Any Day Now Page 2

  That made my heart hurt.

  “That’s sad,” I said. “And you think you’ll get something out of this auction?”

  She gave me a smile that lit up her face. “I know I will. With the SWAT team calendar doing so good? This will just be huge, I know it.”

  She saw the indecision on my face.

  “It’ll probably piss off your father,” she teased.

  I laughed then.

  “Anything that will drive my father nuts I’m down for.”

  Her eyes looked so hopeful that I couldn’t say no.

  I just couldn’t.

  Fuck.

  “Fine,” I sighed. “Saturday? What time?”

  “Nine?” she asked hopefully.

  I winced. “Make it ten, and I’ll do it.” I paused. “Only if you have donuts.”

  “No good donuts are going to be left at ten,” she said.

  I shrugged. “Then go get them early, and just have them there.”

  Chapter 2

  I don’t know what you’re fixing. But mine just broke.

  -Text from Derek to Adam

  Adam

  “This is the worst idea that I’ve ever had,” I grumbled to myself as I put the stand down on my bike and swung off.

  There were two other cars in Derek’s driveway, Avery’s, and a sweet as fuck Chevy Chevelle that looked to be in mint condition.

  I bet that it sounded like a dream.

  And handled like one, too.

  I shoved my keys into my pocket and wondered for the eighth time what in the hell I was doing.

  Doucet.

  I was doing this for Doucet.

  I did a lot of damn things for Doucet, though.

  Shit.

  Even stranger photoshoots.

  Growing a pair, I knocked on the door of my fellow SWAT officer’s house and waited.

  Nobody answered.

  I knocked again, and the door was yanked open by a frazzled looking Avery.

  She had what looked to be spit up in her hair.

  “Hey!” She smiled, looking relieved to see me standing there. “Would you mind holding her?”

  Before I could say yes or no, there was a baby shoved into my arms, and she looked very unhappy with her new predicament.

  But before I could say or do anything to the child, Derek pulled into his driveway and bailed out of the truck, motor still running.

  “Oh, where’s her shit?” Derek asked, looking as if he was frazzled himself.

  Before I could answer, Avery was opening the door again, shoving a bag my way, and then walking away.

  “Don’t come back before four o’clock, Derek!” she called.

  Derek gave me a roll of his eyes. “Don’t ever get married, man.”

  “I heard that!” Avery called.

  “She put silk sheets on the bed for you.” Derek’s eyes gleamed. “I can’t wait to try them out later.”

  “You won’t be trying anything out if you don’t leave!” Avery came back, eyes narrowed.

  Derek pulled her to him, hit her with a kiss, took the baby and the bag from my arms, and was gone before I could so much as get a word in edgewise.

  “I put silk sheets on the bed for you,” she said, “and Amelia.”

  Amelia.

  I liked that name.

  Not many people were named that.

  But…

  “Silk sheets?” I asked, sounding just as worried as I felt.

  She gestured for me to follow her inside.

  “Amelia is outside on the phone,” she said as she walked through the living room, kitchen, and then into the back bedroom.

  I came to a stop at the bed that was sitting in the middle of the room.

  “Umm,” I said. “You redecorated?”

  I lived just down the road in the same subdivision as the rest of them.

  I’d been to Derek’s house multiple times over the last year that I’d been on the SWAT team, and never once had I seen this bed.

  Or their room so empty.

  “I had all the furniture moved into the other room,” she said as she pointed to the room next door. “And I bought a new bed, specifically for this.”

  “You bought a new bed,” I said slowly. “Why?”

  She shrugged. “Our bed was kind of boring, and I wanted it to be big, ornate, and badass. Plus, this one’s pretty. Now we have an awesome bed to use after we do this photoshoot.”

  I looked at the bed.

  She was right about it being big and ornate.

  It was one of those massive ones. It stretched all the way to the ceiling and had gauzy curtains hanging from the poles that ran around the top. The poles at the bottom of the bed were made of what looked to be lions or something, and they definitely looked like they could withstand some… movement.

  “It’s big all right,” I said. “What exactly do you want us to do today?”

  My eyes went to the blood-red silk sheets, and I wondered how they would feel against my skin.

  I’d heard a little bit about what we would be doing from Derek, since he was the one who’d asked me for Avery, but ‘taking some photos and shit’ could mean anything.

  “Derek didn’t tell you anything?” Avery asked.

  “Derek told me that we would be ‘taking some pictures and shit’ with another chick that I didn’t know.” I paused. “That was it.”

  Avery’s face went red with annoyance. “That man.”

  The way she said ‘that man’ made me nervous.

  “I told him to tell you everything,” she said as she fiddled with the big white lamp, looking at things that were on either side of the bed. “Umm...” She hesitated. “This is what they call a stranger photoshoot.”

  My brows went up. “Okay…”

  “A stranger photoshoot is what you would call, ummm, more erotic in nature.” She winced. “I take photos of y’all, together. As if y’all were a couple. Some can be intimate. Some can be whatever y’all want, really. Whatever y’all are comfortable with.”

  My gut clenched.

  “Avery…” I was about to tell her not only no, but hell no, but then who I assumed was Amelia walked into the room.

  My breath caught at the first sight of her, and the aching burn of my lungs needing air started to filter through me.

  “Sorry about that,” the woman who entered said, oblivious of me being in the room. “I’m… oh.”

  The woman was short, about my breastbone in height. She had long, curly black hair that reached down to her waist. Her eyes were what I would call green, but holy fuck were they a brilliant green, and they really popped with the tank she was wearing.

  And God, she was in cut-off shorts.

  Cut-off shorts, on a pair of shapely thighs, were my weakness.

  My eyes trailed from the top of her head to her boots—goddamn, she was wearing cowboy boots with her cut-off jean shorts—and then back up again.

  “Your eyes are gorgeous,” I found myself blurting. Why had I said that? Shit. “Green’s my favorite color.”

  She grinned hesitantly, a quirky smile that looked as if she was unsure of whether she should be liking the comment. “They’re actually hazel. They pick up the colors of whatever I’m wearing. Today, green.”

  She touched the army green of her tank top and smiled tremulously at me.

  “Umm, you’re Adam?” she asked, holding out her hand. “I’m Amelia.”

  I reached forward and took her hand in mine, struck fucking stupid at the small, delicate hand that felt like the world in mine.

  God, it was soft. I could crush it with one squeeze.

  Not that I ever would, but the fact that she was so delicate made all sorts of protective instincts start to march to the forefront of my mind.

  “Adam didn’t know what y’all were doing today.” Avery sighed. “Dammit. I’m going to kill Derek.”

  Amelia looked at me and blushed. “Yeah, this is weird. Isn’t it weird?”

  It was weird.

  But suddenly I didn’t find myself quite so reluctant to be doing a stranger photoshoot with this particular stranger.

  She tugged her hand away, and that was when I realized that I’d been holding it for a long, inappropriate amount of time.

  Jesus, there I was coming off as a creeper, and she was about to take erotic photos with me.

  Nice.

  Good going, Stoker.

  But, as she dropped her hand, it looked like it was almost as if she was reluctant to do so.

  “Okay,” Avery said as she ran her hands through her hair, momentarily taking my gaze away from Amelia. “Let me go grab a few things… y’all… get to know each other.”

  Avery left us alone in her room, reminding me of the biggest goddamn bed that I’d ever seen only being a few inches away.

  “This is some bed,” I found myself saying to break the awkward silence.

  Amelia’s green eyes went from me to the bed, and then back to me.

  She licked her lips, then burst out laughing.

  “This is awkward as fuck,” she admitted. “I don’t want you to think that it’s you or anything.” She paused. “Well, it is kind of you, if we’re being truthful. You’re hot, and I’m awkward, don’t talk to anyone new, and you look like this.”

  She gestured to my body with a sweep of her hands, which had me grinning.

  “I’m nothing special,” I told her honestly.

  I was just a normal guy.

  At least, I thought I was, anyway.

  Amelia’s snort of disbelief had my brows raising in question.

  “Just take it from me. You’re not normal,” she said, her eyes wide. “I work at a strip club. I see guys all night long. Trust me when I say, you’re so far from normal that it’s not even funny.”

  “You work in a strip club?” I asked.

  Her lips twitched. “I do. But, just sayin’, I only work there because I know it’ll piss my dad and brothers off. I gotta keep them on their toes, and to do that I try to find the most obnoxious jobs that I can find.”

  I could see how working in a strip club would definitely bother me, especially if that were my sister.

  “Which bar?” I asked.

  She named off the newest strip club that was right outside of Kilgore, Texas. The one that they’d remodeled and put so much money into. Also, the one that the town of Kilgore hadn’t been happy that they took away their paycheck since it was outside of the city limits.

  Though, if they’d been smarter about it, they would’ve just allowed the owner to build a brand-new club inside the city limits. However, there were so many Bible thumpers and prudes in the area that they’d thrown a big stink about it, causing the owner to look elsewhere.

  I’d heard the cover charge to get in the damn door was more than most people paid to play golf at a country club.

  Honestly, it kind of made me happy to know that she was working at a place—if she had to work somewhere like that at all—that would take care of her.

  Amelia’s eyes dropped down to my chest, and I had to stop myself from looking down to see if I had any stains.

  The way her eyes felt on me was downright sinful.

  I loved it.

  “Okay,” Avery said as she came into the room. “There’s something wrong with my camera. I was thinking that I’m going to order some pizza. We can snack, drink a beer or two to calm down, and I can maybe photograph you during that, too, once I get my camera going. Sound good?”

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket, thinking that pizza sounded good.

  But stopped when I realized it was only ten.

  “It’s too early for pizza,” I said. “I can order DoorDash and some donuts or something, though.”

  “I have donuts!” Avery snapped her fingers. “I forgot. That was one of Amelia’s conditions. I got some from Dillan’s donut shop in town. I got up super early for them, too. They’re special orders. But… I want to take a photo of you when you open them if that’s okay.”

  Amelia rolled her eyes. “You’re awful.”

  Avery didn’t look repentant in the least.

  “I think you’ll really enjoy them,” she said with a grin. “That’s why I want you to see them when I can photograph you. Together.”

  Amelia rolled her eyes. “I have some beer in my trunk. But it’s hot.”

  “I have some beer in my fridge down the road,” I offered. “If you need something to cool you down.”

  Amelia’s eyes shone with mirth as she said, “Calm. Not cool.”

  I shrugged. “Whatever.”

  Her eyes were shining as she turned to Avery. “Adam and I are going to go to his place and get his beer. We’ll be right back.”

  Avery gave a thumbs up.

  “Sounds good,” she said. “I should have it all done quickly. It just needs a new battery, which I have in my bedroom. The problem is uncovering it. I kind of buried it to make room for the big bed.”

  After saying our goodbyes, and promising we’d be back shortly, I walked with Amelia two houses down.

  Her eyes reflected surprise when she said, “You’re close.”

  “Almost all of the SWAT team lives here,” I explained. “And even some of just the regular officers.”

  She ran her fingers over the tips of a rose bush in Derek’s yard before she crossed into the next one. In that yard, she bent over and pulled a honeysuckle flower off of the vine and expertly pulled the flower apart and sucked the sweetness from the flower before letting the pieces fall to the ground.

  My dick hardened almost impossibly.

  God, to be on the receiving end of that mouth…

  “The area is nice. I’ll bet there are some great places to run,” she said as she skipped over a water hose connected to a sprinkler.

  Finally we made it into my yard, and she took in all the flowers.

  “This is… not what I expected from a bachelor,” she said as she took in the perfectly decorated mailbox with the stupid pink, purple and white flowers surrounding it.

  “My sister is a botanist. Or, at least, she’s studying that.” I paused. “She does a little bit of everything. She does floral arrangements for weddings and shit… and this.”

  This being the manicured yard.

  “It’s awesome,” she admitted. “I’m seriously impressed. I want to have something like this, but the upkeep on it would be something that I definitely wouldn’t be able to keep up with. Not with my schedule right now, anyway.”

  I let her into my place and walked over to the fridge where I pulled out four beers with one hand.

  Handing her two, she smiled at my show.

  “That’s impressive,” she said as she tucked one beer under her arm and held the other beer out to me, top first. I twisted the lid off, and she smiled before saying, “I’m in school. I’m currently in my first semester of classes that will lead to my master’s. But I’m thinking of a change.”

  My brows rose.

  “You’re working on your master’s?”

  She nodded.

  “Wow,” I said, shaking my head. “I always planned on getting my college degree, but then I went into the military, and then straight from the military into the police department. I don’t think I’ll be going back to school anymore.”

  She sighed. “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I honestly hate school, and I’m definitely taking more time off next semester than I did this semester.”

  “Why don’t you like it?” I asked curiously. “You’ve gone all this time… what’s changed?”

  She scrunched up her nose and took a sip of her beer, and my eyes lingered on the way her lips looked as they pressed against the bottle.

  “I’ve never really liked it,” she admitted. “I started school in the hopes that my father wouldn’t smother me to death while I went. I just traded one thing that was smothering for another. I’m seriously considering just going to work with my bachelor’s instead of my master’s. I’m sure I can find something.”

  Before I could ask what her degree was in, she was walking out the door and back toward Avery’s house.

  I followed her, hating that she was walking out of my place when I wanted her to stay.

  I took a drink of my beer to hide my disappointment as I followed her back over to Derek’s place.

  All the while she walked, though, I kept my gaze squarely on her.

  Chapter 3

  Did the inventor of sweatpants ever consider what he was doing to the female population? Or do you think he knew exactly what he was doing, and just smiled? Because I think he just smiled.

  -Amelia’s secret thoughts

  Amelia

  “I need a drink,” I muttered under my breath.

  I was hyperventilating.

  Seriously, I was freaking out, and there was nothing I could do about it.

  When Avery had said she had a volunteer, I had no clue what I’d been thinking.

  I mean, sure, I figured he’d be in shape seeing as he was on the SWAT team with her husband.

  I guess I just didn’t figure he’d be in that good of shape, you know?

  “What was that?”

  I looked over my shoulder at the man that was so sexy that it physically hurt to look at him.

  “Umm.” I licked my lips. “Nothing. I thought I heard Avery call us.”

  That was a total lie.

  But it didn’t hurt that Avery was standing on the front porch as we came back in her direction.

  I stopped again to gather another honeysuckle flower—just like I always did when I passed one—and sucked the sweetness out.

  Instead of tossing the flower onto the ground, though, I was startled to find it taken straight out of my hands.

  I blinked as Adam caught the flower before it could fall from my fingers.