Twin Pines

  TWIN PINES

  Chloe Reeder

  Published by Chloe Reeder

  Copyright 2011 by Chloe Reeder

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover Design: Bev Haynes

  CHAPTER ONE

  Bella Mann's eyelids snapped open, and her heart hammered in her chest. The last rumblings of some unknown sound reverberated around the bedroom, ruining the silence of her slumber on a dark, dreary, winter morning.

  Her dog, Brandy, stiffened, tensed and growled faintly beside her. Brandy could have heard something as well. It must be the awful wind. She took a deep breath attempting to relax, then reached out and stroked Brandy's head to reassure the animal, the truth be known, also to comfort herself. Turning her head, she looked at the digital clock sitting on the nightstand. Six-thirty. Breathing deeply, she forced her heart to slow to a nice, even beat.

  Surely, the house would withstand the assaulting wind without her holding it up with all her worry. She punched her pillow and squirmed deeper into the comforting softness of the mattress as the supple percale sheets slid softly against her skin. Relaxing, she listened to the sound of the Wyoming wind whistling through the trees. Near the brink of sleep, Brandy cuddled into the bend of her knees mocking her every move.

  Another loud, rash brought Bella bolt upright in bed. Brandy yelped and growled her displeasure as she bailed over the top of Bella. "Ouch! You miserable mutt!" Bella squealed as the dog's nails scratched the tender flesh of her arm. Throwing off the covers, Bella raced behind the dog, her thin, silky sleep shirt clinging to her body.

  Ned…it had to be her brother, he'd been remodeling the apartment across the hall, but she remembered he'd finished with that last weekend. Besides, she and her brother were much alike, they both liked to sleep in on a day off work.

  Slowly, she turned the knob, easing open the heavy oak door a crack allowing her just enough room to peek out to the landing. She couldn't see much of it from her vantage point, but she could hear movement out there--scraping sounds, grunts and groans.

  She tossed open the door. "Ned! What are you…?" Her words stuck in her throat.

  A handsome stranger crouched on the landing, yanking on wide canvas straps that surrounded a gigantic storage crate that was perched at a dangerous angle near the landing. The box teetered on the edge of the top step.

  This attractive man certainly wasn't her brother.

  Sweat dampened the man's black, curly hair and perspiration ran in rivulets down his tan skin. His thick-muscled shoulders strained against a buffalo-plaid shirt, and a pair of soft, worn jeans hugged his backside as they stretched around perfect muscles.

  "Geez!" Bella cried, throwing her hands in the air, emphasizing her dismay. "What are you doing?"

  "Can't you tell?" He grunted as he tugged at the strap. "I'm moving in."

  The box, apparently filled with heavy items, refused to budge.

  Bella stood in stunned silence watching this masculine display of energy. The man paid her no attention. He focused all his concentration and strength on keeping the box from sliding down the stairs.

  Waking so abruptly put her in a grumpy mood, and she didn't want to deal with a grouchy man on moving day. All she could do was stand there, senselessly ogling this impressive display of virility, drinking in the primal smell of his sweaty skin. He had the brand of looks that turned a woman's head.

  Bella edged closer and leaned down to look under the box. She found the problem. "Wait," she ordered, holding up her hand as if to stop his movement. "The flooring is torn and all balled up, that's the reason it's stuck…"

  He strained against the straps surrounding the box as she looked up to see the muscles and veins in his neck swell and his face turn a frightening shade of purple.

  "That's not going to work. Let me get a knife or something to…"

  He jerked harder at the band.

  "Cripes! Listen to me."

  He took a step back, pulling at the straps with all his might. He ignored her as if she were a pesky fly buzzing in his face.

  Irritated at his actions, she felt her face flush and the muscles in her jaw jump. Ignorant brute. Well, he will replace the flooring. Taking a deep breath, she calmed her temper. "Are you trying to tick me off?" She shot him an icy glower and stepped away from the box.

  "That's the least of my worries," he grunted.

  "Well, you'd better worry because you're going to pay for the damage." The tone of her voice came out as frosty as the winter skyline outside the windows.

  "Lady," he panted, "why don't you pipe-down and help me with this box before it falls down the stairs?" Twisting the straps tightly around his hands, he uttered under his breath, "Now that would give you something else to squawk about, wouldn't it?" As if on cue, the box slid a step lower, shaking the house as it dropped.

  Expletives poured from his full, perfectly formed lips.

  Bella's eyes grew wide. She looked around the new entry, nervously nibbling on her bottom lip.

  With a mighty tug, he pulled at the straps again. This time, the box moved, forcefully ripping the rolled vinyl and he and the box sailed into the middle of the landing. The man lost his balance and pitched precariously toward a wall of glass at the head of the landing.

  "Watch out!" She jumped toward him at the last second, giving him a hard shove that diverted his movement, knocking him into the opposite wall. The correcting move kept him from crashing through the glass and plummeting to the frozen winter ground.

  "Are you okay?" Rushing to his side, she leaned down reaching out her hand to help him up. He had a scrape on his cheek, luckily it was his only wound. Twisting awkwardly, he pushed himself up into a sitting position without her help. Instead of looking upset, a wide grin spread across his face. His glistening white teeth contrasted with his deeply tanned skin. He looked as if he spent all his time outdoors. His heart-stopping smile made her feel like a million butterflies were trying to escape from her stomach at once.

  Calm yourself, Bella, no need jumping his bones just because you haven't had a man in your life for a while. A very long while. This man made her feel as if she were sitting upon a flaming box of wooden matches.

  "Wow! You saved my life," he said between deep breaths, catching his full bottom lip between his teeth, letting it slowly slide free as his eyes trailed up her bare legs.

  A flash of embarrassment burned Bella's cheeks. Her silky sleep shirt felt very thin and transparent under his scrutiny and her skin warmed with his visual caress. Something deep inside her opened like a flower touched with morning sun.

  "I'm Garrett Brooks." His deep, masculine voice rumbled through the entryway as he extended his hand toward her. It was deep brown and soft looking black hairs curled at the edges of an expensive watch.

  Bella swallowed with difficulty and tentatively grasped his sexy hand. As they made contact, a highly charged jolt sizzled up her arm.

  When Garrett smiled at her, his tanned skin formed laughter lines around his eyes. He looked even more handsome than she'd at first thought. His curly black hair sparkled with drops of sweat. Straight, black brows accentuated his piercing deep blue eyes, white lines radiated from the black pupils. She stood before him. They dramatically drew her into their depths. He was one handsome male.

  Bella tipped up her head to look at him. He was tall, overshadowing her,
and at five ten, she didn't meet many men that caused her to feel petite.

  Garrett reached out his hand and softly brushed away a strand of auburn hair caught in her lashes, setting off another tremor of desire to rush through her body. Had he felt it, too? They stood there, gazes locked. Reluctantly, she lowered her eyes.

  With her voice full of concern, Bella asked, "Are you okay?"

  He leaned back against the wall, nodding.

  "You're moving into the apartment?" She tried to pull a verbal response from him.

  He nodded again.

  "No one told me. Who'd you rent it from?"

  "Ned Storm." His eyes seductively raked over her.

  "Oh," she said quietly, hearing her brother's name. The remnants of her anger shattered like a fragile light bulb hitting a cement floor.

  Garrett's black eyebrows knitted together as his eyes searched her face. "You know who I am, but I haven't had the pleasure--"

  "Oh! I'm sorry. I'm Bella--Bella Mann." A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. "My parents own this house and my brother, Ned and I are taking care--" Suddenly, she looked down at her clothing, wishing the floor would part and drop her from under his seductive gaze.

  Here she was, standing on the landing, having a casual conversation with this heart-stopping, handsome man--in her nearly transparent sleep shirt! Could he see through the thin material? She looked about the landing. Luckily, it was still dark outside and snowing. At least sunlight wouldn't stream through the windows to outline her silhouette.

  "I-I'm not d-dressed for standing out here."

  Garrett nodded in agreement, his eyes drifting over her. "You're right about that." A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth and his eyebrows wiggled in amusement.

  Bella took a step back toward her door. Why in the heck had she said that? All it did was call his attention to her nearly naked state. "Brandy, come here," she ordered sharply to the dog as she continued to back her way through her open doorway, to a safe spot far away from his approving eyes. She pushed the door in front of her, but she still felt he held her captive with his blue eyes.

  "Brandy!" Bella called, a note of desperation edged her voice. She demanded attention from the tan Cocker Spaniel, but the dog stubbornly refused to obey. Instead, Brandy stood with her front paws on Garrett's denim clad legs. He was no help at all the way he scratched Brandy behind her floppy ears…the animal's favorite thing!

  Please, please, Brandy, get away from him, Bella thought, trying to will her dog back into the apartment and away from the charismatic Garrett Brooks. At last, Brandy gave him a wet lick across his wrist, turned and scampered into the apartment.

  Bella closed the door and numbly walked into her bedroom and dropped onto the bed. It was early; maybe she could go back to sleep. Closing her eyes, all she could see was Garrett and his finely boned face, high cheekbones, the mesmerizing blue eyes, black hair that looked nearly blue. When she envisioned the way his jeans hugged his rear end, her eyes flew open.

  Flopping fitfully, Bella couldn't find a comfortable spot that would induce sleep. It was a lost cause. Her new neighbor had stirred-up her emotions, and then set them on a wild rampage. Trying to sleep wasn't going to cut it. Maybe work would help. The apartment needed a good cleaning; she could do that, instead of lying here like this. She tossed back the covers and jumped out of bed.

  Moments later, she strolled into the kitchen dressed in her grubby clothes. She knelt in front of the sink cabinet to pull the cleaning supplies onto the kitchen floor. Armed with her cleaning arsenal she entered the living room only to stop and stare at the front door. Just thinking about the landing and…Garrett, made her body pound with desire.

  Enough of this, she reprimanded herself. So, he's handsome. So what? She sprayed polish on the table, and burnished the wax with quick circular motions. The work helped, but she could still hear the sounds from the apartment next door. He made a lot of racket moving in.

  Bella sat back on her heels. This was going to drive her crazy. She stood, then paced around the room, and then grabbed her music player. After stuffing the ear buds in, she had country music spilling out its infectious rhythm.

  That should mask the sounds. She tried to ignore Garrett Brooks. Her flesh-starved body screamed out for his physical touch; her heart cried for someone to ease her loneliness, yet she wasn't ready for a relationship, nor a one-night stand--maybe. She'd been hurt too badly to risk her heart again.

  The music did little to mask the sounds from the apartment next door. With determination and frustration, she polished the wooden bookshelves that surrounded the rock fireplace in the living room. She attacked the sofa table behind the pillow-covered couch and rubbed oil into her antique piano. All of the incessant labor did little to prevent the barrage of feelings. Bella blushed again as she remembered how excited she'd felt, and how her heart jumped when Garrett looked at her with those eyes…and that seductive smile as he took in her form barely hidden by the sleep shirt.

  Two hours later, Bella had every speck of dust removed from her apartment. After she put away her cleaning supplies, she walked into the dining room and stared out the window. It had stopped snowing and thin winter sunshine poured into the room through the sliding glass door that was fast becoming wet with melted snow. The storm had dropped at least six inches of the white stuff the night before, and her back yard looked like a frozen ocean--each drift a polar ocean wave.

  Winter in Evergreen, Wyoming, where Bella had lived most of her life, was cold and filled with feet of snow making her apprehensive to go outside to get her much needed shopping done before dark. She shuddered then hugged herself to ward off the imagined cold. She didn't want to going outside. Fortifying her resolve, she tossed opened the closet door and grabbed her down-filled jacket. She patted her pocket to make sure her wallet and keys were there, just where she liked them.

  * * * *

  Garrett stuffed dishes into the cabinet and pondered his meeting with the one and only Bella Mann. What a ball of fire and beauty rolled into one. He smiled to himself as he remembered how uncomfortable she'd become. All her hair covered her quite well, but he hadn't let her know that.

  Suddenly, a ruckus at the other side of the dining room interrupted his thoughts. Making his way through boxes on the floor in the kitchen, he saw Bella's dog scratching and whining at the patio door. It wasn't easy getting to the door, the dining room was filled with boxes that blocked his way and to get across the room, he had to shuffle them about. Finally, he reached the door. The poor dog, wet and shivering, stood on her hind legs begging to come in to the warmth of his apartment.

  The animal was a cute little thing. "Okay, I'll take pity on you and let you in, but you have to endure the wrath of Bella, not me." It had begun to snow again and the wind blew so fiercely he couldn't make out anything beyond the wooden deck.

  He slid open the door and the dog ran into the room, shook snow and ice from her fur then took off on a dead run into the living room before he could catch her. "No!" he cried as the dog jumped into his light beige recliner as if she owned the place. Melting snow dripped onto the expensive material. "Come on girl," he cooed. "I'll dry you off so you can get warm." Brandy--cute name for the little dog. He remembered Bella calling her that, and he smiled picturing the woman's long shapely legs.

  He rummaged through a stack of boxes before he located the bath towels. He whistled softly at her and said, "Come on over here sweetie, I'll dry you off." The dog jumped from the chair and rushed over to her new friend with her wet fur flinging water about the room, the dog plopped into his lap and licked his face with gratitude.

  Briskly rubbing her coat, he talked to her in a soothing voice. "Your mama's not going to like it when I take you home, is she?" Garrett continued to rub the animal's thick coat. "Ah, this is a better way to greet her. Will you help me, little pet?" Garrett rambled on, telling her about Arizona, where he lived, until her coat was soft and dry, and she was snoozing in front of the fire he'd starte
d earlier.

  He didn't understand his motives as to why he took on the investigation of Bella Mann. He was President and owner of Southwest Enterprises, and investigating employees was something he normally assigned to one of his department heads. Maybe he just needed to get out of the city, but he suspected intrigue had more to do with it than any other reason. Whatever. Here he was in Wyoming--freezing his butt off.

  CHAPTER TWO

  BELLA OPENED THE DOOR TO THE COLD STAIRWAY. Her father built the glass entry that created a private entrance to the twin apartments occupying the top floor. He'd designed the glass shell to catch the weak winter rays of sun and to amplify them, which in turn would warm the apartments. But not today, there was no sun and the exposed glass transferred the cold into the entryway instead of warmth. Apparently, Garrett had finished moving. She'd convinced herself she didn't want to see him again, but if her frame of mind was a true indicator of her feelings, she was lying to herself. Something about Garrett Brooks tripped a hormone switch in her body to the on position.

  While shopping in the lingerie department, she had drifted into the most sensual daydream--Garrett was the central player. Now, she had an expensive teddy that she would never wear, to remind her of the man each time she opened the dresser drawer. There was no way she would wear this for Garrett--what a daydream!

  It was just as well. Bella sighed and trudged up the stairs. Nothing seemed to excite her anymore--until this morning. Her life was a mess.

  Plastic grocery sacks hung from the crook of her arms forming a clumsy, heavy load. She struggled to insert the key in the lock and the movement juggled the bags knocking them into the woodwork. Once inside, she rushed across the deep carpet headed for the bedroom where she could drop her purchases on the bed. A small bag slipped unnoticed from her pile. A pair of black leather heels tumbled out of the box as everything scattered as they dropped. She'd spent too much money on the shoes, but they fit her long, hard-to-fit feet like comfortable gloves. She needed to wear them to the Gala a week from tonight, that was, if she couldn't get out of it.