The One Girl Read online

  Talie moved to come toward me, but Kayla grabbed her arm and murmured, “I seriously fucking hate you.”

  Jace and Ruthie were confused because they hadn’t heard any of the earlier conversations between the sisters, but I threw my head back laughing. I looked at Talie as I told her, “Seriously, it’s un-fucking-canny.”

  I shrugged my shoulders at Jace and Ruthie and attempted to fill them in. “Evidently, I’m a great catch.”

  Kayla pouted. “Oh my God. He’s arrogant too? I’m so jealous.”

  At that, we all filled the room with the sounds of our humor. Part of my reason for laughing was the fact that this was taking forever. This was supposed to be a strategy meeting, but it had quickly deteriorated just like I thought it would.

  “Ok. We have to get back on track here. Drew is here, and I don’t know what he’s plannin’. This makes me uncomfortable. We brought Kayla here because we wanna keep everybody we love close. Well, that, and she refused to not come. You two mean a lot to us also, so I figure you should stick together. I’m countin’ on the town to keep an eye on Drew and prevent him from doin’ anything, but you can’t be too careful.”

  Jace jumped in immediately, “Ruth’ll move in with me.”

  Three female mouths fell agape and Ruthie spoke. “Um, what? Are you crazy? I’ll just stay at Tuck’s old apartment. There’s an alarm and everything.”

  Jace’s face held determination. There was no way he was letting this opportunity slide by. He’d been wanting a chance with Ruthie, and I guess he thought this was it. “Nope. You’re movin’ in. It isn’t even up for discussion. I want you safe, and that means you’re gonna be with me. Get used to my face, honey, ‘cause you’re gonna be seein’ a lot of it.”

  I looked to Talie to see her smile, bite her bottom lip, and mutter to herself, “Looks like I’m not the only one Tuck is rubbing off on.”

  I figured I better get talking again before we spent forty-five minutes on this drama. “So that’s settled.”

  It didn’t hurt to help a man out every now and then. Jace gave me a chin lift as Ruth shot me an ice cold glare.

  “Next thing is findin’ the proof of Drew’s guilt. I’d like to be able to prove every dirty dealing he’s been involved in since he left here. We know what he did to Winnie, and we think he might be responsible for my parents’ deaths as well.”

  The room pulled in a collective gasp of air at that statement. I had to push forward though. There was no time to get lost in all of my emotions. “I know that was like droppin’ a bomb, but I’d rather just keep goin’ with the plan than get into it now.”

  I got nods all around, so I continued my speech. “Talie says there should be a safe deposit box in New York with some answers from Jenny. Apparently, Winnie told her about it, said it was in case somethin’ bad happened to her. It’s in both of their names, but everyone still thinks Natalie Dalton is dead and I’d rather keep it that way.”

  Kayla jumped in. “I’ll go to New York. If she’s dead, I’m immediate family so they should give me access. And no one knows I’m here to notice if I’m missing.”

  Talie looked worried so Kayla finished her thoughts with something we both knew she needed to hear. “Nat, Andrew won’t know where to find me either. If he was looking for me, I’d think that he would be looking in Georgia.”

  Talie accepted it, but didn’t delay in adding some attitude. “Fine. But then what the hell am I supposed to do?”

  Man, she was cute. “That’s easy, Babe. You stay here and you stay safe. You live your life and you try to remember as many significant details as possible. You avoid Drew at all costs and you go to work like normal. The people at the diner love you and will look out for you. And last, but definitely not least, you spend every night in my bed, and I don’t mean you spend your night there sleepin’. You got me?”

  I watched as her body shivered. She got me.

  “You expect me to just go about my life like nothing is wrong? That was never my plan from the beginning. I always planned to take Andrew down one way or another.”

  That was a another revelation, but I decided to ignore it for the time being. “Yeah, Babe, I do. You’ve been takin’ care of yourself and everybody else long enough. Now, we’re takin’ care’a you.”

  And that was the goddamn truth. She had most likely been taking care of everyone around her for her entire life. But now she had me, and I was going to take care of her. Her suffering, self-suppression, and going it alone had officially come to an end. Or at least, that was the goal.

  Chapter 4

  Let the Grief Out

  Sweet Jesus, she felt good. So wet and tight. It was like heaven.

  It hadn’t taken her long to be confident in bed with me. She was nervous in the very beginning, but I think that had more to do with the life she was coming from than really having nerves about being with me.

  Man, more than just being confident, she could get wild. And I fucking loved it. I actually don’t know that I could find a man who wouldn’t. They may want their woman shy on the streets, but wild in bed was always good.

  Men thought about sex almost constantly, and I was no different. I honestly spent probably 90 percent of my time and brain space thinking about some part of my body touching a part of hers. Or ideally, every part of my body touching every part of hers. Like it was right now.

  She was under me, looking up at me with half-lidded eyes, and I was pounding into her at a relentless pace. Her legs were wrapped around my back, thighs tucked into my sides, and her fingernails were scratching the skin of my shoulder blades. God, I loved the feel of her nails on me.

  “Fuck, Babe. Jee-zus.”

  Her breaths were ragged, and moan after moan was coming from somewhere deep down in her throat. She threw her head back, her back arched, and she breathed, “Tuck, baby. Oh yeah. Oh yes. God.”

  I could feel her getting close to her orgasm, the walls inside her quivering and ready to release their tension. I had one forearm in the bed and my hand on that arm was in her hair. It was silky, soft, and fiery, just like her. I was palming her breast with my right hand but shifted my attention since I knew she was getting close.

  Reaching down between our bodies, I moved my thumb to just the spot I knew she desperately needed me to touch. I kept my touch light but sure. She was sensitive at this point, so I needed to go easy, but it had to be more than a teasing touch too.

  I could feel her getting even wetter around me, and it took me to the brink of losing it myself. Turning her on that much, working her up so good, was the most arousing thing I had ever experienced. It always made me feel powerful to have that effect on any woman, but it was more with her. Knowing her body was reacting to mine like I was reacting to her was whole heartedly gratifying.

  I could feel the sweat beading and rolling down my skin, her legs tightening around me, and her fingernails digging deeper into my back. I could tell she was right at the edge, so I gave my thumb one more perfect swirl.

  I watched as she fell apart in my arms. I could feel her convulsing around me, milking me, sucking me, like she was trying to keep me inside her body permanently. It sent me right over the edge with her, everything tightening and exploding, pulsing and throbbing. I gave her everything I had to give as I whispered in her ear, “My Talie.”

  And she fucking was. She was mine, and she was the best goddamn thing I’d ever felt and experienced in my life. In bed and out of it.

  We laid there for a few minutes, our breaths and sweat mingling and cooling, before reality came crashing back to the surface. We had to get up.

  I would have gladly laid there forever, but we both had shit to do.

  Kayla was leaving to head to New York this morning, and I needed to make sure Drew didn’t see her leaving. Topping off the to do list, I also needed to drop Talie off at work.

  Wanting desperately to keep her safe but not totally cut off the rest of her life, I figured taking her to work and picking her up was a nice compromise
. I could make sure she came and went safely, but then I’d have to count on my friends to keep an eye on her during the day.

  Last night had been interesting. We had finished our discussion, and then watched the spectacle of Jace dragging Ruthie out headed for home. He had a shit eating grin on his face and she was sporting a major scowl.

  As angry as she had been, I had a feeling she would get over it. To us outsiders it seemed obvious that she wanted Jace, but like most women, she needed a little push. At least, that’s what my gut told me.

  Men like Jace and I figured out what we wanted and acted on it. Women seemed to be looking for answers from some unknown ‘love confirmation place’ or something equally obscure.

  Like if God himself didn’t show up preaching about how perfect their man was for them, it couldn’t be right. It was confusing as all hell. So when a man knows it’s right, he has to take matters into his own hands and give his woman no other option. The idea of trapping a woman could seem offensive to some, so this is where it gets tricky. The key is to treat her right while you’re cornering her. Eventually, given time and enough happiness, she’ll get the message. Whether it’s from God or somewhere inside, who knows.

  When I came out of my revery I remembered that though my beautiful woman seemed just as content to stay under me all day as I was to have her there, we had to get our days started.

  Pushing myself up onto my elbows, I leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. My tongue just barely touched the tip of hers before I pulled back, touched my lips to the soft, pink skin of hers once more, and then got down to business.

  “Come on, Babe. Let’s get in the shower. We got shit to do today, but I wouldn’t mind spendin’ a little more time with my body pressed against yours. Especially all wet and soapy.”

  Okay. So maybe not quite down to business, but I was going to get us out of bed.

  I pushed myself all the way back and up, reached back into the bed, grabbed her by the hips, and lifted her out. She shrieked, but it didn’t slow me down. I carried her into the bathroom, set her down, swiped her nipple with my thumb for fun, and then reached in the shower to turn it on.

  She giggled and squirmed, but followed that up by getting on her toes and kissing my jaw. “I love you, Tuck.”

  God, that felt so good. Like a fleece blanket in my chest, she warmed me and my heart.

  We didn’t get serious often, but that made it that much more meaningful when we did.

  I looked right into her eyes with mine, the ones she told me were the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen, and whispered back, “Love you too, Babe.”

  She smiled one of her prettiest smiles. It was big, bright, and full of sincerity.

  When the water was warm, I smacked her ass and shoved her into the shower by a hand on her hip.

  We did our normal routines and got clean, but not until after I had buried myself in the sweetness that was My Talie one more time.

  ********

  Sweat trickled down from underneath my hat, cutting a path down my face, as my gloved hands shoved under the twine strands of another bale of hay. My muscles flexed under the strain, and I savored every minute of it.

  Being out on my farm, taking care of my animals and my property, was one of my favorite things to do. Working with my hands and letting my thoughts wander until they found peace felt right. Like it was what I was meant to do.

  I had dropped Talie off at work, and, after getting a report that Andrew was in town with no chance of seeing her, sent Kayla off on her journey to New York.

  When I dropped Talie off I had a talk with John and Toni and told them to look out for her. I didn’t give them a full briefing, but they both took me seriously enough just from listening to my tone. Telling them to watch out for her was easy, took maybe 2 minutes, but I knew it would bring peace to my mind that wouldn’t be there otherwise.

  They knew it meant a lot to me, and they loved Talie, so watching out for her didn’t seem to be a major sacrifice for either of them.

  It also seemed like they thought they might owe me for doing so many favors for them and everyone else over all of these years. I had never wanted anything in return for my help, but if they saw it that way now, I would use it. I would start pulling in each and every one of them owed to me if I thought it would help. For whatever reason, for this woman, I knew I would do anything I needed to.

  As I unloaded the last couple of bales of hay from the trailer into the loft of the barn, the reality of everything I had learned in the last couple of days started to crash down on me. I had been suppressing my emotions because I had needed to form a plan and be strong for Talie. And really, I had always been pretty good at quelling my emotions without it having the added benefit of protecting my woman. Being strong for her was just a good excuse.

  I lost my parents years ago, but it was like a fresh wound to find out that their death came for a different reason than random fate. That was the reason my Dad had been so excited to go to Nashville that weekend. Jenny Winniekins had been coming home.

  I shook my head as the picture that had been blurry for years came into startling focus.

  As it always does, hindsight had made things extremely clear. Their behavior, namely the pure joy radiating from them, had to have been from something major like that. Their love had never wavered, but Jenny’s absence had a profound effect them. The thought of a weekend away together wouldn’t have generated that much exuberance. But there had been no way to know that then. I didn’t see any other obvious clues, and most of the time, I was lost in my own thoughts anyway.

  And Winnie. Oh, God. My other half. My twin sister. Gone. And at the hands of a monster, after years of untold abuse. Reasonable logic led me to assume that she had been through at least the same things that Talie had. It was bad enough when I knew that one woman in my life had suffered those injustices, but knowing that two had was unimaginable.

  If it weren’t for Talie, I would have spent the rest of my life searching for her. Now, I knew I didn’t need to search for her anymore.

  She was no longer a part of this world, and God, that was a hard reality to swallow.

  I wasn’t the type of man to break down, but at the realization that my whole family was gone, all brutally murdered, I allowed myself a minute of unrestrained emotion.

  I sat down on a bale of hay in the loft and rested my face in my hands. A sob tore through my throat, and for once, I let it. For the first time, I let all of my grief hang out.

  Tears were streaming unrestricted down my face and my throat was closing up. I felt like I was suffocating as my broken cries struggled to find their way out, my tight throat making it hard to take in a full breath. My whole body was shaking and shivering as if it were below freezing when it was actually sweltering with heat in this loft.

  I guess when you keep emotion trapped for a long time and you finally let it out, it does so violently.

  I sat like this for several minutes, but as feelings of nausea started to overcome me, I knew it was time to turn off the spigot.

  Like I was slowly turning the knob, I worked to get myself under control. I pressed the palms of my hands deep into my eyes and inhaled small pockets of air in through my nose. The knot around my throat slowly loosened, and the tightness in my chest eased at the same pace. As my body let go of the tension, it felt even better than it had a few minutes ago.

  Working through my thoughts and feeling the freedom releasing my grief had given to me, had led me to a powerful realization. I had given myself time to relish the family that I had lost, and now was the time to fully commit to the family that I had now. Talie.

  And Kayla, Ruthie, and Jace. Hopefully kids one day. We could build the family we wanted. We had to take care of one problem, and it wouldn’t be easy. But after we conquered it, we could live happily with the people we had now.

  As I went back to hefting bales up to stack them in organized columns, I knew I would stop at nothing to protect the family I had now. I knew
it might be a rough road, but at least this time, I knew what I was up against.

  ********

  Walking into the diner to meet Talie for dinner, I let my eyes scan, looking for her.

  I normally made sure I found her eyes first, but today she was facing away from me, so they found a different part of her. Her ass.

  I was convinced she had the most perfect ass I had ever encountered. It was high and firm, but there was plenty of it. Enough to get a good handful. Every time I got a good view of it, I had to fight against getting hard and making a fool of myself like some hormonal teenage kid.

  She had on tight jean shorts and her lavender t-shirt. I loved that shirt on her for several reasons, the first one being that it stretched across her breasts fucking perfectly. The second and less crude reason was because it made her blue eyes look their absolute brightest.

  I couldn’t wait to see those pretty blue eyes when they weren’t clouded by the stress and fear that Drew brought with him hanging over her head anymore.

  As she turned toward me, I took in her long tan legs. She was short, but I swear her legs went on for miles. I didn’t know how it was possible for someone so short to have legs the length of a six foot woman and not look out of proportion, but she pulled it off.

  I made my way across the diner, scanning the booths, looking at all of the people I knew, and giving them a chin lift of acknowledgment as I went. I loved this town and embraced it, and it championed me right back. Joplin, the townspeople, and the ones of them that were patrons of the diner presently were great, but there was only one person I wanted to lock eyes with right now.

  Her eyes flitted up and stopped on mine, a slow, warm smile spreading onto her face. She picked up her speed so that she would get to me faster, and her ponytail swayed from side to side as she walked. Her breasts bounced subtly with each step she took, my eyes having to fight to look at anything else, and I knew there was no way that my woman wasn’t going to end up a picture in the heads of every man in here as they jerked off tonight. I was a lucky bastard. And the best part was that she had no idea.