Beautifully Broken Life (The Sutter Lake Series Book 2)

by Catherine Cowles

  Liam took hold of one of my apron straps and pulled me towards him. “Damn straight.” He took my mouth in a slow kiss, one that bordered on indecent for my workplace but I didn’t give a flip.

  The bell on the door sounded in the background. “You have got to be kidding me.” I snapped up to find Bridgette with a look of disgust on her face. She looked from me to Liam. “This is who you shack up with? Really? A plain Jane with those freaky eyes?”

  Liam started to rise, and I could feel the anger rolling off him in waves. But I held up a hand to still whatever he was about to say. I looked at Bridgette. Taking her in, I realized that all her anger and bitterness made her ugly. It didn’t matter how perfectly styled her hair was, or how expensive her designer outfit was, that soul-deep ugliness had a way of seeping out.

  I almost pitied her. Almost. But I was done taking her shit. “Can I help you?”

  Bridgette’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting my retort. “Yes, you can take your gross make-out session somewhere I’m not planning to eat. I’m not sure how you conned Liam into what I’m sure was a pity date or two, but he’ll see the error of his ways soon enough.”

  I started to laugh, couldn’t help it. I could barely get my words out, I was laughing so hard. “And what? He’ll come begging to take you out?”

  Bridgette flushed. “I’m not interested in a washed-up rock star. I need someone who actually has a respectable job. A real man.”

  Jensen appeared at my side. “Suuuuuure, Bridgette.” Bridgette’s face got even redder. “Can you taste the BS coming out of your mouth? I bet it’s bitter. Because that’s what you are, bitter that the guys you’re so eager to sink your claws into, see right through to your ugly core.”

  Bridgette’s mouth fell open, no words coming out. Jensen pressed on. “You know one of the best things about owning your own business?” Bridgette said nothing. “No, you wouldn’t because you haven’t worked a day in your life. One of the best things is that I have the right to refuse service to anyone I dang well please. Well, congrats, Bridge. You’re banned.”

  Bridgette sucked in a sharp breath. “You wouldn’t.”

  Jensen’s hands came to her hips. “I just did. Now, get out.”

  Bridgette huffed, turned on her heel, and stomped out. The entire shop erupted in applause.

  Jensen threw her arms around me, and we dissolved into laughter so strong, we had to hold each other up. When we finally calmed down enough to catch our breaths, I glanced up to see Liam with a smirk on his face. He shook his head. “You two are dangerous.”

  Jensen straightened. “Damn straight. Ugh, I can’t stand that girl. I should’ve banned her a long time ago.”

  I wrapped an arm around her. “But then we would’ve missed out on this spectacular show.”

  Jensen chuckled. “Fair point. And our customers would have missed out on their small-town entertainment for the week.”

  I grinned. “So true.”

  Jensen sobered. “You know she picks on you because she’s jealous, right?” My eyes widened. “You’re everything she’s not and wishes she could be. Beautiful in this breathtakingly natural way. Kind to everyone. Giving. She has to try and break you down to make herself feel better.”

  Jensen pulled me into a tight hug. “Don’t dim your light for anyone. Never again.”

  38

  Liam

  I pulled the passenger-side door open and helped Tessa out of the SUV, breathing a sigh of relief that we were now on the Coles’ gated property. Hours on alert at The Tea Kettle while Tessa worked, not to mention the scene with Bridgette, had my nerves on edge.

  Then Tessa had wanted to spend time with the horses and stop in to see Sarah, who of course decided she needed to feed us. It was so kind of Sarah, but all I wanted was Tessa home with me where I knew she was safe. Worry gnawed at my gut. I felt like I was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  Tessa reached up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to my jaw. “How about I draw us a nice relaxing bath. That tub’s more than big enough for two.”

  My eyes widened, and I grinned. “You gonna put that flowery shit in the water and make me smell like a girl?”

  Tessa grinned back at me. “Probably.”

  I brushed my lips against hers. “Worth it.”

  We headed up the front steps, and I unlocked the door. We made our way down the hall and into the open-concept living area and kitchen. I pulled open the fridge. “I’m going to grab a beer. You want anything?”

  Tessa shook her head. “No, I’m good. I’m just trying to find my phone.” She pawed through the massive bag she called a purse.

  I chuckled. “It’s a wonder you can find anything in there, that purse is the size of my gym bag.”

  Tessa stuck her tongue out at me. “Fine. I’ll clean it out.” She upended the bag, and the contents fell out over the kitchen counter.

  I popped the cap on my beer and took a swig. “What the hell is all this stuff?”

  Tessa grinned. “It used to be my go-bag, but since I’m no longer a flight risk, it’s just become a collection of random crap.”

  I held up a small, cylindrical object. “Taser?”

  Tessa nodded. “Yup.” She continued to sort through the spread, throwing some things away, putting others in piles. She picked up a small, white, circular dot, no bigger than a quarter. Her brows pulled together. “What’s this?” Tessa studied it for a second and then moved to throw it in the trash.

  I caught her hand in a flash. “Don’t.”

  Tessa’s eyes flared in surprise. “Why?”

  I cursed under my breath, taking a closer look at the thing. “I’ve seen these before. My security team warned me about them. Sometimes, extra sleazy paparazzi will plant them in your car if they can. I’m pretty sure this is a tracker.”

  Tessa dropped the dot as if she’d been burned. “What?”

  I resisted the urge to pick it up off the counter, wondering if we might be able to get fingerprints off this thing. “When’s the last time you cleaned out your bag?”

  Tessa’s brow creased, and she eyed the pile of stuff on the counter. “It’s been a while.”

  My jaw worked. “So, we have no idea when someone could’ve planted it.” I pulled out my phone. “I’m calling Walker.”

  Tessa rubbed her hands up and down her arms as if she were suddenly freezing. I pulled her into my body with my free hand just as Walker answered his phone. “What’s up?”

  I gritted my teeth. “I’m pretty sure I just found a tracker in Tessa’s bag. One of those circle tracker pads.”

  Walker cursed. “I’m on my way. You at the cabin?”

  I rubbed a hand up and down Tessa’s back. “Yup. Thanks, man.”

  “Of course. See you in a few.”

  I hit end on the screen and shoved my phone back into my pocket. Tessa was still burrowed into me. I lifted her chin. “You okay?”

  Tessa nodded. “So, he knows where I am now, right?”

  My gut tightened, and I clenched my teeth. “Most likely. But he can’t get to you. There’s a gate to the property, an alarm system on the house, and you’re not ever going to be alone. You’re safe.”

  Tessa shuddered just as a meow sounded from her feet. “I just want them to find him.”

  I grunted. “Me, too.” I just hoped I got a little one-on-one time with him first. Tessa bent to pick up Trouble, but apparently, he had already had enough of being ignored and began to climb up my jeans-clad leg. “Fuck, Trouble! Your nails are sharp.” I lifted him off my leg before he drew blood.

  Tessa giggled. “He loves you.”

  I gave her a playful scowl. “More like he loves causing me pain.”

  Tessa’s lips pressed together in a look of disapproval. “No, he doesn’t.” She nuzzled Trouble’s head, and he began to purr loudly. “You love Liam, don’t you?” she cooed. “I get it. He’s very loveable.”

  “And don’t you forget it.” Gravel crunching under tires sounded fr
om the front of the house, and I handed the cat to Tessa. “I think it’s Walker, but let me check.” I headed to the front of the house, Tessa trailing behind me, and peeked out the window to the side of the front door. I recognized the truck and breathed a sigh of relief.

  Walker hopped out of his rig and jogged up the stairs. I pulled open the door. “Thanks for coming.”

  He gave me a tight smile which gentled when he met Tessa’s gaze, and then he gave the kitten a little scratch on the head. “How are you holding up?”

  Tessa gave Walker a somewhat-forced smile. “I’m not gonna lie, this freaks me out more than the picture and note for some reason. I guess because it means he got close to me somehow.”

  My blood turned to ice. I hadn’t thought about that. Up until recently, Tessa was never more than ten or so feet from that bag. It had been her life preserver of sorts. My gaze jerked to Walker. “Do you think he has someone working for him?”

  Walker’s jaw worked. “It’s possible, or he’s using a disguise of some sort.” He motioned us towards the main area of the house. “Why don’t you show me what you’ve got.”

  I nodded. “It’s in the kitchen.” When we reached the counter, I pointed at the white disc.

  Walker pulled a pair of gloves and an evidence bag from his back pocket. “Did either of you touch it?”

  Tessa stepped forward. “I did. I was cleaning out my purse.” She blushed as she gestured to the mess. “As you can probably tell, it’s been a while. I had no idea what it was and was about to throw it away, but Liam stopped me.”

  Walker nodded and picked up the disc with his glove-covered fingers. “Good catch, Liam. This looks like a tracker to me. I’ll bring it to the station first thing in the morning and see what the techs can find out, either from fingerprints or who it might be registered to.”

  Tessa sagged into my side. “Thank you. I really appreciate all you’re doing, Walker.”

  Walker placed the tracker in the evidence bag and then squeezed her shoulder. “Of course. Do you mind if I go through the rest of this stuff just to make sure there’s nothing else?”

  “Of course, not. Do you need me here for that? I’d like to take a bath and go to bed early.”

  Walker gave a jerk of his head. “You go on. I can handle this.”

  I cupped Tessa’s cheek. “Do you want me to come with you?”

  She shook her head. “No. You stay and keep Walker company. I’m sorry I’m bailing, I just feel like I hit a brick wall.”

  I pressed my lips to her temple. “Go take a nice, hot bath and crawl into bed. I’ll be in there in a bit.” Tessa kissed my jaw and headed for the bedroom.

  Walker and I watched her go. He gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You’re good for her, man.”

  I blew out a harsh breath. “I’m not so sure about that. Because of me, this asshole knew where to find her.”

  “Liam, she had to face this eventually. If not, she would’ve been hiding forever. And what if she got sick? She wouldn’t have gone to a doctor because she doesn’t have health insurance or a real ID. This charade wasn’t going to hold up indefinitely.”

  I picked up my beer from the counter and took a swig. “I guess you’re right.”

  Walker grinned. “I’m always right.”

  I chuckled. “Taylor agree with that?”

  Walker’s grin fell away comically fast. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

  I held up both hands. “I’d never. Bro code.”

  “Thank God.”

  I inclined my head towards the pile of Tessa’s belongings on the counter. “What else are you looking for?”

  Walker focused on the items and began combing through them all. “I just want to make sure there’s not another tracker anywhere, and I want to check Tessa’s phone for a bug.”

  My knuckles bleached white as I gripped the beer bottle tighter. “I want to end this fucker.”

  Walker kept sifting through the pile on the counter. “Don’t say that in front of a cop. If Garrett winds up dead, I’ll have to interrogate you, and that’ll just be awkward.”

  He was trying to keep it light, but I knew Walker got it—better than most. He’d been the one to pull the trigger on the man trying to take Taylor from him. “Do you have any guilt?”

  Walker straightened and met my gaze. “Not a single bit.”

  I nodded. “I need a gun. I have a concealed carry permit, but my firearms are either in LA or back at my parents’ in Georgia.”

  Walker was silent for a minute, studying me. “I’ll loan you something. Officially, I have to run a background check, but I’ll do that tonight and drop it off tomorrow morning. If I were you, I’d want to be carrying, too.”

  I grunted. I would do anything to keep Tessa safe. Anything. “Did your man, Cain, have any luck tracking the asshole?” I didn’t even want to use his name, it was an insult to Garretts everywhere to let him carry the moniker.

  Walker examined Tessa’s phone, popping off the cover. “Nothing good, unfortunately. Garrett has dropped off the map. He withdrew a large amount of cash from his bank account three weeks ago and has been under the radar since. No record of him on any flight manifests or any other travel systems Cain could get into.”

  I scrubbed a hand over my head. “Fuck.”

  Walker snapped the phone back in its case. “Cain’s still working. He discovered a few well-hidden accounts, and he thinks there might be more. That could give us something.”

  I tossed my empty beer bottle in the recycling bin. “We need that something now.”

  Walker set down the phone and met my gaze. “I know the last thing in the world you want to hear is to be patient.”

  “So don’t fucking say it.”

  Walker held up a hand. “I wasn’t going to. I was just going to tell you not to do anything stupid in the meantime.” Walker snapped off his gloves. “I’m not sure what this guy’s plan is, but he might try to approach you. Talk shit until you take a swing at him. Then he gets to press charges, and I have to put you in jail. And what does that mean?”

  I cursed. “Tessa’s unprotected.” I hated that Walker was right. I would’ve totally fallen for that play.

  “This guy might not be smart enough to realize he should try to get you out of the way. Or he might be too cocky. Let’s hope that’s the case. I just want you to be prepared if it’s not.” Walker tossed his gloves in the trash. “There’s nothing else here. I’m going to take this with me and let you go and take care of your woman. Call me if you need anything. I mean it.” He met my eyes in an intense stare.

  “I will.” I grabbed his hand in a manly shake and a slap on the back. “And I won’t do anything stupid.”

  “Good.”

  I led Walker to the front door and stood on the porch as he got into his truck and drove off. I kept standing there, searching the land all around the house, wondering if that fucker was out there watching right now.

  39

  Tessa

  I woke to the sound of very loud and contented purring. I was curled into a ball, my head and knees pressed against Liam’s chest. I always slept in weird positions like this. Luckily, Liam seemed to adapt.

  I slowly uncurled, careful not to wake Liam. It was still early, and it wasn’t my day to feed the horses so we had time before we needed to be up. I stretched, taking in Liam’s sleeping form and had to stifle my laughter with my hand. Atop Liam’s head, practically smothering his face, was Trouble.

  A soft smile stretched my face. It was one of the cutest things I’d ever seen. Carefully, I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed my phone. Opening the camera, I snapped a photo. Liam’s eyes flew open. He scowled. “Did you just take a picture of me?” His voice was raspy from sleep, ragged in a way that sent pleasant shivers down my spine.

  Liam’s eyes squinted as if trying to put pieces of a puzzle together. “What the hell is on my head?”

  I started to laugh, couldn’t help it. They were just so adorable. “Trouble.”
>
  Liam grimaced and reached up to grab the kitten, setting him at the foot of the bed. Trouble swatted at his hand. “That cat. We should have named him Docile, maybe he would’ve lived up to that name.”

  I set my phone on the nightstand and lay back on the pillows. “He loves you. He wants to be close to you and your scent.”

  Liam grunted. “More like he’s trying to assert his dominance over me.” I chuckled. Liam raised the covers. “Come over here, you’re too far away.”

  My body hummed, and I didn’t hesitate. I scooted right over and was instantly enveloped by Liam’s warmth. He flipped me around so that my back was to his front, and he seemed to cover me. It had to be one of the best feelings in the world. Safe. Warm. Loved.

  I kissed his forearm that was wrapped around me. “Good morning.”

  “Morning, beautiful.” Liam’s raspy voice tickled my ear. “You sleep well?”

  I nodded. I’d passed out as soon as I hit the sheets last night and didn’t even remember Liam climbing into bed. “Sorry I was dead to the world when you got done with Walker.”

  Liam swept his lips across my temple. “You don’t have to apologize. You needed your rest.”

  I wiggled against him, trying to get even closer. “I missed you, though.” Something long and hard pressed up against my backside. My core clenched.

  “You have me now.” Liam’s hand slipped under my tank, drawing little circles on my stomach, slowly trailing the pattern up.

  My heart rate picked up. “I’m glad.”

  Liam palmed one of my breasts, kneading and massaging. It was the slowest of builds, he took all the time in the world as he worked his way closer to my nipple. He sucked the lobe of my ear into his mouth, and I arched back into him.

  Liam’s fingers closed around the hard points at the tips of my breasts. “I have a thing for these. An obsession, really. I could play with your tits all damn day.” I felt him grin against my neck. “Actually, that sounds like a great plan. Call in sick to work, and we can stay in bed all day.”