“Hello, Mr. Hampton,” Bree said warmly.
The old man had a mischievous twinkle in his kind blue eyes as he adjusted his bifocals. “You sure are a sight for sore eyes, my dear.”
She laughed as she grasped the elderly gentleman’s hand. “It’s so good to see you,” she gushed. “It seems as though it’s been forever since I last saw you.”
The old man looked at her in confusion. “I just saw you a couple of weeks ago, don’t you remember? You and Scott were at the movie theater here in town.”
She cleared her throat as she ran her fingers through her windblown hair. “Of course,” she murmured. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You’re probably just a little bit distracted. With the two of you expecting and all.”
“How did you hear about that?” Bree questioned. “We haven’t said anything to anybody but Scott’s family.”
“Are you kidding?” The man chuckled as he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and removed his bifocals, cleaning the lenses with one hand. “Your motherin-law has been telling anyone who will listen. Just between you and me,” he murmured as he leaned to whisper into her ear, “she has been seen in numerous stores in town, baby-shopping.”
A grin spread across Bree’s face as she imagined her dear motherin-law doing just that. It was hard to keep secrets in a small town; she was sometimes amazed anyone ever tried. She bowed her head to whisper to the kindly man. “It will be our little secret,” she agreed. “Have you seen where Scott disappeared to?” she asked, looking around the nearly empty lot.
“He headed around toward the back five or ten minutes ago. He looked upset about something. I was afraid the two of you might have had a row.”
She couldn’t help but grin at the terminology the old man used. A row. Not a fight, or an argument, or even a disagreement. The word he used was “row.”
“Could you do a favor for me?” she questioned as she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ward off the chill in the evening air.
She laughed out loud when the little man gave her a gentleman-like bow.
“I could never say no to a pretty lady,” he declared with a charming grin.
Bree gave him a secretive wink as she placed a reassuring hand on his gaunt shoulder. “Hold on to that gorgeous blue spruce for me for a few minutes, please. I have to go scare up my husband.”
“You go ahead and do that. I shall guard it with my very life,” he stated dramatically with a twinkle in his eye.
She grinned and gave the old man a friendly hug. “I certainly don’t expect that.”
“Now go on with you!” Mr. Hampton exclaimed as Bree blew him a kiss. She was laughing as she turned and headed out the entrance of the tree farm.
She spotted her husband immediately. He was leaning against the hood of their vehicle, angrily kicking at the fallen snow on the ground.
“Now what did that snow ever do to you?” She teased as she approached him. A shiver rushed up and down her spine, and she forced herself to continue walking. She had to keep reminding herself under her breath that Scott wasn’t Bryan. He may be terribly angry with her, but he would never hurt her. But still, she felt afraid. She just couldn’t seem to stop herself.
She took a deep breath as she gazed into angry brown eyes. “You disappeared on me,” she accused with an embarrassed smile. She crossed her arms against her chest, and Scott could make out the slight shape that was their child.
“We’ll talk about it when we get home,” he grumbled, walking past her, heading for the entrance.
She couldn’t believe this. He was purposely ignoring her! If he thought she was just going to stand there and not say a single word, he had another thing coming. She grabbed him by the arm, clearly catching him off guard. “Just where do you think you’re going?” she demanded.
He was quiet for a couple of minutes, but her steady stare was nearly his undoing. She was mad, and to be perfectly honest, he couldn’t blame her. He removed himself from her grip, his eyes meeting hers. “We can talk about this when we get home,” he repeated. “It’s freezing cold out here, and this can’t be good for either you or the baby.”
“You stalk out here like a bear with a sore paw, you get me all riled up, and now you decide to worry about the baby? Don’t worry; the baby’s fine. But now I am mad as hell. You are being a complete and total jackass!”
Suddenly, her husband let out a good belly laugh. Which just seemed to rile her all the more. “What’s the problem now?” she demanded, her green gaze glacial.
“You’re just so damn cute when you’re mad,” Scott explained as the corners of his mouth began to twitch at her expense. “God, how I love you,” he confessed.
Bree stomped her foot in agitation. “Oh, why did you have to come out and say that? I was getting in the mood for a good row, as Mr. Hampton called it.” Her lips curled into a smile. He walked over to give her a hug, but she quickly sidestepped and then shoved him away. “Go snuggle up to someone else, you big jerk!”
Scott entwined his fingers through hers, and she sighed. “What am I going to do with you?” she asked as his arms came up and wound themselves around her.
“Just love me, darling,” he said as he buried his face into the curve of her neck. “Just love me.”
“Sometimes I would rather just slug you,” she confessed with a grin as she tugged affectionately on his hair. Bree sighed as she settled her auburn head against his chest. “I am so ready to go home,” she murmured as she laced her fingertips through Scott’s. She looked up at him, a secretive smile playing on her lips. “There is a certain blue spruce being held for us by Mr. Hampton. What do you say we run in and pay for it, and then…” she broke off as her fingers stroked the sides of his face.
Her face broke into a smile as she continued, “We can go home and you could light a fire in the fireplace.” Her lips came up and began trailing a path beginning just behind Scott’s left ear, leaving soft kisses leading all the way down the length of his neck. She couldn’t help but grin to herself when she heard her husband groan at her ministrations.
“And then,” she continued with a chuckle as her fingers brushed against his chest. Her emerald green gaze met his chocolate brown stare. “I’m all yours, big boy.” She teased. “But I do think you should know one thing,” she commented with a secretive smile.
“What’s that?” he questioned with a tortured groan.
Bree looked around just to make sure no one could overhear their conversation. Then she turned to face Scott with a grin on her beautiful face. “I’m not wearing any underwear,” she whispered matter-of-factly.
“Damn,” he muttered as his dark eyes roamed hungrily down the long length of his wife’s body. He immediately began to feel his body beginning to harden, even though the temperature outside was almost chilling him to the bone.
She giggled as she grabbed the rough material of his shirt. Tugging on the fabric, her lips grazing the delicate shell of his ear, she challenged, “Race you to the car.”
With those words, she took off, leaving Scott standing there, simply gaping after her. “No fair!” he yelled as his long and lean body ran after her in hot pursuit.
Chapter 9
Bree was wearing a smile on her face as she walked through the front doors of Sexton Books the following morning. She looked over at her husband, amused to find he was wearing an identical grin. She looked down when Scott’s fingers interlocked with her own. She giggled like a schoolgirl when he grabbed her around the waist and pressed her body against his, his mouth nuzzling her on the neck.
She shoved him away playfully, her emerald eyes darting around the length of the lobby. “Quit that!” she shrieked as he pinched her on the backside. “What if someone sees us?” she questioned with a grin.
A mischievous light came to Scott’s eyes as he again reached for his wife. “So what?” he replied with a wink. “All anybody would see is a man who is completely smitten by his gorgeous wife.”
“No, gorgeous,” he corrected as he glanced down at her barely thickened waistline. Catching her by complete surprise, he leaned over and kissed her fully on the lips. Placing a hand protectively across the slight swell, he looked up and lost himself in the green abyss of his wife’s eyes. “You are beautiful,” he stated as his lips met hers once again. “And our baby is beautiful,” he continued as his lips caressed Bree’s.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her words barely reaching Scott’s ears. Her green eyes darkened to jade.
Scott recognized that look in her eyes. It was a look he knew very well. “Later,” he promised with a secretive smile as he placed a single fingertip on her waiting lips.
She jabbed the up arrow on the elevator in annoyance. She didn’t know what she had been thinking. Thoughts of sex while she was at work? That was so unlike her. Maybe she could blame it on her hormones.
*
He smiled as his brown eyes raked down Bree’s body. She was in what he liked to call her professional mode, wearing black high heels that made her long legs seem even longer. No one would be able to guess just by looking, but Scott knew, from simply watching his wife dress that morning, she wasn’t wearing pantyhose. Her slender legs were encased in thigh-highs he couldn’t wait to strip off her. He also knew she was wearing a red lace thong with the matching bra across her high and full breasts. But that would stay their little secret.
She was dressed in a black pencil skirt, and while nobody else could tell, they both knew she had been forced to leave the top button unbuttoned due to her slightly thickening waistline. He nodded with masculine approval at the black shell she wore underneath an emerald green blazer, which made her eyes look luminous. He had to admit, even though Bree worried about gaining too much weight, pregnancy obviously agreed with her.
In Scott’s opinion, his wife had never looked better. He had never been one of those men who had believed a woman glowed while she was pregnant, but in her case, it was the truth. She had always been beautiful, but now, she was positively glowing. She was radiant.
His dark eyes glistened with mischief as the elevator door opened with a ding. Bree was paying him no attention as she walked through the open doors. He grabbed her playfully by the shoulders and pressed her body against the back of the elevator, causing Bree to giggle.
His lips came down to meet hers, and she groaned as his tongue came into contact with hers. He raised his eyebrows suggestively as his finger hovered over the lock button on the elevator panel. “Feel like making love in an elevator?” he proposed.
Bryan Sexton was having one hell of a time trying to concentrate on the company’s financial reports, which were quickly accumulating on his desk. He released a sigh of frustration as he shoved the offending documents onto the floor in one swift motion.
His blue eyes surveyed his surroundings critically. The left side was what he liked to call his “wall of windows.” If he walked over and stared out, he could see the lobby from where he stood. He liked knowing he could peer down and see everybody scurrying around like ants in an ant farm, but they were unable to look up and see him.
His luxurious office was proportionate in size to most football fields. But today, it wasn’t near large enough. He walked away from his desk, pacing the office like a caged tiger. Running his hands through his perfectly coiffed blond hair, he grabbed a framed photograph of his pampered princess of a wife from the top of his desk. He only paused to look at it for a split second before he threw the frame against the wall, a feeling of satisfaction coursing through his veins as he watched the glass shatter all over the floor.
Let the cleaning crew deal with it. I have better things to do.
Placing his fingers against his temple, he could feel the onset of a headache, and he knew the cause for it. It seemed as though everything he had worked for, cheated for, and lied for was beginning to unravel right before his very eyes.
He had fought for way too long for everything to start falling apart now.
The sound of a woman’s high-pitched laughter distracted Bryan from his thoughts. He couldn’t help but cringe at the sound. It reminded him of fingernails scraping against a chalkboard.
He stalked across the expensive plush carpeting and stared out through his wall of windows, his eyes searching throughout the office lobby, trying to locate the individual responsible for interrupting his thoughts. His eyes narrowed into slits as he identified Bree Weston.
His mouth twisted in obvious distaste as he watched the couple’s playful interaction. Bryan’s attention was focused on the stunning Bree, who was using her feminine wiles on her totally oblivious husband. He was following her around like a lovesick puppy, lapping up her attention with a goofy grin on his face, and Bryan sneered, realizing Scott Weston was obviously whipped. He was surprised the man even had the testicles needed to father a child.
Bryan’s well-manicured fingertips drummed against the glass windowpane impatiently while the obvious evidence of his arousal pressed against the crotch of his custom-tailored slacks.
His lack of recent physical intimacy was beginning to get to him, he supposed. His complete bitch of a wife, who was in the process of threatening him with a divorce, had moved into a separate bedroom months ago.
And although he definitely wasn’t heartbroken, the stubborn Susan Weston was still refusing to answer his telephone calls. His numerous attempts at bribery, which included two tickets for a romantic getaway in the Caribbean, a diamond-studded tennis bracelet that had cost more than she would ever see in her lifetime, and two dozen long-stemmed red roses had simply been refused upon delivery.
Bryan had to admit it to himself, though. There was something about the elusive Bree Weston that intrigued him. He couldn’t seem to put his finger on it, but he was drawn to her in some way. Maybe it was because she was completely and absolutely stunning, or maybe it was the added challenge of knowing she was a happily married woman that drew his attention. Whatever it was, he knew without a doubt he had to have her. The desire to seduce her was far too strong to be denied.
He rubbed his hands together with glee. It would be so easy, in fact, almost too easy. After being married to that whimpering little whelp she called a husband, she would thank him for showing her what a real man was like. Maybe he would even have the added bonus of making her fall head over heels in love with him. Then whenever he tired of her, she would run back to her spineless wuss of a husband, her heart broken and shattered.
Bryan chuckled as he watched Scott Weston grab his wife by the shoulders and press her youthful and pliant body against the back of the elevator only moments before the doors closed.
“I hope an unfaithful wife is on your Christmas list this year, Scott Weston, because that’s exactly what you’re going to get!” He spoke underneath his breath and then laughed.
It was time to schedule an employer-employee consultation with Mrs. Bree Weston. After his secretary’s lunch break, he would have her make the call to have Bree summoned to his office. It was time for a little one-on-one.
He turned around and almost skipped back to his desk, now suddenly anxious to tackle his reports, which had been boring only a few short minutes ago. A malicious grin spread across his face as he began to whistle the chorus to “Jingle Bells.”
Chapter 10
“How much do you know, you little bitch?”
The sound of that masculine voice from the deep abyss of her past struck a sliver of fear into the depths of Bree’s heart. She felt as though she couldn’t draw a single breath. She could feel the walls beginning to close in on her.
Bree opened her mouth to speak, when she suddenly realized that no words would come out. There were so many things she wanted to say to this selfish bastard. She wanted to yell at him, she wanted to curse him, she wanted to strike him, she wanted to lash ou
t at him in any way that she could. But now that he didn’t have the power to strike her, she just couldn’t seem to get the damn words out!
With a wicked glint in his blue eyes, he approached her slowly, an evil chuckle erupting from his throat.
Escape was the only thought in Bree’s head at that particular moment. She only knew that for the safety of both her and her unborn child, she had to get out of the office. Right this minute.
She whirled on her heel and without a single word, reached a hand out to grasp the cold metal of the door handle. But when she turned the knob and attempted to open the door, it refused to budge.
Bree looked down when she realized her hands were trembling. She was trapped in this room, and there was no way out. For now, she was at his complete and total mercy. Suddenly, she was afraid. She was afraid for both herself and for her baby. If Bryan had been willing to sacrifice his own child on three different occasions, he wouldn’t even hesitate to snuff out the life of this baby. A baby that she and Scott both wanted so desperately.
“If you want the key,” Bryan taunted with an arrogance that made her want to slap the smugness right off his face, “you will have to come and get it.”
She shivered as he ran his fingers slowly and painfully against the side of her face, his fingernails digging into the sensitive flesh of her cheek.
He chuckled cruelly when Bree cried out in pain as he grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and slammed her body forcefully against the wood-paneled wall.
*
Bryan watched her body fall to the floor with amusement, relishing the fact that a human being was in pain, enjoying the fact that he was intentionally hurting another person.
He grinned when he saw the telltale mark of a bruise forming in contrast against the paleness of her face. By the time he was through with Bree Weston, she would have more than one of his marks on her.
“Tell me what I want to know,” he demanded as he kicked the wall in frustration. His foot narrowly missed Bree, who flinched in response.
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