Expiry dating, p.1
Expiry Dating, page 1
Expiry Dating
Bluestone Series: Book Two
Isobel Reed
Table of Contents
Title Page
Expiry Dating (Bluestone Series, #2)
DEDICATION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
EPILOGUE
SEE WHERE THE BLUESTONE SERIES BEGAN: | Love Tools
DON’T MISS THE THIRD BOOK IN THE BLUESTONE SERIES: | Hero Complex | Chapter One
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, places, or events is coincidental and not intended by the author.
If you purchase this book without a cover you should be aware that this book may have been stolen property and reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher. In such case the author has not received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Love Tools: Bluestone Series: Book Two
Copyright © 2022 Isobel Reed
All rights reserved.
ISBN: (print) 978-1-958136-35-5
(ebook) 978-1-958136-34-8
Inkspell Publishing
207 Moonglow Circle #101
Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
Cover art by: Fantasia Frog Designs
Edited by: Yezanira Venecia
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. The copying, scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions, and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
DEDICATION
For the Ali in my life, love you.
CHAPTER ONE
Alice stared down at her phone in horror.
“No, no, no. This cannot be happening. Goddamn lying, cheating, son of a bitch.”
Her phone was never going to survive this. A loud thud echoed around the room after it went flying through the air and crashed against the dark wood walls of her cabin. Truthfully, as soon as she clicked on the picture, her cell phone never had a chance.
It had been three months since she’d caught her ex-boyfriend in bed with her best friend, two months since she had quit her job, and one month since she’d begged her sister, Lily, to let her come stay with her on her ranch in Bluestone County. Alice had enough self-awareness to admit she was running away from her problems, but being in London right now wasn’t an option. And after just seeing her ex-best friend’s latest social media post, it was a good thing Alice was in another country, otherwise there was a strong possibility she would’ve been locked up for grievous bodily harm by now.
“Oh my God, Ali, what the hell did you do to your phone? The screen is all cracked!” Lily gasped.
Alice hadn’t even heard Lily come in. She was checking on her again; she’d been doing that a lot.
“Um ... yeah, it fell. Don’t worry, I’m sure I can get it fixed in town.”
Lily’s jade eyes narrowed. “Oh, really? And where exactly did it fall from, Ali? The sky? ’Cos from where I’m standing, it looks like it either magically fell from the ceiling, or you threw it across the room in a fit of rage?”
This is the problem with being so close to your sister. She knows me too damn well.
Letting out a sigh, Alice slumped further down into the leather armchair that had been cocooning her for the past hour.
“Fucking Becky.” She grumbled. “Apparently, she’s pregnant. I’ll give you three guesses as to who the father is.”
And there it was, pity, all over her big sister’s face.
“Oh, Ali. I’m so sorry. How did you find out?”
“My friend forwarded me a post Becky made.”
Lily closed the distance between them and took a hold of Alice’s hand, quickly pulling her up from the chair. “Come on. Let’s go up to the main house. We can drink some wine, eat a fuckload of chocolate, and plot revenge.”
Alice reluctantly followed. Wine and chocolate were probably the only things that could possibly salvage today.
They were just a two-minute walk from the main house where Lily and her husband, Jake, lived. Jake’s sister, Sam, used to live there too but had recently moved in with her boyfriend, Duke.
Lily had initially wanted Alice to stay in the house with them, but she wanted the newlyweds to have some privacy. After all, it had only been two weeks since they’d gotten hitched in Vegas. Not to mention, Alice needed her own space. Luckily, the ranch had guest cabins, so she was able to take up residence in one of them until she figured out her next move.
As they walked into the house and made their way into the spotless stainless-steel kitchen, a familiar voice pricked up the hair on the back of her neck.
No. Please don’t be here right now. Please, not today of all days.
Damnit. There he was—Brady—all six foot two of him. The new bane of her existence. He was wearing a fitted, tan, cop uniform so sexy it should be illegal. If she didn’t already know he was the devil, she could easily be fooled by his dark, brooding good looks. Even his damn caramel-coloured eyes were mesmerizing.
Mesmerizing eyes? Get a frigging grip, Alice. He’s the devil, remember?
It had been two weeks since they’d met in Vegas at Lily and Jake’s impromptu wedding, and despite trying to avoid Brady like the plague since then, he just kept showing up. Yes, Bluestone was small, and Alice was staying at his best friend’s ranch, but it was actually getting ridiculous. He was everywhere. Whenever she ventured out, whether it was to get coffee or go shopping, he was there, waiting in the shadows, ready to make her life miserable.
“Looking good, sweetness.” Brady smirked as he purposely knocked her on the way over to the fridge, where he swiftly removed a beer bottle.
Alice shot him a glare over her shoulder. “Wish I could say the same to you, Brady, but it appears as if the rumours really are true and beer does go straight to a man’s gut.”
She was lying, of course. There was no beer belly in sight. The man was a wall of solid muscle, but something about him drove her absolutely insane. It apparently also meant she couldn’t control her mouth whenever he was in the vicinity. He’d somehow managed to crawl under her skin in a matter of minutes of them meeting, and insults had been hurled between them ever since.
Brady’s silky laughter bellowed behind her. “You offering to help me work it off, sweetness?”
She turned around just in time to catch his wink and saw red.
“For the love of God, stop calling me sweetness.”
Storming over to the fridge, she pushed him out of the way, reached for the white wine, and waved it at him. “You want me to beat you with the bottle? Maybe you could burn off a few calories trying to fend me off?”
“Jesus. Will you two cut it out?” Jake’s voice boomed across the kitchen.
She forgot they had an audience. The last thing she wanted to do was piss off her new brother-in-law, who right now looked every bit the cowboy; he was donned in his muddy jeans, flannel shirt, and black Stetson. Lily was currently enveloped in his arms, trying her very best to stifle a snigger. At least she wasn’t mad. That was something.
“Hey, I’m trying to play nice, man”—Brady held up his hands in mercy—“but this chick is something else.”
“Chick? Really?” Alice scolded.
“Yeah, sweetness, chick. Go ahead, tell me all the reasons why you’re insulted by that term. I know you want to.”
What she wouldn’t do to wipe that smug grin off his way-too-handsome face. Bastard.
“Try not to choke on your beer, Brady—you’ve managed to piss off the only one of us here who knows CPR.”
“Oh, sweetness, we both know you’re dying to give me mouth-to-mouth.” As if it were possible, Brady’s smile got even wider, which only infuriated her more.
After very maturely flipping him off, she took her bottle and retreated into the living room, ignoring his laughter.
Even before her behind hit the couch, she could hear Lily and Jake plotting. They were doing it again: working out how to separate Alice and Brady before another argument ensued.
A moment later, Lily bounced down next to Alice and shot her a look. The look that only her big sister could give her. The “I’m disappointed in you, Alice” look.
“Why didn’t you tell me Deputy Douche was gonna be here?” Alice asked.
“Really? We’re gonna have this conversation again, Ali?”
Alice made quick work of opening the wine bottle and taking a healthy gulp before offering it to Lily. She shook her head at the offer and continued her rant. “What the hell is up with you two? I’ve never seen you like this with anyone before!”
Alice snorted at that. “Yeah, well, I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting dickwad out there before now.”
“Uh-huh. Well, maybe you should try and tamper do wn all that charm of yours. He’s a cop, y’know? He knows where to hide the bodies.”
Alice knew where this conversation was headed. It wasn’t the first time she had heard it. In fact, her sister had given her the talk at least three times already over the past two weeks. Brady was Jake’s best friend, and he wasn’t going anywhere. And seeing as Alice wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, Lily wanted them to at least try to get along. But it wasn’t that easy. Alice had tried to ignore him, avoided engaging with him, and what did the jerk do? He poked her. Poked and poked and poked until she couldn’t stand it any longer and told him where to go. It was almost as if the sicko took pleasure in sparring with her.
She took another swig of wine and winced at the sharp tang lingering on her tongue.
He’s literally driving me to drink.
“Maybe you should be having this conversation with him, Lilypad? It takes two to tango and all that.”
“What do you think Jake is doing right now?”
“Well, then, great. I can’t wait to meet the new and improved Deputy Douche.”
CHAPTER TWO
“As I live and breathe, Alice Hart, fancy running into you here.” It had only been a day since Brady had last ruffled Alice’s feathers, yet he could hardly wait to go another round.
He couldn’t help but grin as he watched her curse a blue streak under her breath. He was a bastard. He knew it. She knew it. But for some reason, he just couldn’t help himself. She brought out a side of him he never even knew he had. For once, he didn’t feel numb.
“Do I need to get a restraining order? Stop bloody following me, will you!”
Brady calmly greeted a startled George with a nod, who, by the looks of it, was examining Alice’s cracked phone screen.
Ignoring her outburst, Brady continued. “Let me guess. You cracked your screen by assaulting another unsuspecting victim with it?”
Before she could lay into him, George cleared his throat to get her attention, then declared, “I’ll have to replace the whole screen. Give me a day and you can come by and pick it up tomorrow.”
After waiting for her to thank George, Brady quietly followed her out of the store. She didn’t look back. Actually, she tried her damned hardest to pretend that he wasn’t there.
For a moment, he thought twice about following her. But as his gaze returned to the sassy brunette, in her pretty little sundress, he couldn’t resist.
Do her hips sway even more when she’s mad? Shit. Focus.
Easily catching up, he took his place walking alongside her on the cobbled sidewalk. “Something up, sweetness?”
Silence. She was definitely ignoring him.
“How ’bout you let me turn that frown upside down?” he tried again.
Nothing. Not even a glare.
“Come on, darlin’, you really gonna give me the silent treatment?”
Alice came to a halt and turned her flaming blue eyes at him. That was more like it. There was the fire he was looking for.
“What do you want, Brady?” Her voice was surprisingly composed, given the sparks of hostility shooting off her.
“Just being friendly, sweetness.”
He watched her attempt to cool down by taking long, deep breaths, as if she was trying to suppress the urge to throat-punch him. Despite the obvious danger, he couldn’t bring himself to walk away. Being in Alice Hart’s company made him feel alive. As sad as it was, trading barbs with her was the best part of his day.
Yeah, that’s healthy.
“Aren’t you supposed to be being nice to me?” Alice’s hands went to her hips as she waited for a response.
“Come again?” Brady’s head tilted to the side as he let his eyes roam over her.
“You didn’t get the talk the other day from Jake? The ‘you need to try to get along’ talk?”
Brady could feel his lips twitch. So that’s what she was doing, attempting to avoid conflict with him. He’d endured at least three of those conversations from his best friend already. Something told him this wasn’t the first one she’d received from her sister either. The real question was why Alice was choosing to listen now? Though if that’s what she wanted, he was more than happy to play nice.
“When have I ever not been nice to you, sweetness? How ’bout I prove it by buying you a cup of coffee? Come on, let’s go to Beano’s.”
She looked somewhat mortified by his suggestion, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that. Before she could protest, he placed his hand on the small of her back and nudged her forward toward the café. They barely made it a few steps before Alice being Alice, came to a standstill.
“Stop. Just stop.” He quickly dodged her flailing arms. “I don’t want to have coffee with you, Brady. In fact, I would rather bathe in scolding hot coffee than share one with you.”
“Now who’s not being nice?”
A ridiculously cute growl escaped her lips while she stomped her foot onto the ground. Actually stomped. After that, he just couldn’t help himself. He tried, he really did, but he couldn’t halt the laugh that was soon making his whole body vibrate.
“Are you about done laughing at me?”
“Sorry, darlin’, you’re just so damn cute when you’re angry.”
She opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally decided on her parting words. “Go to hell, Brady.”
This time he didn’t follow. He simply admired the view.
Yeah. I’m going to hell all right.
***
Just a week after Brady had convinced himself he was going to hell, he finally made it there. The VA Clinic. There wasn’t much fire and brimstone, but there was certainly a whole lot of dread.
Pocketing the keys to his truck, he reluctantly made his way toward the building. It was one of those ultra-modern new buildings. Soulless. Bleak. And pretty hell-like.
Excellent.
He’d skipped his physio appointments for the past month and would have continued to happily skip them if his new boss hadn’t threatened him with desk duty.
After checking in with the receptionist, Brady took a seat in the waiting room where he was assaulted by a homage to beige and brown. It was almost as if they wanted the place to look just as depressing as he felt.
Yeah, that’s why you don’t like coming here: you’re offended by the décor.
He used the time to try and compartmentalize his thoughts. It had been almost seven months since he’d woken up in a hospital bed only to be handed his discharge papers. But being here, surrounded by other veterans, his resentment was starting to bubble to the surface again. New career or not, a marine was who he was. Who he’d always be.
Get your shit together, man.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
As his eyes took in the sight of those familiar hips swaying toward him, Brady realised that getting his shit together wasn’t going to be so simple. Not with his nerve endings now pulsating.
What the hell is she doing here?
As Alice came to a standstill before him, he took in the view from head to toe. It was good to know her signature frown was firmly in place. What wasn’t firmly in place, though, was one of her many flowery dresses. No, she was dressed in workout clothes, and not just any workout clothes. Yoga pants, to be exact, that clung to every perfectly sculpted curve, so perfect that he thought he might choke on his tongue. It wasn’t just the pants causing his mouth to dry up, though. The cropped tank top showcasing the silky, smooth bare skin across her midriff was doing a pretty good job of that too.
“Brady ...? Brady ...? Hello?”
A hard shove of his shoulder snapped him back to reality.
“Shit, sorry. What are you doing here, Ali?”
Alice tilted her head and quietly studied him. “I’m your new physical therapist. Why didn’t I know you were doing PT?”
She’s my what?!
“Like hell you are.” Brady shot out of his seat, ready to educate the receptionist on all the reasons why Alice Hart would not be his new physical therapist.
Before he could even take his first stride, a soft hand on his chest sent a zing of electricity so strong it coursed through his whole body. It was so powerful, it had him freezing in his tracks.
“Brady. Why don’t we go in the back and talk about this?” Her tone was almost soothing. He’d never witnessed her so calm. It was her eyes, though, that convinced him to follow her. Those deep blue pools were gentle and not helping with his now very urgent need for water.
