Before the Cartwells had arrived, she’d been young, wild, and free. The sooner she set the pace, the sooner they’d see. Their help arrived just a tad too late.
Brianna and her sisters didn’t need Kane and Peyton Cartwell sticking their noses in their lives. As she drove to the main highway, she gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. Her mother’s favorite saying was, “The strength of a woman is demonstrated in those who are slow to anger.”
“But you didn’t endure what we endured, Momma,” Brianna said, wiping the tears off her cheeks. The road in front of her blurred as she cried out in anger, true rage. Finally, when she’d cried all she could cry, she pulled off the exit. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought she heard her mom’s small voice say, “Brianna, darling, I love you, but you brought this on yourself.”
The rage rolled forward again. This time, she shook it off before it grabbed a significant hold. Her mother’s ghost or her own conscience, whatever it was, could move the fuck on. She knew better than anyone what had happened could’ve been prevented.
She’d played with fire and she’d been badly burned.
A few minutes later, she pulled in front of Erwin’s Feed and Seed. As soon as she left her vehicle, she felt someone watching her. She glanced over her shoulder and cursed under her breath. Handsome did quite a number on her. It was broad daylight and she was worried about the shadows in the sunlight. She searched the parking lot one final time and hurried inside.
“Good mornin’, Brianna!”
“Mornin’, Mr. Sellers.” She patted his age-spotted hands in passing.
“Awful early for you to be out this mornin’. Need anything in particular?”
“I’ve been meaning to stop by for some new halters. Nothing fancy.”
Mr. Sellers, at least three hundred and fifty pounds, shifted his hips until he made it off the bar stool. Then he wobbled away from his post at the front counter. He led her down the first aisle as if she couldn’t find what she needed herself. “There you have it. Fifty or sixty of ’em.” He seemed just as proud as a peacock. “Had a new shipment day ’fore yesterday.”
“Looks like you have plenty,” she said, running her fingers across one of the dark leather choices.
The front door jingled several times and heavy boots thudded across the concrete floor. Brianna glanced up, but by the time she looked toward the door, Mr. Sellers’ customers had already traipsed off to the feed room.
“I’ll look around, Mr. Sellers. Feel free to help them.”
“I don’t rightly believe they’re here for my wares.”
Noting the laughter in his voice, Brianna looked around for signs of life. When she still didn’t see anyone, she shrugged, thinking maybe she’d read too much into Mr. Sellers’ statement.
“Well anyhow. There ya have it. Let me know if ya need anything. I’ll be up at the front.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sellers.”
The store owner returned to his post. Brianna continued browsing, distantly aware of the heavy footsteps in the distance. She’d just chosen a couple of halters when she caught a glimpse of several cowboys walking her way.
“Well boy, howdy, brothers. I want you to look at how our day has just improved.” Flint Jackson’s Southern drawl filled the aisle as he approached from the right.
“Sure enough did,” Tyler said, walking her way.
Brianna stilled as the Jackson brothers surrounded her. With her back to them, she said, “Fancy meeting you boys here.”
“Turn around, little woman, and I’ll show you how wrong you are,” Jax Jackson said, forever the flirt.
She took the bait and faced him.
“I don’t see a ‘boy’ here,” Jax said, striking the center of his full bottom lip with the tip of his tongue. “Do you?”
Her gaze flicked over Jax and his brothers. She had to agree there. Nothing but hardcore men in several shapes and sizes stared back at her.
“Well?” Jax pressed. “What do you think, baby?”
Under normal circumstances, Brianna would’ve fired back with a saucy reply. She would’ve been tempted to let her gaze dip, her fingers roam. She’d never touched any of the Jackson boys inappropriately but she’d raked her fingernails up and down their muscular arms on more than one occasion.
Unfortunately, she no longer had the desire or the will to match wits or play their games.
“Good to see you guys,” she said, ducking under Flint’s arm.
Quick as a whip, Tyler caught her by the wrist. “Where are you off to so fast?”
She glanced down at their connection, willing him to let her go. Yanking her arm free, she said, “Don’t touch me.”
Blank expressions washed across each of their handsome faces. Tyler backed off with his hands in the air. “No problem. I was just playin’ around, Brianna.”
Flint and Jax glared at Tyler as if they were ready to flog him.
“I don’t want to play around.” She hurried by the storekeeper. “I’ll stop back by later, Mr. Sellers.” Tossing the halters aside, she hit the full glass door with both hands and ran to her car. A second later, she fumbled with her keys, trying desperately to calm down so she could pull it together before one of the Jackson brothers caught up to her.
She flung her car door open and sat down. Reaching for the interior handle, she realized right away that she hadn’t been quick enough. Jax grabbed hold and held the top of the door firmly. “You’re not driving off upset.”
“Let go, Jax.”
“Get out, Brianna,” he demanded.
“Who do you think you are?”
“I’m a friend who can see you’re too upset to drive.”
“I’m fine.” Her gaze flicked to the store entrance. Tyler was walking toward them, traipsing beside another customer and making small talk. She could clearly hear their conversation. It was a beautiful spring day. They’d had a hell of a winter. It had been hard on the farmers. Cattle market had suffered.
Small town folks rarely met a stranger, which was probably why predators liked an area like Erwin. Bad things rarely happened there.
Rarely was a small word with a big meaning at the moment. Dragging her attention away from Tyler and the farmer, she whispered, “Really, Jax. I’m fine.”
“The hell you are.” Jax dug his hand in his jeans, retrieved a single key and tossed it at Tyler as he passed them. “Meet me there.”
Apparently they’d already discussed the ‘there’ in question. The whole thing appeared staged, right down to Tyler catching the truck key without ever breaking his stride.
“I don’t need—” Brianna stopped midsentence and gasped, noting a navy blue SUV parked behind her at the gas pump. She jolted forward, narrowed her gaze on her side mirror, and then adjusted her rearview mirror. Temporarily unaware that she’d stopped talking, she frantically searched the parking lot. The vehicle was familiar. From the chrome wheels to the blinding front plates, the SUV was one she recognized.
It had been at the mountainside bar the night she’d been assaulted. Her heart pounded faster. Her throat constricted. She felt as if she were suffocating and couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Haphazardly, she stuffed her key in the ignition. At the same time, she tried to shut her door again. When Jax didn’t budge, she screamed, “I have to go!” Her gaze flitted to the mirror again.
By this time, Flint had walked out of the store with the halters she’d intended to buy. Tyler pulled up beside them in one of the Jackson dually trucks.
“Check out that vehicle,” Jax said, nodding at the pumps.
“What?” She instantly snapped out of her stupor and shook her head vehemently. “No. It’s not what you think.”
“What do I think exactly?” Jax asked, his dark blue gaze never averting. “I just happen to like the dude’s ride.”
“Please don’t do this,” she whispered, gripping the steering wheel and staring straight ahead.
Flint opened the passenger door and toss
ed the new horse tack on the floorboard. “Where to, gorgeous?”
“Get out of my car,” she said, though there wasn’t a lot of conviction in her request.
“It’s not happening.” Flint buckled his seatbelt as if to drive home his point. “And you’re welcome for the halters. It was my pleasure.”
She would’ve thanked him, but for some reason she had a strange feeling he’d take her note of gratitude as an invitation. “I have errands to do.” Her angst was seconds away from getting the best of her.
To further complicate her morning, Tyler drove away and waited by the pumps, revving his engine. One way or another, they planned to have a confrontation with the owner of the blue SUV.
Jax kept those muscular, tan arms draped over the top of her car door. “You have two choices. You either let me drive you back home or Flint will accompany you. I’d prefer to drive you because you’re not in any shape to be behind the wheel.”
“He’s jealous. He’s afraid I’ll end up with the first kiss.”
“If you so much as even try it, you won’t kiss anyone for the better part of a year.” Her bitter rage surfaced and was tightly strewn through every syllable.
“Easy tigress,” Flint said, settling his back against her seat. “I was just trying to make big brother jealous.”
“Do it on your own time.”
“All right. I’ve heard enough.” Jax reached around the door, grabbed her by the wrist, and yanked her out of the car. Then, he sat down in the driver’s seat and glanced at his brother. “Get out, Flint.”
“Yes, Sir,” he drawled sarcastically.
“That’s it. I’m calling the cops.” She’d just started her short march back to the feed and seed, when the door buzzer at the convenience market next door resounded. And out walked the fellow who could’ve easily been the man of her dreams. Instead, he was an easy reminder of her worst nightmares.
* * * *
Jax had known from the moment Brianna had flipped out. The vehicle behind them reminded her of someone. That someone was the man walking past Brianna with a smirk on his face and too much damn attitude in his cocksure swagger.
Responding quickly, Jax leapt from her car. At the same time, Flint left the vehicle also. Before he could approach the stranger first, Jax pushed him back and swung a protective arm in front of Brianna, pushing her aside as well. “Get Brianna home. We’ll meet you there.”
“Do I know you?” the fellow asked.
“I don’t think so.” Jax balled his fists together, slightly aware of his knuckles popping.
In his periphery, Jax noticed their truck. Tyler had the truck in reverse and seconds later, he whipped it ninety degrees and stopped in front of them. He slammed the gearshift up, jumped out of the truck, and said, “What’s up, big brother? Problem here?”
Tyler’s cool confidence was the main reason why the Jackson brothers stayed away from the bar scene. When a man saw Tyler coming, they didn’t have to wonder if he knew how to fight, they could automatically assume if he’d ever lost one, he went down swinging.
Brianna’s car doors slammed behind them and a minute later, Flint sped out of the parking lot. With Brianna gone, Jax could breathe easy. He’d throw his weight around and find out why this guy made Brianna uneasy.
He gave the fellow a good once over. Damn. Maybe he had this all wrong. He didn’t look like Brianna’s type. He was a city slicker right down to his polished new shoes.
“Do we have a problem?” the man asked.
“You might say that,” Jax replied. “I hear you know Brianna.”
“Who?”
“The girl who just left here in the white sports car. Know her?” Was it possible that Brianna had overreacted? She’d acted plain weird in the feed store. Maybe this guy didn’t know Brianna. Perhaps he was just driving a vehicle that resembled one Brianna’s attacker had driven. “I asked you a question. Do you know Brianna?”
“No,” the guy lied. He couldn’t even look them in the eye.
“She knows you.” But Jax couldn’t be sure.
“Did she say that?”
“What’s your name?” Tyler asked, probably sensing Jax wasn’t sure about his involvement with Brianna.
The fellow grinned. In that moment, it was like watching a set change before their very eyes. It was as if a new character had emerged on stage and this guy was a man of a different sort. Darker, colder eyes glared back at them. “Now if we were all going to be friends, then I could see exchanging names, handshakes, maybe even a couple of slaps on the back, but something tells me we aren’t going to be friends, gentlemen.”
Jax clucked. “I can relate to what you’re saying. I don’t think we’ll be fishing together anytime soon.”
The dude smiled, flashing perfect teeth. “Well, there’s really no point. Best I can tell we’ve all already played in the same pond.” He paused. “Which one of you is Brianna’s boyfriend?”
“Thought you didn’t know her,” Tyler drawled, removing a toothpick from his shirt pocket and sticking it in the corner of his mouth. The toothpick was a sign of the coming times. For some odd reason, Tyler liked to fight with a toothpick in his mouth.
Considering the insult to Brianna, Jax should’ve already laid the guy out, but he had a feeling as long as this city boy kept talking, the more they’d learn. Unlike Tyler, Jax could bide his time and keep his cool.
He glanced at his brother. Come to think of it, Tyler was holding it together pretty well.
The guy looked off in the distance. His entire demeanor shifted once more. His plastered-on smile turned into a stone-solid frown. “Well, here we are, fellas.” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Now what?”
Jax sniffed. Tyler popped his knuckles.
“So we fight? Is that what you want? Do you want to beat the hell out of me because I fucked your girl or because you think I pushed myself on her and gave her something she didn’t ask for?”
“You’re saying she asked for you to beat the hell out of her?”
He chuckled. “I didn’t beat her. She’s a kinky bitch that wanted to play rough. I gave her precisely what she wanted, what she begged for.” He cocked his head to the side. “Look at me and when you see her again, look at her. If I’d wanted to kill her, she’d be in the morgue now. I must outweigh her by a good hundred pounds. She got what she wanted, what she most enjoys—rough sex, a hard fuck, and a good time. It’s hard to say who finished her up after I was done but when I left her, she was under the covers fast asleep with a smile on her face.”
Jax’s pulse took off at a running go. Aware of two police cruisers parking in front of the market, he let the officers enter the store before he nodded at Tyler and let him have the first swing. After Tyler threw a left hook and a right, Jax took it from there. Before the cops could intervene, they left the fellow in a heap, doubled over at their feet. Jax spit on the ground next to him. “Go ahead and give your statement, you son of a bitch. I’ll tell the cops I gave you what you asked for. And then I’ll tell ’em I left you grinning from ear to ear.”
They took slow strides to the truck. Tyler reclaimed his position at the driver’s seat and Jax jumped on the tailgate. Tyler had just thrown the truck into drive when the guy on the ground scrambled to his feet. He swiped his bloody mouth with his forearm and glared at them as if he were plotting and scheming, planning his next move.
By this time the cops had approached the fellow. He seemed to ignore them so he could stare after Tyler and Jax.
Tapping the truck bed with his fist, Jax yelled, “Let’s get out of here.”
They drove by the pumps on their way out and Jax couldn’t help but notice the fellow’s personalized New York license plates. Handsome.
He scooted closer to the cab of the truck and leaned over the side. “Hold up, Tyler.”
Braking, Tyler stuck his head out the window. “Want to go back there and finish this?”
“I might,” Jax said, fishing his phone out of his pocket. “
Let me see if Brianna has anything to say about the matter. Something tells me there’s a little more to this story than anyone knows.”
Chapter Six
Flint and Brianna stopped in front of the main stables. They’d driven the short distance from the market to her place without exchanging a word. In many ways, she’d been relieved Flint had been with her.
After seeing Handsome at the store, she’d nearly lost it. Fortunately, Flint didn’t pressure her to talk about what had happened. He let her fall to pieces without saying anything at all. Once or twice, he stroked her cheek with his knuckles, drying up her tears with the back of his hand, but he didn’t question her.
Flint’s phone rang soon after they entered the barn. “Everything all right?” He listened to whoever was on the other end before he said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” A beat later, he snapped, “Because you have a way of upsetting her, Jax. That’s why.”
Nearly mechanical in her movements, Brianna walked in the tack room and hung up the new halters. She acknowledged the first two open stall doors and assumed Drina and Nory were out for a ride. Button, an aging Palomino, was rarely ridden by anyone else.
“Jax needs to talk to you,” Flint said, thrusting his phone in her direction. “It’s important.”
Perspiration dampened the hairs on her nape. Her forehead and cheeks were on fire. Her vision blurred. Flashbacks from the past scrambled in her mind as one image and then another popped in her head. She could clearly see Handsome’s diabolical smile, the flash of perfect straight teeth. She could almost smell the mix of expensive aftershave and sex combined with sweat and mildew, the moisture settling in the carpet of the dated motel room.
“You okay?” Flint asked, dragging her away from a memory she longed to forget.
She quickly nodded and gripped the phone. Flint gave her some space and she said, “Hello.”
Sexual Healing [Contemporary Cowboys 1] (Siren Publishing LoveEdge) Page 4