Brodie's Wish (Cottonwood Falls Book 10)

by Aliyah Burke

  “Remind me again, why we’re friends? And how long has it been since you’ve been properly fucked by your husband?”

  “Too damn long,” Sarah retorted instantly. “How long has it been for you?”

  “Since I fucked or rather got fucked by Grey?”

  “Bitch. Not my man, but one of your own.”

  She snorted. “Hell, it’s been so long, I may not recognize a cock if one walked up to me and bit me.”

  “Need some help with that?”

  The question rolled to her ears on a deep, sexy baritone.

  Over the phone, Sarah paused for a mere moment. “Ohh, sexy voice. Is he cute? I bet he’s hot. Call me later and tell me if it bit you, or you bit it. Then again, I know it’s been a while for you but biting there isn’t nice.” She was gone.

  Pivoting, Shea spotted Brodie standing behind her, a mischievous look in his eyes.

  Fuck.

  αβ

  For the second time since he’d come home to Apple Valley, Brodie was happy he’d done so. Unable to forget Shea after their impromptu meeting, he’d headed back to town, after ensuring his father was fine. He decided he would go to the carnival and rodeo hoping he would run into her again.

  Imagine his surprise when he climbed out of his dad’s truck and saw her red coupe there with that sexy body of hers leaning against it. She hadn’t changed her attire and still had on that dark blue leather jacket that made him long to peel it back and explore all that deliciousness beneath the supple material.

  While he’d at first believed her hair to be black, he noticed in the setting sun it was a dark chocolate brown that curled and hung around her face. Her hair shone and he felt this urge to touch it, to see if it were as soft as he’d thought it would be.

  She flicked her tongue along her lips and his cock stirred in his pants, making him remember how long it had been since he’d been around a woman who made think of something other than where he would get his next drink. He closed the distance between them and held her intense brown gaze. “Did I interrupt?”

  “No, that was just my best friend.”

  Her words didn’t make much sense to him but the way her lips moved had him mesmerized. Her breath was visible in the air and he clenched his hands into a fist to keep from delving his fingers into her hair. “Can I help?”

  She flushed. Her skin took on a slighter redness but not much. “Overheard that, did you?”

  “I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t. And my offer is still there if you need some assistance in being reacquainted with one.”

  She didn’t move for a bit, then she burst out laughing, tipping her head back as the joyous sound poured forth. “Oh God, thank you so much for that! I needed it. I’d been in a shitty mood but this, this did it for me.”

  I wasn’t joking. He smiled. “Glad I could help. Are you staying for the rodeo and carnival?”

  Shea slid closer to him, still leaning against her car. “Are you asking me out on a date, Brodie Wallace?”

  He answered her move by sliding himself closer. “Sounds like it to me.” Leaning in, he inhaled and nearly groaned over the scent of what he swore was a candied apple surrounding her. “God, you smell good.”

  “So do you.”

  Her whispered words encased his cock in iron. Her breath felt warm along his lips and he struggled to keep his gaze on her face. Well aware if he looked at her mouth he would have to taste those plump temptations.

  “Are we staying out here or going in where it’s warmer.”

  “You cold?” He wasn’t.

  “No.”

  A child’s excited squeal broke the bubble surrounding them. He blinked a few times and stepped back a couple of inches. Offering his arm to her, he smiled when she took it without hesitation.

  “Just so you know, I’m hungry.”

  “Me too,” he muttered. “Although, I doubt we’re talking about the same thing.”

  “Don’t bet on that, Brodie.”

  Her words eased the monster riding his libido harder than the cowboys who would be trying for eight seconds on the back of a bull tonight. They walked to the door of the arena and he held it for her, swinging in behind her and reaching for her arm, again.

  Since the carnival was here, lots of small food vendors had set up around and he waited to see where she would direct him first.

  “Tell me about you. What have you been doing since you left Apple Valley.” She led him to a stand with popcorn. “One please, large.”

  He reached for his wallet but paused when she dug a wad of bills from her pocket. “I got this round. Anything for you from here? Or you want something else?”

  Brodie got a thing of candy. “This way we can share.”

  She sent him a mock scowl as they walked on. “Not sure about that. I love my popcorn and don’t share well.”

  He dug into the mixed bag he’d gotten and pulled out a piece. “Open up.” He tapped the candy on her closed mouth. “Come on. Open for me, Shea.”

  Her pupils dilated and her plump lips parted.

  His dick dug even harder into the zipper of his pants as he imagined her on her knees opening her delectable mouth to take his cock between her lips.

  Brodie pushed the chocolate ball into her mouth. While she chewed, he brushed a curl back behind her ear only to find a raven earwrap. One wing ran down the majority of her ear below the bird’s head. The second wing peeked over the top. The black feathers were edged in silver and the lone visible eye represented by a brilliant red gem. “This is stunning.”

  She paused in her chewing, her eyes slightly glassy. “This is fucking delicious. What did you give me?”

  He smiled. “That was a s’mores marshmallow chocolate ball. If you share, I share.”

  “I’ll share.” She gripped his bag of mixed candies. “What else do you have in there?”

  He chuckled and let her root around for whatever her heart desired.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “No problem, I told you I would share.”

  “I meant for the compliment on my raven.” She had heard him and hadn’t forgotten.

  He gave her his candy bag and took her popcorn then guided them to the side of the area. For a small town, they sure didn’t lack for noise. Or decorations.

  Christmas music, laughter, and folks decked out in holiday themed clothing joked and laughed. It’d always been an event that brought the whole town from the regular people like him to the mayor, Sarah Jane Jones. Her father had been the governor at one point in his life. Hell, when he’d been picking out his candy, he’d spied country superstar, Connor Mason toward the other end, signing autographs and mingling.

  Claiming the seat beside her, he smiled at a little girl toddling by with her hand firmly in her father’s. She wore reindeer antlers on and a pair of elf boots. He popped some popcorn into his mouth and chewed slowly. A child, something he’d wanted for a while but hadn’t believed he was ready to be a fit parent. Hell, he was hardly a fit son.

  Shea nudged him with her shoulder and he glanced to his left. She took his breath away. Her eyes sparkled and her lips held a perpetual grin that had him wondering what was going on in that mind of hers. Her features were soft and he had no doubt she didn’t mind being here.

  I wonder how long she’s home for? Not that it mattered, because he didn’t have any idea how long he would be around.

  “You haven’t told me what you’ve been doing since you left here?”

  A subject he still didn’t want to discuss. Trying to figure out where to start, he sighed in partial relief and part frustration when the phone at his side rang. “One moment.” He gazed at the screen and his heart sank. His father. “Everything okay, Dad?” In his periphery, he watched Shea sit up and pay attention. His stomach rolled as he waited anxiously for his father to respond.

  “The heat isn’t working son. I’m cold.”

  The man’s teeth were chattering so bad; Brodie could hardly make out the sentences. “I’m on my
way.” He shot to his feet.

  Shea followed suit. “What’s wrong? Can I help?”

  “Heat went out in the house and my dad can’t fix it.” He tried handing her the popcorn back. “I have to get going.”

  “Let me help.”

  “It’s not necessary,” he said.

  “Maybe not, but it is the right thing to do. I’ll follow you.”

  While he didn’t want her to see the condition of the trailer, he stopped arguing since he needed to get home. They hustled outside into the cold and he swore once more time that his father was in a house with no heat.

  He jumped in the truck and started the old engine. Driving away, he took a peek in the rear view and saw Shea behind him in her coupe. The drive didn’t take too long but, in his mind,, it seemed like forever. He’d pushed the truck as much as he’d dared.

  Parking in the front yard, he hopped out and ran for the door. “Dad,” he called out pushing in the house.

  His father sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket, chattering. The temperature was no warmer in here than it had been outside. Nothing was in the wood stove either and that had been burning when he left.

  He hurried to his father’s side. “Damnit Dad, why didn’t you call me sooner?”

  The man peered up at him, tears in his eyes. “I tried to start the stove, but I put out what was in there.” His rasped words were difficult to decipher.

  “That’s okay.” He rubbed his hands along his arms.

  “Brodie,” Shea called in a soft voice, reached him.

  He turned and went to her side. “What?”

  “You need to get him warmed up or he’s going to have to go to the hospital. I can start the fire in here and once that’s up and running, he can stay there while we fix the heater. But he needs more than that blanket. Warm clothing and warm food.”

  Yes, Brodie knew that, he just felt glad she cared and he knew she could easily handle making a fire. “Thank you.” He returned to his Dad. “Come on, let’s get you some more clothes on and then we’ll put some soup in you to warm up while she starts the fire.”

  “Who is she? Were you on a date?”

  Brodie rolled his eyes and smiled. “Come on Dad.”

  Within thirty minutes, he had his father in his comfortable chair near the stove as it churned out heat, with a hot drink nearby. He and Shea were outside looking at the old heater. She’d been handing him tools as he fixed it. Just a patch job, he would have to buy another tomorrow and install it but this would work until then. “I think that’s it,” he said.

  “Let me go in and see if it has kicked on.” She vanished only to call out in a few moments, “You got it, Brodie. All good in here.”

  He crawled back to his feet and brushed off his knees. Gathering his tools, he headed for the house, taking a bit longer just to make sure it wasn’t going to crap out on him overnight. When he finally made it back inside, he paused just inside the door, smiling at the heat coming from the vent nearest him.

  The house was hot to him but he’d been out in the cold and it wasn’t about him but his father. His father’s laughter reached him. He cocked his head to the side and listened in on the conversation.

  “I remember that time. Now, since he wouldn’t tell me, you can. Were you on a date with my son?”

  “No, we weren’t on a date. We ran into each other in the parking lot and walked into the rodeo together.”

  “He’s a good man you know. He doesn’t think so, but he is.”

  “Of course he is, Mr. Wallace. You raised him.”

  “It wasn’t easy.”

  “Let me refill your soup. I suspect raising a child isn’t ever easy.”

  “He had some problems.”

  “Mr. Wallace, even children with two parents have problems. You and my father could exchange stories until the cows came home about how I’m the one who turned his hair gray for all my shenanigans. It’s what we do. Give you heart trouble, gray hair, and probably a few ulcers or two. Here you go, eat some more of that.”

  “I’ll eat for you, you’re beautiful.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What do you do? I don’t think you’re living here anymore.”

  “I’m not living here, just home for the holiday. I’m in the Marines. A pilot.”

  “Pilot?”

  Hell, even his ears perked up at that statement from her.

  “Yes, sir. I fly Super Cobras.”

  “Are you in the Army?”

  “No Sir,” she said gently. “Marines. What we fly is a variant of their Cobra.”

  “I know helicopters. I flew the Duce in Vietnam for the short time it was used there. I wish I could fly in one again.”

  Brodie almost sank to the floor, his father never talked about his time during the war. And yet, here he was opening up to a woman who by all accounts, he just met.

  “I know about that helicopter. Thank you sir, for your service.”

  “Thank you for saying that.”

  Brodie hadn’t ever thanked his father for serving and hearing the quaver in his voice made him feel lower than scum on the bottom of a fish bowl. He stepped into the main part of the trailer. “What’s going on in here?”

  Shea smiled at him as she tucked the blanket back around his father. “I believe Mr. Wallace was trying to convince me I should go on a date with you.”

  “My father is a very smart man; you should listen to him.”

  He didn’t miss the wink Shea gave his Dad or the thankful smile, he sent her in return.

  Chapter Three

  Shea shifted on the couch and rotated her ankles. Mr. Wallace had gone to bed a while ago, but instead of heading back to the rodeo, she and Brodie opted to stayed to make sure the heat issue didn’t happen again.

  He sat on the couch as well, at the other end but they both had their feet out to the wood stove and the heat it produced.

  “Thank you,” he said after a while of chatting about neutral topics.

  “For what?”

  “What you did tonight. Coming out here, spending time with my father.”

  “I’m glad I was able to. He’s a great man.” She turned a bit toward him. “And you are a wonderful son, don’t think otherwise.”

  Brodie grunted and shook his head.

  Shea set her drink to the side and reached over to grab his arm. “You are, Brodie.”

  “What kind of son allows the heat to completely go out in his father’s old trailer when the man is fragile and sick? Sure as fuck isn’t a good one.”

  “One who dropped everything and came back to fix it, the second he knew about the problem.”

  “Really? Let’s recap.” It seemed by his expression, he couldn’t seem to disguise the anger he had toward himself at that moment.

  Normally, Shea didn’t deal with drama, but she actually liked this guy and his father both, so she was willing to let him rail for a bit. She crossed her arms. “Go ahead.”

  He gave her a frown. “I was a pain in his ass growing up.”

  “Typical kid,” she countered.

  “I joined the Army and after six years, get dishonorably discharged.”

  She fought the need to sneer because deep down, she knew that things weren’t always what they seemed on the surface. Surely, there was a good reason for what he was discharged for. “Is that all?”

  “Not even close. I didn’t come home, didn’t check on my sick father but instead, traveled around the country working odd construction jobs for cash under the table.”

  She shot him a pointed look. “And when your father called?”

  “I came home immediately.”

  “So where in all of that, what says you’re a bad son? Look, Brodie. My mother had to threaten me to get me home. I’ve been creating excuses for years now. Hell, it’s been eight, count them, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, years that I haven’t come home merely because I didn’t want to be back in this small town. I lied and made up excuses to my parents. It’s what
we do, we are human.”

  He angled toward her and she was hard pressed not to focus on the thick bulge between his legs. Man’s packing, that’s no lie. Her core grew slick as she imagined him powering into her, driving her toward heights of ecstasy, a place she hadn’t been to in so long.

  “So you have nothing to say about me being dishonorably discharged?”

  “Are you looking for a fight?” She exhaled sharply. “No, I have nothing to say about it. You served. For whatever reason, it didn’t work out for you.”

  “You’ve been in for years, Shea. Will probably retire in uniform. I was kicked out. I wasn’t stable enough to do my job of killing people. They couldn’t trust me to kill the right people anymore.”

  “So you want to do this now, fine.” She rolled her shoulders. “Let me hear it then. It’s obviously eating at you. Then spit it out, get it off your chest.” She watched him war with himself and despite the edge to her words, her heart went out to him. It hadn’t been a lie; she didn’t hold his discharge against him. She knew men, great men, heroes who’d been dishonorably discharged for stupid reasons and for doing what they’d been trained to do.

  “I drank.”

  Shea blinked. “Is that all?”

  “To excess. After one tour in the sandbox, where I lost most of my men, I started drinking. It got so bad, it’s what went into my canteen instead of water. My hands weren’t steady, unless I had alcohol in my system. Or so I’d led myself to believe.”

  “So, when you were found out, they kicked you out, instead of getting you help.”

  “I was a good scapegoat when a mission went wrong.”

  “Were you at fault?”

  He pursed his lips and shook his head. “Wasn’t even there but since most of what I did was off the books anyway, there wasn’t any way for me to prove I wasn’t where they said I was.”

  Anger burned within her gut. “Bastards.”

  “The people I knew, and thought were my friends turned their backs on me. I wasn’t part of them any longer.”

  “What did you do for the Army, Brodie?”

  His hesitation told her all she needed to know about him that his racing home to his father hadn’t. His honor ran deep and unwavering in his blood. He hadn’t done anything to disrespect his uniform. She waved it off. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked.” I’m going to have to mention him to Harrier. They may want someone with his skill set and I have no doubt Harrier or Cade could find out what he’d done in the Army.