“She doesn’t need someone who is going to ride out of her life when the going gets tough.”
Good for Joey, taking care of Carla. A few months ago, Butch couldn’t have said where he would be the next day, the next week. He couldn’t make the promise then that he could now. He had finally come home and the voice in his head had quieted. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna stick around as long as Carla will have me.”
“She can be a tough nut to crack. She puts off this air of always being happy but there’s a lot more to her. Stuff she buries pretty deep down.”
In that way, Butch and Carla were alike. “Are you a bartender or a shrink?”
“A little bit of both, I guess. We have all come to love Carla and don’t want to see her hurt.”
Neither did he. When Carla shared some of what she kept hidden, his heart ached. For the little girl who sat at home alone, for the young woman who left boyfriends before they could leave her, and for the woman whose boyfriend left her stranded in a strange town. Not anymore. As far as Butch was concerned, no one would ever leave her again. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll tread lightly, and I have no intention of leaving her.” Ever.
A man yelled through the window. “Burgers up.”
“That’s your order. Just remember I’ll be watching.”
Butch stood. “Carla’s lucky to have such good friends.”
He grabbed the dishes and headed back to upstairs.
“Dinner’s served,” he announced as he entered her living room. She didn’t answer. He rounded the couch. Carla had slouched down, her head propped on her hand. Her chest rose and fell in a steady beat.
What he wouldn’t give to curl up beside her, the heat of her body on his. He could take her in his arms and show her that he would stay by her side forever. But if she didn’t eat and take her medication, she’d be hurting in the morning. For once, she would have someone who put her feelings before their own.
He set the plates on the table and propped on the edge of the couch. She didn’t stir. He leaned over and brushed her lips lightly, taking just a little taste.
She groaned but didn’t open her eyes.
He kissed down her cheek until he hovered over her ear. “Carla, baby, wake up.”
She groaned again, and this time, her hands snaked around his neck and she dragged him on top of her. Her lips trailed down his cheek.
Maybe she had the same idea. He laughed and pushed up. “Carla, honey. You need to eat first.”
She squeezed him tighter. “Hmmm. I have all I want right here.”
His erection grew painfully thick. A few more minutes of her soft body against his and he’d be completely gone. Maybe a quickie. In just a few seconds, he could be inside her. But she deserved better than that. They deserved better than that. He gritted his teeth and sat up.
“After dinner. Food first.”
She laughed and smacked him across the chest then cupped her injured hand. “Ow.”
He pulled the top off a bottle and handed her a pill. “Here, take this. It’ll help the pain. You shouldn’t take the medication on an empty stomach, though, so… eat.”
She took her pill and then settled her burger on her lap. He sank onto the couch beside her. They were eating dinner together, like a date. As far as he was concerned, the first of many.
Carla bit into her burger and spoke around the food in her mouth. “How did you get into motorcycles?”
He swiped his mouth and then reached out to dab at a spot of ketchup in the corner of hers. He followed the napkin with a quick kiss, his tongue darting out to lick any remaining ketchup.
She laughed. “Are you trying to distract me?”
“Maybe…”
“Well, it’s not working.” She ate another bite.
He dipped a fry in ketchup. Motorcycles were a safe, easy topic. When he was working on a bike, there was always a solution, he could always fix what was wrong. People were much more complicated. Something that should work doesn’t always, and people die. “I always liked to tinker with machines. I tore apart a computer when I was about ten. My dad was a mechanic and he taught me how to work on engines. When I was still a teen, I bought this old beat up motorcycle and my dad and I gave the bike a complete overhaul. I was hooked.”
“That sounds like a good memory.”
Some of his favorite times growing up involved working in the garage alongside his father. “It is.”
“Are your parents still around?”
“Yeah. They live outside of Atlanta. Dad is retired now, but he still works on restoring engines as a hobby.” And Butch hadn’t even visited them during his trip. He couldn’t bear the scrutiny. His parents could always see beneath the surface to what he hid from them.
She sighed and her eyes filled with regret.
Here he was talking about his parents and she didn’t have any memories of her father, and her memories of her mother were anything but good.
Just as soon as the sad look crossed her face, it was gone. Just like Joey had said—she put on a brave face. She popped a French fry in her mouth. “So how did you land in Oak Grove?”
“I did my internship in a major urban ER in Atlanta. Our patients were a steady stream of gunshot victims, stabbings…” He drew in a deep breath and took a bite of his burger. After the years he spent there, he’d never be able to forget the desperate victims of senseless crimes, the homeless who suffered frostbite over the winter. “I couldn’t stand the desperation anymore. I wanted to work somewhere I could make a difference.”
“And did you find peace here?”
Did he? Until the little girl a few months ago, he could say a confident yes. Now, maybe... “I think so. I insulated myself here, where bad things didn’t happen.”
Carla covered his hand. “People sometimes die, even kids. Even when you do everything right.”
He took a deep breath and held it in. If only that would shove the pain away. “I guess.”
“Tell me about a good case.”
He thought back but every time he tried to picture a good case, the bloody body of the little girl flashed in his mind, the mournful wails of her mother filled his ears as she beat on his chest. He shook his head. This shouldn’t be so difficult. He’d had a lot of good cases in his career, he just let one bad one overshadow all the good. He finally thought of one that brought a smile to his face. “A few years back, a teenager came in with a nagging cough. She’d tried everything and nothing worked. Something was not quite right. We took some X-rays and diagnosed thyroid cancer.”
“Oh my gosh, she was just a kid.”
Not much older than the girl that died. But in this case, he’d been able to help. “Yeah, but because we caught the cancer early enough, they were able to operate and remove the tumor completely. She has to take a pill every day for the rest of her life, but she’s otherwise living a normal life. I heard she’s in college now and studying to be a nurse.”
He smiled at the thought of the young lady going on to help other patients like her. “Thank you for making me remember. It’s so easy to get bogged down by the bad that you forget the great.” He’d helped a lot of patients, like Sally after the sledding accident yesterday, and Carla today. Why had he let one grieving mother make him question what he could do for others?
She set her plate on the table, then his. With her hands cupped around his cheeks, she kissed him. “There’s a whole lot of good in the world. You just need to look for it and keep focused on it, especially when bad things happen.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist. “How do you have such a positive outlook on life. I mean, considering how rough your childhood was?”
“I have a positive attitude because of my childhood. When I left home, I told myself I wasn’t going to let anything that happened around me change my mood. I told myself I was going to be happy, and I kept telling myself that. That’s how I choose to live my life. I find the good. I’ve got a great job, a fantastic boss, and…” she mo
tioned to the room around her, “this awesome place to live. My cup is way more than half full.”
Carla was like a ray of sunshine brightening everything around her. He ran his hands up the soft skin of her arms, letting the simple stroke calm his racing heart. He played with the soft skin of her neck and tickled beneath her ear, that spot that had her squirming the other night. Her eyes fluttered closed and she leaned into his hand. How did he end up here with this beautiful woman? He leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers.
She snaked her arms around him. But he stopped and moved away from her. “We are not making love on this couch again.”
In one quick movement, he swept her into his arms and stumbled down the hall.
Chapter Twelve
THREE DAYS AGO, Butch had left Carla without a word. Just like every other person in her life. Now, he was here with her and saying and doing all the right things. She’d told him more about her childhood than she ever had to another soul before. The trust in his eyes was intoxicating. She couldn’t keep secrets from this man.
She opened her arms and he came to her, his body stretched over her. He cupped her breast, teasing her nipple into a stiff peak before lowering his mouth and sucking her nipple into his mouth through her thin T-shirt. The heat and moisture of his mouth teased her nipple until it pebbled. He turned his attention to her other breast until an ache built deep in her gut.
She frantically pulled at his shirt. “Take it off. I want to feel your skin against mine.”
He sat up, his knees on either side of her, and tugged his shirt out of his pants, slowly unbuttoning one button at a time. What was taking him so long? As he bared each new patch of skin, she ran her fingers along his abs, tracing the hills and valleys. She licked him, the salty, musky taste bursting on her tongue. She raised her head and their gazes locked, his eyes hooded as he removed his shirt.
“Your turn.” He pulled her T-shirt over her head then reached behind her back to release her bra. The cool air blew over her nipples and all of a sudden, she felt exposed under his scrutiny. That didn’t last long, though, when he brought her to him, his chest hair brushing against her sensitive skin. “God, you feel so good.”
He lowered them to the bed, then proceeded to lick and kiss his way down her body. The brush of his beard on her skin sent tingles down her spine. And oh, God, his talented tongue. He licked between her breasts while his hands stroked her nipples. She squirmed and tried to get closer to him, to have her entire body feel the pleasure he was heaping on her breasts.
After circling her naval, he worked his way lower. He reached around her back and fiddled for a minute before pulling her apron off. In another minute, her jeans and panties joined the rest of the clothes on the floor and she lay bare.
All of a sudden, this wasn’t such a good idea. She’d fallen into bed with Butch so quickly the other night, and he’d left her. Could she trust him not to leave her again?
He shifted beside her, his head propped on his hand, his other one stroking her hip. “You’re so beautiful, Carla. I can’t believe I’m here with you.”
How did she respond to the awe in his voice?
She answered with her body, stroking his impressive length through his jeans. His head flopped back and he moaned.
“You like that?”
“I like anything you want to do to me.”
She licked her lips. She had a few ideas. “Oh yeah?”
She pushed him onto his back and straddled him then stroked up his chest, the muscles clenching beneath her fingers. His cock twitched beneath her, each throb sending jolts through her. She ground her naked core into him and he groaned again. His hands fell to her sides and gripped the sheets.
She slid her hands to his waist and pulled his buckle. In the past, undressing a man had been about getting naked as quickly as possible. But with Butch, watching each piece of clothing fall away was part of the experience. She slowly drew the belt off his pants and dangled the leather in front of his face. “Hmm, I have some ideas for this. Maybe later.”
His eyes widened and he gripped her hips. “I can’t wait.”
She unbuttoned his pants and drew his zipper down, one click at a time, her gaze locked on him. His jaw clenched and his hands gripped the sheet tighter.
His cock twitched and he moaned.
She spread open his pants and pulled at the elastic of his boxers. His cock sprang to life in her hand. She cupped him with her palm, squeezing his thickness and running her thumb along the underside.
“Oh, God. More.”
She’d give him more, alright. She’d never been in this position before. A man willing to yield total control to her was intimidating and incredibly erotic. She licked her palm and wrapped her hand around him, stroking once and again before taking him into her mouth.
Her lips stretched around him, his musky taste and thickness filling her mouth. She pulled back, stroking her tongue on the base of his cock, her hand squeezing along the way. He shifted on the bed, but kept his hands still. Every one of his muscles was tense and his jaw was clenched.
Her tongue circled the head, spreading the drop of moisture that came out before taking him in her mouth again.
He moaned and gripped her head as his cock pulsed against her tongue. She squeezed her hand, stroking as she moved her mouth up and down, giving him some of the pleasure he’d given her.
“Enough.” He pulled her off him and slammed his lips onto hers. His tongue invaded her mouth, sweeping and thrusting, as his fingers found her core. He stroked inside her, his fingers frantically parting her moist folds and stroking her sensitive skin until she writhed above him.
“Condom…”
She motioned toward the nightstand. He grabbed a foil pack and sheathed himself. Without removing his jeans, he lifted her and drove into her.
“Oh, God.”
His cock drove deep inside her, sliding along her G-spot and sending jolts through her body. Her muscles tingled and her breathing grew rapid. The two of them found an easy rhythm, their hearts settling into the same steady beat. They worked together, giving and taking.
Finally, she’d found a man that trusted her to support him. By Butch telling her about the little girl he lost, she could share his burden. And he could share hers.
She lifted up on her knees, then sank down again.
Butch moaned, his deep voice washing over her and soothing her remaining nerves.
With his hands on her hips, he guided her movements but didn’t restrict her. For so much of her life, she’d been unable to control her destiny. To stop people from leaving her. Butch was different. By letting her take charge, he gave her control in her own life.
She pressed her hands onto his chest, sitting up higher and pressing him deeper into her. Her channel tightened and every nerve ending in her sparked as she reached for release. Just a few more strokes and she’d tumble over the edge. He stroked her clit faster and faster as she moved on his cock, her body tightening like a string within her until it broke. Her muscles tensed and she cried out.
He kept driving into her, rubbing her clit faster. Her head fell back and her breasts bounced as she rode out the sensations coursing through her body. Butch groaned and squeezed her hips, holding her tight, his cock pulsing inside her as they toppled over the edge together.
She collapsed her sweaty body over his heaving chest. Their sweat, their bodies, and their souls together as one. Carla had found her home and it wasn’t a place, but this man. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and brought his mouth to her hair.
His heart raced beneath her cheek, just as fast as hers, as they came down from their release. Together. Finally, he rolled onto his side and withdrew, leaving the bed only long enough to take care of the condom. When he returned, he climbed into the bed and pulled her into his arms, his warmth wrapping her in a cocoon. He ran his finger along her shoulder until her eyelids grew heavy and she closed her eyes.
THE SUN REFLECTED off the snow and streamed throu
gh her lace curtains, splashing across her face. She squinted and adjusted to the brightness.
Carla turned over. Butch lay beside her, his head propped on his elbow and a quirky smile on his face.
She smiled back. “You stayed.”
“Of course I stayed.” He kissed her. “I’m so sorry I left you the other night. I promise to make it up to you.”
“I think maybe you did that last night.”
“Oh, baby, that was just the beginning. I have a lot more in store for you. I plan to be here every day, and every night, to show you no matter what, I’m never leaving you again.”
She smiled as he lowered his mouth to hers, his tongue tangling with hers, a promise of a new day, a new life, together.
I hope you enjoyed Butch and Carla’s story. Last Call is a prequel novella in the Oak Grove series fearing the Bennett family and their friends living in Oak Grove, PA. All of the stories are stand-alone complete stories with a guaranteed happily-ever-after. But come back over and over to see old friends and meet new ones.
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Turn the page for a sneak peek at the first chapter of One Last Risk, book 1 in Nancy’s Oak Grove Series.
ONE LAST RISK
Book 1in the Oak Grove Series
By: Nancy Stopper
CHAPTER ONE
Lucas Bennett’s hands shook, adrenaline coursing through his veins. When the engine pulled up, thick, gray smoke billowed out of the burning barn. Horses’ panicked whinnies and mournful cries from the family filled the air. By the time his crew hustled to establish the perimeter and pour water on the fire, it would be too late. There wasn’t time. Flames darting out the barn’s doors and the melted holes in the metal shingles on the roof didn’t matter. He couldn’t let the beast take everything from this family.
Last Call_A Small-Town Romance Page 8
