Carried Away
By Elizabeth Lennox
www.ElizabethLennox.com
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Copyright 201
ISBN13: 9781950451098
All rights reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Epilogue
Excerpt from “Love and Secrets
Chapter 1
Penny stared at her hands, rubbing her thumb over a ragged, broken nail surrounded by rough, dry skin. She thought about the tips from the night’s customers in her pocket, wondering if a manicure might…? No, she sighed and lifted her head with resignation. For the first time, she had money to spare, thanks to Eve who had given her this job. She was a waitress now, making good tips. Better tips than she’d ever thought possible! The job was a whole lot better than cleaning hotel rooms, but she’d do that again if she had to. Anything for her twin boys! They were a rambunctious pair, but she loved them more than anything in the world.
If she occasionally thought about having a man in her life, someone who might kiss her in the morning or come up and wrap his arms around her while she stood at the sink making dinner…well, that was a nice fantasy, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath.
Besides, the last time she fell in love with a man, she’d found herself pregnant with twins. Two years after their birth, the bastard had up and left, claiming that raising twin boys was too hard.
Penny snorted with disgust. “Yeah, it’s hard!” she muttered as a new group of customers stepped into The Bull Frog. The adorable bar she worked in five days a week was starting to get busy. This afternoon, she’d helped Eve, Cynthia, and Annie make about five thousand pounds of what Eve called Frog Burps, which were really just slices of thinly sliced steak, some chipotle mayonnaise and chipotle cheese spread out over crescent rolls. As soon as the crescent rolls baked up, the cheese and steak peeked out of the sides, making a delicious bite of happiness.
It was Eve’s creative appetizer and cocktail ideas, plus Cynthia’s business savvy, that had made this bar in a tiny town such a huge success. Before, it had been just a place for the locals to grab a beer every few nights during the week. Cynthia had taken over running the bar several years ago when her mother had moved to Florida. But then Cynthia’s mother had gotten sick and her best friend Eve had arrived and really spruced up the menu.
Now, Tuesday and Wednesday nights were hopping while Thursday through Saturday nights were packed, almost too full sometimes, as the tourists from Denver and the surrounding towns came up for the weekend to do some fishing, hiking, skiing, or whatever else that they did in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. And they all stopped by The Bull Frog for a strange drinks and quirky appetizers.
“Hey Penny!” Deputy Louis called out as he stepped into the bar and looked around. “How are things going tonight?”
Penny blushed, quickly hiding her rough, ugly hands behind her back. “Oh, everything is good tonight.” She heard the bland reply and mentally chided herself for not using good grammar. “Well,” she emphasized. “Things are going well tonight,” she corrected quickly.
Louis heard the correction and looked down at her, a smile lighting his heavenly blue eyes, causing all of her muscles to tighten with awareness. He was such an amazingly good looking man, she thought!
“How are you?” he asked.
Was his tone a bit more…intimate now? Or was that just her imagination?
Just her silly, hopeful imagination, she told herself.
“I’m fine,” she replied, looking away. Deputy Louis was a handsome devil. Several inches taller than she was, he had really nice shoulders and a great…well, a great nothing – because she was a mother and moms didn’t look at that part of other men’s anatomy. Yes, Louis was a kind gentleman.
Louis nodded his head, not moving away. “Good. Good. So…I’m on duty tonight. Call me if anything happens that might worry you. Even something small,” he told her. “If it worries you, just call. And I’ll stop by a little later just to make sure everything is still okay,” he explained, then turned to face her more fully. “Are you closing tonight?”
Penny smiled, thinking she could just lose herself in those eyes of his. “Yes,” she breathed, then realized how she sounded and straightened her shoulders, reminding herself to behave. “Yes. I close tonight. With Cynthia’s pregnancy, I agreed to close for her so she can get more sleep.”
Louis leaned forward slightly. “That’s really sweet of you Penny. I know that Ryan worries about her being on her feet all day.” Ryan was an ex-Navy SEAL and now in charge of the national parks in the area, serving as a park ranger. He’d loved Cynthia since the first time he’d seen her in second grade, but before they’d recognized their attraction for one another…it had been a bit difficult. The pranks they’d pulled on each other over the years had been epic!
Penny’s eyes widened. “Ryan is worried? Oh, he shouldn’t! Eve, Annie, and I order her to sit down all the time. We sit while we do the prep work before we open now and…” She trailed off as Louis’s smile widened. Goodness, he had a great smile! All warm and sweet and sexy!
“I know that you ladies take care of each other. Just as you take really good care of your boys. How are Tyler and James doing?”
Penny’s cheeks warmed at his concern and she smiled slightly. Good grief, she was too old for blushing! She hadn’t blushed since…high school? And that was too long ago!
“They are go…well,” she replied, correcting herself once again. “Sorry. I’m taking online classes in the morning.”
His eyes widened, as did his smile. “You are? What for?”
Penny shrugged dismissively. “Oh, just…I don’t have to work three jobs anymore now that things are going so well here,” she explained, looking around at her customers. “I’m earning more here waitressing than I did at the other three jobs combined. So I have extra time to…” she shrugged again, feeling self-conscious.
He nodded his head. “So you decided to take some classes. Well, that’s really amazing, Penny. I’m impressed.”
Another blush and she lowered her head for a moment, shrugging slightly. “Well, it’s just…” she panicked as an odd sensation hit her. “I should get back to work,” she stammered, her head tipping slightly towards a new group of customers that stepped through the doors.
“Sure. I’ll stop by later, but call me if you need help. Or just…anything, okay?”
Penny nodded, smiling at the man. Louis left the bar, his gaze scanning over the patrons quickly, assessing each one carefully. Apparently, all of the customers passed muster under his sharp gaze because a moment later, he was walking out the door. The tingling tension in the room seemed to die out now that he was walking towards his Bronco parked right outside and she felt a bit of a letdown.
Penny started to walk towards the new customers, but paused for a moment at the window, watching the man as he walked away…and yeah, she was admiring that part of his anatomy that she shouldn’t be looking at. But darn it, he had a very fine anatomy! He definitely was a handsome devil! Not quite as tall as Sheriff Mack, but still taller than most of the men who came through town. Plus he was handsome and nice and…well, a lot of adj
ectives came to mind.
“I think he’s sweet on you,” Annie, the other waitress murmured, bumping a friendly shoulder against Penny’s.
Penny snorted dismissively and turned away from the window. “Don’t be ridiculous!” She grabbed a tray, prepared to head over and take the orders from the new customers. “He stopped by to make sure everything was okay.”
Cynthia waddled over with a tray loaded with tonight’s cocktails. “Louis didn’t come by to check on the other patrons. He stopped by to see you!” she corrected, then headed over to the group of hikers in the back corner of the bar, delivering the drinks.
Penny ignored her boss. Louis was just doing his job by stopping by here to make sure everything was okay. There weren’t many problems in the bar. Especially now that the two owners, Eve and Cynthia, had married the town’s Sheriff Mack and the town’s legendary ex-Navy SEAL and park ranger Ryan. Those two were big, bad, and scary. Woe betide anyone who dared to cause trouble in this town. Ever since those men had rescued that mountain lion stoked up on cocaine several months back, word had gotten around that those two were crazy tough, lugging the mountain lion around on their shoulders. Of course, the mountain lion had been sedated before being picked up, but that part of the incident was usually left out during the re-telling. That made for a more interesting story. As an aside, several drug dealers had also been caught, but again, not as exciting.
Penny snorted inelegantly as she thought about the rumors that had spread around the region after that incident. She couldn’t count how many times she’d heard one of the tourists recount the story. But the way they told it, Mack had simply walked up to the mountain lion, muzzled the huge beast, then picked it up and carried it out of the town. What idiots, she thought. A mountain lion would shred a human up with a single swipe of his or her massive claw. They weren’t kitty cats, even though they looked very cuddly…from a distance.
The night got busier and Penny pushed thoughts of the nice, handsome Louis out of her mind. She had work to do, tips to earn. She finally had enough money to hire a babysitter for her boys, a teenage boy from the high school who helped her boys with their homework. He was a good kid who wanted to go to college to become a history teacher. He stayed with her boys in the evenings, keeping them out of trouble and giving her peace of mind. Their grades were improving with his tutelage and they weren’t running around, wild and coming up with crazy adventures like they used to.
Several hours later, Penny wiped down the now-empty tables, waving to the last four customers as they headed out the door and into the chilly Colorado night.
Tomorrow, the bar would be closed. Penny had no idea what she was going to do with her day off besides sleep. Yes, sleep would be nice. Or clean her house. Yeah, that was probably a better idea. Not fun, but necessary. Her house was never very tidy with her twin boys, but she prided herself that it was at least clean once a week.
“Penny, you okay?”
“Louis!” she breathed, then remembered herself and pulled back, looking up at the man who had come in to check on things, just as he’d promised earlier in the evening. “Um…yes! Of course I’m okay,” she replied nervously. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
The bar was quiet. Even Annie had gone home since it was Penny’s night to close.
“I don’t know,” he replied, moving closer, those blue eyes concerned. “Are James and Tyler okay? Did they sneak out again? If they did, I’ll find them for you.”
“No!” she gasped, secretly thrilled at his offer. “No, as far as I know, Dan has them tucked into bed already.” She glanced at her watch. “Yes, he would have called if they’d snuck out again.”
Louis laughed softly and the sound was so pleasant that she looked down at her soapy hands to hide her face. “I’m just finishing up here.”
“Speaking of James and Tyler, remember when they built that zip line?”
Penny groaned, shaking her head. “Don’t remind me!” she laughed. “Those two! I have no idea where they get their ideas!”
He chuckled with her. Louis was such a great guy! He was sweet, handsome, and kind and…well, he was hot too, but that was beside the point. She was a waitress. And Louis was…well, he was just…great!
But men…nope! She had enough men in her life with her twin boys. James and Tyler were her life. They were enough for her!
Besides, Louis wouldn’t be interested in her. She was…well, she had rough hands and twins. Most men didn’t want the burden of a ready-made family.
Louis smiled, seemingly undeterred by her soapy, rough hands. “Well, I wondered if they might want to go repelling with me one day. I could teach them to…”
Penny swung around, dripping soap onto the wood floor as she stared up at the tall man incredulously. “Repelling?” she asked in a horrified voice. “Isn’t that…don’t you fall down a cliff doing that?”
Louis laughed, shaking his head. “Well, one only falls if you’re doing it wrong.” Her mouth fell open and he lifted his hands. “I know how to do it right, Penny. Your boys would be completely safe with me. I’d show them how to do it safely. And maybe…”
“No!” she gasped. “Absolutely not! No way! My boys are not going to repel or…whatever! No way!”
He took her soapy hands and pulled her closer. “I promise, they’ll be safe.”
“No, Louis!” she stated as firmly as possible. “They don’t need new ideas on how to kill themselves. They come up with enough of those on their own.”
He laughed and, despite her fear at what he was suggesting, her insides did that little flip thing again. “How about this. You have the day off tomorrow and the boys are in school. Why don’t I pick you up and take you out, show you how repelling works?” He saw the rejection in her blue eyes and talked quickly. “Just a short cliff, just to show you that I know what I’m doing and how it works.” Still, she wasn’t buying it, so he took a different approach.
“Repelling is actually a good lesson in math.” Penny snorted in disbelief. “It’s true, Penny. One has to calculate weight and angles. Geometry, calculus, and trigonometry all come into play. Your boys would get a real-world lesson in math, which might help them pay attention during math class.”
He knew that he’d gotten her with that aspect of repelling. And he wasn’t lying. Repelling was a very technical sport. The thrill in skimming down a sheer cliff…that was just an added bonus.
“Come with me tomorrow,” he urged, his thumb rubbing gently over her knuckles. “I’ll show you how it’s done and you can decide if James and Tyler would enjoy learning how to repel.”
Louis knew the moment she’d given in and he smiled slightly.
“Fine!” she told him warily. “But not a big cliff!” she told him firmly.
“Not a big one,” he agreed. “I’ll pick you up at eight o’clock, okay? Wear comfortable clothes.”
And with that, he left, not giving her a chance to change her mind. Damn, he thought as he headed back to his car. A date with Penny! He’d only offered to take her boys out but now…this was even better! A date with the lovely, beautiful Penny! It was going to be a great day!
Chapter 2
Penny was miserable!
“It’s going to be fine,” Louis soothed, taking her gloved hands in his. They were standing out in the woods, surrounded by a bunch of equipment that looked…terrifying. Especially when she leaned over and peered down the side of the cliff he’d brought her to this morning.
“Are you kidding me?” Penny gasped. “Look at that cliff! You promised a little cliff! That’s not a little cliff, Louis!”
Louis laughed because she just looked so cute. He shouldn’t laugh, but he couldn’t help it. “Honey, you should see some of the places where tourists get stuck. I’ve repelled down cliffs five times this size before. Tourists are stupid and they get stuck in the oddest places.”
Penny peered warily over the side, then stepped back from the cliff, shaking her head. “Nope! No way!”
He gri
nned, thinking she was beautiful. Penny really had no idea how lovely she was but Louis loved looking at her. “Okay, I get it. You don’t want to do this alone.” He had a brilliant idea. “How about if we go down together? I will be practically carrying you the whole way and you can see how safe it is.”
Penny crossed her arms over her stomach, pushing her breasts up higher. He’d known that she had a good figure, but until this moment, he’d never realized just how good. Usually, she wore baggy jeans that she bought at the used clothing store a few towns over. But today, she wore a pair of tight leggings and he was having a really hard time keeping his admiring gaze away from her sexy legs encased in that tight spandex.
Shaking his head, he pulled his eyes away from her leggings. And her breasts. Focus, man! “Okay, here. Let me show you,” he said and moved over to her. “The rope will be secured around this tree,” he said, looping the rope and catching it on the other side. “This contraption here looks like a bunch of pulleys, but in reality, there’s locking device here,” he explained, showing her the metal wheels and locks, “and nothing slips through this lock unless I release it here.” He showed her how the rope looped through the safety mechanisms. “You’re in this mesh harness like this,” and he lifted the intricate safety device that looped in and around her legs and hips. “The material is very secure. I promise, that you’re not going to fall,” he told her.
Penny eyed the harness dubiously. “Louis, this isn’t a good idea,” she argued, backing up.
Louis took her hand, looking down into her eyes. “Penny, would you trust me? I promise, going down the side of a mountain…it’s a rush! It’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before.” He stopped, thinking for a moment. “It is the closest thing to flying that I have ever done.” He moved closer, taking her other hand. “You go over the side of the hill and have to trust…trust that you’re equipment is going to hold, that the rope is strong enough, and…” he saw the terror in her eyes and smiled comfortingly. “It’s strong enough, I promise. I’ve done this so many times over the years and it’s amazing! I’ve had an almost one hundred percent success rate.”
Carried Away (Sinful Nights Book 5) Page 1