Sin & Tonic

by Tessa Layne

  My cock jerked in her hand.

  She laughed. “Well, I know someone likes that idea.”

  “That makes two of us.” I put my forehead on hers. “I’m clean, in case you were wondering.”

  “I wasn’t. I trust you.”

  And who would have thought those words were the strongest aphrodisiac there was?

  I flipped her on her back as we both got rid of my clothes.

  And, as I pushed inside her, bare, I thought all of my teenage fantasies were finally coming true.

  Chapter 15

  LACEY

  M y phone woke me from a deep sleep. I looked at the clock to see that it was a little after four in the morning. I quickly picked up my phone and slipped from Jake’s sleeping arms. I didn’t want to wake him, too.

  He’d been spending a lot of nights at my place the last two months or me at his. We no longer woke up at any little movement the other one made.

  The number was an international one, but I didn’t recognize it.

  “Hello?”

  “Lacey?” a voice said in a strong French accent.

  “Gerard?”

  It was Lindsey’s husband. He’d never called me, so I knew something was wrong.

  “Lindsey’s in the hospital.”

  “Oh my God. Is she okay?”

  “She is fine. Physically. She lost the baby.”

  I gasped. Lindsey had called me a couple of months ago to tell me she was pregnant. I had promised her I would be there for the birth of the baby since my year would be up.

  “Oh no.”

  “It is worse,” Gerard said. “The doctor said it was ectopic. The baby was in the uterus but not where it was supposed to be. She started to bleed, they could not stop it, and they had to do a hysterectomy.”

  “Oh, Gerard. That’s horrible.”

  “My Lindsey. The doctors say she will make a full recovery. But I fear only physically. She is heartbroken. She made me promise not to call you, but I do not know what else to do.”

  “Say no more. I’m on my way.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Gerard said, his voice flooded with relief. “I have already found you a flight. I will send you the details.”

  I hung up with Gerard, went to my room, and immediately began packing.

  I was so worried about getting to France that I’d forgotten about Jake sleeping in my bed. He sat up and scared the crap out of me.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

  “I have to go.”

  His brow furrowed. “Go? Go where?”

  “To Paris.”

  This news seemed to wake him up. “What?”

  “One of my closest friends needs me.”

  He threw back the covers. “Is she okay?”

  “Yes, and no. She’s in the hospital. She’s fine, but she lost the baby she was pregnant with.”

  Jake stepped forward and pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too.” I pulled away and went back to packing.

  “Lacey, I’m sorry for your friend, but if you leave, you’ll lose the bar,” he said, his voice full of regret.

  I sighed. “I know. But I have to go.” I smiled sadly at him. “The bar should be yours anyway.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t want the bar.”

  I went to him and gently kissed him on the lips. “Yes, you do.”

  “I’d rather have you,” he said so low that I almost didn’t hear him.

  I didn’t respond. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how I felt.

  I cared about Jake. A lot. But I also cared about Lindsey. And she needed me.

  I quickly threw the rest of my stuff together.

  “I’ll call Mr. Bernard when I get to the airport.”

  “Don’t do this, Lacey. Please stay.”

  I knew he was really asking me to stay for him. And I wanted to, but …

  “I can’t,” I said even though a part of me wanted to run to him and stay in his arms. “Good-bye, Jake. Please lock up when you leave in the morning.”

  Jake

  Lacey was nuts if she thought I was going to go back to sleep and leave her house in the morning.

  I couldn’t believe she’d just left like that. I understood her friend was in a crisis, but I felt like she was just throwing away everything we’d worked for together. I’d stupidly thought that she was coming around to staying in Becker Falls. I’d stupidly thought she was going to stay with me.

  I angrily shoved my legs in my jeans, grabbed my things, and left the house. It was December now and freezing cold out, but I barely noticed as I stomped to my truck.

  Lacey’s car was already gone. She obviously hadn’t had second thoughts about leaving me.

  The funny thing was that, eight months ago, I would have made her a farewell sign. I would have happily driven her all the way to Minneapolis, so she could get on a plane and fly away. And I would have grinned as I signed the papers, making Leather & Lace mine.

  Now, I didn’t even want it. Not without Lacey.

  The infuriating female had gone and made me fall in love with her.

  And, while I could hope she’d come back, I was sure, once she was back in the place she loved, she wasn’t going to give Becker Falls a second thought.

  Chapter 16

  LACEY

  “L acey, Lacey,” a little voice said as a body climbed on me in bed.

  I didn’t move.

  “Lacey,” three-year-old Tasha said my name again.

  I whipped the covers down and yelled, “Boo!”

  A fit of giggles rained down around me.

  I went for her tickle spots because I didn’t want her to stop laughing. I loved the sound of it. But, eventually, I let up, so she could catch her breath.

  “What do you want, Munchkin?” I asked. “Or did you just come to say hi?”

  “Mommy says it’s time for breakfast.”

  “Yum. I can’t wait. Did you make it?”

  She nodded enthusiastically.

  “I bet it tastes extra good then.”

  “It does.”

  Oh, to have the confidence of a three-year-old.

  “Give me a minute to find my robe, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

  “Okay,” Tasha said, slipping off the guest bed.

  My old room had been given to the new nanny, and all my things had been shipped back to the States, but it still felt weird, sleeping in the guest room.

  I padded into the kitchen and sat down across from Lindsey. She smiled when she saw me.

  I’d been here for three weeks now, and I had been worried that I’d never see her smile again, but while she was still sad about her situation, she was coming out of her depression.

  “Did Tasha wake you up?” she asked me but directed her gaze at her daughter.

  “Nope. I woke up all on my own,” I said.

  Tasha giggled.

  “Liar,” Lindsey said.

  “How long are you here for, Lacey?” six-year-old Stewart asked me.

  My eyes went to Amélie, the au pair who had replaced me. I could see in her eyes that she was afraid I was going to take my old job back, leaving her without one.

  “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. I didn’t know if there was a reason for me to go back to the United States, to Minnesota, to Becker Falls.

  I had forfeited my rights to the bar, and as for Jake, I hadn’t spoken to him since the day I left.

  I had wanted to call him a number of times, but I never knew what to say, so I always chickened out.

  But, from what I’d heard from Jenn and Courtney, Jake had become a grump that no one wanted to be around.

  I’d thought he would be happy since he was getting Leather & Lace. Or he would if I could get ahold of Mr. Bernard. He never answered his phone, and he hadn’t returned any of my messages.

  “Lacey is going back tomorrow,” Lindsey said.

  I straightened in my seat. “I am?”

  She
smiled at me. “It’s time.”

  “But I’m not sure if I want to go back.”

  “Amélie, can you take the kids into the other room for a minute?”

  “Yes. Come on, kids.”

  I watched Amélie leave with the two youngest. The older children, a twelve-year-old named Molly and a ten-year old named Victor, weren’t at the breakfast table. They were probably still sleeping.

  Once we were alone, Lindsey raised her eyebrows and said, “You are going back. You have too much unfinished business back home.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You need to go back for Jake. I know you love him, Lacey.”

  I hit my palm on the table. “I do not. You take that back.”

  Lindsey only laughed. “Whatever you say. But either you go back to Becker Falls or you’ll be sleeping on the street.”

  Three days later, I was back home. My internal clock was all messed up, so I spent a day doing nothing and trying to get back on Minnesota time.

  The next day, I went to find Mr. Bernard.

  “Lacey, good to see you,” he said when his secretary showed me into his office. “What can I help you with?”

  I wasted no time on pleasantries. “Why have you ignored all my messages? Why haven’t you taken my calls?”

  He frowned. “You called me?”

  I narrowed my eyes and studied him. “I believe you know that I have, Mr. Bernard.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t get any messages saying you called. Why don’t you have a seat and tell me what you called about?”

  I plopped my butt in the chair. “I left and went back to Paris. The bar belongs to Jake.”

  Mr. Bernard scratched his head. “I don’t think that’s possible. I only saw you a couple of days ago. And I saw you the day before that.”

  “We both know that you didn’t.”

  He pretended to think about it. “Yep. Yep, I did see you.”

  “Where?”

  “Oh gosh, I’m not as young as I used to be, Lacey. I can’t remember where exactly.”

  This wasn’t working. I needed to try a different tactic. “The bar belongs to Jake now. I broke the rules.”

  “I don’t see how when no rules were broken and your year isn’t up. Why don’t you come back and see me then?” He then called for his secretary and asked her to see me out.

  Something fishy was going on. Mr. Bernard had to know he hadn’t seen me the other day.

  I needed to find Jake.

  Chapter 17

  JAKE

  I t was a regular Tuesday night at Leather & Lace. The atmosphere was casual. Everyone was relaxed and having a good time.

  Until Lacey came storming into the bar.

  “Jacob Alejandro Russo,” she said loudly enough for the whole bar to hear.

  I cocked an eyebrow. “Yes?”

  “Are you the reason that Mr. Bernard wouldn’t answer my phone calls?” she said, stalking toward me. “Are you why he says he saw me when I was clearly not in town?”

  I scratched my head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  She came around the bar. “Yes, you do.”

  “Lacey, the bar is yours. You might not have wanted it a decade ago, but you want it now. You’ve worked hard, putting your everything into this place when you could’ve half-assed it. You started making changes, and you’ve been looking toward the future. I can’t take that away from you.”

  A tear rolled down her cheek. “But you deserve the bar, too. You’ve worked here way longer than I have. You deserve this place to be yours, too.”

  I pulled her into my arms. “So then, why don’t we split it?”

  “Like joint custody?” she asked.

  “More like a happy couple sharing custody.”

  “What? Aren’t you mad at me for leaving?”

  “Yes. But I understand. She’s one of your best friends. I can’t stay mad at something like that.”

  “So, when you say share custody, what exactly are you thinking?”

  “How about we start with the two of us moving in together and go from there?”

  She grinned at me. “Yes.”

  The bar erupted into applause, and Lacey jumped. I thought she’d forgotten that we had an audience.

  “Kiss, kiss, kiss,” they chanted.

  I shrugged. “They say the customer is always right.”

  Much like the first night she’d kissed me, she grabbed a fistful of my shirt and pulled my lips down to hers.

  When we both came up for air, I said, “I’m glad you came back. I love you, you know.”

  “I kind of suspected. I love you, too.”

  “I kind of suspected,” I said, echoing her words.

  “Oh, yeah? What gave it away?”

  “You know my middle name.”

  She pushed her hair over her shoulder. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

  I grinned. “And you flew halfway around the world to be with me.”

  “You might have me there.”

  I kissed her again. “I can’t wait to have you everywhere.”

  Everyone clapped again, and we knew it was time to stop playing kissy face in front of the clientele.

  “Hey, Lacey,” Clive yelled from the end of the bar. “You need your own drink now that you’re part of the bar family.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Since when?”

  I lifted my shoulder. “It’s something your dad and I started.”

  “If I didn’t love you so much, I might be a little jealous of your relationship with him.”

  I grinned. “Nah. Remember, he left the bar to you.”

  “’Tis true.” She thought about it. “What was my dad’s?”

  “Beer.”

  She rolled her eyes. “That shouldn’t count, but whatever. What’s yours?”

  “A shot of tequila.”

  She pursed her lips. “That’s not a drink either. Are you sure this is a tradition?”

  “Hey, I had to go with tequila,” I said defensively.

  “There’s always a margarita,” she pointed out.

  I grimaced. “Too girlie.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Whatever.”

  “So, what’s it going to be, Lacey?” I asked her.

  She pretended to think about it. “I’ve got the perfect thing.”

  She pulled out vodka, Chambord, crème de cacao, and half-and-half. She measured out an ounce of the first two ingredients and half an ounce of the second two. She mixed them in a shaker, poured it into a glass, and slid it down to Clive.

  He took a sip, smacked his lips, and said, “It tastes okay.”

  For Clive, that was a huge compliment.

  “What was that?” I asked her.

  “A French Kiss. French is for my past, and kiss is for my future.”

  I leaned down and kissed her once again. “I like it.”

  “Thanks.”

  I put my mouth next to her ear. “The next drink we’re going to have to work on is American Dick.”

  Lacey threw her head back and laughed. That was when I was sure everything was going to be all right in the world.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to our fellow anthology authors for letting us be a part of Sin & Tonic! We had a lot of fun doing it.

  Thank you to our editor, Jovana Shirley, for squeezing us in so we could get French Kiss done in time!

  Thank you to all our readers for being our fans. We couldn’t do it without you! You make writing the best job in the world.

  Also By R.L. Kenderson

  NOVELS IN THE FORBIDDEN SERIES

  Paranormal Romance

  Forbidden Blood

  Forbidden Heat

  Forbidden Temptation

  Forbidden Addiction

  Forbidden Claim

  Forbidden Seduction

  BOOKS IN THE DIRTY LOVE SERIES

  Contemporary Romance

  Rumor
Has It

  Friends with Benefits

  One-Night Stand

  Meant to Be

  It’s Complicated (Coming Fall 2019)

  STANDALONE NOVELS

  Contemporary Romance

  Take Me in the Night

  Wicked Chemistry

  Object of My Desire

  Five Dates Only

  STANDALONE SHORT STORIES

  Summer Heat

  The Hottest Player

  About the Authors

  R.L. Kenderson is two best friends writing under one name.

  Renae has always loved reading, and in third grade, she wrote her first poem where she learned she might have a knack for this writing thing. Lara remembers sneaking her grandmother’s Harlequin novels when she was probably too young to be reading them, and since then, she knew she wanted to write her own.

  When they met in college, they bonded over their love of reading and the TV show Charmed. What really spiced up their friendship was when Lara introduced Renae to romance novels. When they discovered their first vampire romance, they knew there would always be a special place in their hearts for paranormal romance. After being unable to find certain storylines and characteristics they wanted to read about in the hundreds of books they consumed, they decided to write their own.

  One lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and the other in the Kansas City area where they’re a sonographer/stay-at-home mom/wife and pharmacist/mother by day, and together they’re a sexy author by night. They communicate through phone, email, and whole lot of messaging.

  You can find them at http://www.rlkenderson.com, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Goodreads. Join their Facebook Reader Group. Or you can email them at rlkenderson@rlkenderson.com, or sign up for their newsletter here. They always love hearing from their readers.

  Irish Legend- K.C. Enders

  Bartender Finn O'Meara, the self proclaimed Irish Casanova, has met his match. He's planned everything to perfection, and he's got the girl right where he wants her. There's just one little twist - will she come around? Or is he just a legend in his own mind?