Reclaim Me (The Jaded Series Book 2) (13 page)

I smell body odor and stale whiskey on his breath when he leans in towards me. I have to force myself not to gag. He really stinks. Shady is a heavy drinker, but I can tell he’s sober right now. That may be the only thing that saves me.

I put my hands on his chest to push him back, but he doesn’t budge. “Shady, I mean it. You need to back off.”

Instead of backing up, he leans in further and puts his arms on the wall behind me on either side of my head. His mouth is at my ear when he speaks again.

“I can still smell you, Mia. I can still see you laid out before me in the back of my truck. I can still see the blood on my fingers after I shoved them in you. Do you remember?”

Well, shit. I guess he does remember.
I had hoped that he was so fucked up that he wouldn’t remember. His words send a repulsive shiver down my spine.

“I prefer not to remember. Now back the hell off,” I shove him again, and again he goes nowhere. I’m really starting to get worried. I’m out here all alone with him. Not a soul in sight. I know what Shady’s capable, of and I definitely don’t need a repeat performance.

I’m just getting ready to knee his balls up into his throat when a flashlight shines on us. Shady immediately takes a step back. I can’t see the holder because the glare is blinding me, but I’m glad nonetheless.

“What’s going on here?” Mac’s voice sounds from behind the bright light. I sag back against the wall in relief.

“Mia, you okay?” Mac asks as he walks towards us. He’s pissed. I can tell from the ridged line of his jaw.

I give him a shaky smile before I reply, “Yes.”

He swings the flashlight in Shady’s direction. “What are you doing out this late, Shady?”

“What are you, my momma? It ain’t against the law to be walking the streets, is it?”

“It is when you’re causing problems.”

“I haven’t done anything. I was just leaving Dax’s house when I saw Mia here. Me and her were just reminiscing, weren’t we, little girl?” The ravenous look he sends my way makes me want to smack the look from his face. I still can’t believe I let him touch me all those years ago.

“No, we weren’t, Shady. You were being a dick,” I tell him. I feel the tension coming from Mac, who is now standing beside me.

“If you so say, babe.”

The endearment brings bile to my throat.

“Alright, it’s time for you to go home, Shady,” Mac practically growls. “Don’t stop until you get there.”

Shady smiles at me with his nasty yellow teeth. “Will do, Weston. See ya around, Mia.” With that, he turns around and moves down the street toward a bike sitting on the side of the road.

Once his bike is out of sight, Mac turns back to me with narrowed eyes.

I point my finger in his face. “Don’t you fucking start with me, Sheriff.”

“What the fuck, Pix? What in the hell are you thinking? Yes, we have a pretty safe community, but when assholes like Shady are lurking, you know it’s not safe to be out this late at night alone.”

“Yeah, well, I have a flat tire and thought I’d walk home since I don’t live far from here. Who was I to know Shady would be out here?”

“And you couldn’t ask Hoot to give you a ride?”

“Yes, I could have, but I didn’t. He was going to be there for a while longer, and I didn’t want to wait. I’m dead on my feet and just want to go home.”

Mac drops his head and runs his fingers through his thick brown hair. I don’t see how he hasn’t pulled it out yet with how many times I’ve seen him do that lately. I see him shake his head and mutter something that sounds like, “Stupid women.”

“Excuse me?” I ask him. Now my temper is starting to flare. I understand his worry. I really do get it, but he has no right to act all high and mighty. It’s not like he hasn’t made any mistakes in his life. I almost laugh at that.

“Nothing. Let’s go.” He reaches for my arm, but I yank it back.

“I can walk myself without your help.”

“Fine, walk, run, I don’t care. Just get to the damn truck. I’m tired and want to get out of here and go home.” He turns on his heel and starts walking down the street.

He is so frustrating.
It takes me a minute to catch up with his long strides.

“So, why are you out so late?” I ask him while we walk side by side towards his truck parked on the side of the road.

“Mrs. Cranny found a spider in her bathroom. I had to come get it out,” he says with a sidewards glance at me.

I laugh at that. Mrs. Cranny is constantly calling the station for someone to come get little critters out of her house. She’s a crafty ninety-year old lady that lives by herself and has a phobia of insects. Or rather, she likes to claim she has a phobia. Everyone knows the real reason she calls the station; to have one of the officer, most specifically Mac, come out to her house to give her eye candy to look at.

“It isn’t funny. I walked into the bathroom expecting to see a big spider. Did I see a big spider? No. I saw a spider smaller than my damn pinky nail. I would swear that she pinched my ass when I was bending over picking up the damn thing. She needs to be put in a home.”

“Oh, come on, Mac. She’s just a little old lady. Are you telling me you can’t handle someone like her?”

“Fuck, no. She’s a slick one. The last time I was there I think she purposely spilled tea on my shirt so I would have to take it off.”

I laugh even harder. “Did you take it off?”

“Hell no, I didn’t. No telling what she would have done if I had.”

We reach Mac’s truck, and he opens the door for me. Because I’m so short, I have a hard time getting into it. He startles me by putting his hands on my hips and hoisting me up into the seat. I bite my lip to keep from chuckling at the cliché lingering of his hands on my hips. Typical male reaction in this situation.

“You can let go, Sheriff. I think I got it now,” I tell him over my shoulder.

He looks up from looking at my ass with heat in his eyes. Yep, typical male. The look he gives me tells me he doesn’t care he was caught looking.

“It was in my face. Where else do you expect me to look?” He says before letting me go.

I tip my lips up at that.

He closes the door and walks around, while I put on my seatbelt. Of course, he climbs up with no trouble. I think the truck companies that make these monsters are a bunch of horny guys. Their sole purpose is so guys have to touch women’s hips to lift them in the truck. I snicker at the idea.

“What’s funny?”

I glance over at him. “Nothing.”

He starts the engine and pulls out onto the deserted road. The cool air coming from the vents causes goose bumps to form on my sweaty skin.

“What did Shady mean, you were reminiscing?” Mac asks after a couple of minutes.

Nope, not going there. No way am I telling Mac what happened between Shady and me. He would shit a brick and go ballistic, especially if he knew the details. That’s one story that will never come to light. I decide to act nonchalant and lie.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about. We’re talking about Shady here, and you know Shady likes to act…well, shady.”

Out the corner of my eye, I see Mac turn his head my way, watching me, weighing my words. Doesn’t matter if he believes me or not. He’s not getting anything out of me. He can speculate and contemplate all he wants. Luckily, he lets it go.

“I’ll stop by the bar tomorrow morning and change your tire. I’ll bring your car by the house so you’ll have it for work.”

I turn my body so it faces him before I speak. “You don’t need to do that. I can change it myself.”

“I know you can, but I’m going to do it for you.” The stubbornness I see in his jaw tells me not to argue. I do anyway. It’s
my
damn car.

“Don’t touch my car. I’ll take care of it,” I tell him.

“Fuck, Mia, just let me change the damn tire. I don’t have anything going on tomorrow anyway.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to, that’s why.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Mac,” I tell him quietly. I wonder if this is some guilt deed. Is he trying to make up for what happened? It sucks that it happened, but it was a long time ago. And after what he told me the other day, he doesn’t owe me anything. Actually, I probably owe him an apology for never giving him the opportunity to talk. It’s an apology I’m not ready to give yet though. One day, maybe.

“You may not think I owe you anything, but I feel I do. Just let me do this for you, Pix.” The remorse I hear in his voice makes my chest hurt. I never realized how deep his guilt was until now. It runs much deeper than it should. Yes, he should feel some, but not what is emitting from him right now. He was a victim just as much as I was.

“Okay.” I pull my keys out of my purse and hand them to him.

He looks at me in surprise before giving me a small smile. “Thank you.”

Mac glances over and sees my hand that’s wrapped in gauze sitting in my lap. “What happened to your hand?”

I had forgotten all about it during the episode with Shady, and then with Mac.

“Nothing,” I mutter. “I just nicked it on some glass.

Yes, I’m going back with my original ‘nicking’ fib.

We lapse into silence, and a few minutes later, Mac pulls the truck into my driveway. My porch light is on, illuminating the bottom of my two-story house.

“Thank you for the ride.”

“You’re welcome. Next time call me if you need a ride home. Do not go walking around in the dark like that.”

I roll my eyes at his demand, but reply with, “Yeah, sure.”

I grab the handle to open the door, but Mac stops me by putting his hand on mine that’s still on the seat. “Will you have lunch with me and T tomorrow at Maggie’s?”

And just like two nights ago, his words surprise me. What surprises me even more is my reply.

“Yes.”

He flashes me with a smile that sends heat heading straight into my panties. It doesn’t help that Mac is rubbing small circles on the back of my hand. I squeeze my legs together to help squelch the feeling.

“I’ll see you tomorrow when I drop your car off. We can leave then and go to the diner.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Sheriff,” I say and slide my hand from his. I already miss the feel of his rough fingers and the swirls he was creating.

“Goodnight, Pix. Sweet dreams,” he says softly.

I close the door without looking back and quietly walk up my steps and straight into the house.

Chapter Twelve

Mac

Her laugh…

“Come over here, T,” I call to my son, who is busy playing his hand held video game inside the truck. “It’s time you learn how to change a tire.”

He puts the game down and gets out of the truck. When he walks up beside me, I move out of the way and hand him the crow bar to loosen the lug nuts. I know he’s not strong enough yet to loosen them himself, but I’ll let him try it first. I already have the car jacked up enough to take the pressure off the tires. I show him how to put the crow bar on the lug nuts and which way to turn it. Once done, he strains and pulls with all his strength. Of course, it doesn’t budge.

He looks up at me as if I’m stupid for giving him this job. “Really, Dad? You know I can’t loosen these.”

I fight back my chuckle, not wanting to hurt his pride. I step up behind him and place my hands just above his on the crow bar and together we pull up. We loosen all the lug nuts, and then I let him jack the car the rest of the way. Neither of us talks, opting to work in silence. T is a naturally quiet child, always has been.

I step back and let him finish taking off the lug nuts. As I watch him, I think about last night. When I saw Shady leaning over Mia, I wanted to rip his arms away and slam my fist into his face. Shady’s always been someone that I don’t trust. He wasn’t given the name Shady at birth. He earned that name. Even back in high school he did some pretty shifty shit.

When Mia appeared to be no worse than wear, it didn’t alleviate the rage running through my veins. I know there is more to what Mia said when I asked her about Shady’s reminiscing comment. Again, not wanting to push her, I let it go, but I will find out what he was talking about. Mia may like to appear tough on the outside, but I know deep inside the old Mia still lurks. If I push too hard, she’ll fold into herself, and there’s no telling how hard it’ll be to coax her out again.

“What next, Dad?” T asks, interrupting my thoughts.

“Watch your feet and try to pull the tire off the wheel base.” He yanks and pulls until it bounces to the ground. I roll it out of the way and grab the other tire.

“Next, we need to line the holes on the tire up with the lug nut posts on the wheelbase.” Nodding his head, he picks the tire up with my help, and we push it on the wheelbase.

“Start putting the lug nuts back on but don’t tighten them all the way. Start with one, and then move to the opposite one until they are all done.”

I watch as he does this. I haven’t had many opportunities to teach him stuff like this. He lives full-time with Tessa. I get him every other weekend, some holidays, and half the summer. I thought it was best when we arranged custody for him to be with his mom for the majority of the time. Now, I’m wondering if I made a mistake. I thought things were going smoothly. Apparently, I was wrong.

“When we finish here, we’re dropping the car off at Mia’s. Afterwards, we’re taking her to lunch. That okay with you?”

He stops tightening the lug nuts and looks over at me. He pulls his brows down in concentration before he answers, “Do I have a choice?”

“Yes, you do, T. You always come first. But…” I hold my hand up to stop him when he opens his mouth to talk. “Before you say anything, answer something for me. Why don’t you like Mia?”

He doesn’t answer right away, just goes back to working the crow bar. After he’s finished, he turns to me and says, “I remember hearing you and mom arguing about her when I was little. There have also been some things mom’s said about her.”

It doesn’t surprise me that he heard me and his mom talking about Mia. It was always a big issue between us. Anytime she was brought up, I tried to keep it quiet for fear of T hearing, but Tessa was a hot head and had a big mouth. I tried to shield him, but Tessa didn’t care. What pisses me off is that she said something purposely to T. He’s a kid and doesn’t need to be dragged into our shit.

“What has she said?” I ask him.

“That Mia is the reason you and mom divorced,” he says quietly and looks down to his feet.

“Trent, look at me, son.” When he looks up, I continue. “Mia and I dated before your mom and I got together. There was a misunderstanding, we split up, and then I got together with your mom. I always carried feelings for Mia, and your mom didn’t like that. I understand why she didn’t like it, but the feelings were still there. You’ll understand better when you’re older. There were some things that happened between your mom and me and that’s why we divorced. Mia was not involved and had nothing to do with us splitting.”

I won’t give him the details, but I won’t outright lie to him either. No, Mia was not the direct reason why Tessa and I divorced. We were married for six years before I just couldn’t do it anymore. Tessa hated that I wouldn’t sleep with her, and she was constantly bringing her up in our relationship. We shared a bed, but I never had sex with her again after that first fucked up time. Just the thought of touching Tessa in that way made me sick to my stomach. I was faithful to her the entire time we were married. The same thing couldn’t be said for Tessa. I didn’t care. She could sleep with the entire population of Ohio, and it wouldn’t have fazed me.

“Can you just give her a chance? You might find that you like her.” It’s important that he does this. It may not ever happen for Mia and me again, but I would love if they could have some type of relationship. Mia is the only female, besides my mom, that I’ve loved.

“Yeah, Dad, I’ll try,” T says, and I ruffle his hair.

We finish with the tire, and I walk over to the flat to lift it to put in the back of my truck to dispose of. When I do, something odd catches my eye. I place the tire on the tailgate of my truck and take a closer look. What I see has my blood running hot and my gut clenching.

Who in the hell would want to slash Mia’s tire? The first face that pops into my head is Shady. He was out late last night, and he did corner Mia, but it just doesn’t feel right. Nothing in his demeanor from last night says he was up to something ill mannered. Of course, I’ll be stopping by Dax’s house later to confirm he was there. Surprisingly, Dax is the one and only friend of Shady’s that I can trust. Yes, he’s a hard ass and a dick just like Shady, but I know he’ll speak the truth. He’s normally a loner, not getting into anyone’s business, not covering for anyone. He’s never been an issue in this town.

I throw a tarp over the tire and close the tailgate. I won’t be telling Mia about the tire yet, not until I get some answers. As far as I know, Mia has no enemies. She’s quiet and hasn’t kept many friends over the years. Yes, she can be a bitch at times, but I don’t see someone slashing her tires because she mouthed off a little. There’s Tessa, but I know she’s down in Tennessee visiting a friend.

I tell T to get in Mia’s car, and I climb in myself. It doesn’t take me long before I’m pulling into her driveway, no closer to figuring out who would sabotage her car. I get out, leaving T behind to sit in the car.

When Mia answers my knock, the breath gets knock out me. She’s standing there in just a black camisole that shows off two hard nipples and tiny, skimpy, black boy shorts that showcase smooth tanned legs. The tattoos on her arms and chest are on full display. Her hair is tousled, and it looks like she just woke up. All I can do is stand there and fuck her with my eyes. It’s not humanly possible not to. I know she must see my reaction, but when I force my eyes from her chest to her face, all she gives me is a bored expression.

“Ah, fuck, Mia,” I groan, “Please tell me you don’t answer the door wearing that all the time.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I don’t. I just got up when you knocked. I checked the peep hole and saw that it was you.”

Not realizing I’m doing it and unable to stop myself, I take a step forward and reach my hand out for her. Before I make contact, Mia slaps my hand away like a parent would an errant child.

“No touching. Don’t make me regret opening the door for you,” she scolds me.

“Fuck, Mia, what do you expect?” I ask in a pained voice.

“I expect you to be a gentleman,” she says sweetly with a smile.

“You would test any gentleman in what you’re wearing, Pix. Either go get some damn clothes on or T’s going to be sitting out in the car by himself for awhile.”

She laughs and takes a step back before she replies, “Not likely, Sheriff.”

“You don’t want to test me right now,” I say, taking a couple steps closer. “I’m really trying to control myself, but your sassy fucking mouth and delicious body are making it damn near impossible,” I growl the last, my patience for her to be gone is wearing thin.

She huffs out a breath and turns around. I groan as I watch her ass sashay away to her room. I adjust my hard cock in my too confining jeans. Her tiny pixie body is going to cause me to lose my damn mind, especially now that she’s talking to me. My body has always reacted to her, but now that the animosity between us is gone, my body has taken it upon itself to completely unleash its desires towards her. I’ve always enjoyed riling her up because it caused her to show some form of emotion, but the sweet and funny Mia is going to undo me. Even still, it’s a side that I’ve missed.

I decide to wait out on the porch and try to rid myself of the image of Mia laid out on my bed while I feast on her beautiful and colorful body. I take a seat on one of the chairs and drag my hands through my hair.
Fuck!
She’s going to drive me insane. It was easier before when she regarded me as a cheating bastard. Now that she doesn’t look at me as if I’m the scum of the earth, it’s easier to get sucked back in.

I hear the door open behind me and I get up. I almost groan again when I see what she’s wearing. Yes, it hides more than what she was wearing before, but I still want to strip her bare and fuck her until she’s screaming my name. She’s switched her camisole for a dark purple tank top and her boy shorts for a pair of black capris that hug her tight ass. The flip-flops she’s wearing shows off her black painted toes, toe ring, and ankle bracelet.

I curse under my breath and shake my head. I swear she’s doing it on purpose.

“Now what’s your problem?” She asks, exasperated.

“You really know how to make it hard on a guy, don’t you?” I ask her as we walk down the steps. Our fingers brush, and I’m tempted to grab her hand and hold onto it.

“Seriously, Sheriff? What the hell? I’m not wearing anything I haven’t before.”

I stop and face her, putting the car and T to my back. I take her hand and discreetly place it on my hard dick and lower my voice when I say, “That’s very true, Pix, but now that I’ve tasted you after so many years, now that I’ve had my fingers in you again, and reacquainted my mouth with your tits and mouth, it’s hard to think about anything else when I’m around you.”

Her breath whooshes out, and her already dark blue eyes flare and turn even darker. She licks her full bottom lip, and I barely stop myself from closing the distance between us and taking that lip with my teeth. She runs the pad of her thumb along my cock and gives it a squeeze. I have to close my eyes and take a deep breath or I swear I’m going to throw her over my shoulder and march right back in the damn house and take her against the fucking door.

She pulls her hand away, but takes a step closer. Her voice is low when she says, “You can always think about Mrs. Cranny and her grabby hands. That should soften you up a bit.”

And that right there does it. An image of the crafty old lady in her floral night dress turns me as soft as fucking cotton. Mia quirks up her lips and turns around to get in her car. She moves around to the driver’s side, but I make it there before her. She reaches her hands out for the keys, but I don’t give them to her.

“I’m driving,” I tell her.

She doesn’t lower her hand. “It’s my car.”

“Yes, it is, but I’m still driving,” I tell her again, not backing down.

“Is this some type of alpha male ‘me man, you lowly woman’ thing? Because I’m telling you, Sheriff, there are ways to bring a man down to his knees and he won’t be the alpha anymore.”

I cup my balls just in case she is seriously thinking about unmanning me and consider my words before I reply. Yes, it probably is some alpha male thing, but it’s not because I think Mia is less than me. In fact, I consider Mia above anyone else, well, save Trent.

“Pix, it’s not that I don’t like you driving or that I think you’re below me. Call it macho man tendencies or whatever, but I just like to be in the driver’s seat when a female is in the car. I like having control over the car. Like I can protect you from the idiots on the road.”