Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Lynx
“Dammit, Lynx!” Rhys Trevino shouted. “I take another right hook from you, and I’ll make sure you spend the night in jail!”
I shoved Billy one last time before taking a step back, my anger burning white-hot. The damn sheriff always showed up and ruined shit for me.
“Chill,” Rhys hissed, taking me by the arm and pulling me farther away from Billy.
I didn’t even bother to put up a fight when Rhys went to cuff me. Spending the night in jail was definitely worth the ass-whooping I'd just dished out. It was quite possible that Billy Watson would be walking with a limp for the rest of his sorry life.
“You’re goddamn right I’m pressin’ charges,” Billy declared, talking to the deputy as he wiped blood from his lip. “The asshole attacked me.”
“Just like always,” I stated, loving how I could so easily rile the pussy. “Cryin’ like a bitch. You still breastfeedin’, boy?”
“Fuck you,” Billy spat before a devious smirk tilted his lips up in a snarl. “Not sure why you think you’re all high and mighty. I ain’t the one in cuffs.”
I didn’t respond; I simply cocked an eyebrow, waiting for the rest.
Sure enough, I wasn’t disappointed.
“And I ain’t the one goin’ to jail tonight.
You are.” Spittle flew from Billy’s mouth.
“And just think, while you’re takin’ it in the ass, I’ll be fuckin’ Reagan.
” Billy’s lip curled up before he turned and spat on the ground.
When he turned back, he was grinning. “Prob’ly just bend her over the back of the couch, that way I don’t have to look at her face. ”
I lunged and Billy stumbled backward. Before I could get close enough—cuffs be damned—Rhys put a hand on my chest.
Then Reagan’s brother—the sheriff of Lee County—spun around to face Billy. “You wanna repeat that?” Rhys rumbled. “’Cause if you do, I’m gonna hand my badge and my gun over to Dean, and I’m gonna be the one beatin’ your ass into the ground. That’s my fuckin’ sister you’re talkin’ about.”
“That’s the problem with little boys these days,” Wolfe stated. “No respect.”
The heated glare my cousin gave Billy said that it wouldn’t matter that I was in the tank tonight. Wolfe was still out there.
“Maybe you wanna reconsider pressin’ charges?” Dean questioned Billy as he pulled out his notepad. “’Fore you get your ass in any deeper?”
Billy met my eyes. I cocked one eyebrow. I'd willingly go to jail, but I wouldn’t be staying there indefinitely. We both knew it. And when I got out…
“I’ve got an idea.”
My attention jerked over to Reagan as she sauntered over.
My mouth practically watered as she moved toward me, her dark brown eyes reflecting both frustration and amusement.
Those damn low-slung jeans and the body-hugging T-shirt that just met the top of them made my dick twitch.
The way her long, dark hair hung over her shoulder had me thinking about wrapping those silky strands around my fist while I fucked us both into oblivion.
Goddamn, she made me so fucking hard.
Damn sure didn’t help that I'd spent ten fucking years wanting to get my hands on her.
When she got close enough, Reagan turned to Billy. “Why don’t you drop the bullshit and I won’t get a restrainin’ order.”
“I don’t give a good goddamn about no restrainin’ order,” Billy retorted.
“Not even if it ensures you’ll never come inside my bar again?” she asked, her dark eyebrows lifting. “’Cause I won’t hesitate to kick your ass right out the next time you show up here. And I’m pretty sure half the town’ll have my back.”
That seemed to get Billy’s attention. Although I had to wonder why Reagan hadn’t refused to serve him until now.
“You wouldn’t do that,” Billy told her, although I could tell he didn’t believe his own words.
“Try me.” She leaned closer but still kept her distance. “And when I go down to the sheriff’s department to file that, I’ll bail him outta jail, too.”
Billy glared, but for the first time all damn night, the fucker didn’t have anything to say.
Thank God for small miracles.
“Fine,” Billy huffed. “I ain’t pressin’ charges.” With one final glare in my direction, he stormed off.
When Rhys went to uncuff me, Reagan stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Can I talk to him first? While he’s cuffed?”
Rhys glanced between the two of us, but then backed away, turning to talk to Wolfe and Amy, who’d been standing off to the side watching the show.
“I’m likin’ the direction this is goin’,” I told her, then lowered my voice and added, “Although I’d much prefer you were the one in cuffs.”
An image of Reagan cuffed to my bed flashed through my mind, making me wince as my dick took up more space in my jeans.
“I wouldn’t get too excited if I were you.”
I leaned against the deputy’s squad car when Reagan moved into my personal space.
“Can we just call it even now?” she asked, her voice low, her expression blank.
“What?” I had no idea what she was talking about.
“You stop tryin’ to mess with me, and I’ll pretend that you’re not gettin’ on my last nerve. Then maybe we can both move on with our lives.”
The hell I would. I wasn’t about to give up what I'd been waiting a hell of a long time for. However, I wasn’t above putting the ball in her court. “That what you want?”
She stared back at me.
“’Cause I damn sure don’t,” I told her forcefully, leaning forward so I could get closer. “You can keep runnin’ from me, girl. I’ll just keep chasin’.” I lowered my voice so only she could hear. “And the day you finally give in, you’ll come to understand exactly why they call me a bad boy.”
Her eyes widened, her mouth fell open, and I was tempted to kiss her right there in front of half the town.
Yeah. That was what I thought. Reagan talked a good game, but when it came down to it, I knew she was attracted to me. She was fighting it, sure, but she wanted me nonetheless.
“You sure you’re not interested?” I asked casually, as though her answer didn’t matter.
But just as quickly as she revealed her desire, Reagan regained her composure and leaned in closer. Close enough I could smell her spicy, sexy scent.
“Do me a favor, Lynx?”
“Hmm?” I grumbled.
“Maybe try keepin’ your dick in your pants for a while. And when that divorce is final, if you’re still interested, perhaps I’ll think about givin’ you the time of day.”
“Done.” I could do that. No problem.
Reagan chuckled. “Right. Like it’s even a possibility.”
With that, she spun on her boot heel and headed back inside.
Boy, did I hate to see her leave, but I damn sure loved to watch her go.
Kelly Jackson
I kept my head low, not wanting anyone to spot me sitting in my car in the parking lot of the trashy little bar.
This town was full of a bunch of idiots.
If I were that damn sheriff, I would’ve rounded every damn one of them up and tossed their asses in jail.
One reason I hated little hick towns like this.
I only had one reason for being here.
It wasn’t the highlight of my week, that was for damn sure, but I had to figure out a way to get my hands on Amy.
That wasn’t proving to be as easy as I'd thought it would be. Seemed she had a couple of bodyguards with her at all times. That damn sheriff and the guy who owned the furniture store where she worked. Plus, whoever’s fucking truck that was parked outside her damn house every fucking night.
I had no idea who they were to her, but it seemed they were keeping an eye on her, too.
Which meant I had to come up with another plan. To do that, I had to study her movements and find the precise time to strike.
Soon.
Very, very soon.
Reagan
“Why do men always have to act like assholes?” I muttered as I wiped down the bar top.
We were getting ready to close, and as soon as I got the last of the customers out the door, I was more than ready to head home.
Well, technically, it wasn’t my home, but I was renting a room from Amy, which was the first opportunity I'd ever had to get out on my own since I moved in with Billy nearly six years ago. Amy’s little farmhouse, even if it was lonely at times, had started to grow on me.
On nights when Amy was there—which were rare—I loved it.
On nights when I was alone … well, I felt alone.
Not that I couldn’t get used to it.
I would.
I'd spent plenty of nights by myself, even when I'd been living with someone. More often than not, in fact.
“Looks like it’s about that time,” Amy said when she approached the bar.
I looked up to see that there were only two people other than myself and Amy left in the bar. Wolfe and Lynx were sitting at a table near the door, deep in conversation.
“Yep. ’Bout that time.” I peered back at Amy. “Why don’t you head on out? I’ve got it from here.”
Amy smiled, then placed her apron beneath the bar.
“Oh, and Amy?”
“Hmm?”
“Take both of them with you.”
Amy giggled. “Right. Like Lynx is going anywhere.”
I frowned. I'd figured as much, but I honestly wished he would go on about his life. Ever since the day the Houston detective had come to Embers Ridge to talk to Rhys, Lynx had been my shadow.
And sure, part of me was grateful in a way. After all, the detective had been killed that night, and only a couple of hours later, someone had tried to break into Amy’s house while I was there. We figured Lynx thwarted the guy’s plan by showing up to warn me.
That was only a few weeks ago.
But as I'd proven, I could take care of myself. I'd been doing so for long enough now that it was second nature. It wasn’t like I had anyone to watch my back. Although my family was tight, they were still a little self-absorbed, which usually left me out of their minds unless I was within their sight. And Billy… God, I didn’t even want to get into how self-absorbed that man had been during our time together.
“You ready to lock it down?”
I looked up to see Lynx standing on the other side of the bar.
Sex on a freaking stick. So tall, so sexy, it was hard to look at him sometimes. And those damn tattoos that covered him from neck to knuckles were almost too much temptation. Yet I'd managed to ignore my body’s disturbing reaction to him all this time.
I could see the dark shadow of a bruise marring his cheekbone. Looked as though Billy had gotten in at least one good hit. Granted, the asshole was far worse off than Lynx.
“You don’t have to stick around,” I told him, moving to the register to pull out the till.
I carried it to the back office, where I secured it in the fireproof safe, then locked the steel door on the office.
Damn fools in this town had tried to break in one too many times.
It was bad enough they raided my beer, but I worked hard for my money.
I wasn’t going to make it easy for them.
And when I'd finally gotten tired of replacing the damn door, I'd had a bigger one installed three years ago.
So far, no one had been able to break through and I hoped it stayed that way.
When I returned to the bar, Lynx was still there, his long, lean body propped against the wood, his eyes raking over me.
I nodded toward the door as I grabbed my truck keys.
“You don’t have to follow me home, you know?” I figured it was a waste of breath, but I told him the same thing I'd told him every night since the first night he’d camped outside my house.
I pulled the door shut and locked it. I could practically feel Lynx behind me.
When I turned to face him, he grinned.
“I don’t have to do anything,” he told me. “I want to.”
Suddenly fueled by a raging case of frustration, I stomped right up to Lynx. “Why?” I asked, trying to keep my tone civil but failing. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
He stared down at me, and I felt the full impact of his heated gaze. The desire that swirled there was enough to make my knees weak, but I allowed the anger and irritation to win out.
“Tell me, Lynx. Why?”
“Because I want you,” he professed. “More than my next fucking breath.”
God. Those words said in that raspy tone … they were more than I could handle, and honestly, I felt as though I'd been waiting an eternity for this man. A freaking lifetime.
For years, I'd come up with one excuse after another as to why I had to stay away from Lynx Caine. My biggest reason being he couldn’t seem to keep his dick in his pants.
He was always with a different girl and it pissed me off.
And I'd used my crappy relationship with Billy as my armor, as a way to keep Lynx at arm’s length.
All the while, I thought of him endlessly.
And here he was saying things I'd always wanted him to say. It made me want to jump him, to knock him to the gravel and straddle him, right here beneath the moon.
Rather than give in to that urge, I spun on my boot heel and stomped toward my truck.
I could hear Lynx behind me, and I balled my hands into fists.
The man didn’t know when to stop. The worst part was, if he didn’t, I feared I was going to do something I would likely regret for the rest of my life.
Like give in.