Wrong Side of the Tracks: a Hope Valley novel Read online

  I’d been so wrapped up in our conversation that I hadn’t noticed the Jeep Cherokee parking next to the other cars, or the gorgeous man with dangerously sexy hazel eyes climbing from the driver seat and heading in our direction.

  “Well, hot damn!” Nona let out a laugh, catching sight of Marco at the same time I had. “Looks like a certain Latin hottie’s just arrived, and as usual, he’s already spotted our girl.”

  “You’re being ridiculous,” I muttered behind my margarita glass, hoping and praying Marco hadn’t heard her. “You realize you’re making something out of nothing, right?”

  “I don’t know, Gypsy.” Rory giggled. “That look on his face right now’s saying a whole lot more than nothing.”

  My eyes moved of their own accord, going straight back to Marco. The man didn’t just walk, he prowled. His movements were so commanding and fluid. He was in complete and total control of his body in a way I’d never seen from another man, and that control was what took his already incredible looks to a totally different stratosphere.

  Marco’s inky black hair shined beneath the sunlight, and my fingers itched with the desire to touch it and find out if it felt as soft as it looked. Several days’ worth of dark stubble lined a square jaw and distinct cheekbones. His chiseled features and the deep caramel color of his skin only made the pale color of his eyes that much more stunning.

  The vintage Harley t-shirt he was wearing stretched across broad shoulders and a wide, strong chest. His jeans were faded around the crotch from excess wash and wear, drawing my attention to the unmistakable bulge beneath the denim. The material hugged him to perfection, showing off thick, powerful thighs and a tapered waist.

  The whole package was enough to make my knees quake, but when our gazes connected and one corner of his full lips tilted upward in a smirk, my body reacted. My nipples grew hard beneath my bra, and a rush of arousal dampened my panties, causing me to squirm on the bench.

  “Ladies,” he said in a husky voice that was as rich as a fine dark chocolate or the smoothest whiskey.

  “Hey, Marco.” Eden tipped her head back. “Thanks so much for coming.”

  He bent at the waist, lowering to press a kiss against her cheek. “You kidding? Wouldn’t miss it, darlin’. Just sorry I’m late.”

  “Don’t even worry about it. I’m just glad you’re here.”

  “Happy for you, sweetheart,” he told her, smiling genuinely. “Lincoln’s one lucky son of a bitch.”

  Every inch of my body prickled with awareness, and I was fighting a hard battle to keep from staring at the man only a couple feet away. Every time I was in his presence, I became very aware that I was a woman.

  A woman who hadn’t had sex in an embarrassingly long time.

  She let out a giggle, showing that even she wasn’t immune to all that was Marco Castillo. “You’re too sweet.” From the corner of my eye, I caught Eden turn her focus on me as she not-so-subtly stated, “The men in town are being snatched up left and right. Only a matter of time before it’s your turn, Marco.”

  Oh, sweet merciful Christ.

  Sucking back the last of my margarita, I put the glass down with a heavy thunk and shot to my feet. “Excuse me for a sec. I need to… pee.”

  I couldn’t believe I’d just said that. But then again, Marco had a way of making me forget how to act, or hell, even remember my own name. I was constantly doing or saying stupid shit in his presence.

  Not giving my friends a chance to make fun of me, I scrambled over the bench and started as fast as I could toward the house. It wasn’t until I was closed in the half bath nestled beneath the stairs that I was able to take a full breath.

  “Good lord, Gypsy,” I scolded my reflection in the mirror. “Will you get your shit together and act like a normal, sane human being?”

  I turned the tap for the cold water all the way up and held my wrists underneath, closing my eyes and breathing slowly to calm my frazzled nerves. After a couple of minutes, I finally started to feel normal once again, and decided it was time to stop hiding and rejoin the party.

  I should have known I wasn’t going to get off scot-free with friends like mine. When I pulled the bathroom door open, Rory was standing on the other side, her face a mask of concern with a hint of curiosity. “Hey, honey. You okay?”

  “Yeah.” I gave her a smile that felt somewhat plastic. “All good.”

  Her eyes narrowed speculatively. “You sure? ’Cause you kind of ran away from us like your ass was on fire. That have anything to do with your crazy attraction to a certain hazel-eyed Adonis?”

  “Drop it, Ror,” I warned, then started back through the house with her close on my tail.

  “No way in hell, Gypsy,” my friend continued to argue. “I see the way you look at him. It’s so obvious to everyone that you two dig each other. I don’t understand why you won’t just go for it.”

  Her exasperated tone pulled me up short. “A woman like me doesn’t land a man like that,” I said in a dead-calm voice, even while my heart beat rapidly against my breastbone.

  Rory’s face pinched in displeasure as she planted her hands on her hips. “You know, you keep saying that, and it’s really starting to piss me off. You talk like there’s something wrong with you when the truth is there’s nothing wrong! You’re incredible and kind and loyal—”

  “And a stripper who lives in a run-down trailer in a shitty part of town.”

  “That’s not your fault,” she snapped. “You’re doing the best you can. I don’t understand why you keep holding circumstances beyond your control against yourself.”

  I loved Rory—I loved all my friends—but they didn’t understand. I’d given them just enough of myself to make sure our relationships stayed intact. But I wasn’t the woman they thought I was. I’d made mistakes—huge mistakes—for no reason but pure selfishness.

  I’d spent the last few years trying my hardest to be a different person than I was back then, but there was no erasing the past.

  “Rory, I appreciate everything you’re saying, but just let this one go. Please.”

  Her expression remained obstinate for a few beats, and I held my breath, waiting for her reply.

  Finally, she relented on a grumble. “Fine. Just so long as you know I’m not happy about it.”

  My shoulders sagged in relief. “I accept that,” I replied with a small grin. “You love me, so you’ll get over it.”

  “You know, you’re a real pain in the ass when you’re right.”

  Letting out a low chuckle, I hooked my arm through Rory’s and started toward the front door. Now that I’d dodged that bullet, I was ready to push all the unpleasantness to the back of my mind and enjoy the rest of the beautiful day, surrounded by the people I loved, before the dark clouds of reality returned.

  * * *

  Marco

  A flash of movement caught my eye, and I turned away from the conversation I was in the middle of to watch Gypsy come waltzing out of the cabin, arm in arm with her friend Rory.

  All that long, thick blonde hair shined under the bright sunlight like spun gold, and I couldn’t drag my eyes away from her as she headed back to the picnic table.

  I didn’t have the first clue what it was about the woman that pulled me in, but whatever it was, the hold sure as hell wouldn’t let go. She was sexy, no doubt about that. Outstanding curves led to some of the best legs I’d ever seen, legs that would make a man fight until his knuckles bled just for the chance to feel them wrapped around his waist. Then there was all that hair.

  Christ, Gypsy Bradbury was a walking pin-up girl, but that wasn’t what captured my attention the first time I saw her. What lured me in and piqued my interest the most were her eyes. And I wasn’t just talking about the hypnotizing golden brown color.

  There was a hardness in her eyes that couldn’t be missed. It spoke clear as day to anyone to stay the hell away unless she gave you an invitation.

  I didn’t know much about the woman, but what I did know was s
he remained closed off to those who weren’t in her inner circle. I’d also noticed that once you made it in, she was extremely generous with her loyalty. It was clear to see that was why her girls adored her as much as they did.

  I couldn’t deny that I was curious to find out what it would be like to breach those walls of hers, and that curiosity only grew stronger the more our paths crossed. But when I’d uprooted my life and moved across the continent to Hope Valley, I’d done it with one thing in mind—living a nice, simple life.

  I’d been through more than my fair share of ups and downs, to say the least. A shitty life had turned me into a dysfunctional teenager. I’d started myself down a path that was leading to one of two places, behind bars or in a grave. I’d decided to enlist in the military as soon as I graduated high school in the hopes of becoming a better man, but even still, the past wouldn’t let go. My mistakes led to something I could never, ever make right no matter how much I tried to repent. The guilt and self-hatred I felt became too much to bear, and I’d eventually given up my old life in the hopes of starting over. I’d seen more darkness in my thirty-five years than most people saw in an entire lifetime, things that would stay with me for as long as I lived.

  The shadows I’d grown up with were made darker by what I saw during my time of service, but I’d be forever grateful for that time I’d spent serving my country. It gave me the opportunity to become the man I’d wanted to be, not the one my bad choices were leading me to. But when I finally left that all behind, I’d made a promise that the road would be easy from there on out. And something in my gut told me the girl with the guarded eyes was anything but easy.

  But in spite of the warning signs, I couldn’t shake my fascination with her.

  “I’ve had Xander tracking Black’s financials the past couple months,” Linc said, pulling me from my thoughts of a certain brown-eyed girl and back into the present, “and something hit the other day that drew our attention.”

  “Christ, Linc,” Hayes Walker, a detective on the police force and a longtime friend of Lincoln’s, said with a grunt. “I get you’re just as anxious to see this asshole locked up as we are, but we need everything to be above board. You need to leave this to the cops, brother. No DA in his right mind’ll be willin’ to go to court if the evidence against Malachi Black was obtained questionably.”

  Lincoln Sheppard was the owner of Alpha Omega Investigations, a private security and investigations firm set up here in Hope Valley. Having served himself, he knew firsthand how difficult it was to reacclimate to civilian life, so all of us who worked for him were former military. I hadn’t been sure what to expect when I first started, but it turned out I didn’t have anything to worry about. Not only was he a great boss, but he came to be one of the best men I knew. I respected the hell out of him, and it wasn’t a surprise that Lincoln hadn’t backed off this particular case.

  Malachi Black was the scum of the earth. He’d set up shop somewhere in the mountains around Hope Valley, cooking meth and having his crew sell it through at least three counties that we knew of. The department’s hands had been tied back when he was keeping clear of us, but there’d been a string of overdoses within the town limits lately, two of which ended fatally, so everyone was itching to put this asshole out of commission. Problem was, no one had been able to find his cookhouses, and he did too good a job keeping himself clean of the dealing.

  Half the guys he had working for him had never actually seen him face-to-face, and they had no idea where the operation was set up. He’d been pulled in for questioning at least half a dozen times, but with no evidence to go on and no probable cause, he’d been cut loose every single time. To make matters worse, it appeared the prick was gearing up to set down roots in our town, getting off on snubbing his nose at the cops who couldn’t touch him.

  Something had to be done, and since Linc wasn’t restricted by the same rules as the police department, he’d taken the task on himself.

  “This isn’t exactly my first rodeo, Walker,” Linc replied, his tone low and ominous. “You think I’d do anything to fuck up a case against this guy, you’re wrong.”

  “We know you’re good, man,” Hayes’s partner, Patrick “Trick” Wanderly, chimed in, “but what are we supposed to do with illegally obtained financial records?”

  “You use them to your advantage,” Xander replied. He was the only other guy in on this private conversation Lincoln had requested, and one of Linc’s most trusted men. Xander mostly handled the tech side of Alpha Omega and wasn’t much of a people person. He was quiet and brooding most of the time, and when he did speak, he said what he needed to say in as few words as possible, and if you didn’t get him, he couldn’t be bothered to give a fuck. It was actually a shock to find him here today.

  “So what did you find?” Hayes asked, clearly coming around to Lincoln’s way of thinking.

  “Black’s bought up Pink Palace,” he declared. All of a sudden my senses went on red alert.

  “You’re fuckin’ shitting me,” Trick growled.

  Lincoln’s face was like granite as he continued. “Wish I was. Don’t know what the hell that guy wants with a titty bar, but I do know that whatever the reason, it isn’t good. And I really don’t fucking like this asshole having a tie so close to one of our own.”

  We all turned toward the picnic table beneath the tree at the same time. I knew what all four men were thinking before any of them said a word. Because I was thinking the same goddamn thing. Gypsy worked at Pink Palace.

  “I’m putting a guy in that club,” Linc stated definitively. “Hopefully we can get something on Black and at the same time lookout for her.”

  “I’m on it,” I clipped, shifting my focus back to our huddle.

  Lincoln examined me closely. “You sure, man? I’ve kept you out of this shit with Black for a reason. Thought it might hit a little too close to home, you know. Dig up some skeletons you’d like to keep buried.”

  My jaw ticked with annoyance as I answered, “That was a long time ago. It’s not gonna be a problem.”

  “You sure?”

  I didn’t bother to answer verbally, choosing instead to nod. I was positive, because my decision to take this case had nothing to do with the past and everything to do with the woman I couldn’t seem to keep my mind off of.

  So much for easy.

  Chapter Two

  Gypsy

  As I turned the van into my driveway, a wave of exhaustion crashed over me. A stomach virus had been working its way through Fresh Foods for the past week, so I’d been working double shifts every single day. Sure, my paychecks needed the extra padding, but after dealing with my pimply-face, barely-out-of-high-school manager, taking care of the kids, and dancing at the club until close twice this week already, I’d barely managed three hours of sleep each night, and the exhaustion was finally starting to catch up with me.

  Ignoring the whine of the brake pads that were in desperate need of replacing, I put the crappy minivan I drove into park, killed the engine, and rummaged through my purse in search of my cell as I headed for the front door.

  Odette answered on the second ring. “Hey, honey. You on your way home?”

  Odette had been a part of my life for as long as I could remember. Having lived in the trailer just a few doors down from ours, it hadn’t taken her long to see my parents for the worthless wastes of oxygen they were and she’d immediately set about taking me under her wing. We provided a solace for each other. When it became obvious she wasn’t going to be able to have kids, her husband had packed up and left her. His loss as far as I was concerned, because Odette was the best woman I’d ever had the privilege of knowing. I filled a void for her that was left behind from the knowledge that she couldn’t have children of her own, and she provided me with all the safety, security, and love my own parents never bothered to give me. She was the closest thing to a mother I’d ever had, and I didn’t even want to think about what my life could have become if I hadn’t had her.

/>   But the thing that mattered to me the most was that she treated my brothers and sisters with the exact same love and affection that had gotten me through a miserable childhood. The Bradbury clan was better for having her in our lives.

  “Hey. I actually just pulled up. I hate asking you this, but would you mind keeping Raleigh for a little while longer? I’m in desperate need of a shower.” I left out the fact that I also needed to nap for the next century, because what would be the point in that?

  “Of course, girl. You know I never mind watchin’ this little stinker, so take all the time you need. Me and Lee’ll be here when you’re done.”

  I let out a sigh of relief and smiled into the phone. “Thanks, Detty. You’re the best.”

  “Child, don’t I know it.”

  I hung up on a laugh and climbed from the car, heading for the mailbox at the end of the drive. I rifled through the large stack of bills as I walked up the rickety stairs, pulled open the creaky old storm door, and unlocked the front door. Stepping into my blessedly silent house, I tossed the mail onto the counter, sending it sliding across the linoleum.

  The bills would just have to wait. It wasn’t like they were going anywhere.

  I stripped out of my uniform in record time and climbed into the shower, letting the hot water beat against the sore muscles in my shoulders. I was in the middle of rinsing the conditioner out of my hair when the spray suddenly turned to ice. I let out a shriek and scrambled toward the back of the shower, slipping on the bottom of the slick tub and banging my elbow against the wall. “Argh!” The freezing water felt like tiny knives stabbing into my skin as I fumbled with the knobs. I twisted the hot dial all the way to the left, but nothing happened. “No, no, no, no!” I cried as I twisted left and right and left again to no avail. The water heater had been on its last leg for a while now, and it appeared that the damn thing had finally crapped out.