Live for You (19 page)

“
Well, since I’m not
twenty-one, I’ll go with a plain ole coke.” I’m also not in a place
where they’d serve me, no matter my age, because of who and what I
am.

“
Good call, because I’d
hate to kick that sweet ass of yours out for trying to get me in
trouble.” He’s not joking.

I blink at him. “You’d
really kick me out?”

He rolls his shoulders.
“Look, if I serve underage customers, the bar gets fined thousands
of dollars. I don’t have thousands of dollars. I’d also like to
keep my ass out of jail more than it’s in it.”

“
In jail? W-what?” I
sputter.

A smile kicks up the
corners of his mouth, wicked as all get out. He winks. “Didn’t you
know, baby? I’m a real bad boy around here.”

My mouth drops open. He
kisses my forehead and gently pushes my jaw up. Then he walks away,
all swagger and reminding of the time he’d dropped his towel and
given me a glimpse of what was underneath.

Only I hadn’t realized what
was underneath came with handcuffs.

Chapter
Nineteen

Cole

I can’t keep the smile off
my face. I’m pretty sure I look like a dumbass, taking drink orders
from customers at the bar and from my waitresses with a perpetual
grin.

I shrug, then grab a bottle
of Jagermeister and flip it behind my back, catching it with one
hand and pouring shots like I’m in a movie. Checking to see if Rae
notices—she does—I do it two more times. She takes my picture with
her phone and then claps.

Damn, I need her in my bar
every night. Not that I want her sitting in a corner waiting on me.
She doesn’t belong in a corner, hiding away from the world. I know
she belongs on stage, singing her heart out while playing guitar.
That day by the creek proved it.

But right now, in this bar,
I feel safer with her there. I’m less likely to get in a fight for
some jerk hitting on her.

Madison waves at me as she
walks in.

Automatically, I wave back,
then check out Rae’s response. She’s busy messing with her
phone.

Guilt claws at my gut, but
I’ve done nothing wrong. I haven’t been with Madison, not since the
afternoon Rae brought over cake to apologize. I have no plans to be
with Madison while I’m with Rae. I don’t function like that. I’ve
seen what a man cheating does to a woman. Hell, I used to live with
it.

“
Hi, cutie,” she says with
a smile.

But I haven’t bothered
telling Madison that our arrangement is over. “Hi, yourself. What
can I get you?”

Her green eyes look me
over. “You, after closing, at my place. Or we could go back in your
office. Never done it in there before.”

That’s because I don’t have
sex in my office. I try to keep things professional. On the pool
tables in the back…whole other set of standards. Like none at all.
“Uh, listen, I’m not sure how to say this without sounding like a
total—”

“
Ohmygod
! You’ve met someone,” she
squeals, then reaches across the bar top to kiss me right on the
mouth. I turn my head at the last second so her kiss lands on my
cheek instead. She pulls back, tucking a piece of red hair behind
her ear. “That’s awesome news, Cole. I’m so happy for
you.”

I’m glad she’s so happy for
me, but a little disappointment at not getting any of this anymore
would have been nice. “Thanks.” I glance over at Rae. She’s
watching, but her face is hard to read. Hopefully, she thinks this
is something bartenders deal with on the job. I shoot her an
apologetic smile.

She grins back.

Relief kicks the ass of all
the guilt that had made itself home inside of me.

“
Is that her?” Madison
does a little jumpy clap. “She’s gorgeous. I’m going to say
hi.”

I make a noise that sounds
like something between a grunt and a moose dying. Before I can stop
Madison, three of The Double Deuce’s waitresses belly up to the bar
with drink orders. All at the same time, of course.

Helpless, I mix drinks, pop
off bottle tops and watch Madison talk a mile a minute. Rae smiles,
and I exhale. Again.

“
I know that girl from
somewhere,” Beau says as he sits on an empty barstool.

He probably does know Rae,
in her Violet Lynn persona. Hell, they’ve probably been at the same
parties. Country music and NASCAR go together like peanut butter
and banana sandwiches.

“
Yeah. That’s Madison
Langtree. She graduated with us,” I say to distract him.

“
Not Madison. The blonde.
Not exactly surprised you didn’t notice her,” he says as I hand him
a beer. “She’s not your type, but she is mine.”

“
Your type is every woman
who isn’t Paisley,” I snap. “As long as they don’t have brown hair
and green eyes, you’re all on board.”

Beau cuts his eyes at me.
“Then it’s a damn good thing she’s blond and blue-eyed. Pink hair
and nose ring’s hot, too. Think I’ll go introduce myself and buy
her a drink. Figure out where we’ve met before.”

“
No.”

Beau freezes. “Excuse
me?”

“
She came here with
someone,” I say.

“
Don’t see him anywhere,
and I’ve been watching her for a while now.” He starts in Rae’s
direction again.

“
She’s with me.” I want to
laugh at the surprised expression on his face.

“
And she’s sitting with
Madison, the girl you currently hook-up with?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Not a good idea,” he
says, stating the obvious. “Some people tend to frown on that sort
of thing while they’re in a relationship.”

I shake my head. “I stopped
hooking up with Madison as soon as I decided to pursue
Rae.”

“
Pursue Rae?” He grins.
“You got it bad.”

I shrug and pass Jane a
bottle of tequila for the poker game a few of the regulars set up
in the back. It’s a Tuesday night tradition for them. “I might have
it bad if those two keep talking.”

“
I’d help you out, but
we’ve got guy rules to follow. The most sacred is don’t mess with
the females fellow bros have slept with.”

Beau was the one to come up
with that rule. Shocking to anyone who thought they knew
him.

“
You know, because of the
inevitable comparisons of how damn good I am in bed…in relation to
the rest of y’all,” Beau says with a smirk.

And because of shit like
that comes out of his mouth. “Go screw yourself,
Montgomery.”

“
Don’t need to. I got them
lined up,” he says. And sure enough, two really hot women stop him
as he’s on his way to his usual table.

Guess they’ll all be
getting lucky tonight. Tried that once, with Madison of all people.
Figured out real quick that I prefer to concentrate on one woman at
a time.
Madison points at herself, then Rae and then me.

Oh shit.

*** *** ***

Violet

“
A what?” I’m pretty sure
I’ve misunderstood Cole’s friend.

“
A three-way. You know:
me, you and him. Sex.”

Apparently, I hadn’t
misunderstood her at all. “Yeah…not really good with
sharing.”

Her eyes go wide.
“Oh.
Oh!
He
doesn’t have to have sex with me, too. You and I could be the
ones—”

“
That’s really
nice
of you to be
so
considerate
but I’m not attracted to women.” Madison’s face falls, like
I’ve just insulted her. “But if I were, you’d totally be my
type.”

Her smile returns, brighter
than before, and I let out a breath. “You’re so sweet. I’m glad
Cole’s with you.” Then she leans in, completely serious and
straight-faced. “But if you don’t treat him right…you’ll have me to
deal with. Understand?”

I nod. She leans back and
sticks out her hand. I take it and we shake like we’ve just
conducted a business transaction. “Guess I’ll be going now. No more
smexy times with Cole.” She pouts and it’s all I can do to not
question her about
smexy times
with my boyfriend. “Maybe it’s time I call Taylor
back.”

The she’s off, leaving a
cloud of sweet-smelling perfume behind.

“
You okay?” Cole asks,
suddenly appearing by my side. Worry is evident in his blue eyes.
No guilt though.

“
Your friend Madison said
we could have a three-way.”

“
Oh shit.” His jaw works.
“Rae, I’m not into three—”

I hold up a hand. “All I
want to know is one thing: Have you cheated on me…I mean
technically we weren’t exclusive until last night, but I can’t
handle—” I smash my lips together to stop the incoherent
rambling.

“
No. I haven’t been with
anyone but you, since our first picnic by the creek.”

My eyes close, hiding the
tears of relief. A firm no. No excuses. No answers that turn into
“I can’t believe you just insulted me” which really meant I did
cheat on you but I’m too much of a coward to man-up and admit it.
“Oh-kay.”

“
Baby, are you crying?”
Without waiting for an answer, he pulls me close, my nose smashing
into his hard body. “I’m so sorry.”

“
For being a good
boyfriend?” I let out a shaky breath.

“
For not telling you about
Madison sooner.”

“
It was in the past,
before me. Besides, gentlemen don’t tell.” I manage to look up at
him, even with his arms holding me flush against his body. “Even
bad boy gentleman.”

“
Sweet. I’m like Iron Man,
but without the billions.”

“
Guys,” I huff, but inside
I’m melting into a puddle. “Is there anyone else I need to know
about before they come over and talk to me about…I don’t
know—joining a swinger’s club?”

He laughs. “Nah. Just my
buddy, Beau Montgomery, thought he knew you and wanted to buy you a
drink to confirm it. I put an end to that real quick.”

Oh crap. “He does know me,”
I say and Cole looks around, like he’s expecting trouble. “He used
to date my best friend, Callie Hughes.”

I don’t even have to tell
him what to do next. He hauls me to my feet and grabs my hand,
leading me to the back. On the way out, we run into his brother,
Parker, and do a quick meet and greet, then Cole asks Jane to take
over for the night, assuring her he’ll be in his office if they
need him.

He pulls me inside his
office, shutting the door behind him. Then he takes me in his arms
again. “What now?”

I laugh nervously and pull
away, pacing the room. “I have no idea. I thought you were the guy
with the plan.”

“
This is new to me. I’m
going on instinct.”

“
And movie
plots?”

He shrugs and grins, my
heart turning over for him, despite the panic currently controlling
my body.

Finally, I sit on the couch
that’s along the longest wall and look around the room. There’s a
window on the opposite wall, but the blinds are closed tight. A
large desk has been placed in front of it, papers neatly filed in
hanging tray on one side and an ancient computer on the
other.

Cole runs a hand through
his black hair, making it stick out in odd places. I want to smooth
it down. “Yeah, the computer came with the bar.”

“
What about the one you
have at home?” I wince at the reminder.

He looks away, his cheeks
flushing. “Crystal destroyed it.”

First thing tomorrow, I’m
buying him a new one. I won’t take no for an answer. “Tell me about
The Double Deuce. I meant to ask you on the way over here, but kept
forgetting because you kept putting your hands in places.” Good
thing he had to stop often enough to shift or he would have
discovered my lack of panties before we’d gotten here and turned
around.

His gaze snaps to mine, all
heated blue fire, with none of the embarrassment that I’m positive
had been shining in them only moments earlier. “You seemed to like
my hands in places.”

Now I’m the one to blush.
“I did.”

He grins, wicked and sexy,
then sits on the edge of the desk. “You wouldn’t know by looking at
it, but The Double D used to be the place for up and coming country
music acts.”

Yet Cole doesn’t allow it
to be played here. Something wasn’t adding up. And that nickname.
“
Double D
?
Seriously Cole?”

“
Hold up.” He flips up his
hands, as if warding me off. “I didn’t name it. That was all my
Uncle Max’s idea.”

“
Mmm-hmm.” I lean back on
the sofa, crossing my legs one on top of the other as I stretch
out. Cole watches me the entire time, especially when my skirt
rides up higher on my thighs. Heat pools in my belly and I can feel
my heart beat between my thighs. “So what happened?”

“
Nashville forgot about
us, my Uncle Max got knifed in a bar fight, he died and it all went
downhill from there. We’re barely getting by.”