“Hey, I thought you were supposed to be working.” Dare moved to the soda nozzle and looked up at him. “Though you’re probably working here, right?” Fox nodded. “So, no booze. Soda water, or are we going heavy today with something with lots of sugar and caffeine?”
Fox grinned and took a seat on the barstool in front of him. “Soda water with lime. It’s not that bad of a day.” And it really wasn’t. He’d just been forced to do a lot of admin work and other things that weren’t on his plate when he’d just been a reporter. Being the owner of the paper was a far different matter than just working at one, and as each day, month, and year passed, he discovered that fact more and more.
“Well, then, one soda water with lime coming up.” Dare slid the glass down the bar like in the old movies their mom had made them watch, and Fox caught it, thankful that his reflexes were sharp. He’d never have lived it down if he missed. Loch and Dare were the more athletic of the four siblings with Tabby now running a close third with her boxing lessons from her husband. Fox could hold his own, but he was still the guy with his head in his books and the clouds most days. He didn’t mind, but he also couldn’t be the one to break a glass in Dare’s bar. He had principles, after all.
“Thanks.” Fox saluted with his glass and took a sip. It wasn’t his favorite drink in the world, but he’d done his best to cut out excess caffeine and sugar from his day. He wasn’t going to count those three cups of coffee as excess.
“So, what are you working on?” Dare went back to cleaning and going through front inventory since it was the slow time of the day, and Fox and another couple were the only ones in the bar.
“A few admin things to get out of the way, but the copy’s ready to go for tomorrow. After that, I finally get to get a few notes down for my next project.” He couldn’t help but grin at that. He’d been waiting to get this interview and piece down since he’d first thought about it for his small town, and though it wouldn’t be breaking news or something that would change the world, the person involved had changed Whiskey’s world with her mere presence. And for that, he was excited.
Dare’s eyes lit up. “You finally getting to know Ms. Pearl?”
Fox nodded. “Yep. It’s about time Whiskey gets to know their Ms. Pearl.”
Ms. Pearl was practically a historical figure in their already historical town. Local legend said that before she settled down in Whiskey, Pennsylvania, she had been a showgirl in Vegas. She had been friends—or at least acquaintances—with the Rat Pack, and Fox was pretty sure she had even more stories to tell. Whiskey had been formed under prohibition law and had the tourist tales to show for it. When Ms. Pearl showed up, she had blended right in with the culture. Of course, when it came to Ms. Pearl, there was nothing blended about her. He didn’t know if all the stories he’d been told over the years were true, but he was finally getting his chance to hear it from the woman herself. He didn’t always get to write editorials about key figures in the town that was part of his soul, but now he would be able to do something he’d always wanted to do. No, it wouldn’t change the world but maybe, just maybe, it could change Whiskey.
“Sounds like you have your hands full with Ms. Pearl.” Dare grinned and went to take an order from someone who’d come up to the bar. Fox hadn’t been there that long, and it was already starting to pick up in business. There was never really any downtime when it came to food and drinks in his town.
Instead of getting distracted by the comings and goings of those around him, he took another sip of his water and opened his computer so he could finish up his admin work for the day. He still needed to read the eleven inches of words from Nancy, and he had a feeling once he got through them, he was going to have to call his department and see what they could do about that extra inch. It wasn’t anything new when it came to a small-town paper, but it did make for a headache after a long day of not writing.
He knew he would probably get at least an hour of work done while Dare scurried around him. Kenzie would end up sitting beside Fox at the bar, and then he wouldn’t be able to get much work done at all. His future sister-in-law always took his attention because he liked talking with her. But he didn’t mind. The two of them had become friends, and he liked that Kenzie was in his life, too. She had changed his brother’s world, and for that, he would be forever grateful.
And now that he thought about what day it was, his parents would probably show up soon to catch a bite to eat, too. They had at least one meal a month at his folks’ house where it was a huge get-together with plenty of food, lots of talking, and just good people. But ever since the couple had retired, they had taken to eating at either the bar or the restaurant once a week. Considering that they used to work at the same building Dare now owned, Fox knew it probably had more to do with family rather than what they ate that kept them coming back every week. Of course, the food was really good, too.
Since his parents would most likely be there for dinner soon, that meant Loch would probably show up with his daughter, as well. And where his daughter went, Loch’s best friend Ainsley usually wasn’t far behind.
All of this meant that Fox really needed to focus for the next hour to get as much work done as possible until the horde arrived. Once he headed home after the casual festivities, he’d be able to work some more. He didn’t work a nine-to-five job, and he didn’t mind. But, sometimes, he thought it would be nice not to bring work home. Of course, he didn’t actually know of a job like that, but it was always nice to dream.
He was only twenty minutes into his work when he noticed someone he never thought to see again out of the corner of his eye. He turned, his gaze caught, and his attention enthralled with the woman picking up a to-go order.
Her long, blond hair fell in waves, and she wore tight-fitting jeans that showcased her luscious curves. She had on an elbow-length T-shirt that was tight around her chest and made him remember exactly what she looked like beneath those clothes. He’d tasted every inch of her, touched every curve. It had been in a whiskey-filled haze but he hadn’t minded one bit. He could still remember every single instant. Including the fact that she had left him alone in bed the next morning.
“Melody.” The word was out of his mouth and echoing in the loud room before he even knew he’d said it.
She turned, her eyes widening for a moment before she schooled her features into a pleasant smile.
“Fox. I should’ve known I’d see you at this bar again.” She held her to-go bag in one hand, and Fox pointedly ignored his brother giving him a look.
“I come here often. My brother is the owner. Remember?”
She gave him another of those sweet smiles that looked nothing like the sultry ones she had given him that night. “Sure I do. Well, it was nice to see you, Fox. As you can see, I came to get dinner. I shouldn’t let my food get cold. Have a good night.”
She turned on her heel and walked out of the bar as if she hadn’t just shown up out of nowhere after three months. He hadn’t even known she was back in town, let alone expected to see her in Dare’s bar. They hadn’t made any promises to each other. There had been no last names, no judgments, no backstories. But he knew almost every single person in his town who wasn’t a tourist, and Melody hadn’t been one of them. And yet, she was back and ordering food as if she had been here all along. Once again, he ignored his brother’s look and packed up his things. He wasn’t going to follow her, but he would go home and have some time to himself. He wasn’t in the mood for questions, didn’t feel like dealing with knowing looks and smiles. Because the best night of his life had just walked out the door. Again. And he still only knew her first name.
And from what he’d just seen, their night together hadn’t left the same impression on her.
Who knew an evening without whiskey could be so revealing.
Chapter 3
Melody Waters rested her head on her closed door and forced herself to take a deep breath. She hadn’t meant to start off her new life quite as drastically as it h
ad happened but, apparently, the blood in her veins would allow nothing less. She couldn’t just be normal and stay under the radar. She was officially her parents’ daughter and her grandmother’s granddaughter. If she really thought about it, she’d been that long before coming to Whiskey.
She had only been in town for a week, or rather back in town, and she was already running away from situations that were far too awkward for her to deal with. Honestly, she couldn’t believe she’d actually lasted a whole week without seeing Fox. She thought she’d done a good job of hiding her reaction to seeing him again, but for all she knew, he had seen right through the mask she’d forced onto her face. Well, he had seen every other part of her, why not see through her façade?
But Fox wasn’t the reason she’d moved. He was just a bad mistake for one night that happened to be the most delicious mistake in a long line of mistakes. And if she thought the word mistake one more time tonight, she’d end up going for another glass of whiskey herself.
She held back a shiver at the thought of sipping whiskey, since the last time she had done that, she’d licked it off Fox’s lips. The liquor had been smooth and smoky and tasted even better off him. Not that she would ever tell him that or even think about it again. Because she was moving on from that phase of her life. There would no longer be another one-night stand for her to try and forget or any more strings of relationships she ran away from because she was so afraid of the person she once was.
Melody had moved to this small town in Pennsylvania because her grandma needed her, but also because Melanie needed her grandma. Her grandmother might be able to do a lot on her own, but she wasn’t getting any younger—or so she kept saying—so Melody was here to help out. And because of that, it would also be Melody’s fresh start. It had taken her far too long to figure out what this new life of hers could be, but now she was sitting in a building she owned.
She wasn’t a renter and didn’t have to answer to anyone except the bank. With her contractors’ help, and her own sweat and most likely tears, she was going to turn this empty set of rooms into a dance studio. She was not only certified, but she was in a far better place emotionally than she had been when she was first cast out into the cruel, harsh world.
If anyone had told her even a year ago that she would be opening up a dance studio in small-town Pennsylvania, she’d have called them crazy. But here she was, doing the one thing she’d never thought to do, and the one thing her grandma thought would be best for her. Melody was still undecided.
Whiskey seemed to have a little bit of everything within its town borders, and the tourists helped make it what it was. She didn’t know the entire history of it, but she knew her grandma would probably explain it to her. Apparently, the town had been in the bootleg business with whiskey back in the days of Prohibition—or so they said. She didn’t know if that was the actual truth, but the stories sounded just right for the tourists who came and wanted to get a little bit of history with a touch of flair. Plus, the town was adorable and made you feel as if you were at home even if you were only passing through.
Melody never truly had a home before this. And though her grandma had always invited her to visit, she had done her best to stay away. In retrospect, she didn’t really know why she had done that other than the fact that she hadn’t been a very good person. She made horrible decisions and mistakes, and through one careless act after another, she had been forced to pay for them.
But so had others.
Melody swallowed that hurt and pushed those thoughts from her mind. There was no room for that line of logic or those memories in her new life and this new place. She had picked up her dinner, caught an old friend who wasn’t really a friend but more of a sweet temptation, and was now going to eat alone in her empty room while she imagined exactly what it could be. The building wasn’t entirely empty since she’d had her contractors working on it for over a month now. But in the next couple of weeks, it would be her job to add the little touches that were just Melody. Soon, she’d be able to have a grand opening.
And…she was so freaking nervous, she knew she might throw up if she didn’t take a breath.
She hadn’t spent the past three weeks in Whiskey sitting on her hands. She had been finalizing her move so she could move in with her grandma and help around the house, and had done a lot of the legwork for opening up the studio. It wasn’t as if she could just hang up a sign and people would suddenly flock in for classes and send their children in for instruction. She’d had to set up a social media presence and print flyers and even go into the community center to make sure everyone knew that she was opening up the studio for locals and tourists alike.
And even though she had countless business classes and years of study under her belt, she still felt as if she were barely treading water, ready to drown at any moment.
And it didn’t help that she was an outsider moving in to this small town with its close community, opening up a business they didn’t have before. She was also the long-lost granddaughter of the crazy lady of Whiskey, Pennsylvania.
Okay, that wasn’t fair. Grandma Pearl wasn’t crazy, but she had an aura of mystery and a sense of grandiosity around her. Apparently, a lot of people in town didn’t really know much about her—unless Ms. Pearl wanted them to know.
Her grandmother had never been that person to Melody, though. She’d always been Grandma Pearl with the yummy candies, pretty feathers, and funny stories that used to make her laugh and dream of dancing.
Melody put her hand on her stomach and tried to calm her breathing. For someone who was about to teach others the art of dance and the seriousness and stoicism that came with that, she wasn’t doing a very good job of it with herself.
“Okay, you can do this. Just eat dinner and soak in the atmosphere so you’re ready to become the best instructor Whiskey has ever seen. It doesn’t matter that you’re the only instructor in dance that Whiskey has seen in over a decade. And…now I’m sitting here alone in a barely lit room full of mirrors talking to myself. We just need a clown to finish the nightmare, and me standing in front of my class naked. Because, of course, that’s what would happen. I wouldn’t be wearing a tutu and ballet slippers. Instead, I’d be screaming and running in fear. And now, I just need to shut up.”
She dipped into a plié, only slightly hindered by her skinny jeans, before sinking down to the floor completely with her food. After her mental ramble, she had thoughts of chainsaw-wielding clowns in her mind, so she forced herself not to look into the mirror. She would spend her first full evening in her new town in a place she owned, eating food that was totally bad for her. Since she had spent twenty years of her life not being able to eat what she wanted, she planned to enjoy her onion rings in peace. Clowns in mirrors or not.
And since her grandma was out with her bridge club, Melody knew she wouldn’t be missing anything at home. It was still awkward that as an adult she was moving into her elderly grandmother’s house, but that was what her grandma had wanted, and frankly, Melody needed the interaction. Eventually, she would find her own place when she knew her grandma was steady enough. Melody had a feeling that Pearl didn’t need her at all, and had, in fact, only invited her to stay for Melody’s benefit, but she wasn’t going to fight it. Not anymore. She had fought long enough. Now, she was home. Wherever this new home of hers was.
Now that she was sitting and enjoying her very greasy yet amazing onion rings, she couldn’t get a particular face out of her mind. And it had nothing to do with her grandma or dancing.
When she came to visit her grandma and the place Pearl had picked out for her, she had been a little overwhelmed by all the decisions ahead of her. Her grandma had sent her out to have a little fun—but not too much. Melody had done enough of that before everything changed. Of course, she hadn’t realized how quickly whiskey could hit her system when she wasn’t used to it, or how Fox could do the same to her.
He had smiled at her, and she had been lost. It wasn’t as if an attractive man ha
dn’t ever smiled at her before. Fox was far from the first, but there was something in his eyes that had sent warmth straight through her. He had taken shot for shot with her, and soon, they were talking close, leaning closer, drinking a little too much, and finally stumbling their way to his place. Thankfully, Whiskey wasn’t all that big, and Fox had lived near enough to walk.
They’d had the hottest night of her life, ripping buttons from shirts, biting and licking and scoring nails on skin. She held back a moan just thinking about it, even though she knew she had to push him and his taste from her mind. She hadn’t meant to sleep with anybody when she came to visit but, apparently, her body—and her mind if she were honest with herself—hadn’t been able to hold back with Fox. Before he told her that his brother owned the bar, she’d sort of hoped that he was just a tourist and she would never have to see him again when she moved to town. But all of that was thrown out the window when he mentioned who owned the bar. He had even pointed out his entire family and group of friends to her, even though she was a little too far gone to remember everybody’s face or name.
He hadn’t taken advantage of her, though. He’d been just as far gone, and if anything, they had taken advantage of each other. And they had been safe, using a condom each time to make sure there wouldn’t be any surprises. It had helped that she was also on birth control—not that she’d told him that since she hadn’t wanted to fight him on the whole condom issue. She didn’t actually know if Fox would have, but other guys had in the past, and she knew how to protect herself. Either way, they’d loved on each other, lusted after each other, and had fallen asleep sweaty and in each other’s arms. And when she woke the next morning, she had quietly stolen one of his shirts, stuffed herself into her jeans, and tiptoed out of his house after leaving a note. She had done her best to clean herself up, but she knew that others knew a walk of shame when they saw one. She just hoped no one recognized her now.
Whiskey Reveals (Whiskey and Lies Book 2) Page 2
