You Belong to Me (Brook Hollow 1)

Chapter One

A loud boom of thunder startled Jessy Simmons as she drove down the dark, quiet streets of Brook Hollow Missouri. The hour was late. The flash of bright, but scary, lightning illuminated the black sky every few minutes. The stars and the moon were absent, making the night darker than usual. The small town was shrouded in darkness since all the businesses were closed by this hour. The wind howled through the night, making it feel eerie and just a little spooky. Didn’t all scary movies start off this way? She needed to stop watching all those horror movies with Lily.

“It’s just a summer storm. Get a grip, Jessy.” She spoke out loud even though she was alone in the car. Even a simple drive down an empty road seemed unnerving now. She was getting close to the small rental house she shared with her sister. Less than a mile and she would be inside, away from the storm and her overactive imagination.

She and her sister were new residents to this small town nestled in the Ozark Hills, but Jessy loved this quaint rural town despite all the differences from the bigger cities. She was enjoying the slower pace of life and the beautiful green hillsides. Both sisters were hoping for a fresh start away from New York City where they grew up, and away from the drama their dad caused with his deceiving ways. He had never been the typical father who took an interest in his daughters. He made it clear he wanted sons, but after the death of their mom he had completely given up on life. He had drunk away any money he made and often got fired from his jobs. What Jessy had not known was that he also started gambling and owed some bad people lots of money. One day he was found lying in an alley dead. The police told her they had no clues. Soon Jessy learned he owed money to a very bad man who called himself Jagger. Jagger expected her and her sister to pay the debt her dad owed. Men like that did not just forget a debt. When Jessy realized just how dangerous Jagger was, they hightailed it out of town.

Her small compact car suddenly swerved to the right after going over a bump in the road. She heard a loud pop and knew instantly she had a flat tire.

“Oh God,” she prayed. “Please don’t let it be an animal.”

Thinking quickly, she tightened her hands on the steering wheel and pulled over to the side of the road. Jessy looked around and realized she was in the business area of the town, so she couldn’t knock on someone’s door for help. She didn’t even know the number for a tow truck.

Having no choice but to try to change her own tire, she set the hazard lights on and got out of the car to look around. Normally she enjoyed silent moments, but right now it felt too unsettling. She was in front of the one and only local movie theater but it was closed and empty. No late-night midnight showings like in New York. She sighed, getting out of her car.

She looked down at her skimpy uniform. Jessy worked as a bartender at Kramer’s Sports Bar. Her white tank top was short and tight and her black ruffled skirt left a lot of her ass feeling the strong blowing wind. At least she had changed out of her heels and into flat shoes for the drive home.

Brook Hollow was a safe place she reminded herself as she opened the trunk. She heard that statement many times since moving here two months ago. She hoped it was true.

Jessy lifted the heavy spare tire and let it fall to the paved street. Next, she got the jack out and an old rug that her sister must have thrown in there. Jessy did her own basic maintenance on her car thanks to her dad’s teachings. She had once feigned an interest in auto mechanics in the hopes he would want to be around her. She had just knelt on the old rug and began to turn the bolts of the rim of the flat tire when she heard a loud roaring engine coming closer.

“Great.” She muttered. “With my luck, it’s a serial killer.”

She tensed up when she saw the headlights pull up behind her on the shoulder of the road. She had a tight hold on the crowbar. She’d defend herself if she had to.

“What’s going on here?” Jessy groaned when she recognized the deep masculine voi

ce right away. Her stomach tightened and filled with heat. Lincoln Ramirez, one of Brook Hollow’s police officers. He was worse than a serial killer. He’d kill her with his snarly attitude and boring lectures. The man never smiled. Jessy was sure he didn’t know how to. Instead, he looked hard and cold no matter the occasion. He always had an intense look about him but it seemed deeper when she was around him. His face was unreadable.

“Um. I had a flat tire and now I am changing it,” she answered with a bit of an attitude, not bothering to look up. She couldn’t help it. She might be attracted to Lincoln Ramirez physically, but he treated her like she was five and couldn’t put one foot in front of the other. She wanted to be done and home before the rain hit. Trying to have a logical conversation with Lincoln was impossible. He rubbed her the wrong way. She mentally counted to five and kept on taking the bolts off of the rim. Sure enough he sighed loudly and muttered under his breath.

“Let me do that before you break a nail.” Impatience was heavy in his voice, but Jessy gladly handed him the tool and let him bend down on the rug. It was an uncomfortable position to be in with a short ruffled skirt on. She stood up and watched him work. He was wearing the standard black police uniform but he made it look so sexy. He was tall and fit. His dark brown hair was short and never out of place. It wouldn’t dare be messy, she thought irrationally to herself. He often had stubble on his jaw and chin, something she found incredibly sexy. His nose wasn’t perfect but it added character to his face. Not that she’d ever admit it out loud. The jerk stopped her in town in her first few days here and lectured her on the dangers of speeding. She hadn’t even been going fast in her opinion. All her drooling over his rugged sexiness had gone out the window once he opened his mouth.

“For your information, I am not that delicate. I have no nails to break. You must be thinking of your fancy girlfriends who are afraid to sweat,” she replied sarcastically. She hated the jealous feeling she had gotten whenever she spotted him around town a few times with some fancy women dressed to the hilt. She knew she was out of his league, but she didn’t need the constant reminder.

Lincoln ignored her snarly remark and continued to work on her tire. She could see his arm muscles flex as he worked and she felt antsy. She took a few deep breaths and prayed the cool wind did something to squash the flames inside of her, but it didn’t.

When he was finished, he easily picked up the flat tire and put it in her trunk. He slammed the trunk shut and looked at her. His eyebrow arched as he noticed her uniform. She wanted to fold her arms across her chest self-consciously, but she stubbornly refused to let his disapproval affect her. All the girls at work wore this same uniform. She refused to feel ashamed just because he disapproved of what she was wearing.

“Seriously, Jessy. You were changing your tire in that?” he scoffed with a deep frown as if she had planned this whole thing just to annoy him.

“What choice did I have? I hit something in the road.” She felt like a little girl getting in trouble and it made her surly attitude kick up a notch. She was a twenty-six-year-old independent woman for God’s sake. She straightened up and stood tall, feeling her temper flare. He would not bully her.

Lincoln looked around the street and found a large branch that had fallen from the tree. He threw it onto the grass, looking annoyed. He probably blamed her for the fallen branch, too.

“Thank you for your help, Officer Ramirez. You should get an award or something,” she said sweetly. His eyes narrowed at her fake tone but he stayed silent. She could feel the tension in the air and she was sure he felt it, too. He was an intimidating man, but she could never keep her mouth shut around him.

“And you should get a spanking or something. Why didn’t you call the station or a tow truck?”

Jessy rolled her eyes as his lecture started about safety first. Here we go.

“Any weirdo could have come upon you. You’re way too scrawny to defend yourself against an attacker,” he continued, ignoring the rolling of her eyes and her stubborn look.

“Scrawny?” she yelled loudly, putting a hand on her hip. He always seemed to push that button. Not even ten hours in yoga would help her deal with him calmly. “I am not scrawny. Some men happen to like my body.”

“Who?” He sounded angry now. At that same moment, it was as if the clouds decided to drown them both in cold water. The rain came fast and hard. The cold drops were a shock as it hit her skin. Jessy screamed and ran for her car, leaving him standing in the rain. Let him get wet she told herself angrily. She slammed her door extra hard, but she still felt aggravated. She started her car and turned the wipers on but didn’t drive off. She put the defrost on while sitting there, shivering and fuming over his rude remark.