It didn’t help that she’d gone into San Antonio on Monday and bought new clothes. After a trip to some fancy lingerie store that Waylynn knew about, I was good as gone. No way a man can resist a beautiful woman sitting on his kitchen island dressed in a pink lacey nighty, or a black one. Or a red one.
I’m only so strong!
I tried. I tried so fucking hard to stop the sex, take it slow. But we were like two horny teenagers trying to have sex every spare moment. We’d used condoms every single time since the first, to both of our displeasure. Once I’d taken Corina bareback, it was hard to go back. She was heading to the doctor next week since she was overdue for her appointment, and they had insisted she come in for a pregnancy test before prescribing more pills.
My body shook at the thought of her being pregnant. What if she was pregnant? What would we do?
We’d barely gotten our relationship going. Truth be told, we hardly knew each other—at least the things that two people who were having a baby together should know. Over the last week we’d tried talking, but somehow ended up making love, or fucking like we couldn’t get enough. Sure, there were those intimate evenings when I held her in my arms, and we talked about our dreams. I asked her to move into the new house with me, and she said she’d think about it. After all, we had been thrown together in this living situation. I think Corina wanted to feel like it wasn’t something she had to do…but something we both wanted.
The crackling of my radio pulled me from my thoughts.
Suspicious person. At Corina’s address.
I pulled my truck onto the highway and headed into town. It was rare for dispatch to call me before calling Sheriff Miller, but this was a small town and by now, everyone knew Corina and I were together. I felt sure the late nights sneaking down to Lilly’s Café and tucking ourselves in a corner booth to eat because we were too tired from making love or fucking—depending on the mood—might have had something to do with the rumors flying. I’d already gotten three text messages from my mother wanting to know why she was the last to find out about my new relationship.
As I pulled up to the front of Corina’s house, I spotted Sherriff Miller, Tripp, and Mr. Knight, Corina’s neighbor.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
All three turned to look at me. Tripp was the first to talk. “Someone broke into Corina’s house. The construction foreman said he couldn’t get ahold of you. Turns out he had your number wrong in his phone.”
I frowned. “How hard is it to put a number in a phone?”
Tripp shrugged. “He called Sheriff Miller and then me when he couldn’t reach you.”
I turned to Mr. Knight. “Did you see anything?”
With a nod, he pointed toward the back of the house. “I saw someone running from the building. I was out walking Minnie, my border collie, when I saw ‘em. I’ve done told the sheriff I thought it was a young one. Not very tall or big.”
“What did they do?” I asked.
Tripp and Sheriff Miller looked at one another and then back to me.
Sheriff Miller spoke as he started walking toward the door to the house. “It’s probably best we just show you. I told the foreman to hold off doing anything until we got prints and investigated a bit more.”
I followed them into the house. We made our way to the kitchen and I froze. Giant red words had been spray-painted across the back wall that had once housed the kitchen cabinets.
Lieutenant’s whore.
Swallowing hard, I stared at the message. “What in the living hell?” I finally managed.
“Seems like someone is pissed at you and knows you and Corina are together,” Tripp said while pushing his hand through his hair. “I don’t think you should tell Corina. This will freak her out, and I’m sure she’s stressed as it is.”
I didn’t answer Tripp because I had no idea what to do. I walked over to the back door. There was no sign of a break in there.
“How did they get in?” I asked.
Sheriff Miller looked somber. “The foreman swears the house was locked up tight. When he got here this morning, the back door was wide open. They’ve already begun to re-build the second story, but the windows are still boarded up. The front door was double locked, so the back is clearly how they got in.”
“Fuck,” I whispered as I looked back at the message. Turning to Tripp, I asked, “You honestly think we shouldn’t tell Corina?”
He nodded. “She’s got a lot on her plate. Why bother her with what is probably just some kids screwing around?”