Page 1 of Crazy Little Thing Called Love

CHAPTER 1

“I need a husband.”

Cassandra Brown dropped her purse onto the bar countertop of the Jackson Family Distillery tasting room—or Jack’s, as it was locally known—next to her best friend, Charlie. The faded leather bag made a loud thunk as it hit the thick oak. As stressful as her life was right now, she could take solace in knowing the massive amount of legal documents relating to Gran’s will doubled as a defensive device. If she kept the damn thing in her purse, it would come in handy as a mallet should she ever be mugged.

“Jeez, Cassie. What do you have in that thing? A ton of bricks?” Delta Jackson, Charlie’s younger brother, poked at her bag with a straw from his position behind the bar.

Smacking the plastic drink piece away, Cassie gave him her best death glare. Stupid jerk grinned back.

“Go away, Del. No, wait. Make me a dirty vodka martini, heavy on the dirty, and then go away.”

Sensual full lips she did not in the least think of as sexy—nope, no she did not—curled.

“Your wish is my command, Sassy Cassie.”

“I hate that stupid nickname,” she groaned as he turned to make her drink.

“Try being saddled with a boy’s name your entire life.” Charlie tossed her dark brown hair over her shoulder and took a drink from the bubbly concoction in front of her. A gin and tonic, her drink of choice. “I think when I was born, Dad refused to believe I was actually a girl.”

Cassie chuckled. Lawrence Jackson had been a career military man with an odd sense of humor. Somehow, the man managed to get his sweet wife to agree to name their kids Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. She wondered what the couple would have done if they’d had a fifth child. Echo would have been difficult to live with. Then again, somebody out there named their kid Hashtag so…

Charlie shook her head. “Like Dad didn’t have enough stupid boys.”

“Standing two feet away, Charlie,” Delta said with a sigh, his hands weaving magic as he poured. The man may get on her very last nerve, but watching him make a drink was mesmerizing. Cassie could understand why half of the Kismet population went gaga over the youngest Jackson sibling. Not that she ever participated in Delta ogling. Much.

She chuckled at the familiar exchange. “Sibling trouble?”

Charlie pointed one long finger, adorned with dark purple polish. “Oh no, no. Stop trying to change the topic to my idiot brothers.” Del scratched his temple with his middle finger, but Charlie ignored him. “I want to hear more about the intriguing declaration you stormed in here with.”

Wrinkling her nose, Cassie crossed her arms over her chest. “I didn’t storm.”

Del gave her a wink while twirling a silver shaker with the expertise of one who’d been slinging drinks for years. “You sure did, Sassy. But don’t worry, you look sexy when you’re all huffy.”

She tugged her mass of riotous brown curls away from her face, knowing full well the stress of her pervious meeting left her looking frazzled. “Oh good, because that’s what every woman worries about when she’s having legitimate problems. How sexy she is. Thank you, Delta, for reducing my concerns to my appearance.”

A glorious martini glass filled her vision as Del slid the drink in front of her. Tiny flecks of ice swirled in the murky liquid. Dirty as a sinner on Saturday. Just how she liked it. Taking a tentative sip, she sighed in pleasure as the briny flavor exploded over her taste buds, the smooth vodka taking on the flavor of the olives. Oh, yes. This is what she needed.

Too bad you aren’t the only thing I need, vodka. Life would be so much easier.

“You want to elaborate on that needing a husband thing or…?” Charlie waved her hand in the air between them.

At her friend’s question and impatient stare, Cassie sighed. Her mouth opened to spill, but then she noticed Del still standing on the other side of the bar, listening intently to every word. “Don’t you have customers to help or something?”

Del winked, white teeth blinding her as he gave her what she’d heard a few women call his panty-dropper smile. “We just opened. No one’s here yet. I’m all yours, Sassy.”

A quick glance around revealed him to be right. Jack’s sat empty save for her, Charlie, and Del. The distillery/tasting room was a staple of Kismet, Colorado, and usually had a packed house every night, but it was early, and the after-work crowd generally didn’t show up until six. Even the jukebox in the corner that normally blasted out tunes from open to close sat silent.

“One.” She held up a finger. “Don’t call me that. Two, I need to talk to your sister, so go away.”

“And three?” He bobbed his dark brown eyebrows.

She gritted her teeth as the smug jerk stood there waiting for the response she was required to give him since losing a game of poker three months ago. He knew how much it annoyed her, but a bet was a bet. Maybe if she said it, he’d go away.

“Three…” She let out a breath of exasperation. “This is the best martini I’ve ever had and you, Delta Jackson, are the god of all bartenders. How I bow at your mighty mixing skills, oh great one.”

“You forgot to curtsy this time, but I’ll forgive it since I also want to hear about this husband problem.”

She took a deep drink of her martini to keep herself from spouting some very colorful four-letter words in Del’s direction. He was her best friend’s brother, after all. She had to try to be nice.

---