I’m also having a hard time getting excited for the job when my new boss is congratulating me on my pending nuptials and asking if wedding planning or the wedding itself will interfere my start date.
I groan. This is all becoming too real. Or it always has been, but the walls I put up to keep that reality at bay are crumbling.
I stop walking when I realize I’m in front of Pritchard’s, the bar where I found Colt the other day. I glance at my watch. Four-fifty-eight. I frown and keep walking. I head to the corner, linger, and then turn to walk back. By the time I’m back in front of the front door, it’s now five.
Perfect.
I step inside the dark bar. Once again, it’s totally empty, but that suits me just fine. I find an empty seat and smile at the bartender. He’s on his phone again, still swiping. But he begrudgingly looks up.
“The usual?”
I frown. “Um, I’ve only been here once, actually.”
“I know. Kinda narrows down the options for ‘the usual’ though, doesn’t it?”
I smirk. “So true. The usual works great thanks.”
A minute later, I’ve got a whiskey, neat, in a glass in front of me. I take a sip to calm my nerves and to try and dull the swirling of Hurricane Colt inside my head.
The front door swings open. I glance up, and I blush and roll my eyes at the same time. Colt smirks, shaking his head as he steps in.
“Small towns, huh?”
“What are there, like five fucking people that live here?”
He chuckles and slowly walks over to me. His eyes hold mine, and I tremble with a nervous, excited, hungry energy with every step he takes.
“And we meet again at the scene of the crime.”
I blush as I bite my lip.
“What brings you downtown?”
“Lawyer crap. We had to get some of the paperwork notarized, so I was over at the post office.”
He sits next to me, and I tremble a little.
“What are you drinking?”
“Whiskey.”
“Atta girl.”
I grin, feeling the heat pool inside of me.
“Starting right on the dot, I see?”
I roll my eyes. “And what did you come in here for, a coke?”
He chuckles, but his eyes drop back to my glass. I blush and drag my lip between my teeth.
“This isn’t about… you know.”
When I chance a glance up, Colt is smirking at me. His dark eyes captivate mine as the heat surges inside of me.
“No, I don’t know.”
I blush, because everything about his look says he knows damn well why I might need a drink right now. And he knows damn well it has everything to do with what happened earlier in the stable.
“I think you do…” I murmur.
“Ahh, you mean…” he leans close to me. I gasp when his mouth hovers next to my ear. “You mean you drinking has nothing to do with me putting my mouth between your pretty legs and licking that sweet pussy?”
I gasp, and heat rushes through me. Desire pools between my thighs, and my pulse thumps wildly. Colt’s hand drops casually to my knee, and I tremble. I know I could move it. I know I’m not going to, though.
Colt nods at Mike, the bartender, who brings over another whiskey for him.
“Well, if I’m wrong,” he growls. “What are you doing down here, having a drink?”
“Dr. Watts.”
He frowns. “Right, the on-boarding thing for the job.”
“Yeah…” I blush. “That and he wanted to congratulate me on my upcoming wedding?”
Colt frowns. “Shit, sorry if that seemed invasive. You might be used to being invisible in New York. But small towns like this gossip like goddamn hens.”
“Well, he wanted to make are my start date and availability were still okay, seeing as I’ve got a wedding to plan, and a new husband to spend time with, and—”
“Tansy.”
Colt’s firm but warm voice stops me before I start to spiral. I take a breath as I slowly raise my eyes to his again.
“You don’t really have to marry me, you know,” he growls quietly.
“I know, I just...”
“And you can back out. I won’t blame—”
“No, I can’t.”
He frowns. “No, you really can. Tansy, you don’t owe me—”
“No, I can’t,” I whisper. I close my eyes, and my heart races as my hand drops to his on top of my leg. My fingers entwine with his. I take a ragged breath, and slowly open my eyes to look up into his. “I can’t—”
I whimper when his mouth slams into mine. His big, powerful hand slides into my hair, tangling in my locks as he pulls me against him. His lips crush to mine, and I moan as I all but slide into his lap right there at the bar.
Our tongues dance. Hands grip at each other frantically. I eat crow about every single couple I ever secretly judged for engaging in rampant public displays of affection.
All I can think about is what happened earlier. Actually, that’s not true. Half of what I can think about is what happened earlier. The other half is fully invested in what I want to happen now.
I’m panting for air when Colt slowly pulls back from my lips. He sucks my bottom lip with his as he backs away, letting it slip free as I moan. His eyes scream lust and desire. His chiseled jaw grinds with a barely contained need, for me.
“You know,” he grunts quietly. “I’ve got whiskey at the house…”
I grin, blushing deeply. “Oh, very smooth, Mr. Patton.”
He smirks. “Oh, come on now, dear. Let’s not let marriage take away that spontaneous spark,” he drawls.
My pulse races. My panties grow wetter
