Cade Creek 12 - Heart of a Mountain (14 page)

But he had to play this up. He had to stall for time. Buck could look as lecherous as he wanted, but there was no way in hell he would allow the disgusting cook to kiss him. Aldrin patted the man’s chest, giving a mock laugh as he pushed slightly away, trying his best to keep distance between them.

“Why don’t you call him and tell him where we’re at, and then when he shows up, you can put a bullet in his head.” Aldrin’s heart clenched at the thought of anything happening to his mountain man. He wanted to kick his own ass for saying anything that heinous against Jonah. He was just glad Jonah couldn’t hear him.

Thank fuck for small favors.

“Ruthless.” Buck grinned and Aldrin nearly gagged. The guy must’ve smoked a cigarette earlier because his breath stunk and his teeth weren’t pretty to look at. “I like a ruthless man.”

Maybe Buck would find one in prison. He hoped the biggest and meanest guy in jail made Buck his girlfriend. The cook would deserve no less.

“Then we have a deal?” Aldrin forced himself to sound excited. “We knock Jonah off and steal all his money? We can hit the Virgin Islands first, and then hop around the globe after that.”

Aldrin had done too good a job acting. From the bulge he felt at his waist, the cook was rock-hard. There was pure lust gleaming in his eyes, and the man wouldn’t stop licking his damn lips. Aldrin coughed to cover the gag that forced its way up and out. His eyes had begun to water, and there was a burning lump in his throat from the vomit that threatened to spew.

Movement from the kitchen caught Aldrin’s eye. Two shadows to be precise. One shadow had moved to one side of the entrance, the other to the opposite side.

They were going to ambush Buck.

Now all Aldrin had to do was get Buck into the kitchen.

“While I was up in the mountains, I came across some paperwork. I memorized the man’s account numbers, as well as his routing numbers. Why don’t we use that laptop in the kitchen and transfer the funds?”

Aldrin prayed he sounded convincing. He wasn’t even sure if transferring millions of dollars was that easy. The most he’d ever had in his account was three hundred dollars, but by the time he paid his bills, his paycheck had vanished.

With a hard nod, Buck pulled Aldrin along by his belt loop, the gun still clutched in his other hand. Aldrin was grateful that he was behind Buck. Hopefully he could pull himself loose once the deputies jumped the cook.

Halfway down the hall, Buck stopped. He turned toward Aldrin. Aldrin was terrified that Buck had seen through his ruse. Would the man shoot him for being so underhanded? “How about we visit Ireland first?” the man asked. “Got some kinfolk there.”

Aldrin nearly sagged with relief. Buck wasn’t the wiser. “Anywhere you want to go, baby.”

Buck leaned in, puckering his lips. Aldrin gagged. “Transfer first before we celebrate.” He tossed in a wink for good measure.

A low growl sounded and Aldrin’s heart lodged in his throat. He knew that growl.

Jonah was there. The man had heard everything. Aldrin went into a full-blown panic, afraid Jonah would believe the act and never speak to him again. Then again, if Jonah believed one word of what Aldrin had said, he’d beat the man over the head with his own cock. By now, Jonah should know full well how Aldrin felt about the man.

The only thing he could do was trust that Jonah wasn’t that thickheaded. “Laptop?”

Buck grinned. “Let’s do this, kitten.”

Ugh. Really? Kitten? Could Aldrin be any more disgusted? He smiled widely. “Okay.”

As soon as they breached the threshold of the kitchen, Jonah appeared. His massive size dwarfed Buck as he glowered at the man.

“Grab his gun!” Aldrin shouted as he shoved Buck forward, hoping the momentum knocked the gun from Buck’s hand.

No such luck.

Buck and Jonah struggled for the gun, both throwing punches as the deputies shouted for Buck to raise his hands. It was a complete and utter debacle. Nothing was going right, and Buck refused to release the gun. The two fell over the table, turning it into kindling for a fire.

The man still duct taped to his chair mumbled loudly behind the tape covering his mouth and tried desperately to scoot away from the fray at his feet. One of the deputies pulled the bound man toward the back door as Jonah slammed his fists into Buck’s face and gut over and over again.

The gun went off. There was loud ringing in Aldrin’s ears before he felt a sharp, hot pain in his side. With wide eyes, he looked down at his body to see blood blossoming outward from his right side, slowing staining his shirt.

“Shit!” one of the deputies hollered as he gaped at Aldrin. “You’ve been shot.”

“Hadn’t noticed,” Aldrin said as he staggered sideways. He heard another shot fired, and then another. When Aldrin looked to where Jonah had been fighting Buck, he saw his mountain man standing over Buck, the gun clutched in both hands, teacup-style. There was a deep and menacing scowl on Jonah’s handsome face and two bullet holes in Buck’s forehead.

Jonah dropped the gun and rushed over to Aldrin. “I didn’t believe a word you said. I knew you were trying to stall.”

Aldrin pressed the palm of his hand against Jonah’s face and smiled. “As glad as I am that you didn’t believe what I was saying to Buck, Mountain Man, I kind of need a hospital right now.”

Jonah’s eyes rounded before dropping to scan Aldrin. “Fuck, baby, you’ve been shot.”

Aldrin smirked as he met the deputies’ eyes. “Hadn’t noticed.”

“It’s all over, Jonah. The bastard took a plea deal.”

“Thank you, sheriff. That’s good news.” Jonah felt so relieved that this fiasco was over, his legs shook. Learning that his business manager had taken a plea deal meant no court case, something Jonah was eternally grateful for. The thought of having to attend a trial in the city made his stomach clench.

“With Buck dead and your business manager going away for several years, this is pretty much a closed case. The feds should be releasing your funds to you in a couple of weeks,” Sheriff Riley said. “Except for a little bit of paperwork that I am sure your accountant can clear up, this is officially over, Jonah.”

“Thank god.” It had been a nightmare from word one. Now, maybe things could settle down and he could concentrate on building a life with Aldrin.

“Do you still plan on keeping Yuval Zev as your accountant?”

“Yes, not only did he bring this whole mess to my attention, but the man is too by the book to get involved in anything illegal. He takes obsessive compulsive to a whole new level.”

“Good to hear. So, Aldrin called Seamus and gave us the invite to the barbecue. What can Seamus, Yancy, and I bring?”

Jonah smiled as he turned his gaze toward the window. Agreeing to throw a house warming party now that their new house had been built had been a huge step for Jonah, but he couldn’t deny Aldrin when he asked.

“Don’t worry about bringing anything. Aldrin has taken care of all the food.”

“Should I be worried?”

“No.” Jonah chuckled. “He got together with Trudy and they’ve been cooking up a storm since early this morning. There should be enough food to feed an army.”

“That might not be enough food, Jonah. I’m bringing Yancy.”

Jonah chuckled. He was still nervous about the prospect of so many people being up on his mountaintop, but with Aldrin’s help, it was getting easier. It was even getting a little easier to go into town more than once a week. He hardly ever had panic attacks anymore.

The nightmares still came, but they were a lot less frequent than they used to be. Having Aldrin in his arms every night seemed to help with that.

“Is it true what I heard?” Sheriff Riley asked. “Did you and Aldrin buy the diner?”

“Yeah.” Jonah grinned as he remembered the engagement present he had purchased for Aldrin. “Trudy wanted to retire and Aldrin loves that diner. Besides, he promised me he would get rid of the carrots in the Sunday Special permanently and replace them with green beans.”

That right there had been worth the cost of the diner.

“How’s that new cook working out?” the sheriff asked. “I’ve heard some interesting things about him.”

Jonah rolled his eyes. He knew the sheriff couldn’t see it, but the gesture was needed regardless. “I still don’t know where Aldrin found that guy, but he’s a cluster fuck.”

“He can’t cook?” Sheriff Riley asked. “Won’t that be bad for business?”

“Oh, he can cook like a dream. He might even put Chester to shame,” Jonah replied. “But the second he steps out of the kitchen, he’s a walking disaster. He can’t take two steps without knocking into something, falling over it, or breaking it.”

“That bad?”

“I’ve already set up an expense account just to replace the dishes he broke. If Aldrin plans on keeping him, I’m going to need it.”

“Is Aldrin going to keep him?”

“It’s looking that way. Aldrin has taken a liking to the kid, says he needs friends.”

The sheriff chuckled knowingly. “And you can’t say no to him.”

“Nope,” Jonah said with an emphasis on the “
p.
” He didn’t have a chance in hell of saying no to Aldrin. The man just had to flash his smile and Jonah was ready to hand him the world.

“Be lucky you don’t have two of them.”

“One is all I need.” One would be all he ever needed. Aldrin had become his entire world. He had braved going into town on a regular basis just to see the man smile, and now he was throwing a barbecue and practically inviting the entire town of Cade Creek just because the man he loved wanted to throw a housewarming party.

If that didn’t say love, Jonah didn’t know what did.

Jonah’s heart beat a little faster when he saw someone pass by his window, not because he was afraid, but because he knew exactly who that shadow belonged to. “Hey, sheriff, I need to get going. I have a few more things to do today to get ready for the barbecue.” Like give Aldrin the engagement ring he had purchased during his last trip into the city. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there.”

Jonah hung up the phone and got to his feet. He strolled outside to the front porch of their new home, glancing around for Aldrin. Jonah smiled when he spotted the man stretched out on the porch swing. Aldrin spent more time on that custom made extra-large porch swing than he did inside the house.

“Hey, baby,” Jonah said as he slid into the empty space next to Aldrin and wrapped the man up in his arms.

“All done with your phone calls?”

“All done. Sheriff Riley said Douglas took a plea deal and he’ll be going away for several years. There’s a bit of paperwork for Yuval to take care of and then all of the money Douglas embezzled will be turned back over to us.”

“No trial?”

“Nope, no trial.”

Aldrin was silent, as if he needed to think about that for a minute.

“This doesn’t get you out of taking me into town later this week. I still need to pick up a few things for the house and check on the diner.”

Jonah rested his cheek on Aldrin’s head. “I know, baby. I’ll go into town with you. I promise.”

His therapist was thrilled with how far he had come over the last four months since Aldrin came into his life. The regular trips into town, the socializing, and starting to use some of the money left to him by his family seemed to make his therapist very happy.

Oddly enough, it made Jonah happy too, and maybe that had been the goal all along. “Have I told you how much I love you today?”

“You never forget to tell me how much you love me.” Aldrin grinned. “But there is something you forgot to tell me, Mountain Man.”

Jonah frowned, confused. He searched his memory for anything he might have needed to tell Aldrin, but forgot. “What?”

“You forgot to tell me that the sunsets were as magnificent as the sunrises.”

“How remiss of me.”

“Yes, you’ve been a very bad boy.” Aldrin winked up at him. “I may have to spank you.”

Jonah felt a sudden flash of lust shoot through him. “Okay.”

Aldrin’s head tilted. “You’d really let me spank you, Mountain Man?”

Jonah gave Aldrin a quick peck on the lips. “I’d let you do anything you wanted to me, Aldrin. You’re the heart of this mountain.”

THE END

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Stormy believes the only thing sexier than a man in cowboy boots is two or three men in cowboy boots. She also believes in love at first sight, soul mates, true love, and happy endings.

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