Page 70 of Make You Mine

“What a coincidence,” I said casually. “I accidentally made an extra sandwich for lunch.”

“Well isn’t that lucky?”

She smiled, and we shared a nice secret moment. Just the two of us. I wished I could pull her inside the truck and kiss her. Being unable to made me feel like I was back in the sheriff’s jail cell.

Charlotte lingered outside the passenger door. “You gettin’ in, or what?” I asked.

She held up a sheet of paper. “Mindy gave me today’s marching orders. Weed pulling all along main street.”

I squinted over at the diner. Mindy was taking someone’s order in the window. “Is that legit, or is she trying to get us to clean up the ratty yard around her diner?”

“I made the exact same joke to her when I read it,” Charlotte said. “But it’s legit.”

I looked both ways suspiciously, then lowered my voice. “Why was the sheriff at the motel this morning?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just went into my room. When I left to come here, he was gone.”

A squirrel jumped off the roof of the community center and scurried past us, making both of us jump. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“We have to be careful. The sheriff might be snooping around.”

“Yeah, maybe so. Let’s get to work.”

I sipped my coffee while Charlotte gathered the trash bags, gardening gloves, and weed killer from the community center. Then we walked along the street pulling weeds from the side of the road. The ones growing just off the road weren’t bad, but the main street had been paved so long ago that the edges were frayed and cracked. Those weeds were a huge pain in the ass to yank out.

One of us pulled weeds while the other held the trash bag in one hand and sprayed herbicide with the other. Since the weed pulling was hard on the back, we alternated jobs. Charlotte was wearing cut-off shorts this morning, which gave me a wonderful view of her ass whenever she bent over. I didn’t know if she was doing it on purpose or not, but it was tough to look away.

When we switched again, she grinned knowingly at me.Yep, definitely on purpose.

It was slow work, but the sun was blocked by the clouds which kept the temperature bearable, if humid. We moved up one side of the street to the north, one weed at a time, until we reached the “Welcome to Eastland” sign. Charlotte paused to take a selfie with the metalwork art statue next to the sign, joking that she would print it out and get me to sign it. I laughed it off, but deep down it was kind of nice having someone appreciate what I did. Sometimes I didn’t know if I appreciated it myself.

By the time we returned to the community center, it was time for lunch. We ate our sandwiches quickly in case the sheriff or Judge Benjamin happened to come by, then got started on the southern part of the road leading toward the motel.

The public aspect of our work helped keep things platonic, but just barely. If we were in private, on some abandoned road, I wouldn’t have been able to keep my hands off Charlotte. Now that I’dbeenwith her, ripping her clothes off and fucking her until my cock ached, I was struggling to resist pulling her into a kiss every five minutes. Depending on what the worksheet dictated, tomorrow might be tough.

When we pulled up the weeds in front of Flop’s bar, I tried not to look at the building. It only reminded me of what had happened last night, of how close we’d come to getting caught. Westillmight get caught if Sid suspected I was involved with Carl’s sudden disappearance. Hopefully not, since tweakers like him vanished as quickly as they appeared in Eastland, but the fear still rolled around in my gut.

Flop usually didn’t open up the bar until four, but he drove up and parked beside the building while we were pulling up weeds right after lunch. He shared a long look with me before going inside. I hoped he and his ex-wife would keep their cool if Sid came around asking questions. A few swings of that crowbar could weaken even the strongest resolve.

Along those lines, I expected Sid to come around today looking for me. Especially after booby-trapping my bike. He would want to gloat about it. But the afternoon passed without event as we picked weeds all the way south along the road, then back up again. We made idle chit-chat, but no topic that was particularly deep. I think we were both waiting for the other shoe to drop after our night of unrelenting passion.

“You want a ride back to the motel?” I found myself asking when we were done. “Sky looks like rain.”

Charlotte looked around and then lowered her voice. “That won’t arouse suspicions?”

“It might,” I admitted. “Might also raise suspicions if I made you walk.”

She tapped her long fingers on the edge of my window while she thought about it. After staring at her all day, I couldn’t help but imagine those fingers wrapped around my cock, grinning as she stroked me…

“I think I’ll walk,” she finally said. “Probably best.”

“Yeah, probably,” I said.

As she walked down the road, I wasn’t sure if I was disappointed or relieved she’d turned me down.

35

Charlotte

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