Chapter 4

4

He slammed the door, letting Denise know he’d arrived home. Why pretend anymore? His marriage was kaput, and he was done being a doormat. Bryce found her in the kitchen. Not cooking, because she never made supper. But drinking a bottle of wine, half of it gone.

“What is wrong with you?”

She lifted her wine glass with a cheeky smile. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Ms. Hansley is here to help our town. Are you trying to jeopardize that?”

“Maybe if you kept it in your pants, there wouldn’t be a problem.”

So she decided to accuse him to his face. Her audacity knew no bounds.

“I’ve been faithful in this marriage since the day we spoke our vows. Since the day we started dating. What happened to you? Why have you changed to this woman who acts like she doesn’t care about anything?”

“Oh, I care, Bryce. I care about a lot of things. I care that you’re a damn pansy. That you let this town fall apart. That you don’t aspire to be more than a small-town mayor. You could be the governor of the damn state! But no, you want to be a little pissant in a dumb small town. I’m sick and tired of pretending like I enjoy standing by your side. I don’t. It physically makes me sick. And now, on top of all that, I have to endure the knowledge you can’t even be faithful.”

His wife had turned delusional. Not only was she a world-class stuck-up bitch, she wanted to twist the narrative and make him the bad guy in the marriage. No doubt to screw him over in the divorce. He’d always known she wanted more in life. That she wanted him to climb the political ladder. His continued refusal finally got to her. He was happy here. He liked his dumb small town as she put it.

“Well, Denise, I hope you covered your tracks. Because when I find the proof you’ve been cheating on me, I won’t hesitate to use it against you. I’m done playing the nice guy.”

“You’re pathetic. That’s what you are.”

He couldn’t disagree. That he lived this long in an emotionally abusive marriage was pathetic.

“I want you to get out.”

She laughed, the maniacal sound bouncing off the walls. “No. You get out.”

“I will not live under the same roof as you any longer. You wanted a divorce. Fine. It’s happening, but you can leave. Not me. This house was bought with my money. Not yours.”

“The only way you’re getting me out of this house is in a body bag. We both know you don’t have the guts to kill me.”

Before he did something he’d regret—like commit the deed she didn’t think he was capable of—he decided to walk away from the fight. Denise never backed down. Her wicked laughter as he walked away proved once again who had the power in the marriage. Her. Always her.

He was more than pathetic. He was a poor excuse for a man.

He didn’t want his siblings to see how much of a failure he was, so instead of running to one of them with his tail between his legs, he went to the bar. Frost’s Pub and Grill.

For a Tuesday evening, the place was empty. It didn’t help they hardly had any tourists in residence as well. Bryce took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer.

Anson delivered his beer but must’ve sensed his mood so he didn’t attempt to start a conversation. Bryce appreciated his perception. And Anson could be a chatty guy when he wanted to be.

The first beer disappeared with speed. Anson set another one in front of him without him asking. He took another large swallow, then set it down, pushing it away. If he kept the current pace, he’d be drunk before long and he’d be forced to call Griffin or Juliet. The last thing he needed was a DUI for drinking and driving. He wasn’t that dumb. Only heartbroken. And he wouldn’t allow Denise to control any more of his life. He should stop wallowing in his sorrows.

“Hey, stranger.”

Bryce twisted his gaze to his right, nodding at Melody, one of the last people he wanted to see. She was best friends with Denise. For the longest time, Denise had tried to hook Melody and Griffin up, something his brother had detested.

“Hi.” While he didn’t want any company, he couldn’t be rude either.

“What’s wrong?”

Did she honestly not know or was she playing dumb? She and Denise talked about everything. He assumed they talked about him as well.

“Why would something be wrong?”

A merciful laugh escaped. “Because you’re sitting in a bar alone. You never come to the bar like this.”

“Did Denise call you?”

“No. Why?”

Bryce frowned, not wanting to play games with her. Word had gotten out Denise filed for divorce, so why was Melody pretending she didn’t know?

“She filed for divorce. You had to have known. We argued tonight. She accused me of cheating.”

Melody leaned closer, whispering, “I know you’d never cheat on her. You’re one of the good ones, and she’s an idiot for not seeing that. I know who she’s been sleeping with.”

He had his suspicions, but for Melody to confirm them hurt more than he thought it would. “And why are you wanting to impart with this information now? You could’ve let me know a long time ago if you cared, Melody.”

She flinched, her eyes shattering with hurt.

Nope. She was not the injured party here. He was! How dare she try to put on a show as if he’d hurt her feelings. There was a reason she and Denise were such good friends. They were alike in too many ways.

“I would never hurt you, Bryce.” She rested her hand on his shoulder, caressing down his arm in a way that disgusted him. “I care about you. I always have.”

He shook off her hand. “I’d like to be alone, Melody.”

For a brief moment, a flash of fire lit her eyes. The hurt turned to rage. Then it was gone as if it never occurred, her pain renewed as if he’d fall for her trap. She was trying to play around with his emotions. Hitting on him as if he’d fall into bed with her or something. Either it was apower play move designed by Denise, or Melody was trying to strike while he was vulnerable.

“I’m here for you if you need me. For anything.”

Her words didn’t ring with sincerity, and if he did need something, he’d never go to Melody for it.

“Would you like to know who Denise has been having an affair with?”

Griffin had hired a PI to look into everything, to find even a small crumb of evidence to use against Denise in the divorce. He had no worries about what they’d uncover.

“I think it’s best you stay out of my marriage problems. Have a good night, Melody.”

“She hurt you more than I realized. I’m so sorry.” She stood up from the stool and left.

Bryce finished off his beer, threw some cash on the bar, and left.

He sat in his car debating where to go. He’d had two beers, not too much where he couldn’t drive, but to be safe, he lingered in his car longer than he normally would’ve. The decision where to go hadn’t been made either. Going home was not an option. Enduring any more of Denise’s spiteful hate wasn’t going to help his depressing mood.

That left Griffin or Juliet’s house to crash for the night. He was leaning toward Juliet’s since she lived alone, whereas Griffin had Eve. He didn’t want to bother them.

His phone rang before he could make a decision either way.

“Lila, hi. How are you?”

Like a light switch, he put on his professional tone to hide the actual turmoil he was going through.

“Well, I hate to bother you so late, but could you come over? I think someone is outside. Or they were. I don’t know.” She let out a breath, then a giggle. But she didn’t snort after it like she did so often while working, so he knew she was putting on a show. She was scared. Her real laughter produced the most adorable snort he’d ever heard. “I’m so sorry to bother you. I’m sure it was nothing.”

“No. I’ll be right there.”

He hung up before she could argue with him. He would not discredit anything she said. After what Mark had done last year, he couldn’t be lax about anything. He’d check it out and make her feel better. Himself as well.

It gave him more time to decide where he’d spend the night.

Lila felt silly for calling the mayor with her overactive imagination, but the town had problems in the past with this issue and she didn’t want to take a chance. Of course, after she started speaking about it, she felt even more ridiculous, which was why she’d tried to blow it off as nothing. Nevertheless, she was glad he’d decided to come.

Less than ten minutes later, a knock sounded on her door. She checked the peephole before disarming the alarm and letting Bryce in.

He wiped his shoes on the rug in front of the door, but didn’t take them off.

“You okay?”

She nodded, producing a smile she didn’t feel. “I’m sure it was nothing.”

“Tell me what happened.”

She pointed toward the kitchen. “I was making supper and I thought I saw someone walking in the backyard. When I switched on the outside light, I didn’t see anything. I heard noise by my bedroom window, so I went to look and again, I didn’t see anyone. I don’t know. It weirded me out, and now I feel foolish I called you. It had to be an animal or something. I mean, there’s woods behind the cottage, maybe it was a deer.”

Bryce nodded as if he agreed. “I’ll go look around outside. I’ll be right back.”

She smiled again as if she could fool him, then closed the door behind him and locked it for extra measure.

Ugh. Ridiculous. She didn’t need to lock it. She flipped the lock back to its other position.

She wrapped her large, cozy sweater tighter around her and thought about pacing the living room floor waiting for him to come back. He returned in short order, and she felt a small dose of fear leave her body. She felt so much better with him in the house.

“Well?” she inquired when he didn’t say anything at first.

“There were footprints outside. In the backyard and near your bedroom window.”

She shivered at the implications. She hadn’t been imagining anything. Why the hell was someone walking around her place so late at night?

“Griffin doesn’t seem to be home, but I will talk to him about this. You should have his number. I realize now that you couldn’t have walked across the yard to him with someone prowling outside. I’m glad you didn’t do that.”

It hadn’t crossed her mind to go to Griffin’s house. Her first thought had been to call Bryce. Griffin would’ve been the smarter option as he was the chief of police.

“Thank you. I don’t understand. Why was someone outside trying to scare me?”

Bryce blew out a breath, shrugging. “I don’t know. I can’t imagine anyone is against the thought of turning the town’s image around, but I could be wrong. I’m so sorry this happened.”

“Mr. Mayor, it is not your fault. So please don’t apologize. Would you like a drink? I think I need a drink.”

He hesitated, his brows pleating as if waging a war of decisions in his head. She shook her hand frivolously in the air, chuckling to reduce the sudden tension she felt floating between them.

“It’s late. You didn’t come over—”

“I’d love a drink. And it’s Bryce. You have to call me Bryce.”

His earlier hesitation was gone and that true, handsome smile she adored lit up his face.

“Can you make it a strong one?”

“The best I can do is wine.”

“Fill it to the top.” Another delectable smile brightened his face.

He slipped off his shoes and followed her to the kitchen. They took a seat at her table after she poured them both a glass to the tippy-top.

“Is this how it was last year when…Mark was around?”

Bryce fiddled with the bottom of his wineglass before meeting her gaze. “For most of the residents, no. He watched them from the cameras he set up. Now Eve, he did come around here and break in, moving things around. He’s in prison though. He’s awaiting trial, and I don’t foresee him getting out anytime soon. It’s not him.”

Ugh. Poor Eve. Dealing with her brother, escaping his rage, then finding herself in another frightening position. Lila didn’t know how she survived it all. And she would never ask. That would be too intrusive.

“The one person I seemed to have offended since I arrived is…” Ugh. Mentioning his wife didn’t seem wise, but that was the one person to enter her mind as the culprit.

Bryce took a large gulp of wine. “Denise.” A strangled laugh echoed out of his mouth. “She’d hire someone to frighten you before she’d ever stomp around outside in the snow herself. Something like that would be beneath her.”

“So not her?”

“The footprints seemed to have come from the woods. Someone could’ve been out there walking around or something and exited the woods via your backyard. It could be nothing nefarious.”

She hoped that was the case.

“I hope this doesn’t scare you away from the town.” He leaned forward, an earnest expression on his face. “We need you.”

Umm…that was debatable. She was not the best person for the job, but she didn’t want to dash his hopes either.

“I don’t scare easily. I still feel like a ninny that I called you about this.”

He reached forward, placing his hand over hers resting on the table. “Never hesitate to call me. About anything.”

They stared at each other, the energy in the room electrifying for a brief moment before he realized he still had his hand over hers and disengaged.

“Make sure you keep the alarm set at all times. I’ll even have Griffin look at the security cameras positioned in the backyard. I know he has them for the front too.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

From there, the conversation moved to idle chitchat. He asked questions about where she lived in California and her life in general. She lived on the coast, loved going to the beach and bingeing on reality TV shows. She returned the same questions. He’d never been to the coast before—east or west. He loved going to the lake, especially fishing, and he was more into crime shows than anything else.

Laughter filled the space along with more wine being poured. After two full glasses of wine and opening another bottle, she knew she was sporting a good buzz, if not nearing drunkenness. Nothing good ever happened when she drank too much. She wasn’t a novice to a one-night stand. And the last thing she needed to do was sleep with, essentially, her boss—and a married man. Because the charged glances they gave each other now and again said it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities to take this mini party to the bedroom.

“It’s getting late,” she said with a giggle then her signature snort. “That is such a bad habit. I have to stop that.” She giggle-snorted again, louder.

He joined in the laughter as he stood up, following her actions. “I find it rather adorable.”

The heated glance he sent her way radiated tingles of pleasure through her body. He stepped closer to her, his gaze intense and unyielding. “It’s very, very adorable. I know it’s an honest laugh.”

“You shouldn’t drive home tonight.” And that was not what she meant to say. Though it was true. He had drunk way too much to get behind the wheel of a car.

He licked his lips as he leaned a bit closer. “I know. I had way too much to drink.” He snapped out of whatever pleasured haze he’d been in and backed away. “I’ll crash at my brother’s. Set the alarm behind me.”

He was gone before she could protest. Though that would’ve been the dumbest move in the history of the planet.

When the alcohol cleared away, she knew she wouldn’t even have these kinds of thoughts about him.

Thank goodness one of them had been in the right mind. Sleeping with her boss—and a married man—would’ve sent her career crashing into the ground.