Chaste (McCullough Mountain) (9 page)

“Since
when are you such a prude?” Finn asked, pulling out a twenty. “I say two months
and the ring’s off with no engagement ring in its place. I think her virtue is
more circumstantial than devotional.”

Sheilagh
whipped out a piece of paper from her purse and jotted down everyone’s names.
“Josh?”

Josh
shifted, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t really feel right betting on this.”

“With
an attitude like that, I say Josh isn’t the one she takes her ring off for,”
his father said, sliding Sheilagh a twenty. “You need a winning attitude, lad.”

“Dad!”
Kelly snapped. He grabbed for the list, but Sheilagh snatched it out of reach.

She
smiled mischievously. “I’m with you, Dad. But I’m going for the dark horse. I
say she takes the ring off for Center County’s finest, our very own rake and
rogue, Kelly McCullough, but I also say she gets him to marry her first.”

“Are
you fucking crazy?” Kelly demanded. “I’m not looking to ever enter that three
ring circus.”

Finn
frowned. “What three ring circus? Marriage is great.”

Jesus,
his clothes felt itchy. Kelly paced. “Maybe for you. But to a guy like me those
three rings are a death sentence. First the engagement ring, then the wedding
ring, and last the suffe
ring
. No.
Thank you.”

Sheilagh
laughed. “Don’t forget the chastity ring. I still say you punch her v card…
Wonder what sort of wedding you’ll have.”

He
smacked her in the back of the head. “Shut it, Shei-devil.”

His
brother’s burst out laughing. “You’re supposed to be the gambler here, Shei.”
Finn chuckled. “Might as well wipe your ass with that twenty, because you just
signed it away. Kelly’s never getting married.”

“We’ll
see,” his sister said, jotting down her bet. “Kelly, did you want to play?”

He
scowled at the group. “No. I think you’re all a bunch of drunken
arseholes
. I’m going to bed.”

As
he walked out of the den, his sister yelled, “I’m sober as a nun, big brother,
and I’m gonna win. You’ll see!”

He
slammed his bedroom door, cutting off their teasing remarks. Sheilagh just
added another reason for him to stay as far away from Ashlynn Fisher as
possible. He only hoped Josh would keep his distance from her as well.

It
wasn’t that he really believed marriage was a prison. Colin and Finn were
blissfully happy. So were his parents after decades of monogamy. Sometimes
Kelly envied the security of marriage, but that wasn’t something he allowed
himself to think of very often.

The
truth was, he wasn’t marriage material. He’d made his bed in several willing
women’s beds, and now he had to live with his reputation. He wasn’t
complaining. There was something fun about the versatility of his evenings when
he changed his women like socks.

However,
there was also something lonely about the lack of intimacy. He had the ability
to make a woman purr like a kitten, but in the morning it was always the same.
Thanks. I’ll see you around.

They
never tried for more and why would they? Everyone assumed he was just a
bartender, holding the same job he’d had since high school. No one looked hard
enough to see he’d taken over the bar nor did they have a clue how much money
he’d made over the years. He wasn’t the type to brag and since no one was
asking, the information remained private.

No
man should have to convince a woman he was worth her heart. Love wasn’t a
persuasive matter. It was potent and driving without thought. There was no
doubt in his mind that eventually all his siblings would be married and he’d
still be Kelly, good for a whiskey, a joke, and a fun screw, but nothing more.
There was no point on dwelling on the things he didn’t have. After all, he
never hurt for company.

But
there were some moments he imagined it would be nice to simply come home to a
woman and see adoration in her eyes, know what it is to whisper intimate
secrets in her ear and hear hers as well. There was so much he kept hidden
about himself, because when everyone assumed they had him figured out it only
seemed to distress the masses if he did something out of character and proved
them wrong.

Maybe
they knew him better than he knew himself. Marriage was the real deal. It was
bills and family and responsibility. No one seemed to peg him as the type that
had what it took and he certainly didn’t want to be the man that let down those
dependent on him. That was why he was satisfied depending solely on himself. No
disappointment, no blame.

* * * *

The
Friday night rush was in full swing when Kelly nearly spilled the tray of shots
he’d been carrying over to a table of college kids home for spring break. His
head practically twisted off his neck the moment Ashlynn walked in to the bar.

If
not for her telltale, blond choppy hair and those cat-eye glasses, he’d never
have recognized her. Gone were her baggy jeans and flannel. As his gaze
traveled over her bare legs past her knee length jean skirt, to her fitted
white V-neck T-shirt, he nearly choked. He’d never seen so much flawless ivory
skin. Even her feet were exposed, if in a pair of no nonsense flip-flops.

He
handed off the shots and quickly weaved his way through the crowd to greet her.
“Hey. Ashlynn.”

She
stopped and blinked at him. Just blinked.

“Kelly,”
he reminded.

“I
know who you are.”

She
was probably wondering what he was doing greeting her.

What
are
you
doing?

He
frowned at himself, not really sure. “How’s your truck?”

Her
full lips pressed together in a rueful smile telling him the vehicle wasn’t
good. “The transmission’s shot, like I suspected. I’m thinking about getting a
new truck. It’s only a matter of time before something else goes on this one.”

“That
sucks. You look nice tonight.” His words took him by surprise, but they were
nonetheless true.

Her
narrow brows lowered behind her glasses as she stared at him. “Thanks?”

Jeeze,
he’d never been one to get tongue tied with the lassies. “I mean…” What the
bloody fuck was wrong with him?

“Ashlynn?”

They
each turned and Kelly found Josh standing to his right holding a bouquet of
wild flowers.

“Josh?”

Kelly
scowled at the way her face lit up as she greeted the other man. Washed away
was the confusion he’d put there and in its place was a smile of pure
innocence. Over flowers? Like getting flowers was as special as seeing a
rocking horse shit. They were
flowers
!

He
frowned. Was he losing his charm? Girls went nuts when he paid them
compliments. If he were Peter Parker he’d be checking his wrists right about
now. His
spidey
sense was off.

“Wow,”
Josh said, holding out the stems. “You’re even prettier than your picture.”

Arse
kisser.

She
flushed a soft shade of pink and tugged on her shirt as though she were
nervous. “Thank you. Are those for me?”

That
voice. Smooth like heated honey laced with something dark, it cut right through
Kelly. Someone called his name from the bar, which was slammed. He needed to
get back, but couldn’t stop watching the byplay.

“Would
you like to find a seat?” Josh asked.

Ashlynn
nodded and took the flowers. She looked at them as though she’d never seen
daisies before. “It was nice talking to you, Kelly.”

He
frowned. That was it?

Turning,
they disappeared toward the back. Was he losing his touch? There was a sharp
whistle from the bar.

“Kelly,
you mind giving me a hand?” Sue yelled as she bustled around trying to get
everyone’s order straight.

Glancing
back one last time, he spotted the couple settling into a booth toward the
back. Why did he care? He didn’t, really. He could admit he was still a bit
twitchy over her comment the other day regarding the
sort
of women he
passed his time with, but everyone made assumptions about his philandering
ways. Yet, when Ashlynn made reference to the company he kept, he didn’t like
it. Maybe because, to his memory, Ashlynn Fisher never said a bad thing about
anybody. Apparently he was the exception and that grated on him.

As
the night went on, Kelly found himself preoccupied with the date going on
twenty-feet away. This wasn’t the usual Ashlynn. Sure, she had her diet cola,
but she wasn’t all huddled in the corner and she definitely wasn’t watching
him.

Tonight,
she sat with her legs crossed, smiling and laughing, and actually ordered
dinner. It pissed him off. Josh was a good man, but Ashlynn was a better woman.
Ah, fuck it. Josh was a tosser and Ashlynn was a good girl to the extreme from
what he’d learned over the years. Normally Kelly would be tempted to make a
good girl do all sorts of naughty sinful things, but not Ashlynn. She was too
good and likely the high maintenance sort.

That’s
when it occurred to him that everyone was off. She didn’t want him. Maybe she
wanted to look at him, but the proof was in the pudding. Like so many others
she’d never look below the surface. Staring the facts in the face stung more
than he wanted to admit.

He
didn’t like having his inadequacies thrown into the light, which was why he
spent most of his free time in the dark between long legs. So long as he chose
his path he wasn’t measuring up short. The second someone even hinted at
rejection he bailed. But Ashlynn Fisher wasn’t supposed to reject him. She was
supposed to bat her eyes and get all tongue-tied, and be a fixture in his bar.

He
wasn’t trying hard enough. That had to be it. It wouldn’t be right to dial up
the charm and knock Josh out of the game. Josh had good intentions. Kelly was
merely suffering a crisis of ego. Shoving down the disgruntled sensation inside
of him, he went back to work and let the two carry on with their date.

However,
there was something about the curve of her calf catching the dim bar light as
it bounced under the table that kept distracting him. Her posture was straight,
yet turned, like the first fine line an artist draws when he sketches a
beautiful woman. And then there was that laugh. Jesus, why did that laugh cut
through him like a knife through butter on a hot day?

Irritated,
he shoved all thoughts of the girl away, yet his eyes continued to return to
their little booth. Damn it! It was like their roles reversed. She was normally
the stalker. Not him! He was Kelly McCullough and he needed to knock this shit
off right now.

He
made sure to deliver all of their drinks and take care of serving their meal,
which wasn’t his job. Every time he approached the table, he came from a
direction so that Josh saw him first and every time Kelly sent the other man
the same threatening scowl. He was losing it.

Josh
had worked with the family for about five years and had been playing cards with
the McCulloughs for almost two. He was quiet, harmless, and polite.
Tosser.
So
why the fuck did it bother Kelly so much that he was going out with Ashlynn
Fisher? They’d probably make sense together if Kelly let them carry on their
date.

“Looking
a little green there, boss,” Sue said as she put the glasses through the wash
cycle.

He
scowled at his employee. “What’s it to you?”

“Should’ve
asked her out when you had the chance,” she sang as she piled the clean glasses
into the crate to dry.

“I
don’t
ask
girls out. They ask me. And I don’t date. I
do.
”

She
rolled her eyes. “Looks like Josh’s gonna be doing some doing soon.”

His
head snapped back to the lovebirds. The music had gotten louder and Ashlynn
moved to his side of the booth. Her blond head nodded as Josh told a story,
animating with his hands. When she laughed it was a sweet tinkling of sound
that didn’t get lost in the chatter filling the bar and it cut right to his
groin.

“He’s
lucky if he even kisses her,” he mumbled, closing out a tab.

“I
don’t know…they’re looking pretty cozy over there.”

“Will
you stop talking like that!”

“Like
what?”

“All
sing-
songie
and shit.”

Sue
chuckled. As she walked away to clear a table she mumbled, “Jealous, jealous,
jealous….”

By
the end of the night, Josh and Ashlynn were still seated next to each other in
their booth. Kelly wondered how she’d gotten to the bar if her truck was still
out of commission. Maybe she hadn’t left yet because she needed a ride home.
His jaw locked as he imagined Josh driving her home and putting the moves on
her.

“Hey,
Kelly…”

Kelly
turned and found Katie, a local girl who could do amazingly flexible things
with her body because she’d taken yoga. When he was a wee lad they called it
Twister, but now a days lassies refereed to it as yoga and it made for quite
interesting bed sport. “Hey, Katie. How you doin’, love?”