An excerpt…
The wedding was flawless. How could it not be? Carson had come without a date and he absolutely refused to acknowledge it was because he hoped that he and Vanessa might, maybe, perhaps have a repeat performance.
The bride was beautiful. Stevie looked radiant and so very happy that it tugged a little at Carson’s heart that he hadn’t been able to make her look like that when they were together. Despite Carson and Nate’s rivalry, he had to admit Nate made Stevie happy and they were good together.
His jealousy—if it could even be called that—was because he wanted what they had. He thought he’d found it with Stevie, but she never looked at him the way she looked at Nate. And if he was honest with himself, he never looked at her the way Nate did. They might have been happy for a little while, but he knew that it wasn’t the epic love story that she and Nate shared.
Envy still burned in his veins, though. Carson had never really been a player. His sights had been on politics since he was young and that meant keeping a clean sheet. No skeletons in the closet. No unfortunate social media posts that could come back to haunt him. His only indiscretion had been Vanessa and it made him uncomfortable to think about her that way. It was a night of unexpected and unbridled passion that still replayed like a movie in his brain in vivid and spectacular detail. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—regret that.
Of course he could barely keep his eyes off her. She stood beside Stevie as one of her bridesmaids, barely sparing him a glance. The gold dress was cut low and the full-length skirt had a long slit that showed more than the gold-embossed cowboy boots she wore. The dress was tasteful and classic, the skirt falling in soft folds to the ground until she took a step and revealed all that bare leg above those damned boots. Her hair was piled up on top of her head with soft tendrils falling down and brushing against her neck. He remembered what she tasted like there, right where her neck met her shoulder.
Although he could describe in great detail what Vanessa was wearing, he couldn’t say much about the rest of them. Nadine and Darla wore the same dress—he assumed—and Stevie wore white, but the details of her dress were lost in a fuzzy haze. Everything else seemed to go into soft focus whenever Vanessa was in his field of vision.
He needed her again. He needed to taste her lips and feel her arms around him if only to prove that he hadn’t made it all up in his mind. He needed confirmation that the night they’d shared had actually happened and he wasn’t just imagining it. And he just wanted her…badly.
In his mind it was logical. One night hadn’t been enough but maybe two would be. Maybe if he got a second go-round with her then he might actually be able to get her out of his brain. For some reason Vanessa had imprinted on him and it was impacting his life…making him lose his edge. The last thing he needed was to have his mind clouded right now, not with his father and Senator Ellis ambushing him at every turn. He needed his mind clear and sharp and the only way he could see that happening was if he got her out of his system.
People around him stood and applauded. He got to his feet as well, clapping his hands as Stevie and Nate were introduced to the congregation. They chose to have the private ceremony in the small white chapel in Apple Tree Creek, much to Nate’s mother’s delight. Security was beefed up to keep the paparazzi at bay and all the details were kept under wraps for as long as possible. There were the inevitable leaks, but from what he could tell, nobody had crashed the ceremony.
Not that he would have noticed. A bomb could have gone off and he would only have had eyes for Vanessa.
He shook his head, tearing his eyes away from her. He caught her looking at him but he couldn’t read the look in her eyes. Was she remembering that night like he was? Was she wondering if it would be just as good if they were to repeat the performance?
“So glad you came,” Stevie whispered in his ear as she kissed his cheek on the way past.
“I wouldn’t have missed it,” he replied as she pulled away.
“Good to see you Senator,” Nate said, shaking his hand and squeezing just a little bit more than was necessary.
Carson gave as good as he got but Stevie pulled Nate away before a clear winner could be determined. Just as well, because at that moment Vanessa swept past him and if he had still been gripping Nate’s hand, he would have lost the hand-shake-off spectacularly. Her scent infused his brain and memories washed over him with enough clarity to have him responding instantly. Thank god for the chair in front of him and his buttoned suit coat or his thoughts would have been embarrassingly obvious.
“Senator,” Nate’s mother said, coming over to shake his hand and brush a kiss on his cheek.
“Mayor Nash,” he replied. “Good to see you again.”
“And you,” she said with an appraising eye. “Will you be in town long?”
“Unfortunately not,” he replied. “Just one night.”
“What a shame. Will you be staying at the hotel?”
“No, at my parent’s place, actually,” he said. His parents had moved to Nashville when he first took the job with Senator Ellis. His father made the excuse that Aegidius needed to be in a place where the money flowed fast and rich, but Carson knew it had more to do with being in the political eye. His grandfather had started Aegidius here in Apple Tree Creek and it had done just fine without the big move to Nashville. Carson couldn’t deny that the move had indeed propelled the company to greater heights than would have been possible here in the small town where he grew up, but had his father needed to move to Nashville? No. He did it for the chance to get into the thick of politics and the byproduct had been incredible success for Aegidius. Now his parents very rarely returned to their home town, but they kept the house here for him. He occasionally used it as a get-away or when he was traveling through.
“How are your folks?’ she asked as they began to follow the rest of the crowd down the aisle and out of the church.
“Hale and hearty,” he replied with a practiced smile. “Nothing keeps them down.”
“Good to hear.” She looked around and started to walk away from him. “We’ll catch up,” she said, looking back at him, torn between being the mother of the groom and the mayor. He knew she wanted to talk business with him but she also knew she should be with her family.
“I’m sure we’ll get a chance to talk at the reception,” he said and she smiled gratefully before walking swiftly away. He took a breath and looked around. He needed a drink, pronto.
Vanessa smiled until her cheeks ached. The day had been perfect and beautiful and everything a wedding should be. She enjoyed every minute of it right up until she’d noticed Carson staring at her with heat in his eyes hot enough to scorch her. Whew, that man. Geez. He should come with a warning label.
No matter how much she tried to stay away from stalking him online, she hadn’t been able to kick the habit. A girl had needs and Carson was her catnip. But no matter how much she had ogled his online photos nothing prepared her for seeing him in the flesh. God but he was beautiful. She’d needed to run drum lines through her head during the ceremony just so that she wouldn’t melt into a puddle under his gaze. Carson at fifty paces was enough to vanish her panties with just the slight tip of the corner of his lips.
She had it bad.
She needed to get a grip.
“Hey,” Nadine said, nudging her as the photographer took yet another photo. “What is up with you today?”
“Nothing. Why? What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Nadine widened her eyes at her and pinched her lips together. “Spill.”
“It’s nothing. I’m just distracted.”
“By…”
Thinking fast, Vanessa could only come up with one reason—one Carson-free reason—that she would be so distracted.
“It’s Jez,” she said, “one of the girls in my drum class. Something’s going on with her and I’m worried about her.”
Nadine frowned. “Something like what?”
Vanessa shrugged. “Her dad is back in the picture and ever since she’s been different.”
“You can’t get involved,” Nadine said, moving when the photographer called to them.
“I can’t ignore it,” Vanessa said hotly.
“I’m not asking you to ignore it. I just mean that you personally shouldn’t get involved. Talk to someone about it.”
“Like child protective services?” Vanessa said with a snort, earning her a glare from the photographer. “You know how useless they are.”
“That’s not fair,” she said. “They do the best they can. They’re trained to deal with situations like this. It’s not your place to interfere,” Nadine hissed before moving to the place where the photographer indicated.
Vanessa sighed. Her experience with the system hadn’t been great. Orphaned at a young age, Vanessa and her siblings were put in the care of their aunt. An aunt who had disapproved of the lifestyle they had been raised in and who saw it as her mission to drive the evil out of them. That evil being the music that was their life. No one from the department stepped in to save them from her barbaric punishments. It was only because Jace was willing to take guardianship of them that they came out of the whole ordeal relatively unscathed. She didn’t think they would do anything to save Jez…not that Vanessa even knew that Jez needed saving.
“Smile,” the photographer admonished her and she pushed Jez to the back of her mind. Unfortunately that meant Carson muscled his way back to the forefront.
Shit. What was she going to do? She couldn’t deny that she wanted him. She couldn’t deny that her body craved him. The problem was that she couldn’t get involved with him. Not that a roll in the hay was exactly getting involved. They’d already done that once and nobody had found out. But would it be tempting fate to do it again?
Her body was flushed with heat at just the thought of being naked with him again. Thank god for the chicken fillets she was wearing in lieu of a bra otherwise her nipples would be declaring to all the world the dirty thoughts going through her brain. Deliciously dirty thoughts.
Vanessa stifled a groan and tried to force the images out of her head. It didn’t matter how hot he was. It didn’t matter if he had been looking at her like he wanted to eat her up. Hooking up with him again would be wrong. Bad. Terrible. And undeniably fucking fantastic. The man had a way with his hands and tongue and lips and, well, he had a pretty talented cock too. She couldn’t deny that she wanted to ride that particular body part again. She would be lying to herself if she denied how good it had been between them.
“Earth to Vanessa,” Wade said, breaking through her bad-girl fantasies. Wade was her partner for the wedding. He was Nate’s PR guy and he was cute, but again, there were no tingles when he touched her. Just walking past Carson in the chapel had more of an effect on her than Wade’s hand on the small of her back. In fact, walking past Carson had more of an effect on her than any other man had in the last six months. And he hadn’t even touched her.
“Sorry,” she said, smiling up at Wade. “My mind is somewhere else.”
“That’s okay,” he said with a cute grin. “I just didn’t want you to miss your ride.”
It was only then that Vanessa noticed everyone else was climbing into the bridal cars.
“May I?” Wade asked, holding out his elbow to her.
“Thank you, kind sir,” she replied, taking his arm.
They walked back toward the others and Vanessa redoubled her efforts to push Carson and his bed-sport prowess to the back of her mind.
“Is that the last of the photos?” she asked as she slid into the waiting limousine.
Nadine sighed and snuggled up to Gabe. “Yeah, I think so.”
Wade slid into the car next to her and reached for the bottle of champagne that was chilling. “Drink?” he asked.
“God yes,” she replied.
Wade popped the cork and poured them each half a glass. It wasn’t enough, not by a long shot, but it would have to do until they got to the reception. Her first port of call would be the bar for something a hell of a lot stronger. If she couldn’t forcibly rid her brain of Carson and his greedy looks, then she would burn him from her mind with a good quality Tennessee whiskey.
Or, her body suggested traitorously, you could see if he would be amenable to revisiting that night.
She tipped her head back and drained her glass, her body flushing with heat at the thought. Would he be interested? Only one way to find out.
The formalities of the night were over. Carson had made polite small-talk with his table mates. He had eaten the three-course meal and listened to the speeches made and now the dancing started. Carson politely excused himself from the table and made his way over to the bar.
The wedding reception was held in an old barn of the Nash’s apple farm. The original structure had been preserved and restored. He knew it served as a venue for lots of town events but he didn’t think it would ever be in the spotlight as much as it was for a Jacks and Nash wedding. It was set away from the main road and surrounded by old apple trees that were no longer harvested. The more commercial part of the orchard now existed on the other side of town. This field and orchard—the original Nash’s Apple Farm—was used for more entertainment purposes now and hosted the annual music festival.
Carson took a seat at the bar and got the bartender’s attention.
“Do you have Collier & McKeel?”
The bartender shook his head. “Just Jack.”
Carson nodded. “Jack on the rocks, then,” he said with a sigh.
The glass was placed in front of him and Carson lifted it to his lips. What the hell was he doing here? Déjà vu hit him. He’d been at Darla and Tom’s wedding when he first hooked up with Stevie and in a whole lot better mood. His father and Senator Ellis had just told him they were grooming him to take over the seat. It seemed like a dream come true. Now, on the other side of it, he kicked himself for not seeing the truth. They picked him because they knew he would be easily manipulated. They had been right.
Her scent reached him first and then he felt the warmth of her body as she took the seat beside him. He breathed in and then lifted the glass to his lips and took a drink.
“Hello stranger,” she said, her voice low so that only he could hear it.
“You look good,” he said, turning to her.
She smiled shyly and looked away as the bartender approached.
“Gin and soda,” Vanessa said before turning back to him. “You look good too.”
They stared at one another. Carson didn’t know whether the look in her eye meant what he thought it meant or if he was just projecting. Fuck. He hoped he wasn’t projecting.
Her drink was put in front of her and they waited until the bartender moved away.
“You come here often?” he asked and she laughed. The sound was like wind chimes and it skittered over him leaving goosebumps in its wake. Shit. He built her up so much in his fantasies that having her this close had him practically jumping out of his skin.
“I’ve been thinking about you,” she said, her eyes coasting over him.
“Yeah?” He returned the favor with a slow perusal of her.
She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. “You’ve been keeping me awake at night,” she breathed, and he gripped the glass in his hand tighter in an effort not to reach for her.
She leaned back, her eyes on him and he moved toward her, his body drawn to her like a magnet.
“You’ve been keeping me up at night too,” he whispered huskily in her ear.
She sucked in a sharp breath and shivered. He didn’t know what made him do it, but he leaned in and gently bit down on her earlobe. She made a soft noise in the back of her throat and her hand clamped down on his thigh…high up on his thigh.
He tugged a little on her earlobe before letting go. When he sat back and his gaze met hers he was no longer under any illusion about what he saw in her eyes. Her pupils were wide and the blue of her eyes was dark. Her lips were parted and it took all his willpower not to lean forward and kiss her. She swayed toward him as if she couldn’t help the attraction she felt but stopped herself before their lips made contact. Her hand squeezed his thigh and he gritted his teeth, swallowing thickly.
“Where are you staying?’ she asked, her voice low and rough.
“I have a house here,” he said.
“We should go there. Now.”
He took a breath and broke her gaze to look around. “Nothing would give me greater pleasure,” he said, turning back to her, “but I don’t think we can leave until the bride does.”
“Fu-uck,” she breathed, closing her eyes for a moment and then moving back from him. He didn’t want her to go, so he took her elbow, stopping her from distancing herself from him.
“Dance with me,” he said.
She searched his eyes for a moment before nodding. She finished her drink in one, long pull and then slid off her seat. He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her to the dance floor. There was a band playing—of course there was—and as he and Vanessa stepped onto the dance floor, the song changed. He pulled her into his arms as the band began a cover version of ‘Wasn’t that Drunk’ by The Josh Abbot Band. God she felt good pressed against him. He tightened his arms around her until her body was flush with his. Yeah, it was a great idea to come tonight. The best idea he’d had since the night he went looking for Stevie and found Vanessa instead.
It was a sweet kind of torture having her move against him. Her thighs brushed his and her scent surrounded him. His dick was beyond hard and she pressed into it, looking up at him from under her lashes.
“Minx,” he whispered, breathing roughly in her ear before he licked the side of her neck.
She shuddered against him, and her hands made little fists in his lapels. Desperate to get closer to her, he maneuvered her through the other dancing couples until they could slip out the side door and into the cool night. He pressed her against the side of the barn and searched her glittering eyes in the darkness before he slammed his lips down on hers. She melted into him and opened her mouth eagerly. His tongue swept into her mouth and in a moment he was transported back to that very first kiss all those months ago. He thought the insta-chemistry between them had been a fluke or the product of her post-performance high and his post-work anxiety, but he was wrong. Whatever it was between them, it still burned hot and fierce.