by Piper Rayne
Figuring it would be easier to leave without making another scene, I changed out of my suit and into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I’d grab a hotel by the airport in Nashville so I could catch my early flight. I left the stack of papers on the kitchen table with my notes scrawled in the margins. I’d done what I needed to do. The rest would be up to them.
Chapter Eleven
Deacon
The next few days passed in a blur with me trying to get caught up after being out of the office. I’d gotten used to the relentless pace, but after spending a few days in Beaver Bluff, the fourteen-hour days didn’t hold the same appeal. Every time I sat down to review a file, my thoughts drifted to Tennessee.
The drive to and from the office seemed to take even longer than usual. I envied my cousins their five-minute commute. I couldn’t help but wonder… where would I be if I’d never left Tennessee? If I’d never moved back to the west coast to play second fiddle to my mom’s new insta-family.
Three days after I got home, my phone rang. Seeing Vaughn’s name on my screen filled me with apprehension, but I picked up, anyway.
“Hey, how’s it going?” It was almost seven my time, and I still had a few hours of work ahead of me before I called it a day.
“Hey, asshole. Why haven’t you picked up until now?” He sounded more hurt than angry.
“Sorry. I’ve been swamped trying to catch up after being out for a few days. You got my notes?”
“Yeah, we got your notes. Why’d you haul ass out of here? Ma’s never going to forgive you for leaving before she had you to the house for a proper Sunday dinner.”
“I’m sorry. I fucked up and had to get out of there.” That was the easy way to put it. My stomach still pitched and rolled when I thought about the look I’d put on Tori’s face. All I’d wanted to do was help. I’d learned my lesson. From now on, I’d keep to myself and not try to fix other peoples’ problems.
“The only thing you fucked up is yourself. Cole told me about you and Tori Windsor. He said Sawyer Stewart almost popped a blood vessel when she found out you were related to us. Damn, I would have liked to have seen that.”
“Yeah, sorry you missed it.” Sarcasm leeched from my voice. “If it weren’t for the stupid beef between you and the Stewarts, I’d—”
“You’d what?” Vaughn interrupted, his voice taking on a more pissed off tone, the attitude I’d expected to hear from him when I answered the damn phone. “You could have come back years ago. Why’d you stay away, huh? I know you, Deacon. What the hell are you so afraid of here in Tennessee?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I didn’t need his shit. Not today, not after everything I’d tried to do for him and his siblings.
“We want you to come home. I ran everything by Cole and the others, and we were wondering how you’d feel about coming on board as in-house counsel. I know you’ve got that potential partnership hanging over your head, but you belong here. You’re one of us. You might not be a Bishop in name, but we share the same blood.”
A toxic mix of emotions swirled around inside me. Beaver Bluff was the only place I’d ever felt like I belonged. But my mom made me feel like if I went back, I’d be picking them over her. Since I was a kid, some kind of internal war had raged within me. My time in Beaver Bluff was the happiest of my life. But my mom’s words rang in my head. There had to be something wrong with me if I wanted to leave the life she’d carved out for us in LA to go back to a place she’d fled from.
“I don’t know, Vaughn. I’m happy to help with questions until you can find someone to handle things for you, but I’m not the guy for the job.” My life was here, where I didn’t have to pick sides.
“If you change your mind…” his voice trailed off.
“I won’t.”
“Hey, I almost forgot to tell you. Sounds like Tori might be moving. Dad said the school board is all broken up over it. She’s the best counselor they’ve had in the district in decades.”
“Moving? Why?” We hadn’t spent much time together, but if there was one thing I’d learned about Tori, it was that she loved her job. Loved the students she worked with and could have been featured in an infomercial on what to love about Beaver Bluff, Tennessee.
“I’m not sure. Sounds like it’s her way of telling everyone to fuck the hell off. Anyway, I thought you might want to know.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” Shouldn’t matter to me what Tori decided to do with her life. We’d shared an incredible couple of days together. But that was all it was. All it could ever be.
Then why did my stomach tie itself into knots at the thought of her leaving a place I know she loved?
The more I tried to ignore thoughts of Tori and Beaver Bluff, the more they forced their way into my head. After spending time in Tennessee, my days in California seemed to run in black and white. I’d forgotten what it felt like to be surrounded by so much color, so much life. My mom thought she was saving me by forcing me to move away. Having had a reminder of what I’d left behind, I wanted it. Wanted it bad enough to finally do something I should have done years ago.
Two weeks after I met Tori, I booked myself on the same flight back. This time I didn’t have a return ticket. This time I planned to stay.
Chapter Twelve
Tori
It didn’t take long to find another district where I could put my skills to use. All I needed to do was officially resign, and I’d be well on my way to a new position before school started in the fall. I didn’t want to leave Beaver Bluff, but I was done letting other people try to live my life for me. The short time I’d shared with Deacon made me remember the kind of woman I used to be—the kind who didn’t let other people dictate her future or her happiness. I missed her and was ready to welcome her back.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. What I loved most about my small town was the sense of community, of everyone having each other’s backs. But that was also what I’d grown to hate. Being single didn’t bother me. I was sure there was someone out there for me… maybe someone like the man with the blue-green eyes who’d reminded me I wasn’t anyone’s doormat. But I wouldn’t find him or my inner badass by sitting on my butt in Beaver Bluff.
Meeting Deacon confirmed it. There was a whole big wide world waiting to be discovered. It was time for me to get out there and take it for a spin.
I was on my way to Sunday night dinner at my parents’ house where I’d break the news. Bailey and Sherman were on their honeymoon in Myrtle Beach, but at least I could tell the rest of the family. She wasn’t speaking to me anyway since she blamed me for ruining her reception.
As silly as it sounded, I might thank her someday. It was because of her ridiculous expectations that I’d found my voice again. And now that I had, I wasn’t ever going to let it go.
A couple of cars I didn’t recognize sat in the driveway. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for my mother to invite a few extras to Sunday night dinner, but I prayed for her sake it wasn’t a last-ditch setup effort on her part. I was done being nice about things I should have to put up with.
I reached for the front doorknob and hesitated. What if she’d asked Sherman’s cousin to dinner? Or someone else she wanted to fix me up with? I’d heard one of my stepsisters announced her engagement at Bailey’s reception. Mom’s efforts to match me with any eligible single man in a fifty-mile radius would probably triple.
I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I was in control of my own destiny. Then I pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The front door opened into their formal living room. Mom perched on the edge of her Victorian style chaise with Dad next to her. They faced the armchairs on the opposite wall where two men sat, their backs to me.
“Tori, I’m glad you made it.” Mom stood and reached out to me.
I recognized the tone. It was the meet-my-single-daughter voice she used when she wanted to show me off to someone she deemed an eligible suitor. She must be pulling out all the stops since she’d scro
unged up not one, but two potential matches.
“I’m not doing this tonight, Mom.” I stepped back, no longer willing to suffer through one of my mother’s well-orchestrated set ups.
“Tori, wait.” The voice stopped me, mid-step. Then he stood, spun around, and caught hold of my elbow before I fell over.
“Deacon?” It had been almost three weeks ago that we’d visited the swimming hole, though it seemed like years since my eyes had feasted on his face. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ll see if dinner’s almost ready.” My mother, the woman who’d never passed up an opportunity to push me on an unsuspecting single male, tugged my dad’s hand and the two of them disappeared into the kitchen.
“I’m going to go, uh, check on, uh…” Cole Bishop gestured to the front yard. “Screw it, I’ll be outside.”
Deacon gently pulled me into the house so his cousin could squeeze through the doorway.
My fingers tingled in his grip. “What are you doing here?”
“Would you believe me if I said I heard you needed a date to another wedding?” His mouth tipped up in a teasing smile, but there wasn’t anything funny about the way his eyes locked on mine.
“That’s a piss poor attempt at humor.” Though my body begged to melt into his arms, I wouldn’t let myself. Not until he told me what he was doing standing in my parents’ living room. And maybe not even then.
“Sorry. It’s a coping mechanism.”
“What? Not being funny?”
He laughed at that remark and his eyes crinkled at the edges. That was my first clue that things between us might still have a chance.
“I’m sorry, Tori.”
“For what?” He still held my hand, the feel of his hand in mine sending chills racing up and down my spine. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I should have known better than to take you to Bailey’s wedding.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry for cutting out on you. I never should have let you walk away.”
“You didn’t let me do anything. We shared a few great hours together, that’s all. Barely a blip in the grand scheme of things.” I tried to downplay it.
“Cole and Vaughn asked me to move back to Beaver Bluff. They want me to work as in-house counsel while they try to figure out a way to work with the Stewarts on the distillery.”
That was an interesting development. “What about making partner at your firm in LA?”
His broad shoulders rolled. “I told them I’d be willing to walk away from that and take the job under one condition.”
For half a heartbeat, I let myself entertain a sliver of hope. But that was ridiculous. Why would he be willing to walk away from a promising future in the city of angels to move back to a place like Beaver Bluff?
He sat down on my mom’s petite chaise and tugged me down next to him. “I told them the only way I’d take the job is if you’d be here.”
“Why would you do that?” I registered his hand on my knee, the warmth of his touch seeping through my cut-off capris.
He moved his other hand up to cup my cheek. “I like you, Tori. A lot. We don’t know each other very well yet, but something in me recognizes something in you. I can feel it.”
“You sure that’s not heartburn from scarfing down my entire pie?” I might joke, but his words caught me by surprise. It was easier to play it off than let myself dare to believe that he actually meant it.
“Don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t make this out to be something less than it is. Let’s give this some time and see where it goes.”
I took in a shaky breath. “What if it goes nowhere?”
“What if it does?” he teased.
“You really want to give up everything out west to move back here?” It didn’t make sense. Most people would give anything to get out of a place like Beaver Bluff.
“You’re looking at it wrong. I’m giving up nothing and taking a chance to get everything I’ve ever wanted.”
My chest expanded, like someone had inflated a balloon inside and it just might burst. I tried to keep my tone steady, though my heart had already started executing a series of back handsprings. “I suppose I might be able to get my job back if I asked.”
“My uncle said they were never going to accept your letter of resignation.”
I frowned at him. “You’re checking up on me? This will never work if you don’t let me handle my own business.”
Deacon had the decency to look chastened, if only for a second. “I didn’t ask, he volunteered the information when I told him I didn’t care if their asinine family feud had lasted generations. If they wanted me to come back to Beaver Bluff, nothing was going to get in the way of pursuing the woman of my dreams.”
“You said that?”
“Maybe not quite like that, but I got my point across.”
“You surprise me, Deacon Raines.”
“Would I be too much of a sap if I said I hope you like surprises?”
The man was insufferable. A real piece of work. But that was exactly what I needed in my life… someone who’d give me a run for my money, who wasn’t afraid to go toe to toe with me and dish it out as well as he could take it. I tilted my head and looked up at him. “I’ve found most surprises are highly overrated.”
His face fell at that bit of news.
Then I nudged him with my shoulder. “But not this time. I think you should take the job with your cousins.”
“You’ll stay in Beaver Bluff?” he asked.
I barely nodded before he wrapped his arms around me and captured my lips with his. Staying in Beaver Bluff was always what I’d wanted. But now I had a reason. Something to look forward to.
Both of us had found a way back home.
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About Dylann Crush
USA Today bestselling author Dylann Crush writes sizzling contemporary romance that will make you laugh, cry, and fall in love. A romantic at heart, she loves her heroines spunky and her heroes super sexy. When she's not dreaming up steamy storylines, she can be found sipping a margarita and searching for the best Tex-Mex food in Minnesota.
Although she grew up in Texas, she currently lives in a suburb of Minneapolis/St. Paul with her unflappable husband, three energetic kids, a clumsy Great Dane, a lovable rescue mutt, and two very chill cats. She loves to connect with readers, other authors, and fans of tequila. You can find her at www.dylanncrush.com.
Also by Dylan Crush
Holiday, Texas Series
All-American Cowboy
Cowboy Christmas Jubilee
Cowboy Charming
Lovebird Café Series
Lemon Tarts & Stolen Hearts
Sweet Tea & Second Chances
Mud Pies & Family Ties
Hot Fudge & a Heartthrob
Tying the Knot in Texas Series
The Cowboy Says I Do
Her Kind of Cowboy
Crazy About a Cowboy
Standalones
All I Wanna Do Is You
Getting Lucky In Love
Copyright © 2021 by Claudia Burgoa
Edited by: Kristi Falteisek
Christine Yates
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About the Maybe It’s You
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR CLAUDIA BURGOA PENS A ROMANTIC COMEDY THAT’S SMART, SEXY, AND FUNNY ENOUGH TO MAKE YOUR KNICKERS FALL OFF.
Love affairs at work are supposed to be off-limits. So why am I having a secret rendezvous in the closet with my boss’s grandson?
Look - I have a lot on my plate. I’m the manager of our small-town brewery. My boss Mr. Cantú is ill. When I need help what does he do?
He calls no other than his oldest grandson.
Iskander is arrogant and unbearable.
He’s also unbearably sexy. And suddenly, I’m caught between a rock and Iskander’s really hard place.
Which is right where he wants me.
Maybe It’s You is a small-town billionaire love story. A small taste of the Luna Harbor series which will make you swoon and snicker all in the same page.