A Perfect Mistake (2 page)

“Hey,
Henry buddy. Did your momma get you that puppy?” he asked.

Henry’s
blue eyes widened, a gleeful grin splitting his cute little face.
“Yes. I named him Bonkers because he hits his head a lot on
walls and bonks it.”

Boone
laughed. “Good job. Are you and your momma taking him to the
park a lot?”

“Uh-huh
and I gets to walk him every morning, since I’m the man of the
house.”

Boone’s
voice softened, “Yeah, how’s that going? You still miss
your daddy a lot, huh?”

“I
do. I wish he hadn’t died and gone away.”

My
heart turned over and clenched at the sound of his forlorn little
voice, that, even at six years old, was filled with the pain of the
loss butting up against all that sweet innocence.

I
swallowed hard when Boone wrapped his arms around Henry and squeezed
him once. “It’s really hard to lose your daddy. I know
how that feels.”

Henry’s
blue eyes studied Boone’s face and his small mouth turned down,
looking sad and sympathetic. “Did your daddy die?” He
patted Boone’s shoulder.

“No,
he just went away and didn’t come back.”

“That’s
kinda mean and kinda like dying. You don’t gets to see him
again.”

Boone
nodded and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Hey, you wanna draw a
picture of your puppy on my iPad?”

His
face brightened. “Yeah, shore do.”

I
just stood there, caught up in the ease with which Boone had picked
up the little boy and set him on the table in front of him, conversed
with him. A hard ache settled right under my breastbone.

“Hey,
Verity.”

I
jumped, startled. I had been caught up in the touching exchange
between Henry and Boone and had totally missed seeing Billy Joe
Freeman at the kitchen door. He was a bit wet from what looked like a
dash to the kitchen. I wondered where he’d come from. I hadn’t
noticed his car, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t parked
somewhere. I was so preoccupied with Boone madness I’m not sure
I would have notice a purple elephant. Had he been waiting for me?
That kind of creeped me out. He was a decent looking guy, but there
was something about his eyes that unsettled me. He was always staring
at me like I was a juicy piece of meat.

Billy
Joe and I had gone out a few times in high school. Dates that I found
excruciating. He was polite and nice enough, but the relationship had
only been a few days old when he’d started getting demanding. I
only agreed to go out with him because my daddy suggested we get
together. Now, he thought I was his girlfriend and I just wasn’t.
Had never really been his girlfriend. I’d tried to make that
clear several times without much luck.

“Oh,
hi, Billy Joe.”

He
glanced at Boone who ignored us both, exclaiming over Henry’s
picture.

“I
was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner tonight.”

“No.
I wouldn’t…”

“I
think your parents are coming, too. Your daddy wanted me to ask you,”
he said in a rush before I could finish what I was saying.

“Oh,
well, if my family’s going. Sure.”

Lindsay
took Henry’s hand and headed out of the kitchen. Boone gave
Billy Joe a narrow-eyed glance before returning his attention to the
tablet.

Billy
Joe shifted, glanced at Boone again, and his eyes flashed with anger.
There were a lot of people in this town who judged the Outlaws. But
Billy Joe was studying to be a preacher. He shouldn’t be
harboring any kind of ill will towards any of the Outlaws. Boone
included, even though he was a complete bastard.

Well,
I guess he wasn’t a total jerk. He had been so kind to Henry.
Made me wonder how someone like that could have been so underhanded
and selfish.

“I’ve
got to get this stuff put away,” I said, hoping Billy Joe would
just get out and leave me alone. I didn’t want to encourage
him. My daddy wanted me to, but Billy Joe Freeman was not my future.
That was for sure. I had tried to be the perfect daughter, but the
truth of the matter was that horse had left the barn a year ago. If
my daddy ever found out, he’d be so ashamed of me. I had to
make sure he never found out, because I didn’t think I could
handle that kind of disapproval from him.

Finally,
Billy Joe said, “Oh, okay. I’ve gotta get back anyhow.
See you tonight. The dinner is at The Gardens.”

I
nodded absently, preoccupied with something much bigger and more
pressing than dinner with Billy Joe Freeman.

“I
landscaped that place two weeks ago. It’s a great place to
eat,” Boone growled and got up, kicking his chair back.

“Thanks
for your unsolicited critique,” I sneered. Now that he was
talking to me, I couldn’t seem to even pretend I wasn’t
pissed at him. Just let him ask me again why I was mad at him!

He
took a step forward, this time there was no slow about him. This time
he was coiled and tough-looking, his wet hair across his forehead
like a rebel biker. “But Brax is a better cook.” His eyes
were different now, a stormy blue and…what? “You should
take your boyfriend to Outlaws.”

My
heart started to pound and shock made it pound even more. He
sounded
…jealous.
Madly jealous
. That
had to be my imagination. Boone hadn’t made one step toward me
in the whole time I’d known him. He hadn’t said boo to
me, even after we’d….best not to think about that now.
He’d simply left me hanging out to dry after that night.

Oh,
he’d stared at me, but a lot of guys stared at me. Partly
because I was the preacher’s daughter and they wondered if
there was any bad girl in me, and partly because I looked more like a
bad girl than I did a preacher’s daughter. I so had to be
mistaken and my anger was clouding my perceptions.

I
thrust my chin forward, nervous about having a confrontation, because
my daddy never let me say my piece. But Boone wasn’t my daddy
and I didn’t have to take any of his shit and I wasn’t
going to. “He’s not my boyfriend and why don’t you
mind your own business, Boone?”

There
was complete silence in the kitchen and my angry words echoed in my
head. He walked up to me with that sexy swagger and kept coming so
that I had to back up. My lower back hit the kitchen counter and he
braced both hands on either side of me, caging me in. His chest
tightened against the white t-shirt. I could see the thick ridge of
his pectoral muscles and the dusky disks of his nipples. They were
hard and I wondered absently if it was from the air conditioner or if
it was because of me. That thought sent me into a tailspin.

People
just didn’t realize that I actually did have a little bad girl
in me. Well, at least when it came to Boone Outlaw. There had only
been one other time that Boone and I had been this close. I would
have expected to feel nothing but disgust and revulsion this time.
But the total opposite happened.

“Well,
seems your business is somehow connected to me.” His voice was
hard and accusatory.

Anger
and agony coiled in my gut. I wanted to push him away, my mind told
me get away from him and get out of this situation. It was too
volatile. But I did nothing. I didn’t even want to touch his
chest to push him away. Put my hand on all that hard muscled skin and
the heat of him. Just the thought almost made my knees buckle.

His
scent was all sexy, wet male. Dark and forbidden.

And,
just like that, the bastard, he made me remember everything I was
trying to forget. My whole body just lit up like I had somehow
spontaneously combusted.

His
eyes roved over my face, then focused on my eyes. Electric blue. Oh
man, so blue.

“He
totally snowed you,” he said,

“What?”
I said, losing my place for a moment.

He
shook his head, which made the smell of him intensify. “Your
parents aren’t going to The Gardens tonight. I overheard your
daddy saying he and your mother were going to be busy at the
hospital.”

My
words were barely a whisper, my breath so backed up in my throat.
“Maybe he didn’t know my daddy would get too busy to go.”

He
got close. Closer than was considered appropriate in the South. But I
had a feeling Boone Outlaw had never attended Miss Amelia’s
etiquette classes. And wouldn’t have given a damn if he had. He
captured my gaze, his mouth softening, and my pulse jumped like hot
oil on a skillet. His stormy eyes roamed my face and settled on my
mouth, honed in on it. My lips tingled and I licked them nervously.
He watched the progression of my tongue.

I
couldn’t seem to breathe.

“And
maybe he’s as big a liar as you are, Verity,” he said low
and dangerous.

The
anger in me ignited, mixing and mingling with my unwanted desire for
Boone Outlaw. My arm moved and it was a reflex. I didn’t mean
to do it. I slapped him so hard the blow vibrated up my arm and my
palm stung.

He
didn’t even flinch. Was he goading me? Damn him.

He
closed his eyes. When he opened them, there was something there I
didn’t want to identify. He smirked. He was such a bastard.

“Does
that make you feel better?” he taunted, crowding me. Placing
his mouth close to my ear, he rasped, sending tingles into my
bloodstream to whirl and agitate. “We’re in a church, so
maybe I should turn the other cheek so you can slap that one, too,
but no amount of pounding on me is going to change the fact that you
are a liar.” He whispered the last word like a sweet nothing.

I
shoved him, and I was well aware that he allowed it. “Get out!”
I shouted. The pain, the agony of the past year coalesced in my gut.

He
backed up towards the table and snatched up his tablet. “See
you around, darlin’. I’ll be here every day in case you
wanna…
confess
.”
He spun around and walked out of the kitchen, slamming the door on
his way out.

I
leaned against the counter and squeezed my eyes shut tight as the
tears threatened again. I clutched at my stomach as it roiled with a
sick, terrible feeling.

What
Boone had said was true.

I
was
a liar. With my
words and my actions and by omission.

But
I would be damned if I let the secret I held way down inside me,
boiling with all that misery and heartache, free rein.

It
would destroy me all over again.

Boone

Fuck
this town!

Fuck
this fucking job!

Fuck
Verity Fairchild!

Fuck
her. Fuck her
. Fuck her.

That
was the damn problem now, wasn’t it?

Holy
Mary Verity, who had been off limits in high school, and then
disappeared right after graduation, was my fantasy fuck.

That
was only half the equation if I was being honest with myself. The
other half, I laughed without humor, was I had always wanted to get
to know her. Just hang out and talk, you know? Verity was different
from other girls, mostly because of the way she looked back at me.
There was this quality about her that said my reputation meant
nothing to her. I often wondered if that was my imagination, that I
wanted her to feel that way because it made me feel better about
myself.

She
was smart and
always
had her hand up in class. Had always been prepared and organized. I
wanted to muss her up half the time. Make her lose her focus. The
other half, I wanted to touch her hair, breathe in her scent.

Yeah,
major crush on Verity.

But
the first and last time I mentioned her name to my brothers, they
laughed like I must be joking about being interested in the
preacher’s daughter. Secretly, I hated my last name and link to
Duel Outlaw and all the other Outlaws that had come after him,
including my daddy. I hated him the most. He and all of them had
sullied our name and ground it deep into the bayou mud. They made me
agree that she was off limits for all of us. I agreed, because back
then I did recognize that mussing her up was forbidden.

Forbidden
still. My dick was hard after our little tussle in the kitchen. My
cheek still stung from her hand. I punched the side of my truck,
relishing the pain radiating up my arm and into my shoulder. The rain
was still coming down, but I didn’t give a shit.

Geezus!
She was gorgeous when she was pissed. I had to admit that I had
pretty much believed she was a little pushover.

My
cheek said something different. Why she was lying to me gnawed at my
gut to go with the unsettled feeling constricting my chest. How could
I have done anything to her? I barely knew her.

She
had been totally off-limits to the guy I had been in high school,
even before my brothers made me promise. I’d tried to stop
thinking about her, but she was in most of my classes and she always
seemed to be there, but just out of reach. There was always that one
girl. Just like Aubree for Booker and River Pearl for Brax, although
he would never admit it. Verity was mine.

I
wasn’t that guy anymore. And I was working for her daddy. I
didn’t want to look at why I had decided the church really
needed a good overhaul. It might have been about the time that Verity
came back home. But like Brax, I wouldn’t ever admit that.

Fuck.

But
before I could even approach her, even that first night she’d
shown up at Outlaw’s, she’d been giving me a wide berth
and the stink eye. I never even got a chance to get near her.

Originally,
I thought my reputation didn’t mean anything to her, but maybe
I was wrong. Maybe she had bought into all the shit that was always
flying around about us. It didn’t help that Booker and Aubree
Walker had almost been killed by Daniel Langston only three weeks
ago, the gossip still thick and ugly. Why couldn’t I get used
to being judged for my family history instead of who I was? I’d
lived in this town my whole life. Most people
still
treated me like I had 666 tattooed on my ass
and any minute my head was going to start spinning around.