“Perfect fit,” she said softly and began rocking her hips. “Damn, Dawson, we were meant for each other. Our bodies were made to be locked together like this.”
I pushed my hips to meet her movements. She leaned forward and braced her hands against my shoulders. She pushed her ass back to meet my thrusts. We slammed against each other until the bed chirped against the wall.
Her fingers dug into my arms, and she cried out as her pussy clenched tightly around me, squeezing me and coaxing me until my hot seed spilled inside of her. She stayed there for a long time, and we both reveled in the feel of having no barrier between us.
The intimacy passing between us was like nothing I’d ever experienced. I was holding her in my hands, wondering how I was going to live on and be happy without her. It was like she’d said—we were made for each other. Only I knew that wasn’t true. I was a coal miner living on the crummy side of town where people trudged through their everyday lives waiting for a little reprieve with a beer and night out on the weekend. I was a nobody. I was the opposite of Lenix. The fact that she was with me in my bed was almost too impossible to believe. It was even more impossible to think that this would ever go past a few nights of really great sex in a cheesy motel room.
Lenix collapsed down next to me on the mattress and curled her arm around my chest. “Can we just stop time right here, with me lying next to you and feeling completely satisfied, emotionally and physically?”
I turned on my side and pulled her close to me. “Sounds good to me, baby. Sounds real good to me.”
Chapter 21
Lenix
It was always easy to tell when Graham was agitated because his normally deep voice grew several octaves higher, sort of like a coyote in distress. His high-pitched howls shot up the stairs. In between, he was shouting my name.
“Lenix, damn it, get the fuck out of bed.” His footsteps followed his shouts up the stairs to my room.
I burrowed deeper beneath the covers, in a childish attempt to hide from him. I had no idea what the tirade was about, but I’d been up most of the night with Dawson. He’d only walked me back to the beach house a few hours earlier. I was still too sleepy to get out of bed.
Graham knocked loudly.
“Go away. I’m still in bed,” I muttered from under the covers.
The door flung open, and Graham marched into the room. He grabbed the covers and pulled them off my face. He was holding a tabloid paper in his hand. “A photographer was kind enough to shove this under our front doormat today.” He threw the paper on the bed.
I held the covers over me as I scooted up against the headboard. Brick and Duff appeared in the doorway. They looked as pissed as Graham but without the bushy brown eyebrows doing push-ups.
“Why the hell do I have an audience? Shit,” I grumbled as I picked up the paper. The front page had a grainy picture, which took me a moment to decipher. It was me sitting on the porch railing with my arms wrapped around Dawson. The headline read, “Exhausted or Smitten? Lenix Harlow wraps herself around a tattooed hunk on her resting vacation.”
I tossed the paper onto the floor. “You can’t even tell it’s me. And so what? I’m kissing someone. It’s not like I’m running a damn marathon or swimming across the cove. It’s a kiss.”
“You’re sneaking around with some guy right here in front of the beach house for all the press to see.” He turned toward Brick and Duff. “Where’s Axel?”
Axel’s big face appeared in the doorway, looking far more contrite than a man his size should ever have to look. It was obvious from the expression he shot me that he hadn’t mentioned yesterday’s porch encounter to Graham.
“Where the fuck were you?” Graham snapped. “I pay you to keep an eye on her.”
“Keep an eye on me? You treat me like I’m a little kid who needs a fucking nanny. I’m an adult. I met a man. And I like him. And you don’t need to know another damn thing about it. Now all of you get the hell out of my room.” I flopped back down and pulled the covers over my head.
“All of you, clear out. I need to talk to Lenix alone,” Graham commanded. He was sending everyone away, so I knew exactly where the conversation was headed. The guys all knew that I’d come from less than desirable circumstances, but they didn’t know the gritty details. The few people who had known me back then had been paid off to keep quiet and to keep from going to jail.
I heard footsteps stomp back down the stairs. I gripped the blanket shut over me, but Graham’s hand was stronger.
His face was red under his orange spray tan making him look almost clown-like. I wondered exactly when I’d gone from admiring the man to hating him. “You will stay in this house for the rest of the week. Not even one step out on that porch. If I have to stick Axel outside your bedroom door at night, I will. There is too much at stake for you to be slutting around with some off-the-street nobody.”
I sat up, deciding that cowering under a mound of blankets wasn’t going to help my argument that I was an adult and not some little kid he could ground. “You have somehow gotten it into your giant, enflamed head that you own me, that you can control me like a trained animal. You’re delusional.”
“I do own you.” He poked his finger hard at the paper. “What do you think this new friend will think if he finds out about your unsavory past? What do you think the whole world will say about sweet, pretty Lenix Harlow when they learn?”
“Go ahead and blabber it to the fucking world. I’ll tell the guys right now!” I yelled loud enough for the downstairs to hear.
Graham’s jaw clenched tight, and he spoke through his teeth. “Keep your fucking voice down.”
“No. I’m serious. Tell everyone. And then, when you’re sitting on your leather sofa snorting your last line of coke and drinking your last shot of hundred dollar scotch while you watch the repo men load your precious Ferrari onto the tow truck, you can ask yourself why the hell you opened your mouth. You’ve got just as much to lose as all of us if word gets out. That’s why you keep your mouth shut. So, I’m done with your hollow threats, Graham. And we’re done talking here. Get out.”
He stood glowering down at me. I could almost see his blood pressure rising in his veins. “I made you, you little bitch. You would have been dead or in the gutter by now.”
“Just get out.” I scooted back down under the covers. I held my breath until I heard him walk out, slamming the door behind him as he went.
Chapter 22
Dawson
The inside of the motel room with its ugly beach decor and the funny lingering smell that reminded me of pickles was slowly becoming a place where I’d had the best time of my life. The motel was going to be etched in my brain forever, along with everything about the woman who had seemingly walked out of a daydream and into my California vacation.
It was almost noon. My stomach was churning with hunger, but all I could think about was seeing Lenix again. I glanced at my phone, but there were no texts. After the long night together, I was sure she was still sleeping.
I recognized the knock at the door as Aubrey’s. I walked to the door and opened it. She was dressed in her swimsuit, but she’d wrapped a skirt around her waist. The fruity fragrance of her suntan oil made me hungrier.
“O.K., vampire-man, you’re going to return to Bluefield looking as gray as if you’d spent the entire week at the bottom of the mine. Get your trunks on and join us on the sand. It’s an order. Besides, I’m going to pick up sandwiches, and you can only have one if you come out of your cave.”
I scrubbed my hair back and stared out at the beach. The sun had melted the fog, and the water sparkled like an inviting swimming pool. “Yeah, all right. Guess I could grace you with my presence for a sandwich. Roast beef and provolone. None of those pepper things. And none of that grainy, healthy wheat bread. I want one of those big fucking rolls that I have to twist in my fist to get it to fit in my mouth.”
She smiled. “Got it. I’m glad you’re coming to sit with us. It’s getting
sort of old hanging out with the odd couple. Plus—” she started but then stopped.
“Plus what?”
She twisted her mouth in consideration and then huffed. “Fine, but don’t tell Andi I said anything. She’s just been really worried about you. She said you haven’t been your old, jovial self at all, and I have to say, I agree.”
“Christ.” I went to shut the door, but she put her hand against it.
“No one knows you better than Andi, so if she notices something is different then I believe her. Don’t be pissed.” She stepped forward and kissed my cheek. “We just love you and want you to be happy.”
I stared down at her. “Want me to be happy? Then make sure they put extra mayo on that roll.”
She rolled her eyes and walked away. “Don’t say a word to Andi,” she called back over her shoulder.
Almost the second I closed the door, my phone rang. It was Kellan. It was a strange time for him to be calling. “Why the hell did they let you out of the cave, Braddock? Everything all right?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. They detected methane in one of the airways, so they had us clear out while they check the ventilation system. We’re all just standing around picking our asses, so I thought I’d give you a call and see how the hell California is treating you.”
“Great to know that you thought of me while you were picking your ass. California is good. Better than I imagined.” I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to be telling the world about my time with Lenix, and it was a story better left untold for now. Kellan would probably just laugh it off as a joke anyhow.
“Yeah? Are you getting along and having fun with the Sullivan sisters?”
“Didn’t say that. Just said the vacation is better than I expected.” The familiar sounds and voices of the Bluefield Mine helped clutter up the conversation coming from Kellan’s side. I was glad to be away from the place. “When you called I thought maybe they’d decided to shut down work until their star roof bolter returned.”
“Hey, the star roof bolter is standing right here.”
“Yeah, with his thumb in his butt. How is Martin doing in my place?”
“Slow as fucking molasses. I’m bolting circles around the guy.”
The coal cars sounded in the distance as they rumbled along the tracks. “What’s Huck up to?”
“Guess you haven’t heard yet. Thought Andi might have told you. Tommy turned in his two week notice this morning. He’s going full-time farmer. About time too. This job is fucking up his already screwed up breathing.”
I’d known it was coming, but it still knocked me off guard.
“He’s happier than I’ve seen him in a long time,” Kellan added unnecessarily.
“I’m sure he is. I’m glad for him. Really. I’m going to head out to the beach.”
“Yeah, they’re loading up the man trip. Looks like we’re going back inside. There was something else I wanted to tell you, Dawz.”
“What’s that? That you miss me and cry every night in my absence?”
“Besides that.” He paused. “I popped the question to Rylan, bro. She said yes.”
It was a double whammy phone call. Kellan and Tommy were both moving on with their lives, like real men, real adults starting real adult lives. Our weekends playing poker, drinking beer and fighting in the club were coming to a fast end, at least for my two best friends. I was still floating aimlessly around looking for a place to throw down an anchor.
“Hey, Dawz? You still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. That’s cool. She’s a little nuts for saying yes to a dickwad like you, but whatever.”
“Fuck off. Hey, asshole, I was hoping you’d be best man. It’s not going to be too big of a wedding. Sometime next spring at her dad’s place, if you can calendar me in.”
“Yeah. Of course. I’ll be there with fucking bells on.”
“A rented tux will be enough. Guess I’ll see ya when you get back.”
“Later.” I hung up and sat down on the bed, resting my head against the wall. It was all changing. Tommy was leaving mining altogether and learning to work the land, whatever the hell that meant. Kellan was marrying Rylan. The three of us had grown up Trogs, kids from the shitty south side of town, but Kellan had made the jump across the tracks to the rich part of town, where the Highlanders lived and looked down on the rest of us. Deep down, I was glad for both of my friends, but it still irritated the hell out of me knowing that nothing was ever going to be the same.
I snatched my swim trunks off the shower door and braced myself for an afternoon on the beach with Megan and her unlikeable friend. It would be something to pass the time until nightfall, when the possibility of spending time with Lenix returned. It sure as hell would have been nice to see her in the daytime too, but for now, I was happy just getting to see her at all.
Chapter 23
Lenix
The clamor of voices downstairs didn’t seem to stem from anger or an argument. Something was going on. While I didn’t look forward to seeing Graham, or any of them for that matter, I was hungry enough to make the trip downstairs.
Duff was staring at his laptop and Brick, Graham and Rex were watching a news story of some kind on the giant flat screen television. I headed toward the kitchen where Axel was leaned over the kitchen island eating a plate of nachos. He didn’t look up as I walked in, but that was to be expected.
“You sure got lucky, Lennie,” Brick called from the couch.
I grabbed a banana and walked toward the room. The scene on television was some kind of murder scene, complete with yellow caution tape and a lot of official looking vehicles. “How’s that?”
Rex looked over the back of the couch. “You haven’t heard?”
“Went straight from bed to this banana. Heard what?” I stripped down the peel.
“Paula Nelson of Hangar Four was found shot to death in her house in the Hamptons. Number one suspect is Mix, her guitarist and husband.”
“Jeez, that’s awful. Why is that lucky for me? Were you guys plotting to kill me but now that Mix stole your headline, your plans are ruined?”
“Very funny,” Graham snarled. “It takes the spotlight off of this whole concert cancellation fiasco.” He held up the tabloid paper. “Not to mention your make-out scene on the porch. Every reporter will be on the east coast waiting to get the early scoops.”
“Vultures,” I muttered over a bite of banana. “A woman dies and it’s like Christmas for them.” I sat down on the easy chair to finish my banana.
There was a whirlwind of activity in front of the Hampton house. The reporters were already gathering like ants on a honey hill. I stared at the television and chewed slowly as something huge dawned on me.
I hopped up from the chair. “I’m going to the beach,” I announced, and headed to the stairs not waiting for an answer.
“No, you’re not,” Graham said.
“Yes, I am. There won’t be a reporter for miles around with this story breaking over on the opposite side of the country. I’m going to get some sun, and nacho king can stay behind.” I raced up the stairs, deciding to put a succinct end to the argument.
I picked my phone up off the nightstand and texted Dawson. “Where are you at?”
“I’m just heading down to the beach. Where are you?”
“I’m in my room getting ready to come down and join you. If that’s all right?”
“Hell yeah. What happened? How did you get free?”
“Someone got murdered. I’ll see you in a half hour.”
Chapter 24
Dawson
I slid the phone into my pocket and took hold of the ice chest. Wyatt and Megan were already down on the sand.
I looked over at Aubrey. “Think Meg would notice if we sat down the beach from them?”
Aubrey hit my arm. “Stop. It’ll be fine. Just eat that big, ole fisty sandwich and ignore the dick.”
“That’s what I’m planning on. I’m glad you see that he’s a dick too.” We
stepped onto the sand. My outlook for the day had just improved. I was going to see Lenix. There just wasn’t a damn thing Wyatt could do to sour my mood.
“I talked to Kellan this morning. He’s getting married.”
“What?” Aubrey said with shock. “To who?”
I looked over at her. “Really?”
“Right. Rylan, of course. That’s exciting. Good for him. He found himself a rich girl. And a rich girl that he loves. We need to find someone like that for you, little brother.”
“Never mind. I don’t need any matchmaking help from my sisters.”
“I’ll bet I could find just the right girl for you. Only I’m still having problems finding the right guy for me. I’m happy for Kellan. Wonder if that means Tommy and Andi will jump into an engagement soon.” She ended the sentence just as we reached Megan and Wyatt.
Megan nearly fell out of her chair. “Andi is engaged?” she said it with all the anger and jealousy of an older sister thinking that her youngest sister was beating her to the altar.
Aubrey dropped the towels. “Jeez, Meg, don’t get your bikini in a bunch. Andi’s not engaged.”
“Now, Andi is your youngest sister who is dating the coal miner?” It was a simple enough question, only Wyatt added a sneer to the words coal miner.
“Yes, Tommy is best friends with Dawson,” Megan said with the same sneer as Wyatt. Megan lifted her sunglasses to look at me. “Saw you leaving your room last night in the cloak of night. Still hanging out with that woman? She must be a winner if she can only come out at night? Or is she a lady of the night?” That comment earned a laugh from Wyatt.
I dropped my towel and sat down on it, ignoring the charming couple. They both could think whatever the hell they wanted. None of it mattered to me.
Megan looked over at Aubrey, who was stretching out on her stomach. “So who is engaged?”
Aubrey perched up on her forearms. “Kellan and Rylan.”