by Nikki Vale
“Did you stop by for lunch too?” I ask Jon.
“I sure did, but knowing that I might run into a certain pretty lady might have swayed me just a little too,” he flirts. Cooper rolls his eyes and I laugh. I look between the two men and I can’t help but grin. The masculine beauty in front of me is almost blinding. I can’t decide which one I want to look at more. It’s like choosing between Taylor Lautner and Bradly Cooper. Each has a completely different look but both are sexy as hell.
Jon reaches over and grabs the remainder of my grilled cheese sandwich and polishes it off in two bites. He’s definitely lacking in manners. It’s a good thing I was done eating that. I can tell Jon is starting to annoy Cooper, who’s definitely more of a gentleman.
“So, how did you two end up having lunch together? Is this a date?” Jon asks, with a raised brow.
“No. The Sherriff just happened to come in while I was having lunch and Summer seated him here against his will,” I tease.
“I’ll willingly take your place, Cooper. I don’t mind sitting with a pretty lady,” Jon comments. I see Summer heading towards our table and I mentally brace myself for whatever crazy comments she’s about to impart.
“What brings you here, lady killer?” she addresses Jon. “I’ve got a perfectly good table you can sit at over here without you poaching on Cooper’s territory,” she offers. Was she referring to me as Cooper’s territory? I feel my face flush and sneak a peek at Cooper who just gives me a lopsided grin, revealing a dimple I hadn’t noticed before. Jon looks back and forth between me and Cooper and clears his throat.
“Do you mind if I join you?” he asks.
“The more the merrier,” I offer, magnanimously. Summer sighs in exasperation because I’ve just thwarted her attempt at matchmaking.
“Great, I’ll have what she had,” Jon says to Summer.
“I think you already did,” Cooper snidely remarks and I chuckle.
“Hey, look who’s coming through the door now,” Summer remarks. I look up to see my baby sister Dawn followed by a girl and a guy that I don’t know.
I take in the sight of my little sister with her honey-colored hair and skin looking so much like Summer that it’s uncanny. Dawn’s a little taller than Summer and her hair only comes to her shoulders where Summer’s flows to the middle of her back like mine. I stand up to give her a hug and she limply returns it.
“Hey there Skye. It’s been a long time,” she says, greeting me as if I’m an old acquaintance instead of her sister. Her eyes have been glued to Cooper since she walked in.
“Why don’t you join us for lunch? We can all move to a bigger table to accommodate us all,” I offer. I’d like to catch up with Dawn, even though we’re not as close as me and Summer, we’re still sisters.
“I’m going to head out,” Cooper says, and I glance over at him noticing that he’s finished his lunch. “Can I get that to-go order now Summer?” he asks standing up to collect his thick jacket off the back of the chair. I see the crestfallen look on Dawn’s face and I already know she won’t be joining me.
“That’s alright Skye. Me Trixie and Darren were just grabbing something quick to go,” she tells me. Her friend Trixie gives her an evil look but she just ignores it.
“Guess it’s just me and you then,” Jon smiles at me.
Chapter Eight
It’s Saturday night and I’m sitting in the parking lot of AG’s Bar & Grill deciding whether I should go in or not. The place is already packed and more people are pulling in. I’m hesitant to join the party because of all the possible things that can go wrong with a large crowd of people consuming alcohol.
On the other hand, my presence might keep a few bad things from happening in the first place. Besides, I can’t let Jon steal all of Skye’s attention like he did the other day. I want to get to know this woman. I grab the gift I brought for Dawn and head towards the restaurant. Well, the gift I had Sally get for me, to give to Dawn. I have no idea what kind of gifts young girls want.
“Cooper, you came,” I hear Dawn exclaiming as I walk through the door. She invited me weeks ago but I hadn’t previously had any intention of coming until Skye mentioned it. “Doesn’t the birthday girl get a hug?” she says wrapping her arms around my neck. I give her a quick hug and pull back, handing her the gift. She squeals in delight and runs off to place it with the millions of other gifts stacked on a nearby table.
I look around the room for one face in particular and I see her standing near the small stage usually only utilized on karaoke night. Skye’s talking to Summer, looking to die for in black leather pants and a red cashmere sweater. Before this moment, I wouldn’t have taken her for a leather pants kind of girl. But with her long hair loose and those red high heels, she’s looking like a rock star, slash, sex kitten.
I don’t want to appear too eager so I mingle a little bit, walking around greeting people that I know. I spy Jon talking to Trixie Carter in a dark corner. She’s a good friend of Dawn’s and has a reputation for being promiscuous. Jon spots me and breaks away from Trixie.
“Hey, Boss. I never thought I’d see you here,” Jon clasps my hand and we bump shoulders. I just shrug in response. I like Jon, he and I are actually friends of a sort. He’s more of a ladies man than I am, though. I’m looking to settle down and he’s still playing the field. But Jon’s in no hurry to get married and start a family. At twenty-eight years old he’s still got a little more time left to have his fun.
“What’s up with Skye? Do you think she’d go out with me?” he asks. I narrow my eyes at him. “No, no. I mean like on a date. I can tell that she’s not a one night stand kind of girl. That’s the kind of girl you take home to mom,” Jon quickly clarifies. He knows that I’m aware of his love them and leave them reputation.
Just my luck, Jon is already trying to date Skye. I knew he would try to sleep with her and I wasn’t worried about that because like him I knew she wouldn’t be the type to go for that. But he wants to date her? I mean seriously date her? I don’t know. She just might go for that. Jon’s a good looking guy and when he’s not trying to get into a woman’s pants, he’s been known to be funny and sweet. I’m in trouble.
“Ladies and gentlemen thank you for joining us tonight to celebrate my baby sister’s twenty-first birthday. If you know our little Dawn you know she loves her country music, as a matter of fact, all three of us do. We got it from our Momma. Thanks, Mom!” She shouts pointing to her mother in the crowd. “Anyway, in case you didn’t know, our big sister Skye moved into town this week. Come up here Skye,” she reaches a hand down to Skye helping her up on the stage. “My beautiful big sister Skye here has promised to provide most of tonight’s entertainment. I say most because she will need to take a break or two,” Summer laughs and continues on.
“Skye is a modest girl and hates when I tell people this…..” There’s a pause as Skye tries to take the microphone from Summer. Summer sidesteps her retaining her grip. “She’s so humble. If you look up Skye Williams up on the internet you can find a performance taped by of a friend of hers that went viral a few months back. She was even offered a few record deals but our Skye sings for the love of music, and tonight she’ll sing for you. So without further ado, I give you Skye Williams.”
Skye is looking more than just a little embarrassed at this point, but she takes the microphone from Summer's hand, but not before giving her a death glare. Summer just smiles, sticks her tongue out at her and saunters off the stage.
“Hi, all,” Skye greets the audience with a small wave. “I’m going to start the night off with a song that I know Dawn likes, but if you have any requests throughout the night give them to Summer and I’ll try to get to them if I know them,” Skye offers.
I’m absolutely intrigued. She sings? Summer is probably exaggerating Skye’s talent; she’s her sister after all. I walk over to the bar and lean against it, taking my favorite stance with my arms crossed over my chest. I reach into my shirt pocket and pop a toothpick in my mouth.
This should be interesting.
I can hear Hailey not too far away from me making snide comments to her friends. Why she’s even here I can’t even fathom. I turn to look at Hailey just as Skye starts to sing and the look on her face is priceless. Skye starts belting out the lyrics to Little Big Town’s, ‘I’m a Tornado.’
Well, I’ll be damned! Skye can really sing, and not just passably. Her voice is absolutely melodic. Besides the dumbfounded look on Hailey’s face, many other people are looking around in disbelief while Summer and Dawn are strutting around like two proud peacocks. People are slowly getting over their surprise and are moving onto the dance floor.
“Wow! She’s beautiful and talented. Definitely a keeper,” Jon comments, from my side. He needs to keep his comments to himself before he ends up in a choke hold.
I feel chills on the back of my neck before I even look to the side and see Hailey standing there with a pout on her face. “I can’t believe you let that girl treat me the way she did the other night. I thought we were friends,” she says placing her hand on my chest and slowly inching her way down.
I grab her by the wrist, stopping her descent. “That’s all we are,” I remind her quietly, dropping her wrist. She huffs and storms off. That chick is a few sandwiches short of a picnic basket. I’ll have to keep an eye on Hailey Weaver from now on.
I return my attention back to the stage. Skye has done a few songs and looks like she’s ready to take a break. I order a sweet tea from Mitch and head in her direction.
“Skye is going to take a quick break and in the meantime we’ll play some music over the sound system so feel free to continue dancing,” Summer announces.
I reach Skye just as she steps down from the stage and hold out the ice cold glass to her. “Oh my gosh, thank you. You’re a lifesaver. It’s just what I needed,” she says in a rush and takes a few unladylike gulps. I love it. There’s no pretense with her.
“You were incredible,” I compliment her. She blushes and shrugs her shoulders.
“I just love to sing. It soothes me. I don’t like to do it for money our recognition. Just the pure joy of it,” she says simply.
I hear a slow song by Blake Shelton come on. “Hey Skye, awesome job up there. Do you want to dance?” Jon asks, interrupting us.
“This dance is already spoken for,” I reply putting my hand out to Skye. I’m taking a chance that she won’t reject me, but Jon’s really starting to tick me off. Skye looks surprised, but not as surprised as Jon. She reaches out her hand and places it in mine. I sigh mentally, in relief.
We walk out to the dance floor hand in hand. When we reach a clear spot I turn and gently pull her into my arms. I hear her suck in her breath when her breasts brush against my chest. I feel her nipples pebble in response against me and I smile to myself. She reaches up and places her arms around my neck. She feels so good against me. I put my face next to her soft hair breathing in the light fruity scent of her shampoo.
“I like this song,” she comments quietly. I tilt my head back and look into her soft gray eyes. I want to kiss her so bad it almost hurts. I don’t even know if she likes me yet. I don’t want to press my luck. I place my cheek back against her hair and sway to the music. I hear her start singing quietly to the song.
I’m sad when the song ends but Jon is right there waiting before I even get the chance to thank her for the dance. “I see what’s going on,” he says in a low voice, with a chuckle. “You’ve thrown down the gauntlet. This means war. May the best man win,” he says, patting me on the shoulder and smiling diabolically.
“Is this dance free?” he asks Skye. I smile because the song is a fast song so he won’t get to holder her close like I did. I watch as she nods and Jon drags her onto the dance floor. I’m heading towards the bar when Trixie steps in front of me.
“Would you like to dance Sherriff?” she requests. No, I wouldn’t, but I’m nothing if not a gentleman. At least, it’s not a slow song.
“Sure Trixie,” I reply, following her back to the dance floor. I face her in the ready position for a quick two-step, making sure to hold her as far away as possible without releasing her completely. As we’re dancing I glance over and see Skye laughing and talking with Jon. At one point she even puts her hand on his chest. She looks like she’s having a good time. Jon’s really turning up the charm
I look down at Trixie’s petite 5’3 frame with her thin blonde hair, big blue eyes and freckles across the bridge of her nose. If I didn’t know she was twenty-two she could easily pass for sixteen years old. I shiver. Ugh, the thought gives me goosebumps. I can’t wait for this dance to be over. I’ve already got my eye on my next dance partner.
The song finally ends and I give Trixie a curt bow and hightail it towards my next victim. I guess Skye’s had enough of a break and heads back up to the stage to perform again. She starts off with another slow song. Perfect.
“Excuse me, ladies, would you mind if I have this dance?” I ask gallantly putting out my hand. Rose giggles and gets up from her seat and takes my hand. I lead her gingerly to the dance floor.
“You’re such a sweet young man Cooper. You know my granddaughter is single,” Rose hints in a stage whisper.
“Which one?” I ask, laughing. She shakes her head unhappily.
“Sadly, all of them, but I was referring to the one you were devouring with your eyes on the dance floor,” she replies candidly. I cough, choking on a laugh. “Oh please, a blind man can see the chemistry between the two of you,” she comments.
“Looks like she’s having a pretty good time with Jon to me,” I remark jealously. I hope she didn’t catch on to that. I look at the smirk on her face and I know she did. That’s exactly why I don’t talk that much. I give away too much when I do.
“That’s just because you don’t know what you’re looking at, but I do, and Jon’s not the one. Trust me on this,” she tells me, tapping her finger over my heart. “Thanks for the dance handsome,” she says, leaving me standing there perplexed. I didn’t even know the song had ended, but I think that will be my last dance of the night.
I look around the room for Dawn and my eyes land on her taking shots at the bar with Trixie and some of her other friends. I walk over to her at the bar. “Happy birthday, darling. I’m going to hit the road,” I inform Dawn, giving her a departing hug.
“Wait, aren’t you going to dance with me too?” she whines. “I’m the birthday girl after all,” she states, poking out her lower lip. I shake my head in a negative response. Definitely not going to happen. I know Dawn has been crushing on me for a while. She makes it blatantly obvious whenever I’m near her. The last thing I need is for Skye to think I’m putting the moves on her kid sister.
“If you’re trying to get Skye’s attention you’re wasting your time,” she sneers. “My sister swings the other way, if you know what I mean,” Dawn insinuates, facetiously. I narrow my eyes at her and she takes a step back. I never took Dawn as a mean-hearted girl. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and chalk her comment up to jealousy or sibling rivalry.
“Good night, Dawn,” I reply in an ice cold voice, ignoring her previous comment. I touch the tip of my hat in farewell and turn on my heel to leave. Skye’s still on the stage performing and I don’t want to leave without saying goodbye to her too. Her eyes land on mine and I smile. I nod my head in her direction and touch the tip of my hat in farewell to her as well. I feel better about leaving now without getting a chance to speak to her again.
Chapter Nine
Skye
The party is finally over and I’m exhausted. Dawn’s passed out face first on the bar with her friend Darren moaning in agony next to her. I think the poor guy is going to be sick. Summer had a little too much to drink too and the owner, Jason, helped her up the stairs to the apartment about an hour ago; while I tried to help the staff clean up some of the mess my sister and her friends made.
“Hey, you don’t have to do that. That’s what I pay these guys for,” Jason say
s motioning to the employees cleaning up the bar.
“I know, but Dawn and her friends acted like spoiled brats and made an unnecessary mess,” I say, picking up the ribbons and wrapping papers strewn about.
“Trust me, I’ve seen worse,” he says kindly. “How about you take these two home and let me worry about this mess?” Jason suggests. “Darren here lives off of rural route 13 in a small yellow house, number 1252,” he informs me, with a hand resting on Darren’s head. “I’ll help you with Dawn. Hey Darren can you walk buddy?” he asks the drunk kid, shaking him. Darren nods his head, moans and attempts to stand up in response.
I quickly rush over and throw his arm around my shoulder offering my support. I look at Jason, who sweeps Dawn up in his brawny arms like a sack of feathers. “Alright, let’s do this,” I say, leading Darren out the front door and around the side of the building to Summer’s red pickup truck. I already have the keys because I took them earlier when I saw her tossing back shots with Dawn.
I pause holding the passenger door open so that Jason can place Dawn in the middle. This is an old truck so there is no cab with a back seat. He places her gently in the cab and she promptly falls over in the driver’s seat. I help Darren get in and check to make sure they’re both buckled up and that Darren’s limbs are safely inside the truck before I shut the door.
I move to the driver’s seat slowly pushing Dawn up to a sitting position as I slide over. She groans and rests her head on my shoulder. Perfect. I put on my seat belt and start the engine.
“Looks like you’re good to go. Just be careful on these roads. It's pitch black out here and the roads are slick from all the snow we’ve been getting,” Jason cautions me, then he taps the roof of the truck in parting, and heads back around to the front of the building.
I back out slowly and head down Sycamore Street at a snail’s pace. I know where rural route 13 is because I saw it when Summer drove me into town from the airport. I head in that direction and it’s pretty easy driving until I hit thirteen where the trees are dense and the street lights are far and few between. I hope I don’t pass this guy’s house. I look across Dawn at Darren. He’s got his head resting against the window and drool is dripping down his chin. Just great.