Valentine’s Brawl
Valentine’s Brawl
by
Marteeka
Karland
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically
All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. This is a work of fiction. All references to real places, people, or events are coincidental, and if not coincidental, are used fictitiously. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for
identification
purposes only.
eBooks
are NOT transferable. Re-selling, sharing or giving eBooks is a copyright infringement.
Valentine’s Brawl © 2013
Marteeka
Karland
Editor:
Katriena
Knights
Cover Art:
Marteeka
Karland
Books are NOT transferable. Re-selling, sharing or giving eBooks is a copyright infringement.
Contents
“This cann
ot
be happening. Not three years in a row.” Audra
Wethington
wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and just die. Either that or pull out the biggest baseball bat she could find and knock some sense into the three men currently beating the hell out of one another. Life used to be so simple.
“Well, look at it this way,” suggested
Dedra
Gooden, her best friend and owner of the bar the guys were currently trashing. “How many women can honestly say they have three guys after them on Valentine’s Day? I mean, seriously. They’re all totally into you.”
Audra gave her friend a “you’ve-
got
-to-be-kidding” look before grabbing her purse. “I’m
outta
here. Want me to call the cops for you?”
“Na,”
Dedra
said as she hefted a shotgun from behind the bar. “I got this covered.” As if this kind of thing happened every day,
Dedra
aimed the gun at the ceiling and pulled the trigger. The roar was deafening, and debris rained down on the scattering crowd, but it had the desired effect. “Just so you guys know, I’ve got a running tab on each of you and I
will
collect enough money to pay for damages.
Including the hole in the ceiling.
Do we understand each other?”
“Ah, hell,
Dedra
,” the tall, skinny man with a huge Stetson hat whined. He’d been the first man Audra had danced with that night. “Cut a guy a break. It wasn’t even me or Jed’s fault.” Audra wanted to crumple into a heap in the corner in humiliation. “It was Nelson over there. Jed was just
takin
’ a dance with the lady when the bastard came out of nowhere.”
The “bastard” in question took a menacing step forward, apparently taking objection to the term “bastard” being applied to him. Audra had danced with Trent Nelson next, then Jed. Trent hadn’t been too partial to her dancing with anyone else. Had Audra been any kind of a nice girl, she’d have been completely horrified, mortified, and all kinds of other “
fieds
.” But Trent Nelson had been her secret obsession for most of her adult life. Sure, he’d had a few beers, but the possessive way he’d swept her into his arms had thrilled her to her toes.
“Call me a bastard one more time, Frank...” Trent loomed over the much smaller man.
His large, muscular frame easily twice the size of Frank’s lean form.
As expected, Frank shrank back from Trent, quickly putting the table and several bystanders between him and a pissed-off-looking cowboy. It might have been comical if not for the shotgun-wielding
Dedra
lowering her gun ever so slightly, ready to defend her property with deadly force. She might act nonchalant, but everyone in the bar knew she meant business.
“That’ll do, you guys.” She jerked her head toward the door, indicating they should leave. Frank and Jed cut a cold trail, not looking back to see if anyone followed. Obviously, they just wanted out of there.
Trent was another story. His eyes met Audra’s across the bar and pinned her. Audra had the thrilling sensation of being stalked, absurd as it was. The man wasn’t used to being challenged, and he’d obviously taken her dancing with other men as a challenge.
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Snapping a credit card on the counter, he glanced at
Dedra
. “Put it on my tab, Dee. I’ll take care of it all.”
“
You going
to start any more trouble?” The question and
Dedra’s
tone of voice were mild enough, but the deadly glint in her eyes told Audra Trent Nelson was walking on thin ice. The look in Trent’s eyes as he glanced back at
Dedra
told Audra he didn’t give a damn.
“I don’t plan on it.”
Dedra
snorted, but put the double-barreled shotgun away. “You never do.”
He sat next to Audra at the bar, never taking his eyes from her. “Can I buy you a drink?”
“I was just leaving,” she said primly, reaching for her purse and pulling out her keys. “You’ve managed to give me a roaring headache.”
He caught her hand as she started to get up, bringing it to the warmth of his lips. “I’d hate to think you left on my account. Let me buy you a drink and dance with you. I promise I’ll behave.”
She almost told him to piss off, but her mouth just wouldn’t form the words. With a sigh, she freed her hand from his and dropped her keys back in her purse.
“Fine.
But one more incident and I’m
outta
here.”
His smile curled her toes. It wasn’t grateful or brilliant or any of the other adjectives that normally applied to smiles. More like a predator
who’d
just captured his prey, only the prey didn’t know it yet. There was a sensual curve to his mouth that beckoned her, made her want to feel those lush lips against hers. If she dwelled on it long, she’d most likely throw herself at him, and that just wouldn’t do at all.
Trent nodded to the bartender, who refilled Audra’s Captain and Coke. She took it gratefully, needing a little courage to hold her own with Trent. Besides, maybe if she dulled her senses a little he wouldn’t be so...potent. He must have sensed her
intentions,
however, because when she would have gestured for another, he took her hand and pulled her to the dance floor.
“Dance with me, Audra.” Trent’s voice was the stuff dreams were made of. Wet dreams, that is.
Deep, with just the perfect amount of gruffness to melt her insides.
Audra tried to pull away, but he held her fast, sweeping her into his arms whether or not she wanted him to.
And
damn,
but he smelled good! Had she thought the alcohol would dull her senses? If anything, it made her hyper aware of him, his scent, the texture of his skin, the way his work-roughened hands snagged on the silk of her dress--all of it conspired against her to leave her in a needy puddle of goo at Trent Nelson’s feet.
“Careful, little lady,” he murmured against her ear. “Needy whimpers like that might lead a man to think you were interested in pastimes other than dancing.”
She looked up at him, the masculine perfection of his face even more stunning when he grinned at her in amusement.
But his eyes...
Oh, those beautiful, blue-green eyes! His eyes were practically glowing, the same need reflected in them she was sure shone in hers.
“You’re imagining things,” she managed, her throat so dry she could barely croak the words through her parched lips.
He lowered his head, his lips barely grazing hers. “Am I? Then why are you in my arms when you were leaving not five minutes ago?”
Goose bumps erupted over her skin, causing a little shiver to race through her. Good question. Honestly, the man was lethal to women. She’d known that the first time she’d gone willingly into his arms to dance that evening. Why had she allowed it to happen a second time?
Especially after his blatant show of Alpha Male.
That had been just pure asshole on his part. Why was she here in his arms again?
“Well,” she managed, not moving away from him, but rather melting into him just a little. If she was going to live dangerously, might as well go all the way. “I didn’t have anything better to do. Besides, you seemed to have scared off all my other dance partners.”
“Damned straight,” he muttered, pulling her closer as they swayed to the slow, country ballad. Audra felt every muscle under his clothing. That hard body of his wasn’t just for show. This was a man who worked and worked hard.
He might be the wealthiest man in this part of Kentucky, but he’d earned every penny of it with his own two hands. Audra had watched him grow from gangly teenager to full-blown, adult man. They’d gone to high school together -- him graduating two years ahead of her -- and later attended the same college. Trent had gone on scholarships and hard work. Audra had relied on her parents and student loans to supplement her scholarships. He’d majored in agriculture and business, she in accounting and business. When they were done, they’d both opened their own businesses in the same town where they’d gone to school.
Now, Audra was one of the most sought-out accountants in town while Trent raised most of the locally grown beef, as well as supplying many supermarkets and grocery stores in the surrounding areas. Hard work, sweat, tears, and a whole lot of business sense had led him to more money than he could ever spend in a lifetime. Audra had her own money, but she was no way in the same league as Trent Nelson. But, oh, if she were... Well. She’d give the man a run for his money.
“Don’t you have other women to pester besides me?” She asked the question as indifferently as she could, but something inside her stilled, waiting for his answer. Did she really want the answer to that?
He paused in the act of swaying to the music, looking as if she’d just grown another head. “Why would you think that?”
Everything in her screeched at her not to touch that one.
This was dangerous ground she didn’t really want to cross. Dancing with the man was one thing. Getting into a discussion about women and what every eligible woman -- and many not so eligible women -- in town wanted to do to him was so not a topic of conversation she wanted to engage in. Unfortunately, Audra was just tipsy enough not to be able to keep her big mouth shut.