In Bed with Mr. Wrong

Chapter Five

“So I know you’ve made your stance on Ryan really, really clear, despite some seriously compelling evidence…”

Bri held the phone away from her ear and groaned. Ever since the party, Avery had been making jokes about the first mountain lion sighting in a century and updating her on the stoplight and mailbox repair. As if she needed any help walking down memory lane to how thoughts of Ryan had taken over her life. But yesterday she’d sat Avery down and reiterated that she had absolutely no interest in Ryan. She thought she’d gotten through to her friend.

She should have known better.

It didn’t help that she’d fielded not one but five comments from well-meaning people asking if she and the younger Flannery boy were an item. It was enough for her to vow to avoid him at all costs—including ducking out the back of the library when she’d seen his Suburban at the diner across the street the other day.

“Avery, we talked about this. The date was horrible, and that’s not even getting into the fiasco at your birthday party.” Lie, lie, lie. But what was she supposed to say? That he’d blown her mind seven ways to Sunday on her porch swing? As if that wasn’t bad enough, she couldn’t stop thinking about how he would have done it all over again if they’d just parked in some dark alley instead of trying to drive. People never crashed when giving each other orgasms while driving in her novels. And he’d had her most of the way there, using only his fingers.

She’d lost far too much sleep wondering what he would have done if he’d had both hands free.

But apparently Avery didn’t care about her wavering mental health. “Yeah, yeah. That’s beside the point. I wouldn’t even be bringing him up, but it’s kind of an emergency.”

She moved around her living room and pulled out the little statue she’d bought for Mr. Smith this morning. It was a mermaid sitting on a rock, combing her hair. Since another betta wasn’t an option, she’d wanted to get him a companion so he wouldn’t worry about her spending so much time at the library. It couldn’t be easy being here all day by himself.

He circled it a few times and then continued swimming around happily, his brightly colored blue-and-red tail swishing. “What the heck does ‘kind of an emergency’ mean? Is Drew okay?” Last time Avery had been this cagey, Drew had almost been stranded overnight on an extreme skiing trip. A storm swept in and he lost contact. He’d ended up having to signal the rescue helicopter with the flash from his cell phone camera.

“Everyone’s fine. Mostly. He and Ryan were driving out to go hiking or something manly like that and they got that damn sheriff’s truck stuck. I told him it needed more weight in the bed, but does he ever listen to me? Nope.”

Her heart dropped. Why, oh why, did Ryan have to be with him? She swallowed hard. “I’m not sure why you’re calling me instead of a tow truck.”

“Well, you know Drew. He is sheriff, hear him roar. The guys will never let him live it down if he has to call for help over something this stupid.”

She restacked the books at the end of the table that she’d been meaning to take back to the library for days now. “It’s a tow truck, Avery! It’s not as if we’re calling the state troopers.”

“Stop yelling at me! I don’t know what his problem is, but he wants you to bring the Beast out there. I’d do it, but the antique lamp I bought at auction last week will be at my shop in twenty minutes and I’m the only one who can sign for it. He can use my winch to haul his ass out of the ditch.”

She glanced at the book and cup of tea she’d just settled down with and resigned herself to going out into the storm that had rolled through earlier this morning. It wasn’t one for the record books by any means—the snow came down in a steady stream that indicated there’d be a few extra inches on the ground by the time it was done—but it wasn’t going to be pleasant driving. At least she’d be in Avery’s enormous Jeep, which everyone referred to as the Beast. “I’m putting my shoes on right now.”

“You’re the best! The keys are on the table at my house. I’ll text you directions.”

Bri sighed and tossed her book into her purse. “Drew owes me big-time for this.”

“You be sure to let him know that when you see him.”

With another, longer sigh, she stood and went in search of her of travel mug. If she was venturing out in this mess, she wasn’t doing it without her tea. To make matters worse, the Beast had spotty heat at best. It was famed for never having met a ditch it couldn’t get out of and, with a résumé like that, Avery claimed she didn’t need little things like a working thermostat or accurate gas gauge.

She was tempted to call the tow truck, regardless of what Drew wanted. Driving there would take at least forty-five minutes from town, maybe longer if the snow got any worse. She’d be lucky if she didn’t end up in the ditch, too.

She grabbed her keys and coat, and headed for the door. Damn Drew for getting into this mess while his brother was with him. She didn’t want to see Ryan again. It didn’t matter how she seemed to lose all sense of control when she was around him—he was no good for her on any other level. Which was fine, because she definitely wasn’t traipsing out into the painfully cold and wet weather just so she could spend a little more time with him. She was just going to help a friend in need.

That was it.

…

Ryan stared at the text his fool brother had just sent, trying to force a logical reaction even though all he wanted to do was jump from his chair and race to his SUV.

Bri was in an accident. I can’t get out to help her and all my guys are busy with other calls. Need you to. Worried she’s going to wander off. Here’s the address.

Of all the times for the goddamn sheriff’s office to be running low on manpower, now was seriously shit. He hoped to God his brother hadn’t shared who was coming to help her out. If Drew told her to sit and wait for Ryan, she was more likely to stomp through a snowstorm if it meant she could avoid seeing him again.

Hell, two days ago when he’d waited at the diner across the street for her to close the library, he’d seen her peek her head out of the front door, take one look at his SUV, and disappear. Five minutes later he’d watched her sneak out the side exit—which was in the direct line of sight of the booth he’d taken. It was goddamn stupid. They were both adults. And, yeah, the date had been bad—ridiculously good sex on her porch excepted—and then they’d gone and added to the History of Ryan Flannery the night of Avery’s party. But that didn’t mean she had to avoid him. Though, if he had a lick of sense, he’d avoid her like the plague.

Which did nothing to explain why his idiot self was throwing on his ski jacket, grabbing his keys and emergency bag, and heading out into the weather to rescue her ass.

Ryan drove out of town, windshield wipers flying across his line of vision as he followed the GPS’s instructions through winding back roads he only half remembered from high school. What the hell was Bri doing all the way out here? He took the prescribed turn off the main road and cursed when the SUV jostled dangerously. A fucking dirt road? There had better be a good goddamn explanation, or he was going to be wicked pissed.

Oh, hell, who was he kidding? He was already wicked pissed.

The deep rutted tracks drew him in much the same way it drew in his wheels, so he kept going, because as far as he could tell, Bri hadn’t driven back here by herself. Those tracks sure as hell hadn’t come from the Prius he’d seen in her driveway. Who was she with?

He tried to beat back the jealousy and banish the images of her huddled up with another man and making good use of their time while they waited for rescue. His suspicion turned to confusion when he caught sight of Avery’s lifted Jeep on massive tires. What the hell? No way could that thing get stuck and, judging by its perfectly stable location in front of this cabin, it never had been.

Ryan shut off his Suburban and headed for the front door, following the dainty footprints that could only have been made by a woman. One set, not two. So either Drew had gotten his wires crossed and he was actually here for Avery, or Bri was driving the Beast.

He shoved open the front door and slammed it behind him. A squeak sounded from somewhere down the hall, so he marched in that direction, determined to get some answers. The kitchen he passed was stocked with enough food to feed his entire flight crew for a week, and the living room full of comfy couches was free of dust.

What. The. Fuck.

He pushed open the closed door at the end of the hallway with more force than necessary and barely had time to register a wild-eyed Bri before she swung a chair at him.

Or tried to.

Instead of hitting him in the chest like she’d obviously planned, the weight of the heavy oak dragged her down until the chair rammed into his shins. “Jesus Christ!” Ryan jumped back and cursed again as she tried to lift the damn thing a second time.

“Get away from me! I’m not alone out here, and my friends will kill you if you touch me!”

He held up his hands. “Bri, relax. It’s me.”

“Ryan?” She pushed her glasses higher on her nose and frowned. “Where’s Drew? I thought Avery must have gotten the address wrong because his truck wasn’t here, but I couldn’t make my cell phone work and so I went to knock on the door to see if they had a landline, but no one was here, and—”

Holy shit. She was talking so fast her words tumbled over themselves. He cautiously put his hands on her shoulders and nearly jumped back again when she threw her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck. “I thought you were some backwoods hunter who was going to kill me!”

“Honey, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you live in central Pennsylvania. There are a lot of backwoods hunters out here, and less than the average percentage of serial killers. I think you’re safe.”

She seemed to realize she was clinging to him because she abruptly shoved him away. “I’m entitled to be frightened. And stop being so negative about the people who live here. They’re perfectly lovely.”

“Except for the backwoods hunters?” He smiled in spite of himself. Not that she wasn’t allowed to be afraid, but her intelligence might be in question if she made a habit of wandering into strange houses just because the doors were unlocked. Now probably wasn’t the best time to call attention to that, though.

She peered around him to look down the hall. “Where’s Drew? And his truck? Did you walk here?”

The sinking feeling in his chest got worse. “What are you talking about? I got a text saying you’d gotten into a car accident and needed me.”

“Well, that’s just ridiculous. Why would I be out here driving around on a day like today?”

“That’s a damn good question. One I plan on asking my brother when I get back into town.”

“But Avery said…” She broke off and cocked her head to the side. “Did you leave your SUV running?”

Then Ryan registered a second engine starting up. He patted his pocket. The keys were still there, but there was no mistaking the sound of his SUV peeling away. “Goddamn it!”

He ran through the cabin, pushing through the front door in time to see the two vehicles flying backward down the rutted road, Avery in the driver’s seat of her Jeep, giving him a little finger wave as she maneuvered around the corner in reverse like a pro.

It was official. As soon as he got back into town, he was going to kill his brother.