Picture Perfect (Butler Island) (13 page)

Raking her teeth against her plump
bottom lip, her mouth turned upward in a seductive smile. And then, as quickly
as her sated grin surfaced, it faded.

Awareness and reality overwhelmed
her.

She’d had the most mind-blowing sex
of her entire life.
With Grant—her brother’s best friend…

Jesus, Joseph, and Mary, this wasn’t
good.

He could feel the tension growing
with her every breath. His arms were still holding her up and were it not for
that, he knew she’d probably attempt to run away from him.

“We should probably get dressed.
Ty’ll be home soon”, she informed him.

Grant hesitated for a moment. He
didn’t want to let her go—not like this. She was trying her damnedest to appear
calm on the outside, but he saw through her guise. Inwardly she was freaking
out. He observed her for a moment longer, stupefied over her swift
transformation. She didn’t appear angry, sad, happy… the interesting thing was,
she was completely devoid of
any
outward signs of emotion. She was
retracting before his very eyes—shutting him out once again.

“Yeah”, he
sighed. Lifting her body, he
removed his sex from her center and then
loosened his grip on her backside.

Slowly, she slid down his body until
her feet came into contact with the cool concrete floor. Squeezing past his
large muscular frame, she righted her denim skirt and reached for the rest of
her clothes. She kept her back turned, terrified of the bewildered look in his
eyes. She just needed some time. Time to recover and regroup. Time to figure
out what the hell she was doing here

CHAPTER 9

Kendall sat in the corner booth of
the Boardwalk Diner, one hand under her chin to support the weight of her head,
her free hand tapping a rapid rhythm with her fingernails against the table’s
surface. She glanced at her watch just as Olivia arrived and then observed as
her best friend slowly toddled toward her, her gait cautious and guileful.

“Sorry I’m late”, she announced as
she carefully slid into the seat across from her. Olivia opened her menu,
skimming over the lunch specials when she suddenly sensed that Kendall was
meticulously analyzing her.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just making an
observation.”

“About…?” Olivia questioned.

Kendall took a small sip of her sweet
tea and then placed her glass back on the table. “Well, for one, you’re almost
never late. You finally arrive, waddling in here like your nine months pregnant
and
to top it off, your skin’s glowing a brilliant shade of
satisfaction… If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone got lucky.”

“Shhh”, Olivia
gestured with her finger. “Do
you mind keepin’ it down?”

“So it’s
true”,
she whispered
excitedly
.
You
did
get lucky!”

Olivia sighed. There was no point in
denying it now. “Yeah, although I’m not feelin’ so great about it right now.”

“Why not?—”

“Alright ladies”, the waitress
interrupted, “what’ll it be.”

Kendall ordered a big, juicy bacon
cheeseburger and onion rings. Olivia shook her head and smiled. She honestly
didn’t know where Kendall put it—the girl had the body of a model. Tall, thin:
she could probably eat everything on the menu and still never gain an ounce.
Olivia was in shape as well, although it didn’t come naturally. She had to work
hard to keep her figure, watching everything she ate and then running four or
five days a week. She opted for a chef salad, dressing on the side.

When the waitress retreated, Olivia
attempted to steer the conversation away from her sex life. “So, how’re things
at the pharmacy?”

“Nice try. I’m not letting you leave
here until you tell me everything about your little rendezvous with a certain
fireman.”

Damn, she
should’ve known better. No way
was a change in subject going to deter her best
friend. “Alright, what do you want to know?”

“Um,
everything!—
where, when,
how…”

Olivia cleared her throat. “Okay: in
my darkroom, yesterday, up against the door.”

Kendall’s shoulders sank, her head
cocked sideways, and her mouth dropped open. “Oh, c’mon, Liv—this isn’t the
game
Clue.
You know I need more details than that! Like: how’d he
look?—is he big?—was it good? You know, details like that!”

Warmth spread across her cheeks as
she recalled the vivid memory. It’d been a long time since she’d blushed this
vibrantly. “Well, he’s built like a Greek God—
a very well-endowed Greek God
—and
he was absolutely
phenomenal.
”

“Okay—so then what’s the problem?”

“Besides the fact that he’s Ty’s best
friend? He’s… well, he’s…”

Kendall crossed her arms and narrowed
her gaze. “Oh. My. Goodness.”

“What?”

“You like him—you
really like
him!”

Nervously she tucked a strand of hair
behind one of her ears. “Don’t be ridiculous! We’re
just
friends. I’ll
admit I had a lapse in judgment yesterday, but it won’t happen again—
it
can’t.”

“Are you sticking to that story?
Because do you want to know what I think?” Kendall asked, clearly amused by
Olivia’s reluctance to admit her true feelings.

“No—but I’m sure you’re gonna tell me
anyway.”

“I think Grant scares the crap out of
you! He’s good-looking, charismatic, and any fool with half a brain can see
he’s crazy about you.”

The waitress arrived with their
lunch. She placed their dishes on the table and then warned Kendall to be
careful with hers; it was very hot. After setting their ticket on the table,
the waitress wound her way back into the kitchen.

“Good-looking, charismatic, yes—but
crazy
about me? No offense, honey, but I think that one’s a stretch!”

“Now, see, that’s where you’re
wrong!” Kendall said as she pointed one of her onion rings at Olivia. “No woman
has ever kept his attention for longer than a week or two and none of those
women have ever stepped foot into his beach house. You’ve managed to do both of
those things. I could give you more examples if you’d like.”

“No—that’s okay. I get it.”

Kendall popped the onion ring into
her mouth and chewed. “So? Now what?” she asked curiously.

Olivia ran her fingers through her
honey-blonde hair and sighed. “I don’t know yet. I guess I just need some time
to figure things out. Things were supposed to stay flirty and fun. Somehow I
have to figure out how to get back to that…”

Hoping that her work would distract
attention away from her “thing” with Grant, she entered the fire station in
search of Chief Handler. She’d procrastinated long enough. A major newsworthy
photo op wasn’t going to fall into her lap, especially in this small island
town.

Nope. If she wanted to catch a break,
she was going to have to create her own favorable circumstances.

After knocking
on his door, Chief Handler
invited her to enter.

“Olivia! Nice to see you, honey”, he
said as he stood and came around to greet her on the other side of his desk. He
enveloped her in a sentimental bear hug and then took a step back, settling his
large derriere on the edge of his desk. “Ty’s not on shift until Thursday.”

“Yeah, I know.
Actually I came here to see you.”

“Well, alright then, have a seat”, he
said as he gestured toward the empty chair in front of him.

Olivia lowered herself onto the
folding chair and winced slightly when her bottom came into contact with the
cold hard metal seat. She needed to do this quickly and then head home to ice
her very sore private area.

“What can I do for you?”

“Well, I’m sure Ty’s mentioned that
I’m a freelance photographer.”

“A time or two”,
he uttered as he winked at
her. “He’s very proud of you, you know—we all
are!”

“Thanks Chief, I appreciate that! You
see, my
specialty is capturing pictures
during times of
tragedy and devastation: acts of nature and sometimes
evil only mankind can cause. Anyhow, I’ve taken a hiatus from my usual routine
of travelin’. And since Butler Island isn’t the kind of place someone in my profession
is likely to flock to, I was hopin’ I could ride along with the department.”

Chief Handler studied her for a few
long beats, steadily chewing on his toothpick. “You want to take pictures while
we’re responding to calls?”

“Yes sir, I’d like to. Look, I know
for the most part it’s pretty slow around here. But I also know the town’s seen
its fair share of unexplained fires the last few months. One fire is probably
accidental, two is coincidental;
five
fires in less than three months is
darnright suspicious!”

Chief crossed his arms over his large
round
belly. “So you think we have an
arsonist on our
hands?”

“Well, it’s
certainly a possibility, don’t ya think?”

Without answering, Chief Handler
stood from his desk and walked to his chair on the other side. After taking a
seat, he reached into his bottom drawer, grabbed an extra on-call phone and
then sat it on his desk. “Here are the conditions… One: you have to stay in the
background. I won’t risk your safety in order for you to get a good shot. Are
we clear on that?”

“Yes sir—crystal.”

“Good. Two: after you leave here,
you’ll need to head to city hall and fill-out the necessary paperwork relieving
the department from any and all liability.” When Olivia nodded her head in
agreement, he went on. “Three: The city won’t allow citizens to ride along
during calls, so you’ll have to provide your own transportation.”

“That’s not a problem, Chief—”

“—And last but certainly not least,
any and all information you may hear is to be kept confidential. You’re
right—we have an arsonist at large and the worst part is we have no leads. The
longer we can keep the residents on the island clueless about what we know, the
better our chances of finding those responsible.”

“You have my word, Chief. Thank you”,
she proclaimed as she rose from her chair. She gave the Chief a kiss on the
cheek, grabbed the on-call phone from his desk and then headed out the door.

Next stop: city hall.

And then, an ice bath…

CHAPTER 10

Thanksgiving at
the fire station hadn’t
changed since Olivia was a little girl. The entire department and their
families gathered together every year to celebrate the holiday, each family
bringing a dish for the pot luck luncheon, while the department supplied the
main course. With the fire engine parked in the drive, the bay was free to
house the festivities.

Rows of long tables and chairs were
positioned
to accommodate the crowd, but
Olivia wasn’t
planning on sitting much. Not only were her girl parts
still sore from her encounter with Grant, making long periods of sitting
uncomfortable, the Chief requested she take pictures of the annual event as
well.

Hard to capture the interplay and
ambiance when her ass was glued to a folding metal chair…

Awareness assaulted Grant the moment
Olivia arrived. It’d been four days since he’d spoken to her. Four days since
he’d pinned her up against the door of her darkroom, naked. He’d known from the
moment he’d left her that day what would happen. He was beginning to recognize
a pattern: one step forward and two steps back.

Every time they reached a new
milestone in their relationship, she withdrew. She’d disappear for a few days,
ignoring his calls, avoiding contact at all costs. She was a control freak and
she wasn’t used to losing her grasp on it. He got it—he really did.

This whole “relationship” thing was
new to him, too. He was deep in uncharted water and truthfully, he was a bit
apprehensive about the course ahead as well. But there was just something about
Olivia that he couldn’t resist. It wasn’t just her body—
lord knows he
couldn’t resist that
.

No, it was more than that.

He saw the beauty within her. The way
she spoke straightforwardly, cared so deeply, loved her family and friends
unconditionally.

She kept him on his toes and left him
begging for more. He wasn’t sure where their road might lead, but for the first
time in his adult life, he was eager to find out. Eager to let go of the reins.
Eager to let destiny run its course.