Clean Lines (Cedar Tree #4) (35 page)

"I love you so much," I say, sliding down behind her with my arms and legs surrounding her. She leans her head back on my shoulder and sighs.

"I know and I love you too."

A group of our friends is gathered at the big table at the diner already by the time we arrive. Even Katie and Mattias are here and Naomi makes a beeline to see the baby. Mal engages Fox right away and Gus pulls out the vacant chair next to him, motioning for me to sit down.

Meet us at Arlene's for dinner; 6 PM. Neil's working downstairs - keeping eye on Fox.

The note in Gus's chicken script handwriting was sitting on the kitchen counter when we got downstairs earlier. With boxes still strewn through the house and kitchenware hidden in one of them, Naomi thought it'd probably not be a bad idea to eat out.

"Did Neil tell you?" I ask Gus.

"Called right away and all files have been sent to Phoenix already. Assistant Chief Wayne Carr is pulling in the FBI for this, seeing as the involvement appears to include members of his own police force and extends beyond just his department. This is going to blow up big over there and I think we'll be able to feel the ripples over here."

Neil had been able to decode the files that were stored on the disc he found in the Xbox game this afternoon. Files with meticulous notes kept by James Miller and some copies of notes and emails showing the widespread corruption and pay-off schemes being facilitated with Bancroft, Miller and Associates as middle men. It appears Naomi's ex was getting uneasy with the increasingly high stakes of the game and was hoping for a way out. Too bad he found it at the wrong end of a bullet. His partner, a number of police officers and detectives and a federal judge were implicated with some evidence to back up the claims, but a further number was suspected.

"Frank Bancroft is being picked up before word leaks that something big is coming down, giving him a chance to run. Sounds like he was in the driver's seat for this scheme," Gus assures me.

"What scheme?" Naomi asks, taking a seat next to me and just hearing the last of what Gus said.

"I'll tell you later," I smile at her, happy to be able to at least give her and Fox the knowledge that whatever James had been involved in, in the end, he had tried to make it right. Regretfully, the only people he trusted, and perhaps rightfully so, had been his sixteen-year-old son and his ex-wife. I guess when you spend much of your career paying off or threatening witnesses, city and state officials, going so far as to be an accomplice in arranged hits, all for the sake of buying your wealthy and very criminal clients freedom, you become a little cautious.

"Who's for chili?" Seb walks up with a big pot, setting it in the middle of the large table. Arlene not far behind with a couple of pans of what looks to be fresh cornbread and pretty soon the conversation around the table shifts to the more positive topics of Mattias, my switch to GFI and the new clinic. As it should.

It's dark by the time we head to the new house, and once we get there, I find myself locking the doors behind us without thought, never even considering my own house in Cortez, where I can't even remember the last night I've slept. Not thinking too hard about what that may mean, I follow Naomi and Fox down the stairs to the basement, where Fox stretches out in his ugly greenish-yellow chair and Naomi curls up beside me on the couch to watch a movie.

I can't even tell what the movie is about, my mind is occupied playing out the past weeks and I realize that despite the massive changes in my life, I can't recall a time in recent memory where I was looking forward to the future as much as I am now. Noticing the slight snoring against my shoulder, I find Naomi has fallen asleep at some point, and I wonder if it'd be too soon to suggest I sell my house and just move in here permanently. After about four years of being at each other's throats, we've come together stronger than I'd have thought possible. Funny how dire circumstances can either break you apart or in contrast, forge stronger bonds. Gently wiping the hair that has fallen in front of her expressive eyes now shielded with long dark lashes against her high cheekbones, I'm pretty sure the latter applies to us.

When I look up again I find the credits rolling down the TV screen and Fox staring at me with his eyebrows drawn together.

"You really love her, right?"

"I really do, Bud," I tell him simply.

"Did you love that other woman?"

A bit taken aback by the question, I consider my answer, wanting to be honest with him.

"I did. There was a time I thought I loved her very much too, but it's like comparing apples and oranges. I was your age when I developed a crush on the most popular girl in school and had no chance in hell of ever getting her. When I unexpectedly got the chance barely being an adult, it was like a childhood dream come true, so yes, I fell head over heels. But I couldn't tell you now whether the love I felt was for her, or the promise of her, because let me tell you, the reality of her was not anywhere near that. One of these days I may tell you the whole story, but for now, let's say that was one of those mistakes a person can make that have long lasting consequences. So long in fact, that it almost ruined any chances I ever might have had with your mother, and that would've been a tragedy. ‘Cause let me tell you that even on my best days with Brenda in the past, I didn't even come close to being as happy and at home as I am right here, right now, with the two of you."

Fox, who was listening intently the whole time, doesn't say anything. He just nods, his lips firmly pressed together staring at the floor and I wonder what is going through his mind. Ready to go to bed, I slide out from under Naomi to get up, but before I have a chance to pick her up to carry her upstairs, Fox gets up too and walks right into my arms for a hug. Unsure what to do with this, I go with instinct and wrap him up tight.

"Be good to Mom, Joe. She deserves it," he mumbles against my shoulder and it's all I can do not to let emotions get the best of me.

"Always, Bud. She deserves every bit life has to offer, and so do you," I tell him, my voice cracking.

Head down he pulls away and walks to his bedroom door where he turns around.

"Night, Joe. I'm glad you're here..." he looks up from under his eyelids with a little spark in his eyes, "...but not as happy as I am that you're no longer Sheriff." Chuckling he closes his bedroom door, leaving me with a smile on my face. Brat.

I try to keep my eyes closed, listening to them talk. I don't want to interrupt this moment they're having, but I can't stop tears from escaping my closed eyelids. These men are my entire life, and both of them want nothing more than to have me happy. How fucking lucky am I?

I can sense Joe leaning over and he picks me up off the couch.

"I know you're awake, beautiful," he growls in my hair, walking up the stairs with me in his arms. "I could tell from the way your breathing changed."

I press my smile into his shirt, but don't say a thing.

In the bedroom he lays me on the bed and I blink my eyes open watching him very determinedly taking off his clothes.

"You just gonna lay there and watch?"

"I might," I tease, watching him narrow his eyes at me.

"I think you should get naked." He stands at the foot end of the bed, naked as the day he was born with his hands on his sides, his erection jutting out from his body, large and proud, just like the man. With Joe keeping a watchful eye, I sit up and slowly pull my sweater off, throwing it on the floor beside the bed.

"More," he scowls at the tank-top I have on underneath and with a little smile, I pull that over my head as well, sending it the same way the sweater went. Joe's eyes never leave my body, but when I pause again he raises an eyebrow. Knowing what he wants, I reach behind me to release the clasp on my bra and casually let the straps slide down my arms. With nostrils flaring, like an animal sensing the proximity of his prey, he sets his knee on the mattress and slowly stalks toward me on the bed. In a sudden move, he grabs both my ankles and pulls me flat on my back, grabbing for the waistband of my yoga-pants which he painstakingly drags down my body, leaving me in only my plain white cotton panties. Shit. I wasn't exactly in a sexy mood when I got dressed after my bath this afternoon. Doesn't seem to deter Joe though, as he runs his nose along the edge of my panties and down to where a moist patch is already forming. Ignoring the layer of cotton, he puts his lips right over my clit and sucks me into his mouth, the light barrier causing an extra level of abrasion on the already sensitive nub. Arching off the bed, a deep moan escapes me and the responding approval rumbles from Joe's chest, humming around my core. With nimble fingers, he makes my panties disappear, and I mourn the loss of his mouth. Until he pulls his body up over mine and feeds his hard cock inside me, and I wrap arms and legs around him to keep him close. Slow and deep, our eyes connected, it feels like he fucks me for an eternity, with a single-minded intensity that expresses more than words could.

Sated and complete, I'm on the brink of sleep when my mouth starts working again.

"Never leave..." I mumble into the fine hair dusting his chest.

"Not a chance," he returns.

"No. I mean stay here with us." I close my eyes in the dark, wondering where I found the courage to put myself out there like this. Thinking the silence following my words fills the time he needs to find a way to let me down gently. With progressively negative thoughts running through my head, I find myself slowly pulling away from him, until I'm suddenly rolled on my back, my face caught in his large hands and his lips kissing my eyes, nose and mouth.

"I can't believe you asked," he says, making me want to take back my words even more. "I would love nothing more than to stay with you and Fox. To live here and make this a new start for all of us together. I was afraid you'd think it too soon, or would want more time to establish yourself, but Naomi—getting to build this next chapter alongside you is exactly what I want." 

"
Morning, Jed."

"Morning. Heard you had some excitement again over the weekend?"

I snicker at that. Excitement is a bit of an understatement. Today is Monday, the first day Jed and his crew are back to start work on transforming the old feed store into a working clinic. The noise would be intense the first few days, he's warned us, but after that, we should barely notice them around. Or so he says. We'll see—I'm just excited to see this all come together. A dream I've had ever since I left Phoenix five years ago. Probably longer than that.

"Yes," I answer, "you may or may not find a bullet hole in one of the new boards on the porch." I joke.

"No shit?"

"Nope, definitely not shitting you. Luckily that was all that was shot and all of us and the new windows are still intact."

I follow him out onto the porch, grabbing a fleece of the coatrack. It's really getting chilly, despite the sunshine. He's stopped to eye the hole where the lab techs dug the bullet out of the wood.

"I'll probably be able to fill that with an outdoor wood-filler. You won't be able to tell the difference. But eh...what's with the bloodstain?" He points to the discolored spot where Brenda had lain bleeding just days before and despite the fact that word is she will be alright—at least physically—I can't help but wince at the reminder.

"Well...I may or may not have had to knock someone out with a baseball bat."

Jed turns to me, eyeing the full-length of me from the top of my head to my shoes.

"Huh. No shit, eh?"

"No. She's not shitting you and will you stop ogling my girl." I can hear amusement in Joe's voice behind me as he pulls me back into him.

"And quite a girl you've got. No offense intended." Jed tilts his head at Joe.

"Quite aware—believe me, and none taken."

"Alright, guys. I'm right here, you know?" I remind them, turning so I can pin them both with a stern look, but I find two pairs of mischievous eyes staring back. "Whatever, you two." I throw up my hands and walk off, leaving them chuckling at my expense on the porch. I'm smiling when I step inside.