by Cat Johnson
She smiled. She hadn’t had someone want to beat anyone up for her in a long time, if ever.
“Sorry. He’s clear across the country now with his wife and kid.” Maybe kids plural by now for all she knew.
“Well, if you ask me, it’s a damn shame to throw out the whole pie just because the crust got a little burnt.”
Carly laughed. It had been a long time since a man had made her laugh.
Jack smiled. “You should laugh more. I like it.”
Contemplating her current situation, Carly took another sip of her beer and let the cold foam slide down her tightened throat.
She didn’t date military men, yet here she was, pining over one anyway.
Maybe it was a stupid rule. A doctor or a lawyer or a garbage man could hurt her too. Maybe if she hadn’t been living like a nun the last couple of years, she wouldn’t have been so affected by Trey after just one night in bed with him.
“Okay.”
Jack raised one sandy brow. “Okay what, darlin’?”
“I’ll go out with you.” She had to laugh again because Jack couldn’t have looked more surprised if she had gotten up on the bar and done a striptease.
She quickly pushed the thought of her recent striptease out of her mind.
He’d stopped with the beer halfway to his mouth and just gaped at her.
She pushed the hand holding the beer down to the bar. “Close your mouth before a bug flies in.”
A wide smile spread across Jack’s face. “When?”
If she was going to do this, then why not make it right away? “I have to work tonight. Is tomorrow night good for you?”
“Hell yeah, tomorrow’s good and even if it wasn’t I’d make it work.” He cocked his head to the side and sobered for a second. “Not that I’m one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but what made you change your mind?”
She laughed. “Believe it or not, I think it was the burnt-pie analogy.”
He smiled and raised his beer again. “I’ll remember to thank Mama for that one next time I call.”
A man who loved his mama. Jack couldn’t be more perfect . . . unless he were Trey.
CHAPTER 20
Trey was battling the restlessness he always felt after one op ended and another had yet to begin. Only this time it seemed worse.
He’d decided to try to sweat out the agitation. He and Jack were currently in the middle of a long run. The only problem was it wasn’t working. Now he was both sweaty and restless.
“Hey, Jack. You want to come over to my place tonight and watch the game? Or we can go to the bar if you want.”
He’d given Carly her space for a day. That should be enough. Besides, he missed the bar. That’s what he was telling himself anyway.
“Um, actually, I’m busy.”
“Busy? Doing what?” Trey frowned. Jack never gave up an opportunity to go to Carly’s bar.
Jack stopped running, so Trey stopped too. “She said yes.”
Feeling his eyes pop open wide, Trey hoped he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion as he asked, “She said yes? Carly? To your date?”
Wiping the sweat from his face with the hem of his T-shirt, Jack nodded. “Yup. I couldn’t believe it myself but we’re going out tonight.”
Suddenly sick to his stomach, Trey pressed a hand to his side. He must have run too hard.
He was having trouble wrapping his head around this. He had thought he was safe since she’d been saying no to Jack for about two years now.
Trey couldn’t date her, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see her dating anyone else either. He supposed that sounded selfish but really, she’d been with him only two days ago. How could she say yes to a date with Jack only two days after she’d been in his bed?
What was that Jack had said about sharing his filly? He’d been right. Trey didn’t like it.
He wiped the sweat from his face, still speechless. He should be congratulating his best friend. This was exactly what Jack had wanted for a long time now.
Instead, he paced in a small circle, trying to walk off the sick feeling in his gut.
“You feeling a’ight?” Jack watched him with concern, while he was having trouble looking at Jack at all.
“Fine, just a cramp or something. I think I’m done for the day. I better head in.”
“I’ll walk with you. I want to get home anyhow. I’ve got to shower and pick up some flowers before I go get Carly. And I’ve got to get my bedclothes out of the dryer.”
Jesus. Had Jack done laundry so his bed would be fresh for Carly tonight?
Trey bent over, braced his hands on his knees and tried his best not to vomit right there on Jack’s running shoes.
~ * ~
Carly couldn’t deny that Jack had been an absolutely perfect date. He’d arrived exactly on time. Not too early so she wasn’t ready and not too late so she was afraid she’d been stood up.
He’d brought her a beautiful bouquet of white lilies and opened every door and pulled out every chair. He’d chosen just the right restaurant too. Not so expensive she felt obligated to him in any way, but not so cheap she’d think he was stingy either.
So why now, as he walked her to the backdoor of the bar where the staircase to her apartment was, did she fear what was probably going to come next?
Jack stepped in close and raised his hand to her face. He stared deep into her eyes and smiled. “They’re green.”
His comment took her by surprise. “Yeah.”
He frowned a bit. “Hmm. Why have I never noticed that before?”
The memory of how Trey had surprised her by knowing the color of her eyes the day before they left for Kosovo hit her.
Was that really just a few days ago? It seemed more like a year. So much had happened between them.
And why was she thinking about Trey?
This date was so she could move on and forget him. Although, if that were really the case, she probably shouldn’t have picked his best friend to forget him with.
She looked up at Jack. What the hell was she doing?
He lowered his head a bit. “Carly, can I kiss you?”
Her heart rate sped with nervous energy as she nodded.
Jack leaned low and pressed his lips softly to hers.
He was a good kisser, both sober and drunk. His gentle, almost chaste kisses lulled her into a sense of security.
This was fine. Pleasant actually. She could do this. She could like Jack. Though why the hell was she thinking so much? She didn’t remember being able to think at all the first time Trey had kissed her, or the second, for that matter.
Jack stepped even closer, his leg between hers now. He wrapped his big hands around her head and tangled them in her hair.
As he kissed her harder, his lips parted and his tongue sought hers. She stiffened at first but forced herself to relax, allowing him to kiss her the way he wanted.
Then he broke away and leaned his forehead against hers with a short laugh. “You’re not doing such a good job, darlin’.”
“Huh?”
“Of pretending you like me. You’re trying, but you’re not really here with me, are you?”
She shook her head. “Jack—”
“Shhh. It’s a’ight.” He placed one finger across her lips to silence her. “I don’t blame you. If I was a woman, hell, I’d be in love with him too.”
He was talking about Trey. How did he know? She shook her head again to deny it, but then the tears started and there was nothing she could do about it. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, darlin’.” He wrapped her in his arms and rubbed her back. “Let’s go upstairs. You put on your favorite pj’s, I’ll tuck you on the couch under a nice blanket and then I’ll make you some tea. We’ll talk about you and him and what we’re gonna do about it.”
Through her tears she grabbed onto the one topic that wouldn’t make her cry harder. “You know how to make tea?”
“Darlin’, I’m southern. We invented sweet tea, or was that the mi
nt julep?” Jack grinned and took the keys out of her hand.
CHAPTER 21
Across the parking lot in his truck with the lights turned off, Trey watched Jack kiss Carly then lead her up the stairs to what he assumed was her apartment above the bar.
The fact he was basically stalking them made him realize he was a sick, sick man, both mentally and now physically too. He watched the light go on first in what looked like a living room and then in her bedroom, before she closed the blinds.
He closed his eyes and banged his head against the steering wheel. What the hell was he going to do? Jack and Carly were up there together doing who knew what.
Actually, that wasn’t true. Trey knew what.
They were doing what he should be doing with her. What they’d done together in Kosovo. What they could be doing together right now if he hadn’t acted like a stubborn ass and pretended their time together meant nothing more to him than a mission.
After a few more bangs of his forehead, he left his head resting there against the truck’s steering wheel.
Feeling miserable and exhausted, he must have dozed off in the darkness.
He awoke with a start to the sound of someone knocking on his truck window.
Groaning, he saw it was Jack staring at him through the glass. He was so busted. How was he going to explain this?
Trey lowered the window with what he was sure was a very guilty look on his face. “Hi.”
Jack shook his head and laughed. “You two stubborn fools are just incredible.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You and Carly, that’s what. You’re in love with her and either too stupid to realize it or too stubborn to admit it.”
Trey sat there, chastised, and let Jack call him both stupid and stubborn. What could he say? It was true. He glanced at the clock. They’d been in her apartment for nearly two hours. What did it matter? Even if he did admit his feelings, to himself and to her, it was too late now.
Folding his arms, Jack twisted his lips into a grimace. “Well? At least admit I’m right.”
“I’m sorry, Jack. I really am happy for you two. I know you care about her and you’ll be good to her. She deserves a nice guy like you.”
Jack shook his head. “Get out of the truck.”
Obviously Jack was going to hit him again. That was all right. He deserved it. Getting out, Trey braced himself for the blow.
“Get up those stairs, you fool.” Holding the truck door open for him, Jack pointed toward the entrance to Carly’s.
Trey shook his head. “I don’t . . . Why?”
“Because she doesn’t want me, Einstein. She wants you. She always has.”
Trey swallowed hard and saw a ray of hope for the first time since Jack had told him about his date with Carly. “You and she . . . You didn’t . . .”
“No. Even if she hadn’t been bawling her eyes out over you, I still wasn’t going to sleep with her tonight. It was our first date, plus it’s only two nights after she’d been with you. That’s not how I roll, Trey. You know that.”
Still in shock, he managed a nod. “I know.”
Jack continued, “Besides, when she was kissing me, I knew she was thinking about kissing you. I’m not willing to be anyone’s second choice.”
God, Jack really was a nice guy. “But you said you were falling in love with her. You were talking about marriage.”
He shrugged. “Hey, I’m a lover. What can I say? I fell in love with every girl on the pep squad in high school too. I’ll get over her, but you better treat her right or so help me God—”
“You’ll punch me again?” Trey gingerly touched his bruised chin.
“Yeah, only this time maybe I’ll actually knock you down.” Jack laughed and then got serious again. “You deserve her more than I do, you know.”
Trey shook his head. “I doubt it. Why would you say that?”
“She told me how that day, when I didn’t know the color of her eyes, you knew. I guess I was always too busy looking at other things.”
To be perfectly honest, Trey had looked at those other things too.
Jack grabbed him in a hug and then shoved him toward Carly’s door. “Now hurry before she falls asleep. Poor thing’s all tuckered out from crying over you.”
“Thanks, Jack.” Slamming the driver’s side door, Trey realized he’d left the key in the ignition and the truck unlocked. Not caring, he ran across the parking lot.
After sprinting up the stairs two at a time, he was faced with Carly’s door. Steeling his nerves, he knocked.
“Did you forget some—” she spoke as she pulled open the door, until she saw him standing there rather than Jack. Then her eyes widened. “Trey.”
She looked just as Jack had described her—tuckered out with eyes red from crying over him. And he had never been so happy to see her.
“Hi.”
“Um, hi.”
Suddenly Trey felt like a shy schoolboy who didn’t know what to say to a girl. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.” Carly backed up enough for him to step through the doorway.
Once inside, he couldn’t wait anymore. He just spilled it all in one big whoosh. “Jack says you’re in love with me. Is it true?” She looked horrified, so he rushed on. “Because I really hope it is true. Carly, I’m so in love with you it hurts to breathe.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she flung herself against him. Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face in her hair.
“Is this a yes?” He mentally crossed his fingers, hoping, until she nodded against his chest.
Relieved beyond all comprehension, Trey pulled far enough away to capture her mouth with his in a crushing kiss filled with all the possessiveness he had tried and failed to fight.
She returned his kiss with the intensity of a drowning woman looking for oxygen.
When he finally had to stop for air, she let out a teary, breathy laugh. “That’s what a kiss is supposed to feel like.”
Confused, Trey frowned. “I agree with you. Why? Was there ever any question about that?”
Carly shook her head. Raising her hands she touched his face as her gaze locked onto his. “No, not really.”
JACK
RED BLOODED
Book 2
CHAPTER 1
Jack Gordon leaned in, about to close the deal on what he hoped would be a mind-erasing kiss—because he could really stand to erase some memories right about now.
He was just concentrating on not coughing from the overwhelming cloud of perfume that surrounded her, and now him too, when the blonde’s hand on his chest stopped the downward descent of his head toward hers.
He moved back again, almost relieved she had stopped him.
She was right. This kiss was probably a really bad idea. His heart still had the bruise from watching Carly, the woman he’d had a crush on for two years, fall hard for his best friend Trey.
That was in addition to the fact that Darlene, the current near recipient of his impending kiss, worked at Carly’s bar as a cocktail waitress.
Darlene held one finger in the air. “Hang on.”
Sticking two fingers into her mouth, she pulled out a purple piece of chewing gum. He watched with fascination as she stuck the gum on the doorframe of the back entrance to the bar. Then she grabbed the neck of his T-shirt, yanked him to her and shoved her tongue nearly down his throat.
He was still recovering from that surprise attack when she reached down and grabbed, right through his jeans, what he considered to be his private property.
Jack jumped back, pulling his violated pelvis with him. “Whoa, there. Wait a minute, Darlene. What’s the hurry?”
The cocktail waitress ran her hands up and down his chest. “But, Jackie. I’ve had my eye on you for years and you’ve never given me the time of day. Now that you’ve finally come to your senses, I’m not letting you get away.”
He backed up, and she stepped closer, pinning him against the rail
ing of the much too small staircase landing.
Her mouth was just closing over his again when he heard someone very loudly and obviously clearing her throat. He pulled back and looked down to see Carly standing at the bottom of the short staircase.
“Darlene, are we already closed for the night?” Carly made a show of glancing at her watch.
Jack felt his face grow hot at being caught sucking face behind the building with the waitress.
Darlene didn’t seem to care though. She glanced toward Carly without blinking an eye. “No.”
“Oh? Sorry, I assumed since my only cocktail waitress is out back making out with one of my customers we must be closed.” Carly waited a beat. When Darlene made no move and still had yet to remove her hands from Jack’s chest, she continued, “Darlene. Get inside and back to work.”
Darlene rolled her eyes in a move that could probably get her fired if Carly wanted to be a hard-ass boss.
“I’ll see you later,” Darlene said with a wink at him before she sauntered back inside.
Jack dropped his gaze to the ground, too embarrassed to look Carly in the eye. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. From what I saw, you were the one being attacked.” She stepped up and wiped her thumb across his mouth. “Lipstick.”
He rubbed his mouth and tried to ignore the knowledge that his cheeks were most likely as red as Darlene’s lipstick smeared all over his mouth. “Yeah. I can take down a man twice my size in hand-to-hand combat, but they don’t teach us a defense for that kind of assault in training.”
He dropped down and sat on the top step, running both hands over his face.
Carly sat next to him and bumped her shoulder against his. “What’s wrong, Jack?”
Jack glanced sideways at her. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”
She shrugged. “You just don’t seem yourself lately and I never in a million years imagined Darlene was your type.”
He smiled sadly. She wasn’t. His type was sitting right next to him—and she belonged to his best friend.
Jack decided to change the subject before that still-raw wound opened back up. “What are you doing back here at the bar on your night off? I thought you were over at Trey’s place.”