“Okay, Beaumont.”
He chuckles, lifting his hand and running his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, see you later.”
Without another word, I watch him walk away from me. His ass encased in tight jeans make me practically swoon in my spot.
Turning around, I make my way inside my shop and open up for the day. I search for a vase in the shop. I don’t have one anywhere, but I do uncover a plastic water pitcher so I fill that up and set the roses inside deciding to display them on the small desk in the front.
“Well, someone apologized.” Laurie chuckles. “What happened?”
I freeze, lifting my gaze to her. When she sees my face, she must realize that it’s much more complicated than she thought. All humor completely disappears.
“Hutton?”
Pinching my eyes closed, I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. Beaumont and Louis took care of it and today Beaumont is finishing up. He asked me to move in with him,” I whisper.
“Wait. Is he here?”
I nod. She doesn’t reply immediately. Instead, she whips out her phone and I know that she’s looking him up on her celebrity gossip sites. I hear her gasp, but I don’t ask her what’s wrong. I’m not sure that I want to know. He already told me that he fired Brian and his manager. I’m sure the gossip sites are having a field day with that.
“Andi Anderson, she was seen at the Austin airport last night...” She pauses, then lifts her eyes to mine. “Wait, you were supposed to stay at Beaumont’s last night. Was she there?” she hisses.
Shaking my head, I walk over to my salon chair and sink down. “Yeah, I left. She and I got into an argument.”
“About what?” Laurie screeches.
I snort. “About the fact that she was naked in Beaumont’s bed and she’s the one who took pictures and video of us together in California. She threatened to send them to the media. I didn’t want to deal with her, so I went to my PawPaw’s.”
“Shiiiiiit,” she sighs. “Jesus, you call your best friend when stuff like that goes down. What’s wrong with you?”
I can’t help it, I burst out in a giggle. “Sorry, I was a bit pre-occupied.”
“How’d she look naked?”
Rolling my eyes, I open my mouth to tell her when my first client of the day walks in. I mouth to Laurie that I’ll tell her later, then I go about working for the day. Once again, my entire day is full of questions about Beaumont. Except, today, I find that I don’t mind talking about him or us.
This is all real, this life is about us and our future, which seems like it’s going forward—on fast forward.
BEAUMONT
“Well, you don’t fuck around.” Louis points out as I make my way toward the sheriff building’s steps. He’s standing with his back resting against the side of the wall. He’s got a shit-eating smirk on his face and his eyes are dancing.
Shaking my head, I shrug one of my shoulders. “What’s the point in fucking around?” I ask.
“Media is buzzin’ over her being in the Austin airport. Who leaked that?” he asks with a wry look.
“No clue,” I lie.
He chuckles, his green eyes searching mine. “Smart move. Court of public opinion is a lot less lenient than the justice system.”
“It’s the God’s honest truth.”
Together, we walk into the sheriff’s office where my attorney has come all the way from Austin to file the temporary restraining order with the county.
The process doesn’t take long, just a few moments to fill out and file the paperwork with a promise for a hearing soon with a judge. Another reason why I’ll be staying in town for a while.
“You need me for anything else?” my local Austin attorney asks as we make our way outside.
Clearing my throat, I think about the pre-nup that my attorney in Los Angeles suggests I have drawn up, then I shake my head.
I could ask Hutton for one, but she fell for me when I was nothing. She has her own shit going on, I’m not worried about her asking for anything and honest to God, if this shit doesn’t work out in twenty years, she can have half of everything.
My attorney leaves and once again, I’m alone with Louis. He doesn’t say anything right away, but I can tell that he has something to say. I wait him out, because he doesn’t give his opinion often, but he’s the only other person that I can talk to about this life, at least who would understand.
“Did I do the wrong thing?” I ask.
He snorts. “With Andi? No. Never.”
“With Hutton?”
“Which part?”
“Any of it.”
Louis shrugs. “I’m not one to talk. Got a girl I can’t have just up the street. But, no, personally I don’t think you did anything wrong. I think it was pretty fuckin’ brave to leave that comeback tour to take care of your woman this way.”
“Love her,” I admit.
He nods his head. “Know you do, brother. She’s not hard to love.”
“When it’s right, it’s a hell of a lot easier than when it’s wrong.”
Louis just lifts his chin, obviously not believing me, but he will—one day. “Dinner tomorrow with the gang? They’re going to want to see you now that you’re back, assess that you’re sober and good.”
I chuckle. “I am.” I nod.
“Know you are, Beau. Damn proud of you holding your shit together during all of this. Know it must have been hard.”
“It’s not over yet.”
He dips his chin. “Know that too, but you got this.”
He starts to walk away from me, then pauses and looks back over his shoulder. “Text Wyatt and get dinner set up, the women will be pissed you don’t.”
Shaking my head, I call out, “Wanna see that baby anyway.” I shrug.
Louis’ teeth flash me a wide white smile then he turns and walks away. I watch him for a moment, then begin to make my own way toward my truck. First thing I did this morning was drop off my rental car, pick up my truck, then buy my woman flowers.
My phone rings in my pocket and I answer it without looking at the Caller ID. “You sure you want us to do this?” my attorney in Los Angeles asks.
“I’m sure. You got something for me?”
“I’ll send you over the bullet points. Naturally, I always write myself a couple loopholes, in case shit goes south, as it often does with these things. You’re good and I’ve already contacted a couple people that I think you would get along well with to represent you as far as management goes. The venues have all been notified and we’re in the process of rescheduling for six months from now, including all pre-sold tickets to the events.”
“Thanks, means a hell of a lot,” I say.
I end the call with a promise to come back to town and go through an extensive meeting with him about all of the changes I’m making. The changes that I’m making aren’t just with Brian and Daniel.
My record company won’t be very happy about the changes that I have, I’m sure, but I don’t really give a fuck. In a couple of weeks, the entire Beaumont Griffin brand will be overhauled and I’ve got some ideas that I am not willing to compromise on.
Making my way toward a small house at the edge of downtown, I lift my hand and knock on the door. It swings open and I’m met with a shell of a woman that I once knew. She lifts her chin proudly, her eyes looking down her nose at me.
“I forgive you, Chelle,” I rasp.
Her chin drops immediately as do her shoulders. I don’t allow her to respond, I don’t need to hear anything from her. Instead, I turn around and walk back toward the town square. I inhale deeply, smelling the Texas air around me.
There’s something different about the way the air smells here. Maybe it’s the cedar trees or the grass. Fuck, maybe it’s the goddamn cactus. I don’t know, all I know is that life is just a little sweeter when I’m home.
Reaching for the handle of the small store door in front of me, I tug it open and step inside.
“Beaumont Griffin, it’s be
en a while since I’ve seen that mug of yours.”
Grinning, I shake my head. “Haven’t needed anything from your store in a long while,” I admit.
“Last time wasn’t even for yourself, didn’t you buy a watch as a gift?” he asks.
Nodding, I grin, remembering the watch that I’d bought for my granddad right before he passed. I don’t even know if he got the chance to wear it. The purchase was my first big one when I felt like I’d hit it big.
“Lookin’ for something a little flashier than a watch today.” I smile.
“What’ll it be?”
My eyes glance around the shop until I see the ring case. “What’s your engagement ring selection look like?”
Epilogue
THREE WEEKS LATER
HUTTON
I hear the ocean waves move in and out, a calm that I didn’t even know existed comes over me. Slipping out of bed, I make my way out on the small balcony where I know that Beaumont is sitting. He’s most likely naked with a guitar in his lap, a pad of paper on the table next to him and a cigarette dangling from between his lips.
The light catches my hand and I glance down, smiling at the sight of the delicate diamond solitaire that rests on my ring finger, never to be removed. Unable to stop the smile on my lips, I wonder if I will ever get used to seeing the diamond.
I wonder if I will ever wake up from this dream.
Slowly, I make my way downstairs. Turning toward the back porch area, I pause before I walk outside. Standing in front of the glass door, I watch Beaumont. He’s just as I predicted, unable to sleep, he slipped out of bed naked and he’s creating music.
I listen to him through the door and close my eyes at the haunting sound of the new song he’s been working on. His new music is so different from anything else that he’s ever produced before, but I absolutely love it.
There are definitely some deep country origins to his new music, which I think is my favorite aspect because Beaumont has those roots. He’s from Texas, and although he’s rock-and-roll, he’s also country to the core.
He turns around, his eyes finding mine over his shoulder and he jerks his chin. Opening the door, I step outside then close it behind me. I’m wearing nothing but Beaumont’s t-shirt from the day before as I walk over to him.
Glancing down, I’m surprised to see that he’s wearing a pair of boxer briefs instead of nothing at all. He only wears them when he comes outside in the middle of the night, unless we’re on the ranch in Gallup, then he goes completely nude. He smirks as he sets his guitar to the side and wraps his fingers around my wrist before tugging me down on his lap.
His thumb immediately finds my ring and I feel him circle it, as though he needs the reminder that it’s there. That he dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him the night he came back from his shortened tour.
“Can’t sleep?” I ask unnecessarily.
He hums, his mouth touching the back of my neck. He shifts my hair to the side, before his tongue licks the entire side of my neck.
“Beaumont,” I whimper.
He chuckles before nipping my skin with his teeth. “Had to write. Had to play. I woke up and looked over at you and I just had to get some shit out.”
Turning my head, I look back at him. “Me?” I ask.
He smiles. “Yeah, you. Fuck, Hutton. You have no clue what you do to me, do you, darlin’?”
With a sigh, I shift a bit more in his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck and close the distance between us. Touching my mouth to his, I breathe him in before I whisper against his lips.
“Whatever it is I do to you, trust me, you do it tenfold to me.”
He smirks as he shakes his head. His lips touch mine as he gathers me a bit closer. My breath hitches when I feel his fingers slowly dance up the outside of my thigh, slipping beneath the shirt I’m wearing.
“Beaumont,” I warn.
He grins. “You already know, cigarettes, writing, and your sweet pussy is the only way I’ll get back to sleep, darlin’.”
“How about all of that inside?” I ask. “Except the cigarette,” I say, scrunching up my nose.
Without a word, I watch as he stubs his cigarette out into the glass ashtray that’s on the table next to his pad of paper and pen. He slips his arm beneath my knees and the other wraps around my back as he slowly stands to his feet.
Laughing, I wrap my arms around his neck as he carries me into the house. The door slams closed behind us and my breath hitches when he doesn’t take me upstairs, but instead lowers me onto the coffee table in the middle of the living room.
This home doesn’t feel like Beaumont’s. It’s obvious that he doesn’t spend much time here and he doesn’t really care much about it. This place is definitely just to lay his head at night. I can’t deny that I’m kind of glad he’s going to sell it. I can tell he’s not even really comfortable here.
His hands slide up the insides of my legs, spreading them apart as he sinks down to his knees in front of me. Beaumont doesn’t say anything immediately, instead his gaze focuses between my thighs. I wait for him to speak, and finally he awards me with his words, his thoughts, since I can’t read him right now.
“Marry me the day we get back,” he states.
“Beaumont?”
His eyes finally lift to mine and there’s a smirk twitching on his lips. “We’ll be back in town in two weeks, marry me then. I’ll take care of everything. You just show up in whatever the fuck you want to wear. Jeans if you want.” He shrugs.
“Why so soon?” I ask.
His smile drops slightly and his eyes intently focus on mine. “Don’t have any family of my own anymore. I only have my friends. You only got your PawPaw. Figured you wouldn’t want anything big, but if you do, then I’ll make it happen, Hutton. You deserve whatever you want.”
Reaching forward, I cup his cheeks with my hands, my fingers scratching his bearded jaw. “All I need is you and my PawPaw. Nobody else. Two weeks works. Let me call the girls, maybe they can help?”
“Tell Laurie she has carte blanche to make it the wedding of your dreams.”
Tilting my head to the side, I grin. “I think you should give her a budget.” I laugh softly.
He shakes his head. “Nope. Whatever she thinks you want and she can do it in two weeks, it’s fine with me. I’ll take care of the justice of the peace and getting your PawPaw there.”
“You haven’t even asked him for my hand,” I point out, arching a brow.
Beaumont’s fingers slowly massage up my thighs, his thumbs dangerously close to my center and I can’t help but moan as the sensation skitters over my entire body. Beaumont laughs, then without saying a word, I watch him dive between my legs.
One of my hands automatically lifts, gripping hold of his hair and pulling him closer, needing all of him. His tongue slides through my center, tasting me before it swirls around my clit. My head falls back as a long groan escapes my throat.
Shifting my hips, I widen my legs and shiver as his beard scrapes my inner thighs. He doesn’t stop, doesn’t slow, and his tongue takes over until my entire body breaks out in a shiver and quakes. When I finally come, it’s with a silent scream as I grip his hair much tighter than I intend.
TWO WEEKS LATER
BEAUMONT
Mr. Baker watches me. He’s not as fragile as Hutton would have me believe. I watch as he leans back in his chair, then tilts his head to the side. He inhales a deep breath, then lets it out. I see a lot of Hutton in him, especially in his very quiet, but extremely assessing demeanor.
“You’ll do right by her. She deserves the best,” he says.
“Always.”
He nods once, his eyes shifting over to where Hutton is huddled with Laurie. Our wedding day is tomorrow, tonight we’re just having a small gathering to go over details and specifics since we only arrived back in town this morning.
“She deserves everything good in life. Didn’t have much of it in the beginning, figure she’s due for some happine
ss.”
Shifting my gaze from Hutton’s, I look over at the man who practically raised her. The only man that she considers a father figure in her life.
“I didn’t have much of a great start either, sir,” I begin. “Then messed up a bunch in the middle. Hoping that I’m finally getting some things right, know that Hutton is who I want at my side.”
He nods his head a couple of times. “Seems like you have more in common than appearances would suggest,” he says with a deep rasp.
“Yes, sir.”
“She knows I won’t be here forever, knows my place is next to her grandmother. Glad to see her settled with a young man who knows her worth. You do, don’t you?”
“She’s worth everything. I don’t deserve her. I don’t think that I ever could. I’m sure going to spend the rest of my life trying though.”
“Smart answer, boy.”
I let out a small chuckle as does he. “Thank you for loving her, for making her childhood as good as it could be. She appreciates you.”
There’s a moment of silence and I look over to see tears swimming in his eyes as he watches Hutton across the room.
“Should have done so much for her. Looking back, realizing my own short-comings, I should have fought harder for her.” His eyes shift back over to me. “Always fight, Beaumont. Fight for her, fight for what is right even if it’s hard, do it.”
Nodding my head, I reach for his arm and wrap my fingers around his forearm before giving him a gentle squeeze. “Yes, sir. Always.”
He clears his throat and my hand drops as Hutton bounds toward us. She has a look of worry on her face, of seriousness. “Excuse me,” I murmur to Mr. Baker.
“Take care of your bride,” he says.
Walking toward her, I meet her halfway and tip my chin down to look into her eyes as my hands wrap around her waist. I frown, noticing that there is definitely something wrong, but I can’t put my finger on it. I can’t read her.
“It’s about Laurie,” she whispers. My entire body relaxes, glad to know that it isn’t about us, about her. Issues with Laurie I can handle. “She’s pregnant,” she announces.
FRAUD: An Unfit Hero Novel Page 28