Running After a Heartbreaker (Brides on the Run #4)
Page 1
Running After a Heartbreaker
Brides on the Run, Book 4
Jami Albright
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Epilogue
Hello
Want more Brides on the Run in your life?
Running From a Rock Star
A Note From Jami
Acknowledgments
Also by Jami Albright
About the Author
Running After a Heartbreaker
“This is a bad idea.”
“The worst.” He placed his hands under her butt and lifted. “Should I stop?”
“I’ll murder you if you do.”
Hailey Odom’s life is out of tune. The bar she owns with her father is a Texas-sized money pit that she has four months to save. Her mean as a snake ex-husband is breaking their daughter’s heart daily. And the town of Zachsville hates her guts for something that was only fifty percent her fault.
And oh, right, she just ran out on her own wedding.
Beau Callen’s life is hitting all the right notes. Dubbed “The Heartbreaker” by his adoring female fans, he’s living the country music stardom dream. At least until an “altercation” lands half his band in jail and the other half in the hospital, this rising star could use a temporary place to crash.
The last thing Hailey or Beau needs is a scorching hot romance messing with their plans. So when Hailey rents Beau her backyard guesthouse and passions blaze hotter than the Texas sun, their dreams are in serious danger of going up in flames.
To make it all work, they’ll have to keep their hands off each other and their eyes on the prize. Too bad their hearts are singing a different tune.
Copyright © 2019 by Jami Albright
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Editor - Serena Clarke
https://www.serenaclarke.com
Cover - Najla Qamber Designs
www.najlaqamberdesigns.com
Created with Vellum
For Chaise
Who never let the truth get in the way of a good story, in the best possible way.
You left a hole in our hearts and sweet memories for us to treasure.
We love and miss you like crazy.
Chapter One
A bride walks into a bar…
Hailey Odom pushed through the doors of Boon’s Saloon. The smell of stale beer, cologne, and peanuts greeted her like an old friend with a hangover, cherished and a little disgusting. Too late, she realized that just because you own a bar it didn’t mean you should get married in one. It was like a bad joke. At least she hadn’t walked in with a priest and a rabbi.
Yes, the bar was where she felt closest to her mother, but she’d let the need to stick it to her father override her mission to redeem her reputation. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, and a familiar heat crawled over her flesh. She could hear the town gossips now.
Did you hear Hailey Odom got married in that bar? Soooo trashy.
That girl’s always been bad news.
She lost Zachsville the State Championship ten years ago.
True, and that’s not something that can be forgiven.
This stunt would knock her down a rung or two in the eyes of the townies, for sure. And just when she’d begun to earn her way back into their good graces.
Suck it up. You chose this, and now you’ve got to live with the consequences.
And boy, didn’t she know how to do that. She’d been doing it since she was sixteen years old.
“Mama, the bobby pins in my hair are poking my head,” her most precious consequence whined beside her. Lottie, her nine-year-old daughter, grabbed the bun on top of her head and pulled it from side to side.
Hailey removed Lottie’s hand from the updo and kneeled in front of her. “I know, mine are pokey too. I’ll fix it in a minute.”
Her father was the first person she spotted as she and Lottie made their way into the bar. He was talking to her groom, Roger.
“Papa!” Lottie squealed and ran to jump into her grandfather’s arms.
“Lottie Pop!” He scooped her up and spun her around. “You look too pretty to be in a dirty old place like this.”
Hailey barely controlled her eye roll at her father’s dig. Ed Lawson may be a co-owner of Boon’s Saloon, but he hated every sticky, beer-stained inch of the place.
“You’re the prettiest flower girl I’ve ever seen.” Carol, her father’s new wife, rubbed a hand over Lottie’s back. One thing Hailey could say about the woman, she did seem to genuinely care for Lottie.
Roger squeezed her hand and kissed her on the cheek. “You look pretty, Hailey.”
Pretty. She practically did a happy dance right there. What fiancé tells his bride-to-be she looks pretty when he sees her in her wedding dress? Roger Weston, that’s who. Most grooms would fall all over themselves with all sorts of flowery words and compliments, but not good ol’ Roger.
“Thank you. You look nice too.”
A soft smile, that was kind of adorable, spread across his not-too-handsome features. “Thank you.”
She liked his face and had grown to care for him. Was she in love? No. But then again, neither was Roger. In that logical and unemotional way of his, he’d explained that he was fonder of her than he had been of any other woman he’d ever known, and it just made sense for them to get married.
It was as good a reason as any.
Roger wasn’t originally from Zachsville, and he didn’t care about old grievances. Lottie liked him, he liked Lottie, and more than anything, Hailey trusted him with her kid. And since her ex-husband Derek was the worst father in the world, she knew Lottie needed a good male role model in her life. Also, Hailey wanted a partner.
Roger was precisely the kind of man she needed after the tumultuous, drama-filled reality of her first marriage. A kind, dependable, not too dull, not too exciting, perfectly ordinary man who didn’t meddle in her affairs.
The last was the most important. Her dying mother had made her promise to keep Boon’s open and bring it back to its former glory. It was a promise made in love and heartbreak, and Hailey intended to keep it. Anyone who wasn’t on board with that plan could move along. Thus, the rift between her and her dad. He wanted to sell the place that held all her memories of her mother.
Disloyal didn’t even begin to describe him…on so many levels.
Carol smiled and gave Hailey a quick hug. “You look lovely, Hailey.”
“T
hank you, Carol.”
It seemed wrong to have this woman in the place that had meant so much to her mother, even though Hailey didn’t blame Carol for her father’s disloyalty—her mother had died before the two of them began seeing each other.
The stab of loss at the thought of her late mom nearly took her legs out from under her. She missed the only person who’d supported her when everyone, including her dad, had turned their back on her.
She’d learned pretty quickly that an unplanned teenage pregnancy was where her father’s unconditional love ended and his contempt began. Their relationship never recovered, and had only continued to devolve over the years, until their father–daughter bond hung by a single frayed thread.
“I can’t believe you planned a wedding in a bar.” The disappointed tone her father used was all too familiar.
She ignored him and glanced around for Beau Callen. Zachsville’s newest celebrity was on stage, packing up his guitar. He and his band had been renting Boon’s in the afternoons to rehearse the sets for his upcoming tour.
“Lottie, go find Charlie and ask her to fix your bobby pins.” She slipped her hand into her pocket and retrieved Lottie’s asthma inhaler. “And give this to her, just in case you need it tonight.”
“Yes!” Lottie punched the air, grabbed the inhaler, then took off toward the beer garden.
Carol chuckled. “What was that about?”
“She’s spending the night with, Hank, Charlie, and Phoebe tonight, and as you can see, she’s fired up.”
“Has her asthma been bothering her?”
Damn it, why did Carol have to be so nice? “No, but after her last big attack, we don’t go anywhere without it.” She turned to Roger and softened her voice. “Excuse me a minute. I need to take care of something.”
“Sure.”
Wishing she had on her sunglasses, she approached the man who shined brighter than July fireworks in a dark Texas sky.
Beau’s golden hair stuck out from under the baseball cap that he wore backward. His square jaw set off a face so heartbreakingly stunning that he had most of the women and some of the men in Blister County fighting for the pleasure of letting him do all kinds of dirty things to them. That, along with his you know you want me smirk, had prompted the media to dub him The Heartbreaker after the success of his first single.
It was good then that she was no longer affected by men who sparkled and shined so bright that they caused a woman to lose all of her good sense.
Because she wasn’t. She absolutely wasn’t.
She’d taken that ride before and had the kid, ruined reputation, and scars on her heart to prove it.
The fact was, under different circumstances, and at a different, more stupid time in her life, Beau would’ve rung all her bells. But she’d sworn off men like her ex-husband and the country music singer putting away his guitar.
Beau grabbed his heart and stumbled back a few steps when he saw her. “Good Lord, Hailey Odom. You’re beautiful enough to give a man a heart attack.”
Ding.
See? Who needed that kind of flattery? Not her. That was why she ignored the bloom of pleasure that unfurled in her chest.
Ding. Ding.
He didn’t mean it. This was what their friendship consisted of—him teasing her, and her giving him shit for being such a ladies’ man. Besides, she’d seen him speak to many, many women just like that in the few short months he’d been in town. “Uh-huh, save it for your groupies.”
He pulled his t-shirt away from his body and looked at his chest.
She crossed her arms and popped a hip. “What are you doing?”
“You wound me, Ms. Odom. I’m checking to make sure I’m not bleeding.”
Her lips clamped together in an effort not to smile. The last thing he needed was encouragement. “Mmm-hmm, I can tell you’re really broken up about it.” She tossed a set of keys to him. “Here you go, so you can get into my house.”
He caught them in one hand. “Thanks. We’re about to head out to play two shows in Houston. I’ll move in when I get back in a couple of days. Thanks for letting me rent the furniture too.”
She shrugged. “I’m glad you are. Roger and I have been so busy that most of our stuff is still at the house, so not having to move any furniture except for Lottie’s princess bed is a blessing. We’ll have everything out by the time you return.”
“No problem.” He took off his ball cap and scratched the back of his head. “So, no honeymoon?”
Her fingers went to her mother’s wedding ring that she wore on a chain around her neck. “Not right now. Roger’s in the middle of a big project that’s going to take him out of town, and I have the bar, so…”
“I get it.” He replaced his cap and picked up his guitar case. “I really do appreciate you leasing me the house, Hailey. I had no idea I’d have so much trouble finding a place that would take Walter and me. You were my last resort.”
“You’ve promised me Walter is house-trained. You better be right.”
He made his way down the steps at the side of the stage. “That dog’s cleaner than most people. He won’t ruin the floors, and if he did, you have my security deposit.”
“That money’s going toward eradicating any communicable diseases you might spread around my house.” She made a cross with her fingers and held it out toward him. “Safety first.”
His big and boisterous laugh filled the room. “You are something else, Hailey Odom.” Two steps, and he was in her personal space. He bent and placed his mouth at her ear. “Dump Roger and run away with me.”
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
It would’ve been better if there hadn’t been a vein of nervousness in her laughter. And she could definitely do without the tingly fizz like champagne bubbles exploding low in her belly.
She took an unsteady step away from him. “No way. I don’t want to have to fight you for the mirror in the mornings, pretty boy.” Damn her vocal cords that refused to get on the he doesn’t affect me train.
“I do like to look at myself.” He chuckled.
She snorted a laugh. “Oh, I know.” Thank God, he’d turned down the mojo so that she could think. “Congratulations by the way. I hear that song of yours every time I turn on the radio.”
The smirk was gone and a full-on, wide-mouth smile that transformed his face from handsome to blindingly gorgeous stretched across his lips. He was indeed The Heartbreaker. A lesser woman would’ve crumbled into a sloppy, gooey pile of lust.
Not her.
No siree, Bob.
Not. At. All.
His free hand went into the front pocket of his jeans. “Thanks. It’s unbelievable how well it’s doing.”
“No, it isn’t.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s a great song, and as much as it pains me to say it, you’re an amazing singer.”
He wrinkled his nose. “That was pretty sour, huh? Do you need to rinse your mouth?”
“Ha-ha. Just say thank you.”
He grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. “Thank you. And in all seriousness, you do look beautiful, Hailey. I wish you and Roger lots of happiness.”
The sincerity in his green eyes threw her. In the short time she’d known him, she’d never seen him be anything but a bullshitter. “Thank you.” The whisper of sound hung between them.
The moments that followed were charged with something other than flirtation and mere attraction. It was thick and rich and had the ability to swallow her whole.
His brows sliced down over his confused eyes like he wasn’t exactly sure how he’d ended up in this moment with her. The rise and fall of his chest matched hers.
This was wrong, so very wrong.
They needed a way out.
She didn’t think she could turn away on her own.
“Beau, you comin’?” Rick, his bass player, asked. They both sucked in a huge breath and whatever voodoo they’d been caught in vanished.
Dawn, Rick’s girlfriend and their backup
singer, flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “Yeah, I want to have time to get beautiful.”
Beau winked. “You don’t need time for that, darlin’. You’re already pretty as a picture now. Rick’s a lucky man.”
The prettiest pink flush colored Dawn’s face. She giggled and practically skipped out the back door.
With a few words and a wink he’d reduced a grown woman to a tittering school girl. Thank God for perfectly ordinary Roger.
Beau jingled the house keys. “Welp, I better get a move on. I’ve got places to be and orgies to plan.”
“You’re so weird.”
He snorted. “I’m not the one getting married in a bar.”
Her finger went into the air. “I’m getting married in the beer garden. There’s a difference.”
“Oh, sorry, you’re getting married in a beer garden. That’s so much better.” He adjusted his ball cap. “Why?”
“This was my mother’s place before breast cancer took her. It’s where she spent most of her time, and where I feel the closest to her.” She gestured to the entrance on the other side of the pool tables. “She always wanted a beer garden, so I built her one. Since she can’t come to the wedding, I thought I’d bring the wedding to her.” Would he think she was as stupid as her father did?
The smirk slid from his face and he nodded. “I get it. And I’m sure she’d love what you’ve built. It’s a nice way to honor her.”