CHAPTER 4

Sutton

I snuck surreptitious gazes at Mr. Williams in the moonlight as we approached the trailer. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, the man was drop dead gorgeous. I liked the fancy way he talked and the air of superiority that radiated from his body. I especially liked the five o’clock shadow on his jaw that I had a feeling most people never got to see.

Everything about Mark Williams was precision and purpose. I wondered what it would be like to have that kind of focus and determination trained on me. My body to be specific.

I climbed the steps of my childhood home with Mark close on my heels. I pushed the door open and dropped my bag near the door. It was dark inside, and the trailer wasn’t very big. But I was used to navigating through the hodgepodge of furniture.

“Why isn’t your home locked?” he asked, his tone laced with disapproval.

I tried to ignore the way that his body heat could be felt despite the fact that we weren’t touching. I let out a tired sigh as I answered his question, “Mr. Williams, everyone who is anyone knows this is where I live. Look around you. Do you honestly think there is anything someone would want to steal?”

His eyes never left my face as he replied, “Yes, Miss Landry, I do.”

Fuck me twice and call me done, color mounted in my cheeks.

“I am not flirting with you, Miss Landry. I am stating facts. Beautiful women should not live in homes that do not have proper protection.”

“You think I am beautiful?” I had the feeling that this wasn’t what he wanted me to get from his statement. But I had sure liked hearing it from his lips.

Those same lips compressed into a straight line. “Miss Landry.”

“Mr. Williams,” I countered saucily.

From the flare in his eyes I could see that my quip hit it’s mark. I knew that I was pushing his buttons, but the man was too scrumptious not to goad. I couldn’t wait to see what happened when he blew his top or, better yet, blew mine.

“Miss Landry,” he began again, taking a deep breath. “I cannot in good conscience leave you here without being assured of your safety.”

“I am a grown woman, Mr. Williams,” I said, sighing. “I can handle anything that comes my way. So, if you don’t mind, I am tired, and you have bed bugs to go find at the motel.”

In the next moment, I found myself being pressed up against the counter in my tiny kitchen, his masculine scent of leather and spice enveloping me as I struggled against his iron grip.

“You were saying, Miss Landry?” His lips brushed the curve of my ear. I felt my core clench with desire. This wasn’t supposed to be happening! I thought I had the upper hand.

I struggled to free my arms, but his grip on my wrists tightened. Bringing my knee up, I attempted to slam it into the family jewels, but Mr. Williams trapped my leg with his muscular thighs. My chest was pressed tight against his expensive suit coat.

“Let me go!” I demanded.

“No.” He wasn’t even breathing hard, the bastard.

His brow rose, “I will have you know that my parentage is quite acceptable.”

Heat spread through my body. I was the last person that should be calling someone a bastard, even inadvertently.

“You have made your point, Mr. Williams. Let me go!”

There was a sliver of time where I didn’t think he would. However, he flung me away from him as quickly as he had gathered me to him.

“Now that we have that settled, let’s discuss where I will be sleeping.”

I scowled at him. “After that display, you have some fucking nerve thinking I will put you up for the night. I don’t care whatever I said before. Get out.”

“Language, Miss Landry,” he admonished. “You will need to learn to curb that tongue of yours.”

“Listen, Fancy Britches, are on my last fucking nerve. You are not getting lucky tonight. So, you can just figure something else out. I am not that kind of girl!”

Although there was a part of me that knew I was most certainly that kind of girl if he was on the offering end, I told myself to shut the hell up! It wasn’t lost on me that I was arguing with myself and I didn’t need to add split personality to my growing list of faults.

“I have not had a moment’s luck in weeks, Miss Landry. I will be staying here to protect you, not ravish you.”

“Oh,” I replied, wincing when I heard the disappointment in my voice. I swear I saw his lips twitch. Damn him to hell! “Fine, like I told you, there is a spare room you can sleep in.”

“I should be delighted,” he mocked dryly.

I motioned for him to follow me down the dark hallway. I knew that I should have replaced the light bulb, but it hadn’t mattered as much when it was just me. However, Mr. Williams stayed close behind me, his hand on my back as we walked into the inky blackness.

I flipped on the light in my old bedroom and nearly jumped out of my skin when someone shrieked from the bed.

Mr. Williams had a gun aimed at my unexpected guest. I had no idea where he had been hiding it, nor how he had managed to pull it out so quickly.

“Stop, don’t shoot, this is just Earl.” I placed my hand on Mr. Williams’ arm and tried to ignore the butterflies that were settling in my stomach.

“Who, might I ask, is Earl?” Each word was an icy blast of anger. Mr. Williams didn’t lower his gun, not even a fraction of an inch.

Earl had to be eighty and was ninety pounds soaking wet; he was no more a threat than a field mouse.

“Mr. Williams, Earl, is a… erm,” I searched for the right word. An acquaintance, Nuisance, Pain in the ass?

“I am family!” Earl’s whiskey stained voice protested. “I don’t know who you are, but Sutton always lets me stay when Martha is having one of her spells. So sorry about your luck, mister, but I am not leaving.”

He was feisty for an old coot that had wormed his way into my heart.

“What did you do to your wife?” I almost hesitated to ask, but curiosity won out.

“I am telling you, Sutton, not a damn thing! I have been the picture of perfection to that woman, and she is plumb crazy!”

“You didn’t drink the sacramental wine again, did you?” I asked pointedly.

Martha is pretty serious about the sacramental wine. The thing is that Martha and Earl were the caretakers of the local church. But Earl tended to have poker games in the chapel and grow marijuana in the herb gardens.

Earl pouted, “I came across some extra funds and spent them at the tables. How was I to know Father had forgotten the collection plate?”

“Earl!”

But it was no use arguing. Earl was who he was, and Martha would forgive him eventually.

“Do you have enough blankets?” I went to the closet to pull down an extra one. They there threaded and bare, but with enough of them, he should stay warm.

“You can’t just let him stay here,” Mr. Williams said with authority.

I had forgotten about him, damn it.

“Have a heart, Mr. Williams. He has nowhere else to go.”

The man’s eyes shot icicles at me, “I do not need a heart, Miss Landry. You, however, could do with a strong dose of common sense. It would appear that you were born without it. He looks like a vagrant and smells to high heaven.”

Earl sniffed his soiled jacket and wrinkled his nose. He turned to look at me hopefully.

I couldn’t help the huff of laughter, “Yes, Earl, you can shower in the morning.”

“Miss Landry, I must stop this absurd situation. You can’t have a strange man sleeping in your home!”

I turned to Mr. Williams, raising a brow. “I know Earl. He is not a stranger. You, however, are. Should I throw you out on your ass?”

Earl smirked at Mr. Williams, and I stifled a smile. “Go to sleep, Earl.”

“Yes, ma’am,” came his scratchy reply. “Turn those lights off on the way out, would you Sutton?”

“Of course,” I replied. “Good night, Earl.”

“Good night, Sutton.”

Mr. Williams followed me back out into the small living area. I knew what he saw offended him. My furniture hadn’t been new since the sixties, and there was not a damn thing in the place that matched. But it was clean, and it was mine. And I wouldn’t let him get the better of me.

“What now, Mr. Williams? Are you going to sleep on the couch?”

He eyed my narrow sofa in distaste. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

I almost offered to trade him, but my feet were aching, and my bed was calling my name. I went to the hall closet and found a few more blankets with a pillow.

“Why don’t you try and get some rest? The morning will be here before we know it.” I tried to smile at him, but it came out more like a grimace. “Do you need anything else?”

I prayed he didn’t.

“I shall be perfectly situated. Don’t worry about me.” His formal tones were in such contrast to my simple home.

“Good night, Mr. Williams.”

I turned to enter my bedroom, which unfortunately was right off the living area. Just as I was shutting the door, I heard his reply.

“Good night, Miss Landry, sleep well.”

If only that had been the case.