by Janie Crouch
But because the town’s new pastry genius was drunk as a skunk.
Most of the men in Oak Creek had too much respect for women in general to try to pick one up when she was this intoxicated—and they would stop the few dishonorable enough to make the attempt.
Of course, that was all based on the assumption they could get through that thick ring of friends surrounding Violet.
Aiden had seen military compounds more vulnerable than Violet currently was. She might be in danger of vomiting up the copious amounts of blue liquor she’d been drinking or passing out, but there was no danger of anyone taking advantage of Violet Collingwood.
And damned if this wasn’t one of the reasons Aiden had come to love this town so much. Even when it drove him crazy that the nearest movie theater was more than thirty miles away.
Oak Creek took care of their own. Even when their own was brand new.
“I see that Zac and Finn are smart enough not to be sitting here with you.” Gavin, another of the Linear partners who tended to do a lot of work out of town, sat down on the stool beside Aiden.
“Those bastards set me up. They knew I’d come running here as soon as I heard Violet might be in trouble.” His eyes never left her out on the dance floor. She was laughing, face flushed.
Beautiful.
Aiden had switched to water as soon as he arrived, but Gavin took a sip of his whiskey. “They told you she’d be in trouble, or that she might find someone she’d enjoy getting to know better?”
“Nobody better damn well try anything with her when she’s in this state. You included.”
What the hell was he saying? Gavin Zimmerman was the most honorable guy he’d ever met. Hell, they’d nicknamed him Redwood in the army because the guy was so fucking upstanding.
But Gavin just laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “Nobody’s going to touch her. You know that. At least not tonight.”
His hand tightened around his glass of water. “What are you saying? That they’re going to wait for the next time she gets drunk?”
“No, brother, I’m just saying she’s a young, attractive, unattached woman. Who can bake well enough to make a man beg—if he wasn’t doing that already just by looking at her, for crying out loud. I doubt she’s going to find it very difficult to find suitors. Or if she’s not interested in something serious, even more guys will be willing to show her some fun.”
Over his dead body. “If she wants fun, I’m going to be the one to show it to her.”
Gavin smiled and took another sip of his drink. “And that’s why Cyclone and Eagle got you out here tonight. Not to take care of Charlie and Anne. Hell, Aiden, each of those men would trust his woman with his life. They definitely trusted their women to take care of a gal who might be a little bit fragile.”
Aiden ripped his eyes away from Violet to glare at Gavin, but the other man didn’t let up.
“It was you who needed to get shaken up a bit. Everybody’s tired of walking on eggshells around you at the office. You’ve been a mess all week.” They both turned back to the dancing women. “It looks like Violet’s trying to put the past behind her, where it belongs. Maybe you should try that too.”
Aiden rubbed his fingers over his eyes. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy. It wasn’t like she was going to give him another chance after the way he had rejected her.
The disco song about raining men ended, and a slower song took its place. The group of women groaned in disappointment and began moving off the dance floor. As soon as Aiden saw Finn and Zac moving toward Charlie and Anne, he stood.
The pack was broken. He knew exactly what that meant, and he wasn’t about to allow it to happen.
He made it over to Violet, barely reaching her before two other men did.
He touched her on the shoulder. Her bare, sexy shoulder. “Dance with me, Firefly.”
Those green eyes got big. “Aiden? What are you doing here? It’s girls’ night out.”
He smiled. “Believe it or not, they let a few guys in here too. Would you dance with me?”
She nodded, and he didn’t even try to hide his sigh of relief as he pulled her into his arms. The other two men faded back now that she hadn’t rejected Aiden.
That’s right, assholes, get lost.
He had Violet in his arms and no plans to let any other man near her.
They’d barely started swaying before Finn and Charlie were beside them, Charlie obviously maneuvering her fiancé closer so she could talk to Violet.
“You okay, Vi?” Charlie asked, shooting Aiden a dirty look. “There are plenty of other guys who want to dance with you. Or you don’t have to dance at all.”
Aiden forced himself not to tighten his arms around Violet. Charlie was right. She could do what she wanted. And he had nobody to blame at all if she walked away.
But she didn’t.
“No,” Violet told her friend. “I’m okay. I want to talk to superhero man anyway. I’ve got stuff to say to him.”
Charlie winked. “Got it, warrior woman. Just remember you’re pretty sloshed, okay?”
“I got this. I’m totally in the control of myself.” It would’ve been almost believable if the words weren’t slurred.
Charlie met Aiden’s eyes, and he gave her a nod. She was passing custody of her friend over to him. He didn’t take that responsibility lightly.
And he wouldn’t take for granted the fact that she was pressed close to him, her hands holding on to his shoulders as he maneuvered them toward a less crowded part of the dance floor.
“I’ve got something to say to you, Mr. Man.” Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him, the heels she was wearing making her only a few inches shorter than him.
“That I’m an idiot?”
She pondered that. “You think you’re an idiot because you’re dancing with me?”
He trailed his hand up her right arm until it reached her shoulder. He pulled her hand down, cradling it in his, holding it between their torsos. He swayed gently back and forth, afraid anything else might cause her to topple over.
“No, Firefly, I’m an idiot because I haven’t been dancing with you all week. Because I’ve definitely been thinking about you all week.”
She studied him, then wiggled one finger out of his grasp so she could poke him in the chest. “Listen, buddy, just because I’m drunk doesn’t mean I’m going to get into your pants.”
He swallowed his bark of laughter. “No, I would never presume such a thing.”
She narrowed her eyes like she knew there was something off with the conversation but couldn’t figure out what it was. Then she sighed.
“Look at you with your stubble on your perfect Adonis jaw.” The fingers from her free hand came up and tapped him on the cheek. Her voice lowered in an imitation of his. “ ‘I don’t have time to shave daily, I’m too busy rescuing all the damsels in distress.’ ”
He swallowed his laughter again. This woman with her adorable, scrunched-up face. God, he wanted to kiss her more than he wanted his next breath, even knowing he’d have a gaggle of women beating him with their purses if he did.
So he shrugged. “I sometimes take a razor with me on missions, so I can shave in between taking out bad guys.”
She nodded seriously, like she believed that was the truth. “Can I ask you a question?”
The music changed but remained slow, so he kept her snug against him with his arm around her waist. “Sure. Anything.”
“Do you think my boobs look good in this bustier?”
Eyes up, asshole. And do not swallow your tongue. He had to clear his throat to even get words out. “Is that what it’s called? A bustier?”
“Yeah. Riley and Wavy picked it out for me.”
“Well, yes, your . . . breasts look fantastic in it.” And then, because damn it all, he wasn’t a fucking saint, he lowered his head to her ear and whispered. “But, if memory serves, and believe me my memory is very, very good when it comes to you, your breasts look absolutely gorgeo
us in nothing at all.”
He eased back to find those green eyes staring up at him, studying him like he was a puzzle she couldn’t quite solve. “I thought you didn’t like my breasts.”
He pulled her just a little bit closer. “Why don’t we have this conversation when the room isn’t spinning quite so much for you, okay? But suffice to say, I think your breasts, and every other piece of you, are darn near perfect.”
She sighed and pressed herself up against him. “Aiden, will you take me home? I really want hard and dirty sex with you.”
He closed his eyes, praying for control. Reminding himself that she was drunk. Trying to ignore the fact that he was going to have the impression of his zipper on his cock for a week after hearing the words hard and dirty come out of that sweet mouth.
And, oh God, he didn’t want her to feel like he was rejecting her again when he had to say no.
“Firefly . . .”
She laid her head on his chest. “But not tonight, okay? Because I might have had one too many drinks.”
Thank God. “I think that’s probably a good idea.”
“But next time. Promise? Next time I ask for hard and dirty sex, you have to give it to me. Cross your heart like you did when you rescued me.”
Aiden took his finger and crossed it over his chest.
That was the easiest promise he’d ever made.
Chapter 14
Violet didn’t even have to open her eyes to know she was never, ever going to drink anything blue ever again ever. Nothing that color was meant to be ingested. And she was darned fortunate it hadn’t come back up the same way it’d gone down.
She only had a cloudy memory of the night before, and it just got more hazy as the night went on. She remembered Riley and Wavy getting her dressed up. She remembered walking into the bar feeling a little self-conscious at the beginning, then more and more confident as guy after guy had asked her to dance.
She hadn’t danced with them. She had only danced with her friends . . .
Until Aiden.
Her eyes flew open and then she snapped them back shut with a groan at the brightest light in the history of the world shining in through the window. As if the sun had nothing better to do than cheerfully shine on this fine Saturday morning.
Aiden.
He’d shown up. And they had danced. And then she’d said . . .
Oh God.
She tried to push the memories out of her head, but she couldn’t. Every single ridiculous sentence she’d said to him was running through her mind in Technicolor.
Do you think my boobs look good?
Promise you’ll have hard and dirty sex with me.
And then lying . . . in the grass?
That was the last thing she remembered. Aiden had agreed to walk her home, all of her friends hugging her and telling her to just go straight to her apartment, take two Advil, and drink a full glass of water.
But walking from The Eagle’s Nest to her place, she’d somehow decided she wanted to go lie in the grass. Specifically, in the lawn at Aiden’s house. She’d told him how she never had a yard growing up, and didn’t have one now, and how a gal sometimes just needed to lie in the grass late at night in her bustier, when her boobs looked good.
Oh sweet baby Jesus.
She didn’t remember a single thing after that.
She cracked open an eye again, cringing when she realized she wasn’t at her apartment. She was lying alone in a bed much bigger than hers.
She forced the second eye open and took a better look around. The other half of the bed was still completely made. Evidently, she had been sleeping here alone all night. Considering she couldn’t remember any of it, that was probably a good thing. And at least she’d been passed out enough to not have to worry about being in the dark on her own. She’d yet to conquer that ridiculous fear since the kidnapping. She couldn’t stand being in the dark.
She pulled up the covers and peeked underneath. Her bustier was gone, replaced by a large white T-shirt. But her jeans still covered her legs.
She looked to the other side of the bed and found her phone and a glass of water on the nightstand. She gulped down the water in an attempt to wash out whatever had died in her mouth and then grabbed her phone. There was a message from Charlie.
Aiden called and said you passed out in his yard. He let me know he was going to put you to bed at his place but swore on his life he wouldn’t be sleeping anywhere near you. Call me when you feel alive tomorrow.
Violet weighed the pros and cons of hiding under the covers and never coming back out. Or sneaking out the front door and moving back out of the state. Or spending all her time and energy for the rest of her life working on a time machine so she could go back and not say the words boob, hard, or dirty to Aiden Teague while in a drunken stupor.
It didn’t seem fair that none of those were viable options.
“Are you going to lie in bed for the rest of the day?”
She turned her head toward Aiden, who was standing in the doorway. “I was actually trying to figure out if it was possible to stay here for the rest of my life.”
He chuckled. “Do you feel that bad? Those Smurf bastards will get you every time.”
She threw an arm over her eyes. “They should have warnings on those things. Ugh, I’ll never be drinking any alcohol ever again.”
“I don’t suppose you feel like eating any food?” He arched a brow.
She couldn’t even stop the retching sound she made.
He laughed again. “Then how about a little coffee? Maybe by dinnertime you’ll feel a bit more like eating.”
Dinnertime? Oh crap. “What time is it now?”
“Almost noon.”
She groaned again. “Okay, coffee.”
“I’ll be downstairs on the back porch. You’re welcome to use the shower or tub or whatever you want. Just come down when you’re ready. I thought maybe we could talk.”
Talk. Hadn’t they talked enough?
She wanted to dive back under the covers but just nodded. Once he left, she dragged herself to the bathroom, stripped off her clothes, and stepped into the shower. Twenty minutes later, she at least felt human again. She brushed her teeth as best she could with toothpaste and her finger, and wrapped her hair up into a wet, messy bun.
She put her jeans and his T-shirt back on. Because there was no way she could face him in that bustier.
She made her way downstairs and into the kitchen, pouring the strong brew into a mug that had been set by the coffee maker. She stopped before she got to the door leading out to the porch, studying him through the glass. He was sitting at the small table, long legs stretched out in front of him, reading something on his electronic tablet. He had on jeans and a white T-shirt that had probably come from the same package as the one she was currently borrowing. He had a plate of fruit—grapes and melons and berries—set out in the center of the table. Every once in a while, he would absently grab a piece and toss it into his mouth.
God, he was gorgeous. So much more a man than any of the guys in her engineering classes or the ones she’d worked with at CT. And it wasn’t just Aiden’s age. Yeah, he was a decade older than her, but the difference between him and the other guys was much more than just about age.
It was about experience, awareness, and danger. She hadn’t been wrong in thinking he was dangerous that first night she’d seen him. He wasn’t dangerous to her, but he was still dangerous.
And she wanted him. She couldn’t stop herself from staring at him. The stubble on his cheeks was even more pronounced, probably because he hadn’t been able to get to his bathroom to shave . . . And wait, had she made some joke about his five-o’clock shadow last night?
She let out a distressed squeak. Things just kept getting worse and worse.
The sound alerted him to her presence. He turned and gave her a smile, reaching over to open the French door. “Want to come out here with that coffee?”
“Honestly, no.”
&
nbsp; “Oh.” He looked at the fruit, then back at her. “Do you not want to be outside? I can bring everything inside.”
She shook her head and walked out, sitting down across from him. “No, it’s not the outside that’s the problem. It’s my big drunken mouth last night that’s the problem. I’m such an idiot. Believe me, that was my first time getting drunk, and it will probably be my last.” She took a sip of her coffee, then grabbed a strawberry and bit into it, not looking at him.
She could feel his eyes on her as she continued to eat the fruit. “First time drunk, huh? Well, as someone who has a bit more experience in that area, believe me when I say we all promise never to drink again the morning after.”
“So you know what this feels like?” She wouldn’t wish this on her worst enemy.
He just grinned. “We’ve all had our own version of a girls’ night out. Believe me, I’ve gotten in trouble with the Linear guys all over the world. You could do much worse than getting drunk at The Eagle’s Nest in Oak Creek. Ask one of the guys to tell you about Krakow and how our commanding officer had to come bail us out when we ended up in the custody of the local magistrate.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at that as she grabbed another strawberry. “I guess I should be thankful I didn’t wind up in a jail cell. I’ve never been a big one for partying, and, believe me, the way I feel now definitely does not change my stance on that. But it was fun, I guess. At least at the time.”
“Good. I’m glad you had a good time.”
She finally forced herself to look at him. “But it was fun in a different way than I thought it would be. Not because of the alcohol, but because of the people. I’m not even sure what I mean by that.”
“No, I get it. It was fun because you were part of a community. Your tribe. It might not have been safe doing something like that in a big city, but here everyone is looking out for each other.”
She took another sip of the coffee and grabbed a little more fruit from the plate, feeling better, at least physically. And he was right about last night.
