Chapter 1 #2
Flynn had gone to visit his mom, even though his dad had primary custody.
She had always made the custody arrangement out to be a kindness. She had wanted Flynn to stay with his brothers. But … after his dad had died, when he was still a young teenager, she hadn’t rushed to get him.
He had continued to see her on some holidays. Sometimes over the summer.
When his grandpa, James Parker, had died, he’d left Flynn Lonesome Ridge, a rocky, nearly inhospitable mountaintop where Flynn had had a house built. He hadn’t seen the point of turning down this acknowledgment from his mother that he was connected to her family.
But he had always been a Wilder. That was the thing.
No one thought of him as part of his mother’s new family, and certainly not his stepfather’s family.
Not even now that his half sister was the mayor.
She was also a deeply unpleasant human being, so he basically wanted nothing to do with her. It went both ways. Fine with him.
His younger half brother, Mike, was a douchebag who sold insurance.
Yeah. He was happy with their lack of interaction.
He knew he made Mike and Danielle uncomfortable, and that was wild to him, because he didn’t make anybody uncomfortable.
The Wilder family outlaw reputation had been difficult for Carson and Austin.
Flynn had sunk right into it. Maybe it was because he had a whole other respectable family to rebel against. Maybe that made being an outlaw feel good.
He had actual enemies to flaunt his bad boy reputation at.
Sometimes he could see the envy in Mike’s eyes. Back when they’d been kids. When Flynn had ridden up to school on his motorcycle, or on the back of his horse. When some aspect of his unconventional upbringing had been on show.
Yeah. Because what teenage boy wanted to try to live up to the insurance sales legacy of Mike’s father? Especially when his half brother was getting to smoke, drink, and have all the sex he wanted?
Flynn had lived for that. For being the envy and outrage of his maternal relatives.
The truth was, he still did.
But right now, he wasn’t looking for envy and outrage. He was looking for a cold drink, and maybe an easy lay. That was the other problem with Cassidy tagging along. It made things a little awkward.
Mostly because she wasn’t doing the same thing. She was always outside the action, and he had a feeling it was her crush that kept her like a vestal virgin.
He wanted to tell her to knock it off. To go find some guy besides Dalton and have a good time, for God’s sake. Life was too short to moon after people who didn’t want you around. He was intimately acquainted with that truth.
But he couldn’t say so to Cassidy. Well. He could. He just wasn’t going to. Because while he wanted to give her advice, he also figured her pride was an important piece of this equation. He would never do anything to injure her pride.
Because that was another thing he knew as an unwanted child.
It took a lot to build damaged pride up.
He had found it in claiming his connection to the Wilder family.
And he knew that Cassidy had done the same.
But sometimes he could still see the little girl who had been left on their doorstep at Christmas. He never wanted her to be hurt.
“What are we drinking tonight?” Cassidy asked as they walked into The Watering Hole.
It was a dive. And he loved it. The place was grimy in all the best ways.
The neon sign out front made it clear exactly what kind of establishment it was.
And if that didn’t tell you, the line of motorcycles parked by the curb ought to give you another hint.
If you still didn’t catch the drift, walking in and actually seeing who populated the place would do it.
Of course, the vibe was a little bit watered down now. Austin had married Millie Talbot, the town librarian, daughter of the former sheriff, descendent of the actual sheriff who had killed the first Austin Wilder in a shoot-out in the 1800s.
Millie liked to come to the bar now. And sometimes she brought her friends. Who had then started bringing their friends. They clustered about like anthropologists observing a society they didn’t belong to.
Granted, their presence had freshened up the dating pool. Of course, he used the term dating loosely.
“Why don’t you choose tonight’s drink, Cass?”
Cassidy’s eyes widened with glee. “Really?”
“Sure,” Dalton said.
Cassidy practically skipped over to the bar, and Flynn and Dalton exchanged a glance. But they didn’t say anything. Flynn had only had a couple of conversations with Dalton about her crush. Anything more felt disloyal.
Flynn scanned the crowd, looking to see if any of the women caught his eye.
“Redhead,” said Dalton.
Flynn glanced in the direction his friend was looking and nodded. She was pretty. Not really what he was looking for right now. What are you looking for?
Well. That was an interesting question.
There was a restlessness inside him. It had something to do with his brothers getting married. He knew that. This feeling that the band was breaking up. That they weren’t just outlaws riding endlessly into the sunset. His brothers were grown men now with responsibilities. Austin was a father now.
He had a feeling Perry and Carson wouldn’t waste a whole lot of time before having babies.
It made him feel … Well, like the ridiculous youngest brother that he was.
And then the door opened. He saw the crowd’s reaction to whoever it was before he turned to look.
His heart slammed against his rib cage, and all his blood rushed south of his belt buckle. There she was. Long brown hair cascading over her shoulders, tight black tank top showing off her incredible rack. Her jeans were bedazzled, those rhinestones flashing as her hips moved.
Jessie Jane Hancock.
The woman drove him nuts. In all the ways a woman possibly could.
“Damn,” Dalton said.
“Yep,” Flynn said, gritting his back teeth.
He couldn’t even deny his attraction with a snarky comment. Because she was looking so fine, it would be a criminal lie to pretend otherwise.
Jessie’s eyes scanned the room. And when her gaze landed on him, he felt it. But what shocked him more than anything was that she began to walk toward him, those glittering blue eyes laser focused.
It was like an electrical current arced between them, and he found himself taking a step toward her.
“Well, howdy, Flynn Wilder,” she said. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“I’d ask what a girl like you is doing in a place like this, but this is exactly where a man goes to find a girl like you.”
“Touché. Usually when I’m looking for a man like you, I go to the streets.”
“Careful,” he said. “Perilously close to calling yourself a lady of the night there.”
“Oh, if I intended to say that, I would.”
They regarded each other for a moment. Sometimes he wondered whether they were closer to a fistfight or fucking against the nearest wall.
He didn’t hit women.
So in truth, it could only be the one thing. On this, he had to congratulate himself for his self-control. Despite all the years and all the sparks, he’d never once made a move on her.
“I have no doubt. I’m not going to bet on any team, buy a piece of land from you, or invest in something, so if this is a scheme …”
“That’s funny. My brother said that I was scheming earlier today.”
Well, he didn’t like her brother either.
“Are you?”
One of her brows lifted, and her pink lips curved into a smile. “Maybe. And believe me when I say, you’re going to want in on this.”
“I doubt it.”
“You don’t know what I have to say yet.”
“Well, let’s see. You are Butch Hancock’s great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter. And he betrayed my just as many times great-grandfather. Historically, alliances between the Wilders and the Hancocks don’t really work out.”
“Well, I promise I won’t frame you for murder.
” She smiled, and right then he was actually certain that she would frame him for murder if the need arose.
Because that innocent smile was a lie. There was nothing innocent about Jessie Jane.
The trouble was, that was exactly why she appealed to him so much.
“I’ll make sure I have an alibi if we should ever speak again.”
“Just give me thirty seconds,” she said.
He looked toward the bar. Cassidy was on her way back with the drinks. “I’m about to have a drink.”
“Thirty seconds. Just step outside with me.”
She wanted to step outside? Now his curiosity was aroused as well. He held a finger up, caught Cassidy’s gaze, and mouthed One second.
Then he followed Jessie Jane out of the bar and into the warm evening. The pink sign with the buxom cowgirl leading her horse to water cast an electric glow over her. The truth was, Jessie Jane could be the cowgirl on that sign.
Hell, maybe somewhere inside his imagination she was.
Though he preferred not to acknowledge that she lived anywhere in his imagination.
He and Jessie circled each other. They both frequented this bar. He’d watched her leave with a man on any number of occasions, and she’d most certainly watched him leave with a woman. They never left with each other.
Except … they just had.
Not really, though. He was going to go back inside. Any minute now.
“It’s an election year,” she said.
“Oh, I am well aware.” He couldn’t walk past a well-manicured lawn without seeing a sign that had his half sister’s overly smiley face on it.
“No one has declared that they’re running against Danielle. There are three days left to enter the race and, well … I’m going to run for mayor.”
He stared at Jessie Jane, and he couldn’t help himself. He laughed. He laughed as if it was the funniest goddamned joke he’d ever heard in his life. Because it was.
“You,” he said when he finally caught his breath.
“Yes, me.”
“What’s your ticket? The yellow-bellied coward and dissolute gambler ticket?”
“I don’t think anyone could accuse me of being a yellow-bellied coward. Don’t confuse me with an unfortunate man in my lineage. And I won’t confuse you with yours.”
“Everybody else does.”
“I didn’t mean Austin Wilder. I meant Mike.”
She made such a regretful, scornful face that he couldn’t help but laugh again.
“Fair enough.”
“I thought you would be interested, since I imagine you don’t exactly love watching Danielle flex her influence all over town.”
“You don’t know anything about me or my relationship with my mother’s family.”
“I know that you consider your half sister your mother’s family.”
“You don’t know anything else.”
“I pay attention, Flynn. I’m not blind to the dynamics.”
“Well, good for you. What’s a little family dysfunction?”
“Nothing. Hell, in my family it’s fun. But what do you think about the outlaws staging a takeover of the town?”
“I’m not following you.”
“I want you to be my first man.”
“What?”
“This town loves drama. People love that more than heroes; they love it more than sinners. And you know what they really, really want? A good old-fashioned showdown.”
“I don’t …”
“Outlaws versus lawmen. Jessie Jane Hancock, many times great-granddaughter of Butch Hancock the traitor, engaged to marry Flynn Wilder, running against Danielle, who is engaged to be married to your sister-in-law’s ex-fiancé.
That’s not just drama; that’s a whole soap opera.
And you and I are going to be the stars. ”