Lost Memories (Honky Tonk Hearts)

by Thomas, Sherri

  “Good.”

  A crash of balls along with a cowboy’s hoot sounded from the pool tables tucked in the back corner.

  The barkeep glanced at all of them. “Aren’t you missing one? Where’s Sam?”

  Chris spoke up. “He stayed behind, but we brought Darcy.”

  Nick’s hand slid to the small of her back, ushering her forward. “Darc, this is Gus Rankin. He owns the place.”

  “Nice to meet you.” She smiled and stuck her hand out.

  “Pleasure, ma’am.” A grin spread across his tanned face. “What can I get y’all?”

  “Four beers?” Nick glanced to the group. Everyone nodded.

  Long neck bottles were soon placed on the wooden bar.

  “We have a new waitress, Pam,” Gus told them. “She’ll be around to see if y’all need refills or want to order food.”

  “You have a cook tonight, Gus?” Chris asked with a grin.

  “We have a cook most nights, boy.” He chuckled deep and rich. “Just hardly ever the same one.”

  A fiery redhead bumped into Chris from behind.

  The woman balanced a tray on one slender hip and rubbed a hand over Chris’s back. “Sorry, you okay, sweetie?”

  Nick shook his head at his brother’s goofy grin. Eyes wide the young stud nodded.

  Gus removed the tray from her hands. “Pam, this is the Matthews clan. They own the dude ranch out on Hope Road.”

  “You want anything, just give me a holler.” She winked at the runt.

  “Let’s get a table.” Trent led the way through the room.

  Nick ushered Darcy across the dance floor and headed to one of the round tables. Unwilling to put much space between them, he pulled out a seat for her and seized the one on her right. Chris straddled a chair on the far end. Trent grabbed the remaining one.

  “Let’s do a toast to the last family who stayed in cabin three. Thank the good Lord they left. The kid was a brat,” Trent stated with a snarl.

  While his brothers recapped stories of past guests, Nick noted the strained smile on Darcy’s face. She raised her beer and downed a good portion of the contents.

  He nudged her leg. “You havin’ a good time?”

  “Sure.” She drained the rest of her beer and motioned to Pam for another as the waitress drifted past the table.

  Nick worried over her slamming down the barley. With her slight frame, the alcohol wouldn’t take long to affect her.

  “So, you two together or what? Romantically, I mean?” Pam placed a bottle in front of her.

  “Never a good idea to mix business and pleasure,” he answered automatically, raising his voice over the noise. A glance in Darcy’s direction had him taken back by the hurt that flashed across her face.

  He frowned. The comment wasn’t meant against her personally, he simply stated the fact. Getting involved with an employee was wrong. Not to mention there were more questions surrounding her than answers.

  “Anyone need anything?” The waitress asked, her breasts near spilling out of her low-cut shirt as she leaned over the table.

  Nick noticed Darcy adjusted her own white, ribbed tank top. The material clung to curves just large enough to fill his palms. His gaze traveled up her neck to her flushed cheeks.

  “I’m good, thanks,” he stated, keeping his attention on Darcy.

  “I’ll take one, and bring over four of those tequila shots.” He heard Chris state.

  “None for me. I’m driving,” Trent mumbled.

  “You know, it might do you good to relax once in awhile.”

  “If I did, you’d have to find another ride home, squirt.”

  “If you want to drink, I’ll drive,” Nick offered. “One is my limit, and I don’t think these two are going to be ready to go for awhile.” He flipped his thumbs toward Darcy and Chris.

  Trent simply shook his head and leaned back in his chair.

  “How ’bout you, Darcy?”

  Her gaze slid up from peeling the label off her bottle. “Sure. Why not.”

  Nick stretched his arm along the back of her chair, absent-mindedly fingering a piece of her hair. Every now and again, as if drawn to her like a magnet of its own accord, his hand grazed her bare shoulder, igniting the sparks.

  “Here you go.” Pam returned seconds later, shots in hand.

  “To another successful month at the ranch.” Chris raised his glass.

  Darcy raised the alcohol to her lips, grimacing as she swallowed. For the next half hour, the brothers shared more stories. She smiled from time to time, even gave a forced laugh, but when she glanced to him, he noted the bleakness of her gaze.

  She shifted in her seat, her hip bumping him.

  “I’m going to go mingle with the females in the joint,” Christ announced.

  “Yeah, and I see a couple of buddies over by the pool table. You two don’t mind, do you?” Without waiting for a response, Trent headed off in one direction while Chris went in the other.

  “How ’bout you?” Sweet lips turned his way.

  “Nah. I’m too tired to entertain anyone. You?”

  “Nope.” She bent one leg up on the other. The music slowed and a couple of people filed onto the dance floor.

  He noted her slumped shoulders, the forced upturn of her lips. Brown eyes lifted to his and her hair brushed his skin. Fingering the strands, he moved closer, needing to assuage whatever made her so sad tonight.

  Dancing was the perfect excuse to embrace her without raising suspicion. He stood and extended his hand toward her. “Wanna dance?”

  She stared at his open palm before tentatively placing hers in his. Nick’s adrenaline built at the prospect of holding her in his arms.

  Two more couples swirled around the hardwood as they reached the dance floor. He spun Darcy in a circle and drew her into a slow country dance, his arm going to the back of her neck as he positioned her at his side. She kept her head down, he assumed watching their feet.

  Nick bent toward her ear. “Follow my lead. Right, left, back, forward, twirl.”

  As her body caught the rhythm, the DJ changed songs. His hands went to her slender hips, hers to his shoulders. Warmth spread through his chest as her fingers gripped his muscles.

  She was close, but not near enough. With a hand on the small of her back, he urged her tighter to him. The feel of her played havoc on his spiraling hormones, and he wanted nothing more than to whisk her away where they could be alone. Remembering where they were, he let the music guide his actions and stepped forward, one foot between her legs then back.

  She repeated his moves, her hips rotating against him in time with the beat.

  His earlier attraction escalated with the intimacy of the dance. He questioned the logic in continuing the close contact. Furthering any relationship with her was out of the question, so why was he torturing himself this way?

  Because it’s a sweet pain. One he had a hard time denying himself.

  Thigh to thigh, center to center, he struggled to keep his hormones under control.

  Darcy closed the centimeters of space between them and brushed a fingertip across his torso. He frowned down into her intoxicating eyes. A body bumped into her, throwing her hard into his chest. All movement around them ceased as his gaze focused on the beauty in his arms.

  Nick pulled her closer, caressing her slender hips. Wanting to feel so much more of her, his fingers wondered over her back, down her sides stopping on her rounded bottom.

  The hot desire in her eyes rocked him, and his body squeezed out any space leftover between them. When she rotated against him, the strain proved too much—he needed to back off before he lost control.

  She ducked her head, and he let her conceal her face in his shirt while he attempted to quell the raging hormones threatening to burn him from the inside out. With his heart beating erratically in his chest, his thoughts jumbled in his head as the invasion of her flowery scent attacked his senses.

  Lifting her head from his chest, she met his hot gaze
with one of her own. Every cell in his body was on full alert. Her head fell back, exposing her long neck. He tangled his hand in her hair and guided her face back to him. His stomach muscles tightened as the need for her exceeded anything he’d ever encountered before. Hot lips branded his jaw as she bit at his chin.

  Nick brought his hands up to feel the smoothness of her neck while running the pad of his thumb across her full bottom lip. Did she feel the heat? Share his sexual frustration? It was all too much. Hell, he had to taste her sweet, sinful mouth.

  Before either held the ability to stop, lips touched, bodies meshed. The kiss was smooth, and not enough. A whirlpool of hunger, hot and raw, spiraled out of control. Explosions went off in his head, and he crushed her to him.

  She whimpered in his mouth as fingers delved in his hair knocking his hat to the floor.

  When his tongue tangled with hers in a dual, his brain short-circuited. She tasted better than he imagined, and a tremor went through his hands as he bracketed her face and nipped at her for more.

  Her tongue flicked his lip, causing his senses to skyrocket.

  To hell with it.

  He growled low in his throat and reclaimed her for his, slipping a hand to the back of her neck under her hair. A moan sounded in his ear. Seconds turned into minutes as he ravished her. When he slowed the kiss, nibbling her delectable flesh and gazed down at her, his body shook with need.

  Then reality slowly invaded. They were in the middle of a dance floor at a bar for all to see. This wasn’t right.

  She stared at him with wide eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you.” He searched her face for any sign of—hell he didn’t know—maybe for anything that might tell him what was going through her mind.

  Darcy licked her lips. “I-I’m not.” The words came out slurred.

  In the heat of the moment he’d forgotten her drunken state. She certainly didn’t kiss like she was three sheets to the wind. He shook his head and glanced around.

  “I don’t think anyone noticed. I can’t even claim to be drunk. At least not from alcohol.”

  “I don’t th-hink you can get drunk from secondhand fumes,” she huffed.

  Nick picked up his hat and placed it on his head. “That’s not quite what I meant, darlin’.” Grasping her hand, he led her off the dance floor.

  The silent woman he devoured only seconds ago plunked down in the chair. As he lowered his throbbing body next to her, she scooted further away.

  He frowned. “What’s your problem? It’s not as if I forced myself on you. You were equally turned on.”

  “And now I’m sure you’re embarrassed to be with me.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Don’t want to get caught messing around with the hired help.”

  Astounded over her outburst, Nick yanked her chair to his then froze. He wasn’t embarrassed at being with her, but he was upset at losing control. Damn it he knew better than to get involved with an employee. Saying any of this to her would be adding fuel to her fire.

  “Just rest until my brothers show up.” He guided her head to his shoulder.

  At first she refused but after minutes of fighting to stay upright, she rested it on him.

  “Hey, bro, how’s it going?” Chris smirked as he sauntered over to the table.

  Nick ignored the gleam in his brother’s eye. “You guys ready to go?”

  “It’s not even eleven o’clock, and I met up with a few friends.”

  “Quit whining. You’re twenty-one, not twelve.” When will the boy grow up?

  “Who put a burr under your saddle?”

  “I want to get Darcy home.” Her breath caressed his arm as he studied the top of her head resting on his shoulder, causing his chest to tighten and making him feel drunk.

  Drunk on a craving.

  He needed to get away and regain control. Her kiss affected him more than he cared to admit. This growing attraction did neither of them a bit of good. A relationship complicated things.

  “I think everyone’s aware of that.” A scowl marked his face. “What happened to our rule of not sleeping with the employees?”

  “Boy, are you drunk, or just stupid?” Trent came up behind the runt and flicked him in the head. To Nick he added, “Hell of a show.”

  “Look, I know what happened out there can’t happen.” He gritted his teeth in embarrassment over his brothers seeing his lack of control. “Let’s go. I need to get her home.” He glanced to Darcy just as dark eyelashes lay on her creamy tan cheeks. Her head slipped toward the table. “I think she overdid it tonight.”

  Positioning his forearm in front, he slid the other behind and angled her to rest in the crook of his arm. The back of his finger ran over the soft skin, and a jolt of electricity ran through him. The one woman off-limits was the one who stole the breath from his lungs.

  A throat cleared with a cough, and Nick glanced up to see concern on Trent’s face.

  “Right, let’s go.” Standing, he lifted Darcy into his arms.

  “You take her home. I’m staying.” Defiance shown in his youngest brother’s features.

  “Take the truck,” Trent offered, handing over the keys. “I’ll stay and make sure junior here gets home. We can catch a ride.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  Trent helped him get Darcy settled in the truck then stepped back toward the old honky tonk. “You know what you’re doing?”

  Nick let out a heavy breath and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t have a damn clue.” And that was the truth.

  “Good to know.” His brother smiled, smacked the metal, and sauntered away.

  “Hey, don’t forget you and Chris are up for the morning feedings and chores. Darcy and I’ll tend to the horses.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” A hand waved the air as he disappeared into the building.

  All the way home, he fought hard not to look at the dark-haired beauty sleeping next to him, because he wanted nothing more than to pull over and hold her. She remained the one woman he’d found who held his attention and loved his ranch. Yet, the idea of risking his heart spooked him. Not to mention her nervous moments, and the fact she might be keeping something from them. Being the oldest he bore the responsibility to protect his family despite his own feelings. Attraction or not, he wouldn’t let another female wreak havoc on his family. No way was he willing to risk his brothers’ lives for the sake of love.

  Love. Ha.

  He refused to believe his feelings possessed that level of intensity, not for a woman who kept part of herself hidden.

  As he passed under a street light, he glanced at his passenger. Her brows creased. What was she dreaming about that was so disturbing? Vowing to find the underlying cause of her secrets, he turned up the drive to her cabin and got out.

  Dakota barked and ambled over, tail wagging.

  “Hey, boy, keep it down.” Reaching out, he gave him a scratch behind the ears. “Let’s get the house open and put the little lady to bed.” The lock clicked in the silence, and lights flicked on with a hit of the switch.

  Retrieving his charge, he headed for her bedroom, laid her down on the comforter, pulled off her boots, and eyed the situation.

  No way.

  His restraint was not that strong; she’d have to sleep in her clothes.

  He dropped to the edge of the bed and ran a thumb over her bottom lip. “You pack one hell of a kiss, darlin’,” he whispered.

  She sighed in her deep slumber and warm breath caressed his finger.

  Damn.

  He rubbed the back of his neck as he stood and shut the door on temptation.

  Chapter Eight

  Darcy rolled and pulled the pillow over her head to block the light coming from the window. The dull ache in her skull escalated to a hammering. She peaked at the clock beside her bed. Eight o’clock.

  Nick expected her at the barn two hours ago.

  Throwing the covers back, she jumped out
of bed. A wave of dizziness washed over her forcing her to grab the edge of the dresser. A few deep breaths through the nose and out the mouth calmed her reeling senses. How had she gotten home? Last thing she recalled was dancing with Nick.

  Oh, God.

  Had Nick brought her back and put her to bed? She looked down. Thank goodness her clothes were still on.

  Seeking headache medicine from the kitchen cupboard, she downed two pills and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge.

  Nerves gnawed at her insides as she brushed her teeth, pulled on her boots, and hurried out the door. Alcohol might not have been her friend last night, but even the barley failed to mask the memories of Nick’s kiss. Not much of the conversation had sunk in, yet the feeling of his lips on hers had been burned into her mind.

  Only, the hot, tingling, and wanton thoughts were new and exciting. She couldn’t even remember what song they danced to, but the feel of vibrations pulsing through her veins remained strong.

  Fighting to keep her eyes open in the bright sun, she retrieved her glasses from the car. The shades dulled the blinding light, but not the pounding in her head as she picked her way to the barns. Upon entering she found the object of her fantasies bent over a hoof in T.J.’s stall.

  Nick’s eyes caressed her as she opened the door and advanced closer. The army-green T-shirt stretched as he finished the job.

  “Nice of you to join the living.” Straightening, he leaned on the animals side.

  “Sorry. I overslept.” She licked her dry lips and focused on the dirt at her feet. His black boots stepped closer, and she forced herself to stand still.

  As the heat and tension increased, her mind played back the scene at the Lonesome Steer. The dance. The kiss. Fluttering anticipation filled her. God, she wanted him to touch her.

  “About last night...”

  Pretend you don’t know what he’s talking about. The thunderous beat of her heart sounded in her ear. No. Talk to him. Tell him...

  Darcy glanced up and cleared her throat. “You mean the kiss?” The scorching hot entanglement of our lips.

  He stepped forward and removed the sunglasses.

  “Yes.” Lifting his hat, he ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve been up all night tryin’ to figure this out. The only explanation I came up with was the alcohol.”