by Green, Vicki
“Jolie! Good to see you! What’ll you have?”
The bartender, Tim, breaks me from my thoughts. “Usual but only one shot,” I yell back, giving him a smile. He nods and gets busy getting my drinks.
“Only one? My, you are going to tone it down, huh?” Tanner smiles as we walk to the crowded counter. A woman rises from the stool in front of us, stops, and runs her eyes down Tanner’s body, blatantly. She makes her way back up to his face and smiles.
“Excuse me, gorgeous.”
I roll my eyes as she walks between us, rubbing against him and knocking me out of the way. I recognize her from the gym, grocery store, and the bakery that’s across the street from Battle Ground. What a hussy whore. Once she passes, I walk up to the counter, eyeing Tanner’s smiling face, just in time to grab the shot Tim sets in front of me and down it in one quick motion. “Another,” I tell Tim then take a drink of my beer. Tim nods, looks at Tanner and nods to him too.
“Guess the ‘I’m not gonna drink a lot’ policy ended already?” I don’t even bother to look at him.
“Shut it,” I mumble and take another drink.
Tim brings over my other shot, and I down it quickly. He hands Tanner a beer, and I feel a tap on my shoulder. Tanner tilts his head down the room, and I nod. Picking up my beer, I follow him and sit down in the back corner booth across from him. I wish Hailey would hurry up and get here. Being alone with him is getting on my last nerve. I don’t know whether to relax and try to have a good time or keep my guard up. We both sit in silence until I take another drink. “I want a rematch,” I tell him. His eyes widen. His brows lower in confusion, then his face lights up as recognition hits.
“Any time.”
I nod and take another drink.
It’s weird not knowing what to say, sitting so quietly except for the noises in the bar. Finally, I look at him and tilt my head. “So, I have this client. He…” He sits up straight, his brows lower and his body radiates anger. “I’m allowed to have guy clients.” What’s with him? “Anyway, he’s been working out with heavy weights but his stance is all wrong. Every time I try to show him the correct way, he ends up paying more attention to my body than his own. Wanna help me out with that?” I figure if Tanner wants to be all macho around me then he can take this stupid woman ogler off my hands, maybe even teach him some manners. Tanner stares a hole into me, taking a swig of his beer, but I watch his eye twitch when he tries to fist his injured hand. “God knows I’ve tried to no end. The guy just wants to look at my tits, I swear.” I act like it’s no big deal and take a drink but I swear I hear Tanner growl.
“Hey, guys!” The voice of Hailey bellows in front of us. She’s wearing a white tank top that’s cut off right below her ample breasts. Short, short jean shorts rests on her slim hips and barely cover her ass which her long black hair reaches. She’s definitely got the figure for that along with very long legs. Any guy would die to have her, but I’ve heard that she broke up with a guy recently, and it was a really bad relationship. I think she’s sworn off all guys now. “Who’s the new dude?” She turns her head and Tanner and I both look around her at the bar counter. A guy with short brown hair, the eyes the color of amber and a very muscular build is leaning against the counter holding a bottle of water. Who comes into a bar and just drinks water? Hailey turns her head back, and I reluctantly scoot over when she tries to sit in my seat, putting me much closer to Tanner than I like. “He’s gorgeous.” She takes a drink of her beer, and I raise my brows at her, giving her a look. “What? I’m not dead? There’s nothing wrong with looking,” she huffs. She’s right, of course. Although you’d think after coming out of a bad relationship, one I understand left black and blue marks all over her, she wouldn’t even want to look at another guy. Then again, I guess she’s only human.
I look over at the guy at the counter and find him staring at me. What’s with that guy? I turn back to Hailey. “Yeah, I dunno. He’s okay, I guess.” I shrug, not really caring either way, but I did notice he is rather good looking. I’m not dead either.
Hailey starts rattling on about nothing in particular and my eyes shift to Tanner. He hasn’t taken his eyes off that guy. I nonchalantly shift my eyes to the man drinking water and notice he’s facing the counter now, watching the TV behind the bar. Since the town is so small, it’s odd to see a guy here that doesn’t belong. Suddenly, the infamous Michelle walks over to our table. She had the hots for Jase and doesn’t mind being blunt about anything. She makes me cringe.
“Hey. Can I take any orders? Another drink? Food?” she says in her sickly sweet and fakey voice.
“I’ll take a burger, everything on it and a side of fries,” I pipe up, suddenly starving.
“Another beer for me and a salad, ranch on the side, low fat,” Hailey spouts. Ewww, salad and beer?
“Tanner? What would you like, darling?” Darling? Oh, pa-lease.
He’s still staring at that guy so I give him a shove with my arm. His head snaps to me and I nod over at miss bitch. “Oh,” he says totally not hearing anything we’ve said. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Huh, want something more to drink or food?” I ask him, not giving miss priss a chance to talk to him again. She makes my stomach crawl.
“Oh. I’ll just have a bottled water and a burger with everything on it with a side of fries.” Hmmm. Interesting. Miss Worldly nods and walks away, clearly upset that she didn’t get Tanner’s undivided attention. I look over at him, sitting up straight and smirking, thinking I got another point but this one’s against the skanky woman and notice he looks disappointed, staring at the counter again. I look over and that guy is gone. Strange.
I’m proud of myself. A few hours later, I’m sipping on water and very sober. Hailey has been a lot of fun to hang with. I’m starting to like her more and more. I can see why Alena and she are best friends. Tanner hasn’t said much, probably not able to get a word edgewise with Hailey around. The girl can talk.
“How about a game of pool?” Tanner asks cocking his head at me, not even acknowledging Hailey. But Hailey doesn’t seem to mind.
She waves her hand. “You all go ahead. I have to work at the gas station early in the morning.” She stands, taking money out of her back pocket and setting several bills down on the table. “I’ll see you all at the gym tomorrow night.” I give her a wave and watch her turn and walk away. She amazes me. She’s a grease monkey during the day and a few nights a week, then works her ass off working out at the gym. No wonder she doesn’t have time for guys, she’s always busy doing something. I heard she used to be a coach over at the junior high school during the season for girls volleyball, but she quit when her dad had a heart attack and now pretty much runs his gas station. I also heard that she’s an only child, and her mom doesn’t pay her any attention. Apparently, her mom was upset that she didn’t have a son so she doesn’t have much to do with Hailey. Sad, really. I know how she feels, probably even a bit more so.
“How about it? Wanna play a couple of quick games of pool before we leave?” Tanner smiles at me. That cocky attitude. I pick up my bottled water and slide out of the booth.
“You’re on.” Challenge accepted.
They only have a couple of pool tables in the back but we’re lucky one opens up by the time we get there. “I’ll rack,” Tanner says giving me a wink and ornery look. I shrug and walk over to the cues, running my hand over them. They roll with my touch. I pick one up at a time and feel the weight then decide on one. I turn and see Tanner standing by the table, cue already in hand. Must have gotten it from the other rack. No biggie. “You can break.” He smirks. I walk over to him and stand close enough to feel his breath. I look up at him, trying to hold myself steady, and give him my innocent eyes look.
“Flip for it,” I say.
His mouth turns up in a grin. A very sexy grin. He takes a step back and reaches in his pocket as I cross
my feet, trying to keep the wetness in between my legs intact. “Call it.” He flips a quarter up in the air, catches it and flips it over on the top of his hand, covering it with his other hand.
“Tails.” It’s a fifty-fifty chance but I hate to break so I’m crossing my fingers behind my back. I follow his eyes, looking down at his hands. He lifts the one on top and then looks up at me.
“Heads.” I breathe out a sigh of relief.
I walk backwards and lean against a small round table and watch him lean down. The muscles in his arms flex as he holds the cue stick, aimed at the racked balls. He brings his arm back and strikes the cue ball with force. I hold my breath watching the balls scatter every which way. He pockets one solid and one stripe. I watch him stand, a smile on his face. His movements are so sleek, it enthralls me. “Wanna flip for who gets which one?” Hmmm, he’s trying to be fair.
I walk over to him, pick up the cube of chalk, place it on my cue and start turning the head of my stick, applying it evenly. “Oh, don’t do me any favors. You won the call fair and square.” I run my tongue over my lower lip, feeling the steel of my lip piercing. I watch his eyes watch my tongue, the look on his face making me grow even wetter. His tongue peeks out of his mouth, and as I pull mine inside, his eyes snap to mine. His once dark brown eyes have gone almost black. I swallow, trying not to let him see, turn around and walk back to the table. You’re playing with fire. I’m so tired of being the damaged girl – the broken girl. I want to experience things ‘normal’ girls do. I want to be able to enjoy life and have a boyfriend.
A guy like Tanner.
Just like Tanner.
God, I want Tanner.
He winks, and I’m holding my breath. I watch him walk back over to the other side of the table and call stripes then knocks in two consecutively. “Nice shot,” I say watching him move stealthily around the table, eyeing his next shot. I might be in trouble. Maybe. He tries to bank a difficult shot and misses. “Too bad.” I smirk. He looks at me with those dark eyes and moves out of the way as I lean over the table, my cleavage showing in abundance with my low neckline. I line the stick to the cue ball and hesitate, looking up at him through my lashes. I watch his throat as he swallows hard. I’m getting to him. I take my shot and score two solids, lining up my next shot perfectly. I don’t give him a chance to shoot again as I finish up all my shots and sink the eight ball in the corner pocket I called. I stand, cocking my hip, and chalk up my stick.
“No fair!” He stalks over but stops right in front of me, his eyes roaming down then back up my body. “You hustling me?” I can tell he’s trying not to grin.
“What a hustle! You’re not playing fair, Jolie!”
“Jolie?”
I shake my head and blink rapidly. “What?”
He looks at me concerned. “Waitress wants to know if you want something to drink.”
I blink again and look over at her. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’ll have a beer and a shot of fireball.” He raises his brows and without taking his eyes from mine he orders the same thing. Things are about to get heated.
Chapter 5
Shit, this brings back too many memories, but I’ll be damned if I can stop. I can tell where her mind keeps going, back to the past. Mine does too. We order shots and beers, but it doesn’t stop there. After her win, I take the table back, and then she wins again. We both end up drinking way more than we should but damn it feels good to relax for once. After seven games, she beat me by one. She’s a much better player than I gave her credit for and a good rival.
“Come on. Let’s get you home.” She giggles as I lace my arm through hers, loving the way she feels up against me. I never intended on getting this close, but then I got the apartment next to her, only wanting to be able to protect her, never anticipating I’d start having these feelings. Liar! You’ve always had these feelings. You knew this would happen. I did, dammit. However, I thought she’d fight harder to keep me away. I thought her past wouldn’t allow her to get so close. But I wanted her too. So badly. I’d hoped.
“Oops, sorry.”
I catch her as she tries unsuccessfully to get up into my truck, her foot sliding off the running board and into my arms. If I didn’t know her better, I’d think she did that on purpose, but she didn’t. One or two too many shots did that. “Up you go,” I say as I grab ahold of her slim waist, hearing her catch her breath. I lift her with ease until she’s safely sitting down on the seat. She smiles, lets out a hiccup, and proceeds to try to latch the seatbelt, all fumble fingers. I jump up on the running board and lean over her, taking the belt from her hands. It snags on her left side and as I try tugging it free, I feel her nose by my ear. Did she just sniff me? I shift my eyes to her, and she hiccups as she smiles. Finally, able to get the belt out from under her, I click it in place and start to move back. Her hand grasps my upper arm. Her breathing is heavy, and I can’t help watching her cleavage moving up and down. Closing my eyes quickly, I pull back and jump off the runner, slamming her door angrily. I won’t let her get to me. I can’t.
I get in the truck and speed onto the street, not looking at anything but the road ahead. Suddenly, I feel caged in. Such a small town, nowhere else to go. Nowhere to run. Maybe this was all a mistake. Maybe I shouldn’t have come here. I should have stayed away but then I wouldn’t be able to protect her. I hit my injured hand against the steering wheel, wincing. I see her jump from my peripheral. She’s scared. Of you. It doesn’t take long until I’m pulling up alongside the curb of our building. I’m about to turn and tell her I’m sorry when her door opens and she practically falls out. I open my door, jump out, and slam it behind me as I jog around the front of my truck, but by the time I get to the passenger side, she’s gone. I whip my head towards the building watching her run then she’s inside. Dammit! I start running, almost falling when my shoe hits a crack in the pavement. I catch myself and open the front door then race up the stairs. When I get to the top, I see a glimpse of her back as she enters her apartment, the door beginning to close. I slap my hand on the door and stride inside, grabbing her arm and turning her around. I push her back against the door, closing it. She’s pissed and starts hitting my chest until I grab her wrists.
“Stop, Jolie,” I growl.
I release one of her wrists but grab it with my other hand, pulling her arms up and pinning her against the door, my free hand cups her face. My heart is racing. My brain overheated with thoughts of her. I press my body flush against hers, feeling the heavy rise and fall of her chest into mine. I look down, towering over her, as her blue eyes look up at me. Her lips are parted, a strange expression on her face. Want. Need. Longing. “Are you scared?”
She swallows hard and nods. “No.” So unsure.
I search her eyes. “Good. You shouldn’t be.” I don’t stop myself, giving in to what I’ve wanted for so long. I cover her luscious mouth with mine – fast and furious. She squirms beneath me, trying to kick my legs but I push so hard into her I’m sure she can feel my hard cock against her stomach. God, she tastes better than I’d ever imagined. She fights me, biting my lip, which only turns me on more. I suck on her lip ring, and then bite her lower lip. She gasps, which parts her lips, and my tongue takes the advantage, diving into her sweet mouth. I feel her moan move from her chest up to her throat before it enters my mouth. I take it, relish it. I loosen my hold around her wrists but flatten my hand against them, keeping them there. Her strength diminishes as I tilt my head, deepening the kiss. Fuck! She’s killing me!
She whimpers as I push my knee between her legs, my hand leaves her face and travels down her throat, leaving light touches until it reaches her breast. I feel the weight in my hand, loving how it feels. Perfect. Another moan leaves her mouth into mine as I rub my thumb over her bra and her hardened nipple. Her arms start to tug away from my hand that’s pinning them and I let her. She wraps them around my neck, her fingers
threading in my hair, causing a moan to build up deep within me and into her mouth.
I release her mouth and give tiny kisses over her chin, jaw, up to her cheek, and then rub my scruff over it. “God, Jolie,” I moan. Her nails dig into the back of my head and my hips thrust against her, telling her how I love that. I knead her breast wanting more. So much more. I should stop. I can’t stop. My hand moves down her flat stomach and cups between her legs. Her hips buck into my hand, her head shaking back and forth. I need to be closer. I need to be skin on skin. I grab her waist, lifting her. She wraps her legs around me as I plunge my hand down her shorts and under her panties. As I push a finger inside her wetness, I push her back against the door, the feeling of being inside her making me dizzy with lust. So tight. “Fuck, you’re drenched,” I moan as I push another finger inside. She’s writhing against me, her hips bucking against my hand. Her body begins to shake and shudder as my thumb presses against her swollen clit, rubbing, pressing, over and over.
“Tanner!” she screams, moaning, and wiggling until I think I might go crazy.
How is she this wet, this needy, this tight? This woman who is so secretive, so anti-men? Just as an orgasm hits her hard, it dawns on me.
She’s a virgin.
Fuck! What have I done?
Her head tilts back, her breathing coming out in pants. I pull my fingers out then my hand, slowly lowering her to the floor. Taking a step back, I lift my injured hand and run it over my head in frustration. Her eyes seem to be hazy, but then she looks up at my face and freezes. I look down at the floor. I can’t look at her after what I’ve done.
She’ll end up hating you.
You can’t let that happen.
