Sweet Hill Homecoming (6 page)

“Oh, he needs something,” Mia grumbled. “Like a personality transplant.”
 

 
“Well, speaking of men, Cam over there has been glancing at you since you walked in.” Jen waved a little.
 

Mia followed Jen’s glance at him. He was attractive enough. She remembered him always being cute back in high school. Judging by the ladies swarming around him, his bartender brother, and Tate, Mia wasn’t alone in her observation. But she had her eye on just one man.
 

Tate radiated so much male testosterone and swagger it was almost hypnotic. Almost. Too bad she both knew better and how stubborn he could be.
 

She closed her eyes and when she opened them, she wanted all the conflicting feelings for the Deputy to disappear. Only when she opened her eyes, she saw him loop one thumb along the top of his belt clasp, flashing a look of that worn black leather that lined his hips and giving him the stance of a care-free sex on a stick that was all man, all ego, and all wrong for her.

Try as she might, Tate West and his swagger, wasn’t going anywhere near her.

As if on cue, Cam walked over with a second round for all of them. “This is compliments of Jen being awesome and returning my wallet and not ripping me off,” he said.

“Rip you off? You had like eleven bucks…not that I went through your wallet or anything,” Jen joked.
 

Cam smiled, his country boy charm flashing and while she could see how it would work on the ladies, it didn’t do a thing for her. If she could focus, maybe she could try to relax. But there was a pair of dark eyes glaring at her from across the room. Tate had her all wired with annoyance, anger and this stupid buzz of lust. She was ready to go punch him in the face for making her feel so off.
 

And so painfully needy.
 

She took a deep breath and clamped her thighs together, attempting to ward off the heat that was growing since she walked in there tonight and laid eyes on Tatum.

“You like being home?” Cam asked.

“Yeah. Still settling in. Parts of me miss the city,” she replied honestly, flashing a look at Tate.

Cam nodded. “Well, you’re back now.”

“Yeah,” she said.
 

“And she’s single,” Jen piped in, nudging her shoulder smiling. “Not even interested in long term.”

“Thank you, Jen,” Mia said. Great, even her friend had her sounding like a pleasure ride for hire.
 

“That’s cool,” Cam said casually. “Though I’d never guess you to be single for long.”
 

Mia just smiled and tried not to look at Tate again. Which was a big fat fail. Did he think she was taken? Would he have treated her differently if he knew she was…what? Interested?
 

Did she care?
 

She silently cursed her brain for the twelfth time that night to shut up. Luckily, Cam just kept talking.

“I left Sweet Hill for a while back in college. It’s not for everyone.”

That’s for sure. Mia was struggling more here than she ever had on her own in the city. She’d never been so broke, so lost, and so depended on. She loved her brother and they had always been close despite their age difference. But overnight she became a mother figure and taking care of him was her priority. She was just sorry it took her all of last year with him in Seattle to realize how unhappy he was.

She glanced at Tate whose eyes were still locked on her even though he leaned back to say something to Matt behind the counter.
 

Apparently, the Deputy just thought she was a reject
 

Whatever perception Deputy West had of her, he was wrong. But he didn’t care, and that didn’t matter. She had bigger issues to deal with.
 

“Well if you ever want to hang out, get reacquainted with the town,” Cam smiled, “You just let me know.”
 

With that, he walked back to the bar and took his place next to his brother serving drinks and laughing with patrons.
 

“I think you should take him up on it,” Jen said. “That is, if you can stop staring at Tate.”

“I’m not staring,” Mia instantly defended a little quicker than she meant. “I’m fuming.”
 

Jen raised and eye brow. “Either way, you don’t find a way to deal with…” she waved her hand in Mia’s direction, “whatever pent up aggression you’re rocking there, and you’re liable to have a nuclear meltdown of epic proportions.”
 

Nuclear Meltdown. That’s exactly what Mia felt on the brink of. Slowly boiling and bubbling until she didn’t trust her judgment, or her mouth.
 

And
mouthing
off to the Deputy was probably a bad idea. Especially when she thought of biting his mouth, the one that was currently aiming a grin in her direction.
 

“Damn this place,” she muttered, and drank down her lemon drop in one gulp.
 

She had just finished drink number two when the Deputy threw a couple bills down on the bar and headed toward the back exit.
 

“I’m going to get some air,” she said, excusing herself from the group and wove through the crowd, heading toward the exit.
 

For the past two hours, he sat there, staring her way. She couldn’t tell if he wanted her. Hated her. But whatever it was, she felt it. Bone deep she felt those eyes on her all night. Felt it when his big hands squeezed her hips a little when she was up against him. And now what? He just left? No way. Somehow, telepathy or otherwise, he was fucking with her. And she was going to call him on it.
 

“Hey,” she said throwing the back door open and rounding the outside corner. It was dark and with the back side of the bar facing an open field and acres of nothingness, it was quiet too.
 

“Something you need, Miss Blake?” Tate said, stopping and turning to face her.
 

“Yeah, there is,” she said, feeling her liquid courage sink in. She walked right up to him, gripped his belt clasp, yanked him toward her, and mashed her mouth against his.
 

He went rigid and still as if shocked, which was exactly what she was going for. What she wasn’t prepared for was how good he felt against her lips. She also wasn’t prepared for him to linger. But he did. And Mia’s heart skipped.
 

She snaked her tongue out to get a better taste. His hands encased her shoulders and gently held her back.
 

“What the hell are you doing?” he said.

She smiled. She may not have been sure before, but she was now. Tatum West may hate her, but he also wanted her. “I stepped up and did what you’ve been wanting to do all night.”

“Excuse me?”

She was going for it. For him. For no other reason than she just wanted him. Smart, stupid or crazy, she was going to have this man. And she’d use every piece of power she had to get him.

“I see the way you look at me. I know men, Deputy, and I know what your mind was turning out.”

“I don’t know what you think this will get you, Mia, but I assure you I wasn’t thinking anything.”
 

“Oh no?” She tugged on his belt again, causing his body to press against hers, and felt his hard cock against her stomach. “I don’t believe you.”

He looked down at her for a long moment, those dark eyes flickering with something hot. Something dangerous. Something Mia wanted to grab hold of and experience.
 

Because this man pissed her off.
 

He also got her wet by just shooting a look her way. It was obvious he was always in control. Which is why it took her longer to figure him out. His shoulders were always squared and his jaw always set. His persona spoke volumes. But that’s all it was, a persona. And Mia was about to call bullshit on the Deputy.
 

“What is your end goal here, Mia?”
 

“Is that how everything is with you? Some planned out list of bullet points that ends in…” she swayed her hips enough to rub against his erection, “a satisfying completion?”
 

His breath went a little ragged. So she pushed further.
 

She lifted her chin and skimmed her lips against his jaw when she said, “What if my end goal is you?”
 

“That doesn’t sound logical or obtainable.”
 

She leaned back enough to look him in the eye. He was a tough one to crack. Mia knew he was close, but Tatum with all his control, wasn’t pulling away.
 

She had to give him credit though. Maybe he wasn’t like the others, because he’d be in her pants right now. Instead he was arguing logic? He was a man. And he wanted her. That was obvious. Now just time to make him admit it.
 

She looked into his eyes and it made sense.
 

“Oh, I get it,” she said. “You’re repressed.”
 

He frowned, then scoffed and shifted his weight. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
 

Oh, but she did. This was Mia’s specialty. Reading men. She didn’t have to sleep with them to know exactly what they were thinking. She just had to observe them.
 

“I do know, Deputy.” She slowly walked her fingers up his torso and he flexed beneath her touch. The man was strong, those ridges of muscles he was hiding under that shirt made her mouth water, but she stayed focused. Her mission was to break the starchy Deputy and take back the upper hand.

“I bet you like women who are delicate,” walk, walk, “the kind of women who ask you to make love to them,” walk, “with the lights out, missionary style, nothing too kinky.”
 

A small growl came from his chest.

She grinned, obviously hitting a nerve. “Oh, you don’t like that?” she mocked, walking her fingers just a bit higher until she reached his chest. “You obviously have your mind made up about me…about
my kind
.” She threw his words back at him, feeling more powerful by the moment. “You see Deputy,” she leaned in until her mouth was inches from his. “I wouldn’t ask you to lay me down and gently make love to me.” She flicked his bottom lip with her tongue. “I’d demand you to fuck me until I screamed.”
 

Whatever dam the Deputy was clinging to, burst.

His mouth closed the last piece of space between them and delivered a sizzling kiss so hot, it made Mia gasp.
 

That growl she’d heard earlier? Was now rumbling his chest. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and the way he moved his lips over hers, consuming, dominating, made her knees weak. He gave in. Just like she thought. Hoped. And she couldn’t stop from giving in back.
 

She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, kissing him back with all the raw need she felt. But when he slid that skilled mouth down her neck and started biting her pulse point, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she knew she had unleashed something dark in Tate. And she was excited to experience it.
 

He backed her against the wall and kicked apart her feet. She spread her legs enough for him to wedge himself between them. Her skirt rode high. His jeans scratched her inner thighs and she grinded her hips against him. God she was crazed for him. Kissing, nipping, clawing. Anything she could do to get a better feel, a deeper drink of him.

Tate stoked a fire she long thought smothered. And she wanted that fire back. Wanted him. Bad. Despite the reasons not to and despite the fact that she technically kind of hated him.
 

She’d deal with that tomorrow. Because logic had never been her friend anyway.
 

He cupped her hips. Using his thumbs, he pushed up her sweater just enough to bear her midriff. He bent down and ran his tongue along the waist band of her skirt and Mia closed her eyes and lost herself in the feel of this man. Licking her, kissing her, sampling her. Like it was his right, like he owned her. And he hadn’t even touched her anywhere intimately yet. Yet every touch was intimate.

“More, Tatum,” she moaned and didn’t realize it until the words hit her ears.

“Demanding?” he rasped and bit down on her hip bone, causing a small squeak of pleasure to pass her lips.
 

“Yes,” she said firmly.
 

He straightened and kissed her again. Fierce and hard. She fumbled with his belt, finally opening it and unbuttoning his jeans enough to push them low on his hips. His cock sprang free. She grabbed it and good lord the man was huge.
 

She gripped him harder and stroked once. He hissed against her mouth. She thought she hurt him for a moment, but when she eased her grip, he thrust into her hand. “Not going soft now are you, tough girl?”
 

She grinned and bit his lip. “I didn’t know how much you could handle.”

“Oh,” he thrust again and she squeezed tighter, “I can handle you just fine, sweetheart.”
 

So the Deputy did have a kinky side. She’d remember to not go easy on him again.