by Tina Leonard
He nodded. “I know. Thanks, Sugar.”
“I didn’t help much, but you’re welcome.”
He left, and Jake made himself over to the table, taking Kel’s seat. “Hey, gorgeous.”
She gave him a disgusted face. “Did you know Kel was going to tell me about his thing for Lucy? And when were you going to warn me that an upset woman in this town thinks my sister destroyed her marriage?”
He winced. “I really didn’t want to reveal that, Sugar. Call me a selfish bastard. I’m pretty focused on trying to keep things smooth between me and you, and I definitely don’t want to think about Kel’s problem. I didn’t know Kel was going to make a confession to you about it.”
She wasn’t soothed. “It’s horrible, Jake! You could have warned me.”
“What could I say? I think my buddy’s got the hots for your sister?” Jake shook his head. “No way. I just wanted the whole damn thing to go away.”
She wasn’t pleased with him. “It didn’t. It’s still here.”
“I get that. I need a beer.” He glanced around the patio. “Join me downstairs for a sneak beer. I can’t bring booze on the patio.”
She shook her head. “It’s dumb. I’m not going down to your secret lair to drink a beer like a teenager. Besides, I’ve got Paris here. She doesn’t like being left alone. One of us has to be in her sights all the time, or she thinks she’s getting abandoned again.”
“Bring her downstairs with us.” Jake looked completely worn out. “I’ve got chilled vodka in a secret stash, if that would make you feel less like a teenager sneaking the parents’ Coors.”
She looked at him. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea. I think you may have an honesty problem.”
“I don’t,” Jake said. “I have a Kel-is-not-my-problem problem. I seriously want it all to go away.”
“Letting Lucy get broadsided by some man’s wife is not a good idea, Jake. I assure you it would be an uncomfortable conversation for all.”
He nodded. “I know. I’m sorry as hell. I really am. For everyone.”
She softened at his heartfelt admission. “Okay, lead me to the dungeon.”
“Come on.” He walked off the patio, whistled to Paris, who jumped up immediately and followed him, her blonde plume tail wagging with joy.
“Traitor dog.” Sugar followed Jake too, and they went in a side door. “Everyone in your restaurant just watched you and me leave together.”
“Yep. The grapevine will go nuts.” He shut the door behind them. “Not as nuts as I am for you, though.” He backed her against the wall kissing her thoroughly, his mouth hard against hers, his tongue sweeping her mouth deliciously.
Then he pulled away, and Sugar breathed sanity again. “Wow.”
“That’s what I think every time I see you.” He looked at her blue sundress. “Just knowing that you’ll go off a tire swing without worrying about your hair and makeup and all kinds of girly stuff makes me go wow. Then you walk in my restaurant in that short, blue dress, and it hits me all over again. Wow.”
She smiled. “That’s sweet.”
“Yeah, I’m a sweet guy.” He went over to a cabinet, pulled out some glasses, then opened the fridge, pulling a bottle out. “Hiding behind the catsup and mustard for safety.”
Sugar slid onto a stool. Paris lay at her feet, curling into her tail with contentment. Jake handed her a glass with a vodka shot in it.
“I can get fancy and girly with that if you’d like. I have grape juice and lime juice.”
She shook her head. “A cucumber would be good.”
He blinked. “I don’t have a cucumber. A pickle, but if you’re drinking your vodka Swedish or Russian-style, we’ll have to make a run to the produce department.”
She smiled at him. “This is fine.”
He raised his glass. “Cheers.”
“Cheers.” They sipped their vodka. It flowed over Sugar’s tongue sharp and cool, so different from Jake’s kisses. He reached out a warm hand, running his palm from her ankle slowly up her leg, stopping just under her skirt. Sugar’s skin tingled. “What are you going to do about poor Kel?”
He sighed. “I haven’t figured it out yet. Right now he’s staying with me.”
She nodded. “Sounds reasonable. To be honest, I have a little issue of my own I’d like to run past you.”
“You and Kel in one day. I’m going to hang out a shingle for PC Shrink.”
She didn’t think he really minded because his hand slid just a little farther up her leg, just cresting the top of her knee, warming her but not intruding. “Maggie didn’t come home last night.”
He looked at her. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “In fact, ever since you took me to that honky-tonk, she’s been staying out all night.”
“Honky-tonk?” He frowned, thinking, then laughed. “Oh. Pecan Fanny’s? That wasn’t a honky-tonk. You want to see a real live Texas honky-tonk, I’ll take you to one of those.”
“Maggie, Jake. Focus.”
“Okay.” He looked at her. “Are you trying to say that your mother has a thing for Lassiter? And they apparently aren’t suffering from Kel’s problem?”
She nodded. “My guess is that’s where she is.”
Jake laughed. “That Lassiter is an irresistible fellow.” He saw her face was serious and wiped the smile away. “Lassiter’s all right, Sugar.”
“All right?”
“Yeah. I mean, he’s everything you’d want for Maggie. He’s got more money than Zeus, he’s kind, he’s upright. Don’t get me wrong, he’s got his ways. But we all do.”
“His ways?” She narrowed her eyes.
“I like this protective side of you. It speaks well when a daughter—”
“Jake. Pay attention. I don’t want Maggie getting her heart broken by a man who has ‘ways’.”
“Oh. You’re asking if he’s a womanizer. No, I can definitely tell you he’s not. The ladies try. When I say ways,” Jake said, his face earnest, “I just mean that occasionally he goes off. That’s all.”
“Goes off?”
“By himself. For alone time. It only lasts a day or so. Sometimes three.”
“Why?” Sugar asked.
Jake shrugged. “He’s still grieving for his wife. She died fifteen years ago, but they’d gotten married in their teens. So he goes off and has a few days of sitting in his cabin with a bottle. No big deal.”
“That’s so sad.” Sugar blinked. “How do you know all this?”
“He tells me. We have a bit of a bromance going on.”
Sugar waited. “Go on.”
“Our properties are side by side. Almost every night, we spend a little time sipping and looking over the fence. Just staring at nothing, really, except the goodness of God. The wideness of nothing.”
“You have a deep side?”
“Hell, no,” Jake said. “I just like to drink and listen to the old man. Now I know why he hasn’t shown up for the past week.”
“Yeah.” Sugar spun herself away from Jake’s hand, rotating the stool to face the bar. She drank her vodka in one shot, thinking. “Lucy doesn’t come home till late, Jake. Then she leaves early.”
“I know where she is too,” Jake said. “However, I think I’m not telling. But all this aloneness you’re suffering makes me realize you’re sleeping alone. Which bedroom is yours? I’m betting you took the Scarlet O’Hara nemesis room.”
She frowned at him. “I am not discussing my sleeping arrangements with you.”
“Too soon?” Jake smiled. “You do realize the old folks skipped all the dating steps? Maybe it makes things less uncomfortable to just get to the good stuff.”
“I don’t want to talk about Lassiter and Maggie.” Sugar got up. “I’ve got to go.”
“Wait,” Jake said. “Your leg and I were just getting to be good friends.”
“Come on, Paris.”
The dog jumped up to follow her. “Sugar, wait.” Jake looked at her, took her hand to pull he
r a bit closer to him. “Did I say something wrong? I can tell you where Lucy is, but I really think it’s something she’d rather I didn’t know. I just happen to know almost everything in PC.”
She pulled away even though she missed the comfort. The whole idea of Maggie and Lassiter made her nervous, brought back old memories. She was happy for Maggie, just like she’d told Lucy she would be if their mother found romance with someone. But she couldn’t help remembering that she’d run off her mother’s second husband, and the memory of that night was dark and painful, bringing home painfully why she’d grabbed that baseball bat.
“Just tell me that Lucy’s not doing anything bad,” Sugar said. “That she’s with good people.”
“The best,” Jake said. “I promise you she’s with the very best people in this town. Don’t get me wrong, they have their ways too, but I think you’d find them acceptable, despite their ways.” He kissed her forehead, pressed his hands down into her hands, clasping her fingers between his. “Hey, if you stay a little longer, maybe I can find a cucumber to go with another snort of vodka, even if I have to send out for one. Trust me, if I ask Kel to go get a cucumber, he’ll tear up someone’s garden and won’t even ask why. You want a cucumber, lady, it can be done.”
She shook her head. “No, thanks. I’ll see you later.”
“Now that I know you’re sleeping alone in that big house, can I bring Paris a midnight snack? Apparently, I’m free at night these days. No more bromance.”
“Sorry. I’m not sleeping alone.” She pointed to her dog. “Paris and I are going to stay up late, watch old movies and eat popcorn in bed. Girl talk.”
“That’s a shame. Now I’m odd-man-out.”
She smiled. “Not really. You have Kel.”
He looked woeful. “Life is unfair.”
Sugar laughed. “That’s what they say. Bye, Jake.”
She turned and walked away, realizing he hadn’t said anything. She turned around, and Paris was sitting by him, and he had one finger in Paris’s collar, keeping her beside him, and Sugar laughed, her heart melting just a little.
“No dirty pool, Jake Bentley. Let go of my dog.”
“All right. Good-bye, Paris. Next time you come to see me, I’ll have a bone with your name on it. Just bring your mama around and you get whatever you want.”
He turned Paris loose, and the dog licked his hand and hurried after Sugar. She walked out into the bright sunshine, still tasting Jake’s lips on hers.
“Dude, what are you doing?”
Kel stared at him as Jake walked back into the kitchen. Warmed up by the vodka and flirting with Sugar, Jake’s mind was anywhere but on his buddy. Evert and Bobby stood next to Kel, glaring solemnly. “What?” Jake said. “What’s going on?”
“You took Sugar down there again, man,” Kel said.
“Yeah? So?” Jake looked at the three of them. They’d been working hard on the grill. It was a busy afternoon in the Bait and Burgers, a hot Friday with lots of customers. “I couldn’t talk to her up here. She had some personal stuff to discuss.”
“Okay,” Bobby said, “we get that. Only everybody in the restaurant was craning when the two of you walked out together. So it’s not as private as you think it was.”
“And,” Evert said, “we did all agree that there’d be no ladies in the pit.”
“That’s right.” Kel’s face was unhappy. “We can’t have ladies down there, because then we’ll have to have our wives and significant others. Or else it’s cheating.”
“I know. I know.” Jake spread his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. I lost control of myself, since I own this place.”
Kel shook his head. “That’s a sucky attitude.”
“Kel, look. You live with me. How am I being sucky?”
“Because you don’t care about us having one place that’s ours. The four of us. Just us.” Kel snatched the chef hat off his head. “I know you’ve been carrying me, Jake, and I know you’re not happy about it. That’s fine. I’ll move in with Bobby for now.”
“Come on, Kel.” Jake looked at his friends. They frowned at him as Kel walked out of the Bait and Burgers.
“Not cool,” Evert said.
“Extremely uncool,” Bobby said.
It hurt coming from his buddies. These men were the closest thing he had to family, besides Vivian, and that relationship didn’t always feel like family. “I’ll fix it with Kel. And I won’t take Sugar to the basement anymore. You’re right. It’s always been our hangout.”
Bobby went back to the grill. Evert followed his friend, dismissing Jake.
He was in hot water. Sighing, Jake turned, finding himself face-to-face with Averie.
“Hi, Averie,” he said.
“This is your last chance, Jake,” she told him. “You’re making an ass out of yourself chasing after that Florida floozy.”
“I’m not chasing after anyone.”
Averie clearly didn’t believe him, and he didn’t even believe himself.
“Whatever,” she said, looking gorgeous and aware of it. “Your mother’s been looking into the backgrounds of Pecan Creek’s newest residents. And it’s not pretty. So as I said, Jake, last chance to be with me. Because I’m not going to wait around on you while you chase after that slut.” She took a deep breath, looking up at him doll-like, and Jake wondered why he didn’t feel anything for Averie when even a dead man would get a stiff one if she walked past his casket.
“I’m sorry, Averie. We’re just not going to happen.”
She looked at him. “If you pick her, I think you’ll find you’ve made a very big mistake.”
Maybe it was true.
But Sugar made him hotter than Texas. She could be the devil’s mistress, and he’d still be happy just to run his hands up her smooth skin, driving himself crazy.
Very crazy.
Crazy hot.
Chapter Twelve
Sugar walked back to the house with Paris, worrying about Lucy and Maggie. Nothing had quite turned out the way she’d anticipated, which was fine, as long as her family was happy.
She thought about Jake, and knew she was deviating from the plan too.
But most of all, she worried about Lucy. She wasn’t sure why Jake had been so mysterious about her sister. Still, Jake wouldn’t let Lucy get into any trouble. That was one thing she knew about Jake—he seemed concerned about them and everyone else in Pecan Creek.
She opened the back door, gasping. “Lucy!”
Her sister turned away from the fridge. “Shit, Sugar, you almost made me bite my tongue.” She chewed on some pound cake she’d snagged from the fridge and hadn’t bothered to put on a plate.
“Where have you been? I’ve been worried about you.” Sugar got on the kitchen stool at the island block, after making certain Paris had plenty of fresh water in her dog bowl.
“I can’t tell you.” Lucy grinned. “But unless you’re sleeping with Jake, I bet I’m having more fun than you are.” She licked her fingers and reached for another sliver of cake. “Although sleeping with Jake is probably one of those oxymoron things. I doubt you could sleep if Jake was in your bed.”
“Tell me where you’ve been. I know very well you didn’t come home last night.”
“Actually, I did, around midnight. You were sleeping like one of those Chinese stone warriors, so I stole Paris for my bed.”
“That’s why she wasn’t in mine when I woke up.”
Lucy nodded. “And I left early this morning.” She pulled a wad of cash from her pocket, handing it to Sugar. “I’m hoping this will help make the rent. What is the rent on this joint, anyway?”
Sugar counted off six hundred dollars. She looked at her sister. “Tell me where you’re getting all this money, or I swear I will drag you down to the ground and tickle you until you wet your pants.”
“Jeez. I just drank a glass of tea.” Lucy shrugged. “You’ll have to clean it up, because I’m not telling. I can’t. I’m sworn to secrecy, but trust me, it’s
fun!”
“That comforts me.”
Lucy came around to hug her, laying her head on Sugar’s shoulder. “Aw, big sis. You worry too much. Have you ever stopped to think that I can take care of myself?”
Had she? Could Lucy take care of herself?
“I do worry,” Sugar said, and Lucy said, “No! Tell me something I don’t know,” so Sugar decided it was best to let it all hang out. “Kel’s getting a divorce.”
Frowning, Lucy sat across from Sugar, pushing the pound cake in between them. She cut her sister a slice, and though it wasn’t exactly what Sugar wanted after drinking a vodka shot with Jake, she broke off a chunk. “That’s too bad. I’m sorry to hear that,” Lucy said. “Kel’s a nice man. He’s cute, and he’s crazy about his kids.”
Sugar blinked. “According to the grapevine—”
“Jake,” Lucy filled in.
“Kel,” Sugar said, and Lucy looked up. “According to the grapevine, Kel’s wife has a problem with you.”
Lucy stared at her. “Me?”
Sugar nodded.
“That’s dumb,” Lucy said. “Kel doesn’t like me. Kel and I are friends. I talk to him as much as I talk to Evert and Bobby German.” She shrugged. “She sounds like a dumb broad, or maybe there’s another problem. I wouldn’t give up on such a darling guy just over gossip.” Lucy plowed into some more pound cake, completely unworried. “Go ahead. Taste it. I want your opinion.”
Sugar was so astonished by her sister’s comments that she obeyed. “This is delish. Who made it?”
“Yours truly.” Lucy beamed. “I’ve been getting cooking and baking lessons.”
Sugar put her fork down. “Do you ever think about going to college, Lucy?”
Her sister laughed. “No. Why would I? I served my country. I’m hanging out with you and Mom. I’m not going to waste my life sitting at a desk listening to a prof blab.”
“The thing is, I wonder if you’d be better off around people your own age, or closer, anyway,” Sugar said.
Lucy looked at her. “Sugar, I’ve never been around people my own age. Why would I start now? Frankly, everything I know I’ve learned is from people older than me. I feel like it’s made me wise beyond my years, which, to me, is a good thing.”
