drunken men off their stools to try and dance with them. The place was rowdy, yet entertaining, making it pretty clear that it was a hot spot in the area to be frequented for good-time seeking residents. The walls were painted a sinful dark red on the top half with distressed black wood wainscoting on the bottom. Scuffed but sturdy dark, hardwood floors ran throughout the wide open space. The walls were decorated with bull horns and giant framed pieces of art depicting half-naked cowboys and saloon girls.
Sheriff Jenkins motioned to a table in the back that would give us a perfect view of the bar while we waited the night out. Walking past the dance floor I saw a mechanical bull on the other side, to the left. On the right side was a long bar against the wall that held a good sized group of individuals. Where we seated ourselves in the back consisted of some tables half-filled with the locals; socializing, drinks in hand. The manager, Travis Henderson, was behind the bar helping the bartender fill orders and I failed to see anyone matching Deputy Miles’s descriptions of the men he’d observed in the parking lot the other night.
Fifteen minutes later, Arturo reported through the hidden comm. links attached to our ears that he was in position with Deputy Miles and Chase. Another twenty minutes slid by with no interesting activity. Well, nothing interesting unless you counted the young, twenty-something, long-legged blonde that sidled up to Commander Jaxon with the kind of smile that was pure invitation to a good time.
Just last week that was the kind of thing I would have envied. A night of meaningless sex to fill the void that felt unfillable. I might have even tried to steal her away from Jaxon just for the fun of it. Now, all I could see was that she was nowhere near as blessed on top as Belle. Neither did she exude that kind of confidence that came with the innate kind of sexiness that Belle gave off without trying at all. I should have been amazed that I was relatively pussy-whipped so fast, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to care that I was. In place of fear or dread over impending shackles of commitment were flashbacks of Belle before I left for the Army.
Half-naked on the back seat of my car with the windows fogged up. Lying on a blanket on the bank of the creek with love and devotion shining in her green eyes. In the hayloft of my father’s barn where we explored with our hands and mouths each other’s bodies. God what a fool I’d been to try and walk away from her. Right behind those memories were the ideas of how to get her back. If she gave me too much grief about talking about what had happened between us, I could just get some rope, tie her up and make her listen. Actually that idea held a lot of appeal for me.
With a half-empty beer in my hand, I watched as Belle strutted through the front door with her arm wrapped around Declan’s waist. He held her tucked into his side with an arm slung over her shoulders. Every muscle in my body tensed while I fought the desire to go down there and kick Declan’s ass. Watching my buddy make my girl laugh on the plane ride was one thing. Watching my buddy hold my girl so close to his body that they could have been super glued together was another. The logical half of my brain told me that I was being completely irrational. Declan would never go there because he knew exactly what Belle meant to me, which was everything. The other half of my brain that dealt with emotions and thought logic was a little bitch called me a moron for sitting back and watching the smooth talking Sullivan touch what was definitely mine. Stupid fucking emotions. They stunk worse than flying monkey shit.
The Sullivan brothers stepped up to the bar with Belle stuck in the middle of them, taking stools as they played the role of rambunctious partiers. The redhead on the other side of Declan tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. In less than no time, both brothers were flirting
Sheriff Jenkins motioned to a table in the back that would give us a perfect view of the bar while we waited the night out. Walking past the dance floor I saw a mechanical bull on the other side, to the left. On the right side was a long bar against the wall that held a good sized group of individuals. Where we seated ourselves in the back consisted of some tables half-filled with the locals; socializing, drinks in hand. The manager, Travis Henderson, was behind the bar helping the bartender fill orders and I failed to see anyone matching Deputy Miles’s descriptions of the men he’d observed in the parking lot the other night.
Fifteen minutes later, Arturo reported through the hidden comm. links attached to our ears that he was in position with Deputy Miles and Chase. Another twenty minutes slid by with no interesting activity. Well, nothing interesting unless you counted the young, twenty-something, long-legged blonde that sidled up to Commander Jaxon with the kind of smile that was pure invitation to a good time.
Just last week that was the kind of thing I would have envied. A night of meaningless sex to fill the void that felt unfillable. I might have even tried to steal her away from Jaxon just for the fun of it. Now, all I could see was that she was nowhere near as blessed on top as Belle. Neither did she exude that kind of confidence that came with the innate kind of sexiness that Belle gave off without trying at all. I should have been amazed that I was relatively pussy-whipped so fast, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to care that I was. In place of fear or dread over impending shackles of commitment were flashbacks of Belle before I left for the Army.
Half-naked on the back seat of my car with the windows fogged up. Lying on a blanket on the bank of the creek with love and devotion shining in her green eyes. In the hayloft of my father’s barn where we explored with our hands and mouths each other’s bodies. God what a fool I’d been to try and walk away from her. Right behind those memories were the ideas of how to get her back. If she gave me too much grief about talking about what had happened between us, I could just get some rope, tie her up and make her listen. Actually that idea held a lot of appeal for me.
With a half-empty beer in my hand, I watched as Belle strutted through the front door with her arm wrapped around Declan’s waist. He held her tucked into his side with an arm slung over her shoulders. Every muscle in my body tensed while I fought the desire to go down there and kick Declan’s ass. Watching my buddy make my girl laugh on the plane ride was one thing. Watching my buddy hold my girl so close to his body that they could have been super glued together was another. The logical half of my brain told me that I was being completely irrational. Declan would never go there because he knew exactly what Belle meant to me, which was everything. The other half of my brain that dealt with emotions and thought logic was a little bitch called me a moron for sitting back and watching the smooth talking Sullivan touch what was definitely mine. Stupid fucking emotions. They stunk worse than flying monkey shit.
The Sullivan brothers stepped up to the bar with Belle stuck in the middle of them, taking stools as they played the role of rambunctious partiers. The redhead on the other side of Declan tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. In less than no time, both brothers were flirting
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