wetting her lips.

  There’s no way we won’t get busted for this. We’ll be in the gossip column against first thing in the morning. By Monday morning, we’ll have another conversation with Judge Nelson about why we’re filing for a divorce when we keep getting caught having sex during our separation period. We’ll wake tomorrow to another awkward encounter where we won’t know how not to be with each other. This may even set us back further than we are now.

  “I can read your mind, Ry. Stop overanalyzing everything. You’re the one who encouraged me to relax and let go tonight. Now it’s your turn. We’ll deal with tomorrow when it gets here. Be here with me tonight though… wherever we are.”

  “That’s the one thing you never quite got, babe.”

  “What’s that?” Her lazy smile and bloodshot eyes are dead giveaways for how good she’s feeling.

  “You’ve never left my heart, so you’re always with me… wherever I am.”

  “Why do you have to be so perfect for me?”

  One side of my mouth lifts, and I shrug my shoulders. “Just comes naturally.”

  In slow motion, she tilts her head and covers my mouth with hers. I’m hers for the taking, and she eagerly takes me up on the offer. Despite the desperation building inside me, our movements are slow and purposeful. The longer I can keep her in my arms, the better. The more she turns to me, the closer we are to canceling our separation.

  There’s an answer to both our problems. We just haven’t found it yet.

  When she reaches her final release, she clutches me tightly and mutters in my ear, “Now, Ryder.” Her sultry command is all the extra push I need to comply.

  We swim, play, and laugh together for a while longer. Though it’s summer, the nights still cool down significantly here, along with the water temperature. When her lips develop a blue tinge, I insist we dry off and head back to my place.