Fucking hell.
“Hey Linc!”
I look up to see Deke Littleton walking towards me. He’s a deputy with the Cherry Falls police. I nod as he sits down at the bar in front of me. I’m working the outside bar of the Reef Beach Bar tonight. I usually work the inside, but I love the outside more. Daphne, the owner, gave me a break tonight, and I’m grateful. There’s just something about the salt air that brings me peace.
“Hey Deke. Are you lost? You’re not a face I normally see here. What can I get you?”
“Just a tonic water,” he says. “I just got off work and was looking for Jodie. I hear she likes to come to the beach on her days off.”
Fuck. He has a thing for Jodie? This woman is going to haunt me, I can tell. I mean, Deke seems like a good guy, but totally fucking opposite of me. He’s always in uniform…always. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t sleep in it. If Deke is Jodie’s usual type of man, why in the hell did she go slumming with me?
“Jodie Jones?” I don’t know why I ask. I guess I’m hoping that it’s a different Jodie, although the odds of that are probably slim.
“Yeah,” he confirms. “I’ve been trying to get her to go out with me for over a month now.”
Over a month. That means she’s had Mr. Straightlaced on the line, sniffing at her and she still slept with me. That’s interesting. Damn interesting.
“Yikes, man. That smells of chasing a woman,” I tell him laughing it off and wondering why the thought of him dating Jodie should irritate me so damn much.
“Probably, but Jodie is worth it, man. She’s special. She’s a good girl.”
“A good girl?” I ask. The Jodie I remembered was bad, very fucking bad. So fucking bad that I dream about her at night, remembering just how dirty she could get—how much she begged for more of everything I gave her.
Son of a bitch, I’m in the middle of working, wearing my swim trunks and a white t-shirt and I’m sporting a damn woody over a girl that I’ve written off.
“Yeah, the kind you don’t mind bringing home to your parents,” he says, as I bend down, pretending to do something under the bar. I don’t want Deke to see me roll my eyes. I haven’t seen my parents in years, but even if I had, that’d be the last reason I’d be interested in a girl. Fuck, he is older than me. I’d say he is at least mid-thirties. If he’s still worried about what his parents say about a woman he fucks, then no wonder he’s still single. I straighten back up to smile at a sexy blonde coming up to the bar, her tits way bigger than the tiny strips of fabric she’s wearing to try and contain them. Her hips flair out. She has curves in all the right places…
“What would you like, sweetheart?” I ask giving her a lazy smile.
“Do you know how to make a Dirty Monkey?” she asks, with a naughty little grin.
“Baby, I know how to make everything dirty,” I joke, making her give a sexy giggle, that I should love, but have to admit is a little annoying.
“I don’t suppose you’ve seen Jodie around here lately?” Deke asks, ruining the moment between me and the chick.
“Nah man, not in a month or so,” I tell him, fixing the drink.
Not in a month, two days and some very long hours.
Shit.
“I guess I’ll head out then. I hear she likes to hang out by Wildflower Falls some. Later, Linc,” he says, annoying the piss out of me.
“Later, Deke,” I answer. I’m so irritated that I spend the rest of my shift wondering what in the hell is going on with me. I really think I must be losing it. I didn’t even take the invitation in the blonde’s eyes.
When I get off work, I go straight to my place. I just need to decompress and get my head on straight. When I open the door to my apartment, my nose curls. When even I notice the filth, that means it’s bad.
I spend an hour picking up shit and throwing some laundry in the washing machine. Next I go to my bed and frown. I haven’t changed the sheets in a month—which honestly is kind of normal. I only change them if I think a woman is coming back with me and even that is only if I feel like it. It never bothered me before. Tonight, though, it does. I haven’t had a woman in my bed since Jodie—and that’s the last time those sheets have been changed.
“That ends tonight,” I mutter. I pull off the silver comforter and after bringing it up to my nose, decide to wash it too. I toss it on the floor and then begin to remove the bottom sheet—I never mess around with the top one. I frown when I notice blood on it. I haven’t noticed a scratch or anything, but who knows. I’ve been surfing a lot lately on my downtime. I finish yanking it off, before throwing it on top of the comforter. Then, I stare at the mattress and say fuck it and lay on it without sheets. I close my eyes and damn it if Jodie Jones doesn’t float across my mind.
What the hell is wrong with me?
3
Jodie
“Deke, this is awful nice,” I murmur, wishing I was anywhere but where I’m at—on a date with Deke Littleton.
I’m not sure how it happened. I’ve been avoiding him like the plague. I don’t even know why. He’s a nice guy and he’s good looking, too. He’s got some salt and pepper action going and pretty blue eyes. He is around five-eleven. That makes him taller than me and that’s something I’ve always wanted from the men I date. Mom and Dad love him, which is also nice, and we all go to the same church. The problem is there’s just no spark.
None at all.
To be fair, I’ve never really had sparks with anyone other than Linc and after the way that turned out, I don’t care if I ever do.
“Anything for my best girl,” he says, and I scrunch my face up. His best girl? What is that?
We’re at Fireside Bar and Grill. The owner, Caleb, is a good guy but a bit of a loner. He’s quiet and reserved. He’s got muscles everywhere and looks like he could have been a pro boxer or cage fighter—he definitely has that look. He was friendlier and talked more, but he was involved in a messy divorce a while back, and ever since that, he’s changed. Right now, he’s talking to Wren Walters. I know her from church. She’s a little younger than me, but sweet. She teaches skiing to smaller kids at the Sugarbush Ski Slope. I didn’t even realize she knew Caleb, but it’s clear they’re in an intense discussion right now, and Caleb looks angry.
“Did you hear what I said?” Deke asks, pulling my attention back to him.
“I’m sorry. I was just watching Wren,” I murmur. “She seems to be arguing with Caleb and I was wondering if I should go try to rescue her.”
Deke looks over at the couple and shrugs. “Maybe Caleb likes her.”
“That conversation doesn’t look like he likes her. He looks like he could chew nails,” I reply, not really joking.
“Who knows. That’s how Sheriff Larson looks at Faith Bridges.”
“Whoa, say what?”
“You didn’t know? He’s been getting cozy with Faith for a while, but for whatever reason, they haven’t gotten together.”
“Maybe she’s nervous about his career? I mean, Faith is a single mother. It stands to reason she’d be cautious,” I argue .