10. Cord

CHAPTER 10

Cord

I peek out of the back staff door of the bookstore, looking for gleaming copper- brown curls. She's from Wildwood. She must be here.

I know she likes to read. Know she loves to read my books. I almost told her who I was when we were lying there in bed and she was talking about her favorite series. My books.

But I wanted to get to know her a little more before I let my whole truth out.

I should have gone with my heart instead of my head but I hate how women get when they find out that I have money. I don't think that Dixie is that kind of woman but I've been wrong before.

I listen to the low-level, excited hum of voices in the other room, listening intently and hoping to hear her sweet voice. I couldn't possibly pick her smell out of the air but I almost feel it, scent her.

She's here. And she's about to be mine.

Audrey pops up behind me and almost gives me a heart attack. "Dammit, woman! I need to put a bell on you."

She huffs but then she looks out the doorway and searches. "Are you sure she's here?"

"I am." I can feel her.

"Well, I hope that this little fiasco finally puts this whole mess to rest."

I glare at her. "The only thing that will put all this stuff to rest is if I find my girl and finally win her. She's my whole damn world."

Her face softens. Her blue eyes study me carefully and then she sighs. "I hope you know what you're doing, Cord. You only spent a short amount of time with her. You could be seeing all of this through rose-colored glasses. She might not be the woman you're remembering. And don't forget…she doesn't know who you really are. That might change her way of thinking." There's a cynical twist to her lips and I sigh.

"I have to have hope that she's the woman I know she is. If I didn't, there wouldn't be anything more left for me. I might as well retire to a solitary mountain somewhere and wait for the end.

But I won't. I will fight for her. I will turn into a demented stalker, determined to protect and care for my woman.

I hear loud clapping and stomping and smirk. The woman who runs the bookstore is over the moon to have me here and she's been bragging all over town. She's definitely getting my audience all warmed up.

I nod at Audrey when they call my name. "Show time," she smirks. "Give ‘em hell!"

I roll my eyes. "I don't think you understand how these things work at all."

She gives me a thumbs up and shoves at my shoulder. "Get out there, Casanova. Go get your girl."

I walk out and nod and smile at my audience but the whole time I'm searching for her.

My head whips around at an audible gasp two rows over and my eyes narrow in on a familiar chestnut head as she darts out the door, a blond woman following close behind her.

I nod at Audrey. "I'll be back. You take this."

" No! Dammit, Cord!"

But I don't even blink. Don't stop. I race out the door after her fleeing figure, determined to catch my little fox before she slips from the trap.

"Hey! Who the fuck do you think you are, man?"

A huge mountain of a man steps in front of me and glares at me, his bulging arms crossed over his chest. "Get out of my way!" I growl, attempting to dart around him. Only to find another mountain standing in front of me. "Where the hell did you guys come from?" I growl, exasperated.

"Why are you chasing our sister?"

I rock back on my heels, stunned. "Dixie is your sister? She never mentioned having brothers."

"How well do you know her?" The first guy's icy eyes lock on me and I swear if he could have torn me apart with just his glare, he would have.

I want to tell him it's none of his business but if this really is Dixie's brother then I don't want to annoy him right out of the gate.

"I think that's up to your sister to tell you about and if she hasn't mentioned anything to you, she must not want you to know."

The behemoth uncrosses his arms and his fists flex like he's thinking about pounding on me. I don't flinch but that doesn't mean that I'm not worried. This guy looks like he's on the verge of kicking my ass just for funsies.

"I know you're not getting smart with me, asshole."

"Get away from him, Troy. And what the hell are you and Branson doing here?"

He turns to look at her, his cold eyes warming just a fraction. "I have been worried to death about you, Dix. Mom and Dad too. You're not acting like you right now. And it's been since you went on that trip where you were out of touch a few days." He nods at me and she flicks a quick glance my way. But she looks away so fast that it's not enough. It will never be enough.

"It's none of your business. You're my brother, not my keeper." The other guy smiles at her and he flashes a set of dimples that probably make a lot of women look twice.

"Now, sis, you know that we only want to make sure that you're alright. You seem sad." Both of the guys run their eyes down her curvy frame and I take the chance to look myself while they're busy.

My brows lift. Am I wrong or does she look a little more…rounded around the middle?

I clear my throat and all three of them look over at me. "Ummm. Dixie? Is there something you want to tell me?"

She flushes and her pretty eyes dart away from me. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. Don't you have somewhere you need to be, Cord? All those people are waiting to hear from you." Her green eyes jump up to mine. "And by the way…why didn't you tell me who you were when we met?" Her brows knit and she glares at me hard.

"I would have told you but unfortunately I woke up the next morning in a cold, lonely bed since the woman I loved ran out on me and didn't even say good-bye."

Both of the other guys grunt and stand up straight, frowning, fists clenched. "Are you telling me that you had sex with our sister?" The older guy looks ready to blow but Dixie jumps between us. I eye them both happily from behind her, my hands settling on her hips. My brows scrunch.

"I'm telling you, Dixie. You feel different."

Both Troy and the other guy step closer, their faces wearing fierce masks. Dixie huffs. "Why can't you keep your yap shut, Cord? While you've still got all your body parts."

I can see that they didn't know fuck all about me. And I can also see that there's something different about Dixie. She turns back to her brothers and the wind picks up, pushing her loose-fitting tee up against her body and I suck in a sharp breath.

"You're pregnant!"

Troy and his brother both growl and glare at me. "Is that it, little sis? Did this asshole get you knocked up and disappear?"

I glare at them. "I just told you that she disappeared on me. I told her that she was mine. She's my woman."

Jokester isn't laughing now. His ice-blue eyes are just like his brother's and he stomps closer to me. His big, meaty paw smacks at my chest and it takes everything in me not to flinch.

That fucker has a hard punch!

"Why, if you told her that she was your woman, would she run away in the middle of the night? A happy woman doesn't just take off and leave a warm bed…". Here he actually starts to look a little pale. "I don't want to talk about the bed," he mutters under his breath, driving his hands into his hair and pacing.

"I don't want to discuss it with you either, asshole." I shouldn't call him an asshole. He's going to be my brother in law. Open hostility isn't going to win me any points with her family.

I turn and look at Dixie, my eyes eating up her lovely features, getting lost in her emerald gaze. "I want to know why you took off, Dixie. Why did you run from me? All I wanted was to make you happy. Why wasn't that good enough for you?

She whips around and stomps off but then comes back to me, her cheeks flushing a deep pink.

"It is good enough for me. If that's all it is. But why do you keep being so insistent that this is forever? Why can't you just believe that it's good enough for now?"

"Dix…every damn piece of you is perfect. There isn't one thing about you that I would fucking change. Except this way you have of putting yourself down and calling yourself names. I'm not okay with that at all. You are fucking perfect and anybody that tells you differently should get their ass kicked."

I glare at the two brothers and both of them lift their hands high, shoulders up and matching smirks on their faces.

But I honestly don't have time for them right now. I've got a woman to win. A mother to spoil. And a sweet little girl to introduce to the family that loves her unconditionally.

You can tell. But I'm not sure if she realizes how much.

I nod at the big fuckers. "I need to talk to my little baby mama alone, if you don't mind."

Truth is, I don't care if they do mind. This is my show. I'm playing to win.