by Amelia Shea
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked suspiciously.
Stone grabbed her waist and lifted her to a standing position on the bed. She shrieked and gripped his shoulders.
“Wanna kiss you again.”
“Okay.”
He grasped her jeans button, pulled it open, and unzipped her. Sadie gasped as he yanked her jeans to her ankles.
“I thought you wanted to kiss me?” Confusion was written all over her face.
Stone cocked his eyebrow and grinned. “I do!”
He pulled her ankles from under her and she bounced back on the bed. He tore off the jeans as she giggled. He gripped her panties and slowly slid them down her legs. She stared at him with a small smile playing on her lips. She understood exactly where Stone wanted to kiss her now. He tossed her panties and sank to his knees pulling her down further on the bed.
He bent down placing small kisses on her inner thighs and up around her stomach. Sadie started to squirm as he licked her belly and grazed his teeth over her hip and down to her thigh.
“Stone.”
“Yeah?” he said between kissing her inner thigh.
“You’re teasing me,” she muttered with heavy breaths.
Stone smiled. “No more teasing, baby.”
He dove straight to her pussy and dragged his tongue over her clit. She groaned and pressed herself against his mouth. His hands spread across her stomach as his mouth feasted on her. He stroked her clit slowly over and over until she was panting. His mouth devoured her and he sucked her nub between his lips. Her body spasmed and she moaned loudly. She tasted exactly the way Stone thought she would…sweet. His hands continued to caress her stomach leading up to her breasts. He slid his hands under her shirt and bra and squeezed her breasts gently.
“Mmmm…that’s so good.”
Stone traced every inch of her pussy loving the way she tasted and how her body responded to his touch. He spread his mouth over her smooth sweet spot and he felt her fingers in his hair. His tongue stroked her clit, his rhythm increasing as Sadie tightened her grip on Stone’s hair.
“Yea, like that, don’t stop, don’t…”
Stone flicked his tongue faster while kneading her breasts. Sadie moaned again. His tongue stroked her over and over until he sucked her sensitive nub into his mouth.
“Ahhh…”
Stone continued devouring her and released her breast dragging his hands down to her thighs and spreading them wide. His mouth continued its assault on her pussy and stroked her until her body began to shake and he knew she was coming.
“Yes…yes…”
She moved her hips against his mouth until she slowed down and he felt her body go slack. She was breathing heavy and her legs trembled as he released them from his hold.
He kissed her inner thigh before dragging his body up hers. Her face was relaxed and her eyes were dreamy. He smirked; he put that look on her face.
“We should do that again,” Sadie panted. “Soon.”
Chapter Sixteen
It was Sunday night and Sadie was cooking chicken enchiladas once again. She left Stone’s place about an hour ago. The memory gave her chills.
She glanced over at the clock on the stove. Eight fifteen p.m. He should be there soon. She cleaned up her place and replaced the sheets on her bed hoping that Stone would stay the night with her. In extreme girl mode, she even sprayed a light mist of perfume on her sheets. Sadie was doomed, this man had made her fall for him and now look at her—she was love struck.
Her heart fluttered like a kid on Christmas when his truck pulled up in front of her trailer. She peered out the window and saw him hop out and stride to her door. She ran to the door and opened it, and was treated to his gorgeous smile.
“Hey!” Sadie sighed as she took him in. Tall, muscular, sexy, and all hers. She reached up to his shoulders and pulled him down for a quick kiss. Their lips brushed. When she pulled back from him, his arms circled her waist and she was crushed into his chest. She fell into him and his strong arms tightened around her. Chills ran through her down to her core from the soft gentle kisses on her neck trailing to her ear.
“Greeting your man at the door with food waiting? I like it!”
His chest rumbled against her in laughter matching hers. Stone lifted his head and bowed down to meet her lips.
“Only thing better would be you naked,” he mumbled against her lips.
With a seductive coy smile, she winked. “Next time!”
Dinner came out perfect and she served it on a table this time. Stone had three helpings and continued to rave about how good it was.
“Hot and you can cook? Damn, I’m a lucky guy!” He winked.
She blushed at his compliments but she was excited he loved it. He brought over beer, which they drank in the living room while watching the late game.
“So, this football thing? Is this every Sunday?” Sadie asked.
He chuckled and looked over at her. They were sitting next to each other on the couch. He had his feet propped up on her table while hers were curled up underneath her.
“Yeah, babe, every Sunday for about five months.” He was mocking her, and his smirk was proof that she amused him.
“Oh!” She let out a heavy sigh.
He pulled her into him and placed a kiss on her head and whispered, “Gonna have to get used to it!”
She was going to have to get used to it. What did that mean? Every Sunday they would be watching football? Would she be with him every Sunday? Her heart beat faster and a smile spread across her face. Was he staying? With her in Nebraska? Her mind tried to grasp the possibility of Stone staying in Cedar Bluff. Up until now, there hadn’t been any mention of a future for them. She assumed he’d leave in a couple days and that would be the end of them. But maybe he was coming back.
“Is this you?” Stone asked in a tender tone. He brought her out of her daze.
Sadie looked over at him. He was holding the picture frame of her with Aunt Jenn at the park. She was about five. He must have seen it on the end table. She smiled. Sadie loved that picture.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“That your mom?”
Sadie shook her head. “It’s my Aunt Jenn, my mom’s sister.”
Sadie watched Stone inspect the picture, his face softened. He leaned over and put it back on the end table. “You were cute as hell.” She smiled. “You looked really happy, Sadie.”
She nodded, tight lipped. “I was.” She fought back the tears.
Stone hugged her tight and his lips pressed against her head. She missed her Aunt Jenn. She tried to hold the tears back but she couldn’t, her tears fell. All the while Stone held her, rubbing her arm and cradling her into his body.
She fell asleep in his arms.
*
Sadie was nestled in front of him on the couch. She fell asleep sometime in the second quarter, she thought. She was awakened by a beeping and Stone reaching into his pocket which joggled her. Her eyes remained closed but she could hear the game.
“Yeah.” His voice was low and rough.
Sadie could hear the other voice on the line. She couldn’t make out who it was but definitely a man.
“We got a problem, man.”
“What?” Stone asked.
“Shaw.”
“Fuck!” Stone shouted then quickly whispered, “I’ll be there in fifteen.”
Sadie kept her eyes closed as Stone gently freed his arm from her head resting on it and slowly got up from the couch. The TV was turned off and he was walking away. Sadie stayed where she was in her fake sleep. She didn’t want him to see her disappointment. She really wanted him to stay with her tonight. So much for perfume on the sheets.
His hand touched her face and she opened her eyes. “Babe, I gotta run. It's work. Come lock the door behind me.” He sighed with a face full of regret. At least she knew he wanted to stay, he just couldn’t.
Sadie got up and walked behind him. He turned around from the door and held her fac
e in his hands and kissed her. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Go to bed, okay?”
Sadie stretched up to kiss him again and she nodded. She watched him until he got into his truck. Sadie locked the door and waited until she heard the truck leave. When she turned around, she saw the bottles on the counter. She smiled. He cleaned up.
Sadie walked back to the couch and plopped down. “We got a problem, man. Shaw.” The words played in her head. She remembered the name in the article about Cavanaugh. Barry Shaw was his alibi. Virtually the reason he was found not guilty. The article said they had evidence to prove Cavanagh was guilty but Barry Shaw said he was at his restaurant all night with him and provided receipts as proof, and Cavanaugh walked.
Sadie was still trying to figure out what Stone’s job had to do with Bryant Cavanaugh. When she looked on T’s computer, his last arrest was for the murder, which he was tried for. Why were Stone and the guys tracking down a man who hadn’t skipped out on his bond? And why was Shaw a problem? From what she read, he was just a witness. He wasn’t a criminal. She didn’t know why but it bothered her. It just didn’t add up. There was so much secrecy behind all of this, she couldn’t let it go. She’d always been too curious for her own good, her mom always said so.
Sadie picked up her phone from the table. There was no harm in Googling this Shaw guy. If he’d been arrested recently it should come up. Sadie put in his name along with Indiana. Several articles came up including the one from T’s computer. She scrolled further down and saw an article she hadn’t seen on the computer. The headline read: Cavanaugh Defense Slam Dunks with Witness. Sadie clicked on it and on top of the article was a picture from the front of the courthouse. There was a man leaving and the picture was taken as he looked over his shoulder. Sadie zoomed in on his face.
The caption below read, “Barry Shaw, star witness for the defense, leaving the courthouse. He refused to comment on the trial or his testimony.”
Her heart raced as she stared closer at the picture. She knew this guy! She knew Barry Shaw. He was the man that was shot that night at the diner. Sadie knew his face, she waited on him. That was him! Sadie dropped her phone and sank back into the couch. Her mind was reeling as she tried to put the pieces together. Ethan told her the man from the diner was a criminal. Ethan said he pulled out the gun. But according to the paper, Barry Shaw was a witness and, by all accounts, a good guy in his community, a family man.
Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as her mind wandered through the information. What the hell was going on? She just didn’t get it, nothing made sense.
For the next hour, she surfed the Internet for anything related to Cavanaugh and Shaw. There were tons of articles and stories but all dated back three years ago. Nothing was current. There was a website set up for Macey Donavan called “Justice for Macey.” The last update was from a year ago. The blog stated the family would never stop until Macey’s killer was brought to justice but for now the family was stepping away and taking time to heal. The website had previously been updated at least once a week, if not more, since around the time of her murder. But a year ago they just stopped. No updates. No new entries. It was as if they had given up.
More articles proved to be the same. Their story had become old news. Everyone had forgotten about Macey Donavan and Cavanaugh, even her family, it appeared. Everyone except Stone and the guys. Sadie tried to look up recent arrest records for Cavanaugh but came up with nothing. More searching into Shaw showed him to be nothing more than a business owner in the town where he lived with his wife and children.
Uneasiness drifted over her. Something was off.
The next morning while eating breakfast she got a text from Stone.
Stone: Babe
Sadie: hey
Stone: I’ll pick you up in an hour. That enough time?
Sadie: yeah
Stone: later
An hour later Stone was sitting in her living room with her straddling him. She barely had had a chance to open the door when he stormed in, hoisted her up to him and started kissing her. His lips felt amazing; she’d never grow tired of them. Her hands were at the back of his head grabbing his hair as his hands squeezed her butt. He leaned down and licked her neck when she stopped him.
“Wait, Stone, I want to talk for a minute.” Sadie pulled back from him.
“We’ll talk later,” he grunted, pulling her back into him.
“Please, Stone,” she pleaded. “This is important.”
His head tilted back and he moved his hands to her hips. He didn’t look happy about stopping. “Okay. So talk.”
“Tell me about your job,” she inquired, even toned.
He started to laugh. “Babe, I’m a bounty hunter, I do private investigations, you know that. Now come here.” He tried to pull her in but she resisted.
“No, I know, but tell me, what do you do exactly, as a bounty hunter? I want to know.” She placed her hands on his hands that rested on her hips.
He drew back and released a heavy sigh.
“Ethan sets up a bail bond to post bail for the client so they can await their court date out of jail. The client shows up, Ethan gets the money back. If the client doesn’t show up, we find him, bring him back to jail and get our money back that way,” he said, matter of fact and a bit guarded.
“People have to be arrested for you to find them?” Sadie asked, gauging his reaction. She watched his eyes for a sign of deception.
“Yeah,” he said suspiciously.
“So, what did that guy Cavanaugh do then? Why was he arrested?” Sadie watched his eyes grow intense. This was not the intense she had seen before. This was not lustful intense. It was intense fury.
“Why?”
Sadie flinched slightly at his tone and shrugged.
“All you need to know is that is my business and you need to stay out of my fucking business, you got me?” He growled as he pushed her off his lap and onto the couch. He got up and walked to the kitchen.
“I just want to know what he did. It’s public knowledge when someone gets arrested, what’s the big deal?” Sadie was pushing him, she knew it. He was getting angrier by the second.
He ran his hand through his hair to his neck where it stayed. His back was to her. She could feel the tension radiate through the room. They remained in silence while she tried to figure out why he had gotten so mad and what he was hiding. Sadie knew something wasn’t right about this situation but she didn’t think it would start a fight.
“Why are you getting so upset?” she asked evenly. She didn’t want to make him angrier.
“Because it’s none of your Goddamn business!” he roared from across the room.
Sadie jumped back at his tone. His words were like a slap to her face, filled with rage. Watching his tense body tremor, she knew he was hiding something. Sadie walked slowly over to him. She didn’t want this to come between them but they couldn’t base their relationship on lies. Whatever this was, they could work through it. She was willing to work through it if it meant being with Stone. She was two feet away when she halted at his words.
“Shit! I won’t lie to you, Sadie.” He sounded defeated. He looked down, his hands on his hips.
“Stone, I…”
“I fucking knew this wouldn’t work. I knew better. Fuck!”
Sadie took another step forward.
“This isn’t going to work. I can’t…” His defeat turned to wrath. “Fuck! We’re done. This is over!” He straightened to full height with his back to her.
“What?”
“This is over, I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this.” He was calm but she could almost hear the regret. She knew she could. He turned to the door and stepped forward.
“Wait! You’re leaving? Just like that? Stone, talk to me, just talk.” This couldn’t be it. One argument and it was over?
He stayed silent and turned to her. His eyes were filled with sadness. She knew what was coming. She held back her tears waiting for him to speak.
/> “It’s over, Sadie! You and me, it’s not going to work for me,” he said, and walked out the door.
The tears fell.
He was gone.
****
He slammed the door behind him and stopped. All he could hear was Sadie crying. Her sobs grew louder. He turned and gripped the door handle to go back in. The sound of her gasping for breath between sobs was ripping his heart out. He couldn’t this, not to her, not to him. Not to them. He would just explain it all, come clean about his job and about Cavanaugh and Shaw. He would put it all out there. His breaths were deeper and his body shuddered. You can do this, he chanted to himself. His forehead came down to rest on the front door. He could still hear her crying. He caused those tears. But he couldn’t be the cause of anymore.
He had to leave her. He cared for her that much, he had to walk away. After the shit that went down last night. Shaw. He knew she would keep digging until she found out the truth. All of it. If he didn’t tell her, she would eventually find out. He couldn’t let her know everything, see everything. This job, what he did was his choice. He wasn’t going to take Sadie into his world, he couldn’t. She deserved better than what he saw. His Sadie deserved sweet, and the only way he could give her that was to walk away.
Stone released the handle and rushed down the deck stairs to his truck. He jumped in and started the truck. He threw the car in reverse and took one last look at the trailer.
Bye, baby…
Chapter Seventeen
Stone had called T on the way back from Sadie’s. They were all to meet in his apartment in fifteen minutes. When Stone arrived, they were all there. He walked in and found Bogs, T, and Roxanne on the couch and Ethan in the kitchen on a call.
“Hey, what’s up?” Roxanne asked.
“We need to head home tonight, the earlier the better. I’ll cover everyone’s cost of changing the flights.” He looked at their stunned faces. Even T looked a bit confused.
“Wait, what? Why?”
Stone turned to Roxanne. “I need to get back to Houston.”
“And you can’t wait a day? What’s the rush?”