Chasing Trouble

Bad boys are the best kind of trouble…

Kindergarten teacher Jenna Justice has lived her life by the book—right school, right career, right image. Too bad the townsfolk of Diamond, Kansas, have a hard time forgetting that she wasn’t born on the right side of the tracks. The only way J.J. can land her dream job is to keep her wild side buried and her reputation
clean
. But when she finds herself in another town, one without prying eyes, she allows herself one fantasy-filled night with her best friend’s bad boy brother.

Professional bull rider Colt McCade is grounded for the summer with an injury. After their sizzling night together, he finds himself wanting to pick up where he and the prim and not-so-proper Ms. Justice left off. Problem is, she isn’t interested in his idea of “healing,” which involves ice cubes and a whole lot of heavy breathing. But the closer he gets, the more he sees that his fast-and-loose reputation could cost her the job of her dreams. He wants to do the right thing, but walking away from her could cost him everything…

a Chasing Love novel

Joya Ryan

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Joya Ryan. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Entangled Publishing, LLC

2614 South Timberline Road

Suite 109

Fort Collins, CO 80525

Visit our website at
www.entangledpublishing.com
.

Brazen is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC. For more information on our titles, visit
www.brazenbooks.com
.

Edited by Gwen Hayes

Cover design by Heather Howland

ISBN 978-1-63375-081-4

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition September 2014

To my best friend.

You helped me move on. Supported me. Cried with me. Encouraged me to write this book.

Your kindness and grace inspires me daily.

Thank you for talking me down from the ledge over and over.

Chapter One

Jenna-Jayne Justice should have never said yes to that third shot of whiskey. Having tossed her black glasses on the counter an hour ago, she looked around the seedy Kansas City bar, three hundred miles from her cozy hometown of Diamond, Kansas, and realized one drink too late that she was the wrong kind of girl, this was the wrong kind of place, and her current two-step partner’s hands were definitely on her ass.

“Your hands are a bit south there.” She went to move away from the man who was holding her. Damn. She couldn’t even remember his name. Jeff maybe?

He clutched her tighter, refusing to grant the space she was trying to gain. What the hell had she been thinking, agreeing to this dance?

Oh yes, she had convinced herself that a night with Jack Daniel’s and a spin around the dance floor would erase the memory of her disastrous meeting with the Kansas State Board of Education.

While we like your pitch, Miss Justice, we are not sure you are the right candidate to carry out such a responsibility…

The thought made her face burn hotter than the whiskey toiling in her gut. They had taken one look at her and dismissed her credentials, completely ignoring what she could bring to the table.

“My mistake,” Jeff mumbled. He was apparently directionally challenged because, instead of heading north, his hands ventured even lower, around both cheeks, delivering a pinching squeeze.

“Get. Your hands. Off. My ass,” she grated, leaving no doubt by her tone, or the way her pointed heel ground into Mr. Touchy-Feely’s big toe, that she was tired of being underestimated.

“Shit, woman. Watch where you put those feet,” he said, moving his hands back to her waist.

Her good manners good and gone, she didn’t even apologize for the bruise he was sure to have come morning. In fact, she kept her knee within ground-zero range, just in case his hands
accidently
slipped again.

Maybe her friend Lily was right. Maybe she was a total prude.

Jenna sighed and wondered what it would feel like to forget decorum and just let go.

She had left that meeting with such heavy defeat crushing her chest, she didn’t give a crap about what tomorrow would bring. But her brilliant plan of letting loose had backfired. She was surrounded by strangers and four walls plastered with neon beer signs, and all she wanted was to go home.

“Come on, baby,” Jeff slurred, squeezing her left ass cheek again.

Hell, no! Prude or not, being manhandled after a state-certified rejection was the last thing she needed.

“I think I’ve had my fill of dancing for one night.” Jenna took a large step back, out of his arms. “And it’s getting late.”

“Yeah,” Jeff said, closing the distance and grabbing her by the waist. “I was thinking the same thing. What do you say you and I go back to my place and…” He ground up against her.

“I was thinking more of, ‘Good night.’ Now let go.”

He didn’t move. “A girl like you should know how this works.”

Jenna stiffened, her face flushing at the familiar taunt.

Jeff’s eyes, and grip, tightened. “I bought you three rounds, showed you a nice time on the dance floor. So maybe you should be a good little lady and return the favor?”

“Last warning,” Jenna said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. “Let go of me.”

Jeff actually laughed. “Or what?”

Before she knew what was happening, Jeff’s hand moved up her body, grazing the bottom of her breast. Her fist balled up tight and smashed into Jeff’s jaw. A slice of pain cut through her knuckles as Jeff stumbled away from her.

“You bitch!” Jeff hollered. He righted himself and took an aggressive step forward.

The music stopped. Every pair of eyes bore down on her.

Oh God. What had she been thinking? She had never struck anyone. She had a sign above her desk, made out of crayons and poster board that stated fighting never solved anything. Use words instead.

Jenna’s pulse pounded in her ears. The wildness inside her, the wildness she’d worked so hard to suffocate, began to breathe.

This asshole guy had groped her. In public. After she said no. He deserved her retaliation, despite her better judgment. She was a proud, reputable kindergarten teacher with a stellar credit score and a hybrid. Her life might be by-the-book and boring, but Jenna liked it that way. It kept her safe, out of trouble, and off her small town’s radar for gossip.

It also leaves me empty.

Jeff stomped toward her.

Jenna tensed, afraid he would grab her. Another fist flew out, not hers. This one was large and muscular and caught Jeff across the nose. A loud crunch cut through the air before he went down for good.

Jenna spun to see—

“Colt?” Shock raced through her and a swallow of air caught in her throat. She hadn’t seen Colt McCade in the flesh in nearly ten years. He had been eighteen and if she remembered correctly, running out of town…with the sheriff on his heels. Colt had a wild streak in him and got into a bit of trouble when he was younger. Nothing major, but enough to piss off a few people and get on the sheriff’s list.

He didn’t say a word. His blue eyes were bright, glaring from within the shadows of his ball cap. He snagged her glasses off the counter, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her out the front door.

“Hey!” She wiggled to get free of his death grip but quickly gave up.

For God’s sake, the man held on to bucking bulls for a living. Not to mention he was a good foot taller and built like an “Army of One” ad.

Her heels clicked across the parking lot as he dragged her toward a blue pickup. Still ignoring her protests, Colt opened the cab door, practically tossed her in, and slammed the door shut.

It wasn’t until he walked around and climbed behind the steering wheel that he looked her in the eye.

“Why are you here?” she blurted out.

“Me?” He started the engine and peeled out of the gravel lot. “This is my turf, sweetheart. You’re the one who’s far from home.”

“Don’t you have some rodeo to be in?”

“Yes,” he snapped. “But I got a call from Lily saying you were getting liquored up at the Rusty Bolt.”

Damn.
Jenna knew she shouldn’t have called Lily earlier and spilled everything, from her location in the big city to her despair over the meeting. Lily was not only Jenna’s best friend, but Colt’s baby sister.

“What the hell were you thinking? This isn’t Diamond. Do you know what kind of assholes hang out at that bar you were in?”

“You just said that you go there.”

“Exactly my point, JJ.”

Even though Colt was obviously tense, his voice rolled off her like hot buttered rum. When they were growing up, he was the only one who called her JJ. Colt was two years her senior. This was not the first time he had come roaring in with his high-priced pickup to save the day.

Since Jenna was a kid, Lily McCade had been her best friend, and Colt looked out for his little sister. And that protection had been extended to her. Whenever Lily asked him to go get Jenna—whether from her own mama’s trailer or, years later, out of a dive honky-tonk—Colt went.

Some things never changed. But she wasn’t a scared teen running from her mother anymore. She could handle herself. And she was about to tell Colt that, but when she turned and looked at him her throat went dry and her blood pressure spiked.

My God
.

The man was fine. He had always been tall and built. Lean muscle, hidden beneath tan skin, stretched across his whole body. That boyish charm still laced his face, but with the blond stubble and strong jaw, Colt McCade was simply mouthwatering. He had definitely grown up and filled out in the last ten years.

A white T-shirt clung to his strong chest and torso. She could see the ridged indentations of his abdominal muscles beneath the thin cotton.

“Lily told me why you’re here in Kansas City…how did the grant meeting with the state go?”

God.
The grant.

Jenna had devoted the past year to getting Diamond’s first full-time after-school program up and ready. All she needed was that grant money. She had calculated every aspect of her life so that she could help the kids of Diamond with the much-needed program. Every community service stint, every volunteer teaching program,
everything
was to show why she was the best woman for the job. Not the trailer trash that some people still whispered her to be.

“The board still isn’t sure if I have the qualifications for the position,” she admitted, suddenly not so sure herself. “And the state won’t give money to someone they don’t see fit to run the after-school program.”

“You’re a teacher, JJ. A damn good one.”

Jenna’s eyes snapped to his face. His tone had softened, as if he was trying to understand what she was feeling. He couldn’t. Sure, they grew up in the same town, but their childhoods couldn’t have been more different. Not to mention, Colt went off and made it big. Despite his rebellious past, he was basically considered a damn celebrity back home. Well, more like an urban legend. Talked about, but never truly seen. All Jenna remembered was that Colt had some “issues” before leaving town after graduation. After his parents died, Colt had gotten into some fights and got cited for a Minor in Possession. These “issues” weren’t really talked about aside from a few random gossipers back home every once in a while. Jenna glanced at his strong chest again. The man left an impression, that much was still true.

Aside from his senior year mishaps, Colt McCade and his band of buddies came from good stock. He was best friends with Ryder Diamond, for goodness’ sake, the man whose ancestors settled Diamond, Kansas. Jenna came from a mama who broke up marriages and a papa she’d never even met.

“How would you know about my credentials?” she demanded. “You haven’t been around Diamond in nearly ten years.”

“Yes, I have.”

Jenna’s brows creased.

His eyes remained forward, locked on the road and the darkness they were plowing through. “Only for a night here and there. I never made a big deal about my arrival.”

Over the last decade, Jenna remembered Lily’s mentioning that Colt visited home from time to time. But Jenna never actually saw him. Thus reaffirming the urban legend. He must have at least seen his buddies though. Huck, Ryder and Sebastian all still lived in Diamond and from what Jenna understood, they were all still best friends and kept in contact with Colt.

“Why not?”

He scoffed and shook his head. “A reputation is a hard thing to shake.”

Jenna swallowed hard. She knew that to be true. But whatever reputation Colt had back home wasn’t anything horribly damning. From what she gathered, he was viewed as a playboy with a wild streak. Someone who turned heads, but no one hated him or anything. Miranda Justice, her mother, had a similar reputation, only people weren’t subtle with their negative feelings toward her. And they transferred a lot of them to Jenna, warranted or not.

He turned onto a dirt road. “So did the state outright deny you?” he asked, changing the subject back to her.

“Well, no. They said they’d convene with the Diamond school board later this summer to discuss the distribution of funds and who will head up the program.”

“See! So you’re in the running.”

Somehow Colt’s words cut through the gray screen of despair she had put up. Okay, so she’d gotten upset and thrown a bit of a pity party. But there was still hope. And if there was one thing Jenna could be, it was poised.

Making a vow early on to never be in the same sentence as her mama, let alone class, Jenna worked tirelessly to outrun the reputation Miranda Justice had bestowed. She could do this. She would convince the state and the school board she was the best candidate to direct this program. And when the funding came in, not a single child in Diamond would be turned away. Including Abigail, a little girl Jenna taught last year. Between the girl’s sad eyes and lack of support and kindness at home, Jenna recognized that despair Abigail carried around with her. It was the same thing Jenna dealt with when she was young. She was tired of watching Abigail, and other kids, go home to nothing.

The board wanted responsible and upstanding? Jenna had that in spades. And if that’s what it took to run the program, Jenna would make sure she was the epitome of demure.

“Where are we going?” she asked as the pickup slowed. Tall grass lined each side of the narrow dirt road and without her glasses, all she could see was an expanse of land stretching out before her and into the night.

“You can sleep it off at my place.”

“I have a hotel and my flight leaves tomorrow morning.”

Colt nodded as if he knew this already. Of course Lily would have filled him in on all the details. Damn it, she would have to tape that girl’s mouth shut when she got home.

Jenna raised her hands to smooth pieces of hair back into the tightly coiled bun on the crown of her head. A burning sensation shot up her knuckles and she hissed.

Colt looked down at her hand. “Ah shit, sugar, you’re bleeding.” He gripped her hand and brought it into his line of vision, glancing between her knuckles and the road.

“I’ve never punched anyone before.”

Gently, he brushed his fingertips over the raw skin. A devilish grin split his handsome face, causing all that blond scruff to dance along his jaw. “I’m sorry you’re hurt, but I’ve gotta tell ya, JJ”—he kissed her little battle wound—“you have a sexy right hook.”