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Chapter 2
Brody Wilkes
Ilove my job and the guys I work with. I’ve been working for the Myrtle Beach Fire Department as a firefighter for the last four years. There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing, except right now. I’m supposed to be getting off of work so I can go home and get ready for the bonfire at the beach tonight, but instead, it’s all hands on deck for a house fire that just broke out. I’ve been looking forward to this for months, something the locals do every year to celebrate the Fourth of July. When I found out my buddy Waylon was coming into town I invited him to come along and hang out with me. But when Ella told me that she and her girls were all going too, I was fucking ecstatic.
It’s been years since I’ve had the chance to hang out with Winnie and I had hoped I’d get the chance to get her alone. It doesn’t help that I’ve been low grade stalking her on Facebook and Instagram for years. Even though she won’t talk to me, I see whatever she’s up to, and the girl likes to post. The one thing I haven’t seen on her social media is a guy in her life. I’m praying to God that means there isn’t one because that will make this all more difficult.
I’ve been trying to get close to her ever since she moved back to town after college, but she keeps me at arm’s length whenever I’m near. At first, I thought she wasn’t interested in me, but I’ve seen the way she looks at me when she thinks I’m not looking. Baby girl, I feel the same exact way. I know why she’s doing it because my little sister is her best friend, but at this point, I don’t care. I know Ella, and once I can convince Winnie to give us a chance, my sister will be happy for us.
Enough is enough. I’ve given Winnie enough time and space to figure things out, but now I need to step in. I’m worried if I wait any longer some fucker will do what I haven’t, claim her, and wife her up. I’m never going to let that happen, not when I know she’s the woman I’m going to spend the rest of forever with.
Once the house fire is out and I’m no longer needed on the scene, it’s already midnight. I shower at the firehouse and change into my street clothes. It’s not what I had planned on wearing, but it will have to do since I don’t have time to go home first. I hop into my truck and drive down to the beach to see if the party's still going strong. I’m hoping it is and that Winnie is still there. At this point, seeing her for just a few minutes will be good enough for me. Then I think about everything that could be happening when I arrive and I almost lose it. If I walk up and find some guy with his hands all over my woman things might get crazy.
I’m almost to the parking lot across from the beach when I notice a curvy woman in light blue summer dress and a jean jacket walking down the sidewalk. I know who she is without even seeing her face, I’d know the curve of her ass anywhere. She can’t be serious? Pulling up alongside her, I roll my window down.
“Why the hell are you walking down the sidewalk at twelve-thirty at night?” I shout.
Her head swings to the left and her eyes get big as she clutches her chest. “Jesus Christ, Brody! You scared the shit out of me,” Winnie exclaims.
“Get in the truck, I'll give you a ride home,” I tell her.
She shakes her head. “I'll be fine, I can make it on my own,” She says and keeps on walking like the stubborn woman that she is.
I drive up about twenty feet past her and pull over, putting my truck in park, then open the passenger side door, waiting for her to get in.
A few seconds later, Winnie swings her short little ass up into the cab of my truck and slams the door closed. “I could have walked you know,” she sasses. God she’s beautiful with her deep blue eyes and long auburn hair.
“Where the hell is Ella, and the rest of your girl gang?” I ask. Winnie shrugs and I roll my eyes. “Uh uh, don’t give me that. What happened tonight?” I ask, wanting answers.
“Nothing happened. I just wanted to go home,” she growls sexily.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because it was cold and I didn’t want to camp out on the beach like the rest of them.”
I shake my head and pull out onto the road. “Then you should have driven if you weren’t planning on staying the night,” I growl.
Well if looks could kill I’d be a dead man. “What’s with the third degree, Brody?”
“Winnie, Christ! I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Then I drive down here and you’re walking along the damn road all by yourself. Anyone could’ve hurt you. Run into you. Snatched you off the street. You’re lucky I found you when I did.”
Winnie rolls her eyes. “Brody, this is Myrtle Beach. No one‘s going to snatch me off the side of the road. I woke up cold and uncomfortable so I decided to go home. I only live ten minutes away. I didn’t think it would be a problem.”
Winnie gives me directions to her apartment and in less than five minutes we are parked in front of her place. When she reaches for the handle I reach over and squeeze her thigh lightly. “Sit your pretty little ass in that seat and don’t move.” I grumble before turning my truck off and hop out of it, closing the door behind me. I don’t know why I’m so pissed. Maybe it’s because I missed making my move on her tonight, or that I found her walking by herself in the middle of the night that has me all over the place. I have seen things, bad things, even in our small town that make me keep the people I care about most, close. There are bad people in this world and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if someone took her from me.
When I open her door, she’s sitting there with her arms crossed as I reach out my hand to help her out. She looks at it and then looks away. She doesn’t move, just sits there with her arms crossed looking straight ahead.
“Winnie, I’m sorry, darlin’. It scared me seeing you walking out there all alone.”
She looks over at me and some of her irritation is gone. “I would have been fine, but thank you for stopping and giving me a ride home.”
Thank God, she’s calming the fuck down. The last thing I want is for her to be upset. “Happy to help. Come on, let me walk you to your door.” I reach out my hand again and this time she takes it.
Placing her hand in the crook of my elbow, I close her door and walk up the stairs to her second-floor apartment. I wait as she fishes around for her keys, pulls them out of her purse, and unlocks her door. Before she walks in, she turns to look up at me.
I don’t know what it is, but the way she’s looking at me does something to me and I snap. I move like a lion that’s been caged for too long and pounce on the one thing I’ve been dying to get a taste of. Spearing my fingers through her hair I grab her face and pull her towards me, capturing her lips with my own. Like a man starved, I sip from her lips taking everything she’s willing to give. And oh buddy, does she give. Pressing her up against the wall beside her door, I slide one of my legs between hers and grip one of her curvy hips. Before the kiss gets too out of control, Winnie turns away from me, leaning her forehead against my chest, both of us breathing heavily in the silence of the late night. “I’m so sorry, Brody. That was a mist–”
Using the edge of my finger, I lift her chin so she’s looking up at me then slide some hair behind her ear. “Hey, don’t do that, darlin’. This was going to happen sooner or later, we both know that.”
