Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Painting is finished.” Dawson said. “Which means we should be able to get the flooring installed and start on the outside next week.”
Jaxon pulled his gaze from the blueprint he’d been staring at and looked at his brother. “That would put us a little ahead of schedule.”
Dawson nodded before glancing at the blueprint. “What has you so concerned? Structurally, we should be all set.”
Jaxon glanced back down at the plans spread out on the dropped tailgate of his truck right next to where Huck sat. “I was just . . .” He shook his head. “Never mind.”
“You were just what, Jax?” Huck asked. “Dreaming of all that money we’re going to have?”
“Actually, I was thinking that maybe we could use the spare time to add a kitchen to the back room.”
“A kitchen? Honky Tonk Heaven never had a kitchen?”
Jaxon shook his head. “You’re right. Stupid idea.” He stared to roll up the blueprint, but Poppy stopped him.
“Wait a second. I don’t think a kitchen is such a stupid idea.
Most bars have kitchens nowadays. It might help it sell quicker.
” It was the first time Poppy had taken his side on anything and Jaxon took that as a sign she might eventually forgive him for leaving her.
Eventually. “Not that you don’t have stupid ideas,” she added.
“I agree,” Dawson said. “Since the plumbing is already there for a dishwasher and sink, it wouldn’t take that much to turn it into a kitchen.”
“I agree.” Huck jumped off the tailgate and pulled out his cellphone. “Let’s see what Tully thinks.”
Jaxon quickly snatched the phone from his hand. “No!” When all his siblings stared at him with surprise, he realized he’d overreacted. “Sorry.” He handed Huck back his phone. “I just don’t think we need to ask Tully. If we all agree, it’s majority rules.”
His siblings exchanged looks.
“What?” he asked.
Poppy opened her mouth to speak, but Dawson cut her off. “Why don’t you and Huck go get us some dinner at Sloppy Joe’s, Pops?”
“What am I your waitress now?”
“A cute waitress.” Huck hooked an arm around Poppy’s neck and gave her a big smacking kiss on the cheek.
“I’ll show you cute.” She grabbed him by the ear and pulled him away amid Huck’s stream of cussing.
When they were gone, Jaxon looked at Dawson. “What’s going on?”
“Funny, but I was going to ask you the exact same question. Although I think I already know the answer. We all do.”
“And what’s the answer?”
Dawson studied him. “You’ve gone and fallen for Tully.”
Jaxon forced a laugh. “Wrong answer. I haven’t fallen for Tallulah Gentry. She’s the last woman on earth I’d fall for.”
Dawson leaned against the tailgate and crossed his arms over his chest. “Then explain why you stopped answering her texts and she’s taken to texting Huck to keep her abreast of the renovations.”
Jaxon rolled up the blueprint . . . a little more aggressively than was needed. “I thought you wanted me to stay away from Tully. So I’m staying away from her.”
“Which doesn’t explain why you two were going at it on the porch swing.”
Jaxon turned to him. “You were watching?”
“Not hardly. I’m into a little kink every now and then, Jax, but not when it includes my brother. I was coming out to the porch to see if you wanted to play some hearts with me and Poppy. And it didn’t look like you were staying away from her.”
He shrugged. “Just a moment of lust.”
It was an out-and-out lie. What had happened on the swing had been so much more than lust. There was no way to describe how he felt when Tully was kissing him.
Those sweet, innocent kisses she’d covered his face with had made him feel things he’d never felt with another woman.
And watching her reach orgasm as her sweet ass rubbed against his cock had completely obliterated him.
But it wasn’t just desire that had consumed him.
There had been a deeper emotion beneath the physical need.
An emotion he refused to put a name too.
Especially after overhearing her talking with her daddy.
Their conversation had been like having a bucket of ice-cold water thrown in his face. She claimed to believe he hadn’t robbed the gas station, and yet, she was there checking to make sure he wasn’t robbing the hardware store.
That had hurt.
It hurt so damned badly.
And what hurt even more was the way she’d treated him when her daddy was there. Like some stranger she barely knew.
Of course, he should be used to that. Every girl in Promise Springs had treated him and his brothers the same way.
The Hennessy boys were good enough to make out with in dark corners or fool around with in the backseat of trucks .
. . or receive orgasms from on porch swings, but they were not good enough to date or even acknowledge in public.
Tully was no different than every other girl in town.
“What you saw, Dawson, didn’t mean anything,” he said. “Not a damn thing.” He moved his brother out of the way and slammed the tailgate closed. “Now I’m heading into Dallas to see about ordering some tables and chairs. Huck can have my burger.”
Dawson didn’t say anything, even though he knew it was a lie.
Poppy had already ordered the tables and chairs.
Not to mention that by the time Jaxon got to Dallas, the commercial furniture store would be closed for the weekend.
But he needed to get out of town. Promise Springs was screwing with his head like it always had.
He needed some space.
The rain that had been forecast started as soon as he reached the town limits. At first it was just a few drops, then the heavens opened up and completely doused his windshield.
Once he got the wipers going, he could see, but not well.
Which explained why he didn’t see the sheriff’s car sitting on the side of the road until he sailed past it going well over the speed limit.
He let up on the accelerator, but it was too late.
When he glanced in the rearview mirror, he saw rain-muted lights flashing behind him.
His back window was too water-drenched to see who was driving the SUV.
He could only hope it was the sheriff.
His hopes died when he pulled onto the shoulder and watched in his rain-spotted side mirror as a short, curvy deputy got out.
Tully wore her sheriff’s cowboy hat, but not a jacket. Rain immediately soaked her shirt and spotted her pants. He had the sudden urge to jump out of the truck and yell at her for not being appropriately dressed for the weather.
He had no right to care about her, but damned if he could help it.
It had only been a week since he’d seen her, yet as soon as she stepped up to his window, his heart kicked up and his lungs felt airless.
Beneath the brim of her dripping hat, her brown eyes were soft and filled with something that made his chest feel like it was being squeezed in a vise.
He knew if he didn’t get out of there fast, he’d embarrass himself badly.
He manually rolled down the window, ignoring the cold rain that came in. “You’re right. I was speeding. So give me a ticket and I’ll be on my way.”
But she made no move to write him a citation. She just stood there looking at him with those sad Bambi eyes that were slowly killing him.
“I’m sorry, Jaxon.”
He turned away from her and stared out the windshield. “And exactly what do you have to be sorry for, Officer Gentry?”
She swallowed audibly as if she had something lodged in her throat. He could relate. He felt like a softball was stuck in his. “For not sticking up for you with my daddy.”
“I could care less if you stick up for me with your daddy.” But he did care. He cared too much.
“Then why haven’t you texted me back?”
He shrugged and refused to look at her. “I’ve just been busy. You get along with Huck better anyway. We seem to rub each other the wrong way.”
He wanted the words back as soon as they left his mouth.
Because there had been a moment on the porch when they hadn’t rubbed each other the wrong way.
A moment when they’d rubbed each other exactly the right way.
He couldn’t help thinking about how she’d looked when she’d been moaning out her orgasm.
But he didn’t want a woman who was ashamed of him.
“Look,” he snapped. “Just write me the damn ticket and get the hell out of the rain before you’re completely soaked through.”
“I’m not going to write you a ticket, Jaxon.
I just want to explain. I didn’t stop by your house because I wanted to check and see if you were robbing the hardware store.
I knew you weren’t responsible for the alarm going off.
Just like I know you didn’t rob the gas station.
I should have been brave enough to explain that to my daddy—brave enough to tell him that I loaned you money.
” When he didn’t say anything, she swallowed again. “Anyway, I’m sorry. So sorry.”
She turned and walked away.
He sat there for only a moment before he threw open the door and jumped out. He caught up with her halfway to her SUV and spun her around.
“Well, I don’t need your apology, Tallulah Gentry! I especially don’t need your money. I’ll figure out a way to pay back every cent you’ve loaned me. Every damn cent! After that, I don’t want to see or talk to you again. Do you hear me?”
She slowly lifted her bent head and the sight of the tears racing down her cheeks as heavily as the rain broke him.
“Dammit!” He grabbed her by the arms and shook her until her cowboy hat fell off.
“Don’t you dare cry. Do you hear me? Tears aren’t going to make me change my mind.
” But as soon as the words were out, he had her in his arms tucked close to his chest and was kissing the soft curls that sprang up from the top of her head. “Don’t cry, Tully. Please don’t cry.”
She clung tightly as she sobbed. “I’m so sorry . . . Jax . . . please don’t be mad at me . . . I just feel so torn between loyalty to my daddy and my belief in you.”
Her words took all the steam right out of his anger.
He knew all about showing loyalty to your parents.
He could have easily turned his mama in for child abuse.
Instead, he’d kept his mouth shut and never once confronted her about her bad parenting.
So how could he blame Tully for not wanting to confront her daddy about his simple mistake?
It wasn’t like the sheriff didn’t have just cause to believe it had been Jaxon.
“Okay,” he said.
She drew back, rain and tears running down her face. “Okay?”
He released her and reached down to scoop up her hat, placing it carefully back on her head. “I accept your apology.”
She hesitated for only a second before she threw her arms around him and kissed him.
He figured it was just going to be a quick kiss of thanks.
But as soon as her lips touched his, it turned into something else entirely.
He didn’t care that it was raining cats and dogs.
He didn’t care that they were standing on the side of the highway where anyone could drive by and see them.
He didn’t care that this woman was going to hurt him.
And she was going to hurt him. Bad. All he cared about was keeping her right where she was.
In his arms.
She seemed to feel the same way.
Her fingers threaded through his wet hair and closed into fists as her mouth opened beneath his.
She tasted like rain and salty tears. She tasted like heaven. Or as close as he was going to get. If this was as close as he would ever get, he wasn’t about to let his insecurities and ego keep him from taking what she was so willingly offering.
“Come home with me,” he whispered against her lips.
“No.”
He drew back and stared at her. “No?”
She looked at him with those brown eyes that never failed to melt him like butter on a hot skillet and softly smiled. “My house is only five minutes away.”