Unbound (Crimson Romance) (20 page)

• • •

When Payten woke the next morning, it was to the delicious sensation of Dean wrapped around her. She lay on her side, her head pillowed on Dean’s arm. His other arm lay across her waist. His knee was wedged between hers.

She wasn’t wearing any clothes, and the blankets had been kicked to the end of the bed during their lovemaking the night before. She wasn’t cold, though. She couldn’t be with him pressed against her.

She listened to his deep breathing, almost mesmerized. She was lying in bed with Dean. The bed where they had made love. She, Payten Bailey, had made love to Dean Whitley and was lying in his bed. The thought made her want to giggle.

She would have never guessed when the girls were yakking at her during Bridgett’s engagement party that she would actually wind up sleeping with him.

The girls
, she thought excitedly. She glanced at her phone on the nightstand. Before she had fallen asleep, he’d gone to get their phones from the living room.

She stretched toward the nightstand. Her fingers brushed against the edge of the phone twice before she bumped it close enough to grab. Still moving slowly, she pulled the phone back to her.

After setting her phone on silent in anticipation of the girls’ responses, she quickly typed them a message.

I can’t believe that at twenty-two I’m texting my girls to tell them I lost my virginity
, she thought. She hesitated for a moment. Then, with a mental shrug —
after all, you only lose it once
— she sent her message.

Dean’s soft snore startled her. Once she realized what the noise was, she fought back a giggle. He snored. She hadn’t known that. Reaching up with the hand that wasn’t holding her phone, she traced little circles on his hand. His hands were calloused. She liked that. It was something else she hadn’t known.

Still asleep, he pulled her closer. His breathing was heavy in her ear. Steady and strong. That was Dean.

She figured he would disagree with the description. The night he had his nightmare, she could tell how much he hated her seeing him like that. He thought the nightmares somehow made him weak. She disagreed.

The sudden light from her phone distracted her. It was Maddie.

Seven a.m.? Kidding me? Who has sex at seven in the a.m.?

She fought down a giggle. Before she could answer Maddie, Andie answered her. She opened the message.

Congrats on the sex. You need it. Do him again.

She did giggle then. She couldn’t stop herself. When Dean stirred behind her, she quieted. She heard his breathing change. She could tell he was waking up. She peeked at her phone again.

Do you love him?
Bridgett messaged her.

Did she?

Dean pulled her tighter to him. He nuzzled her hair with his face. She let out a happy sigh.

“How do you feel?” he asked her, his voice lower than usual and raspy from sleep.

She rolled over in his arms to face him. He kissed her forehead and each of her cheeks. Then he placed the gentlest kiss on her lips.

“I feel absolutely wonderful,” she said. “Absolutely wonderful.”

“Good,” he replied. He rolled her onto her back and followed her. He leaned over her. “If you aren’t feeling up to it — ”

She grinned up at him and pulled him down into a kiss.
So up for it again,
she thought.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Oh, come on!” Payten protested.

“Shut up, Payten,” Kalvin told her.

“This is ridiculous!”

“Might as well give it up,” Burke muttered.

“You guys! Is this really necessary?”

“Yes,” Luke answered.

“Dean! This is ridiculous.”

“You already said that,” he replied.

Payten gaped at him. He didn’t look at her. Instead, he stared straight ahead. She looked around the tiny room inside the village’s city hall building. Kalvin and Burke sat in front of her in the front row of folding chairs that had been set up for the community betterment meeting. Luke and Dean sat on either side of her in the back row.

The four men were being completely unreasonable. They had insisted on attending the meeting with her. She had expected it of Dean. He had already assured her he was glued to her side until the whole thing was over. It made sense for Burke to be there, too. It was his job. He had relieved Officer Chase from her day shift.

Kalvin and Luke’s presence surprised her, though. Kalvin had shown up minutes before they left Dean’s house. He had insisted that as her best male friend and favorite dance partner it was his duty to tag along.

Luke had trudged into the house moments later. After a short hello to Burke and Dean, Luke explained he had just arrived at the men’s house when Kalvin was leaving. He decided he might as well tag along.

So here I sit,
she thought. She stared at the side of Dean’s head.
Ridiculous. Ignore this.

She reached over and pinched his leg. Hard.

Jerking, he pushed her hand away and glared at her. “What was that for?”

“Are you kidding me?”

He shrugged. “You’re the one who insisted on coming.”

“You’re the one that insisted on a freakin’ posse to go to a meeting! Look around, Dean. The room is smaller than your living room. You really think a stranger is going to be able to walk in here and — and do whatever,” she finished lamely.

“Who said it was a stranger?” Luke asked.

She glared at him.

Burke turned around in his chair. “It is a possibility we know the person responsible.”

“We do know the person,” Kalvin said turning in his own chair. “It’s that bastard Peterson.”

“Not possible,” Burke objected. “He’s in prison.”

“I talked to him, Burke. How do you explain that?” Dean asked.

“I haven’t figured it out yet. Maybe a visitor smuggled a phone into him. We’re checking out the visitors’ log. I’ll find it.”

“Is there anybody on the logs that we know?” Kalvin asked.

“It doesn’t matter tonight,” Dean decided. He looked at Payten. “It doesn’t matter tonight if it’s a stranger or not. Tonight, we’re keeping you safe. Then we’re going home.”

She started to answer him, but Ms. Clarke strolled into the meeting room and made a beeline for their small group. Of course, she would be the first person into the room.

“Be nice,” Dean warned her.

“Don’t tell her anything,” Burke whispered at the same time.

Ms. Clarke came to a stop in front of them. Her glasses perched on the end of her nose, and she looked over the frames at their small group.

“Good evening, Ms. Clarke,” Kalvin said with a charming grin.

“Kalvin.” She smiled back. “How’s your mother?”

“She’s doing good. Driving my dad crazy with the kitchen remodel.” He laughed.

“And your sisters?”

“All fine. Thanks for asking.”

“I heard Marilee was in the middle of a nasty divorce.”

Payten could almost see Kalvin grind his teeth. He was always fast with the charm. It came naturally to him. He was fiercely protective of his four older sisters, though. He knew anything he told Ms. Clarke would be spread all over town within hours.

“She is getting a divorce,” he answered. “We’re not sad to see him go, though.”

Ms. Clarke nodded in a gesture of sympathy. “He never did know how to treat a lady.”

Kalvin shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

“Not like you, Kalvin, dear.” She reached out and patted his cheek. “You know, Suzy Hamilton told me her daughter could use a decent guy. Jack Montoya is no good.”

Payten fought to contain her laughter. Apparently, Luke wasn’t as polite. He didn’t even try to disguise his burst of laughter.

Ms. Clarke pretended surprise when she looked back at him. “Luke Donovan! Is that you?”

He didn’t answer.

“We haven’t seen you in ages. Where have you been?”

He still didn’t answer. He just blinked at her.

Undisturbed, she moved on. “I noticed you haven’t been staying at your house, Payten.”

Payten struggled not to roll her eyes.
Noticed? It’s more likely she’s staked out in my front yard.
She nodded instead.

“You poor dear,” Ms. Clarke went on. “I don’t think I could stay in my house alone either if I came home to what you did. They say that little Boston’s blood — ”

“I’m staying at Dean’s,” Payten interrupted.

She didn’t even want to think about what had been done to Boston inside her home. Throwing out a juicy fact like her staying at Dean’s would distract Ms. Clarke completely.

Dean frowned at her. She grinned back at him.

“Oh, my goodness,” Ms. Clarke started. She reached out like she needed support. Kalvin dutifully took her hand. “But you two aren’t married.”

Knowing Ms. Clarke would keep the men busy for a little bit, Payten escaped for what she was sure would be her only moment alone that evening.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” she said. She stood up and wove between Kalvin and Burke’s chairs. “I need to use the restroom.”

“But — ”

“Feeling nauseous?” Ms. Clarke asked, interrupting Dean’s protest. “Did you know morning sickness can happen in the evening too?”

The look on Dean’s face almost made Payten pee her pants. Priceless. She smiled at Ms. Clarke. “I didn’t know that. Please excuse me.”

As she left the main room and moved through the narrow hall to the bathroom at the back of the building, she heard Ms. Clarke lecturing Dean on his “responsibilities.” She grinned wickedly.

She stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Suddenly, there was a burst of pain across her face. She fell to the floor of the bathroom in a heap.

What the fu —

“Payten.” The harsh rasp of her name made her look up.

A man stood over her. Her panic rose, and her stomach sank. She could hear her heart pounding in her chest, feel it throbbing in her face. From her nose, a thin line of blood trickled.

“If you scream, I’ll kill you,” he warned.

She thought about screaming anyway. She sucked a deep breath in.

“I’ll kill Dean when he comes for you.”

She let the breath out in a rush. Well, that limited her options, didn’t it? She watched silently as he pulled a knife from his waistband.

• • •

“Ms. Clarke — ” Dean tried to interrupt.

“ — Poor Payten. Teddy must be very upset. Taking advantage of his only daughter like that.”

“I did not take advantage of her,” he muttered.

“She’s just a little girl,” Ms. Clarke continued.

“She’s almost twenty-three!”

Taking pity on him, Burke tried steering her attention away from Dean. “Ms. Clarke, Payten has only been at Dean’s house four days. For most of it, they’ve had an officer at the house with them,” he lied. “We’re taking Payten’s safety very seriously.”

Ms. Clarke snorted. “You would think leaving Payten at her parents’ house would be enough to keep her from getting pregnant.”

“She’s not pregnant!” Dean exclaimed.

“We’re not protecting her from Dean, ma’am,” Burke explained through clenched teeth. “There is a very real threat to Payten’s safety. The person who broke into Payten’s house appears to be stalking her.”

“Oh.”

Ms. Clarke appeared to think the information over for a minute. Or perhaps she decided she wasn’t going to be able to pump any more out of the men. Either way, she waved to another person coming in the door. Dismissing the men in search of more gossip, she couldn’t resist a parting shot.

“You would think four men would be enough to protect one woman in a room this size. A man at the back door too? Isn’t that a bit much?”

The men looked at one another. Before Burke could ask her what she meant, though, Dean leapt from his chair and pushed his way through the folding chairs at a dead run.

• • •

Payten watched silently as the man standing over her flicked the lethal-looking knife open and shut. She knew he was only taunting her at the moment, but that didn’t lessen the fear. As he moved between her and the door, she turned to keep him in sight.

“You made a horrible mistake,” he told her in the same rasp of a voice.

She thought it might be his real voice. After all, he wasn’t wearing a mask. He didn’t seem to care if she knew who he was or not. Not that a bad buzz cut and an ordinary face were particularly helpful when trying to identify someone, but he didn’t even try hiding.

“You’ve been messing up the plan,” he said. “It was simple enough. Not difficult. An idiot could have handled it. Then you go messing it up. You’re making me look incompetent.”

“Sorry?”

The look he shot her made her shut her mouth. The bad fluorescent lighting in the bathroom flashed off the silver of his knife. She made the decision then to scream. She wasn’t stupid. This man would kill her given half a chance, but he really wanted to hurt Dean. The threat at the diner, the way Burke had worked out who this man was really stalking when. This man wanted Dean dead.

Screaming would bring Dean running. This man in front of her might get his chance to go after Dean, but with the other guys here, how much damage could he really accomplish? Better a confrontation here and now with the guys to help him than this man catching Dean alone somewhere, right?

She would like to get a little further away before she made her move, though. She didn’t particularly feel like getting murdered while she waited on the guys to show up. She’d never make it out the window. It was plenty big enough and was even open, but she knew she couldn’t run across the bathroom and pull herself out the window before the man caught up with her.

The man paced across the small path in front of the door, blocking her way out. Sliding between his legs wasn’t an option. Besides, he had a knife. She didn’t want to get within arm’s reach.

She heard the thunder of feet approaching. Someone was coming.

The man moved toward her. She kicked out at him, causing her to tip backwards. She felt the slice of the knife on her shin. As she was trying not to let her head slam into the floor, the man kept moving. He launched himself over her. She watched from the floor as he grabbed the windowsill and flung himself out the window. He was out of sight when Dean burst through the door.