Page 2 of Beautifully Used
My smile was genuine this time as I watched the three walk away. Nice family, I mused, picturing them as my best friend and her soon-to-be husband.
Where the hell were Lena and Jackson, anyway? The airport baggage claim area was crowded and buzzed with the hum of tired and cranky people. Just like me. Flying the midnight express had its disadvantages, but it was cheaper than the flights during more reasonable hours.
I’d been sitting at the airport for thirty minutes now. That was after the twenty-five minutes it had taken to exit the plane and retrieve my luggage. Luggage, by the way, that consisted of one huge suitcase, a medium-sized duffle bag, and a carry on. They were all packed to capacity and extremely heavy, considering I would be spending two weeks with Lena and Jackson helping them prepare for their wedding. After the struggle to get the monster pieces off the luggage conveyor, I’d managed to drag, kick, and shove them over to the bench right outside the door for curbside pick-up where I’d plopped my butt down and waited.
I was tickled for Lena and Jackson. They really deserved each other. Well, Lena deserved someone like Jackson. The guy had literally saved her life, or was it she who’d saved his? The story got jumbled in my head. Though, when you came right down to it, I think they saved each other in different ways. Jackson had saved Lena by allowing her to hide out from the monster she’d been married to, and in the process, had helped her gain the self-esteem and respect for herself that Troy had stolen from her. And Lena had apparently saved Jackson’s life by killing said monster and stopping him from pounding Jack’s brains into mush. I squeezed my eyes tight and quickly shook that scary vision from my mind. Poor Lena. Such a frightening life she’d had. I should have known, and it was something I was having trouble coming to terms with. Why hadn’t I known? I couldn’t imagine what Lena must have gone through—was going through—contending with the idea of killing someone, even if that someone were about to kill someone else. It would have been a very sad day in the world if a guy as wonderful as Jackson had been killed. Too bad Jack’s brother, Brodie, didn’t possess the same qualities. In the brief three days I’d spent as Lena’s guest in Brodie’s house, I’d learned the hard way what type of guy Brodie Beaumont was. His crude seduction tactics had earned him a slap to the face after he’d actually groped my breasts while attempting to kiss me. No, I couldn’t say I was looking forward to another encounter with Brodie Beaumont.
I glanced at the time on my cell phone yet again and sighed, realizing it had been an hour and a half since my plane had landed. Now I was beginning to worry that something might have happened to them. It wasn’t like Lena to be this late and not even call me. I dialed Lena’s number to find out where she and Jackson were as my eyes fell upon a large pair of men’s Sanuk Vagabonds facing toward me. I reluctantly looked up to find Brodie Beaumont in all his yummy glory standing three feet in front of me, frowning. Yeah, I know, I’d slapped him and declined his not-so-eloquent proposal, but despite his lack of discretion in the romance department, the guy was hot.
“They sent you?” I said, sounding every bit as dejected as I felt. How could Lena do this to me? But then I guess she didn’t really know how much her soon-to-be brother-in-law despised me. I’d kept the little episode of him groping me like he was a teenager on prom night to myself. He was a philanderer and never tried to hide it. After that night though, he’d kept his distance. I had to give him that much. Besides, it hadn’t really been all that terrible. I’d even been thinking about him because of it and wondering what it would be like to have his lips on mine again. And he’d smelled so yummy. He’d caught me by surprise the way he’d moved in so quickly the minute Lena and Jackson had gone to bed. I suppose if I’d known him more than a millisecond, which is what the couple of hours in his presence had felt like, I might have handled it differently. The thing was, I hadn’t handled it differently, and now he hated me.
“I don’t like it any more than you do,” he quipped. “But Jack and Lena had to meet a caterer this morning and couldn’t cancel, so you’re stuck with me.” It wasn’t that I didn’t like it. On the contrary, I hadn’t been able to get Brodie Beaumont off my mind since the night he’d tried to kiss me. No matter how hard I tried. I’m glad I turned him down, especially after Lena had filled me in on Brodie’s sexual habits. The way Lena had explained it, it sounded as if he had an addiction to sex or something. I’d considered Brodie a troubled soul back then, but this time, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Too bad his first words to me now had to be about how much he didn’t want to be around me.
I grabbed the handle of my duffle bag and hoisted it on top of the large suitcase. He yanked the backpack hanging loosely down my upper arm off and slung it over his shoulder. After throwing the duffle bag’s strap over the other shoulder, he grabbed the handle to my rolling luggage and started walking away. I opened my mouth to yell at him, to tell him I could take them myself and didn’t need him; but that just seemed like a stupid move on my part, especially as I watched how his low-hanging jeans held tight against his fine tush. Wow. To think, I could have had a piece of that. I shook my head, knowing if I had, it would have only been once or twice because everybody knew Brodie Beaumont used women like a vampire used his victims—sucking them dry and discarding them after having his fill. However hot I considered Brodie to be, I didn’t want to be on his list of conquests. I held my chin up and trailed behind him. I would not let him get to me.
We walked for what seemed like a mile before we finally got to his truck.
“Why didn’t you just pull up to the curb?” I asked, almost out of breath from trying to keep up with him. His stride was huge, and he made carrying my gigantic duffle bag look like nothing more than a five-pound sack of potatoes.
He shrugged, even with the weight of the luggage in each hand. “I thought you’d enjoy the morning walk.” When I didn’t say anything, he slowed and turned around toward me. “I couldn’t get in close enough so that you’d see me, and I knew you’d be looking for Jackson’s or Lena’s car, so I thought I’d better go park and get out of the truck to find you.”
“Oh.” Gosh darn. That made total sense.
When we finally reached the truck, he practically threw my luggage in the back, and I prayed my bottle of perfume hadn’t busted. I loved the stuff, but I didn’t want my clothes drenched in jasmine to the point of asphyxiation. I opened my mouth to protest but shut it considering it was too late. I didn’t need to make the ride to Turtle Lake any more unpleasant than it was sure to be already.
Brodie yanked the passenger door open and stood, waiting for me to climb up to the seat. It was a hard climb up, and the sundress I had on was a bit on the short side. I’d worn it because it was comfortable and stretchy. Now I was regretting that decision. I bunched up my little lightweight jacket I held in my hands and placed it behind me, hoping it might help hide my exposed thighs as I climbed. An item I was glad I’d brought. Airplanes got so chilly when you were just sitting there for long stretches of time. As I took my first step up, Brodie walked away and headed toward the driver’s side. I let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t stuck around to ogle my bare thighs.
He slid in and started the engine, not even glancing in my direction. Okay, then. I got the message. He didn’t want anything to do with me now.
“You were late,” I said, buckling up and instantly regretting the harshness of my tone.
He afforded me a sideways glance. “I was busy.” I guess I deserved that rude three-word response to my equally rude three-word statement. “I brought you some coffee,” he added.
I glanced down at the center console and noted the two tall cups from Starbucks. He’d brought me coffee?
“The one on the right is yours. It’s a Caramel Snickerdoodle Macchiato. Double shot.”
“My favorite. Well, not the double shot, but thanks for that. I can use it this morning.”
“Figured.”
“How’d you know that anyway?”
“Know what?”
Oh, God. This was going to be a very painful journey if his sentences remained three words or less. “About the Caramel Snickerdoodle Macchiato.”
He shrugged. “Lucky guess.”
I decided not to worry about how he knew. Besides, everybody loved the Caramel Snickerdoodle Macchiato. I sipped the bit of heaven now warming my hands and closed my eyes as the taste of caramel, cinnamon, and vanilla coated my throat. I couldn’t contain the “Mmmm” that escaped from deep inside me. “Thanks.”
We rode in silence for awhile until we hit some morning commuter traffic. Brodie swore under his breath and changed lanes, heading off the freeway onto some side road that I hoped he knew. I wasn’t in the mood to get lost, not with Brodie.
I snuck a glance in his direction. The frown on his face showed his irritation, and I wondered if it was the traffic or the fact that he’d had to pick me up from the airport so early in the morning that caused it. I secretly hoped it was the traffic, though I had my doubts.
I finished the coffee, but I was still exhausted. The extra caffeine boost had hardly scratched the surface of my brain. Normally, a double shot would have had me doing the jig and wiggle in the seat, but even the two shots of espresso were no match for the loss of an entire night’s sleep. All I wanted to do was close my eyes. I rested my head against the window when, all of a sudden, a small pillow was shoved at me. “Here,” Brodie’s deep voice mumbled. “You didn’t sleep at all on that flight did you?”
I shook my head and moaned something about snoring that I’m sure was incoherent as I wedged the pillow between my head and the window. I let the hum of the engine and the tires on the interstate lull me to sleep. Such a pleasure not to have that guy sawing logs in my ear.
