Lost in You: Petal, Georgia, Book 2 (9 page)

“Hey. Everything all right?”

He sighed heavily. “Yeah. I’m sorry. About last night I mean. It was a family emergency.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“God no.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “You free? I mean, I know you’re busy and all. I just thought—”

“I’m not. Not right now anyway. I’m having lunch with my sisters. You want to come to dinner with me tonight? At Tate’s? They’re setting up a screen in the backyard and watching a movie after we eat. It’s pretty fun. William will be there too.”

He hesitated, and she made herself a promise that if he blew her off she was done chasing the delicious Joe Harris.

“Okay. If you’re sure it’s not a problem.”

She grinned, cocking her head to look up at him. “Tate cooks enough for an army. One more person won’t hurt. Heck, she’ll be thrilled. Because she’s weird that way.”

He reached out and took her hand, bringing it to his mouth to kiss. “I really am sorry about last night.”

“Me too. I hope everything is okay now. With your family I mean.”

He sighed again. “Yeah.”

She gave him Tate’s address and told him she’d see him at seven for dinner. He walked her to her car and frowned when she started it.

“When’s the last time you had a tune-up?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s running fine.”

He bent, and she leaned out to kiss him because he looked so good. “Don’t try to change the subject.”

She laughed. “Am I so transparent?”

“Bring it by the shop on Monday morning. Leave it and it’ll be done by the time you get off work.”

“You’re being very nice to me.”

“I like you.” He stood before he said anything else, stepping back. “See you at seven.”

Chapter Seven

She watched Joe, his head bent toward William, a huge grin on his face.

“I think he’s good for William.” Tate handed Beth a cream soda. “It’s good for him to have friends around. I admit when Joe first came to town I wasn’t convinced he’d outgrown his past.”

“I feel like we’re talking about one of the kids.” Beth sipped her soda. “Maybe we should have Joe over for a playdate.”

“If so, can I play with him too?” Anne waggled her brows and Beth threw a piece of ice at her. A little harder than she needed to.

“Ouch! I was just joking.”

Beth giggled. “I laugh because it hurts. Remember that. Keep your mitts away.”

Anne gave her a surreptitious middle finger. “I’ve never seen you actually jealous before. It’s fascinating. You’re going to get a line on your forehead though, so stop. He’s too tall for my taste. But he’s got a great ass.”

“He’s the kind of kisser that makes a woman weak in the knees. Takes his time.” She shivered as she watched him with her brothers and the Chase boys.

“Man takes his time with your mouth, he’s good with other parts.” Tate looked wistfully over in her husband’s direction.

“You all should remember I am single at the moment. I’m not getting any and all this talk is making me antsy.” Anne sighed.

“Then why do you keep turning Royal down when he asks you to marry him?” Maggie Chase asked.

But Beth knew the answer. Anne had grown up smacked in the face with the worst marriage ever. Their parents were miserable people on their own. Together they’d been a train wreck of epic proportions. Anne didn’t believe any marriage could work. And Beth also knew despite how beautiful, smart and talented her sister was, she didn’t believe she was worthy of her happily ever after.

So she held men back. Royal was the one who kept at it. But he was close to giving up and that made Beth sad. He was a good man who loved her sister. But the scars your life gives you sometimes run so deep you can’t ever heal over.

In the end, she just wasn’t sure Royal had whatever it took to get past Anne’s defenses. Or if anyone did.

Anne sighed. “I don’t want to get married. If he’d just date me, we’d be fine. But he insists on marriage and I keep telling him I’m not interested.”

Beth neatly stepped in and changed the subject. “So, Tate, what do you think? Boy or girl this time?”

The sisters looked over, laughing and whispering. Matt Chase raised a brow and looked to Joe. “They’re talking about you.”

Joe felt the heat of a blush. “What makes you say that?”

“He’s not a moron.” William sat back and sipped his soda.

“Don’t look so panicked. They do it about us all.” Matt tipped his glass. “Thank God for it. Look at ’em.”

The group took the women in. Marc Chase, Matt’s little brother, laughed. “Damn, such a pretty bunch of females. Each is wily though, Joe. That’s the thing. Beauty, no doubt. But they’re all smart and independent.”

“They work in a pack.” That was Shane, the sheriff and oldest Chase brother.

That made Joe laugh. “A pack?”

“Wolves are really smart. And vicious as hell if you mess with them and theirs.”

“I like Beth. Beth likes me. That’s really it.” He shrugged. “I’ve known you Murphys for my entire life. She’s a friend first and foremost.”

It was Marc who seemed to find that the funniest. “Yeah. Liv and I were friends too. Now she’s given me two babies and makes me mow the lawn.”

Yeah well hopefully she wouldn’t have to call their children to come over to talk him down from a rage where he’d threatened to burn the house down with their mother in it. That had been a great capper to a night where he thought he’d be getting in between Beth’s thighs.

He’d dropped Beth off and raced to his parents’ house to find his mother huddling in the car, weeping, while his father paced around the house, ranting and making threats.

There was a dark knot of rage in his father’s belly and it seemed to be growing. Joe had no idea what to do about it. He wanted to call the cops, hoping that the shock would push his father to get help. But his mother had only gotten more upset. Joe had brought her to his apartment to spend the night, but she’d gone home soon after she’d gotten up and kept insisting things were fine.

He shouldn’t have come here. But Beth had been so pretty when she asked. So sweet. And the allure of normal time with friends was too much to turn down. It had been good, he realized. He’d needed it. But he knew it wasn’t a good idea to get used to it.

But it was hard to keep to that when she’d sat with him while they watched the movie. One of the kids snuggled up in her lap with Buck, who everyone had insisted he bring over, who’d laid his head on her thigh. She spent a lot of her time laughing and joking.

He noticed she filled that spot in her family. She made it look effortless, the way she cheered up crying children. He’d watched her steer the conversation around potential arguments between her siblings, even as she’d defended them, and in a few cases, delivered a little discipline.

And there they sat in his truck, in his driveway because Buck was with them. He should have dropped her off first, then he’d have a way to just kiss her and move on. He
knew
once they had sex things would deepen between them. How could they not? He should avoid it.

He gave himself this lecture as she chatted with Buck, who’d managed to claim her lap. Whatever it was, Buck thought it was awesome because he gave her his best dog grin and licked her here and there to underline it.

Joe didn’t blame Buck. He wanted to lick her too.

He got out and went around, and she handed him the dog first, before he helped her out.

“He’s spoiled enough as it is.”

She laughed. “The kids were in heaven with him tonight. I’m so glad you came along, Buck. You made lots of happy giggly children.”

Buck danced to the front door after he stopped to sniff around the steps and the flowerboxes. He snorted, peed on a few places and barreled into the house when Joe opened the door.

“So, Joe Harris, are
you
going to make this girl all giggly?”

He backed her up against the wall, pressing himself into her body. “I think so, yeah.” He kissed her slow, tasting her, settling in. “Though your mouth might be too busy to giggle.”

“You say the hottest stuff.”

Her hands made their way under the hem of his shirt, stroking up his back, nails scoring lightly, sending shivers through him.

“I really want to see those tattoos.”

He picked her up and headed back to his bedroom. Once he’d tossed her to his bed, he pulled his shirt up and over his head, reveling in the way she looked him over.

“Good God,” she breathed out. “I might come just from looking at you.”

“Don’t leave without me.” He pulled her pretty sandals off, digging his thumbs in, kneading until she made a sound that shot straight to his cock.

The hem of the skirt she wore slid up, exposing a whole lot of tanned thigh. He knelt on the bed, sliding his palms up from her ankles, up her calves, pausing to dig his thumbs in just behind her knee. Her lips parted on a soft sigh as she watched him.

She parted her thighs, giving him a glimpse of fire-engine-red panties. Her cleavage heaved up at the scoop neck of the shirt she had on. He shook his head. “There’s so much here I don’t know where to start. You’re like Christmas and my birthday all in one ridiculously sexy package.”

“You can start by getting rid of your shorts.”

She smiled.
That
smile.

His hands went to his waist, and she watched, her breath catching as he popped the button.

“You should get rid of that shirt.” He tipped his chin in her direction.

She sat up, crisscrossed her arms, grabbed her shirt at the hem and pulled it off, leaving her in a sexy red bra.

He ran covetous hands all over her then. Needing to touch that soft, pretty skin. Needing the curve of her breasts.

“Damn, baby, you’re so pretty.” He brushed his lips over the right breast and then the left as he got her bra unhooked and pulled away from her upper body.

He sucked in a breath. “These. Sweet baby Jesus.” He thumbed across her nipples until she squeaked, arching into him, her fingers clutching his biceps to keep him close.

“When you had on a shirt and sandals, the skirt was sexy, but pretty wholesome.” He sat back on his heels to take her in. Tousled. Lips swollen from his kisses, her hair had come loose from the ponytail she’d been wearing. Her tits, holy shit, perfect, pert B cups.

“And now?”

“Now.” He reached up under her skirt and pulled her panties—a tiny scrap of red fabric—off. “Now somehow that skirt looks ridiculously sexy.”

“Your shorts are still on.”

He’d been in mid-strip when she’d taken her shirt off. “Like you can blame me? Your tits are so hot I just sort of forgot everything else.”

She reared up, grabbing his shorts and boxers, pulling them down. “Oh. My.” He tried not to blush as he got everything off and settled back on the bed with her.

She scrambled atop his body, running her hands all over his chest. Tracing over his tattoos. “These are amazing.”

He looked down at the barbed wire created with gears. “I traded labor with a tattoo artist. He needed help overhauling an engine. I wanted some ink.”

She bent, her hair sliding over his chest as she pressed a kiss against it. She licked over each of his nipples until he grunted, shifting.

Her pussy rested against his cock. Hot. Wet. She undulated, brushing herself against him, and he groaned. “I want in you so much my teeth hurt.”

She caught her bottom lip between straight, white teeth. “Yeah? What are you waiting for then?”

He flipped her to her back. “There are other things I want to do first.” He kissed her belly and then up. Up to the curve of her breast, just beneath, leading up to her nipple, which he swirled a tongue around until she arched on a gasp.

He was so big. Tall. Shoulders wide. Burnished by the sun. Strengthened by hard work. His hands were work rough, but gentle as he touched her. She liked big men. Tall, long, workstrong. This man was all that and more.

It was the
and more
part that made her weak in the knees. He leaned over her body, his cock hard, insistent at her thigh. His mouth cruised over her skin, totally sure.

His body was so gorgeous she couldn’t stand it. Inside her head she squealed with delight. All that ink on his chest and upper arms matched the wary eyes and the too-long blond hair. He was a big, bad man but only on the outside.

Lordamighty that was hot. The hottest thing she’d ever been this close to.

She
really
liked it.

He drew on her nipple, sucking tight until she made a sound she hadn’t even intended on making. He chuckled. A cocksure guy sound. A shiver went through her.

Never, ever in her life had she been more turned on. And that was before he reversed his movement, heading down. Kissing over her ribs, across each hipbone and around her belly button.

Then, as he held her gaze, he pushed her skirt up and broke her gaze, looking down at her pussy with such raw hunger she had to swallow back a moan at the sight.

“Can I tell you something?” he murmured, his lips so close that she felt the puffs of air against her labia. She nodded, wordless. “I love this part of a woman.”