“So, you never got around to tellin’ me your name last night, darlin’.” His voice is a mixture of rough and smooth with a hint of country twang and drawl. Even his voice is sexy. I want to strangle the powers that be that led me here. No, actually, I just want to strangle Jackson.
“You don’t need to know my name. The only name you need to know is that of your girlfriend. You don’t need to know anything about me, so run along,” I flick my wrist in the direction of the dirt road.
“Wrong, darlin’. I wanna know everything about you. And I’m a man who sees what he wants and goes after it. Never wanted somethin’ and not got it – so you can mark my words when I say that by the end of this I’m gonna know your name, and everything else there is to know about you. Be seeing ya, darlin’.” He leans down and glides his thumb down my cheek before standing and walking over to a white Ute. I close my eyes and try to ignore the heat and tingly feeling that is occupying my cheek where he touched me.
So you can mark my words when I say that by the end of this I’m gonna know your name, and everything else there is to know about you.
Fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck! I need a plan. A course of action. A modus operandi. Actually, I don’t know what that last bit means but it sounds the part.
Never wanted somethin’ and not got. Ha! Of course he’s never wanted something and not got it. He’s the male version of a slut – what do people call them these days? Jiggalo’s? Man-whore’s? Yeah, that’s what he is – a man-whore. I kind of feel a little bit sorry for his girlfriend, but I also kind of feel like she should get some balls and stand up to him, tell him to man up or fuck off.
On that note I decided that I was going to “man up.” Actually, what I meant was I was going to ignore Jackson who-ever-he-was until he got the hint that I didn’t want one iota of him. Chances are I wouldn’t be seeing him again until the following weekend. That’s what most people did, right? You have one or two nights a week out and then if you feel like a drink any other time, well, you have it at home. This meant that the possibility of me seeing Jackson who-ever-he-was for at least the next five days was slim to none. While I was focusing on ignoring him, I was also going to ignore the pang of disappointment that I felt when I thought I wouldn’t be seeing him again all week. Instead, I thought about going for a swim. Then I thought about crocodiles and the likelihood of them being in this waterhole. Then I thought about the people who were already in the hole swimming and how all of them were alive and not one of them seemed to be worried because their friend had just been dragged under in a death roll by a ten foot monster. I thought then, that it was probably pretty safe for me to swim.
I stood and shimmied out of cutoff jeans shorts and pulled my singlet top over my head. I placed them both in a pile on my towel and picked my bikini bottoms out of my ass. Then I walked over to the edge of the water, far away from the other swimmers so as I wasn’t intruding on their day but close enough so that if in the unlikely event I was wrestled in the water by a ten foot croc, they’d see it and could either help me out or raise the alarm. With that in mind I tentatively dipped a toe in the water. Warm. With the water being the perfect temperature, there was no need to ease myself, so I dived right in. I was treading water and taking in my surroundings, enjoying the beauty of it, and even though the other people were making noise and splashing about, I was still savoring the tranquility and peace that shrouded me when I was suddenly gripped on my ankle and dragged under water. My shriek was muffled because as it was coming out of my mouth, my mouth was going under water. I lashed out; kicking at what I was certain was a croc. I connected a few solid whacks before it released me and I shot towards the surface and started swimming in the opposite direction as fast I could at the same time I started yelling incoherent words. “Calm ya farm, Ace,” I heard laughed from behind me as two solid arms wrapped around my waist.
Petrified beyond belief I kept making the freestyle motion even though I wasn’t moving.
“Croc,” I wheezed in a panic. “Jackson, there’s a croc.”
“Rawr,” he growled and I halted my movement, “I’m the only beast in here you have to worry about.” He grins cheekily as realization dawns.
“You fucking prick,” I hiss and slap him hard across the top of his arm. “Let me go. You’re a jerk. Do you have any idea how fucking scared I was? Let.Me.Fucking.Go.Now!” I struggle hard, twisting and turning in his arms but he doesn’t budge. Not even a little.
“Calm down, Ace. I’d never let anything happen to you. The only thing you’ve got to worry about from now on is thinking up a shed load of bullshit excuses that you can call upon to protect yourself from me. I’m your biggest threat baby and from the way I see you react every time I’m near, well, that shows me I’m the scariest thing that’s been in your life in a long time, if ever. So that’s alright, I’ll take it slow, wear you down, prove to you I’m not who you’ve convinced yourself I am because I know, and you should too, that the end result is gonna be so far past worth it, Ace, it’s gonna be outta this world.”
I was frozen solid from his words and therefore didn’t have a chance to do anything, like say, move (which I told myself is exactly what I would have done had he not just stupefied me with his speech) before his lips brushed against me. Soft, full, plump. I felt his bristle rub on my chin and the kiss was over. A teaser. An advertisement. Quick, tender and a clear promise of what was to come.
Before I could blink, he released me and swam away. I treaded water for a few seconds longer and then high-tailed it from the water with a thumping heart (this I told myself was from the fact I was still worried about the “croc”. In reality, that was probably only five percent of the reason for the thudding – the other ninety five percent was due to a larrikin, sexy cowboy who had brushed his lips over mine). I was choosing to ignore the way his lips felt on mine and how much I liked how it felt. I was also going to ignore the burning sensation that I was feeling in the places that his body had touched mine – which was practically everywhere, and I was also going to ignore the slickness I felt between my legs – this I was going to blame on the fact that I was in the water. It had absolutely nothing to do with one Jackson whatever-his-last-name-is.
I arrive back in town with enough time to shower and change into my work clothes – the same outfit I had on last night except my shirt is green check with pearly green snap buttons. I race down to the Coffee House to grab myself a coffee and a pie before I’m due to start my shift. Ava is on again and we make plans to catch up for a drink in a few weeks when Jules comes to town. I love this place!
Where to follow or find out more about Kasey Millstead
Facebook.com/authorkaseymillstead
Twitter: @kaseymillstead
www.authorkaseymillstead.com
Work from Kasey Millstead
Sapphire (Steele Investigations #1)
Emerald (Steele Investigations #2)
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Cowboy Town (Eden & Jackson)
Acting On Temptation (Temptations) Page 19