The Crown Jewels (31 page)

“Georgia,” his voice was low and raspy with desire.

“Beau,” I said, my voice full of a teasing confidence that surprised even me. His kiss had awakened something in me, something that I couldn’t ignore.

I didn’t care that this was our first date. Hell, the date hadn’t even started. I didn’t care that we were in the living room of the house I grew up in. I didn’t care that I had known Beau all my life. Something had changed. Fuck, everything had changed. All I could think about was giving in to these intense desires that were washing over me. I wanted Beau, and I wanted him now.

I smiled at him, and trailed my gaze down his face, to his strong jaw, and then his neck and chest. My hands ran over his washboard abs, my fingers trailing the muscles one by one as I slowly made my way down, fingering the alluring trail of dark hair that led into his jeans, my own little pathway to paradise.

“Stop,” he grabbed both of my hands, and pulled them away just as I was about to reach in.

“Why?” I asked, my moment of enchantment shattered.

“Georgia,” he growled, pushing my hands down and cupping them over his incredibly hard cock, “you feel that?”

“Yes, I —,”

“— exactly. Now, listen, I came here to take you out on a proper date. To treat you like a lady,” he paused, his eyes trailing over my body, which was panting with unquenched desire, my breasts heaving between us, and he shook his head slightly, “the lady you are, and what a lady that is. Damn, baby. But I don’t want you to think I’m just some cowboy that wants in your pants.”

“Don’t you?” I asked, my hand still gripping his cock. I squeezed slightly and he groaned.

“Of course I do,” he said, leaning down quickly and brushing my lips with his. “But I care about you Georgia.”

“Of course you do, you’ve known me forever,” I replied, his cock throbbing in my hand. I could have pulled away, maybe I should have, but the throbbing and twitching kept me glued to it, until he reached down and pulled it away, taking two steps away from me, until he was so far away he was out of reach.

“That’s not what I mean, Georgie,” he said, his eyes softening.

“Why should we go out and waste time and money going on a date when we both know where we’re going to end up?” I asked brazenly. I wanted him now and the thought of waiting hours while we sat through a fancy dinner was excruciating.

He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes.

“First of all, you don’t know where we’ll end up, or where the night will lead us. Second, because I want to, and third and most importantly, darlin’, simply because you deserve it.”

“Oh,” a slow smile spread across my face, and I nodded. If Beau got any sweeter, I’d have a mouth full of cavities. I’d forgotten what kind of man he was. I was a little embarrassed that I had acted like a wanton hussy, but I pushed it away as best I could.

“So,” he said, buttoning up his shirt to my dismay, “let’s go on that date?”

“Okay,” I replied, wistfully watching as his sculpted body disappeared behind his shirt. “but we can do something a little more casual?”

Beau

“How was your date with Georgia, darlin’?” my mother asked over breakfast the next day.

“How did you know I had a date with Georgia?” I asked. I hadn’t told anyone I had asked her out.

“Because you put on your best shirt, you shaved and I saw you drive down the Hope’s driveway after you left your place last night at exactly seven o’clock. Unless it was another one of the Hope’s you were going out with?” she asked teasingly.

“You should have been a private investigator, Ma. I think you missed your calling,” I said, kissing her on the cheek and standing up to put my dishes away.

“I think you might be right, son,” she replied, laughing to herself. “Have a good day, sweetheart.”

“You too, Ma,” I said, walking out of the kitchen and out onto the deck. I stole a quick look over at the Hope’s, and my stomach flipped. The time I spent with Georgia last night had only made my hunger for her worse.

Instead of the fancy restaurant I was going to take her to, Georgia insisted we go somewhere more casual. So instead, we went and found some comfort food at Norma’s diner in town. Afterwards, we walked around downtown Sugar Hill, window shopping and reminiscing about our parallel lives until it was pitch black out and the stars sparkled overhead, as we strode hand in hand down the street.

When I got her home, we sat in my truck for a while, still talking and laughing together, both of us reluctant to say goodbye. All the awkwardness from before had disappeared, leaving us comfortable and easy with each other.

I had walked her to her door and kissed her gently, which went against every urge I had to pick her up, take her to her bed, and make love to her until the rooster’s crowed. If it had been anyone else but Georgia, I would have done just that.

But I had great respect for Georgia, and despite the Herculean effort that it took to pull away when she had practically ripped my shirt off earlier in the evening, I wanted to go slow with her.

It went against every instinct in my body, but I was trying desperately to listen to my brain and not my cock that had been hard every second it was near her.

I made myself say goodbye after a quick kiss, leaving her alone on her doorstep, like a true gentleman.

Like a gentleman with the hardest cock in town.

I reached down and adjusted my constantly raging distraction, just as my father walked out onto the deck.

“Hey, son,” he said, tipping his straw hat.

“Howdy, Pa, how’s it going today?” I asked.

“Alright, I guess. Better than the Baker’s that is.” The Baker’s owned two bars in town. One of them being Lee’s favorite hangout across town, where I had last seen him.

“What happened to the Bakers?”

“They had a fire this morning. I just got off the phone with Sheriff Montgomery. He called looking for Lee,” he said, shaking his head. “I told him I didn’t think Lee had anything to do with it, but he wasn’t so sure. Seems Lee had run up quite a hefty tab in the last few months and Mr. Baker cut him off until he was all paid up. Lee wasn’t too happy about it, as you can imagine.”

“Yeah, I bet he wasn’t. Hell, why’d they let him run a tab anyway?”

“Some people are too nice, Beau. Anyway, I’m sure Lee wouldn’t do that, no matter how mad he was.”

“No, I don’t reckon he would,” I murmured, my eyes drifting over to the Hope’s again, the feel of Georgia’s lips still searing mine.

***

Later that afternoon, I was at the arena practicing, which is where I spent most of my time when I wasn’t working on my folk’s farm. It was a very effective distraction from thinking about Georgia every second. When I was on the back of a bull, I wasn’t thinking about anything at all, except surviving the next few seconds.

It was exhilarating, the feeling of hanging on to the bull and staying on, despite his best efforts to throw me off as fast as possible. When that buzzer sounded eight seconds after that gate opened, it was euphoric. It was more intense than anything I had ever experienced.

I did it over and over, focusing on my grip, focusing on keeping my other arm way up and trying to move with the bull’s movements, all the while trying to anticipate his next move in a split second.

There wasn’t time to think about anything else.

And yet still, every second in between each practice ride, Georgia’s face haunted me, her kiss lingered in my memory, carving itself into every free thought I had.

I had been practicing for hours, and the sun was setting outside the arena, pink and blue swatches of sky streaming across the horizon. Every muscle in my body was aching, and as much as I wanted to ask Dustin if we could stop, I didn’t. If I had any chance of beating Crit, I had to practice as much as I could.

We practiced for another hour, until the sky was black as midnight and sprinkling with stars.

“I think you’re good for the night, Beau,” Dustin said. “You’re doing real good, you might just win.”

“A wise man once told me I should settle for nothing less,” I replied. Dustin was a good man, and he had been my coach for years, constantly imparting his wisdom to me. He had once been a championship rider himself, turning to coaching after almost dying during a rodeo in Louisiana twenty years ago, when a bull decided he wanted to play instead of running back in the pen. He had been trampled and thrown several times before the bull lost interest as he lay bloodied and broken in the dirt.

“That sounds like a good plan, then,” he said, winking as we began putting away our gear. When we were all done, we turned off the lights and locked up. Dustin lived on the same property as his practice arena, and I said goodnight to him as he wandered up the drive that led to his house.

I was just getting in my truck when Finn drove up.

“Hey there, brother,” I called.

He rolled down his window as he came to a stop beside me.

“There’s been another fire at the Hope’s property,” he said. “The big barn this time, the old one.”

“What the fuck?” I exclaimed, jumping in my truck and starting it up quickly. “I’m on my way,” I said to Finn, as I threw the truck into gear.

Finn followed me, and we raced back to the farm. I regretted that I didn’t ask him if everyone was okay…if Georgia was okay. Her face blurred my vision as I drove down the familiar streets twice as fast as I usually did.
Let Sheriff Montgomery try to stop me
, I thought,
I don’t give a shit.

When I finally got there, I drove up the Hope’s driveway and around to the back of their house. The firetruck and ambulance were parked behind it. My truck came to a screeching halt, and I jumped out, running to the crowd of people that were now watching the Hope’s old barn burn to the ground.

I spotted Georgia right away and ran up to her, throwing my arms around her and pulling her to me.

“Are you okay?” I asked, peering down at her. She nodded and held on to me silently, her body shaking with convulsions.

“Are you sure? Are you hurt, Georgie?” I asked, pulling her away to look into her eyes. Tears stained her cheeks, her green eyes looking even greener through her tears as she peered up at me.

“I’m not hurt, but Daddy built that barn,” she whispered through her tears.

“I know, Georgie, I know, I’m so sorry,” I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers, wishing that there was something I could do to make her pain go away.

The barn blazed behind us, the flames licking the sides of the barn with their fiery caress.

That’s three fires
, I thought to myself, as Lee’s words echoed once more through my mind.

I pulled Georgia closer to me, my heart filling with fear and trepidation. If Lee was the one who was setting this fire, it was all my fault. If I had just confronted him a little more calmly, he wouldn’t have gone off the deep end like that.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Crit’s voice sounded behind me, full of anger. I let go of Georgia and turned around to face him.

“Crit, I came over as soon as I heard,” I said. He was standing with the fire chief at his side, his arms crossed across his chest, his face clenched in fury.

“Why?” he asked.

“Why? Because I was worried about Georgia - and all of you,” I stammered.

“Did I really just see you kiss my sister?” he asked, his eyes flashed with accusations.

“Look, Crit —,” I began.

“— no you look, Beau,” he interrupted, closing the short distance between us and pointing a finger in my face. “Like I said before, you Haggards have done enough damage and if you don’t stay away from my sister, I’ll have you and your sorry ass brother locked up, you hear me?”

“Locked up? Beau, she’s twenty-one…” I replied.

“I don’t care if she’s forty-one! You stay the fuck away from her, you hear?” Crit exploded, rage filling his eyes. I couldn’t believe [email protected] angry he was.

“Crit, maybe we should talk about this another time,” I said, feeling Georgia’s eyes on me as she watched this exchange.

“There’s nothing left to talk about, Beau,” he said, turning on his heel and walking away.

“Jesus fucking christ,” I murmured, shaking my head.

“Beau,” Randy, the fire chief said, “I’d like to talk to you a few moments.”

“Why?” I barked, my blood beginning to boil.

“Well, do you know where Lee is? I’d like to talk to him,” he replied.

“No, I haven’t seen him for quite some time.”

“Well from what I hear, there’s a lot of folks that Lee ain’t too happy with. You reckon he’s the one that’s starting these fires?”

“Hell, no, Randy. Lee’s a hell-raiser but he wouldn’t do something like that. Besides, as far as I know, he left town days ago.”

“Uh-huh. You see Lee, you tell him I need to talk to him, alright?”

“You got it, Randy,” I replied, as he walked away.

I turned away, my head spinning.

Fuck you, Lee,
I thought to myself.
If you’re starting all this shit, I’m going to tan your hide.