Hurricane Butterfly (2 page)

Ben is twenty-five years old, with slightly tanned skin, a strong angular jaw that he keeps covered with a short beard, and piercing blue eyes with straight messy brows. He loves wearing beanies and plaid shirts of which Alice has stolen a few to sleep in. (Tip: Broken - in cotton plaid shirts sleep the best) He is tall and very well-built with tattoos on his thick muscular forearms. He grew up in Seattle and came back to Port Angeles to take care of his alcoholic father, and now he works as a Ranger at the Olympic National Park.

Alice moved to Port Angeles from Boston with her mom when she was fourteen. We are the same age. Where I have fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes, she is dark and tanned with dark brown hair and big hazel eyes. Even with her slight dyslexia, it’s always been her dream to become a reporter. After school, she got a job in the mailroom at the Daily News, and since then she’s been promoted to a reporter. She has recently applied for the job of Featured Editor in Seattle, which combined the two things she loved most, writing and photography.

Yesterday afternoon Nana left to visit her friend in Chicago, and tonight Alice and Ben are coming over for dinner. I brush my teeth and opt for my glasses instead of contacts, then pull on a pair of comfy grey yoga pants and a sweater. My body hasn’t changed that much since I was fourteen. I am stuck at the same height of five feet four inches. I wish I had curves like Alice, but then she always complained about her unruly hair and big boobs. I grab the laundry basket with one hand and start collecting the washing that lay all over the bathroom floor, and then tidy my room and downstairs.

Alice said she is working late on a piece she had to do as part of her new job, and Ben usually swings by after work. One thing I inherited from Nana is my love for cooking and baking, and today I am making Ben’s favorite, strawberry swirl cupcakes with whipped cream icing and loaded chicken pasta for dinner.

I spoon the first batch into the cupcake pan and pop it into the oven when my phone buzzes. It’s Alice.

“You’re up?” she says chewing on something.

“No, this is Sophie’s clone.”

She snorts at me.”Ha ha, very funny.”

“Any news about the job?” I ask licking some frosting from the spoon.

“Nah, it’s probably too soon, but Brett said he’ll let me know as soon as the shortlist lands on Mr. Compton’s desk.”

“Who’s Brett?”

“He’s the Editor-in-Chief’s P.A.” It sounds like she goes away for a bit. “Shit, hang on.”

“What…” I clamp the phone between my ear and shoulder as she talks to someone in the background.

“I have to go, Brittany-Bitch-Face has just fucked up my feature article. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay…” the phone dies before I can finish. I put the phone on the kitchen table and take another lick from the bowl as the doorbell rings.

Chapter 2

As I walk to the door, Mr. Pepper comes running from upstairs screaming at me. I pull open the door, and my eyes trail up; suede brown Nike sneakers, blue jeans, and a white shirt tucked in with a brown leather jacket.

And just like that, my small world shifts.

Tall and slightly tanned, with short messy dark hair, sideburns, and dark stubble along his strong jaw, he looks down at me as he slides of his aviators. My heart slams against my chest as his silver stormy eyes underneath straight black brows lock with mine.

“I’m sorry to intrude, my name is Joshua Roxwell, the guy at the gas station said you might know where to find Ben Slone.” His velvet husky voice carries a whiff of whiskey and spearmint.

“Uhm, oh, you mean Luke,” I gulp.

He seems slightly confused, and I realize that it’s because I’m thinking out loud again.

“I mean, Luke’s the guy at the gas station, he works today.”

Stop rambling. “I’m Sophie, uhm, Blake.”

“Hi, Sophie Blake.” He gives me a panty-dropping smile, and I can feel my brain turn to mush.

Oh, Lord! “Uhm, Ben will be at work. He’s a ranger at the Park…‌eh…‌I can call him if you’d like.”

The one side of his mouth lifts as his eyes rake over my body, pinning me down under his brooding stare. “If you don’t mind.” His eyes linger a little longer, and I can feel my knees starting to shake.

“Okay, I’ll just get my phone.” My cheeks pull up nervously as I swing around and rush back inside, glancing at him through the large windows of the lounge. I grab my phone from the table. Three missed calls from Alice. I scroll to her number when the phone buzzes in my hand.

“Hey sorry, I’ve just seen…“

“What the fuck, we have a life and death situation on our hands!” Alice can be a little dramatic at times. I take a breath in, but she starts again before I can say a word.

“So, Melissa just came back from the gas station, and a guy driving a brand new Camaro asked Luke if he knew where to find Ben! She took a pic of him, oh my God he’s fucking delicious, I mean, sex on a stick delicious, seriously, I can’t explain, anyway…‌I’m sending it to you now.”

“No, wait…‌look I can’t talk now, I need to call Ben.”

“Oh my God, is he there?” she yells.

“Yes.” I turn and see him standing in the foyer, hands in pockets, eyes set on me. A naughty grin brushes his lips, and I feel myself melt into a puddle on the floor.

Ben picks up on the first ring. “Hey Soph, what’s up?”

“Uhm there’s someone here looking for you.”

“Oh?” he remarks absentmindedly.

I glance back, yup, still looking. “He said his name is Josh Roxwell?”

The line goes quiet for a moment “Where is he?” he asks in a toneless voice.

“In the living room.”

“I’m on my way.”The line goes dead, and I stand with the phone in my hand when from my peripheral vision I see smoke bubbling from the oven.

Shit! I grab the oven mitts, run around the kitchen table, and pull open the oven door. Smoke engulfs me as I retrieve the charcoaled cupcakes, and throw them into the sink. As I spin around, I bump into a rock-solid chest.

Gulp. I look up at him. He’s about two feet taller than I am. The same height as Ben. The corners of his lips lift a smidge as he grabs my hand and pull me out of the ball of smoke and into the lounge. His hand feels warm and strong and wraps around mine like a glove.

“Are you okay?” He stands so close that I can smell his spicy aftershave. God, he’s gorgeous. How is it that Ben has never talked about him?

“Yeah, I’m fine, better than the cupcakes.” I smile nervously. This is the strangest feeling I have ever felt. He looks at me it is as if he knows me, as if it would be perfectly fine for him to take me into his arms and kiss me until I’m breathless.

The side of his mouth lifts as his tongue traces over his bottom lip, painfully slowly, as his hand brushes gently against my mouth. “You have something on your lip.” The line between his brows deepens, “pink,” he mouths.

My heart thumps as I watch him slip his finger with a smidge of pink cream frosting into his mouth. Wow.

“So, you’re friends with Ben?”

“Y…‌yeah, we’ve known each other for almost four years.” He looks away, and I realize I’ve been holding my breath.

“Do you live here by yourself?” his hand trace over the stubble lining his jaw.

“Uhm, no, I live with my Nana. My mom left when I was very young, so my grandparents raised me. Pops died a few years ago, and now it’s just the two of us. ” Stop talking Sophie, you sound like an idiot. Breathe.

“I see.” He nods slowly, still smiling, his eyes on mine. “You are very sweet, Sophie Blake. Ben is very lucky to have someone like you.”

I gasp inwardly, nervously rubbing my wrist. “We’re just friends.” I blurt out in a shaky voice. Why the hell did I just say that!

“Sophie?” Ben’s voice pulls me out of the spell I’m under. Both of us look up at Ben standing in the door with a dark expression on his face.

“Ben.” I try to catch my breath, but it’s no use. My heart’s racing, and my whole body’s on fire.

Josh calmly averts his attention to Ben, then walks up to him and holds out his hand, which Ben reluctantly takes.

“What are you doing here?” Ben says in a low tone.

I fold my arms over my chest and take a deep breath, trying to get a grip on myself but my body betrays me, missing the nearness of him. The animosity in the room grows by the second. Ben shoots a quick glance my way; his eyes are stone cold.

“Is there somewhere we can talk?” Josh asks calmly.

Ben’s brows arch. “Right here’s fine.” He gestures to the lounge.

The air is almost static as Josh follows Ben into the open kitchen and lounge area and sits down. It’s clear that this is a very uncomfortable situation for both of them, but they try to act as civil as they can. I decide to excuse myself to give them some privacy and go into the kitchen to try to clean up the burnt mess.

Ben sits forward with his elbows resting on his knees. His hands sound rough as he rubs them together. “Why are you here?”

Josh pulls an envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket and puts it on the coffee table between them. “It is a copy of my mother’s will. She passed away two months ago, and the estate has just about settled. This is for you.”

I can see Ben’s back stiffen from where I’m standing. Suddenly he seems unnaturally uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, I…‌didn’t know.” He stutters.

“My father has sold the company and moved out of the house. He’s living in the holiday house.”

Ben runs his hand over his beard, nodding slowly as if deep in thought, then leans forward and takes the envelope between his fingers.

My heart almost stops as my phone suddenly vibrates in my hand. “Don’t hang up,” Alice says on the other line.

“Freaking hell, you’ll give me a heart attack,” I whisper.

“Why are you whispering?”

“Josh and Ben are sitting in the lounge. Something’s up. I’ve never seen Ben this uncomfortable. ”

“Okay, so here’s what we know so far, Joshua Roxwell, twenty-five year old son of property tycoon Edward Roxwell, he lives in Seattle. He is the only son of the late philanthropist Grace Roxwell; she built clinics and shit all over Seattle. Edward Roxwell recently sold his business. He looks like a guy with many enemies if you ask me. Grace died a few months ago in a car accident, and her daughter, Josh’s sister, Lilly, died four years ago, looks like it was a suicide.”

I lean out behind the cupboard only to look straight into Josh’s dark stormy eyes. “How do you know all of this?”

“Google, jeez Soph, have you been living under a rock?”

“Well, whatever’s going on, it’s not pretty. They can hardly look at each other. There’s so much freaking tension between them, it feels like the air is going to turn to ice.”

“Oh my God, can you please not pretend like you don’t have a Mr. Walking Orgasm in your house!” I imagine her glowering at me with her one hand in her side.

I roll my eyes. “You’re not helping Alice.” I wet my lips imagining how his lips would feel against mine. How his strong hands would pull me up against his body and fold his arms around me shielding me from the world. Okay, time to snap out of it.

“Okay, see you later, and I expect details, so get your bony little ass in there.”

It’s easy to see who the reporter is. I push the phone into my pants pocket, take a deep breath, and walk out into the lounge.

Chapter 3

~Josh~

I knew from the moment my mother brought him to the house, things would never be the same. Not that my life was fucking perfect. He quickly became the perfect son, and everything I was not. The only reason the private school hadn’t thrown me out was my father’s money. He didn’t care what I did, just as long as I didn’t embarrass the family.

My mother was a saint, end of story, and someone my father didn’t deserve. She tried to keep the peace, but after Ben arrived, it became a fucking lost cause. She had her hands full with Lilly. Ben was the only one who seemed to have a fucking connection with her, and as much as I fucking hated it, they ended up becoming extremely close. After four years, I can still feel the fucking anger and hate radiating from him.

“What’s this?” I can see his throat muscles contract as he pulls the envelope closer, carefully lifting the flap then pulls out the papers. He glances up at me, then back down as the contents glide out onto the table.

“It’s a copy of the testament and a letter we found in her personal safe. She wrote it a month before…“I stop; it never gets easier to say it.

He holds the envelope between his fingers for a moment, and then slips it back in the bigger envelope, glancing over his shoulder at Sophie standing by the kitchen table. “I can’t look at this now,” he says and puts the envelope face down on the coffee table.

Okay, so he hasn’t told her about any of this. That’s why he’s being so cagey. “I understand.”

“How long are you staying?” He doesn’t try to hide the sting in his words. Of course, he wants to know how fast he can get rid of me.

“I’m not sure.”

He cocks his head, and I know what he’s thinking. Leaving would probably be the best for both of us, although I can’t help but feel there’s more to be said. Maybe it’s too soon, maybe we both need more time. But the way he‘s fucking looking at me, makes me think that no amount of time will ever make this right.

My eye catches her as she walks back into the lounge and stands next to the couch where Ben sits. She looks up at me with those innocent baby blues, and it’s not just my cock that stirs, there’s something else. Even if he’s not saying it, I know Ben well enough to see he’s so fucking protective over this angel; he’s practically slamming his fists on his chest. I know; I’ve seen him do it with Lilly.

“Can I get you something to drink?” She flicks her hair to the back, and it falls like a golden veil around her shoulders and down over her breasts. I can almost picture her, naked, with her pink nipples peeking through.

Ben clears his throat, catching me off guard, “No, thanks Soph, Josh was just leaving.”

Off course, he wants me gone, now that I’ve pulled the skeletons from the closet. He’s like a fucking cat on a hot tin roof. If it weren’t for the Jack, I probably would’ve been the same.