Page 40 of Love Bank
I needed to get my head together. A night with a cold beer and a roaring fire sounded just about perfect. I could shoot the shit with the guys and flirt innocently with Lenora, Amelia, and Hazel. I was pretty sure they were spoken for by the guys in the group, in one way or another, but until they told me otherwise, the girls were fair game for conversation. Nothing perked a guy up and distracted him quite like a scintillating conversation with a pretty girl. I didn’t want to get seriously involved anyway, so harmless flirting was exactly what I craved.
I tripped over a rock in the path, nearly dropping the six-pack of IPAs from BarrelHouse, a local brewery, I carried with me to buy my way in. Thankfully I still had my steel-toed boots on, though I’d left behind the uniform and badge. I could hear people down on the beach, their voices echoing off the cliff and traveling in the light breeze. I hurried down the path, watching for any rocks trying to take me down before I got to the fun part of the day.
The breeze off the ocean hit me first, ruffling the hair I’d been growing out since I took on the warden position. I figured I’d get in fewer fights now that I filled an administration position so I could grow it out a bit.
The second thing to draw my attention hit me so hard it caused me to stumble for the second time that night. There, standing in the firelight with her back to me, was a blonde who had it all on display. Long curvy legs ended in an ass that was more than a handful, highlighted perfectly in a pair of tight cutoff denim shorts. Badonkadonk huggers took on new meaning now that I’d seen it in the flesh.
My flagging energy perked up in a heartbeat, ready to slide right in next to this shining example of small-town beauty and lure her back to my place. Who needed sleep when they hadn’t shared a bed with a woman in more weeks than they could count? Not me.
I walked through the sand in a trance, barely sparing Rip a head nod in greeting and passing the six-pack over to Titus. As nonchalantly as possible, I sidled right up to the paragon of country femininity, ignoring the twenty-odd other people assembled. I stared at the fire while keeping a bead on her out of the side of my eyes. Target identified. Engage.
“Hey, beautiful, what’s—”
The words died a quick death as I turned toward her to make my move.
Fucking hell.
If it wasn’t Lucille Eureka standing next to me, eyeing me like she just dared me to finish that sentence. She leaned in and that blonde-streaked hair, looking all golden in the firelight, swung around and brushed my arm.
“What were you saying, Bain?” She smiled saucily and my palm itched to get a hand on that backside. Not how I initially imagined it, in a smooth pass as I fondled and caressed that beauty, but in a single smack, hard enough to knock the smirk off her gorgeous face.
I cleared my throat and tried to keep my eyes from drifting down to the plentiful show she had going on in a tight red tank top. I guessed right. She had been packing concealed weapons of man destruction under those blouses. Who would have thought I’d prefer her in the prim and proper long-sleeved shirts and wool skirts? She had everything on display for any and all jackasses to leer at. It was pissing me right off.
“We meet again, Lucy. Come to these bonfires often?” My hopes and dreams of a kickback outing with friends where I could burn off steam and destress just went up in flames far taller than the bonfire in front of me.
Lucille pulled herself up straight, the action doing nothing but drawing my gaze to the magnificent breasts being pushed out further.
“It’s Lucille. And no, this is my first. You?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I like Lucy. And it’s my second.”
She nodded, sizing me up, her gaze sweeping across the forest green Henley I’d put on over some Levi’s. I’d taken Amelia’s comments to heart last time and got myself some country jeans and damn if they weren’t more comfortable.
“Come grab a drink, Lucille.” Lenora came out of nowhere and tugged on Lucy’s arm, pulling her away from me and over to the other side of the fire where the guys had set up a makeshift drinking station on a multicolored blanket. The fire glinted off beers and bottles of liquor. I watched her go, nearly drooling at the way she walked, those hips swaying with each step. The roar of the ocean waves rhythmically intensified and then receded, quite like my obsession with Lucy.
She tossed a quick look over her shoulder, catching me staring at her ample ass. She smirked again and I felt a little lightheaded.
What was going on here? Where was the quiet little woman who’d been afraid to show some skin or talk to a man? I’d been the aggressor pretty much my entire life. I saw a woman I wanted, I went after her. Now that doesn’t mean I always got her. I knew that no meant no, but nine times out of ten, the answer was an enthusiastic yes.
But here I was in Auburn Hill, a tiny town on the coast, with petty vandalism as the worst a citizen of Hell could get up to, and everything was backward. The opposite of what I knew. It’s like the world flipped upside down and up was no longer up.
“Solving world peace or something, Warden?” Titus nudged my arm and handed me a beer. I ripped my gaze from Lucy’s backside as she took a shot of something she probably wasn’t ready for with Lenora, and decided to get to the bottom of things.
“You’re a local, right?” I took a swig of beer and eyed Titus’s biceps. The dude was ripped.
Titus’s eyebrows drew together, but there was friendliness in his eyes. “Yeah, born and raised in Hell. What’s up?”
“Are the women a little different around here?”
Titus nearly spat out his beer. He swallowed hard and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Fuck yeah, they are. Man, you don’t know the half of it. They’ll get you all twisted up and then they prance off to flirt with everyone but you. They seem like they need your help, so you step in to offer a helping hand, and they tell you off for not minding your own business. You can spend your whole life trying to get their attention and they’ll pat you on the chest and thank you for being such a goodfriend.” He blew out a heavy breath. “If I had good advice, I’d give it to you, but as you may not be aware, I’m single.”
I widened my eyes comically. “Well, hell, Titus, tell me how you really feel.”
The frown and twenty years of frustration melted from his face to be replaced with a smile. He held out his beer and we clinked the necks.
“To all the crazy women in this town. Odds are one of us lucky bastards will finally land one. May the best man win.”
