by Cat Johnson
“I’ve often thought that myself.” Jared laughed. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to let you know if I do.”
Jared watched Sue Ann still chatting up the waitress and wondered if he ever dared eat here again. Since this was the only diner around for miles, his choices were pretty limited.
Of a more immediate concern, he figured the chances of getting a refill on his coffee today were slim to none.
After glancing into his near empty mug, Jared looked up at Bobby. “What day does your sister work here?”
“Why?” Bobby frowned. His voice held a deep, menacing tone.
Bobby was very protective of his little sister. Jared couldn’t really blame him. Lizzie Barton was the single mother of a nine-year-old son.
Jared also knew—hell, everybody did—that there was a bit of history between the Bartons and the Gordons. Jared’s brother Jack and Bobby’s other sister, Mary Sue, had had some wild times back in high school. However, Mary Sue was not the sister in question here and as far as Jared knew, no Gordon man had ever messed with Lizzie Barton.
“Relax. Jeez, Bobby. You know she’s like a sister to me too. I just figure it might not be safe to come here for a while unless Lizzie serves me since you-know-who is so chummy with the other waitress.” Jared kept his voice low and cocked a head in the direction of Sue Ann.
She turned from the counter and walked past their table with a withering glare.
Bobby broke into a grin again, which was as bad as an I told you so, maybe worse. Bobby followed Sue Ann out the door with his gaze before looking back to Jared. “Be afraid, my friend. Be very afraid.”
Jared rolled his eyes. “Thanks a lot. You’re so helpful.”
Bobby scooped the last of his pie into his mouth, slurped one more sip of coffee and stood. Digging into his pocket, he threw some cash on the table. “If it’s safe to leave you unprotected from the woman scorned, I gotta get back to work now.”
Jared scowled. As if Bobby didn’t take hour-long coffee breaks all day long, but actually he should get back to the farm himself.
“All right.” Jared nodded, finishing the last of his own pie. He longed for another sip of hot coffee to go with the last bite of pie but knew he wasn’t going to get it. He called after his friend, “Check on Lizzie’s schedule for me.”
He heard Bobby laughing as the door swung shut behind him.
Jared added more money to what was already on the table and was about to leave when he thought better of it. He wouldn’t put it past Misty, as one of Sue Ann’s closest friends, to accuse him of not paying his check.
You never knew what a woman would do for another woman to get back at a man. It was practically a global conspiracy.
He gathered up the check, Bobby’s cash and his own, and carried it all up to the cash register.
What had this world come to that a man couldn’t enjoy his pie in peace without fear of retribution?
Jared had been so involved with his paranoia over Sue Ann that he’d failed to notice the stranger who now stood at the counter, tapping her foot like a jackhammer against the scratched and faded linoleum floor.
He raised a brow with interest. They didn’t get many strangers in Pigeon Hollow. By the looks of her, she didn’t come from any of the towns nearby either.
His first clue was that she was dressed in a suit, long-sleeved jacket and all, in spite of the summer heat.
Just from that alone he could tell she was someone who usually spent her days in an air-conditioned office somewhere.
Second, she was so impatient she was practically vibrating. Locals knew things moved at a different pace in the South, especially in the heat of the summer.
The stranger was huffing and puffing and shooting dagger-filled looks at the waitress, who bused his table while she ignored them both at the counter.
Jared knew he was the reason they were being ignored, so he did feel a bit bad for the stranger who’d gotten caught in the crosshairs. Being a Southern gentleman, born and bred, he decided to step in and help the woman in need.
It didn’t hurt his decision that she was sexy as hell or that new females were nearly non-existent around here.
Jared adjusted his cowboy hat and took a good look at her ass in that skirt as he did. “What do ya’ need, darlin’?”
She spun to look at him. “You work here?”
“No, but I’ll yell to Mac back there. He’ll get it for you.” The owner of the diner was in the kitchen cooking. Jared could see him through the opening in the wall.
“All I want is a cup of coffee to go. Since I haven’t seen a Starbucks anywhere, I’d hoped I could get one here.” She glanced one more time at the waitress who still hadn’t acknowledged their presence.
Thinking more caffeine was probably the last thing this tightly strung babe needed, Jared nodded. “You surely can. Best coffee in town.”
He didn’t add that it was also practically the only coffee in town, if you didn’t count the pot of questionable aged brew always on at the gas station.
Take-out coffee that came in one of those squashy Styrofoam sorry-excuses for a cup didn’t appeal to him. He liked a real mug. Something a man could wrap his hands around.
Come to think of it, that was the quality he looked for in a woman too.
Jared leaned over the counter. “Hey, Mac. This little lady here wants a coffee to go.”
“Where’s Misty?” Mac’s growled response came from the back. Looking hot and cranky, he peered out of the pass-through between the kitchen and the counter.
Jared glanced at the waitress and decided not to dig his own grave any deeper with her by telling Mac she was ignoring him on purpose. “Uh, she’s busy.”
Mac grumbled his way to the front and poured coffee into a to-go cup, shoving a plastic lid, the cream and the sugar across the counter toward her.
As citified and impatient as she’d acted at first, Mac’s gruffness seemed to put the stranger on her best behavior. “Thank you so much. How much do I owe you?”
“Just the coffee?” Mac asked.
“The coffee and directions, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Coffee is seventy-five. Directions are free.” He grinned. It seemed that even gruff old Mac had started to warm up to her.
She was a looker, in a perfect, polished, city sort of way. Sleek blonde hair, cut in what he supposed was a fashionable style. Pretty blue eyes. Perfect nails painted in pale pink with the white edges showing.
“Seventy-five cents?” Her eyes widened with surprise.
Jared noticed she had four single dollar bills in her hand.
Four dollars for one cup of coffee? She was definitely a city person.
She put down one dollar on the counter and pushed it toward Mac. “Keep the change.”
“Thanks. Now where do you need to go?” Mac shoved the money in the register drawer.
Jared took that opportunity to slide his own check and the cash onto the counter. His hand stopped dead when he heard the woman say, “Gordon Equine? It’s a horse farm. Do you know it?”
Mac raised a brow and glanced sideways at Jared. “Sure do. And what business do you have with the Gordons, pretty lady? You in the market for a stud?”
Now it was her turn to raise a brow. She pursed her lips, as if considering. “Perhaps.”
Mac’s gruff laugh turned into a cough. He cocked his head in Jared’s direction. “This here fella can give you directions. I got something on the stove.”
Jared was left wondering what this tough cookie from the city could possibly want with him.
He decided not to tip his hand just yet. When she turned to him expectantly, he gave her directions all right, the long way to the farm, which would give him just enough time to arrive right before her.
Sure, it was juvenile, but hell, he had to make his own entertainment around Pigeon Hollow. Who better to make it with than a pretty blonde stranger who might possibly be in the market for a Gordon stud?
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A huge thanks goes to Sean Abbott, whose real-life Army training provided the details for the opening scene of Trey. Any mistakes made or liberties taken with the facts are purely my own.
ABOUT CAT JOHNSON
A top 10 New York Times bestselling author, Cat Johnson writes the USA Today bestselling Hot SEALs series, as well as contemporary romance featuring sexy alpha heroes who often wear cowboy or combat boots. Known for her creative marketing, Cat has sponsored bull-riding cowboys, used bologna to promote her romance novels, and owns a collection of camouflage and cowboy boots for book signings. She writes both full length and shorter works.
For more visit CatJohnson.net
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COPYRIGHT
Red Blooded written by Cat Johnson
Published by Cat Johnson
© 2017 Cat Johnson
Cover by Rebekah Zink
All Rights Reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission by the publisher.
www.CatJohnson.net
Previously Published Editions:
Trilogy No.103: Red Hot & Blue© 2007 Cat Johnson
Trey© 2010 Cat Johnson
Jack© 2010 Cat Johnson
Jimmy© 2010 Cat Johnson
Red Blooded© 2012 Cat Johnson
