Bennett (Bourbon & Blood #1) (2 page)

“
I should go,
”
she said, lifting the grocery bags from her cart.
“
I need to get home before the creek gets any higher.
”

He said nothing, just moved aside so that she could pass without having to touch him. But he could smell the barest hint of her perfume. Looking over his shoulder, he watched her cross the parking lot and climb behind the wheel of her little sports car. The personalized plate on the front of it read
Darcy3
.

It was a glaring reminder of why they weren
’
t together. She was a Darcy and he was a Hayes and never the twain shall meet.

Cursing under his breath, he turned and found himself under the scrutiny of Miss Helen. She
’
d been working behind the counter of that grocery store since he was a boy. Her glasses were thicker, the bifocals stronger, and you might have to talk a little louder to her be understood, but she still didn
’
t miss much.

“
You two!
”
she said.
“
I swear! Never seen more hardheaded people in my life!
”

Bennett didn
’
t say anything, just walked back to the cooler and grabbed a six pack of beer. After he paid for his purchase and tolerated a heaping dose of Miss Helen
’
s disapproval, he went back out to his truck and climbed behind the wheel.

He sat there for a moment, replaying the vision of her in his mind. Dark hair, damp and curling around her face, her pink lips parted in surprise as her dark eyes widened, and that slight flush that had crept over her cheeks
—
it reminded him of other times that she
’
d blushed for him, over the outrageous things he
’
d said to her, over their painfully inept fumbling in the backseat of his father
’
s old Buick.

She was as beautiful as she had been when he
’
d first fallen head over heels for her and just as off limits to him.

“
Fuck me,
”
he said bitterly, and turned the key in the ignition with more force than necessary. The truck
’
s engine roared to life, but when he pulled out of the parking lot, he drove with care, with caution
…
just like he did everything else in life.

CHAPTER TWO

Mia downshifted again, the car speeding over the wet road. The slow-poke in front of her in the black SUV had finally picked up the pace. She was going too fast in the rain, but she needed to get away, to outrun all the hurt and anger that boiled up inside her just from seeing him again.

It wasn
’
t his fault. It wasn
’
t even her fault. There was just too much bad blood between their families for anyone to ever let them be. Rather than destroy everyone
’
s lives, they
’
d settled for destroying their own.
It hadn
’
t been his choice.
The insidious little voice whispered in her mind, reminding her that she
’
d made the choice for them both.

Bennett hadn
’
t fought for her because she
’
d never told him the truth. She
’
d kept all that locked up inside herself and had gone along with her father
’
s plan. She
’
d been a coward then and she was still one today, she thought bitterly.

God, he looked good!
It wasn
’
t fair, she thought. Somehow the beautiful boy she
’
d known had turned into the sexiest man alive. He was chiseled and lean, and even through the damp t-shirt he
’
d worn, she could see every muscle. She
’
d also caught the tantalizing glimpse of a tattoo, some strange tribal design that might have had some deeper meaning or might have been the result of a drunken dare from Carter. She
’
d been told about the tattoo but had never seen it in person. With dark, curling hair that refused to be tamed by any product and deep green eyes, Bennett was more than just handsome.

The beard was new. He
’
d started sporting one recently and it worked, framing his mouth and highlighting the rugged bone structure beneath. She wondered briefly what Lacey thought of it, but then she reminded herself that it wasn
’
t her business. Who he dated, who he married, shouldn
’
t matter to her. She was the one who
’
d made the choice to let him go. Of course that didn
’
t ease the ache inside her or dissipate the anger.

“
Goddamn him,
”
she muttered.

As she rounded the bend, her eyes widened in terror. In the middle of the road, parked to block both lanes, was the same black SUV that had left her in the dust a few minutes earlier. With its massive deer guard, it took up nearly the entire road.

It was instinct more than anything else that had Mia turning the wheel. The car spun out of control, doing at least a couple of three sixties on the wet asphalt as she fought the wheel. It was no use. The car kept going, coasting sideways toward the soft shoulder. If she hit the mud there the wheels would sink and the car would roll.

It shouldn
’
t have been possible in that split second for those kinds of thoughts to enter her mind but they did. Swerving hard, she managed to bring the car to a stop, the rear wheels resting in the mud, the back end of the car hanging over the ledge where there was a gap in the guardrail.

Breathing hard, adrenaline pumping in her veins, she didn
’
t have to look to know that she was in a bad place. A glance at the rearview mirror showed her there was nothing behind the car but a gray, leaden sky. If she tried to push forward and the wheels were stuck, it could send her sliding backwards even further toward the precipice. Getting out was the only option.

Needing answers about just how dire her predicament was, Mia reached for the door handle to look out. With every movement and every gust of wind, the car rocked ominously. She was closer to the edge than she
’
d realized. Opening the door slightly, she peered behind her and saw that the back wheels were barely resting on solid ground. Even at the thought, the mud beneath the wheels slipped a bit. Not so solid, she thought worriedly.

The other vehicle started, the engine painfully loud. Mia closed her door and looked forward, anticipating some offer of assistance. Rather than a cautious approach and the helpful offer of a tow, the car closed in on her until the vehicles were bumper to bumper. Even with her foot on the brake, the car was pushed relentlessly backward.

Mia didn
’
t scream. She was too stunned by what was happening. The dark tinted windows of the other vehicle were impenetrable. She couldn
’
t even see that a person was inside it, much less what they looked like. In a last ditch effort, Mia grasped the handle of the parking brake and jerked it up. It didn
’
t even slow them down.

The tires slipped in the mud, sending it showering up over the car. Then they slipped beyond the ledge completely. It teetered for a moment, nothing but air beneath the rear wheels. The little sports car that she loved rolled down the bank toward the rushing creek below.

The airbag exploded into her face with enough force to knock the wind out of her. The sunglasses that she favored, even in the rain, broke on impact, the frame slicing into her skin just above her eyebrow.

The car flipped again, belly up this time. The windshield shattered into tiny little cubes and rained down on her, creating a dozen stinging cuts. Her right elbow slammed into the console, the pain of it exploding up her arm. Another roll, this one to the side and Mia
’
s left hand, which had still been on the wheel, twisted free and connected forcefully with the steering column. The car slid nose down into the creek. The water rushed in, frigid cold and moving fast as it spilled into the car.

Mia tried to scream, but couldn
’
t. The seatbelt had locked so tight it was all she could do to breathe. The blood from her forehead was running down her face, spilling into her mouth. She spit it out and tried again. The sound that escaped her wasn
’
t even human, just a keening animalistic cry prompted by pain and fear.

The car shifted again from the force of the water rushing around it and pouring into it. It sank fully into the swollen creek, swept by the current. Panicked, Mia reached beneath the icy surface and tugged at the seat belt. Her right hand wasn
’
t working. Her fingers wouldn
’
t move the way they were supposed to, and fumbling with the latch with her left hand was simply not working. Whether it was the water or her own numb, shaking hands, it wouldn
’
t give.

She was going to die, and it wasn
’
t an accident.

The water surged around her, but she didn
’
t feel the cold. Determined, she tried once more to free the seat belt. The button clicked as she pressed it, but it wouldn
’
t give. The seatbelt remained firmly locked in place.

The water had reached her chin and she was having to keep her head tilted back to breathe. A broken sob escaped her. The car slipped deeper into the flowing creek, the waterline creeping higher and higher. Mia took one last gulping breath before it flowed over her entirely.

She
’
d closed her eyes against the sting of the freezing water, but they flew open when a pair of strong hands settled on her shoulders. Even in the murky water, she could see Bennett
’
s face. For a split second, she wondered if she were hallucinating, or if she might already have died.

He reached past her and tugged at the seatbelt. When it wouldn
’
t give, he dug into his pocket for a knife. The blade eased past her, sawing through the fabric.

Her lungs burned. Then Bennett was gone.
He wouldn
’
t leave her there.
Even as she thought it, he reappeared, lunging into the car almost entirely. His hands cupped her face and his mouth pressed to hers. Her lips parted, the last of her breath escaping. But then his mouth was on hers, his breath stealing into her.

A few more passes of the knife and the seat belt gave. She floated up from the seat and Bennet guided her through the broken window. When they broke the surface, she took a deep breath in and then met the hardened gaze of the man who
’
d saved her life. She wanted to say something to him, anything, but the words wouldn
’
t come. Blackness closed in, the periphery of her vision narrowing to pinpoints until there was nothing.

*~*~*

Free-balling under the borrowed scrubs he had on, Bennett was acutely aware of just how hard the plastic chairs of the waiting room were. After fishing Mia out of the creek, he
’
d had to leave her on the bank while he climbed back up, slipping and sliding on the muddy hillside until he could get back to his truck and his forgotten phone. Now, with his filthy clothes in the plastic bag beside his feet, and an inch of mud covering every part of him, he wanted a shower in the worst possible way, but first, he had to know she was okay.

Staring down at the floor, he scrubbed his hands over his face and tried to think of anything but how she
’
d looked. A dozen tiny little cuts, her lips bloodied, and he
’
d known without a doubt that her wrist was broken.

The doctor had assured him that it was the shock and the pain of her obviously broken wrist more than anything else that had rendered her unconscious. Bennett wanted to believe that, but he was half afraid to let himself.

A commotion at the door brought his head up and Bennett bit back a curse as he saw the Darcy brothers come barreling in. As a general rule, they were all good at simply ignoring one another, but with tensions running high, it was bound to be trouble.

Even as the thought entered his mind, Quentin looked over at him and his mouth twisted in a sneer.
“
What the hell are you doing here, Hayes? Did you have something to do with this, you son of a bitch?
”

An elderly woman in the waiting room gasped and looked mightily offended at the language. Bennett rose to his feet.
“
If by ‘something to do with it’ you mean I saved your sister
’
s fool neck, then yeah.
”

Quentin started toward him, fists clenched and teeth bared. Clayton grabbed his brother
’
s arm and held him back.

“
We
’
re grateful for what you did, but it
’
s probably best if you go now,
”
Clayton said.
“
Samuel is on his way here, and that
’
s a mess none of us want.
”

Clayton had always been the voice of reason, the calm one, the eye in the center of the Darcy tornado. Bennett
’
s pride stung at being dismissed, at being reminded that he wasn
’
t permitted to be part of Mia
’
s world, that he didn
’
t belong. But at the same time, he recognized that causing a giant scene and creating more stress in her life wouldn
’
t be good for any of them. It sucked being an adult. As a hot headed teenager he would have just rammed his fist in Quentin
’
s face and told Clayton to kiss his ass. A part of him still wanted to.

But those days were over. Bennett shoved his hands through his still wet hair.
“
I want to know how she is.
”

Clayton nodded.
“
I
’
ll send word to you when we know something.
”

Bennett picked up his bag and exited the hospital. He
’
d just climbed behind the wheel of his truck when a limo pulled up and Samuel Darcy emerged from the backseat. His white hair was combed back neatly, his tie was still crisp and perfect. It perfectly encapsulated their lives. That son of a bitch might never get his hands dirty, but he certainly reaped the rewards of everyone else
’
s hard work.

Bennett hated the controlling bastard. That hate, the anger that had ridden him so hard for so long, churned in his gut. Turning the key in the ignition, he backed out of the parking space and headed home, damning the entire Darcy clan along the way.

Every time he tangled with one of them, he felt raw. It was like they just peeled the skin right off him and left nothing but exposed nerves. He
’
d go home, have a beer, and beat the hell out of a heavy bag. It was the standard treatment whenever he had a Darcy run in. Even temporary relief was welcome.

When he reached his house, he grabbed the now warm six pack of beer and headed inside, pausing only long enough to utilize the old bottle opener still mounted to the porch rail. As he stepped inside, he was greeted by seventy-five pounds of fur and slobber.

Bennett didn
’
t get angry. He just slid to the floor right there inside the door while the dog laid against his chest and whined. Scratching his ears, Bennett sighed. Big, dumb, drooling everywhere, and scared of flies, the dog was the best thing that had ever happened to him, he thought.

“
It
’
s been a hell of a day, Slick,
”
he muttered as the dog licked his cheek.
“
But I saw somebody you know.
”

The dog whined and cocked its head.

“
That
’
s just how I feel,
”
Bennett replied and took another swig from the bottle.
“
That is just how I feel.
”