Rafe—
“Just picked up your new tire.”
“Park the truck and come here a minute,” Charlie says.
The looks on all three of their faces sets off alarm bells in my head. Something’s not right.
Sawyer’s arms are folded, and he looks pissed.
Shit. What now? Climbing from the truck, I walk over. “Everything all right?”
“No, Rafe. It’s not,” Sawyer says. “You want to explain why we found this in your saddlebags just now?” He holds up a zippered bank bag. It’s burgundy emblazoned in gold with the name of the bank the mill uses. Citizen’s Federal.
My eyes shift to my bike sitting parked in the shade of a tree next to Bubba’s truck, not twenty yards away. What the fuck are they doing going through my saddlebags?
“The only reason that would be there is if someone planted it there,” I say, my eyes drilling into Charlie’s, and I actually take a step toward him. “You plant that there, Thompson?”
He loses some of his bristle and licks his lips, but jams his index finger toward me. “This is about you. You’ve been trouble since the minute you got here. This is the second time money has gone missing. Last time Mr. Sawyer let you off. This time we caught you red-handed.”
“I didn’t take any damn money. I don’t know how that got in my saddlebag, but I didn’t put it there.”
“Oh, and I suppose you didn’t have anything to do with breaking that band saw last week, or the fact that this morning I find the newest forklift vandalized.”
“Vandalized? What are you talking about?”
“The seat is all sliced up and oil was poured all over it,” Charlie snaps. “I don’t know what your game is, but I’m done with you.”
“Is it true? Did you do this?” Sawyer asks me, holding up the bag.
What’s worse than the way Sawyer is staring at me with suspicion is seeing the same thing in his daughter’s eyes. It’s like she’s wondering if she’s been wrong about the kind of man I am. I see the doubt in her eyes, and that guts me.
“Dust it for fingerprints. You won’t find mine, because I’ve never touched the damn thing.”
Charlie starts to sputter. “He… He probably had gloves on. Don’t believe another word out of his lying mouth.”
My chest swells with anger, and I take a step toward him, wanting to slam my fist in his fucking face.
Sawyer puts his arm up. “Stop. Look, maybe Charlie’s right. Maybe things aren’t working out here for you, son.”
I yank my phone out and scroll to the video. “You want to see the truth of what’s been going on? Take a look at this.” I show it to him.
Tori crowds close, peering at the screen.
They both watch Charlie swinging that hammer until the piece breaks off the equipment, and he tosses it in the trash.
Sawyer’s eyes shift to him. “What the fuck is the meaning of this? It was you?”
“I did that to show you this kid needs to be fired, but I didn’t do the other stuff. I swear it.”
“Get your things and get out,” Sawyer snaps, pointing toward the road. “Now.”
Charlie flings a stack of work orders he was holding into the dirt at Sawyer's feet. “Well, fuck you and this mill. You’ll see when you lose this whole damn place.”
He stomps to his truck and roars out, gravel flying.
Tori scrambles to gather the papers before the wind spreads them all over the lot. Then she stands, looking from me to her father.
Sawyer shifts on his feet, his jaw tight. “Why the hell would he do that?”
“He’s had it in for me since the moment I got here.
I have no clue why, but I didn’t take that money.
” I lift my hand toward the bag he still clenches.
“I swear to you.” I point at the camera over the door.
“Check the camera. It should show my bike in the lot. It should show who put it in my saddlebag, if you don’t believe me. ”
“I asked Charlie about that. He said he never got them fixed.”
“Or he doesn’t want you to see what they would reveal,” I say.
Sawyer emits a sharp whistle. “Ed, take over for the day.”
The older man is standing across the lot next to one of the trucks that’s being loaded by Bubba. They both try to act like they haven’t been glued to this scene, but I know they have. Ed nods.
“Yes, sir, Mr. Sawyer.”
“Let’s go, Tori,” he says. “I’ll drive you to school.”
“Daddy, let Rafe take me. You need to go take that to the bank. And you should probably make sure there’s been no funny business with the account while you’re there.”
He looks at me, then his daughter. “You sure?”
“Yes, Daddy. Go on.”
Sawyer steps to me, getting in my face. “Take the truck, then come straight back here. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt here, Rafe. You better prove to me you’re the man I thought you were. That’s my daughter, and you treat her with respect.”
“Yes, sir.”
He climbs in his car and drives off, leaving us in a trail of dust.
I walk to the passenger door of the company truck and open it for her, then go around the hood and slide behind the wheel.
We’re a mile down the road before I look at her. “You really thought I’d do that? Steal from your father?”
“No.” She shakes her head.
“Bullshit. I saw the doubt in your eyes.”
“Charlie stopped us as we were heading out this morning. He said he found it in your saddlebag. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t want to believe him. Then he showed us the vandalized forklift. Who would do that? Who has a reason to do that?”
“I can think of someone.”
“Who?”
“Connor.”
“Why would he do that?”
I drape my wrist on the steering wheel. “Because I beat the shit out of him.”
“What? When?”
“Last week. Me and my brothers. I used that damn tracking device to lure him to us. Then we took him into the woods, and I beat him, stripped him naked, and left him there. Left his car a mile down the road with his keys and phone locked inside. I’m guessing he smashed the window to get in.”
“I can’t believe you did that. You risked so much.”
“He doesn’t get to treat you like he did. End of story.”
“So now he retaliates?” She flings her hand out.
I shrug. “Or it could be Charlie, setting me up. Like I told your father, Charlie has wanted me gone since I got here. Not sure why.”
“He has been acting shifty.”
“Yeah, and there’s something else, too. The first night Alex Powers came around—”
“Yes? What about him?”
“Bubba and I saw you drive off with him that night. Bubba told me who he was. He found out from Cora Lee. Charlie told her he was interested in buying the mill.” I meet her eyes. “That true?”
“Alex told me that, too. I couldn’t believe it. I tried to talk to my dad about it, but he told me he wouldn’t sell.”
“But you’re not so sure, are you?”
“No.”
“That night when Alex brought you home, I saw Charlie heading up to the house. He was acting weird, and I followed him. At first, he just stood there in the shadows, staring at the house being a real creeper, then Powers pulled up and you went inside. Powers hung around, smoking a cigarette, and I thought maybe he was waiting for you to come back out, but then Charlie approached him. I think it was Charlie he was waiting for that night. They talked, but I was too far away to hear. Don’t you think that’s odd?
How does Charlie know Powers? What would they have to talk about? ”
“I overheard them that night,” she admits.
“What?” I swing my head from the road to her.
“My window was open. I went to close it, and I could hear them talking in the driveway. Charlie said he was working on something, but that Bubba had ruined what he’d planned. Then Alex said, ‘just get it done. Whatever it takes. It’s the reason I put you here.’ What do you think he meant?”
“Hell, now it makes sense,” I murmur, taking a turn.
“What does?”
“That night, it looked like Powers had slipped Charlie an envelope. A thick envelope. Me and Bubba figured it must be a stack of bills. We figured he was paying Charlie off, and the only thing we could come up with was to get Sawyer to sell.” We arrive at the school, and I swing to the curb, then stare at her.
“It makes sense, Tori. All the bad luck, all the accidents happening, the damaged equipment, making it look like someone was stealing from him. I think it was all designed to make your father want to throw in the towel and sell the place.”
She studies me for a long moment. “You’re a smart guy, Rafe. Much smarter than Charlie or my father give you credit for. You’re so much better than Charlie, Rafe. You should be foreman.”
I huff a laugh. “You think I could do that job?” I’m only half joking, but the look in her eyes tells me she’s not.
“I do.”
“You really believe that, Tori?”
“I know it. I believe in you.”
Hearing those words come out of her mouth makes my chest swell. It feels fucking fantastic to know how she feels about me. Hell, I feel ten feet tall right now.
I go around to her door, help her out and, with my hands on her hips, I push her against the side of the truck and kiss her.
She kisses me back, and I deepen the kiss, needing to know this is serious. I need to know she’s in this as deeply as I am.
Her arms wrap around my neck and pull me closer, her fingers threading through my hair. Her response tells me everything I need to know.
I hear some girls giggling as they walk past us and break off the kiss and press my forehead to Tori’s.
“I like you, Tori. I like you a lot. I think you feel the same way, so why don’t we stop this game and admit it?”
“I do like you, Rafe.”
“I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since the moment I laid eyes on you, pretty girl.”
Her face lights at my words. “Me, neither.” She glances at the students who hurry past. “I’ve got to go. I’m already late for class.”
“Right. I’ll pick you up. What time are you through?”
“I’m done by four.”
“I’ll be here.” I let her go, touching the tip of her nose.
“Okay.” She kisses me once more, just a quick brush of the lips, and then she melts into the flow of students.
Climbing in the truck, I glance around for Connor or his friends, but don’t see them anywhere, so I drop the truck in gear and pull away.
When I drive her home that afternoon, I grab her hand before she climbs out of the truck at her front door. “Meet me tomorrow. Before the mill opens. Come down to the office. The guys don’t arrive until quarter to seven, and Cora Lee doesn’t come until seven.”
“What time will you be there?”
“Can you come at six?”
“I’ll try.”
“You better more than try, girl,” I say with a teasing grin. “I’ll text you when I pull in.”
“I’ll hear your motorcycle. I hear it every morning.”
“Oh, you do, huh?”
She nods. “I rush to the window and watch your single headlight in the distance. I watch you stand with Bubba. Some mornings I can see the flare of your cigarette.”
“You’ve been watching me all this time, huh, pretty girl?”
“I have. So, don’t doubt what this is, Rafe. Don’t doubt the way I feel about you.”
The next morning, sure enough, I park my bike near the deserted mill and wait in the shadows. I send her a text, and a few minutes later, I see her running—not walking, running —down the drive to meet me. She’s out of breath by the time she reaches me.
I barely give her a moment to breathe before I drag her to me and capture her lips with mine.
She breaks off to gasp in air, and my mouth trails down her throat.
I let my hands go farther than they ever have with her, running them over her ass, and pulling her tight against me to let her feel the erection pressing against my jeans.
She moans, and I capture her mouth again.
Our kisses are hot and heavy, and soon I’m backing her against the wall of the shop and unfastening the top of her jeans to slip my hand inside.
The need in me drives me on, and I have to know if she’s wet for me.
I slip my fingers under the silky panty she wears and part her pussy lips with my middle finger.
I sink into satiny heaven, instantly coated with the answer I’m searching for.
Tori moans under my mouth.
I find her clit and rub circles around it, and she immediately responds by going up on her toes and thrusting her hips toward me, eager for more. I give her more, burying two fingers inside her. I don’t have enough room and break the kiss. “Drag your jeans down.”
She willingly complies, wiggling them to her thighs.
I watch her beautiful eyes dilate with desire as I work my fingers in and out of her, building a rhythm that soon has her bucking against my hand and moaning. With my thumb, I work her clit until she’s panting and close to orgasm.
“Come on my fingers, baby. Come all over them,” I whisper in her ear.
A few more strokes, and she does, gasping out, my name a whisper on her lips, and I’ve never heard anything sexier or sweeter. This girl is mine. She’s the one I’ve been waiting for my entire life. I know it down to my soul.
Withdrawing, I carry my fingers to my lips and suck them clean, moaning at the taste of her. “Goddamn, baby. I can’t wait until the day I can bury my face between your legs.”
She’s panting, and her body is limp in my arms.
I’m aware of the time, and know the men will be arriving soon, so I tug her jeans up and kiss her, then press my forehead to hers. “Let me drive you back up to the house. I’ve still got the keys to the truck.”
Before I can, a flash of headlights hits the building, and I see Ed’s car pulling in, but he parks on the other side of the building.
Tori instantly stiffens. “I’ve got to go.”
We hold hands until the last possible second, and then she turns and hurries up the drive. The sun has yet to rise, but the sky is lighting to a deep blue.
It’s going to be a fucking glorious day.
We meet every morning that week.
There’s a picnic table in the shade of a tree at the edge of the parking area where the guys sometimes take breaks. It becomes our spot.
Each meeting grows hotter until I’m struggling to contain myself. I want nothing more than to lay her out on that table and fuck her, but I’ll be damned if our first time together will be there. She deserves so much better. She deserves everything.