Trust in Me Read online

  Trust in Me

  Books by Bethany Lopez

  Stories about Melissa - series

  Ta Ta for Now

  xoxoxo

  Ciao

  Friends & Lovers Trilogy

  Make it Last

  I Choose You

  Trust in Me

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2013

  Published February 2013

  ISBN: 978-1482001686

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please don’t participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Cover Design by b design

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Visit the author’s website: www.bethanylopez.blogspot.com

  This is dedicated to the Ladies of Titan Drive.

  Thanks for all of your support!

  Prologue

  Roni tried to brace herself for the blow before it landed, but she was still knocked backwards into the stove. Her hands flew out, instinctively covering her face, as her hip caught the corner of the stove and she collapsed onto the jaundiced linoleum.

  She curled into the fetal position and brought her arms up to cover her head, but his boot still found its way to her ribs. Roni cried out in pain as her husband kicked her repeatedly.

  Hank shouted obscenities at her as he grabbed two fistfuls of her long blonde hair and dragged her towards their dingy living room.

  Roni tried not to struggle as she was pulled along the floor, worried that her hair would be yanked out if she did. She kept her eyes and mouth shut, she’d been in this predicament before, and knew she’d end up with more cuts and bruises if she struggled.

  She saw her opportunity when Hank stopped in the threshold and loosened his grip.

  Roni rolled backwards and sprang to her knees. In one fluid motion, she gained her footing and turned to sprint towards the backdoor. Since her back was turned, she didn’t see Hank raise his leg to kick her, but felt his foot make contact with her back right before she went sprawling face first back onto the linoleum.

  She didn’t pay attention to the blood that started oozing from her nose; instead she boosted herself up on to all fours and began crawling towards the exit.

  Hank’s dry chuckle turned her belly cold, but Roni tried to push through the fear and stay focused on her goal.

  This wasn’t the first time her husband had used physical violence to make a point. When she’d first met him, she thought he was so handsome and strong. She’d thought he’d take her away from the nightmare that she’d grown up in and protect her, the way her twin brother always had until he went away to college. She couldn’t have been more wrong.

  The first time he’d hit her, she’d been beyond shocked. She’d never been struck a day in her life, her brother, Kent had made sure of that. When she’d told Hank she was going to leave him, he’d been full of remorse and promises, and she’d been foolish enough to believe him.

  The last straw had come the night before, when he’d punched her in the stomach after they’d returned from the local bar. She’d been dancing to the band, by herself, but he hadn’t been pleased. As soon as they’d walked into their small trailer, he’d blind-sided her and called her a whore.

  When she woke up this morning, she’d called Kent and told him the truth about her marriage. He’d been angry and appalled, but agreed to come and help her leave Hank, just like she’d known he would.

  Kent was the one man she could always count on.

  The surprise came when Hank had come home early and found her packing her things. She’d said she was leaving when her brother arrived and tried to walk out of the trailer quickly, but Hank had caught up to her in the kitchen.

  Her thoughts seemed muddled in her mind and she crawled as quickly as she could. She felt like she’d been crawling forever, but had only made it a few inches, before she felt Hanks boot on her ass. Roni sprawled on the floor, then quickly tried to curl back into the fetal position and protect as much of her body from him as she could.

  She felt his hot breath on her cheek as he leaned down and whispered, “I will never allow you to leave me.”

  Roni braced herself for the next blow, then opened her eyes when she heard scuffling and the cold, hard tone of her brother’s voice.

  “I should kill you right now,” Kent said in a low dangerous voice as he pulled Hank from her and flung him back towards the wall.

  Roni scrambled up off of the floor and ran to the bedroom to grab her bags. When she got back, Kent was pummeling his fists into Hanks face.

  She ran over to him and put her hand softly on Kent’s shoulder. “Stop. He’s not worth it. Let’s just get out of here.”

  She heard Kent breath in deeply. He pulled back and Hank slid slowly down the wall. He landed on the floor with a thud.

  “You will never see my sister again,” Kent explained to his brother-in-law, then he turned, put his arm around Roni, and led her out of the trailer.

  When they walked outside, Roni winced at the bright sunlight. Kent stopped and turned her towards him.

  She was ashamed to look him in the eye, so she kept her head down. He put his finger under her chin and brought her face up so he could examine it, his grey eyes filled with worry.

  “It’s just my nose,” Roni said softly. “Hank doesn’t like to mark up my face.”

  Kent swore under his breath and pulled her gently into his arms. “Why didn’t you call me sooner, Roni? I could’ve helped.”

  Roni felt her eyes fill and her throat get hot and scratchy. “I was ashamed. You always protected me from Dad, then I go and marry someone just like him. I was afraid you’d be disappointed.”

  “I could never be disappointed in you,” Kent replied as he kissed her softly on the top of the head. “I’m taking you back to Texas with me; we’ll figure everything out once we get there, okay?”

  “Okay,” Roni said with a small smile. She let her brother walk her to the rental car and settle her into the passenger seat. While he shut the door and walked around the car, she settled back in to the seat and closed her eyes.

  Roni felt Kent get into the car and heard him start the engine. As they drove away from the tiny trailer she’d called home, she finally felt safe.

  Six Months Later…

  Chapter One

  “Where are you going?” The tiny brunette next to him asked with a pout. Rich smiled down at her and gave her a kiss on the forehead as he moved one hand under the covers to search for his underwear.

  “I gotta go finish packing up. I’m heading home tonight.”

  The brunette sat up quickly, not bothering to grab the sheet that fell from her naked body. Confusion crossed her features as she asked, “Are you going home early for break?”

  Rich paused his search and took a moment to appreciate her perky breasts, then looked into her deep brown eyes. “No, doll, I’m going home for good. I finished my last class yesterday, that’s why I was at the bar last night. We were having a going away party of sorts.”

  Her mouth formed a small O, then turned down into a pretty little frown.

  “So, you mean I won’t ever see you again?”

  Rich finally found his boxer briefs and swung his legs over the side of her queen sized bed to put them on. He stood up to pull the underwear over his slender hips, and reached down to grab the jeans that were peeking out from under her bed. He pulled them up, but didn’t bother with th
e zipper; instead he crawled back onto the bed and kissed her full lips.

  “Probably not, doll. I don’t have any plans to come up here again anytime soon.”

  She kissed him back, then watched him scoot back off of the bed and grab his shirt from the top of her dresser in the corner. He felt her eyes on him as he pulled the dark gray shirt over his head. Rich brushed his hands through his shaggy brown hair in an effort to tame it a bit. He slipped on his shoes, then went back to the bed to give her a final kiss goodbye.

  She grabbed his face in her hands to intensify the kiss. She trailed her lips across his jaw, pausing to pay homage to the cleft in his chin.

  “Bye, doll.”

  “Do you keep calling me ‘doll’ because you don’t remember my name?” she asked.

  “No, I call you doll because you are as sweet and delicate as a doll,” Rich said with a wink. “I never forget the name of a woman I’ve spent time with, Sam. I promise you that.”

  When he left her room, she was still sitting in the middle of her bed. Bare from the waist up, her dark hair flowing around her shoulders, and a beautiful smile on her face.

  God, he sure did love women!

  Rich walked to his car with a grin on his lips and a hop in his step. He couldn’t wait to load up his car and leave campus, Sam already a fond memory. He opened the door of his rusty old Charger and paused to rub his hand along the dashboard the way he always did when he entered his car.

  He’d bought the car recently out of necessity. She wasn’t new by any stretch of the imagination, but she was reliable. He couldn’t afford to buy a new car right now, since all of his hard-saved money was going towards his dream of opening a Rec Center for the kids in his hometown. One day he’d be able to get the car of his dreams, but for now, he wanted to make sure his car knew that he appreciated her every time he started her up.

  He kept the windows down as he cruised toward the house he’d shared with some buddies over the last couple years. He was sure he’d miss hanging out with the guys, but he was excited about going back home and seeing his family and friends full-time.

  The last time he’d been home had been for Halloween, and he’d had a great time hanging out with everyone. Bree and Colin had come home for the party, and he’d been thrilled to see how happy they were. Shoot, it seemed like all of his friends were hooking up. Kara and Pete were still going strong, and since he talked to Kent quite often, he knew that his friends’ relationship with Nicole was moving along pretty rapidly.

  His parents wanted him to move back in with them until he got settled, but Rich was ready to be on his own. He’d had the contractors renovate the back part of the warehouse that would be the Rec Center so that he could live on site. He figured it would work for a few years while he got the center up and running, then, if things went according to plan, he would rent it out to employees once he was ready to invest in a house of his own.

  For now, he was ready to be a “grown-up”.

  And, if he was being honest with himself, he was looking forward to seeing a certain tall blonde again. Sure, Roni acted like he was a pain in the ass every time she saw him, but he couldn’t help but like that about her. Most of the women he encountered enjoyed his company, even went out of their way to get it. It was kind of nice to meet someone who didn’t drop her panties when he turned on the charm.

  He didn’t believe that she found him as repulsive as she pretended to, but she sure didn’t make anything easy, he thought with a chuckle. That was one of his favorite things about her, and there was a lot about her that he liked.

  Getting Roni to give him a chance was a challenge that he was really looking forward to accepting.

  Chapter Two

  Roni felt the sweat trickle down her back and she moved with the music. Her head was clear as she let the beat guide her. She felt freer than she had in years.

  She danced for over an hour before she felt like she needed to stop and get some water. She stood and looked out the window as she drank. She couldn’t keep the smile from stretching across her face.

  She felt happy here. Not only happy, but content and safe. She loved being close to her brother, and was thrilled that he had found someone like Nicole. The two of them were so cute together, it bordered on nauseating, but it was wonderful to see Kent so in-tune with another person.

  Roni loved the apartment she shared with Nicole. It was basically her apartment now, since Nicole spent most of her waking hours at work or with Kent.

  Roni enjoyed the time alone.

  She’d gone straight from her parents’ home, to the one she’d shared with Hank. When she’d first arrived here, she’d bunked with her brother, and now she was living with Nicole. This was the closest she’d come to having a place of her own, and she found that she really liked having the time to herself.

  She looked at the clock and realized that she’d have to shower and get ready for work at the Bar & Grill soon. She’d been hostessing for a few months now, and she liked the job and the people she worked with, but it wasn’t what she wanted to do long term. She really wanted to start dancing full time again.

  Roni understood that she would never become a professional dancer at this point, she’d been away from it for too long, and wasn’t getting any younger, but all she’d ever wanted to do with her life, was dance.

  There weren’t any dance studios in town, which she thought was not only sad on a personal level, but for the kids in town who didn’t have the opportunity to take classes.

  Dance had helped her get through her childhood.

  She’d been thinking a lot recently about what Rich was doing with the warehouse downtown. As much as he annoyed her, she had to admit that he was producing something wonderful for the community, and the children in it.

  A Rec Center that would offer classes and a place for the kids to go to was a wonderful idea, and she couldn’t help but want to be a part of it. Her brother told her he thought it would be great for her to teach dance lessons there, but she had another idea. She just had to bite the bullet and talk to Rich about it.

  Roni knew that this center was his baby, but she really wanted to own something of her own, now she just needed to find Rich and see if he would buy in on it.

  She’d heard that he was back in town and staying on the construction site. She thought if she got ready now, she’d have time to talk to him before her shift started.

  After she was ready, she drove to 5th street and stood nervously outside the warehouse. It was so much bigger than she’d imagined, and looked like the unused warehouse that it was, but she could see the potential in it. She felt a flutter of excitement in her belly.

  She made her way through the warehouse, careful to avoid the areas that were currently being worked on, towards the back of the building. That’s where Kent said Rich’s rooms were.

  When she came upon a white door slightly ajar, and heard the music streaming out of the room beyond it, she figured she’d found the right place.

  She pushed the door open and peered inside. Her jaw dropped and her eyes seemed to freeze open at the site before her.

  There was a makeshift bed in the corner, boxes strewn about the room, and a door that led into a small bathroom. In the center of the room Rich stood in nothing but basketball shorts. His very toned and naturally tanned body glistened with sweat as he worked the speed bag before him, his fist moving rapidly as they punched.

  The quick curl of lust in her belly shocked Roni. She’d never had such an intense and immediate reaction to a man before. Even more shocking was the fact that it was Rich that caused her body to suddenly feel infused with liquid heat.

  He hadn’t heard her enter. The music was too loud, and he was totally focused on pounding the bag.

  Roni couldn’t look away. She felt a visceral need to touch. As the muscles rippled under his skin with each movement, her hands itched to feel.

  Roni shook her head briefly. What was she thinking? This was Rich. A player. A Flirt. The exact opposit
e of the kind of guy she needed in her life.

  Someone needed to explain that to her legs, she thought. They were about to give out.

  Suddenly she realized that the movement before her had stopped. She shouted out, “Hey,” to get Rich’s attention, before he turned and caught her staring at him. The last thing she needed was for Rich to think she thought he was hot!

  Rich wiped at his brow and turned, a grin spreading across his face when he saw her in the doorway. He held up a finger, to tell her to give him a second. He crossed the room towards the docking station and bent to turn down his iPod.

  Roni stifled a grown at the sight of his ass as he bent over. Who knew a man’s ass could be so freakin’ tight? And his back… Good Lord!

  Roni composed herself as he turned back towards her, but couldn’t help the jitters of happiness in her stomach when he didn’t reach for a shirt.

  “What’s up, Roni?” He seemed truly happy to see her.

  “Hey,” She responded, trying to focus on his face. His brown hair was curling at the ends, damp with sweat. She didn’t understand why she found that so attractive. Maybe it had been too long since she’d had sex. It shouldn’t feel like she had to make a concerted effort not to throw herself at him. “Um, not much. I hope I’m not intruding.”

  Rich picked up a towel and used it to wipe the sweat from his face, then he moved passed her to grab a water bottle from the fridge. “You’re not. Would you like a water?”

  “Sure,” Roni said when she realized that her throat felt dry. “Thanks.”

  “Sorry, there’s not much room around here for entertaining,” Rich said with a chuckle as he looked around his small space. “I haven’t had a chance to do much with it yet; I’ve only been back a few days.”