Wide Open Spaces

  An Angel Sands Novella

  Carrie Elks

  Contents

  Synopsis

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Carrie Elks

  Wide Open Spaces by Carrie Elks

  Copyright © 2022 Carrie Elks

  All rights reserved

  190122

  Edited by Rose David Editing

  Cover Designed by The Pretty Little Design Co.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are fictitious products of the author’s imagination.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Synopsis

  When the only person who can help you is the one who drives you crazy…

  At law school, Adrian Lockhard was Liv Howard’s nemesis. Cool, calm and always completely collected.

  Now he’s the only one who can help her save her cousin. And she hates that she’s going to owe him big time for this.

  But as they begin a five-hour road trip, she finds herself warming to him.

  Until they discover there’s only one bed in the hotel room he’s booked. And nowhere else to go.

  It’s okay.

  She’s a big girl.

  She can handle him.

  It’s a shame she can’t handle the thrill she gets every time his thigh touches hers.

  Fingers crossed these sheets are fireproof because the chemistry is about to set them alight…

  Wide Open Spaces is a fast and fun standalone novella featuring enemies to lovers, a road trip to Vegas, and a bed that brings them together in all the best ways!

  1

  This wasn’t exactly how Liv had pictured her first day back in her hometown of Angel Sands. Sure, the sun was shining, turning the southern Californian sky into the kind of blue that made an artist weep, but she was dressed all in black, looking more like a cat burglar than the Californian woman she was.

  “Okay, so here’s the plan,” she said to her cousin. Sadie’s eyes were red and every few seconds she gave a little sniff like she was trying to stop the tears from falling.

  Liv’s heart melted a little. Growing up, Sadie had felt more like her baby sister than her cousin. Their moms were sisters with seven years between them – the same age gap between Liv and Sadie. Being an only child, Liv had fallen in love with Sadie as soon as she’d seen her in the hospital, with her face red and screwed up, her lungs emitting a healthy cry.

  Much like she was today.

  Except now Sadie was twenty-two and going through her first heartbreak and Liv had no idea how to make her feel better.

  “We’ll let ourselves into the apartment,” Liv continued, and Sadie gave the tiniest of nods. “Parker hasn’t asked you for your key back, so he can’t expect you to wait for him to buzz you in. And anyway, that would give him a power advantage and we’re not ceding that.” Not this early in the game, no sir. Parker Bryant might be one of the richest men in Angel Sands – even at his relatively young age – but it didn’t make him any better than the rest of them.

  Sure, it meant he had a beautiful apartment with an ocean view, that he casually invited Sadie to share with him after two weeks of dating.

  But an asshole was an asshole, no matter how many dollars they had in the bank.

  “We’ll stick together,” Liv promised. “He won’t get a chance to talk to you at all. Not without me there.”

  Sadie swallowed hard. “You think he’ll want to talk?” There was the slightest hint of hope in her eyes.

  “I don’t know, sweetie. But we shouldn’t let him. Didn’t he say enough already?”

  Sadie let out a sob and nodded. “I don’t know if I can see him.”

  “We won’t be in there for long. Half an hour at most. Enough to pack your things and bring them down to the van.” Liv reached out for her cousin’s shoulder. “Keep it together until then. And after that, we’ll get a gallon of ice cream and watch whatever you want to on Netflix, okay?”

  “I’m so glad you’re here.” Sadie’s voice wobbled.

  “Of course I’m here. Where else would I be?” Liv’s smile was grim because she should have been here before the breakup. But the project she’d been working on overran by two months. Truth was, she’d only met Parker once at her aunt’s house, and she’d been wary of him from the start.

  He had that casual charm that only the rich seemed to cultivate, bordering on arrogance at times. And she’d met enough guys like him to know how casually they treated their partners, too.

  They’d made it into the expensively decorated lobby before Sadie lost her nerve altogether. She took one look at the mailboxes, saw Parker’s name, then turned on her heel and stalked back out through the revolving doors.

  “Sadie!” Liv shouted, running after her across the lobby. She was breathless by the time she cornered her outside of the building. “Come on, honey. We have to do this.”

  Sadie shook her head. “Can’t you go up for me?”

  Liv tried not to sigh. She knew how desperately her cousin was hurting. And she’d been through enough breakups to know how painful it was. But this was Sadie’s first. No wonder she was losing it.

  “How will I know what’s yours and what’s his?” Liv asked her.

  Sadie pulled a sheet of paper from her purse. “I made a list.”

  Liv blinked because she wasn’t sure if she was being played here. “Why did you make a list if you were planning on coming up there?”

  “Um.” Sadie couldn’t quite meet her eyes. “It’s a contingency plan.”

  Liv couldn’t help but laugh. Sadie might have been heartbroken, but she was also the baby of the family. Since the first moment she’d let out a wail they’d all run around to appease her.

  Truthfully, it would be easier to get this done without Sadie. She’d either cry her heart out or have another fight with Parker – who’d insisted on being there when Sadie packed up her things. Liv would be in and out like a rocket. And maybe at some point today she’d get to enjoy the Californian sun.

  “Okay.” Liv sighed and pulled out her keys and passed them to Sadie. “Wait in the van. I’ll bring the boxes down and you can load them in.”

  Sadie threw her arms around Liv. “Thank you! You’re the best.”

  Yeah, well that was going too far. But Liv was pretty cool right now. She’d been back in town for less than a day and she was already saving her cousin’s ass.

  “What do you mean you’re not coming? You said you’d be here at one o’clock. It’s five past.” Adrian lifted his arm, his perfectly starched French cuffs sliding up to reveal his Rolex watch. “Actually, make that seven minutes past.” He looked around his little brother’s apartment and shook his head. “By the way, your place is a shithole. When did you last clean anything? Or do the laundry? If you want to win Sadie back, you’re going about it all the wrong way.”

  He’d told Parker from the get-go that moving in with a girl when you’d barely exchanged phone numbers was a bad idea. But Parker was impulsive – he got that from their mother. He was also notoriously unreliable. Case in point – Adrian was waiting patiently for him, having driven straight here from the courthouse, while Parker appeared to be somewhere that had a lot of people and not much peace.

  “It’s for the best,” Parker said, having to shout above the background noise. Where was he anyway? “She’s still pissed with me, I tried calling her last night.”

  “Of course she’s pissed with you.” Adrian shook his head. “You told her you were buying an engagement ring then spent the money on a vacation in Cabo. With the boys.”

  Adrian didn’t have time for this. It was their mother’s fault. When he’d told Parker there was no way he was going to be a referee for him and Sadie while they divided up what worldly goods they had, their mom had called and cajoled until he’d capitulated and agreed to be here.

  All it took was a few ‘But Adrian, you’re so much more sensible than Parker’s and here he was. Spending the precious time he has to prepare for this afternoon’s court case in his brother’s hell hole of an apartment, ready to face his teary-eyed never-going-to-be-fiancée.

  Speaking of which, was that the elevator pinging? Maybe Sadie had a better sense of punctuality than his brother – not that it was difficult. “Where are you anyway?” he asked Parker. “Just in case she asks.”

  “In Vegas. We decided to come here first, then head to Cabo.”

  “Vegas?” Adrian’s voice lifted an octave. He’d been born in the wrong birth order. Why was it that he got the responsibility gene?

  “Yeah. It was Ryker’s idea. We just need to change our flights and all is good.”

  “It costs money to change flights,” Adrian pointed out.

  “Cool, bro. I’m not exactly starving.”

  Yeah, Adrian could see that from the takeout boxes liberally littered on every surface. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling a headache coming on.

  Parker cleared his throat

. “Listen, I gotta go. The High Roller room just opened up.”

  “Don’t gamble away all…” Adrian stopped talking when he realized Parker had ended the call. Yep, he was definitely getting a headache. He rubbed his temples with the pads of his fingers.

  “Parker?” A key turned in the door. He frowned because that didn’t sound like Sadie. Not that he had any intimate acquaintance with her voice. They’d met exactly twice, both times at his mom’s house, but he distinctly remembered her high-pitched, girly laugh.

  But this voice was low and husky. Maybe she’d been crying more than Parker knew.

  “Parker couldn’t be here,” he said, walking over to the door and yanking it open. The key was still in the lock and Sadie half-tripped, half flew until her body slammed against his, making him stagger backward in an attempt not to fall over and bring her with him.

  And that’s when he realized she wasn’t Sadie.

  “Liv?” He swallowed hard, because what the hell was Olivia Howard doing in his brother’s apartment. “Liv? Is that you?”

  The woman looked up at him, her brows knitting. “Adrian?” She practically wrenched her body out of his arms. “What are you doing here? Where’s Parker?”

  “He asked me to be here for him.”

  She blinked. “I should have known Parker had terrible friends.”

  Ah yes. He’d forgotten just how much Olivia detested him. Or at least she had throughout law school. And if you pushed him, he’d probably admit there was a good reason for her opinion of him. Like the way he screwed her over during their first mock trial.

  But you’d have to get a court order first.

  “How do you know Parker?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. It took an act of will for him not to look at her because she always did have an excellent body.

  Not that he should’ve noticed.

  “Parker’s my brother.”

  She blinked. “He can’t be. His last name’s Bryant. You’re a Lockhard.”

  “Same mom, different dad.” He shrugged. “It happens. But I know for a fact that Sadie’s an only child. So what are you doing here?”

  “I’m her cousin.” Olivia squared her shoulders as though ready for battle. “I’m here to get her things.”

  “You’re going to need to prove a familial relationship before I let you take anything out of this apartment,” Adrian told her. “Because as far as I know, you’re a Howard and she’s a Scott.”

  Olivia looked outraged. “I don’t need to prove anything. I’m just going to pack up her things and get them out of here. Anyway, it has nothing to do with you.”

  He tilted his head to the side. She was prettier than he remembered. At least when she wasn’t frowning. Which she seemed to be doing right now, as her eyes grazed his body, moving up and down.

  “Where are the boxes?’ she asked him, as though she couldn’t be bothered to argue anymore.

  “What boxes?”

  She rolled her eyes. Her irritation was kind of amusing. “The ones Sadie had delivered here yesterday. They’re supposed to be here waiting for us.”

  “I have no idea.” Adrian shrugged. “I just got here. Maybe you should have confirmed delivery before you came over.”

  Her jaw was tight. “I’ll go down and ask the concierge.”

  He pressed a button on the panel by the door. “No need, I’ll ask. I’d hate for you to waste your time if you haven’t got any boxes.”

  “How can I help you, Mr. Bryant?” A tinny voice echoed from the speaker.

  “It’s his brother, actually. Do you know if any boxes were delivered here yesterday?”

  “Oh yes. We let Mr. Bryant know. They’re in the package delivery. He said he’d call when he was home to have them brought up, but I don’t think he did.”

  Of course he didn’t. That would be too responsible. Adrian ran his hands through his hair, feeling her eyes boring into his back. He had a feeling that if she could kill with that look, she would.

  And yeah, maybe she had a good reason for that. This whole situation was frustrating as hell.

  “It’s okay, I’ll come get them.”

  “Are you sure? I’d bring them up myself but my back is acting up right now. I can arrange for one of our workmen, but it’ll take a little.”

  “No need. I’ll be down in a couple of minutes.” He released the button and turned to look at Olivia. “Before you say anything, I know Parker’s a pain in the ass. But he’s my pain in the ass. So I’ll cover his mistakes, okay?”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

  He shrugged his suit jacket off, folding it carefully over the back of the nearest chair. Then he unknotted his tie, pulling it out from his collar and laying it over the top of his jacket. Finally, he unbuttoned his collar, then swiftly moved his hands down his shirt, releasing each button as he went. And all the time she watched him silently, her eyes wide as he unfastened his cufflinks.

  “What are you doing?” she asked when he started to pull his arm from his shirt.

  “I’m due back in court this afternoon. If I’m carrying boxes I’m doing it in my undershirt.” He had no idea why she looked so shocked. He wasn’t naked, dammit. But she still stared at him, her eyes wide, her mouth open.

  “What?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “Okay then. I’ll be back with the boxes. Try not to touch anything.”

  She looked around the room, taking in the empty takeout boxes. “That shouldn’t be too difficult.”

  “Not to most people, no. But I’m not sure about you.”

  Giving him a sickly smile, she tipped her head to the side. “Go get the boxes, Lockhard. Before we end up in court for all the wrong reasons.”

  2

  Holy-goddamned-moly, when did Adrian Lockhard get so built? She was still blinking when he left Parker’s apartment, giving her one last dark look for good measure, and headed to the elevator to pick up the boxes.

  The last time she’d seen him was at graduation five years ago. He’d beaten her to the top of the class by a few grade points, and it had been a bitter pill to watch him give his valedictory speech. As far as she knew, he was headed to a big law firm in New York, while she’d planned to work in LA.

  So she had no idea why he was working here in the little town of Angel Sands. Or how long ago he’d left New York.

  Not that she cared. So he’d gotten a few muscles, and maybe gone up a few notches on the hotness scale.

  Her heart was only beating fast because she hadn’t been expecting to see him. And because her planned speech to Parker about not breaking any more hearts was now going to go unheard.

  Not because she’d just seen Adrian Lockhard in a white tank and dress pants, looking tan and ripped, the white jersey fabric clinging to his washboard stomach like an overexcited puppy.

  Nope. Not that at all.

  She was still trying to figure out how he’d gotten so buff when she heard the key in the lock. He walked in, the front of his body obscured by the flat-packed boxes he was carrying. She could still see his biceps though, taut and flexed, and when he put the boxes onto the floor she saw the ripples in his back.

  “Have you been working out?” she asked.

  He looked up, his brows knitted. “What?”

  “Your… um…” she gestured in his direction. “I don’t remember you having that many muscles.”

  “I have the same number of muscles I’ve always had,” he said lightly, though she swore she could hear the humor in his voice.

  “Not ones like that you haven’t. I don’t remember you being so… hulkish at law school.”

  “We were studying twenty hours a day. We’re lucky we didn’t get some kind of muscle wasting disease.” He stood and stretched his arms up and it wasn’t helping her get her head in the game.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7