"Mario?" I whisper into the receiver."Who the fuck do you think I am, Tabby?" Not my dream man. That's for sure. Ridge isn't here. And damn it I hate the way the name Tabby oozes from his lips like a curse. But now isn't the time to remind him how much it irritates me.I search for words, but he continues talking. "It's nice of you to call. Did you think making me sit around waiting would help me cool down? You were fucking wrong." He's started one of his rants where I'm not expected to answer. "Do you think having to send one of my best guys to hunt your ass down in bum fucked Maine would be a good choice?""I...." Maybe it's the fresh sea air, or my strong new friends, hell it could be meeting a guy who knows how to treat a woman. I'm not sure on the why, but over the last week I've grown stronger. But all my newfound confidence vanishes as Mario plows right over my words, unwilling to let me talk. We're a thousand miles apart, but if I were standing next to him, the result wo

Properly chastised, his gaze falls to the counter. "Yes, sir."Ridge laughs sticking a hand out to catch the bottle cap Riley throws in our direction. "Hey, I'm your boss.""Not on Sundays you aren't."Standing between his two boys Mack slaps both of them on the back of the head. "Get it together, boys. Ladies are present." His take-no-gruff attitude, most likely bred from years in the military, silences both of them."You were nice to my baby yesterday, right?" Riley asks in my direction.It takes me a few seconds before I realize he's asking me the question. Who's his baby? Katy? I still can't believe Mack tried to set me up with the guy Katy is most likely sleeping with?"You let Katy drive your truck?" Ridge asks in disbelief. "You're dumber than I thought.""Hey." I slap him on the chest. "We were very nice to the fancy truck."Ridge pulls me closer to his side and I wrap an arm around his back to maintain my balance. "Babe, he drives a Dodge. Mine's better.""Th

I lift my butt up, my feet balanced on the edge of his bed frame as Ridge yanks my pants lower. They bunch around my ankles and I kick my feet until they fall to the floor."Now for the fun part." He reaches behind my back and unclasps my bra, pulling the material off my arms and tossing it behind him.With a naked breast in each hand he squeezes them together. I'm barely a B cup but I feel special when he lavishes attention on me the way he does. Ridge is definitely a boob man.I no more than think it and he lowers his head taking time to lick each nipple until it's wet and pert. I squirm underneath him. His tongue trails between my breasts up to my neck where he nibbles on my collarbone. I've maintained my composure until now, but when he hits the spot at the bottom of my throat, I wrap my arms around him. My breasts smash against his shirt and the friction created from his movements causes my skin to goosebump."Okay, the shirt needs to go." I raise my hands to help him with

"Tabitha!" Katy yells right as Benny reaches in and grabs my upper arm.The last thing I need is Katy getting herself involved. Well more involved than I've already let her. "It'll be fine." I roll my eyes at her in hopes she'll think I'm not scared. "Stay here. I'll be right back."Benny jerks me from the car and I work to gain my balance in the parking lot as he pulls me along."I see you brought me a gift," Benny sneers."What?""Your little blonde friend."I freeze and he's forced to tug roughly on my arm to get me walking again. "I swear to god, Benny. Don't touch her."We turn the corner and Benny slams me into the side of the bed and breakfast, the vinyl siding cutting into my back. "Listen here, bitch, you are in no position to tell me what to do. I make the rules around here."Benny kicks open a back door to Clara's and pushes me through a short wallpapered hallway. He stops at a door with a number six and Victorian looking flowers painted on it.I've let him

Katy shuts her car door sealing us off from the world and whatever is in my house. "It's possible Ridge stopped by."Yeah, sure. If Ridge stopped over and turned on every light. One brush of my eyes at his house confirms my suspicions. There's no truck in his driveway and the house is dark."What are you going to do?" she asks."Me? You're the girl with the plans."Katy turns, her eyes squinty in thought. She flicks her head to the house and then back to me. My stomach curls from all her sudden movements, but if I didn't lose my dinner on Benny's shoes I'll handle this.Eyeing the house, she says, "Okay, here's the plan. We'll sneak around back and peek in."That's it? "Can't we call the police now and let them handle it?""Sure, but then if it is nothing at all, the whole town will consider you the girl who calls police when she leaves the lights on."But I didn't leave any lights on."It could be a raccoon," her voice skips on each word overly happy about her new id