Love Country (BWWM Romance) (5 page)

“Hey beautiful. Nice to see you around these parts.” Jester’s jungle green eyes twinkled as he looked at her. He went behind the bar and started mixing a drink. “Let me get you a drink. Something special on the house.”

“Oh I can pay for my drink, Jester. It is good to see you too.”

“So you have met my grandson? Let me tell you, he is an adventurous one. He likes to mix things behind that counter and you don’t always want some of the inventions he gives you.” The old man made a funny face and Jester burst out laughing.“Let him get it. Really, my dear. I bet your folks are happy you’re here. I heard you were in town for awhile. Your dad said that you got a job at the paper. Good thing too. That boy over there has been way in over his head for awhile. Guess we’re lucky though cause without him the whole thing would have shut down.” There was an unordinary sparkle in the old man’s eyes when he spoke of Craig Jenkins.

“Yeah. But let me tell you, if I had known who he was…”

“Oh come on now, girl. He isn’t like the rest of them, you know? Do you ever remember going to school with a Craig Jenkins? Didn’t think so. You see, Old Man Jenkins had five children. I'm sure you already know that but do you know what happened to all of them?”

“No. Do you know?”

“That feud between your great grandpa and Old Man Jenkins is history around these parts. You see, out of the five children, there were two girls and three boys. All of them went on to have families of their own except the youngest daughter Desiree. She ended up leaving to go to a convent somewhere in Oregon. As rumor has it, there was a falling out between the two oldest boys and the youngest. Something about getting with the wrong woman. Well Tyler Jenkins fell in love and married a woman by the name of Louise Parker. This didn’t sit well with the older two boys and Old Man Jenkins.”

“How horrible. He loved her.”

“Yes, my dear, and he wouldn’t give her up. Instead he married her. Now the oldest girl Alexandria married and moved from the homestead into town. The other big problem was that Tyler wanted nothing to do with the feud. He was caught multiple times saying that it was stupid and he wouldn’t waste his time on it. When it all went down, Tyler left the homestead and went to live in Austin, Texas. I don’t know what happened except years ago, a man by the name of Damon Jenkins came to town. It was during the war and he was a soldier. According to him, the family drama got worse when they found out that Louise was barren.”

“Wow. Did anyone check into it? I mean anyone can claim that they are someone.”

He nodded. “Yes. They did. It seems that Louise and Tyler adopted a son named Isaiah and the man said that this adopted boy was actually his son. Later that year, a young woman named Stephanie came who was Damon’s sister. It seems there was another child. Isaiah’s oldest son Cole never came to town but his son Craig now runs The Gazette. So you see, my dear, Craig is not like the others, for he never knew the feud or anything about that side of his family. His father followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and stayed the hell away from Maryville. Craig came to town last year and has been here ever since. I don’t think he is leaving either, considering the fact that he just bought a ranch a little ways outside of town. But look at me, I'm rambling. Enjoy your drink, honey, I have to get back to the books. The young ones may run the show but I still do the paperwork. Tell your dad I said come by some time. I haven’t seen him in a while.”

She hugged the older man goodbye and smiled. “I will tell him. Thanks for the information, Sam.”

“You’re welcome, honey.” He waved as he headed to the back room. As if on cue, Jester sidled up next to her as soon as the old man was gone.

“So whadya’ think about the drink?”

Her drink had been momentarily forgotten while she listened to Sam’s story. Raising the glass to her nose she sniffed a little before taking a tiny sip. “Hmmm. That’s good. Tastes like pineapple and orange with a hint of something else.”

“You got it, beautiful. The hint is mint. I call it Jester’s Cap. You know, like a night cap?” He laughed at his own joke then excused himself when a man called out for his attention to get a drink. Picking up her drink, Keeara made her way to a booth in the corner. She sat back and nursed her drink while she watched the small group of people gathered in the bar. Before she knew it, Jester had brought her two more drinks to enjoy. She felt a little tipsy as she sat back and watched the people. She must have been there a while because before she knew it the lights had dimmed and a band had been set up.

***

Craig looked at his watch and decided that it would be a good night to listen to some music and enjoy a pretty woman since the one he pined for, wanted nothing to do with him. Well, he had had enough for the week. He needed to relax a little. He quickly put on some jeans and a dark gray T-shirt and slipped into his sneakers. He locked the front door to The Gazette then started the short walk to Sam’s.

As soon as Craig walked into the place, he smiled. He loved this bar as much as he loved the newspaper. Looking around he saw plenty of pretty little things that he could spend his time with. Just then, a little blonde sauntered up to him. It was Rachel, a waitress that he knew well. She smiled up at him.

“What can I get you sweet thing?”

“A beer for now.”

She ran her hand down his chest and grinned up at him. “And how about later?”

“We’ll find out won’t we.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her flesh against his own. Smiling down at her, he leaned down and took her lips voraciously. Unfortunately, it did nothing for him. There was no smell of lavender. There was no spark. All he could smell was the smoke in the air and a waft of rose. He broke off the kiss and smiled down at her. She moved to walk away just as he swatted her bottom. Why couldn’t he just get that damn woman out of his head? It was like she had a spell over him. Well no matter what, he was determined to take advantage of the night and find a happy, willing woman.

Keeara gasped as she watched Craig walk into the room. She was just about to go up to him and apologize until he grabbed a woman close by. She didn’t know why but the thought of him groping another woman pissed her off. But why should it? She had turned him down! Why didn’t they just rip each other’s clothes off right there and do it on the damn table? They might as well the way they were all over each other. Suddenly, she saw the woman come up to another waitress beside her table.

“Oh my gosh. Did you see him? The last time he acted like that we were up all night. I tell you, girl, that man is going to be mine before you know it. And boy the things he does with his mouth. Ohhh.”

Keeara couldn’t take anymore. She got up to go to the bathroom. But she needed to take a minute to steady herself first. She cursed under her breath when she realized she would have to pass the table that Craig was sitting at in order to get to the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, she quickly walked towards the bathroom, not stopping until she reached the door. She turned around and looked straight into a pair of dark blue eyes. Turning back around quickly, she walked into the bathroom.

Craig knew she was there the minute he got a whiff of lavender. Only one woman smelled that damn good. He looked around and didn’t see her. Then, when he glanced behind him, he was staring straight into her eyes. She had an accusing glare on her face which made it impossible to resist going after her. As she quickly slipped into the bathroom, Rachel sauntered back up to his table. She was fiddling with his shirt. What the hell was he thinking? Here he had a beautiful woman who was throwing herself at him and he was trying to go after another woman who wanted nothing to do with him because of his damn name.

He watched as Keeara walked out of the bathroom and was intercepted by Jester who grabbed her hand and dragged her to the dance floor. He felt the green-eyed monster swell inside his chest. He watched as she danced close to Jester and smiled up at him, laughing at something he said. She was so carefree with him. He had enough. He grabbed Rachel by the hand and pulled her to the dance floor. Although there were plenty of other dancers on the floor, he only had eyes for one beauty who was in the arms of some other man. He was boiling over with rage. She laughed with Jester and threw insults at him.

He pulled Rachel closer and looked down at her. She would probably take him into the back room if he let her. His hips ground into hers and he smiled as they swayed with the beat.

Keeara laughed as Jester pulled her onto the dance floor. She danced next to him and wiggled her hips. She laughed when he tried to catch her by the waist and stepped just out of his reach. She saw Craig coming onto the dance floor and shot a glance at him as he smiled down at Rachel. Well, she could have him. She kept dancing with Jester and enjoyed the music. She was letting herself go for the first time.

Rachel pulled Craig’s head down to kiss him deeply. “I have to go serve customers, baby.”

“Okay. You go.” He walked off the dance floor with her and stood on the side leaning against a pole. He watched as Keeara danced, seemingly unaware of what she was doing to him as she moved her body the way she did. Suddenly, Jester leaned down and kissed her softly on the cheek and left the dance floor. Keeara nodded and stood in the middle of the floor alone for a minute as she watched Jester leave. Craig realized that his hands were balled up into tight fists and before he knew what he was doing, he was walking towards her.

Chapter 8

Keeara was about to walk off the floor when someone came up behind her and gripped her hips. At the spark of electricity, she knew who it was before she even turned around. She sucked in a deep breath as she felt him pull her body against his. She turned her head to be sure it was him. She went to walk away but he gripped her harder and rolled his hips into hers. She felt his long length press into the small of her back and couldn’t help the groan that escaped.

“If you can swing that little ass for Jester then you can dance with me.”

“This isn’t dancing, Craig, and you know it.”

“Why not? We are moving to the music.” She realized he was right but this was different from when she danced with Jester. This was intimate and closer. His hands caressed her sides as they moved against each other. A slow song was playing and he bent down to whisper into her ear, his breath caressing her face.

“You know how bad I want you right now? I want to lay you down and lick and bite every inch of your amazing body. You know that. I bet your sweet little lips are swollen. Tell me are you wet for me? Do you feel what you do to me?” He ground into her as he asked the last question. Shivers went up her spines as he sucked the end of her earlobe and bit gently. She moaned again.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was pushing back against him and swaying her hips to the rhythm of the music. His hands were just below her breasts and all he had to do is move up an inch or two to fully cup them. It was agonizing pleasure and she forgot all about the other people in the room.

“It looks like we have an audience, my pet.” She looked up to see not only Jester but the waitress staring daggers at the two of them together. “Shall we go and finish what we started?”

She turned to look at him and shook her head to clear her thoughts. His nearness made her head spin and she couldn’t think straight. All she could think about was ripping their clothes off and caressing every inch of his body. Her cheeks went beet red when she thought of her mouth on him. He grinned at her like he could read her thoughts. Shaking her head again, she stepped back from him. “I need to go, yes. But I'm going alone.”

Before he could do or say anything, she was walking away. She picked up her purse and walked out the door.

Craig watched her a minute and then felt a growl rise up in his throat. No, dammit. This was not going to happen. There was no way in hell he would let her walk away from him again. He threw a 20 on the table and flew out the door to follow her. She was coming back to him no matter what.

Keeara quickly walked to her car. She had parked in the back in a dark corner so that nobody could find her. She had come there wanting some peace and quiet and she had to run into the one man she was hiding from. She hit the button on her keys and was at the door when she felt someone spin her around.

“You’re not running away. You can either come with me civil or I will take you back. Which is it?”

“Oh give it a rest, will you? Don’t you understand what no is? Or have you never heard that word before?” She thought of the blonde inside and for some reason, she was suddenly seething. How dare he march out here like she owed him something after practically attacking another woman right in front of her. Before she could say another word she felt his hands grip her waist before lifting her and throwing her over his shoulder. She screamed at him, calling him every vile thing she could think of. Her little fists pounded on his back and she tried to bite him. She yelped when she felt his hand connect with her ass.