Two Reckless Hearts (Barrett Ridge Book 1)

by Holly Cortelyou

  Could she have some kind of relationship with Beck? Hell, like it or not, he was part of the family now, and living in Barrett Ridge in the not too far future. She should offer to show him houses to buy. She huffed. Ridiculous.

  Well, what was she going to do? She could skulk in the corner and lick her wounds. She could pretend that none of it happened. That sounded promising, but she had a sneaking suspicion that as soon as Beck was within about ten feet of her, her libido would spring to life and she’d be at risk of jumping him and mauling him like a tiger on a hunk of meat.

  She’d been the one to chase him off. A dreary depression settled over her. She supposed Sam was right. She hadn’t wanted to risk getting hurt, so she’d told him off. Of course, her ego was bruised that she’d lost a real estate deal, but that was a temporary reversal of fortune. A deal gone sour never scuttled her ship. No, she’d find something else for Dad. Hell, it’d be better, and she’d do it for her own pride, not give a damn what her father thought.

  Was Beck worth taking a risk on? He was funny. He was adorable with her young siblings. Jami tossed the crimson fabric onto the bed and paced the length of the room.

  Beck was ridiculously charming and sexy with those smoky gray eyes and those endless abs. Not to mention his tender, but smoldering touch. He’d put her needs first, and made her feel like the most precious thing on earth.

  She stared out the window. Dang it. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear she’d fallen head over heels with Beck. Jami groaned.

  Sam was right; she was too wary to take a risk on love again.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  JAMI CLICKED HER headset off and stared out her office window with her mouth drooping open. She blushed with the praise still buzzing in her ears. Her leg jiggled, and her hands fluttered in her lap. She laughed at her faint reflection in the window and scooped up her loose hair and twisted it into a knot at the nape of her neck.

  What a difference one month made. Well, her dad was going to be pleased. She’d just finished talking with Bert Peterson, and he’d wanted no one other than her to handle selling his farm. His three-hundred-acre parcel was already zoned appropriately, and it conveniently shared a property line with the Barretts’.

  She’d listened to Bert praising her to the skies for all the help she extended to his family over the years. From baking casseroles when his wife was sick from chemo treatments to assisting each of his children in finding a perfect starter home and the right financing.

  Jami slumped back in her chair. After all of the horrible things her father had thrown at her, here was a family friend who thought the world of her. And that her kindness and her ability to do a good job had brought about the exact type of deal that would please her father.

  She toyed with never telling him about it but dismissed the idea. That wouldn’t be in Bert’s best interests, and besides, it would be bad karma. There was no use in being petty.

  With a push of her foot, Jami twirled a half-circle and stopped facing the front door. It looked like she had a customer. A slick, sapphire blue motorcycle careened into the parking lot, and a tall man in black riding leathers swung his leg over the seat and dismounted. His broad shoulders and narrow hips were eye-catching and familiar.

  As he took off his helmet and rubbed a hand through his hair, Jami choked on her iced tea. It was Beck. She slapped the cup on her desk and jumped to her feet. She smoothed out a wrinkle in her black pencil skirt and tugged on her blouse.

  She closed her eyes and inhaled. Dammit. She was flustered for no reason. Of course Beck was going to show up. He’d bought property, and he wasn’t likely to be an absentee owner. But it had been over a month since Anna’s wedding...and their fight.

  He strolled through the door and paused at the empty reception desk. He unzipped his jacket and shrugged out of it in one fluid motion. Jami swallowed and dropped the pen on the floor. She fought the urge to pretend it hadn’t happened, but as Beck’s gaze flicked down to her feet, she relented and snatched it into her clenched fist.

  She cleared her throat. “How may I help you?” She rose but maintained the desk as a barrier between them.

  A slow, wicked smile creased Beck’s mouth as if he was ready for her game. “I’m in the market for a new home.” He moved in front of her desk and draped his jacket over a chair. “I heard that you were the best real estate agent in town.”

  “I’m not taking on new clients.” She crossed her arms. “Perhaps you should try Garrett LaRue. He’s on Third Street downtown.”

  “I need you.” Beck rested his palms on her desk and leaned forward.

  “Go away.” Jami’s breath caught, but she held her ground.

  “Let’s start all over.” Beck took one step back. “I’m Beckham Kavanagh. Your sister is my brother’s wife, and I’m the newest business in town.” He moved around the spare chair to the side of her desk. “I think your family’s business and mine share a property line.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Jami’s pulse ticked at an impossible rate as she stepped backward and bumped into the windowsill.

  “I’m serious.” Beck was right next to her. “Now this is the part where you shake my hand and introduce yourself.”

  “I’m Jami—Jami Barrett.” She dutifully slid her hand into his for a quick shake, but Beck held tight. She quivered.

  “See? We can be friendly.”

  “Don’t tease me.” Jami’s cheeks colored up, and she pulled away. Beck released her hand but maintained his stance.

  “I owe you an apology.”

  “Don’t start being nice.” Jami tried to scowl, but only managed to nibble on her lip.

  “I am a nice guy. Mostly.”

  “Fine. Now go back to your side of the desk. You’re much too close.”

  Beck grinned, but retreated around the table and sat. Jami backed into her chair and slid down gratefully. She didn’t think her knees would support her much longer.

  “I’m sorry for what happened after the wedding.” Beck’s voice was gentle.

  “Sorry that I lost my temper and shoved you in the hot tub?”

  Beck laughed. “I deserved it.”

  Her breath quickened. “You kind of did.” Why was he being so understanding? He should hate her for dumping him into the hot tub.

  “You were hurting, and I made it worse.”

  “True, but I wasn’t very nice either.” She fidgeted with the pen, but then set it down, and folded her hands carefully on the desktop.

  “You were sulking.”

  Jami glared. “I thought you were apologizing? Don’t make it worse.” It was true, but he didn’t have to say it.

  “I met this wonderful, funny, competitive, sexy-as-hell woman at a family wedding.” He leaned forward, and his hands were inches from hers. “Do you happen to know where she went? I miss her.”

  Jami flushed. Was he mocking her?

  He raised her hand and turned her wrist to his mouth. With the softest of touches, Beck pressed his lips to her skin. Sensation zinged up her arm and pierced her heart.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “Dammit, I’m sick of you being angry with me. I haven’t ruined your family’s business. You lost a real estate deal. Move on.”

  “Thank you for that advice.” She tried to wriggle out of his grip, but Beck held firm. The heat of touch scorched her flesh. “As a matter of fact, I’ve already secured a neighboring property that will be even better for Barrett Trucking.”

  Once the words slipped past her lips, a fist of tension in her chest dissolved. She was capable and resilient. She had been down, but she’d dusted herself off and jumped back in the game. With her own skills and good timing, she’d secured a parcel of land for her father and turned a disappointment into a triumph.

  Sam was right after all. She wasn’t a quitter. She could take a risk on love, and she might even win it all.

  Beck studied her face and relief played across his face. “Good. I was beginning to
think your hostility was going to ruin Christmas.”

  “Please. You are so not invited.” Jami tried to scowl but scrunched her nose as laughter built in her belly.

  “But we’re all one big happy family.” Beck smirked, but his eyes were merry. “Even Austin thinks I’m a good addition to the family.”

  “You bribed him. With a beer. I saw you.” Jami tried to sound indignant, but a burble of laughter escaped between her lips.

  “Guilty as charged.” Beck planted a second kiss on her other wrist, and longing burned its way through her core.

  “You could go to jail for such deceitful behavior.”

  “Cuff me.”

  “You’d like that way too much.”

  “The rough stuff with you, now that has me thinking.” Beck released her and in a quick movement was next to her and drew her up.

  “Be serious.” Jami stood, inches from Beck. She twitched to run her fingers through his hair. She wanted so desperately to stay mad at him, but if he didn’t kiss her soon, she was going to explode.

  Beck stroked her cheek. “I think I can’t live without you. I need you.”

  “Is this the start of a negotiation?” Jami trembled as emotion surged through her veins.

  “It is.” Beck wrapped his arms around her waist and hiked her up into his lap. “What do you think of my opening bid?”

  Jami wiggled her hips and shivered as his arousal rubbed against her suddenly damp panties. She slid her tongue along her lower lip and resisted arching her back in response. “It’s promising. You seem to be a man of action. What else do you have to offer?”

  Beck traced a line of slow, hot kisses down the column of Jami’s neck with his tongue tickling and teasing, finally pulling a reluctant, low moan from her.

  “Will that be a point in my favor?”

  “I will concede that you drive a hard bargain.”

  Beck chuckled and rained kisses down the other side of her neck, along the delicate skin of her collarbone, and then to the top of the valley between her breasts. “I will claim you as mine.”

  Jami ground into him and thrust her breasts close to his mouth. “Who is claiming whom?” She ran her fingers through his hair and rubbed a thumb across his lower lip. She let him suck her finger into his mouth for a moment before she languorously pulled it out and then slipped it between her smiling lips. “How do you like my negotiating techniques?”

  “I’ve met my match.”

  “I like the sounds of that. Equals.”

  “That’s the best deal I’ve ever made, and to think it’s just dumb luck.”

  “Who are you calling stupid?”

  “No one, my beautiful, sexy, brilliant woman. You are my equal in every way.” Beck took her hands into his, kissed the back of each hand, then her palms, and then a lingering touch of the lips on each wrist. “You know it was a mere coin toss that led me to pick Barrett Ridge?”

  “A fifty-fifty bet, huh? What other poor schmuck of a town almost bore the wrath of Beck Kavanagh?”

  “I’m not telling. You’ll have to tease it out of me.”

  “With kisses?”

  “That won’t do it. You’ll have to try more advanced methods.”

  Jami smirked and tugged on his belt and buckle. “We’d better lock the door.”

  “And pull the blinds?”

  “No need. There’s a couch upstairs for naps.”

  “That’s convenient, but I’m afraid you won’t be sleeping.”

  Jami grabbed Beck by the hand and led him up the staircase. “I’m feeling a little reckless. Maybe I’ll skip my afternoon nap.”

  “Is that a dare?”

  “I like the sound of that. A new competition. What are the stakes?”

  Beck laughed, and his low, rumbly chuckle filled the small attic space. “You hold my heart in the balance.”

  Jami turned, and Beck crushed her into his arms. The world spun, and sound roared in Jami’s ears. He kissed her until her lips throbbed and she ached with need.

  “We’re two of a kind. I need you, and I’ve fallen head over heels in love with you.”

  Jami froze and stared at Beck.

  “Don’t look so surprised. I think you are perfection, and I’m not letting you get away from me again.”

  “Say it again.”

  “I love you.”

  “That sounds divine.” Jami rained a shower of kisses on his lips.

  “Not to be pushy, but I think this is where you add the part about your feelings?” Beck cradled her in his arms.

  Jami snuggled close and hoped she wasn’t actually purring.

  “You are too competitive. You are too bossy. You are too sexy. And I’m deliciously addicted to you.”

  “Right back at ya.” Beck pushed her back onto the sofa and tore his shirt off over his head. Jami wriggled the buttons loose on her blouse as Beck lowered himself onto her. She twined a leg through his as he propped himself up on one arm.

  “I think it’s my turn to straddle you.”

  “You won’t get any complaints from me.”

  With much wriggling and giggles, Jami twisted on top of Beck and managed to lose her bra in the battle.

  “Come here, you sweet thing.”

  “I think I could love a man who calls me that.”

  “Done. The deal is sealed.”

  Beck held her close, their lips met, and Jami whispered, “I love you.”

  THE END

  Dedication

  To My Favorite Truck Driver who took me on my first trip to the Caribbean.

  I love you to the moon and back.

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you so much to Kerry Genova for her crack proofreading skills, to Ansley Blackstock, for her wonderful editorial input, and to Valerie Tibbs of Tibbs Design for a sexy and sassy cover. You guys are awesome!

  As a quick aside, I want to let my readers know that I have only a smidgeon of knowledge about zoning laws and county commissions. Therefore, any errors or oddities that I’ve created in Beck and Jami’s battle over property and zoning are solely my mistakes.

  TEASER of Tempting Doctor Forever…

  Read on for a sneak peek

  of Beck and Jami’s love story

  in the second Barrett Ridge romance

  TEMPTING DOCTOR FOREVER

  THE FRONT DOOR slammed, and light footsteps squeaked on the oak entry floor.

  “Mateo?”

  “Yeah. I’m home.” His son’s tone was flat, disinterested.

  “How’d it go?”

  Silence.

  Then a thud, which must have been Mateo’s backpack hitting the floor. Dr. Ethan Cordero winced as the noise reverberated through the walls and the floor. Mat must have homework from every class. Poor kid. First day of school and no mercy.

  Ethan dropped the final moving box on a stack of beige cardboard book boxes in the corner of the home office in their temporary rental. He lined up the edges in a straight line so they’d take up less visual space until he had an opportunity to unpack and shelve them.

  He waited for his son’s ball-capped head to pop through the French doors. But nothing. Footsteps padded down the hall and faded. No doubt his hungry fourteen-year-old was rummaging in the refrigerator.

  For the thousandth time, he wished parenting was easier. He needed more answers. More solutions. But a teenage son was a thick wall of bricked-off emotions.

  Not that he blamed Mateo. Mat hadn’t wanted to leave Los Angeles and move to a small town in Oregon. Even if his Pipo lived in Barrett Ridge. Even if his father had grown up there. Even his maternal grandparents had abandoned him and moved to Florida.

  Ethan frowned. Felicia’s parents hadn’t yet recovered from the loss of their daughter. Mateo certainly missed his mother. Poor messed-up Felicia. A sting of guilt brushed Ethan’s awareness. God, he was about the only one who didn’t miss his wife.

  Damn. That sounded terrible even within the safety of his own mind. It wasn’t true either. He missed the care
free, joyful Felicia. Before they’d graduated from college. Before she’d gotten bitter. Before she’d cheated on their marriage vows. Before she’d indulged in drunken and pill-laced rampages.

  Ethan shut his eyes and focused on his breathing. Yes. He missed Felicia. If he didn’t, it wouldn’t hurt. Right? Two years since the car crash. It was a lifetime ago. It was yesterday.

  Ethan straightened his shoulders and aimed toward the kitchen. Mateo ignored him as he shoved the refrigerator door shut and opened cupboards one by one. Click. Click. Thud. Slam.

  “Granola bars are in the pantry. Fresh fruit is in the grocery sack by the stove.” Ethan pointed to first one then the other. Both behind Mateo.

  Mateo grumbled something that might have been a thank-you as he dug out two granola bars. Ethan pushed away from the doorframe and snagged a white-spreckled red apple.

  “Tell me about school.” Ethan decided a command might work better than a question or gentle probe for information. Had he been this uncommunicative with his parents when he’d been a ninth grader? Hardly. But then his life had been straightforward. His parents loved him, and their home was happy and laid back. He hadn’t just moved a thousand miles in the middle of a completely new terrain. He hadn’t seen his own mother die on the side of a road. Yeah. He could cut Mat some slack.

  “It was school. No big deal.” Mateo cocked his head and a cascade of chin-length hair cloaked his dark eyes. “I can handle it.” Mateo bit into the granola bar, pivoted and ducked out the kitchen slider to the backyard. He slid into a low, bright red Adirondack chair with his nose buried in his smartphone. He sank into his gray hoodie and hunched against the cooling air of a sunny, January day.

  That went well. Ethan rolled his eyes heavenward and checked his phone for any missed messages from the medical center. All was clear on that front. He wasn’t due there until first thing in the morning.