Just a Fling Read online

  Just A Fling

  Charity Ferrell

  Just A Fling

  Copyright © 2017 by Charity Ferrell

  All rights reserved.

  www.charityferrell.com

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, brands, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  E-Books are not transferrable. They cannot be sold, given away, or shared. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to or downloaded from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $ 250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/)

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  One

  Hudson

  “Save it. That shit is your gig, not mine.” I’m staring at my older brother wondering when he lost his damn mind.

  “You’ll be doing me a huge favor,” Dallas pleads.

  “You want me to wash your panties? Sure. You need me to get rid of your old-school nudie mags so Lucy doesn’t find out you were a little perv back in the day? I got you. Those are favors. What you’re asking me is more than that, and you fucking know it.”

  “Come on. You’re overreacting.”

  I shake my head. “I didn’t withstand two tours overseas to come home and play bitch to some spoiled Hollywood princess.”

  I busted my ass in Marine training, slept in the shittiest conditions, and witnessed shit I’d give my left nut to un-see. No way am I moving on from that to following some high-maintenance chick around. “I’ve been gone for nine-months, and this is the first thing you ask when I get home? Offering me some bullshit job you know I’d never take?”

  “You’ll be her bodyguard, not her bitch, Hudson.”

  “Either way, I respectively decline.”

  “She’s not as bad as you think.”

  I snort.

  “Do it for me. I’m going through hell right now. You taking this job will give me one less problem to worry about.”

  I hold up my hand. “Nu-uh, don’t you dare pull that shit.”

  “What shit?”

  “The empathy hook you’re attempting to sink into me that will make me look like a heartless bastard if I don’t let you reel me in.” I’d trade places with him and take his pain in a goddamn heartbeat if I could.

  “Is it working?” He chuckles at my irritation. “Look, I was her security guard for five years. She’s not only a damn good employer but also a friend who helped pay Lucy’s medical bills and gave me paid leave to be with my family. I want to make sure she’s protected, and last I heard, they haven’t found anyone qualified enough to take my place. That’s why I suggested you.”

  “How about you un-suggest me?”

  He drags his hand through his shaggy brown hair. “What’s your plan then, huh? The pay is better than anything here in Blue Beech. Make some fast cash, come home, and put a down payment on a house. You can quit as soon as they hire someone else.”

  I stay silent, and he stretches forward to punch my arm.

  “You know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important to me,” he adds.

  I lean back in my chair and focus on him from across his kitchen table. Dark circles ride under his sunken eyes, and stress lines that didn’t exist when I left months ago stretch along his mouth. My older brother is hurting and in fear of losing the woman he loves. As his brother, it’s my job to pull my shit together, put my pride aside, and help him.

  Lucy, his wife’s breast cancer was caught too late and spread too fast. The doctors aren’t sure how much time she has left. She’s only thirty-one, and her diagnosis was a shock to us. Dallas quit his job as head security guard for Stella Mendes and returned home to be there for her.

  “Fine,” I groan, holding up a finger. “I’ll do it, but on one condition.”

  He raises a brow.

  “It’s only temporary. Two months max, so you tell them to get their asses on finding a replacement.”

  He blows out a ragged breath. “Thank you. Your flight leaves in the morning.”

  “The hell? You already booked my flight?”

  He nods.

  “What if I said no?”

  “I’d have Lucy ask you.”

  “You play fucking dirty.” It’s one thing arguing with him, but no way can I say no to Lucy.

  “This job will also get you out of town so shit can cool down for a minute. It’s a win-win.”

  “I don’t need shit to cool down.” My muscles tense while I hold in my rage—the topic pissing me off more than the job offer.

  He gives me a stern look. “Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

  “We’re not having this conversation.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “It’s off limits right now, you hear me?”

  “I understand, brother. I’d be one furious motherfucker, too.”

  There’s no missing the curious stares following me when I walk into the Down Home Pub, the hot spot in town if you’re craving a beer, good time, or want to drown your sorrows.

  Dallas forced me to go out for drinks—a pick me up for us both was what he called it. My dumbass should’ve known it was more than grabbing a quick beer and shooting the shit.

  A blue Welcome Home Hudson banner hangs at the front of the bar, and the pub is packed with familiar faces—people I’ve known all my life. Months ago, I would’ve loved this surprise.

  Now? Not so much.

  I’ve lived in Blue Beech, Iowa all my life. It’s a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business. People say that about all small towns, but Blue Beech is the real deal. Everyone knew my fiancé was fucking around on me and planning a wedding with my best friend on our scheduled wedding date before I did. News doesn’t travel as fast as word of mouth when you’re overseas with limited communication.

  Cameron sent me a bullshit Dear John letter. Every word was a stab to the gut. I ripped it up and burned the pieces. Crumbling relationships and marriages are a regular occurrence in military life. I’d become just another statistic.

  Dallas hands me a beer, and I smile before chugging it in one go—savoring the bitter yet delicious malted barley. I slap my hand onto the bar and ask the bartender, Maliki, to pour us another round.

  There’s no missing the pity stares shooting in my direction confirming everyone knows about Cameron. I spot a group of guys I played football with in high school huddled around the table and stroll in their direction. When I’m almost there, someone sticks their foot out in an attempt to trip me.

  They fail, but I’m pissed.

  What the fuck?

  I turn around, ready to take my anger out on the jackass, but that outrage dissipates when I see her.

  “Well if it isn’t the biggest ass-hat in the world. Sorry, I’m late, but the hospital has been a madhouse,” Lauren, my younger sister, says.

  I laugh when she attempts to wrap her short arms around me in a hug and pat her on the head when she pulls away. “No biggie. I’ve only been here a few minutes.”

  She grins. “I’ve missed you. Guys aren’t as scared to
mess with me when you’re gone. I’ve had to resort to my pepper spray and AK-47.”

  “You don’t own an AK-47.”

  “True, but doesn’t it sound badass when I say I do? You should probably buy me one for my birthday.”

  “I’m never buying you a gun. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past you to shoot some poor bastard who said the wrong thing to you.”

  She laughs “You know the tempers of the Barnes family aren’t one to be reckoned with.”

  I debated on going home, but Blue Beech is all I’ve ever known. As I sit down and enjoy another beer, I’m happy I agreed to come instead of drinking my sorrows away in Dallas’s basement.

  That happiness lasts only twenty minutes and two beers in. I’m beginning to relax while Lauren divulges her latest dating fail when she stops mid-conversation and slams her drink down.

  “I cannot believe that son of a bitch and hussy would show their faces here,” she yells.

  I look away from her fuming face to see what has her attention.

  “Everyone in this godforsaken town knows your party is here tonight,” she spats.

  My hands turn numb, and I nearly drop my beer while the taste of bile swims up my throat.

  The bar goes silent.

  Even the jukebox cuts off for the ensuing shit show.

  I shift in my seat in an attempt to cool the fury crackling through me like a lit match.

  There she is.

  Cameron Pine.

  The woman who decided I wasn’t worth the wait is heading straight in my direction with the asshole she left me for at her side.

  She’s wearing a denim skirt and the same flannel top she wore the night I proposed. Her face is void of emotion, her curly blonde hair swept back into a ponytail, and she’s sporting her cherry red lipstick—a color she’d stained my dick with countless times. I used to love it when she marked me. She might’ve fucked me over, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking she’s breathtakingly gorgeous.

  My gaze moves from her to something not so beautiful. A sight so fucking rancid it makes my stomach churn. Grady was my best friend who took my asking to watch over her too literal. I wanted him to make sure she was safe not keep her pussy warm for me.

  “Cameron better not come over here or I will find an AK-47 and run her ass out of this bar,” Lauren says.

  My sister is loyal to a fault. Cameron was her best friend, but she burned all ties and threatened to kick her ass on multiple occasions when she found out about the affair. Even now, I’m not sure my baby sis will keep her cool and not choke slam Cameron and Grady.

  “I had no idea they were coming,” Dallas says, rushing to our table. He went outside ten minutes ago to call Lucy and check on her. “They obviously weren’t invited.”

  “Unless I plan on moving out of Blue Beech forever, running into them is bound to happen,” I reply. “Cameron wasn’t happy with me and chose to be with someone who could give her that nine-to-five, at the dinner table every night husband. I’m not that man.”

  The problem is I still can’t bring myself to hate Cameron.

  Although, I’m fucking livid with Grady.

  It takes two people to have an affair, I’m well aware, and it’s wrong for me to place all the blame on him, but I can’t put it on the woman I loved for over a decade.

  The bar stays silent while everyone watches them grow closer.

  “Hudson,” Grady says when he reaches us. He looks stressed, scared, and I can’t blame him. “Can we talk?”

  Cameron stands behind him and rests her hand on his shoulder.

  “You need to leave, asshole,” Lauren demands. “And take that cheating skank with you.”

  “My sister is right,” Dallas says. “You two have some nerve showing up here. Let’s not make this uglier than necessary.”

  I hold up my hand to stop my siblings from going on. “It’s cool.” My eyes narrow in on Grady, and I can tell it wasn’t his idea to come. “I’d love to have a chat and hear your pathetic ass excuse for stabbing me in the back over a goddamn chick.” I tilt my head toward the back door, grab my beer, and he follows me to the exit.

  I snatch his shirt collar and slam him against the brick exterior as soon as the door shuts behind us. “I told you to watch out for her, not fuck her!”

  His lower lip trembles when I wrap my hand around his neck. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Hudson. It just happened!”

  I tighten my hold on him and inch closer until we’re nose to nose. “Having sex with someone doesn’t just happen. You had time to stop. You could’ve walked away. Hell, not only did you fuck her behind my back, you also proposed to her while she was wearing my engagement ring. That sure as fuck doesn’t just happen!”

  It takes every bit of restraint in me not to barrel my fist in his face. Cameron is vain enough that she would dump his ass if he weren’t a pretty boy any longer.

  Maybe I should.

  “I love her, Hudson,” he chokes out.

  His words add fuel to my burning fire, and he grunts when I pull him closer to only slam him back against the wall.

  “She was mine!” I scream.

  I release him and take a step back at the sound of the back door opening. Cameron steps out, and I hold my breath with a snarl. We haven’t talked in months. I never replied to her pathetic letter. She said enough for the both of us.

  My skin crawls as the memories of us and the plans we made for when I got home smacks into me. She was supposed to be my wife, the mother of my children, and the woman I grew old with.

  “Don’t … don’t do this, Hudson,” she begs. “We came here to do the right thing and clear the air.” Her voice lowers. “I’m sorry for hurting you. We both are.”

  I’m a tough guy who has withstood a lot of shit but fighting back this hurt of betrayal from two people I trusted with my life kills me. Words neglect me while I stare into her baby blue eyes. It’s not as easy to push my anger out on her like it is with Grady.

  Tears fall down her cheeks. “He was there for me when you weren’t. I begged you not to leave me again and told you how difficult it was being alone. I wanted a family, but you didn’t care!”

  “It was my fucking job, Cameron!” I scream.

  “You’re right, and the job of being a military wife isn’t for me. I’m sorry.”

  “It is what it is,” I mutter. “Stay the hell away from me. You deserve each other.”

  I turn around and walk away without another glance at them.

  A few months away from this town might be what I need to clear my head and get my shit straight.

  Let’s only hope this chick is easy to deal with.

  Two

  Hudson

  I depart from the terminal after landing at LAX and stroll through the mob of people that are rushing around with phones in their hands. I’m not a fan of crowds. Solitude is more my thing, but I have a feeling I better get used to the contrary. Dallas has told me stories about working for Stella. Fans and paparazzi follow her around like a shadow.

  Instead of going back to my party last night, I headed to Dallas’s place and watched Disney moves with my niece, Maven.

  I went from the plan of coming home to fuck my fiancé senseless to sitting on the couch with my niece watching a cartoon about a nitwit teen who traded her voice for legs in order to get laid by Prince Charming. Sleep wasn’t my friend, and the cherry on top of my time home was Dallas waking me up at the ass crack of dawn to drive me to the airport.

  I snag my luggage and sweep my gaze over the room. Dallas texted me directions of what to do when I landed. Stella’s driver will be here to give me a ride to her place. I scan the signs held up by people, waiting until I see the one with my name on it, and make my way over to the grey-haired man wearing a suit.

  “You Jim?” I ask him.

  He nods. “You Hudson?”

  “Sure am.”

  I shake his hand and stop him from grabbing my luggage before he leads me out of the airport to a black SU
V with windows tinted so dark they have to be illegal. I toss my bag in the backseat and sit in the front.

  “Have you worked for Stella long?” I ask when he starts the car and leaves the parking garage.

  Traffic is bumper to bumper.

  Why would anyone want to live in this shit?

  “Almost five years,” Jim answers. “She hired me after your brother started, but unlike her bodyguards, I don’t travel with her. I only drive when she’s in LA.” He glances over to me with pain on his face. “Dallas was damn good at his job, and I hope you’re the same. I also hate to bring this up, but I’m sorry for what’s happened to Lucy. I lost my wife to cancer last year and can’t imagine the pain of losing her so young.”

  “Thank you, and I’m sorry for your loss. My sister-in-law is as tough as nails. She’ll make it through this stronger than ever.”

  That’s what I tell myself. My family is trying our best to stay positive.

  I make small talk with Jim for the rest of the ride, and he punches in the passcode after we stop in front of a security gate. I stare at the lavish Spanish-style home in awe as he drives up to it. Homes in Blue Beech are nothing like this. Cameron and I rented a two-bedroom farmhouse that looked like a shack compared to this place.

  “Hot damn,” I mutter. “Some crib for a twenty-five-year-old.”

  Jim parks and cuts the ignition. “Working on a long-standing, Emmy-award-winning TV show gives you a pretty decent paycheck.”

  “I’d say so.” It’s too excessive for one person, in my opinion. “Does she live here alone?”

  He nods. “Her sister stayed with her for a while but moved to New York six months ago.”

  The scent of vanilla hits me when I walk through the front door, and I take a look around, admiring the hardwood floors and cathedral ceilings before making it to the living room. A massive stone fireplace is the highlight of the room until you look through the floor-to-ceiling windows that give one of the most remarkable views I’ve ever seen.