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The office phone rang. “Dr. Brodie’s office,” Marian said.“You sound so professional. Look, I’m feeling good. So I thought we’d go to Wagon Wheel for the rest of the afternoon. It’s bigger than Frontier City. They have a movie theater.”“We can have a real girl’s day out. I’ll be through here in about thirty minutes.”“I’ll pick you up.”Rand had walked up behind her. She sensed anytime he was close.“Are you going out with Chelsea? Remember, tonight I’m paying you with a fancy dinner.”“Yes, we’re going to Wagon Wheel. It’ll be fun. I don’t know when we’ll get back. You don’t have to pay me with dinner. I was teasing.”“I insist. If not tonight, then tomorrow. Thanks for all your help this week. I don’t keep the office open on the weekend, but can you fill in next week, too? Eloise hopefully will be back after that.”He’d treated her like an employee all week since the night he’d left her cabin. He was pleasant, smiled, and was appreciative of her work, but nothing personal slipped
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Chelsea left Marian at the cabin. “Sure you don’t want to join us later?” “Thanks, but I’m tired. See you tomorrow.”Marian had barely put on her lights when the phone rang. “Hello.”“You’re back.” Rand’s deep voice vibrated from her ear down her body. “I wondered if you were too tired to go for a ride. Unless you’d rather do a late dinner tonight.”“I’d like the ride.”“I’ll be right there.” The phone went dead.She rushed to shower and changed into casual slacks and a white sweater. She’d save the gold one for the dance. The truck door slammed as she finished combing her hair out. A spritz of perfume and she was ready at his knock.Her mind told her she was a fool. But her body didn’t listen.When she opened the door, Rand stepped inside and pulled her to him. He kissed her mouth like a thirsty man taking his first drink in a long time. His tongue tangled with hers as his fingers slid through her hair.He pull
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“You’ve found two good parcels of land,” Rand’s mom said as he drove her home. “My only concern is, have you been on the job long enough to know for certain it will be your life’s work? I love having you close, but doctoring in the country is difficult and challenging. You don’t need the money. Your inheritance has grown, as all of ours have, thanks to Clay. Still, you’d make much more in a big city.”“Mom, I’m sure.”She studied him for a minute. “You were always that way. Once you made up your mind you didn’t change it. You have an innate way of knowing what’s best for you. Well, except for women. I’m not sure what you were thinking when you proposed to Anna. A nice lady but not the right one for you.”“You weren’t sorry I ended the engagement?” Rand grinned at her. “Not one iota. Choose more carefully the next time.”“Dad said he fell in love with you the first time you smiled at him.”She smiled and patted his arm. “He did, and I did.
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Music spilled out of the barn into the night. Rand and Andy got out of the truck and joined the crowd headed inside. All the local people were arriving in droves. Many of them stopped to say hello to Rand and to meet the new doctor they’d heard about from this week’s patients. Andy had an easy way about him and had charmed most of the townspeople.When they got inside, Rand glanced around the crowded room to look for Marian, trying not to be obvious. Andy had agreed Rand had done the best for both of them by cooling it. But the office didn’t seem the same without her, and Rand’s body ached for her touch.“There she is.” Andy nodded his head toward the dance floor. “She’s with a tall, blond man.”“Tom, he owns a large ranch to the north of town. Inherited it from his parents. They got killed in a car wreck about a year ago.” Rand never thought he was the jealous type, but he wanted to walk across the dance floor and pull her out of Tom’s arms. They seemed t
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Rand and Andy had split up the afternoon home calls, which also gave them time to go by the hospital first before heading out. Rand had checked on his three inpatients and gone to his car. He drove back through the downtown area. His first patient lived about fifteen miles away in that direction. When he saw Chelsea waving, he pulled over and parked.“What’s up?”“Marian called and said she’d meet me here fifteen minutes ago. The druggist and Abby at the cash register said she never came in.”“It’s a small town. Did you check around? She may have decided to go in one of the other shops.”“Marian’s reliable. If she did, she’d never leave me waiting this long.” He glanced down both sides of the street. “Where did she call from?”“Your office, I think. She said she was going to leave toys she’d bought there and go to the drugstore to get magazines to bring in tomorrow.”“I can’t imagine what would hold her up this long at the office
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“You are certain this is what you want to do?” Chelsea asked for the umpteenth time. “And you’re not even going to let him know?”Marian took her eyes off the passing scenery. Chelsea had agreed to drive her to the airport.“We’ve gone over this. If I tell him, he’ll convince me to stay. But he’s too uncertain of his feelings. I don’t blame him. He just ended his engagement, he has a new job, there’s a lot on his mind.“We met at the wrong time. I want permanence. He wants his freedom and to have fun. Neither is wrong, if both the people involved want the same thing.”“I’m going to miss you. You cut your visit short, and I have an idea you won’t be back for a long time.”“You know I’ll come when the babies are born. I can’t wait to meet them.You’ll need help then, too.”Chelsea pulled into a parking space. “You promise?”“I do. Don’t get out. I can take care of my bags. The one has wheels, and the ot
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Marian had given her two-week notice at work. She took another week to pack up and move her and her stuff home to North Carolina.Mom welcomed her with open arms. Her father kissed her cheek and said he’d missed her. Neither asked questions. Which was a relief. She didn’t think she could talk about Rand without crying.She puttered around the house, helped her mother paint a bedroom, worked in the flower gardens, and visited all her siblings. Her nieces and nephews ran to her, grabbed her legs, and begged for games. It was good to be cuddled inside the loving arms of her family.Rand hadn’t responded to her letter. If he even read it. She didn’t expect to hear from him. But deep inside, a tiny flame of hope refused to go out.Her mom called out, “The phone’s for you, Marian. Mike has an offer.” Puzzled, Marian picked up the extension. “Hi, Mike. What’s up?”“My receptionist is sick. Can you fill in for the day or until she returns? I’d ap
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The restaurant was elegant with red satin wallpaper, crystal chandeliers, and a three-man band playing easy-listening music. Rand removed her coat and handed it to a waiter.“You look incredible. That dress hugs every delectable curve, and those sexy shoes highlight your smooth, soft, long legs.”Marian put her hand on his chest. “Down, boy. I intend to order the most expensive item on the menu and take my time eating it.”“Sheer torture.”“You deserve every bit.”She didn’t tell him how sexy he looked. Every woman they’d walked by had stared. His tall, well-built body wasn’t hidden by the silk, dark-blue suit. And the feline grace in his walk was enough to make a woman moan.He let go of her lapels and motioned for her to sit. The maitre d’ brought them a menu covered in red satin and thick enough to be a small book.“The lady will have the most expensive item you have listed. I’ll take a steak, medium rare, and baked p
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ReeseFeeling happy, ridiculously so, I put my key in the door and push it open. It’s been a week since I moved in with Drake and I’m still floating on a cloud of joy. The apartment is quiet. Drake is out visiting with his agent about a sponsorship deal for anew sneakers company. He’s glad to be back training again, even though he comes home every night exhausted. A couple of times he tried to sneak me into the locker rooms again, in the hopes of re- enacting our kinky first-time meeting, but we’ve had no luck so far. There have always been people around. Sometimes I wonder how fate works. How easily I got in and found him alone the first time, but now it’s almost impossible to find a moment when it is quiet.I dump my keys on the side table and kick off my formal shoes. I’ve just returned from an interview at one of the colleges I hope to attend in the new year. I’ve always been wary about pursuing something away from Dad and Morgan, for fear that they would need me, or that somethi
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ReeseAnother morning, another unfamiliar place for me to wake up in, but this time, the fact I’m somewhere new doesn’t throw me. In fact, it sends a shiver of joy down my back. I turn over to see Drake lying next to me, fast asleep and sprawled across the luxurious covers ofhis massive bed.It was last night that I officially moved into his apartment in the city. His place is great because it’s less than an hour’s drive from where Morgan is staying so I can be closer to her. I don’t know how much longer Morgan must stay in the hospital, but I hope she will be discharged soon. Now that we have found out her condition is treatable, I can’t wait for her to start living her life again.Drake drove down to pick up all my stuff, and we took a road trip across the country together. It’s something I will remember forever. It was like a dream. The sun was shining, and the wind was in my hair. We talked, we laughed, we ate, and when we just couldn’t keep our hands off each other anymore, we s
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DrakeT he hospital doors slide open smoothly in front of us. Reese squeezes my hand. I glance down at her, and possessive pride bubbles inside me. This is my woman and only mine. It makes me sad that she must go through this pain. Thank God, I’m here tosupport her through it. She’ll never have to deal with anything like this on her own again. “Are you ready?”“Almost,” I say, and wrapping one arm around her waist and the other in her long hair, I pull her towards me. Caught off guard, she gasps and I claim her open mouth. Her fingers come up and grasp at my shirt trying to pull me closer, closer, and closer still. Her curvy body pushes into mine, molding herself against my hardness. All the passion and fervor I feel for her comes to the fore and all I want to do is pull her into a quiet corner and fuck her so hard she screams, but I don’t. I pull back and look into her eyes. They are glazed and heavy-lidded. Her lips are red, swollen, and slightly parted, as she takes short, quick b
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ReeseWhen I open my eyes the next morning, it takes me a couple of seconds to realize where I am. I blink at the watery light streaming in through the bay windows. The chipped paint on the panes remind me.Drake. The cheap hotel.I snap upright in bed and look around, scanning the room for him, but I don’t see him. There is an indentation in the pillow, but the sheets are cold. Memories of last night come tumbling back. Drake couldn’t get enough of my body. Sinking into me again and again. Like he couldn’t get deep enough. Like a beast. Like he hadn’t fucked in years. Surely, he hasn’t run out on me in a crummy hotel in the middle of nowhere?So why do I feel this creeping sense of dread?What if everything he whispered, roared, and growled last night was a lie? A technique to get what he wanted. What if all he ever wanted from me was a night of sex so he could move on already. The sudden sense of loss and hurt is so acute it makes me feel sick to my stomach. Until I hear his voice c
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DrakeI drive fast, faster than I should in someone else’s car, faster than I’ve driven in a long time. I just want to put as much distance as possible between me and my parents’ betrayal. I trusted them completely. Fuck, they didn’t even let me believe Santa Clausexisted because it was wrong to cheat kids! They robbed me of that innocent fantasy and lied about this massive deal!My mind flashes with memories of my childhood. All kinds of images slam into my head. Everything was a lie. I try to figure out if there is some way I could have known this. If I had been more vigilant, could I have put the pieces together before now? Even raging with anger, I know I still love both my parents, and I always will, but what they did to that poor woman.Unforgivable.My heart bleeds for Morgan. All those wasted years pining for me. Carefully cutting out my pictures from newspapers and magazines, and framing them all. Making a shrine for me. Watching every game. She was pale and frail. Like she
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ReeseI''m wearing out the carpet in the living room pacing back and forth when Drake re- emerges. I can’t take my eyes off him. The look on his face is unlike anything I’ve seen on anybody before. He is so livid his eyes are practically shooting sparks. His mouth isclamped tightly with steely determination, and there’s a white ring around his mouth. Uh oh, something big is about to go down. What did we expect, though, when we invited someone as hot- headed as Drake to find out that he’s been lied to his entire life?“Do you have a car?” he asks through clenched teeth.I look at him blankly for a second. A car? Then I nod quickly. “Yes.”He marches over to me, grabs my hand, and starts dragging me along with him.“What are you doing?” I protest, even though a part of me loves the feeling of his hot flesh against mine again.“Come on. I need your help.” “To do what?” I ask.“To take me to my father.”I feel a cold sensation rush up and down my body.“I need to go over there now,” he s
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DrakeI must admit this whole thing has started to give me the creeps. I was certain that it was all a scam. Fuck, I wouldn’t even have come if I didn’t want to mark Reese as my property so damn badly.To start with I’m not good at all this emotional stuff, but worse I’m not so sure anymore that it’s a scam. My bullshit-o-meter has been waiting to spot a crack, a problem in the story so that I can unravel and bring the whole thing down around them, but so far nothing. Could these three really be that good at pretending?I straighten my shoulders. Maybe this will be it. Reese was the honey trap, the Dad is the bit player, but the woman upstairs. She’s the eye of the storm.I get to the landing and find three doors, but only one is slightly ajar. I start walking towards, but before I can even knock, a woman’s voice calls from inside the room, “Drake?”I push open the door and my eyes immediately fall on a woman in a flowery nightgown. She’s sitting up in a double bed and leaning forward
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ReeseWe both stand stock-still and listen to the noises upstairs. Someone is getting out of bed, and I’ll put money on it being Dad. Surely, they can’t have heard us? Even though Dad’s hearing is poor at best and the drugs effectively knock Morgan into such a deepsleep that it is sometimes hard to deliberately wake her up, I can’t be totally sure that they have been oblivious to everything that we’ve been up to down here. All I can hope is that Drake managed to muffle most of my noises by stuffing my panties into my mouth.I have no idea what I look like, but my face feels flushed, and my breath is still coming so fast I’m sure it must be blindingly obvious to anyone who lays eyes on me that I’ve just climaxed. Terrified that I’ll give the game away, I close my eyes and try to calm myself, but it’s hard, especially knowing that he’s right there, looking at me with more lust than I know what to do with.How am I supposed to react normally in front of my parents with a guy like this a
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DrakeI called the number that Reese left, hoping that I’d find some way to get hold of her again, but instead, I found myself talking to the lady claiming to be my real birth mother. My hackles were still up, but she was so incredibly happy to hear from me that I ended uplistening to her with a kind of detached amazement.Was it truly possible for someone to pretend that level of sweet innocence and pure joy?I guess, if you’re pulling this kind of scheme, you should go all in and pick the sweetest, kindest, most adorable little lady you can find.Obviously, I agreed to meet her. The way I figured it, I’ll walk through her door, get to the bottom of the scam, then go find Reese and finish what we started. Any screwing that happens along the way, of course, will be purely incidental.The closest airport to my hometown is a small city about an hour north of it. It is a wet, thickly fogged day, and it sets the tone for the way I feel.It’s been forever since I was back here. Usually, m
