Rewind & Go: A Blue-Collar Billionaire Romance (Sander's Valley Book 1) (6 page)

“I loved your body back then. I know it’s silly, but I thought that if I ever saw you again, you’d look the same.”

She had a little extra softness around her middle and her breasts were plumper, but she liked how she looked. “I grew up.”

He swept his gaze over her, lingering on her breasts straining against her shirt and the vee between her legs. “You turned into a beautiful woman, Ronnie. You’ve shattered all my fantasies. You know that, don’t you?”

She flashed him a teasing smile, glad they weren’t talking about love anymore. Sex was easier to deal with. “I can’t say I care unless I starred in them.”

“You always have. Everywhere I go, I remember time spent with you.”

She didn’t know how to respond. Sure, he’d always held a special place in her heart, but she’d dated after him, even came close to moving in with a guy once. There was no reason to feel guilty for her relationships after she’d left Kyle. Except, with his brown eyes locked on to hers, she did.

“But small towns are like that. I remember almost hitting a bicyclist down at the corner of Fifth and Oak. To this day, I slow down going through there.”

He came to her rescue again. She couldn’t think of any guy she’d dated who’d been so attuned to her body language that he’d pick up on her tension and seek to ease it.

“Yeah, it’s a dangerous spot.” She mentally rolled her eyes at her lame response but couldn’t come up with anything else. Well, there was one thing that would stop the painful trip down memory lane. “You know, we have way too many clothes on if we’re going to fuck.”

“Patience, doll. We’re getting to it.” He skimmed his hands down her thighs to her ankles and slipped her heels off, tossing them across the room. With his thumbs, he rubbed her arches. She moaned. “Do you like that?”

“Yes, I hate wearing shoes, especially dress shoes.”

“You always were a flip-flop kind of girl.”

She grinned. It shouldn’t surprise her that he remembered all the little details about their youth, but it did. It also made her feel incredibly special.

“I still am.” She motioned toward the far end of the room, where her shoes had been tossed. “Those are for business purposes only.”

He worked his magic fingers over her calves. The first stroke sent a tiny bite of pain through her. He rubbed circles into the muscle. It loosened, and she went limp. “And you decided heels was an appropriate footwear choice for a five-hour road trip?”

“I had an appointment with the private investigator…” She bit the inside of her cheek. She hadn’t meant to mention the mess her life had become.

He let her foot drop and crawled over her. Propped on his elbows above her, he studied her. His eyes narrowed “Why do you need a PI, Ronnie?”

“I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.” No way would she draw Kyle into her issues. Knowing him, he’d want to slay all her dragons and carry her home on his steed.

She caressed his muscled chest in an effort to distract them both. The tiny hairs dotting it tickled her fingers. She focused on the sensation. It grounded her and stopped her from thinking about the uncertainties. Her mom’s big secret. And her regret.

“Tonight I want to explore your body.” She glanced at him from under her lashes. “That is why you brought me here, isn’t it?”

He grasped her wrist before she reached his waistband. “It’s one of the reasons, not the main one.”

“Really?” She tugged his zipper down with her other hand and fisted his erection. Warm, smooth, and hard, his length felt so good sliding over her palm. “What could possibly be more important than sticking this rigid cock inside me?”

The penis she held jerked. She raised a brow and flashed him a naughty smile she knew would excite him.

“Your safety.” He sat back on bent knees and drew her with him so she knelt in front of him. He settled his hands on her hips. “Your happiness.” With an upward stroke, he lifted her shirt, exposing her stomach. “Your pleasure.”

He tugged her top off. A rough curse fell from his lips. He touched the ugliest bruise on the swell of her left breast. She flinched.

He popped the hook on her bra and cursed some more. “Talk, Ronnie.” He brushed her skin near the imprints of her attacker’s fingertips. “If some fucker raped you, he’s going to die.”

Chapter Five

Kyle seethed. He’d never been angrier in his life, not even when he’d shown up at Ronnie’s dad’s place with an engagement ring in his pocket, only to learn she’d left the night before. The wide-eyed look she wore didn’t help. He couldn’t tell a damn thing from it.

“Answer me.”

She licked her lips. “No, he didn’t rape me. I hit him with a sculpture I was in the middle of packing when he broke in. He was arrested and charged.” She climbed off the bed, grabbed one of his shirts from the floor, and walked toward the door. “Where’s the bathroom?”

He followed her and blocked the doorway with his body. “Dammit, Ronnie, don’t walk away from me.”

“I’m not. I’m just no longer in the mood for sex.”

He cupped her cheek. “Okay, doll, but please talk to me. I’m worried about you.”

“Look, if you want to talk, we’ll do it over coffee.” She motioned to the bed. “This is too intimate of a setting to talk about the mess my life has become.”

She had a point, and the sheen of moisture in her eyes reflected the state of her mood. He didn’t want them to come together, only for her to have regrets in the morning, thinking he took advantage of her.

He pointed to the door leading to the attached bathroom. “That’s the only clean one.”

She snorted. “You’ve embraced bachelor life, haven’t you?”

Glad the sadness on her face had been replaced by amusement, he shrugged. “Like I said, the only girl who’s ever been here is my mom, and even she’s stopped coming by. Too messy, and I won’t let her clean it.”

A warm grin spread over Ronnie’s plump mouth, making her look like some sort of goddess, beautiful and untouchable. “I can picture your mom cringing.”

“And lecturing me.” He settled his hands on her waist and spun her before he gave in to the urge to pull her into his arms. “Go on. Get a shower. Whatever. Make yourself at home.”

She caught her lower lip between her teeth. “You don’t mind?”

The very thought of Ronnie naked in his tub and using his soap made that primitive male side of him emerge. Ridiculous, he knew, but he wanted his scent on her. And dear God, he couldn’t wait to see her in his flannel. No panties. No bra. His dick twitched.

He cleared his throat. “Nah, anything I have is yours to use. I’ll make us an early breakfast. Do you still like blueberry pancakes?”

“I do, but not the frozen kind. Toast will be fine.”

“I don’t buy much prepared food. I make pancakes from scratch. Just got a fresh pint of blueberries from the farmer’s market too.”

She stared at him with an odd expression on her face. Confusion? Awe? He couldn’t tell.

“You cook?”

He bit back his annoyance. “Yep, learned from Levi. Him and Jack bought a restaurant and bar in St. Marlowe.”

“Wow. I must say I’m impressed.” She let her gaze roam over him in a heated perusal. “An incredible body, a great personality, and you can cook. How are you still single?”

He cracked his jaw. “I haven’t been in the market for a wife.”

“Too bad.” She flashed him another grin. “Because you’d make some lucky girl a good husband.”

He ran a hand through his hair. The years of resentment came rushing back. His friends from high school all had kids, wives, and happy little homes.

He had a cat.

“Come down when you’re ready.”

He turned his back on her and stepped into the hallway before he told her the reason behind his single status. Seemed like he was the only one who’d been affected by the sex they’d shared.

And he had about ten minutes to decide what he was going to do about it.

* * * *

Kyle drained the bacon and scrambled up the last of the fresh eggs he’d gotten from his parents’ farm. The table set for two had a stack of pancakes, orange juice, and a bowl of fresh fruit. Only thing missing was Ronnie.

While he waited, he studied the kitchen, with its granite countertops and the oak cabinets he’d made by hand. He could see himself cooking a big breakfast on weekends. Maybe sharing it in bed with Ronnie. Or stepping around her on weekdays while they both rushed off to work. Dozens of scenarios flashed through his head. They all involved the blonde dual-degreed businesswoman naked in his shower, the one he’d bent over her car and fucked like they were two horny teenagers again.

She undid him. Her passion and wildness still excited him. She also made him yearn—not what he’d planned.

He’d wanted her to resent leaving him. The way she’d watched him on the drive afterward made him think she might. If anything, he’d planted the seeds of it. How he handled the next few hours with her would determine their path. It wouldn’t take her long to hang whatever paintings she’d brought. She didn’t need electricity to do that, only sunlight.

Once she realized Wyn worked at the garage, Kyle wouldn’t have an excuse to keep her here either. Wyn would drop everything to fix her car or at least patch it up until she got home. If Kyle were lucky, he’d have all of Sunday with her, not a day more. Come Monday morning, she’d be gone. It was obvious she’d decided to come here on the spur of the moment. She hadn’t even brought a change of clothes.

A day. He had one lousy day to remind her of why she’d loved him in the first place. He didn’t have any delusions about fixing what had gone wrong a decade ago, not that he even knew what that was. No, best he could accomplish was to convince her to give them another shot. He’d drive to Virginia every damn weekend if he had to, but he’d make things work. He’d learned persistence over the years.

After he got his ring on her finger and moved her into his house, they’d finally have the life he’d planned, right here in Sander’s Valley. Of course, money would be an issue. ’Cause he refused to touch a dollar of hers.

Frank, Ronnie’s dad and a local from St. Marlowe, had always said a curse hung over the Axel fortune. All the Axel heirs stretching back into the mid-1800s had died violently. With Vivien Axel’s murder, Kyle couldn’t quite help but wonder if it weren’t true. He’d never really believed in nonsense like curses and such, but the facts sure did make a person wonder.

It was just another reason Ronnie needed to distance herself from the Axel Gallery and the great family legacy. As Vivien’s only child, she was the heir. The millions of dollars and countless priceless artifacts attached to her family belonged solely to Ronnie, the last Axel. That’d been another point of contention with Frank. He’d hated Ronnie not having his name, but none of the female heirs changed their names.

And they all died in random acts of violence. Just like Vivien.

A chill ran down Kyle’s spine. The unexplainable premonition he’d sometimes felt with Ronnie surged. She was going to be next. He couldn’t shake the feeling. His heart knocked against his ribcage. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. Sweat slickened it. The pulse under his palm raced.

Deep breath in, slow breath out.

He repeated the controlled inhale and exhale until his heartbeat returned to normal, but the tightness in his gut didn’t ease. He was right. He freakin’ knew it. Ronnie had to break the cycle, put the Axel gallery where it belonged…in someone else’s hands.

Moving here would force her to do it. Determination took hold. She’d called him her hero. Well, he’d come to her rescue again. If it worked to his advantage, all the better. He only wanted her in his life, always had.

With the thought came a sense of rightness. He’d win her love. This time they wouldn’t repeat the past. They’d conquer it.

He needed a plan. No way did he want to flounder. A girl like Ronnie wouldn’t be content living paycheck to paycheck like he did. Not that she was stuck-up. He’d never thought her snotty or obsessed with material things.

Ronnie had to succeed.

Buying only the groceries his budget allowed would be getting by in her eyes, not conquering life. That was what she’d always strived for. She’d told him enough times growing up she hated failure. It meant she was too weak to overcome her challenges. He supposed that was why she had dual degrees and a successful gallery.

A plan.

He worked the thought over. He supposed he could borrow some money from Levi and Jack. Their restaurant was doing well. Kyle had been considering expanding his business by converting the garage into a workshop anyway.

Most of the money he’d made over the past year had been from the custom kitchen cabinets and furniture he’d built using his dad’s tools. It’d be nice to have his own workshop. That would work. He’d put out some feelers and see how much interest there’d be in handmade cabinets. Or furniture. He’d built a lot of the pieces in not only his house, but his brothers’ homes.

The churning in his gut eased. He had his goal and a plan. Nothing would stop him from claiming the ultimate prize: Ronnie.

And breaking the Axel curse once and for all.

A day, huh? He grinned. Yeah, he could do it. He’d start with breakfast and move them to the bedroom before taking her to the cabin. They could pack a picnic basket and watch the sun set over the valley like they used to. Then tonight, he’d love her and finally sleep with her in his arms.

He adjusted his erection and leaned against the counter to wait for her, his gaze locked on the entryway. After twenty minutes and no Ronnie, he wondered if he’d made a mistake leaving her alone so long.

She’d already established a pattern of running.

He lifted the curtain on the window above the sink. His truck still sat where he’d parked it. She hadn’t left him, unless she’d decided to walk. An image of her hauling a heavy trunk came back to him. He shook his head. He wouldn’t put it past her.

He shoved from the counter and strode to the stairs. No sounds from the shower reached his ears. He opened the front door. The wooden trunk remained in the bed of his truck. She wouldn’t leave without it. He faced the steps. She was avoiding him, the only explanation. Did he give her space or go after her?

A day. That was all he had. He took the steps two at a time and hurried down the hall.

He half expected the bedroom door to be locked. It stood open. The room, quiet. He put one foot onto the hardwood and froze. Ronnie lay curled in the center of his bed, naked and asleep. He stared at the sight she made and hated the years they’d spent apart.

What had he done wrong? He’d given her everything he could, loved her with his heart and soul, and worshipped her as if she were a queen. They’d never even fought about anything. The only thing she’d complained about was college. She’d wanted him to move to Virginia with her.

He would’ve loved to go, but he hadn’t been able to afford it. He’d even looked into it. The measly scholarships he could’ve gotten barely covered a tenth of the cost, and his parents had been adamant about him not taking out loans. He couldn’t have asked them to remortgage the house just so he could go to school with Ronnie. He’d settled for the community college, and even that had sucked his parents’ budget.

He made his way to the bed and let his gaze caress her. The bruises stood out starkly on her pale skin, but she was still beautiful. His fingers itched to touch her, explore her, and reacquaint himself with her body so he could picture every detail with his eyes closed. The idea took root. He craved it. He also knew it’d be best if he didn’t make it happen. She was obviously exhausted, and Ronnie sleeping the day away worked to his advantage. She wouldn’t be able to leave as soon.

He headed back to the kitchen, cleaned up, and texted Wyn to get her some clothes. A quick shower later and he crawled onto the bed with her. She didn’t wake, so he settled behind her, his cock against her bottom. She sighed and pushed against him. He gritted his teeth to stop his groan. She felt right in his arms, in his bed, in his life.

“I love you, Ronnie. I always have.”

A small smile graced her mouth. He hoped she’d heard him. If she hadn’t, she’d learn the truth soon enough.

And this time she wasn’t getting away from him.