Serena slips down the bed, her head precariously close to my stomach, and I can’t help but shed a dirty grin. “I’m going to do you a favor and tell you something you should never forget. Never,everunderestimate a woman.”
A chuckle rumbles from me. “I’m afraid that’s one lesson I keep learning over and over.”
“Ooh, sorry. I’d ask what your ex did to you, but I’m not interested in having a threesome with her. Only you and I are invited to this party. That story will have to wait for another day.”
All thoughts of Carmella up and evaporate just like that. It’s just Serena and me, a far easier, far better combination in every single way.
“I promise you this, Serena—I will never, ever underestimate you.”
“I knew you were wise. Now, let’s see how happy you can be.”
Serena dives down lower and lands her mouth on the happiest part of my body and makes me far happier than I could ever have imagined.
Yes, Serena Maxfield is one woman I will never underestimate, not in bed, not in life.
I’m going to deeply appreciate her instead.
Craig Carter.That’s the dude’s name. One call to Marlin was all it took. I didn’t tell him about the incident with Serena, but only because I wanted a piece of that idiot first. Nobody touches Serena and gets away with it. Okay, nobody but me.
I’ve always felt that Serena was mine. Not in a perverse ownership type of way, but in a she’s-my-person type of way. It’s why I’ve always gravitated to her whenever we were in the same room. And now that I know that kiss was the reason we unraveled all those years ago, I want to bind us up, heal us, and take us to new places I never imagined we would end up.
I scratch the back of my head a moment as I walk up the dirt road leading to the Hollow Brook Acres Lumberyard.
Do I want a serious relationship with Serena? My heart ratchets up in my chest as if giving its opinion. A relationship with her—out in the open? While Marlin shoves his rifle at me to examine, up close and personal?
Hell yes. I don’t even need to think about it.
On Monday, the homicide detective in charge of Barry Larson’s case hauls Serena and me into his office and has a nice, amicable chat with us in which he informs us that we are indeed the only viable suspects at this point and then charges us with two things. Do not leave town. Do not collect two hundred alibis.
I get it. The police are running on empty. The town is walking on eggshells. Summer is barreling to an end. Fall semester starts up in less than three weeks and, rumor has it, parents are ready to storm the university. Yes, Serena and I make wonderful scapegoats. Now, all they need is a motive, and we’ll be banished from Hollow Brook. Hello, prison life. I don’t need a map to know we wouldn’t be the first innocent people to grace those bars.
I head into the cool mobile home that acts as an office, and an older woman with glasses so slender you wonder how she sees out of them at all looks up at me, her affect perennially bored.
“Hey there, I’m looking for a Craig Carter?”
“Out back in the barn, stacking wood. Does he owe you money?” She gives a sly smile as if she knows this is a damn good guess.
“No, actually, I’m an instructor at Whitney Briggs, and someone told me he might be able to assist with some summer internships I’m trying to set up for the students.” I have never been so glad to have such a great cover. And to think, I almost turned down the offer to teach. How different things would be for me right now. I wonder if Serena and I would have found our way to one another regardless. I’d like to think so.
“That’s a first.” She gets back to the computer screen in front of her, and those tiny spectacles reflect a cobalt hue.
I head out back and find a burly man in a tank top chucking wood, stacking it every which way into an oversized metal slot. Fall will be here before you know it, and that wood right there will be heating our homes.
“Craig Carter?” I put on my cheeriest tone, my friendliest face as he straightens to greet me, and I spit out my spiel before he has the chance to shoot.
“Whitney Briggs?” He makes a face, looking around the grounds. “I don’t know. This is a dangerous place. I’d hate to see those kids get maimed. More than that, I’d hate to see them get in my way.” He walks over to an oversized white cooler and pulls out a beer. “You want a cold one?” He tilts it my way, and I shake my head.
“Thanks for the offer, though. So, no students?”
“Nope. I’m not up for the challenge you might say. Damn hot girls at that school, though. Send a couple pretty ones and I just might change my mind. The things I could do.” He knocks back half his drink, and my blood boils at the thought of him doing anything to Serena.
I blow out a deep breath, just trying to control my temper. I’ve got two choices as I see it. I either do my damn best job to coax some kind of a confession from him like a good little lawyer or simply jump in and beat the living shit out of him.
“I know it. They are pretty hot.” I slap the back of my neck as if swatting a fly. “They’re pretty rattled, though. That murder a few weeks back took place at the bar across the street. Too close to home for a lot of them. You hear about it? Some guy shot in the chest—found in the alley.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He bobs his head as if he had a vague recollection. The guy is full of shit. “I knew him.” Maybe not so full after all. “Good guy.” He shakes the remainder of his beer. “Had a bad habit of sticking his nose where it wasn’t wanted. Didn’t know when to quit. You ever get like that? Mess with something just because you can’t seem to let it go? All the damn idiot had to do was give up the fight, but he just kept going on ahead.” He glares at the axe lying adjacent to me on the ground as if he just thought up a new use for it. And just like that, I see a vision of my bloodied head lying in that heap of firewood.
“All right then.” I start to take off. “I might drop by in a few weeks in the event you’ve changed your mind about the students.”
