Take Me Under (18 page)

As she closed the door and turned the lock, she couldn’t help but grin.

* * *

I
T WAS ONLY
T
UESDAY NIGHT, BUT
M
C
C
LAIN’S WAS PACKED.
A
S
B
EN SAT
across from Reese at one of the tables by the front wall of windows, he thought about how much things had changed since last Friday, when he’d been eating here with Brit. He’d spent the entire meal thinking about Reese, wondering how he was going to get his hands on her—and now she was here with him, looking more beautiful than ever. She’d always been stunning in his eyes, but there was something about her tonight, something soft and vibrant in her expression that he couldn’t recall ever seeing before. Despite the fact that some wacked-out jackass was screwing with her life, trying to scare the hell out of her, she looked flushed with happiness. So fucking gorgeous he just wanted to keep staring, soaking in the sight of those bright eyes and rosy cheeks. He liked to think it was the way they’d been burning up the sheets together that had her looking so full of life, but he knew it could just as easily be the fact that she was finally out from under the stress of an unhappy marriage.

“What?” he asked, when he caught her staring at him over the rim of her wineglass. “Do I have food on my face?” They’d shared an order of fried calamari and were waiting for their entrées to arrive.

“No,” she replied with a warm smile. “I was just thinking that you clean up pretty well, Sheriff Hudson.”

“Thanks.” He took a drink of his Scotch, then grinned. “I was tempted to come in one of my ‘little sheriff outfits,’ but figured the shirt and jeans would be a better bet.”

She laughed, sipping her wine as she cast an appreciative look over the restaurant, then focused those beautiful blue eyes back on him. “This is nice. The two of us being out together.”

He gave a husky laugh, his tone dry. “It took long enough to get you here.”

Reese could feel the color rising in her face, but was saved from having to respond when the waiter delivered their meals. They talked as they ate, with Ben answering her questions about his work (and carefully avoiding any she asked about his childhood), while she filled him in on the teaching job she would start at the end of the summer. They’d only just dug into their desserts when a stunning brunette left her seat at the bar and approached their table. She was a little wobbly on her stiletto heels, the calculating gleam in her kohl-rimmed eyes telling Reese she was looking to cause trouble.

“Ben,”
the woman purred, running her hand over his shoulders as she practically sat on the arm of his chair. “Cindy and I have been waiting for you to come back over and party with us again.” She slid a catty look toward Reese, before saying, “There’s no one in this town who can keep up with two women the way you can, Sheriff. It’s like you were built for it.”

Reese had to choke back a gasp, feeling instantly chilled, in shock, as if something rank and slick had just been tossed in her face. The coldness was leaking all the way down to her bones, and she set her fork down before it slipped from her icy fingers.

For his own part, Ben looked seriously pissed, and maybe even a little panicked, no doubt worried about how she was going to react to the woman’s taunting. Did he think she was going to cause a scene? If so, he was wrong. Reese was too stunned to do anything but sit there and look like she’d just been slapped in the face with a fish. Keeping his dark eyes locked with hers, he spoke in a quiet, guttural rasp. “That’s enough, Denise.”

“Oops, sorry,” the woman giggled, covering her mouth with her hand as she stumbled back a step from his chair. “I guess you wanted to keep that little threesome a secret, huh?”

You conniving little bitch,
Ben thought, wishing he could wring Denise’s neck. She knew exactly what she was doing. Turning his head, he slid her a narrow, furious look of warning that he hoped would shut her the hell up. “You’ve obviously had too much to drink tonight. Have Daryl at the bar call you a cab and go home.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, Sheriff. I’ll be careful.” As if completely oblivious to his anger, she gave him a blinding smile and leaned down to kiss his cheek, before whispering for him to call her.

As the leggy brunette strolled away from their table, Reese drained the last of her wine, then carefully set down the glass. Quietly, she asked, “Do I even want to know?”

His nostrils flared as he rubbed the woman’s lipstick off his face, jaw clenched so tight she was surprised it hadn’t cracked. “This isn’t important, Reese.”

She shook her head, lips curving in a wry smile as she wiped her mouth and set her napkin on the table. She didn’t even look at him when she spoke, her gaze focused on the dark seascape beyond the window. “Maybe not to you, but it is to me. I knew your past was . . . colorful. But hearing that you slept with both her
and
her friend, at the same time, definitely puts a new spin on things. Especially when it gets slammed in my face like that.”

“You need to let it go,” he said, forcing the graveled words through his teeth.

She smirked. “I know.”

Ben struggled to rein in his temper, knowing damn well what she was thinking. “Not me. Not
us
,” he said in a low, furious tone. “I’m talking about that troublemaking little bitch. She meant less than nothing to me and I wish to God that I’d never touched her.”

“And not long from now, you’ll probably be sitting here with some other woman . . . or hey, maybe even
two
of them
 
. . . saying the same thing about me.”

“Fuck,” he growled, fisting his hand on the top of the table to keep from slamming it against the rustic wood. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

“That’s the problem, Ben.” She turned her head, locking that dark, turbulent gaze with his. “It’s not nothing for
me
. I tried to do it your way, but I can’t. I’m not good at separating sex from emotion. And after tonight, I’m
glad
I’m not that way.”

“I never asked you to do that.”

“You did,” she argued, giving a tired, bitter laugh. “You just don’t even realize it.”

They finished the meal in tense silence, neither of them saying a single word until the check was delivered. Then she tried to give him money for her portion of the meal, and he nearly bit her head off. After that, she let him pay the damn bill and they drove home.

“You going to let me stay with you tonight?” he asked in a gritty rasp, meeting her at the front of his truck.

“Actually,” she murmured, crossing her arms as she held his stare, “I was thinking I’d just like to have some time alone.”

He took a step toward her, but stopped when she immediately stepped back. “Look, I get that you’re upset about what happened, but I don’t like you sleeping alone right now.” His voice was low and tightly controlled, as if he was trying to keep a firm grip on his temper. “Just because that burn phone was bought in Boston doesn’t mean we’ve got a handle on this thing. We still need proof that it’s Leighton. And I’m still waiting to get a fix on his exact location, which means the asshole could be anywhere. Hell, even if he
is
in Boston, I’m not convinced that he’s in this alone.”

She lifted her chin. “I understand what you’re saying. But I refuse to be too frightened to stay in my own house by myself. And it’s not like I’m stranded here without help. You’re right next door, and I can use my landline if I need to call you. And I also have the alarm now.”

A fierce scowl creased his brow, that tight control beginning to show its cracks. “What exactly is going on here, Reese? Is this some screwed-up way for you to punish me for what happened tonight? Yeah, I have a past, and there are parts of it that I’m not particularly proud of. Hell, there’s a lot of it, like Denise, that I don’t want getting anywhere near you, and I’m sorry that it happened. I can’t change how I’ve lived my life until this point, but it’s the
past.
It has
nothing
to do with the two of us. With what’s happening right now.”

Rubbing her pounding forehead, she said, “I’m not trying to punish you, Ben. I just need some time to think.”

He looked ready to erupt, a muscle pulsing in the hard set of his jaw, but managed to hold his tongue long enough to walk her to her front door. But as they stood beneath the muted glow of her porch light, he couldn’t hold back any longer. “This is fucking bullshit. I can feel you pulling away from me.”

“I’m not.” She unlocked the door, went inside, and disabled the alarm. She could feel him vibing his hot, angry male energy behind her, waiting to be dealt with. To get everything out in the open and thrashed into some kind of resolution. But she wasn’t up for it tonight. Her thoughts were in chaos, emotions zinging all over the place, only making her headache worse. She was a mess, and she really did need some time to figure out what the hell she was doing.

Turning to face him, she met his hard, simmering stare, and held her ground. “I’m just trying to make the right decision about how we go forward from here.”

He prowled into the entryway, his big, muscular body taking up all the space, towering over her, the overwhelming force of his presence nearly sucking up every ounce of oxygen. “And putting distance between us is the right decision? You have some jackass out there who’s trying to scare the shit out of you, who’s probably the same bastard who left a dead cat ripped to pieces in your apartment, and you think the smart thing to do is stay here alone?”

“That’s why I have the alarm,” she said, striving for a calm tone, when she was anything but. “I don’t want to fight with you, Ben. I just . . . I need to set some limits or boundaries or whatever you want to call them on things between us so that they don’t get too confusing. That’s what I’ve been trying to explain to you from the start.”

Spearing his fingers through his hair, he muttered, “I wish to fuck you would stop trying to analyze everything to death and just enjoy yourself.”

She opened her mouth, but before she could respond, he brushed past her, saying, “I’m going to check the house. Wait here.”

He came back a minute later, that muscle still pulsing in his jaw. Without saying a word, he curved his hand around the back of her neck and yanked her against him, taking her mouth in a devastating kiss that was raw and angry and full of breathtaking hunger. When he finally pulled back, she was panting and flushed, her eyes widening when she saw the satisfied gleam in his hot, heavy-lidded gaze. “You might be pissed at me, Reese. You might not even be able to stand the sight of me right now.” His voice got lower, vibrating with the intensity of a vow. “But when you’re lying alone in your bed tonight, you know what, sweetheart? You’re still going to miss the hell out of me.”

Then the arrogant jackass turned and walked away, slamming the door behind him.

12

A
FTER SPENDING THE MORNING BROODING ABOUT
B
EN AND UNPACKING
the last of her moving boxes, Reese was glad when Connie called and asked her to lunch with one of her friends. The woman’s name was Rachel Linden and she worked at the same elementary school where Reese would start teaching at the end of the summer. They ate at Casa di Pico again, and she really enjoyed the petite brunette’s company. In her late-twenties, Rachel was sweet and smart, with a wonderful sense of humor, and it was easy to see how she and Connie had become friends. The three of them hadn’t stopped talking since they’d sat down, the conversation effortlessly flowing from one topic to the next. As they snacked on nachos and empanadas, Rachel shared some hilarious stories about the school, as well as a few about Connie that Reese planned to use for ammunition later on. They’d just decided to make plans for a girls’ night out the following week when Rachel’s phone started ringing.

“Ohmygod, I’m sorry about that. I forgot to put this thing on vibrate,” she said, reaching into her purse for the phone. When she glanced at the screen and paled, all the color draining from her face, Connie and Reese both set down their forks.

“I’m really sorry, but I . . . I have to go,” Rachel murmured, slipping the phone back in her purse.

“Is everything okay?” Connie asked, touching her arm.

“Fine,” she obviously lied, her dark eyes troubled. “There’s just . . . something I have to take care of.” She scooted out of the booth, then dug into her purse for some money. “This should cover my tab,” she said, offering Connie a twenty.

Connie held up her hands, refusing to take the folded bill. “Don’t worry about it, hon. Today was my treat.”

“Oh, um, thanks. But I owe you one.” With a strained smile on her pretty face, she looked at Reese. “It was nice to finally meet you. We’ll definitely have to plan for that girls’ night out soon.”

Returning her smile, Reese said, “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

They both watched as Rachel left the restaurant, and then Reese brought her worried gaze back to Connie. “Is she okay?”

Her sister frowned. “I hope so. I know she’s been having some trouble with an ex, but it’s not easy getting information out of her.” She directed a wry look at Reese. “Reminds me of someone else I know.”

Reese ignored the taunt. “I hope she’ll be all right.”

“You and me both,” Connie muttered, reaching for her drink.

They finished their food in thoughtful silence, until Reese finally asked, “So when does Gary get home?”

“Next week. I can’t wait!” her sister said with excitement, before giving Reese a mischievous look from beneath her lashes. “By the way, I’ve told him all about how you’re falling into Ben’s lecherous clutches.”

She nearly choked on her iced tea. “What? Why? There’s noth—”

Connie waved her manicured hand in the air. “Oh, get off it. I knew you’d succumbed to the sexy stud the second I set eyes on you today.”

Reese collapsed against the back of the booth, her breath leaving her lungs in a soft
whoosh
. “How did you know?”

Connie cocked her head to the side and smiled. “It’s just something in your face, and your eyes. You look like there might be something bothering you, but under that, you’re still all lit up like a Christmas tree.” Waggling her brows, she lowered her voice and asked, “So was he really good?”

“Was who good?”

They both gasped at the sound of that deep male voice, eyes wide as they looked up and found Ben standing at the end of their table. He wore one of the black sheriff’s department polo shirts that she’d seen him in last Friday morning and khakis, his gun holstered under his arm, dark hair tousled from either the wind or his fingers.

Reese swallowed a mouthful of lust, thinking he got more gorgeous every freaking time she saw him.

“Hey,” she said faintly, surprised by how badly she wanted to throw herself at this man. Just as he’d predicted, she’d missed him like crazy last night, and not just because of the sex. Yeah, the sex had been part of it. But she’d also missed the weight and the warmth of him lying beside her. Missed the feel of his strong arms wrapped around her, holding her close.

Clearing her throat, she asked, “Are you here to meet someone?”

His eyes darkened as he gave a curt shake of his head. “Just stopped in to grab a quick bite. The station’s only around the corner.”

“Oh.”

Jerking his chin toward the table, he said, “I’ll let you both get back to your lunch. Nice seeing you, Connie.”

Looking completely fascinated by the undercurrents that were simmering between the two of them, her sister murmured, “You too, Ben.”

Reese had thought he’d walk away then, but he didn’t. Instead, he angled that impossibly tall, muscular body in her direction . . . and gave her a scorching look that was so full of hunger, she practically melted. “Will I see you tonight?” he asked.

She licked her lips, her heart beating so loud she was amazed everyone couldn’t hear it. “Um, sure, if you want.”

“Oh, I definitely want,” he said in a low, guttural rumble, bracing one hand against the back of the booth as he leaned down and claimed her mouth in a hard, possessive, bone-melting kiss, his other hand framing her jaw. And then he was gone, leaving her sitting there with tingling lips and burning cheeks, gasping for breath.

Eyes wide with shock, Connie watched him as he made his way across the restaurant. Then she looked at Reese and blinked. “Wow. For a minute there, I thought he was going to take you right on the freaking table. What on earth are you doing to the poor guy?”

“Me?” she breathed out, quickly reaching for her iced tea. “I’m not doing anything. He’s the one . . . the one who can’t . . .”

Connie laughed. “Yeah, I get it. He can’t keep his hands off you.” Leaning forward, she lowered her voice and asked, “So what’s your secret?”

“Nothing!” Reese squeaked, wishing she could dump the cold tea over her head and cool the heck down. This was so embarrassing! “I’m just . . . you know . . . I’m just
me
.” Which was why none of this made any sense. How could a guy with
his
wild reputation be so interested in someone like her? It boggled the mind.

And wasn’t that a huge part of the problem right there? She was falling for this guy hard and fast, knowing damn well that she could never be enough for him. That before long, he’d end up getting bored and moving on.

No doubt reading the pain on her face, Connie reached across the table and patted her hand. “Oh sweetie, you’re not
just
anything. That ass Drew really did a number on you, didn’t he? But you’re so beautiful Reese, inside and out, and Ben knows it.” The waiter brought their check to the table, and Connie gave him her credit card. As he walked away, she looked at Reese again and finished what she’d been saying. “If you ask me, I think Ben knows how lucky he is to be with you. And if he’s smart, he’s going to do everything he can to make sure you feel the same way about him. Which definitely includes blowing your mind in the sack.”

Biting her lip, Reese said, “I really like him, Con. But things are pretty . . . well, complicated between us. We had a big disagreement last night.”

“Oh no. What happened?”

Fiddling with the edge of her napkin, she said, “We went out to dinner at McClain’s and ran into some catty woman he’d slept with.” Just thinking about it put a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Needless to say, it wasn’t an ideal situation.”

Connie leaned back against the booth, her expression an odd mixture of humor and understanding. “Hell, Reese. Considering Ben’s reputation, I think you’d run that risk in just about any restaurant in town.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I know. That’s why I didn’t want to go out to eat with him in the first place. I had a feeling something like that would happen.”

“So you got upset?”

Reese nodded, feeling nauseous. “She was all over him, talking about how he’d had a threesome with her and one of her friends and how amazing he was. It was awful.”

Connie winced. “Ouch. I think hearing something like that would have upset any woman.” Her sister took a deep breath, then slowly let it out, as if gathering her courage. Then she gave Reese a wry grin, and said, “But if it makes you feel any better, I had some similar trouble when Gary and I started going out. On our third date, I found out that he’d been big into ménages before meeting me, and I had to deal with more than a few of his old lovers when we were out together. But the way I see it, you can either let those women come between the two of you, or put them in their place. If Ben still wanted them, he would have stayed with them. But he didn’t. They’re old news. You’re the new news.”

“Yeah. And one day in the not so distant future, I’ll be the old news, too.”

Connie pursed her lips, her head cocked to the side again . . . but she didn’t immediately say anything.

“What?” Reese asked, giving her a wary look.

“I don’t know,” Connie said, shrugging a little. “It’s just that, before seeing how he is around you today, I’d have probably agreed with you. As wonderful as you are, I wasn’t sure that Ben had it in him to realize how lucky he is that you’re interested. But now . . . I think I would have been wrong about him.”

Terrified to get her hopes up, Reese repeated one of their late grandmother’s favorite sayings. “I can hope for the best, but it’s smarter to prepare for the worst.”

Connie gave a soft laugh. “Well, just so you know, he’s sitting at a table over there, facing the mirrored wall, and he hasn’t been able to take his eyes off you since he sat down.”

Just like that, Reese’s blush came back in full force. “God, I wish I could just figure him out. But he’s so damn confusing.”

Connie snorted. “He’s a guy, isn’t he? They’re always a lot to handle when they see their bachelor days slipping away from them.”

The waiter brought Connie’s credit card back to the table while Reese was still sitting there, blinking, stunned into silence by what Connie had just said. As her sister slipped the card back into her wallet, she went on, saying, “I’m going to head on home, but you should get over there and keep the poor boy company while he eats. I think Mom and I are planning to drop by your place in the morning with a few housewarming gifts, but if you’re not at home, I’ll know whose door to knock on,” she finished with a wink.

Shaking her head, Reese said, “It isn’t like that, Con. We’re . . . we aren’t spending the night together.”

Connie’s face fell. “Oh.”

She wondered if her smile looked as unsure as it felt. “It’s better that way.”

“His idea?” Connie asked, lifting her brows.

Reese exhaled a shaky breath. “No. Mine. It’s actually one of the things we argued about last night,” she murmured, feeling bad for not telling Connie the whole truth. But she didn’t want her family worrying about this crazy stalker business. Knowing her mom and Connie, they’d probably board a plane to Boston and try to confront Drew face-to-face.

“Oh . . . well, in that case,” Connie was saying, sliding a sympathetic glance at Ben, “I think you should cut the guy some slack, sis. He looks like he’s got it bad.” Sliding out of the booth, she slid her purse strap over her shoulder, then gave Reese a hug after she’d scooted out of the opposite side. “Just remember that anything worth keeping is definitely worth fighting for,” Connie whispered in her ear.

Reese ran those compelling words through her mind as she waited for Connie to reach the door, knowing her sister would give her a little wave before she left. With her pulse beginning to roar in her ears, Reese waved back, then took a deep breath, turned, and started working her way through the crowded restaurant, heading for Ben’s table. She was nervous and dangerously hopeful, her heart pounding like crazy as she considered the idea that Connie might actually be right. Maybe she
did
need to fight for what she wanted. To let all those bitchy Denises stay in the past, where they belonged, and focus on going forward.

A year ago, she would have never had the courage or the confidence, but she was different now. Her will had been forged in the burning ashes of her divorce and the madness that had stalked her afterward—that was
still
stalking her—and she knew that she could face whatever life threw at her . . . and maybe even put up a decent fight for what she wanted in the process. Even if what she wanted was a tall, dark, devastatingly sexy badass. One who seemed determined to work his way under her skin, making her crave his touch and taste and scent. Making her ache for every crooked smile and heated glance.

There was no guarantee that Ben would ever return her feelings. Brit had told her that he was “closed down,” and she didn’t know if she had what it would take to break him open. But she wasn’t ready to turn her back on them without even trying. She’d be smart, holding on to those boundaries that they’d talked about, but she wasn’t going to scurry off and hide.

Yeah, they might eventually find that brick wall coming at them from out of nowhere, but today was a new day, and Reese could suddenly see that there was another option besides slamming into the thing headfirst.