by Cat Johnson
The doctor laughed. “I can see that. Good luck, Jimmy.”
“Thanks, doc.” He nodded and was out the door with the golden ticket back to active duty clutched in his hand.
Now all he had to do was make it through Jared’s political circus this afternoon and he was home free.
CHAPTER 7
Lia rode in the limo next to her father and stared out the window at the rural scenery speeding by.
Meeting with the Small Farmers Coalition at Gordon Equine was far preferable to some stuffy cocktail party.
Best of all, although the senator was coming, his son wasn’t. Lia would gladly walk her three-hundred-dollar shoes through horse manure any day if it meant getting away from him.
The sun was shining. She was wearing a pantsuit instead of a dress that required a torturous strapless bra and stockings. All in all, it was a good day. It would have been a better day if her mother had agreed to come with them when Lia suggested the trip to the country might do her good.
Of course, as usual her mother had said she wasn’t feeling up to the drive. It had become such habit for Lia to accompany her father she feared her mother would never take her rightful place again.
Lia mentally reviewed her schedule for the next week. There would be more of the aforementioned cocktail parties this weekend. The most ridiculous thing was she had to control her heartbeat each and every time she walked into one. Even after six months, she’d still search the wait staff to see if James was among them.
It was crazy. She needed help. Although perhaps he needed the help. What guy could have the amazing kind of night they had together and not call afterward?
She hadn’t expected him to ask her out on a date or anything, but come on. Not even a midnight drunken booty call? Nothing. Nada. Zip. For six damn months.
The bigger question was why did it bother her so much?
She’d worked that one over in many a therapy session. Her therapist thought it was because he had rejected her first before she had a chance to reject him and that it particularly bothered her since he was from a lower station in life.
She knew it was more likely she was obsessed with him because, unlike all the men who fawned over her, this one hadn’t taken any of her shit.
He was a real man, not a spoiled rich boy. He knew his mind and treated her like an equal, not the governor’s daughter.
After the initial shock that she wasn’t always going to get her way around James had worn off, she’d really liked that about him.
Her therapist also thought she’d slept with James as a rebellion against her father and the pressure he’d been putting on her regarding the senator’s son.
The psychologist may be a little bit right about that. Lia nearly laughed out loud in the limo when she considered what her father would say if she ever brought James home.
Hello, father. I’d like you to meet my new boyfriend the waiter. I’m going to marry him and have his babies and they will likely all grow up to be waiters too.
Marry him. Sure. She hadn’t even made enough of an impression for him to call her. But boy, had he made an impression on her. Unforgettable.
He knew how to please a woman—at least this woman. Every inch of her. All night long until morning when he had to rush off to an early meeting with his boss.
Wait . . . Early meeting? What kind of early meetings did waiters have?
That had obviously just been an excuse to get out of there and she’d been too blinded from the sex haze he’d left her in to see it then.
That was a demoralizing thought.
What was laughable was she had actually hesitated before inviting him to the hotel because she was worried he’d fall in love with her and become a stalker or something.
Humph. He most likely slept with a different woman at every party he worked. No wonder he was so well stocked with condoms. He probably bought them by the case.
Lia shook her head at her own foolishness. Six damn months and he was still on her mind and it still killed her he hadn’t called.
She definitely needed help, or maybe some sex. But the only man she’d even gone to dinner with lately was the senator’s son, at her father’s insistence. No way was she going to encourage him with anything more than just a casual dinner and a peck on the cheek or she’d find herself married.
That was not going to happen. John III held zero appeal for her, as a life mate or a bed mate.
The limo pulled down a charming magnolia-lined drive and up to a white farmhouse that, in typical southern tradition, had columns in front.
The car came to a stop and the driver opened Lia’s door. She stepped out into the sunlight, slipping her sunglasses on to shield her eyes from the glare.
At least today’s event would be a distraction from her pitiful love life.
The scent of jasmine wafted to Lia’s nose. She breathed in deep, perhaps for the first time in a long time. Running in the rat race in the city wasn’t really conducive to breathing deeply. Not with the car fumes and all.
It was beautiful here and peaceful. Besides, she’d always wanted her own horse.
Maybe she’d move to the country. That would really give her father heart failure. How would he play matchmaker with her so far away?
It was a nice dream, but it was expected that a dutiful southern daughter did what was best for her family. She couldn’t fight tradition, though she might have tried if things had turned out differently . . . Lia pushed the pointless thoughts of James out of her mind.
One day a man would sweep her off her feet and she’d forget all about her night with James. Hopefully, that day would come soon.
CHAPTER 8
Jimmy stood in the shade of the barn, chewing on a piece of hay and watching the limos and trucks pull up.
What a joke. As if a politician who arrived in a chauffeur-driven limousine could really understand the views of a farmer who drove himself in a pickup truck hauling a horse trailer.
Yeah, good luck to Jared with this little powwow.
Jack stood next to him, acting like he was incognito with his old straw cowboy hat pulled low on his forehead. He needn’t have worried about being photographed. So far the press only had eyes, or rather camera lenses, for the politicians.
To the reporters, Jimmy and Jack were just two farmhands loafing around when they should probably be shoveling manure instead.
Of course, a few of the farmers they’d grown up knowing had come over to welcome them home. But everyone went rushing back to the meeting tables set up under the big trees by the house when the politicians arrived.
“Mama’s been baking for two days straight. I was fixin’ to cut into one of her pies and got my butt smacked with a wooden spoon over it. I had memories of being ten again, when I cut into the pie before Christmas dinner the year Grandma and Grandpa Gordon were coming.” Jack shook his head as he reminisced.
Jimmy laughed. “You think you would have learned not to touch Mama’s pies after that time. If I remember correctly, you couldn’t sit down that Christmas.”
Jack rubbed his butt with the memory. “I learned. I just thought that when I turned thirty Mama couldn’t smack me anymore.”
“Well then, boy, you still have a lot left to learn. Mama can smack you no matter how old you are.”
Jack rolled his eyes, shadowed beneath the brim of his cowboy hat. “I never thought I’d say this, but going back to the commander will be an improvement over living with Mama for two weeks.”
Jimmy snorted. “How do you think I feel? I’ve been here a hell of a lot longer than you. When I first got out of the hospital, she wouldn’t even let me go to the toilet. She tried to make me use a bedpan. She was going to help me do it too. How would you like to be thirty-four and have your mama helping you take a piss or a dump?”
“All right, you win with the worst ‘living with Mama’ story. It’ll be good to get back to base for both of us.”
“Amen.” Jimmy agreed wholeheartedly on that one.
“Ooo, eee. Look at the hot number getting out of that limo. I never had me a redhead.”
Ignoring the object of Jack’s attention, Jimmy turned to glare at his brother. “You’ve got yourself a pretty hot brunette. What the hell, Jack?”
Jack frowned. “Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch. I’m only looking. Nicki’s the only girl I want. I’m just saying, I wonder if redheads are, you know, red all over.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
A horrible and wonderful image flashed through Jimmy’s mind of smooth skin punctuated by red curls that he’d never see again.
“They are,” Jimmy said.
Jack opened his eyes wide. “Whoa. Tell me everything.”
“No.” Jimmy turned away to make sure Jack knew he was serious. He wasn’t going to kiss and tell.
While he was pointedly ignoring his brother, he let his gaze wonder to the parking area near the house. That’s when he saw her and nearly choked on the piece of straw he’d been chewing on.
Next to one limo stood the redhead Jack had been ogling.
His redhead. Lia.
Jimmy’s mouth got so dry he had trouble swallowing. His pulse pounded so loud he wouldn’t be surprised if Jack heard it.
Even though Jimmy’s world had stopped dead at the sight of Lia, the rest of the universe kept on going. At that point, everyone who was expected must have arrived, because Jared walked up to the podium and began speaking into the microphone he’d borrowed from the Rotary Club.
Jimmy had no idea what his brother was saying. He only had eyes for Lia, who was escorted by the same VIP she’d been with at the party.
Was she his press secretary or something? He hoped so, because the thought that Lia could have been dating some older-than-dirt politician at the same time she’d had amazing sex with him made Jimmy ill.
Jared announced the names of a whole bunch of people Jimmy had no interest in. Finally, Jared got to the old guy and Lia and introduced them as Governor Carrington and—holy shit!—his lovely daughter, Amelia.
“Hey, doesn’t the hot redhead look kind of familiar? Where have I seen her before?” Jack’s attention was glued to the podium too. When Jimmy didn’t answer, he turned to him. “Jimmy. Hey, you a’ight?”
Not trusting his voice, Jimmy nodded as his brother continued to frown until recognition set in.
Jack’s eyes bulged. “The redhead was at that party. The night you went AWOL to get laid at the Hilton right before you left for Kosovo. Holy crap. Bro, you had sex with the governor’s daughter?”
“Shhh,” Jimmy hissed and glanced around to see if any of the farmhands were near enough to hear them. “And how the hell do you know about where I was that night? Damn gossiping Matt.”
“Don’t blame Matt. He’s usually a vault when it comes to this kind of stuff. But I know the combination to Matt’s vault. Bourbon.” Jack smiled. “So she’s how you know redheads are red all over. Did you know whose daughter she was when you were ah, you know?”
“No.” Jimmy ran his hands over his face.
This was a mess. Of all the many, many times he’d imagined seeing Lia again, it was never like this.
Jack snorted. “As if you knowing would have stopped you. Who are you kidding? Look at her. She could have been the devil’s own daughter and you still would have done it.”
Jimmy certainly wasn’t kidding himself about that. Jack was right. He wouldn’t have cared who she was at that point.
In fact, it probably would have made it even more exciting since he had no love of the current administration. The question was what the hell was he going to do now?
Hiding came to mind. So did grabbing her behind the big-ass limo parked by the house and kissing the hell out of her.
He’d have to make up his mind between the two somehow and soon, because it appeared as if Jared was about to give the entire group a tour of the barns, and walking next to his youngest brother was none other than Amelia Carrington herself.
CHAPTER 9
Lia walked toward one of the horse barns for the grand tour alongside Jared Gordon, heir apparent of Gordon Equine.
He was handsome, polite and he lived and breathed horses. She had learned that about him already. Although, after a few long boring dinners with the senator’s son where he talked of nothing but his political aspirations, horses would be a nice change of topic.
She glanced sideways at the young Mr. Gordon. Too bad when she pictured getting hot and sweaty with a man, it was always James who came to mind.
Hmm. Now that she thought about it, this guy reminded her a bit of James. Same warm brown hair with golden highlights. Same hazel eyes swirled with flecks of gold and green. Same drawl in his speech.
But the one big dissimilarity, the deal-breaker, was the fact that when she looked at Jared, her heart didn’t pump until she felt dizzy. Not like it did when she’d seen James standing in the hallway in front of the elevator that led to the presidential suite that night so many months ago.
She sighed at the memory.
How pitiful was she? In fact, it was all she could do to prevent herself from searching through her old cell-phone calls to try to find James’s phone number so she could call him. Would an incoming number still be on there after six months? Maybe she should check.
Amelia Monroe-Carrington, calling a man. This must be what happened when a woman turned thirty.
What was that statistic she’d heard? Something like a woman was more likely to get hit by a truck than married after the age of thirty?
Humph. She could get married tomorrow to John Dickson if she wanted to, but thinking about who the candidate was, she’d rather get hit by a truck.
She brought her attention back to the tour of the farm. Jared was explaining something about his philosophies regarding natural breeding versus artificial insemination, all of which were going right over her head.
Lia smiled and nodded, a skill she’d perfected young. She was doing a good job of pretending she knew what he was talking about until she glanced up and spotted a man who literally knocked her right off her designer pumps.
Just as she was about to take a header in the dirt, James treated her to the crooked smile she remembered so well from that night and caught her by both arms.
“Easy there, darlin’.”
“You all right, Miss Amelia?” Jared was next to her in an instant, glancing at the floor, probably to see what she’d tripped over besides her own feet and shock.
She managed to nod a response to his question as she began to tremble simply from being in James’s presence again.
Lia stared up at him for what seemed like an eternity as Jared continued, “Miss Amelia. This is my oldest brother Jimmy, and my second oldest brother Jack.”
Jared made the introductions that delivered the second shock of the day. James the waiter was really Jimmy Gordon, as in Gordon Equine?
She finally managed to break her gaze from him and see the man next to him. When she looked closer at the brother under the cowboy hat, she found he was actually the cleavage-gazing bartender from the party where she’d met James—make that Jimmy. She turned back to him.
Gathering her composure, she straightened her spine and extended her hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Jimmy.”
Her voice may have been cordial, but she sincerely hoped her narrowed eyes said what she was really thinking. That being, what the hell were two successful horse breeders doing playing at being wait staff miles away and why hadn’t James—or rather Jimmy, called her after their night together?
“The pleasure is all mine.” He smirked, apparently unaffected by her subtle censure.
“We’re taking a tour of the breeding barns. You two wanna tag along?” Jared invited his brothers, not knowing what their mere presence was doing to her.
Torn between wanting to never let him out of her sight again and wanting to be as far away from him as she could get, Lia waited for the answer.
“Sure. I’d love to tag along.” His gaze ne
ver leaving her face, Jimmy smiled, which seemed to be the default expression for him. He offered his arm to her. “Miss Amelia?”
She only nodded. At the moment, she wasn’t sure her voice would function. Swallowing hard, she placed her hand in the crook of his warm, muscular arm.
The group moved on and Jimmy made a show of following, but it wasn’t long before she found herself pulled off into a deserted part of the barn.
When they were alone together, he grabbed her face with both hands.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to do this.” He grinned and then kissed her.
Hard. Demanding. He took possession of her mouth and, to her horror, she responded.
She kissed him back until she was breathless and she enjoyed it, until the relief over seeing him again was replaced with the anger and hurt she’d been harboring for six months.
Pulling away, she punched him in the arm. “Stop that, you bastard. I’m mad at you. Why didn’t you call me?”
Oh well, so much for her plan to act cool and aloof if she ever saw him again.
A fly probably would have bothered him more than her hitting him had. Smiling, he captured both her hands in his and kissed them, one by one.
Drawing in a deep breath, he let it out in a sigh. “Ah, darlin’, I wanted to. Believe me. I hate to say it, but we both know what that night together was. You’re the governor’s daughter. If I had called, you probably would have changed your phone number and gotten a restraining order.”
“That’s not true.” If it were, he’d never have been able to inflict six months of torture on her. Lia disengaged herself from his grasp and folded her arms. “You don’t know me at all.”
“Sure, I know you.” Jimmy stepped closer and pinned her between his rock hard body and a wall of stacked hay bales. “I know the cute little way you snore when you fall asleep after making love.”
He leaned down, rested his big hands on her waist and kissed his way down her neck before continuing, “I know you have a tiny tattoo of a heart on your right ass cheek, and now that I’m aware of who you are, I’m pretty sure Daddy knows nothing about it. And I know exactly how to touch you to make you come.” His voice dipped lower and if possible, got even sexier.
