Betting the Farm

Annie Evans

Clay
Hearts, Book One

Fritz
Carter has carved out a nice life in his hometown of Serenity, Georgia.
Together with his brothers, they’ve made the family farm more successful than
ever. Fritz wants for very little—save for the girl he’d loved in high school.
The girl who’d left Serenity behind…left Fritz behind as well.

The
girl who just sauntered into the local dive bar, looking all woman and hotter
than ever.

Fritz
would have to be blind not to want Kai back in his bed. He’d also have to be
stupid to give her his heart. Not again. Not right away. They’ve both changed,
and past hurts haven’t healed as well as either had thought. A few sultry
summer nights in Kai’s arms don’t equal love…even if his heart says otherwise.

A Romantica®
contemporary
erotic romance
from Ellora’s Cave

Fritz Carter narrowed his eyes to study the tall, sexy
blonde who walked through the front door of Sam’s Tavern. Without bothering to
give her surroundings even a cursory glance, she strode purposefully to the bar
and plopped onto a barstool, tossing her phone and purse on the counter in
front of her in what looked to be aggravation.

“No fuckin’ way,” he muttered.

Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. The light was dim
inside Sam’s, he’d downed a couple beers and she was supposed to be living in
Athens now with her rich lawyer fiancé. What would she be doing back in
Serenity, dressed like
that
in a place like
this
? The
she
in question was asking for trouble, wearing a red dress—short, snug, sinful—in
a bar full of half-sauced, testosterone-laden males.

Kai Donnelly couldn’t be more of a target if she had a
bull’s-eye painted across her tight little ass.

His pal Richie bumped his elbow. “What’s up, dude? You look
like you just saw a ghost.”

“I don’t know if you’d call her a ghost, but she’s sure
haunted a few dreams,” he grumbled into the mouth of his beer bottle.

“She who?”

Fritz was still trying to determine if it was really Kai.
Her hair was twisted into a fancy knot on the back of her head. Seth, the
bartender, was propped on the counter in front of her grinning like an idiot,
and God knows Kai could sweet-talk a grizzly bear away from a honey pot.

“Fritz, who are you talking about?” Richie asked when he
didn’t answer right away.

“Kai.”

Richie scoffed. “Oh hell, it can’t be. Didn’t she marry a
rich doctor in Atlanta?”

“He’s a lawyer in Athens, and I don’t think they’re married
yet,” Fritz replied, not at all liking the bitterness the words left on his
tongue. He took a long pull of his beer, trying to wash the unwelcome taste
away.

She turned her head to look at something on one of the
televisions mounted above the bar and Fritz studied her profile closely. Yep,
dammit, it was Kai.

“You gonna stare at the back of her head all night or go
speak to her?”

“I’m gonna stare for a while if that’s all right with you.”

“More like work up your nerve.”

“Kiss my ass,” Fritz snapped.

“Ooh, touchy. It’s gotta be Kai, ’cause she’s the only girl
who’s ever put you on cloud nine or in the pits of hell. Two of you never had
an in-between.”

Unfortunately, Richie’s assessment was spot-on. The
relationship he’d had with Kai had been either heaven or hell. No gray areas.
She could make him crazy with lust one minute and madder than a wet hornet the
next.

Just thinking about the warm summer nights they’d spent
together under the moon and stars on a blanket in one of his family’s hayfields
had his dick stirring behind his zipper. They’d been each other’s firsts, and
deep down, Fritz had hoped she’d be his last. But that didn’t happen.

Theirs had been the redneck version of Romeo and Juliet,
without the tragic ending…sort of. Her wealthy parents weren’t about to stand
back and watch their princess fall in love with a lowly farm boy, get hitched
at eighteen and play happy homemaker while popping out a passel of kids by the
time she was twenty-five. So naturally, they’d encouraged her to head for
college in Athens as soon as possible.

There’d been phone calls and letters for a while, a few
quick visits home, but then college life took her over and took her away. The
communication between them had eventually dwindled down to nothing.

He’d moved on, hard as it was. Although he was still
farming, now he was damn successful at it. Fritz and his two brothers had
expanded the family’s business into one of the largest suppliers of corn, hay
and sorghum in the state of Georgia. Truth be told, his bank balances had
several digits in front of the decimal point too. But that was information he
chose to keep to himself.

He’d thought he was over her, but now…

Seeing her again like this brought back all those old
memories, good and bad; all those raw emotions he thought he’d buried in that
goddamn hayfield six years ago.

Hoyt Tanner sidled up next to Kai and flung his arm around
her shoulders. She turned her head and smiled at him, although it did look
tight and forced. Fritz squeezed the neck of his beer bottle until it was a
wonder it didn’t shatter in his hand.

Richie grinned slyly. “Dude, Tanner is making a move on your
ol’ lady.”

Fritz ground his teeth together. “She’s not
my
ol’
lady.”

“Well, she might be
his
ol’ lady before the nights
over if you keep sittin’ here on your ass. You know what a smooth talker he can
be.”

Fritz grunted as he watched Hoyt’s hand slide over Kai’s
back. She shifted on her barstool, maybe trying to shake his arm loose. When
she turned sideways to perhaps put distance between her and Hoyt, Fritz got a
glimpse of long, tanned legs crossed at the knee and a pair of sexy black
fuck-me heels.

Shit.
Why was he feeling so possessive? She wasn’t
his anymore. Hadn’t been for a long time. Now she belonged to somebody else, so
she’d just have to fend for herself—and she was plenty capable. He’d found that
out the hard way when he’d tackled her playfully once and tried to hold her
down for a birthday kiss when she turned seventeen. Somehow she’d managed to
get one hand free and clocked him in the jaw. He’d rolled away from her,
cursing and counting stars. In the end though, he’d played on her sympathies,
received that kiss he’d wanted and a heck of a lot more.

Fritz shook his head and couldn’t help but smile as he
watched her knock back a shot of something dark in color. He’d be willing to
bet good money it was Jack Daniel’s. Kai might be a beautiful thoroughbred but
she knew how to let loose every now and then too. Judging by the way she threw
her head back and laughed out loud at something Seth said—probably one of the
old man’s trademark dirty jokes, if Fritz had to guess—she was well on her way
to being tipsy. Being sauced and alone made her even more of a target.

And if Hoyt Tanner touched her one more time, Fritz made up
his mind he was going to tip him on his ass. Yeah, so much for keeping his
distance.

* * * * *

Kai glared at her cell phone lying on the bar in front of
her, willing it to flash back with a text from her friend Grace. She was
supposed to meet Kai at Sam’s thirty minutes ago. The last thing on earth she
wanted to do was sit in a bar alone, especially overdressed like she was. She
stood out like a fly in the sugar bowl. Although the alcohol
was
taking
the edge off her temper.

What had ever made her believe she could move back to
Serenity and her parents would stay out of her life? She must have been insane
to think her mother could ever do that. God forbid. No, when she found out Kai
had broken off her engagement to Phillip and was moving back home, her mother’s
matchmaking wheels started spinning in high gear.

Her plan had been to stay in her old bedroom for a few
months until she could find a place of her own, but she could already tell
she’d be lucky to last a week. There was always the option of moving in with
Grace, but her apartment was tiny and Kai wanted privacy too much to share minimal
square footage. So the first thing on her agenda for Monday morning was to
cruise town searching out “For Rent” signs and scanning the papers.

Earlier tonight at her cousin’s wedding reception, her
mother had forced Trent Lathrop on her.
Ick.
How could he have a bald
spot and a paunch at thirty? Every time he’d spoken, his garlic breath nearly
knocked her off her chair.

As soon as the cake was cut, Kai hightailed it out of there
and made a beeline for the closest bar before she was missed. Problem was she
was on foot. Her stilettos were cute to look at and did great things for her
calves, but they weren’t exactly conducive to walking long distances. Her poor
pinched toes were crying in protest, begging to be set free.

Her phone’s screen blinked in front of her with a message
from Grace.

Sorry, not gonna make it. Long day. Can u get a ride
home?

That killed her buzz. Kai groaned and dropped her forehead
to the bar. She couldn’t blame Grace, really. Kai was the one who’d slunk away
from the wedding reception, where she’d
had
a ride home. And she’d asked
Grace to join her for a drink knowing Grace had worked all day. To be upset
with her would be unfair, so she’d just have to suck it up and deal with the
dilemma.

Seth wandered back over after waiting on other customers.
“Something wrong, Kai?”

“Grace isn’t coming and she was my ride home.”

“I’m sure you won’t have any trouble catching a lift with
somebody here, but if you care to wait, I’ll drop you off. I go right by your
folks’ place on my way home.”

“Thanks, Seth. I may need to take you up on that.”

She sent Grace a text telling her not to worry, she had it
covered.

“Can I set you up with more shots? Since you’re not drivin’
and all.” Seth gave her a broad smile and added a wink for good measure.

“Sure, why not? I haven’t let my hair down in a long time.
Too bad I’m doing it all by myself.”

Just as the words left her lips, Hoyt Tanner returned from a
stroll around the bar. Obviously he’d struck out elsewhere and was back for
another go at talking Kai out of her panties. He was about to be disappointed
for the second time. All smooth, suave, wannabe cowboy with his crisp,
too-tight Wranglers, pristine Stetson and roving hands. Every time he opened
his mouth, Kai wanted to shove it full of cocktail napkins. Why couldn’t the
boy take a hint?

Damn, it had been a mistake to act on her impulse. She
should have stayed at the wedding reception and gotten drunk on champagne
instead of Jack Daniel’s. Her mother would’ve crapped a gold brick, but then
she wouldn’t be too pleased to know her only daughter was sitting alone in a
dive bar down the street getting soused either. Nothing Kai ever did made her
mother happy.

Seth sat three shot glasses in front of her and poured each
one full of the amber-colored firewater. Without preamble, Kai swallowed her
fourth of the night in one burning, unladylike gulp while silently toasting her
mother. As soon as the liquor hit her stomach, heat spread outward like an
atomic bomb had gone off. It crawled upward, warming her neck and face. She
squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that when she opened them again they’d still
focus, and with any luck Hoyt would’ve magically disappeared.

So what if she got a little drunk? Okay, a lot drunk. She
wasn’t kidding when she told Seth it had been a long time, since before she
graduated college, and of course, before she met Phillip.

Smart, handsome, proper Phillip Rutherford, with a pedigree
the size of the Athens phonebook. Everything about him was perfect—perfect job,
perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect family—and perfectly boring sex. Quick,
missionary-style,
orgasm-less
sex. She’d gotten really good at getting
herself off afterward while he showered. And Phillip always showered after sex.

Aside from being stupid enough to think she could live with
“perfect” the rest of her days, what on earth ever made her think she could
live with
that
in the bedroom? She should’ve been tipped off when they’d
visited his parents one weekend and he’d refused to do it under their roof. It
wasn’t as if he was going to make her scream with ecstasy or anything. Or he
wouldn’t have a shower handy. For goodness sake, they lived like Rockefellers.

Hoyt’s hand gradually made its way down her back. Kai
swallowed her fifth shot, gritting her teeth as it numbed her throat.

“So, sugar butt, I say you’n me ditch this place for
somewhere a little more…private,” he said, giving her a pat on the ass with the
last word. Her face grew hot and this time it wasn’t caused from the liquor.

Sugar butt?

As Kai readied to ask Hoyt to remove his big paw from her
ass, a husky male voice spoke from behind and beat her to it. “Take a hike,
Tanner, before I break every fuckin’ finger on that wanderin’ hand of yours.”

While her muscles automatically tensed, something akin to
warm honey pooled in the pit of her belly. Her traitorous nipples hardened to
painful points beneath the thin fabric of her dress. The heat from his body
touched her back and shoulders as if he were pressed against her, skin on skin.
There was no mistaking that voice—rough and potent as the whiskey she’d just
inhaled—or the way her senses reacted to its owner.

Fritz.

A little voice inside her head screamed
run while you
can!
Meanwhile other body parts begged
no. Stay. Touch
.

“I believe the lady here might have somethin’ to say about
that,” Hoyt replied.

Staring at the colorful wall of liquor bottles in front of
her, Kai said, “Get lost, Hoyt.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Hoyt’s mouth open
to say something, then snap shut as his face turned as red as a beet.

“You’re an asshole, Carter,” he spat at Fritz.

“I’ve never denied that,” was Fritz’s cool answer.

Hoyt pushed away from the bar and stomped off.

Long arms stretched past her shoulders, trapping her between
his body and the edge of the bar, while warm breath fanned across her exposed
nape. His aftershave teased her nose, something spicy and masculine and all
Fritz. But he didn’t touch her, and of course, a small part of her felt
disappointed.

He murmured next to her ear, “Of all the gin joints in this
town, you had to walk into mine.”

Kai couldn’t stop the smile pulling at the corners of her
mouth any more than she could stop the tiny shudder that rippled through her
body.
God, let him stay behind me.
Please don’t let me see that face
because I’ll go under.