Sweet Obsession (Men of Whiskey Row Book 1) (26 page)

***

Darby stared at the phone in his hand and resisted the urge to throw it at his best friend Ginger’s head as she stood in the doorway of his office at
Hooligans
, glaring daggers at him. All week long he’d been gathering up the courage to call Avery. Just the sound of her musical voice had big, bad ass Darby Sullivan’s palms sweating. If any of his friends, or worse, his brothers knew, they would never let him live the shit down. The conversation was going great until the hot-headed she-devil standing before him burst in.

“Dammit, G! You’ve got the worst timing. What the hell was so important that it couldn’t wait? I know Sara told you I didn’t want to be disturbed,” he sighed with irritation as he scowled at his best friend since his junior year of high school, who remained unperturbed by his bad mood as she scowled right back at him.

Although you’d never know it, to look at her, Ginger Wyatt had grown up P.K., a preacher’s kid with a clean, shiny face, glasses, and brown hair which was now died platinum blonde. Her pale skin was heavily tattooed across her shoulders and back which she displayed with the corset’s she constantly wore. She was the poster girl for ‘good girl gone bad’, with her full breasts on display and her curvy behind encased in either leather or skintight jeans.

Although she drove the men in town crazy with her looks, personally they did nothing for Darby. They were just friends and had been since he beat the shit out of Lance Davis for stealing her asthma inhaler in high school.

He’d gone to the track meet to watch Casey run the 400 relay. After cheering his brother on, they’d stayed to watch a couple of more races when he noticed a commotion behind the bleachers. It was the frail voice that caught his attention and made him get up to investigate with Casey right behind him. It was weak and sounded almost like a kitten mewling.

“Give it back. Please…I really need it. My chest hurts,” the frail voice pleaded, followed by a pitiful sob. It was followed by the sneering tone that was used by most of the rich kids in town. As Darby came around the corner, he saw rich boy Lance Davis standing there in his pristine varsity jacket, holding an inhaler over his head, gloating down on the frail, red-faced girl clutching her chest.

“Why don’t you come get it? Look at you! Poor baby, are you going to pass out? You were the weak link on the team today, causing my little sister to place second. My family is second to no one in this town! You hear me, girl? Nobody!” He bent down and shook the inhaler in her face, laughing as she feebly tried to grab it. “Not so fast, little girl. Tomorrow you’re going to Coach Henderson and quitting the team. You understand me?”

The poor thing couldn’t even answer because she was wheezing so hard. Filled with rage, Darby charged and punched Lance in the throat causing him to drop the inhaler and gasp for air, grasping at his throat. Next, he punched him as hard as he could in the stomach and the older boy doubled over in pain, now wheezing himself. Then for good measure, Darby kicked him in the balls, and Lance fell to the ground in agony, trying to find a way to get air in, as his pain-filled face turned blue.

Enraged, Darby stood over him as Casey helped the weak girl use her inhaler. He met Darby’s raged-filled eyes and shook his head in disgust at Lance. He knew Lance wasn’t just getting it because of what he did. He knew the rich bastard was getting it for being cruel like their father.

“What’s the matter, mother fucker? Having trouble breathing? I can’t hear you! Get your bitch ass up and take it like a man!” Darby said menacingly as Lance continued to writhe in agony. He leaned down and covered Lance’s nose and mouth, making it harder for the other boy to breathe. “Breathe, bitch! C’mon breathe!”

“Please no more, Darby,” the girl begged softly. Darby met her pleading gaze and could see that she was starting to look better already. She struggled to stand and managed with Casey’s help. Her light blue eyes were huge behind her coke bottle glasses, and she barely came to his brother’s shoulder. He didn’t know who she was, but she seemed to know him.

Darby nodded at Casey to indicate that they should leave him with Lance. He made sure they were out of hearing before leaning down to get in Lance’s pain-filled face. The other boy immediately cowered with his hands over his head. “If you or your homies even look at her, I will come for you, you piece of shit. I will come for you every day in some way until you can’t take it anymore and have to leave town. Look at me!”

Fearfully Lance met his gaze, and although Darby hated saying it, he had to get his point across. “You know who I am right, bitch? I’m a Sullivan, and it’s no secret in this town what we’re capable off.”

It was later that evening as he and Casey were eating dinner with Alexei that the intercom buzzed. Alexei answered and was notified that there was a Pastor Wyatt there to speak to him. Casey and Darby exchanged glances that Alexei’s shrewd gaze caught as he wiped his mouth, tossed his napkin down and pushed his chair back.

“I will need to be making a generous donation on your behalf to the church, da?  he asked Darby in a dry tone as he stood up. “Is there something either of you wish to tell me before I meet this man of God?”

Darby quickly shoveled food into his mouth. “Yeah…this is some good spaghetti. Cook sure can burn in the kitchen.”

Casey and Alexei rolled their eyes before leaving the room to wait for their unexpected guests. With a sigh, Darby reluctantly got up to follow. There was a knock at the door and, Alexei opened it to reveal a middle-aged white couple that Darby had never seen before. The woman was short and round with blonde hair braided in two plaits. She looked at Darby and gave him a smile that made him think of his dear mama’s. The man appeared to be older with receding blonde hair. He wore glasses and a stern expression. His gaze steady as he surveyed Darby. Then he turned to Alexei and held his hand out.

“Good evening, Mr. Romankov. My name is Jim Wyatt, and this is my wife Nadine. I’m the new pastor over at First Methodist. We’ve just moved here from Rock Head, Missouri. We’re sorry to bother you at the dinner hour, but we felt it couldn’t wait another day to address the issue at hand.”

Alexei grasped the man’s hand in a firm handshake before giving his wife a gentler one. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. These are my boys, Darby and Casey. What exactly IS the issue at hand?”

The boys nodded politely; and Darby, fidgeting under the Pastor’s and Alexei’s speculative gazes, stared at the floor.

“Well sir, as a servant of God I normally don’t condone violence of any kind but…I’m forever in your son’s debt and would appreciate it if you would accept our invitation to Sunday dinner.”

Darby’s eyes flew up to meet Jim Wyatt’s tear-filled gaze. “Thank you for what you did today, son. Thank you.” The pastor said humbly, holding his hand out for Darby to shake. Not quite sure what to say, Darby nodded his head and returned the man’s handshake, pissed that he was blushing like a school girl underneath Alexei and Casey’s proud gazes.

“Helloooo? Earth to Darby? I apologize for the rude entrance, but I’ve been emailing you reminders about our big investors meeting all week. You know the one that I attended in Nashville by myself two hours ago? You swore you wouldn’t miss it, but you did!” Ginger pointed her finger at him. “We’re partners, Sullivan. Your fuck up is my fuck up, and last I checked, I’m not in the business of getting fucked without pleasure,
partner
.”

Darby winced, hoping that good Pastor Jim may he rest in peace, wasn’t looking down from Heaven, listening to his little ‘Ginny’ be so crude. She ignored his pained expression and continued on with her rant.

“We’ve been working on this expansion deal for a long time, so I need to know that your head’s in the game before we go any further.” And with that, she slammed out of his office.

Darby leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. Although he came off as a good time guy, he never fucked around when it came to business and making money. He needed to get focused, to stop wasting time thinking about a certain brown-eyed angel with killer curves and a sweet smile; an angel who belonged to someone else.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Finally, a moment alone,” Noelle whispered in relief as she heard Jack leave the house. This week was the best and worst of her life. It was the best because she and Jack were having fun hiking, hanging out, and decorating the house. They were instinctively on the same page in deciding what colors looked great in each room as well as the furniture style to go with it. It was the worst because the days and nights were rife with sexual tension and lustful looks between them. Her nerves were permanently stressed.

Whenever he was in the vicinity, Noelle could feel Jack’s hot gaze on her; and even the most mundane things like watching him drink a bottle of water or painting the walls turned into some of the most erotic shit she’d ever seen. Two days ago, the sexual tension had finally boiled over, and things had been strained between them ever since.

After doing her nightly yoga routine on the back porch, Noelle went upstairs to take a shower. When she walked into the master bedroom, Jack was just coming out of the bath, fresh from his own shower, wearing only a low-slung towel wrapped around his hips. Frozen at the sight of his near nakedness, Noelle could only stare at all that muscular flesh rippling as he started to apply lotion to his arms. His body was pure perfection- broad shoulders, slim waist with rock hard abs, and thick, muscular thighs and legs. Miguel’s “Adorn” bumped in the background.

Jack was speaking in a low voice. Noelle couldn’t answer because she was too busy watching his erection grow beneath his white towel. Just thinking about its thickness moving so deep inside of her was making her sweat even more in her sticky workout clothes. “Noelle? Do you mind?”

She pulled her gaze upward to focus on Jack and the bottle he was holding out to her. “I’m sorry. What were you saying?”

He raised an eyebrow and grinned wickedly at her. ‘I know what you want,’ his expression taunted. But the real question was could she be bold enough to go and get it? Instead, he repeated himself patiently. “I asked if you could please put some lotion on my back.”

Noelle stared at the bottle of lotion she’d bought for him as if it were a snake, before wordlessly taking it. You can do this, she told herself. Jack turned around and she stared at the wide expanse of golden skin in front of her. Since coming to Tennessee, he’d gotten considerably darker from being outdoors, and brown freckles were starting to appear on his arms and across his nose. Noelle opened the bottle, and the pleasant scent of lemon with verbena filled her nostrils.

“Mmmm, that smells really good,” she murmured as she squirted a generous amount into one hand and tossed the bottle onto the extra-large king bed he’d insisted on buying. Like a brother, she reminded herself as she rubbed her palms together and placed them on Jack’s shoulders. Briskly she started to rub, and he tensed at her touch before giving a groan of pleasure and dropping his head forward, goosebumps breaking out across his skin.

All thoughts of brotherly love vanished, as she massaged the smooth liquid into his warm flesh. Her fingers trailed along his skin lovingly and she watched as the muscles flexed beneath them when she traced his tattoo. The lotion was long absorbed but still she couldn’t resist touching him while he remained silent and still. Noelle’s body was aching for this man’s touch and she could tell he was just as affected when she saw his hands clenching and unclenching. His reaction made her feel bolder, and she dared to dip her fingers beneath the top of his towel, grazing his firm ass. The song faded and their ragged breathing filled the room.

“That’s enough,” Jack said in a low, guttural tone and Noelle instinctively dropped her hands, shocked at how harsh and animalistic his voice sounded. With his fists clenched, he walked across the room, keeping his back to her.

“I can only take so much, Noelle. You don’t have a clue about how bad I want to be buried inside of you, do you? That night we slept together plays on repeat in my mind; how good you smelled, felt, and tasted. So I need you to do to one of two things: You’re either gonna get naked for me, or you’re gonna walk away. Pick one or the other, but you’ve got fifteen seconds to decide. Fourteen…thirteen…”

Jack whirled around and Noelle was shocked at how feral he looked. She lowered her eyes to see his massive erection straining against the towel as the countdown continued. “Nine..six..”

She squealed as he slowly moved towards her, a predatory look in his eyes, and ran into the bathroom, quickly locking the door behind her. “Coward,” she whispered to her reflection, surprised to see how wild her own eyes looked in her flushed face.