Chasing Trouble

by Joya Ryan

  He shook his head. He’d stayed a few days in the past, but the whole summer? A whole summer with his past thrown in his face and memories he couldn’t outrun? Where people either looked at him like some wild thing or playboy?

  Apparently his drunken excursions when he was younger were still fresh in everyone’s mind. He had just lost his parents and didn’t handle it well. Trouble didn’t follow him, Colt created it. But he wasn’t the loose cannon he was back then, yet a lot of people still tiptoed around him. Except the women who looked at him like he was some damn carnival ride they were waiting to hop on. A thought that normally might thrill him. But there was only one woman currently in Diamond he was thinking about.

  I wonder how JJ would look at me…

  He grinned. Thinking of her tended to make him do that. That is, ever since last weekend. Maybe Diamond wouldn’t be so bad. He loved his nephew and his sister. But there was no way he could stay “under the radar” for three months. Between his few good buddies and the fact that Colt was already going nuts from the four surrounding walls, he would be out in town a lot more than in the past.

  But he might get a shot at having JJ again. That was something.

  “What’s it going to take for you to leave the rodeo and come home for good?” Lily’s voice was soft now. A tinge of guilt settled over him.

  Colt couldn’t answer Lily’s question because the truth would break her. Never. He would never move home permanently. He was barely on board with staying the summer.

  Though he visited Diamond and flew Lily and Alex to his place a couple times a year, it was still just them. The only three McCades left.

  When their parents had died in a car crash Colt’s senior year, there’d just been too many memories in Diamond to stay. He was eighteen and he and his sister were suddenly alone. Colt was grateful Ryder and Penny’s mom, Mrs. Diamond, took Lily in for the remainder of her high school years. Truth be told, Colt had been useless to his sister and, to this day, he hated himself for it. He had been so consumed in his own grief and anger that he drank and fought and barely graduated. Once he did, he took off. Unable to stomach being in the same town he grew up in, the same town where he had his parents ripped away from him, any longer. The only time the pain let up was when he was away and riding. So he got out of Diamond and kept himself busy.

  Another simple fact was that he wasn’t a permanent kind of guy. And he didn’t see that changing. Life was cruel and things, people, got stolen from you. Taken. The only things Colt would cling to were his sister and nephew. That was it. Getting attached to anything else was pointless.

  He hugged his sister. “I’m here now. And I’m telling you, after a few days with a dirty cowboy in your house, you’ll be praying to get rid of me.”

  She looked at him, her wide baby blues glossed with tears. “You’re here for the summer, Colt. No getting out of that. Even if I make you sleep on the porch, you’re staying until September.”

  He whistled in a breath. Lily wasn’t kidding about making him sleep on the porch.

  “Uncle Colt!” Alex bolted through the room, wearing a pair of blue swim trunks and matching goggles.

  “Hey, partner!” He hefted up his nephew and went to swing him around, but winced when a fresh dose of pain surged through his ribs.

  “Careful!” Lily shouted.

  Alex gasped and gently hugged Colt’s neck. “Oh, yeah. Mama says to be careful with you. No roughhousing cuz you’re a…” He glanced back at Lily. “What did you call him, Mama? A delicate flower?”

  Colt choked on his own spit and glared at Lily. “That’s right, honey. Uncle Colt has some owies and we need to be real gentle.”

  Colt rolled his eyes and set Alex down, ruffling his hair. “I think your mama’s being melodramatic.”

  Alex giggled. “Uncle Colt called you a melon, Mama.”

  Everyone laughed and the tension eased. “Come on, we need to get you to swimming lessons.” Lily slung on her purse and brushed her hands down her pink scrubs.

  “If you’ve got to get to work, I can take Alex.” Lily eyed him like he was a vase in the middle of the Daytona 500. “Christ, Lil, it’s the community pool. Down the road. I think I can handle it.”

  “Watch your mouth.” She looked at her watch. “Well, I am running late and the main route to the hospital is under construction…you sure you’re okay?”

  “You’re a good nurse, Lil. I promise I’m fine.”

  “All right then. Just make sure you ice it more when you get home and remember, the best thing for you to heal are deep, soothing breaths.”

  “Got it. Ice and breathe.” Colt clapped his hands together and turned his attention to Alex again. “Now let’s go, big guy.”

  “Yes! Can we take your bull into town, Uncle Colt?”

  He smiled, loving that his five-year-old nephew believed he rode a bull around town. “Let’s stick to the Chevy this time.”

  …

  Jenna helped the last kid out of the pool. “Great job today, everyone.”

  She had just finished up with her first round of swimmers, and her ten o’clock class would be here in fifteen minutes. Jenna had already corralled a few other educators to pitch in. This year she had three volunteer teachers to help with Saturday swimming lessons. Which was three more than last year.

  Taking on the extra responsibility would be beyond worth it and show the school board she was ready for the after-school program. The state had approved her petition for the grant, but left it up to the board to approve her running it. Which worried her.

  Taking a deep breath, Jenna immersed herself under water. When she came back up, she was in the shadow of a man peering down at her, and she about swallowed all the pool water in shock.

  “Well, well, well. I never took you for a water-baby…baby.” Colt stood near the edge of the pool and—did he just wink at her? She was two seconds away from grabbing his heel, yanking him into the water, and bolting for the nearest exit.

  With the sun at his back, Jenna let her gaze linger, momentarily caught up in the tantalizing shadow of his muscled frame.

  “Ah—I…what are you doing here?”

  Lily had said Colt was coming to town and told her about his minor injury. But Jenna assumed it would be the usual “one night stay, no big deal” kind of thing and she wouldn’t even see him.

  Colt’s smile widened when Alex called from behind him. “Hi, Miss Jenna!”

  “I’m just dropping my nephew off for lessons.”

  The bill of Colt’s baseball cap hid his eyes from the light, but Jenna felt that intense blue gaze rake over her, as if he were trying hard to peer through the water. She squirmed and suddenly the water felt colder. Or was it her skin that flushed hotter? “When will you be leaving?”

  “I thought I’d hang around for a bit. Maybe monitor your breaststroke.”

  “I meant town. When will you be leaving town?”

  “Trying to get rid of me already?” He knelt, resting his forearm over his bent knee, his handsome face way too close to hers for comfort. “If memory serves, last week I couldn’t keep you away from me.”

  She gasped and pulled herself up on the ledge, nearly knocking his nose with the top of her head. Too bad she didn’t. When she stood, dripping wet, to face him, she thought she heard him groan.

  “May I speak to you in private please, Mr. McCade?”

  …

  Mr. McCade? What was with all the formality? He followed JJ’s pensive glance around. Parents and kids were filtering in and out.

  “You can do whatever you’d like in private with me,” he whispered.

  Her lips pursed. Not the response he was going for. JJ turned to another woman in the pool. “Mary-Lou, I’ll be right back.”

  The woman, obviously one of the other swimming instructors, nodded.

  JJ stomped past Colt, grabbing a towel off a nearby bench and wrapping it around her waist. Damn shame. Her lush little ass in that red bathing suit made Colt instantly hard. He f
ollowed dumbly after her, only stumbling once…okay, twice.

  My God, the woman was fine. He’d known this, but seeing her wet, with her skin shining in the sun, she was damn dangerous. All that hair—hair he’d tangled his fingers in—looked midnight black when drenched.

  Weaving around the back of the office by the pool, and out of sight of all the onlookers, JJ threw open a door and beckoned Colt inside.

  The supply closet. Nice.

  He stepped in, shut the door and reached for her hips.

  “You need to leave.”

  “But we just got in here. We haven’t even tried out the blow-up raft yet.”

  She didn’t smile, instead crossing her arms over her breasts. Her wet breasts. Her full, wet breasts.

  He knew he was staring but couldn’t bring himself to care. Memories of tasting that plump flesh and—goddammit, what he would give to peel the top of her suit down and—

  She snapped her fingers in front of his face. His gaze jerked up.

  “Lily told me about your accident.”

  “Ah, it’s nothing—”

  “She also said it wasn’t serious. So I’m assuming you’ll be leaving town soon. Until then, I think it’s best we stay away from each other.”

  Huh? Was she preemptively dumping him?

  You have to be together to be dumped, idiot. But shit, why was he even thinking that way? He and JJ weren’t an item. And he didn’t want that anyway. Which was why he hadn’t called her after that night. Technically, dialing six of the seven digits of her telephone number, then hanging up, didn’t count as “calling.”

  Yep, he was fine. But he couldn’t be blamed if he just happened to run into her.

  “Actually, I’m going to be in town for the whole summer.”

  Her gray eyes shot wide; fear streaked across her face. “What! Why? School hasn’t even ended yet.”

  “So?”

  “So…the summer. That’s like…”

  “Months.”

  A look of defeat washed over her. “Months,” she breathed with an edge of horror.

  What the hell was going on? She stood there like she was in shock. It was as though he’d just delivered her a death sentence. He leaned in, trailing his fingers along her waist. She smelled like sun and coconut sunscreen. Though she seemed conflicted, she didn’t retreat.

  When he splayed his hands over her hips, the slinky wet material of her suit rubbed against his palms. Colt’s pants instantly got a hell of a lot tighter. He couldn’t help himself. He snagged her plump bottom lip between his. A sharp moan left her mouth and Colt felt it tickle all the way down his throat. She clutched the front of his T-shirt. He didn’t know if she was about to push him away or yank him closer. She didn’t seem to know either.

  “I’ve been thinking of you, Jenna.” He kissed the side of her jaw. “Thinking of that night.” He trailed his lips to her chin. “Thinking of you, in my bed…”

  He nipped her collarbone, and the grip on his shirt tightened. She tugged him closer.

  He skated a finger across the top of her suit, then gently pulled it down, wedging it beneath her delectable breasts. He bent and sucked her hard nipple into his mouth. She gasped and clawed at his torso. Silently begging.

  “There’s the girl I’ve been missing.”

  He gave another lick before moving to the next one. Circling his tongue all around her breast before sucking the tight pink point again. When her hands drifted higher, he stalled a little at the pain in his ribs. And damn it all to hell JJ noticed, and stalled too.

  “Wait,” she moaned, almost sounding in pain herself.

  He looked up. JJ started shaking her head. “I can’t—we can’t.” She stepped away from him and righted her suit. “You’re injured and this is a bad idea.”

  Her breathing was as ragged as his, and his cock was about to burst through his jeans.

  “A few bruised ribs are nothing we can’t work around.” He glanced around the closet. There was some open space, room to move. “I can lie down and you can hop on and—”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  Yeah, he figured not. Colt was staring down a special kind of torture. He’d kill to have this woman again. And she was right there, within reach, yet she wasn’t game.

  After a long moment and obvious concentration to calm her breathing, JJ lifted her chin and cleared her throat.

  “Colt. While last weekend was nice, it was a onetime event and you assured me of your discretion. So”—she clasped her hands in front of her as if she were talking to a child—“I hope you enjoy your visit home, but I really must be getting back to the students.”

  Nice? Nice! Seriously, what was happening? He could think of several words to describe last weekend, and nice wasn’t among them.

  More like, in-fucking-credible.

  Usually he had to beat women off with a stick. He was the one who had to explain what “not interested in long-term” meant.

  Something wasn’t right. Maybe she was just hungry. “How about dinner tonight?”

  “I’m sorry, I have plans.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded, opened the door, and walked past him and out into the sun.

  “Breakfast then, tomorrow, my place.” She didn’t slow her pace or even pretend to be amused. This woman was a tough one, but Colt had to admit she was sexy when she was pissed off.

  She shook her head, refastening the towel at her hips as she walked away.

  “Why do I get the feeling that you’re avoiding me?” he called after her.

  She spun and looked at him. “Because I am.”

  Resting his forearms on each side of the doorframe, Colt leaned out of the storage space. “So no raft sex then?”

  He watched JJ continue around the building and back to the pool. Though she didn’t look back, Colt saw her shoulders tense. And when she shook her hands out, as if trying to get rid of the lust he had just sent through her, he knew she wanted him too. For whatever reason, she was fighting it.

  Jenna-Jayne Justice could strut that sweet ass away now, but this was a small town and a girl like her was easy to find.

  Colt grinned.

  And he had thought he was going to be bored all summer.

  Chapter Four

  “Isn’t it illegal to follow people around everywhere?” Lily asked before taking a sip of her beer.

  “Yeah. It’s called stalking,” Penny Diamond, Jenna’s other best friend, answered, narrowing her green cat eyes. “So basically, this team of asshats on the other side of the state are coming here to stake you out?”

  Penny Diamond and her older brother, Ryder, were the last generation of Diamonds. Penny owned and ran the family barbecue restaurant and Ryder managed his own construction business and was a successful land developer.

  Jenna looked between Lily and Penny. They were her best friends and naturally concerned.

  “No, they aren’t stalking me. The state board has discussed the terms with the local school board here in Diamond, and in a few weeks when they have their meeting, the Diamond board will vote on who they want to handle the after-school program.”

  Lily held up a hand. “Wait. Is there someone else they’re considering?”

  “Yvonne Taylor.” Jenna barely kept herself from growling the name of her colleague.

  “What! She’s the superintendent’s daughter. Not to mention a witch. Poor Alex is terrified to have her for a first-grade teacher.”

  Oh, Jenna knew. Yvonne, with her fake smile and condescending tone, could fool anyone into thinking she was sugary sweet. But Jenna didn’t handle processed corn syrup well.

  “Why is she even teaching? She doesn’t seem to like kids,” Penny added.

  Jenna shrugged. “She likes being in charge.”

  To say the woman was on a power trip would be an understatement. And working at the school enabled Yvonne to dig into several different factions of the community. But going off about Yvonne would make Jenna no better than the gossipy w
oman herself.

  “She also likes making your life miserable,” Lily said.

  Jenna nodded. That was true. It was no secret Yvonne hated her. Jenna was paying for sins her mother committed years ago, like sleeping with Yvonne’s father and breaking up her parents’ marriage. Any chance Yvonne had to make Jenna feel awful, she did. She also was the town’s major source of gossip and nasty rumors.

  Yvonne’s big blabbermouth and intricate homemade doilies were rivaled only by her mother, Flo Taylor. Flo might look like a sweet old lady who sat comfortably as the chief school administrator, but her nose was in everyone’s affairs. Which was why Jenna never had any.

  Problem was, Miranda had enough affairs for the both of them. After she was caught with Mr. Taylor, it wasn’t long after that Jenna’s mom was on—literally—the next married man.

  When Flo had taken up most of Sunday’s service whispering about Jenna’s mother and the married mayor of Diamond, the story raced around town like wildfire. That was twenty years ago, and still people scowled at Miranda Justice. Not that Jenna could blame them. Her mother didn’t have a discreet bone in her body. And every time the newest scandal broke and the rumors peaked, Jenna suffered the aftermath. “Guilty by association” was a term Jenna understood very well. She was Miranda’s daughter, therefore must be just like her.

  I’m not my mother. She had assured herself of that over and over, so hopefully one of these days she’d start believing it…right? It had taken her years to outrun her mother’s irresponsible shadow. Despite her efforts, she had never fully gotten away from it.

  Jenna’s blood heated. After college, teaching, endless volunteering, and even flying to Kansas City to pitch to the state board herself—all while maintaining a spotless record—now Yvonne-freaking-Taylor was waltzing in and stomping all over Jenna’s dream. This program was everything to Jenna. Kids like Abigail were counting on it, and Jenna wanted to be there to not only teach, but support. Two things Yvonne Taylor wasn’t known to be good at.

  She didn’t even help me host swimming lessons this year!

  “But they approved the grant, right?” Penny clapped her hands and smiled wide.

  “Yeah, the money is there.”