Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set

by Grover Swank, Denise

  I lifted an eyebrow on a smile and returned, “You make tacos?”

  One corner of his mouth hooked up as he glanced back at me over his shoulder. “You’d be surprised. I make a lotta different stuff.”

  “I am surprised. Tattooed biker, Cannon Banks showing a hint of domesticity.” I sucked in a dramatic gasp. “But to answer your question, yes, I eat tacos.”

  “Smartass.” He chuckled again.

  I watched with rapt fascination as he browned the meat in a large skillet and began chopping the vegetables like a pro. “Did Bev teach you to cook?”

  The knife in his hand paused so he could let out a large bark of laughter. “Christ, no. My mom has many talents, but cooking isn’t one of them. I learned from my dad. He even tried teachin’ her, but the lessons didn’t take.”

  The shock of that registered across my face. “Banks can cook?”

  “Yep. My biker pop passed it down to his biker kid.” He shot me a wink. “It’s one of the things that drew her to my old man in the first place, and it’s what keeps her from killin’ him or puttin’ his ass out on the street when he does somethin’ stupid that pisses her off.”

  A giggled burst past my lips. “Really?”

  “Yeah.” He smiled over at me and resumed chopping. “To hear Ma tell it, only reason she’s stuck around this long was so she wouldn’t starve.”

  He knew as well as I did that Bev was full of it. I’d seen the two of them together, how they acted and looked at each other. I’d never seen a love like that between two people before.

  “My parents were never like that with each other.” At my words, Cannon’s head came up and he lowered the knife to the counter, giving me his undivided attention. “I’m not sure they ever loved each other. They were a good match. Dad had money and Mom came from a good family. That was the extent of the romance between them.”

  He rested his hands on the counter and leaned closer. “Tell me more.”

  I hated talking about my past, about the cold, loveless life I’d led, but I wanted to know him and I wanted him to know me in return, so I kept going. “I was engaged before coming here. It was a relationship just like my parents’. The second-best thing I ever did was leave him.”

  “And what was the first?” I’d expected him to ask more about Lance or my parents, but he didn’t. He didn’t push or ask me to delve deeper into that pain.

  I smiled, looking up from the water glass. “The first was coming here.”

  He went back to cooking, throwing spices into the meat. “You know, I’ve been wonderin’, why’d you choose this place? Why Redemption?”

  “Our driver, Bennett Montgomery, I came here because of him. He’s been working for my family since before I was born. Everyone else thought of him as just another employee, but my brother, Jase, and I have been closer to him than our own parents all our lives. He’s family to us. He’s from here, and I grew up with him telling me stories. When I left Connecticut, I came straight here. I’m trying to get him to retire and come back.”

  He looked at me with such tenderness it made my chest ache. “I’m glad you have someone like him, baby. And if it’s what you want, I hope it happens.”

  He finished cooking dinner, surprising me by going so far as to fry up corn tortillas into shells.

  We ate on his couch in front of the TV while watching some true crime show, and when we finished, Cannon pulled me into his side and held me close.

  It was, hands down, the best date I’d ever been on, and I couldn’t wait to see what came next.

  Chapter 18

  Farah

  “Okay, I know I said I was happy for you that Cannon got his head out of his ass, but this is getting ridiculous.”

  At the disgruntled comment, I turned from Buck to an agitated-looking Shane and lifted my brows. “Huh?”

  “It’s been a week, babe!” she cried, and when the befuddlement didn’t clear from my face, she blew out a breath and crossed her eyes dramatically. “We get it. The two of you are in the middle of riding that high that comes at the beginning of all new relationships, but he’s been in here almost every night since you got together, and having to watch you two makin’ googly eyes at each other is just a glaring reminder that I haven’t had sex in way too long.”

  “And on that note, I’m out,” Buck declared. He tucked the white towel he’d used to wipe the bar down into the waistband of his jeans, then he spun on one boot and bailed to the other end of the bar, waving over his head when I called out, “Coward!” on a laugh.

  I turned back to my friend and caught her staring over at the pool tables with a frown on her face. “Oh, come on. We aren’t that bad.”

  She blew out a huff and rolled her eyes dramatically. “Please,” she scoffed. “He’s looking at you right now like he’s undressing you with his mind.”

  Sure enough, when I peeked in the direction his direction, Cannon was staring at me—or more to the point, my ass—just like Shane said. I felt that look through my entire body before it centered deep in my core.

  As if sensing my gaze on him, Cannon’s eyes traveled up, and when they landed on mine, he gave me a wink that made my nipples tighten.

  “Dear Lord. If you two don’t stop eye fucking each other, I’m gonna spray you both with a hose.”

  I threw my head back on a laugh. I couldn’t remember a time before moving to Redemption where I’d ever laughed so hard or so long that the poor, unused muscles in my stomach ached from being over-exerted.

  “I’m sorry, honey,” I said once I was able to speak past the lingering giggles. “I promise I’ll try and do better.”

  She scowled, but there was no fire in her eyes. “Uh huh. You’ve officially succumbed to the Cannon Effect. Hate to break it to you, sweetie, but you’re a lost cause.”

  We broke apart after that. She went to her section, and I went to mine. Once my tables were taken care of, I moved over to the pool tables.

  “Hey guys, how’s everything going up here? You need anything?”

  “I need somethin’,” Cannon rumbled, just before grabbing hold of my hips and yanking me onto his lap. He leaned in to kiss me, and in spite of how much I wanted that, for Shane’s sake, I forced myself to pull back before our lips had a chance to connect.

  After all, she kind of had a point. For the past week, we’d made out and fooled around like a couple of horny teenagers every chance we got. If one touch from him wasn’t enough to make my brain malfunction, I might have been embarrassed by how we were acting, but damn if I could find it in me to care.

  The only bad thing casting a shadown on the past week was the fact that I still hadn’t found the nerve to take things further. However, every time things started to get too intense, before I had a chance to panic or freak out, Cannon would stop us. I couldn’t be certain, but it almost seemed like he sensed I needed to take things slow.

  “Ah, ah. None of that here,” I chided. “Shane threatened to hose us down if we didn’t knock it off, and I think she’s serious.”

  His fingers pressed into my hips on a soft chuckle. “Fine. Then how about you let me teach you to play pool? That way I can press up against you all I want, and she can’t say shit about it ’cause I’ll have the perfect excuse.”

  I gave him a teasing smile as I rose from his lap. “Aw, it’s sweet you think you can teach me anything I don’t already know when it comes to pool.”

  “Oh hell, son,” Banks hooted, along with the rest of the guys at their tables. “Do my ears deceive me, or did your girl here just issue you a challenge?”

  Cannon’s eyes didn’t move from me. His mouth drew up in a smirk so sinful I felt the promise of it in my bones as he pushed to his feet and braced his palms on the table. “Is that what you did, baby? You just challenge me?”

  I rested my hands on my hips and squared off with my man. “If that’s how you want to take it.”

  He didn’t take his gaze off of mine as he called out loud enough for most everyone in the bar to he
ar, “Darla! Farah’s on a break!”

  "She’s still got ten minutes!” my boss returned just as loudly.

  “She did, until she challenged my skills at pool. Now I gotta teach her a lesson!”

  Darla’s only response was to laugh long and loud.

  When Cannon addressed me again, he lowered his voice in that smooth, silky way that drove me crazy. “All right, my little hummingbird. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  This was going to be fun.

  * * *

  I went to the wall and chose a cue while Cannon racked the balls, doing my best to hold my smile in. I loved how confident Cannon could be, but it was going to be so much fun, kicking his ass.

  I’d never played before I started working at the bar back in college, but it was just one of those things. You heard stories of people sitting down at pianos for the first time and they just knew how to play. Well, it was kind of like that with me and pool. I picked up a cue and discovered I was good. I was damn good. And I was about to teach my boyfriend a thing or two.

  Moving back to the table, I noticed that we’d drawn a crowd. Not only were all the guys gathered around, but a lot of the customers had joined them, including Jeb Franklin and a handful of other regulars.

  Cannon shot me a cocky smile and grabbed his own cue. “You ready?”

  “Yep.”

  “Good. I’ll try to take it easy on you, and since I’m a gentleman, I’ll even let you break.”

  I tsked and shook my head. “You’re gonna regret that, honey.”

  “I got fifty on the beautiful Farah,” Banks called out a second later, then started taking bets from the people around him.

  “Really, old man?” Cannon shot to his dad. Banks just shrugged his shoulders and kept collecting money.

  He watched me from across the table, and I had to admit, the heated look in his eyes made me a little unsteady, but somehow I managed to shake it off and line up my shot. A second later, I pocketed two balls. Standing tall, I looked across at Cannon, enjoying the shock that registered on his handsome face. “Oh look. I got two of those stripey ones in the holes. That’s good, right?”

  His smile fell as the people all around hooted and laughed. “All right, smartass. Just take your shot.”

  I did just that, and the next three after. I missed the fifth shot, and I watched Cannon pocket three. He was pretty good, I’d give him that. But I was better.

  The table was nearly clear less than ten minutes later. Cannon still had one solid on the table, all I had was the eight ball.

  I was studying the table when Cannon came up behind me, and I felt his breath tickle my neck as he spoke quietly. “Tough play, Hummingbird. Think you can make it?”

  He wasn’t wrong. There was no good shot to take. Pocketing the eight ball was going to be tricky.

  Looking at him over my shoulder, I trailed my eyes from his lips to his eyes, feeling that zing I felt every time I looked at him. “I’m not worried.”

  “Then how about we make this more interestin’?”

  His eyes darkened and my chest shook on an inhale. “Yeah? What did you have in mind?”

  He leaned even closer, placing his lips right against my ear and making me shiver as he spoke. “If I win, you’re comin’ home with me tonight.”

  My skin suddenly felt too tight. The noise in the bar muted to a dull murmur as Cannon became the only thing I could focus on. “And if I win?”

  “Whatever you want, Farah. All you gotta do is name it.”

  Having issued his challenge, he backed up and gave me room to move. I had to clear my throat in order to speak. Pointing to the corner pocket closest to me, I called my final shot. “Eight ball, left corner pocket.”

  “Ah hell!” Scooter shouted. “That shot’s impossible. Girl’s gonna lose me a hundred bucks!”

  “Shut your goddamn mouth and let her focus,” Banks boomed, smacking his buddy upside the back of his head, before turning to me with a nod. “Take your time, sweetheart.”

  I gave him a smile, then bent to the table. My cue hit its target perfectly. The cue ball slammed into the eight, sending it flying down the table, it bounced off the edge just as I’d hoped, and came sailing back toward me. Then it fell right into the pocket I called.

  “Fuck yeah!” Banks crowed. “That’s my girl!”

  The people who bet on me cheered as they collected their money while the ones who bet on Cannon grumbled at the loss of cash. But while all that happened, I only had eyes for a certain tall, tattooed blond.

  He shook his head and chuckled, reaching out and snagging me by my wrist to pull me into an embrace. “Well, aren’t you just full of surprises? Who knew my girl could hustle like that?.”

  “I didn’t hustle you,” I said on a grin as I leaned deeper into him. “I gave you fair warning. You just chose not to listen.”

  Cannon lowered his head, causing his lips to brush against mine as he said, “Well, you won fair and square then. So name your prize, Hummingbird.”

  I smiled huge and told him exactly what I wanted, even though it scared the hell out of me. “To go home with you tonight.”

  I felt the vibrations of his growl rattle through my chest, and I’d have given anything in that moment for my shift to be over.

  I was just about to kiss him when Buck’s loud voice carried through the bar. “Farah girl! Gotta man over here askin’ for you!”

  My brow furrowed as I mumbled, “But all the men I know are here.”

  Cannon’s muscles locked tight, his head turning in the direction of the bar before he grabbed my hand and started pulling me in that direction. The moment we cleared the crowd I jerked to a stop, sucking in a shocked gasp.

  “You know that guy?”

  “That’s my ex.” I could feel Cannon’s eyes drilling into the side of my face, but I couldn’t pull my attention off the man at the bar. Looking like he’d just come from a country club dinner, in a pair of chinos and a pale blue polo, his perfectly coifed light brown hair gelled into place, and his face shaved baby smooth, Lance stuck out from the rest of the crowd at Bad Alibi like a sore thumb. For once in all the time I had known him, he was the one who didn’t fit. And seeing him here, in my bar in my town, a surge of anger unlike anything I’d ever felt before crashed into me like a rogue wave.

  “That son of a bitch,” I gritted, ripping my hand out of Cannon’s and stomping down the stairs. I was within feet of him when he turned and spotted me, his eyes growing wide with surprise.

  “Wow. Farah, you look—”

  “You have got to be kidding me,” I spat, fire building in my veins.

  “Farah, sweetheart. I’ve been looking all over this godforsaken town for you. It’s so good to see you.”

  “Well, the feeling isn’t mutual, Lance. What the hell are you doing here?” I barked, drilling my finger into his chest.

  “What do you think I’m doing here?” he replied, his eyes traveling over my face, hair, and body like he’d never seen me before.

  “I don’t know. For the life of me, I can’t imagine why you’d tray and track me down now. Especially since I made it perfectly clear when I gave you back your ring that I didn’t want to see you again. And if that didn’t deliver the message, there’s the fact I haven’t returned a single one of your calls or messages in week. So I’m at a loss, Lance.” I jabbed him in the chest again, my voice growing louder with every word. “Why . . . the hell . . . are you here?”

  Cannon came up behind me, wrapping his fingers around my wrist and pulling me back against his chest. “Calm, baby.”

  “Baby?” Lance’s gaze bounced from me to Cannon and back again. “Farah, who the hell is this man?”

  “None of your business who I am,” Cannon rumbled in reply. “Now, my woman asked you a question. I suggest you answer.”

  Lance’s eyes went so round I thought they might pop right out of his skull. “Your woman?”

  “Didn’t stutter, brother.”

  “I’m not your b
rother,” he said with a look of disgust etched into his stony face. “And I’d appreciate you taking your hands off my fiancée.”

  At that, I snapped. Pulling from Cannon’s hold, I got in Lance’s face again. “Please, tell me you did not just say that. Because I know you aren’t actually stupid enough to call me your fiancée, not after I caught you screwing the woman who was supposed to be my maid of honor in my bed! Or did you shoot out the rest of your braincells when you blew your load into Felicity?”

  “Oh dayum!” I heard Shane cry from somewhere behind me.

  Lance looked around nervously, ever mindful of making a public scene. “Farah, maybe we could take this somewhere private?”

  “She’s not goin’ anywhere with you.”

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” Lance shot back at Cannon like this was a freaking grade school fight.

  “The answer won’t change whether it’s coming from him or me,” I reiterated. “I’m not going anywhere with you. In fact, you know what? I don’t even care why you’re here. I don’t want to hear what you have to say, so you can leave now.”

  “Farah, it’s time for you to come home,” he rushed out when I began to turn away.

  “Wow. You’re just spouting all kinds of stupid shit tonight, aren’t you? I am home, Lance. This has been more of a home to me in the past few months than Connecticut was my entire life, and there’s no way in hell I’m leaving.”

  “Look at you!” Lance barked, waving his hand at me. I was in another pair of jeans, these a lighter wash, giving them a worn-in look, and a T-shirt with a Triumph motorcycle on the front of it that I’d gotten with Cannon in mind. The moment he walked into the bar and saw me in it, the smile he’d given me was worth a thousand times more than I’d spent on it. I had on very little makeup, my hair—that had grown a lot longer since I came to town—was hanging loose around my shoulders in its natural waves, and I was wearing the awesome, distressed brown leather cowboy boots I’d gotten on an impulse during a shopping trip with Poppy. I thought I looked damn good, and so did Cannon, and that was all that mattered to me.