Enticed: Emerson Falls, Book 2 (Emerson Falls Series), page 1
Enticed
Emerson Falls, Book 2
By Harlow James
Copyright © 2020 Harlow James
Enticed
Emerson Falls, Book 2
Cover Design: NET Hook & Line Design
All rights reserved. No parts of the book may be used or reproduced in any matter without written permission from the author, except for inclusion of brief quotations in a review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, establishments, organizations, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously to give a sense of authenticity.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. The eBook may not be re-sold or given away to another person except when loaned out per Amazon’s lending program. If you’re reading this book and you did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then it was pirated illegally. Please purchase a copy of your own and respect the hard work of this author.
“Let it be hard. Let it be scary. And then do it anyway.”
Contents
Title Page
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Prologue
Cooper
Three Months Ago
My older sister is engaged and pregnant. It still feels weird to think that her entire life has changed in a matter of a few months, but life isn’t supposed to stay the same, I suppose. Kane is a stand-up guy, passing the inquisition my father and I put him through on Thanksgiving, deeming himself worthy of being with my older sister. I could tell by the way he looked at Olivia and the way he spoke about her that he was the real deal. She may be three years older than me, but I’ve always felt the need to protect her, and her three best friends.
Amy and Perry, two of the girls from her group, scurry over to Olivia to inspect her ring while the men go congratulate Kane, myself included. I glance around the room and notice that Clara, the other leg of their foursome, is nowhere to be found.
“Sorry, Kane,” I mutter in embarrassment after kind of ruining his surprise proposal. I’m on duty tonight, but rushed over to their house to make sure I was here for the big moment. In my attempt to explain why I showed up, I sort of put a wrench in Kane’s plans—but it all worked out alright. Olivia is beaming and everyone is in tears as we celebrate their engagement.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get my revenge one day,” he elbows me in the ribs, extracting a laugh from my chest.
“I have no doubt,” I reply and continue to watch the room full of our family and Kane and Olivia’s friends chattering away.
“219 this is 141. We’ve got a 12-72 at 1600 Lake Drive. Requesting back-up immediately.”
The call through my radio echoes in the room, drawing the attention of everyone to me.
“141, 10-4. On my way,” I tuck my chin down to my radio to reply before looking around at everyone’s watchful eyes. “I’ve got to go. Congrats, sis,” I say, giving her a kiss on the cheek and then doing the same to my mom. I give my dad a hug and wave goodbye to everyone before turning and running out of the door.
“12-72… a burglary in progress? At 1600 Lake Drive… why does that address sound so familiar?” I mumble to myself as I speed down the highway, not realizing that the situation I was about to walk into would alter the simple world I’d been living in forever.
Chapter 1
Cooper
Three Months Later
“Hey, Tony,” I toss my chin in his direction as I stride up next to him, his arms crossed over his chest as he shakes his head at the image across the bar. His salt and pepper hair is slicked back on his head and his long grey beard hangs down his chest like normal.
“Cooper,” he throws back, leaning against the counter of the wooden bar behind him, his face pained with his need to fix everything, including the woman he called me about. As the owner of a bar—this one in particular—I can imagine the problems of patrons he’s encountered over the years. And knowing the kind of man Tony is, it’s in his nature to want to help people.
My hand instinctually finds my gun hoisted on my belt as I survey the crowded room before my eyes land on her. I feel the fabric of the khaki shirt of my uniform stretch tight as I inhale deeply and then blow out the breath, wishing this wasn’t a normal occurrence.
“I hated to call you again, but I didn’t want to send her home in a cab or Uber… not in that state, especially on a Friday night.”
I study her, watching her hips sway to the music with her eyes closed as she dances to the beat, losing herself in the song. Her feet are bare, her white silk blouse pulled loose from the confines of her black pencil skirt, and her arms are thrown up in the air, tangling in her wild, dark chocolate hair that I’m sure she freed from her pinned back bun.
“Yeah. Better safe than sorry,” I grate out, partly annoyed that I’m here again, yet grateful to be able to still keep her safe after everything that happened.
I blow out a breath before mustering the resolve to approach her, knowing that removing her from her song and dance will not be easy.
“Good luck,” Tony calls after me. “Let me know if you need back-up,” he winks as I make my way to the dance floor.
“Clara,” I hiss, cautiously placing my hand on her forearm near her hip. Her eyes flutter open and the deep brown of her gaze meets the green of mine.
A mischievous grin graces her face and her eyes light up with the knowledge that she knows why I’m here.
“My knight in shining armor is here to rescue me once again,” she slurs through a smile, twisting around so her back is now to me as I fight the urge to glance down to her ass as she continues to dance.
“Clara, it’s time to go.”
“Fucking, Tony… always putting an end to my fun,” she pouts, trying to shuffle her feet away from me while still dancing as the song changes to a slower tempo.
“I think your fun is over for tonight, even if Tony wasn’t here,” I challenge, knowing her sass is about to come out in three, two, one…
“You’re not the boss of me, Cooper! I’m a grown ass woman and if I want to let off some steam after a hard week of work, then I’ll do as I damn well please!”
It’s the same resolution every time, the variation changing slightly with each encounter. The truth of the matter is, it’s a shame I even know the comeback so well. But it’s been three long months of the same shit, different day—running over to Tony’s every time she’s had too much.
“I know you’re a grown ass woman, Clara—believe me,” I say through clenched teeth, pinching the bridge of my nose before continuing. “But you’re also incredibly drunk and unable to get yourself home safely. So although you think you can do whatever the fuck you want, I’m pretty sure the last thing you want is to wrap your car around a tree or better yet, get taken advantage of by a cab or Uber driver. So grab your shit so I can get you home safely, you understand?”
Clara falters in her movements, standing still while her eyes bounce back and forth between mine. And I see it there—the fear she refuses to face, the tears that threaten to spill over each time she sees me and her mind veers back to that night, the night that changed her forever.
To everyone else, she still seems like the same old Clara during the day—wise ass extraordinaire, confident and tactical advertising executive who lives her life one day at a time and dances to the beat of her own drum. She’s still the same sassy girl that grew up at my house, attached to my sister and their other two friends at the hip, tormenting and teasing me throughout my adolescence until they all left for college.
But on these nights—the nights when I pick her up after she’s had too many in an attempt to escape her memories, the nights when I know she really wants to let it all out but buries her feelings under alcohol and pretends that everything is just peachy—I get to see the other side of Clara, the woman who survived an attack on her life and now lives with that reality every day. This woman is actually quite vulnerable and not as carefree as she seems.
She sure puts on one hell of a mask to hide behind though.
Clara’s raw look quickly flickers away as her eyes slowly slide down my torso to my crotch, her tongue darting out between her lips before she peruses my body again on the way back up to my face.
“Good thing I have you to take care of me then, huh?” She flirts with me shamelessly, another instance of these encounters I’ve come to expect. Her hand reaches out to rest on my pec, her fingers dancing delicately across my chest as she closes the gap between us.
“Take me home, Coop,” sh e whispers in my ear, and fuck if the sweet rasp of her voice doesn’t make my dick twitch.
I’m such an asshole. I should NOT be turned on right now, but regardless of Clara’s inebriated state, I’m still a man—with eyes and a dick—and I have never failed to realize how beautiful Clara truly is.
The thought slides into my mind just as quickly as I force it out. I will not allow myself to go there, especially when she’s drunk off her ass.
I grip her wrist firmly, but not too hard so I don’t startle her, slowly easing her hand back down by her side.
“Clara, it’s time to go,” I declare sternly, pinning her still with my serious gaze.
She huffs and then pivots on her heels, but not before throwing words over her shoulder. “You’ll give in one day, Cooper,” she smirks as she turns back around and stumbles over to her table to fetch her purse.
Two older men sitting atop stools at her table give her cheesy grins as she makes her way back over, leaning in to kiss both of them on the cheeks before she turns back to me.
“Bob. Chuck. Nice to see you boys again. Unfortunately, Deputy Walsh here has put an end to my fun tonight,” she tosses her disdain my way.
“Aww, what a buzz kill,” Chuck spits out, literally, as drops of saliva fly through the air.
“Right? You’d think he would let me have my fun, but NOOOOO,” she rolls her eyes before reaching for the rest of her drink, tossing it back and wincing as the alcohol glides down her throat.
“Well, we will just have to make up for it next time,” Bob winks at her, showing his smile missing a few teeth. The urge to gag overcomes me but I reel it in. Bob and Chuck have been residents of Emerson Falls since before I was born, so I know they mean no harm. But they definitely have learned to appreciate Clara in her drunken glory, which makes me irritated—why, I’m not ready to admit.
Clara wrinkles her nose and then leans into both men, securing hugs. “Definitely.”
As she walks away from the table, purse slung over her shoulder and shoes in her hand, she stumbles and trips a couple more times as she says goodbye to her ‘friends.’ A table of older women encourage her to dance some more around them, shimmying her hips and shaking her chest in their faces, offering them some motorboat action before she laughs and saunters away.
I can’t help the small chuckle that escapes my lips, but I clear my throat and straighten my lips quickly as to not give myself away.
A group of younger men around the pool tables all devour her with their eyes as she walks past, swinging her ass more for an added effect, knowing exactly that their attention is on her. She blows them a kiss and winks as we finally approach the door and Tony stops in front of her.
“Tony,” she narrows her eyes at him as he stands there, looking down at her in that fatherly way that I’ve seen him use on Kane, my sister’s fiancé.
“Clara,” he sighs, reaching out to pull her into his chest. He whispers something in her ear while I attempt to overhear, but the noise in the room drowns out his voice. She retreats and shakes her head, hanging it low before popping back up and acting like his words didn’t just affect her.
She never turns around to check that I’m still here, probably knowing that I won’t let her out of my sight, just like every other time. I pass by Tony, who reaches out to shake my hand and nods, a silent understanding passing between us that we’ve both done our jobs. Although my part isn’t over yet.
Clara sways in her steps along the asphalt accompanied by her giggles, the feel of rocks under her bare feet can’t be comfortable, although she’s probably had enough alcohol to numb that pain. We reach my cruiser as I unlock the doors and guide her into the back seat behind the metal barricade to separate us.
“This always feels like I’m in some sort of trouble, and not the good kind,” she wines as I settle into the driver’s seat and fire up the engine. The computer on my dash glows in the cab, lighting up the space and streaming with a flow of information that I missed while inside.
“Well, you kind of are in trouble,” I answer her as I pull out of the parking lot and head for Clara’s home.
“You should put the cuffs on me then, Coop… you know, for the full effect.”
I glance back at her in the rearview mirror and see the naughty smile on her face, but I attempt to ignore her.
“Oh, so now you’re not talking to me? Pity,” she rolls her eyes but then scoots closer to the metal cage between us, getting as close to my ears as she can. Conversations between dispatch and cruisers on patrol filter in and out of the background, but all I can feel is her hot breath reach my neck while she contemplates her next thought.
“Cooper, you know it’s really sweet that you always come to my rescue, even though you’re on duty,” she purrs, and I can hear the intention in her voice.
“It’s my job to make sure no one drinks and drives, Clara. Can someone take you back to the bar in the morning to get your car?”
“I’m not worried about that right now,” she mumbles before finding her voice again. “Like I was saying, you’re always there every time.”
“Because Tony calls me.”
“He could call someone else… Olivia, Kane, Perry… hell even Amy would get out of bed to drive me home. But you’re always the one who shows up. Why is that, Cooper? Is it because you want me as bad as I want you?”
I close my eyes momentarily—picturing Clara and I together as I have ever since she showed back up at my parent’s house for Sunday dinner six months ago—before popping them open, remembering that I’m driving a vehicle right now.
When my sister, Olivia, came back home to Emerson Falls, Oregon, after she caught her ex-boyfriend cheating on her—Clara, Perry, and Amy, her three best friends, started coming back around again. At my mother’s insistence, she rekindled our Sunday night dinners now including Olivia, and Clara showed up to one when I hadn’t seen her in years. Even though Emerson Falls isn’t the biggest town, it’s big enough that Clara and I never crossed paths very often in the years after she left for college, except for the occasional visit when she came home for the holidays.
But when I saw her that night, I didn’t see the annoying friend my sister used to bring around. I saw a woman—curvy and confident, and sexy as all hell. And call me crazy, but I felt like she saw me differently too.
Olivia sensed the vibe and warned me away, giving me her sisterly look and putting the kibosh on any impure thought that entered my mind. I didn’t think much of it, focused on my job and the life I had created before Olivia came home, and vowed that nothing had to change now that my sister was back.
But all of that shifted three months ago when I got a call to a scene that changed Clara’s and my life in an instance—and the interactions between us.
It’s been three months of playing this cat-and-mouse game with her and I can feel my frustration grow with each one of these calls from Tony.
I pull into her driveway, shutting the engine off and checking the clock, knowing I’m officially off-duty once I return to the station.
Opening the door for Clara, I offer her my hand as she slides off the seat and falls into me, giggling as she catches her balance.
“Easy tiger,” I joke as I keep my hold on her and walk her to the door. She fiddles with her keys before finally unlocking her door and throwing her purse to the side. I glance around her home and see that everything is as it should be before turning back to her, meeting her devious grin again.
“You never answered me, Coop,” she whispers, pulling on the front of my shirt, drawing me closer to her.
“And I won’t, Clara. Not like this,” I growl out, looking down at this woman and knowing that there’s something here, but like hell would I act on it with her drunk like this.
“Why not? I know how much I want you, how much I need you, how often I think about what it would feel like to have you inside of me…”
“Fuck, Clara.” Why does she do this when she’s drunk? Why can’t she be this bold with me when she’s sober? Lord knows that subtlety is not her strong suit normally, but she’s never uttered these words without an ounce of alcohol in her system.
Her tongue darts out to wet her lips, pulling my eyes to the sight. I find her brown eyes next and see the desire there. This woman is trying to entice me and it’s working. But little does she know, I’ve got the control of a saint. I won’t touch her like this, but that doesn’t mean I can’t say everything that’s on my mind.
