The Return of Brody McBride (33 page)

Trying to concentrate on the email he needed to send to the manufacturing manager in China, he blocked out the hammering and sawing and attached the file with the specifications for the changes they were making to their product. For once able to focus on the task at hand, he hit the
SEND
button and checked off one item from his list of things to do. He hated this new habit of having to write everything down, but it was necessary.

Reading over his ten new messages in his inbox, he jumped when his cell phone rang for the hundredth time that day. He snagged if off the desk, continued reading an email, and answered absently, “Brody.”

“Now, that’s the deep, seductive voice I’ve been missing.”

Brody leaned back heavily in his chair, pressed his forearm to his aching forehead, and looked up at the ceiling. “What the fuck do you want?”

“Is that any way to talk to the mother of your child?”

“I speak to Rain with the utmost respect and admiration for being an outstanding mother to my children.” After everything she’d done, just the sound of Roxy’s voice sent a volcanic burst of rage through his gut.

“I’m Autumn’s mother. Not that bitch you’re shacking up with.”

“Bullshit. Even you don’t believe that lie.”

“Whatever she told you is a lie.”

“You’ve lost your touch. You used to be better at this kind of thing.”

“We need to meet.”

“Tell me what you want and let’s get this over with, the sooner the better.”

“I want to see you. We have things to discuss.”

“I don’t give a shit what you want, but you’re right, we need to talk. Where should we start? With the way you got my father drunk and let him drive home, or how you kidnapped my daughter, starved her, and locked her in a damn closet for three days?”

“I have every right to see my daughter any time I damn well please. Whatever Rain got her to lie about isn’t on me. You’d do well not to piss me off. I might not be so agreeable when we meet.”

“You’ve never been agreeable a day in your life.”

“I’m at the bar,” she hissed, and hung up.

Finally, the moment they’d all been waiting for. Time to set his plan in motion. He stood, but sat again and hit the speed dial on his phone. He wanted to keep Rain out of this, but because of her, Autumn hadn’t grown up with that viper.

“Hey, honey, how are you?”

Reassured, he smiled, because just the sound of her voice made him happy. “I’m having one hell of a day, but right now, this minute, I’m good. What are you doing?”

“Rebuilding an engine,” she said matter-of-factly. He liked that about her: she took for granted the skills her father taught her from birth. Most women couldn’t even change a tire. Her voice kicked into low gear when she asked, “What are you wearing?”

“If you were here with me, it’d be nothing at all.”

“Then, I can’t wait to see you,” she purred, making him smile even more.

“Rain.” He put all his emotions into her name. He wanted nothing more than to drive to town, bypass Roxy’s bar and go straight to Rain, take her in his arms, strip her bare, and make love to her for the rest of the night.

“What is it, Brody? Is it the visions? Do you need me?”

“I always need you.”

“I need you, too. Tell me what’s going on. Talk to me.”

He took a deep breath and spit it out. “Roxy called. I’m headed down to the bar to talk to her.”

“Do you want me to meet you there?”

“No. I think I’ll get farther if I go alone. Besides, I’ll only have to bail you out of jail after you kill her.”

“True. Brody, I’m worried.”

“You’ve taken care of our girls alone for more than seven years. Let me take care of all my girls this time. I promise, I won’t let her hurt you or the girls.”

“Okay. Will you come straight home when you’re done?”

“There’s no place I’d rather be.” He meant every word.

“Do you have the papers for her to sign?”

“In my truck. Not that I’m confident I’ll get her to sign them at this first meeting.”

“Why would you have to see her again? Make her the offer and get her to sign.”

“Right now, she thinks she’s got me by the balls, calling and telling me to come to her. I want to see what she wants. Once I know what her demands are, I can start negotiating.”

“Autumn is not on the table.”

“No way,” he confirmed. “Let me do this, Rain. I’ll play it her way at first, get a read on her and what’s going on in her life. If she’s desperate enough, we might get this done quick.”

“What do you want for dinner tonight?”

“You.”

“I’m dessert.”

She yawned and it reminded him again how little sleep she’d been getting, the stress she was under taking care of all of them, and this thing with Roxy.

“How are you, Rain?”

“I’m fine. Don’t forget we’re meeting Autumn’s teacher before school tomorrow.”

“I know. You’d tell me if something was wrong, right?”

“You know why Autumn is upset. Once this mess is cleaned up, she’ll get back to normal. We’ll help her to feel safe again.”

“It’ll be over soon, but I was talking about you.”

“I’m fine, Brody.” His name came out on another yawn. She took care of all of them, but he hadn’t done a good job of taking care of her.

“How about I bring home dinner tonight? You can rest until I get home.”

“Sounds great.”

“I love you.”

“I know you do. And, Brody . . .”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t let Roxy piss you off again.”

“Never again. Are you pregnant?”

She laughed. “How am I supposed to know that already?” she teased, because of his anxious need to know. “Maybe,” she conceded. “We won’t know for a couple weeks.”

The last two nights, they’d made love without using protection. He’d grabbed a condom, but she’d tossed it back on the bedside table.

“Let’s make a baby,”
she said.

“You’ll have to marry me, then. I’m not having any more babies with you unless you become my wife.”

“You still haven’t asked me.”

“I will,”
he said against her throat. He’d joined their bodies in one powerful thrust, all talk of marriage stopped, and the baby-making was his pleasure and hers.

He came back to the conversation, hoping they’d made a baby. “You’ll tell me when you know.”

“You’ll be the first. If I do get pregnant, I’d like to wait to tell the girls.”

“We’ll tell them the day we get married.”

She didn’t say anything. After all, he hadn’t asked her. Yet.

“I’ll see you tonight. Oh, and Brody . . .”

“Yeah?”

“If you get arrested, I’ll bail you out.”

“You always do, whenever I need you.”

Brody checked his watch. They’d been on the phone for twenty minutes. It would take him another twenty to get into town. Roxy should be good and mad, thinking he’d hop to it and drive down to meet her immediately. Calling Rain had been a great idea. He felt better, less anxious, his anger under control.

“Make her sign the papers, even if you have to stand on her neck to do it.”

“You’re brutal, honey.”

“I’m always sweet to you.”

“Yeah, you are. I’ll see you soon.”

After their goodbyes, he tucked his phone in his pocket, transferred the rest of his files, and closed out his email. He’d finish work at Rain’s place after dinner.

Before leaving the cabin, he spoke to Jim one last time, noted the perimeter walls were up on the new foundation. The guys had done a fair amount of work that day, and he’d survived their constant pounding and sawing. The construction company putting up the barn and stables would begin next week. Everything was moving along.

The house would be finished in a few months. Long before the baby arrived. He and Rain needed to set a date for their wedding. Soon. First, he’d have to ask her. He knew just what he wanted to do, but before he’d have his wife and family under one roof, he had to take care of his fucked-up past.

She was waiting for him at the bar.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

B
RODY PULLED INTO
the parking lot of Roxy’s bar nearly an hour after she’d called him. The parking lot wasn’t full, but several cars lined the front of the two-story building. The neon sign glowed blue; at night it would cast an eerie light over the solid double wood doors with the horseshoe handles. The windows were high and filled with neon beer signs.

Brody checked out the cars in the lot. Some he recognized as the usual crowd. A late-nineties Camero caught his eye. Red. Roxy’s favorite car color. The windows were tinted near black. Taking a few steps toward the front end, he noted the Nevada plates. Looks like Roxy was still residing in Las Vegas. Her kind of town. It matched the information Owen dug up on her over the last week.

Just past five on a Monday, the bar wouldn’t be very busy until later. Good. Not as many witnesses. Of course, in a small town, his being at the bar with Roxy would spread faster than a phone call crossing the wires all the way to Atlanta.

He thought of Rain and the last time he’d been here. He’d let her find out from someone else how badly he’d screwed up and betrayed her. Not this time. The consequences then had been devastating. Losing Rain and his girls again . . . he’d rather die.

By the time Brody walked the short distance to the door, he was near to being in a rage. Everything Rain told him came back in a rush. He’d have to keep his emotions in check, deal with Roxy without strangling her.

Roxy leaned over a table, giving some guy a full view of her abundant cleavage spilling over a purple tank top. Tightly hugging her tits and body, it outlined every roll in her belly to her hips. The skimpy jean skirt barely covered her wide ass. If she leaned over any further, he and everyone else in the bar would know whether or not she was wearing underwear. He’d lay odds against it. The thought of confirming that suspicion made him cringe. Some things never changed. From her wild mane of reddish-brown hair to her cowboy boots, nothing much had, except she’d put on some weight. He wondered if it was left over from the pregnancy or hard living. When she turned and locked eyes on him, the lines at the corners of her eyes and around her mouth told him she’d been living hard and fast for a while now.

A smile came to her face, despite the predatory look in her eye. He remained passive, not giving anything away. A skill he’d perfected in the military. He waited for her to make the first move. She stood straight, her shoulders back, breasts out, showing off her best feature. Too bad they’d looked a lot better in her younger days.

Rain’s image came to mind. Her body still toned and supple. Her breasts high and round. Not overly big, but a nice full handful. Her legs were slim and strong, probably from playing softball with the girls and running around after them all the time. Not a single line marred her pretty face, and when she smiled, she lit up a room.

How could he have ever betrayed her with a woman like Roxy? Because he’d been a monumental jackass. Not anymore. Older, wiser, desperate to keep Rain and his girls, he’d never make a stupid mistake like that again.

Roxy bobbed her head toward the back stairs that led up to her apartment. Without waiting for his acknowledgement, she sauntered to the stairs and started up. He let her go, stood his ground below with his arms crossed over his chest and waited. When she reached the landing, she turned back and her head whipped to him. He gave her a feral smile and tilted his head toward her office door just past the bar. Everyone in the room watched the play-by-play. Brody didn’t give in, even when Roxy cocked her hip and waved him to come up. Furious, she stomped down the stairs, crossed in front of the bar, and walked straight to the office. He followed, but took his time about it, not wanting anyone to get the idea he was anxious to see her.

She stood at the entrance and waited for him to draw close before she said for everyone to hear, “Afraid to be alone with me upstairs?”

“No. I came to talk about my daughter, not fuck the local whore.”

Smiling inside at her outrage, he walked past her and stood by the desk.

“She’s our daughter.”

“Autumn belongs to Rain. What are you doing here?”

“Want a beer?”

Brody wasn’t deterred, but he’d let her take the lead if it took him where he wanted to go. “No thanks. I don’t drink.” Not with all the meds he took.

“Rain’s got you on a short leash. Too afraid you’ll turn out like your old man.”

“I’m not like him.” So easy to say and believe now that he had some life experience under his belt.

“I heard something about you getting hurt.”

“I have a few new scars.”

“I heard you’re not quite right in the mind.”

Brody didn’t take the bait. “You called me. What do you want?”

“I want to see my daughter.”

“She’s not your daughter. Rain bought and paid for her.”

“I gave birth to her.”

“You sold her,” he shouted.

“What was I supposed to do? You left me.”

He actually laughed, despite his anger. “Left you. You. Get something straight, Roxy, any guy who’d fuck you while drunk out of his mind isn’t thinking about having anything with you past the three minutes he takes to get himself off.”

“You’re a real cold-hearted bastard.”

“You’re a cold-hearted bitch, who sold her own child.”

“Well, then, we’re suited for each other.” She reached up to touch his face, but he grabbed her wrist and held tight.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Oh, come on, sugar. I just wanted to soothe your ruffled feathers. You’re looking real fine, Brody.”

She fisted her hand and tried to pull away. He didn’t let go.

“So much strength. You know you want to throw me up against the door and pound into me until I scream your name.”

He flung her hand away. “The only thing I want to do is wrap my hands around your throat and squeeze.”

“So much violence and rage. What you need to do is release all that passion, sugar. Rain must be some sorry piece of ass to have you all wound up like this.”

“Have you seen her lately?”

She glared and crossed her arms over her middle. Not in a defiant way, but to hide her plumper figure. Yeah, she’d seen Rain, hated her for the way she looked and the life she made for herself despite Roxy’s efforts to wreck it.