Under Your Influence Read online

  UNDER YOUR INFLUENCE

  Jaxson Kidman

  writing as JL Caid

  Contents

  Foreword

  UNDER YOUR INFLUENCE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Hey darlin’

  About the Author

  Foreword

  JL Caid is the pen name for worldwide best selling author Jaxson Kidman.

  IT WAS SUPPOSED TO ONE NIGHT … I WASN’T SUPPOSED TO WAKE UP MARRIED TO HIM …

  UT-OH

  UNDER YOUR INFLUENCE

  My boyfriend dumped me on February 13th. How lucky, right?

  No worries, I have my revenge planned. He’s with another woman and my plans are going to be 'shattering.'

  That is, until a cop stops me. And not only does he stop me from what is probably a felony, he makes my heart skip a beat and makes me forget how to breathe.

  Before I know it I’m spilling everything to him. He keeps me out of jail... but not out of trouble. He has a wicked idea to get back at my newly dubbed ex...

  Get married.

  That's right. Steal my ex’s thunder by getting married.

  To me, there are worse things than having a one night thing and saying “I do” to a good looking cop with a killer smile.

  Once the ring is on my finger and that first night of wedded bliss comes to an end, my new husband has to go work... and I’m left to ask: now what?

  1

  (Harper)

  “I didn’t mean it to happen like this. I swear to you, Harper. I’m so sorry. From the bottom of my heart…”

  I watched as Brian started to slide off the brown leather couch, ready to get on his knees in front of me.

  What a pathetic man this was… dumping me the night before Valentine’s Day and now begging me for my … what? Forgiveness?

  There was a rose in my hand. A beautiful red, velvet rose.

  I opened my hand and the rose hit the ground long before Brian stood a chance of having the knee on his expensive pants touch the living room floor. And that was on the day Maria had come to clean.

  Apparently I didn’t know how to properly clean so he paid someone. Which was fine with me. It was his brownstone, not mine. I just lived there and loved to take good care of it. I had gotten to know Maria.

  Now it was all going to be a distant memory.

  Brian reached for my hand and I slapped him across the face.

  He jumped back onto the couch and touched his face. His handsome, clean cut cheek had a red mark.

  “That’s the least of what I want to do to you,” I said.

  “Harper, please. I’m being honest with you. Can you at least accept that?”

  “Honesty. Right. How long have you felt this way?”

  “Not long. I mean, long enough. I don’t know what the right answer is here.” Brian stood from the couch, still rubbing his cheek. “I’m doing what feels right. I don’t feel the way I used to about you, Harper. Things have changed. Do you want me to stand here and pick out everything that’s different?”

  I looked down at myself.

  What had gone wrong? Were my shirts not low cut enough? Did I put on extra weight? I thought back to my high school years of terrible acne and had the sudden urge to race to the bathroom and make sure I hadn’t broken out with pimples.

  Then again, was Brian that shallow?

  YES.

  “So you’ve been building this list in your mind?” I asked. “A screw Harper over list?”

  “No,” he said. “Can you just listen to me? This is…”

  “What?” I asked.

  “This is why,” he snapped. “Look at your reaction. You’re acting like a baby. You can never just listen. Even for a second. I am not going to command you, Harper. That’s not who I am. And it’s not the relationship I want. Things have changed. I feel differently. I’m sorry for that. But at least I’m telling you the truth.”

  “Fine,” I said. “I’ll tell the truth to you. I’m leaving.”

  “Harper, I asked you to leave five minutes ago.”

  “No. I’m leaving because I want to. Not because you told me to.”

  “Okay. You win.”

  I held it together as I left the apartment. I had a lot of stuff there. Leaving wasn’t exactly just leaving. I would have to make arrangements to get my stuff. I would have to get everything moved back into my apartment.

  The door shut behind me and the air suddenly felt twice as cold as the cold February air was as I walked down the large stone steps to the sidewalk. Brian’s street was lined with trees that were lit up white. They put the lights up in September and kept them until March. They’d changed them for the holidays and back to white in January.

  I knew all of this but I’d never see it again.

  I held it together until I got to the corner.

  That’s when I started to cry.

  Answer your texts!

  I glanced over at the phone and shook my head.

  I wasn’t answering any texts.

  Not from Cara. Not from Joanie either.

  I knew what they wanted.

  They wanted to know what Brian had gotten me for Valentine’s Day.

  I was famous for always getting my gifts a day early from him. Valentine’s Day. My birthday. Christmas. I had a very persuasive way of doing it too.

  But now I felt foolish and gross.

  All those times I would fool around with him right on the spot and playfully earn my gifts as he would put it. I thought we were getting closer and loving each other, but now I had no idea what he was thinking or feeling. Did I sound petty and bratty? Did he hate giving me gifts a day early? Was I that much of a chore? Or annoying?

  The questions just piled on top of one another and I wanted to scream.

  Maybe I’d get a chance to talk to Brian when things calmed a little. Maybe he would regret his decision. To just pull the plug like that… no, that couldn’t be the final ending of it all. Couples went through rough times. I’m sure people have talked about breaking up and never went through with it. Or maybe they did break up and got back together.

  Fine. Bitch! Enjoy your dinner. Order the most expensive thing. Twice! We won’t bother you.

  Dinner?

  I curled my lip.

  There was no dinner for me.

  Not tonight.

  No gifts either.

  I touched my trembling lips as I realized I had Brian’s Valentine’s Gift in my closet. I got him a gold chain. I saved for a month to buy it for him. I was going to wait until the end of the night tomorrow, once we were in his bed, wearing nothing but each other, and then give it to him. Kind of make it playful that I was the guy giving the girl a necklace. Then I was going to playfully whisper in a deep voice that I wanted him to wear nothing but the gold chain.

  I didn’t want to cry anymore.

  I didn’t know what else to do though.

  I decided to just text Cara back.

  No dinner. Not
hing happening tonight. I’ll tell you tomorrow. I just need to be alone tonight.

  Before I could put the phone down, it started to ring.

  I rolled my eyes. “Cara, please. You don’t-”

  “Where are you?” she yelled into the phone.

  “I’m sitting on my couch.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Do you want me to take a selfie and send it? What’s your problem?”

  “Oh… shit…”

  “Cara, what’s going on?”

  “Uh, I don’t know how to say this, Harper. Brian is out to dinner with someone who obviously isn’t you.”

  2

  (Tyler)

  I threw up the weights for one last rep and slammed the bar back to the bench. I sat up and stretched my neck. Some guys went for coffee to start a shift, I went for weights. Coffee was for later. I had a routine that I stuck to which I told myself would allow me to come back in one piece.

  It was probably nothing but stupid superstition and routine, but in my line of work, that was sometimes exactly what you needed. Superstition and routine got me through a tour in Iraq and it got me through some of the nastiest situations I’d ever had to face as a cop.

  Plus, working the midnight shift was when all the fun happened. And by fun, it was when the drunks and druggies and bad stuff happened. When a routine traffic stop could turn into a shootout or a drug bust.

  The night before Valentine’s Day too, which I wasn’t sure if it mattered or not. I figured I’d catch a few cars rocking back and forth if you know what I mean. Oh, and it was also a full moon. And if you didn’t believe for a second that the full moon brought the crazies out, you were wrong. I didn’t buy into the whole hippie thing of believing in energies and stars aligning, but something about a full moon really made people do stupid shit.

  “Tyler. Stay safe out there tonight.”

  “You finally going home, Cap?” I asked as I stood up.

  “Maybe.”

  “You work too much for someone in charge.”

  “It’s not a cushy executive job,” Cap said in a rough voice. “Not with assholes like you running the show. You’re almost not worth the paperwork.”

  “Almost, huh?” I asked.

  “Come back in one piece.”

  “Yes, sir,” I said.

  Cap knocked in the doorframe and walked away.

  The night before Valentine’s Day and a full moon.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  “Sir, I’m going to ask you to recite the alphabet to me,” I said as I kept my right hand within reach of my weapon, just in case.

  I had a flashlight in my left hand and already knew this guy was completely fucking wasted. He had been swerving all over the road as I tailed him. He came to a clean stop and once I had the field sobriety test done, I could take him in and get him booked for a DUI.

  “I’m fucking great,” he said.

  His name was Dale.

  “Dale. You appear intoxicated to me.”

  “There’s a fucking rabbicoon in the road,” he said.

  “A what?” I asked.

  “A rabbit. A raccoon.”

  “Two animals at once?” I asked.

  “Shit yeah. Fucking running across the road, man.”

  “Funny I didn’t see them.”

  “You were too busy fucking with me,” Dale said.

  He took a step and I jabbed the flashlight at him. “Stay back, Dale. Don’t be stupid. Recite the alphabet.”

  “A… B… D…” Dale looked around. “What the fuck is this? Judy and jury hour?”

  “You’re going to have put your hands behind your back, Dale. You’re under arrest for-”

  “She took everything from me!” Dale yelled.

  He made another move and I had to think fast.

  He was drunk so it was easy to grab and get him against the side of my cruiser. I positioned his wrist so it was impossible for him to move. He let out a howling scream and then burst into tears.

  “Oh, shit,” I said.

  A crier.

  So many people were when they knew they were busted. They would talk tough. They would take a swing. And once I had them in custody, here came the tears.

  I radioed in for backup, knowing Joey was working the same shift.

  He was only a mile away.

  I got Dale into the back of my cruiser and stood there and stared down at him as he sobbed.

  “She just took it all. And she left. Never wanted me to begin with.”

  “Bad breakup, Dale?” I asked.

  “Divorce,” he said. “I’m sorry for this.”

  “I know you are,” I said. “Doesn’t change what has to happen now. Do you have anything in your car I should know about?”

  “No,” Dale said. “I’m not a bad guy. I just… you married?”

  “Me? No.”

  “Good,” Dale said. “Don’t ever do it. It’s a fucking trap.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind, Dale. Another officer is here. He’s going to take you in. Don’t do anything stupid. Okay? I’ll cut you a break for jumping at me. But the DUI is going to stand.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Dale said.

  Joey pulled up behind me, lights flashing.

  When Dale saw it, he started to sob again.

  What a great start to my night.

  I circled through the main streets of town, looking for anything suspicious. Most of the time, just our presence was enough to keep the bad stuff at bay. These shifts were sometimes the hardest to get through. Knowing that somewhere something was happening. When I had my shield, I was deep in all of that. Chasing down big busts and taking down real hardened criminals. Facing off against murderers with a cold stare, knowing they would give anything to take me out.

  But now, back on patrol, it was almost like a boring tease. Then again, it sure as hell beat desk duty. Sitting there with paperwork and coffee had started to leave me feeling literally insane.

  I drove from the main part of town and started my way down the side streets. I always kept close to the highway in case something good came over the radio.

  That was how the job went.

  It could be quiet for seven hours and then hell for another seven.

  You could find the quietest street in the country and see something you never thought possible.

  Which was exactly what happened to me.

  I saw a woman standing on a sidewalk.

  Just standing there.

  I killed my headlights and crept forward, not sure if she was drunk and lost or what.

  There was something in her hand.

  She looked at her hand and looked at the brownstone in front of her. She did it over and over. Enough that she had my full attention.

  When she reached into her pocket, I hurried to stop my cruiser and got out.

  Something told me this woman wasn’t delivering a Valentine’s Day gift to her boyfriend or husband…

  3

  (Harper)

  I had to see it for myself.

  In person too.

  The pictures that Cara sent were real and what was happening…

  Brian had someone else in his life. And I wondered how long. Because this wasn’t a first date. That’s not how it went. He had been messing around behind my back and he chose now to dump me. Which meant it was getting serious with this slut.

  Slut.

  I hated saying that.

  I didn’t know what she knew about me.

  Maybe she was just an innocent in the entire thing.

  In jeans, a hoodie, and my hair pulled back, I drove to meet Cara and Joanie.

  Of course Brian was at the fanciest restaurant in town. The one that took forever to get a reservation for. The Carriage wasn’t the place you took a side girlfriend or someone you were just screwing for fun. This was the place you took someone to say I love you for the first time, or ask them to marry you.

  “Here, have a cigarette so you can calm down,” Joan
ie offered me.

  I wasn’t a fan of smoking and only did it when I was drunk, which was stupid in itself. But I took the cigarette anyway. The three of us stood outside the restaurant like a group of outcasts in high school. The ones deemed the dirty girls while all the preppy bitches were inside eating their expensive food with their handsome boyfriends.

  “I say go right in and dump food all over his head,” Joanie said. “Then set his car on fire.”

  “You’re crazy though,” Cara said.

  “Crazy is good sometimes,” Joanie said.

  I stared through the restaurant window and barely made out Brian’s head. I couldn’t see everything I wanted to see. Except I clearly saw as he stood up and leaned across the table and kissed the woman he was with.

  The slut.

  I groaned at myself again.

  “I’m going to get him,” I said.

  “Yes!” Joanie yelled.

  I dropped the cigarette.

  Cara grabbed my arm. “Be reasonable.”

  “Why?” I asked. “He was fucking someone behind my back.”

  Cara frowned and opened her hand. “Dammit. This is going to end bad.”

  There was a side to me that rarely came out. People thought I was timid and quiet because I was short and I was a graphic designer. So I was just some artsy fartsy geek who liked computers. But if you got on my wrong side, I would totally cut a bitch and not think twice.

  Better yet, I wanted to cut off Brian’s dick.

  It made me shiver to think about him out with this woman, then coming home to me. If his hands touched her body. If his mouth touched her… whatever. And then he’d come home to me and kiss me. Touch me. Fuck me.

  I snuck by the hostess station and followed him toward the bathrooms.

  “You’re an asshole,” I called out as he pushed at the door.

  When he looked back, his face turned bright red.