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Checkmate, you old bastard.
When we reached Case’s backyard, it looked like half the town was here. Jared Lebow had a small group around him—listening to one of his football stories, no doubt. That was the reason I’d hired him at the hardware store. He brought in customers. People loved to come in and hear about a moment in the glamorous life of a pro football player—a life they would never experience.
Jared had returned to town with no money, no skills, and a bum knee. I was cured of ever wishing for that life after hearing how his wife had left him and taken almost everything. Then the painkiller addiction he’d developed after his injury had robbed him of the rest.
He was back in town for good—and now my neighbor. So I gave him a job. It was the right thing to do. My path in life hadn’t been as glamorous, but I had a store and a hotel to show for it, as well as two good knees—all in all, a good trade-off.
The only question was why I hadn’t realized sooner how lucky I was to have avoided going down his path.
* * *
Angela
The beautiful ceremonyended with the familiar words: “You may now kiss the bride.” And Case did, leaning her back and taking his time as he ravaged her.
And she ravaged him right back. Their passion made me smile.
Pris was seated next to me instead of being up there as a bridesmaid—something about refusing to wear a frilly dress, which struck me as odd given her friendship with Jordan. But then Pris was her own woman in more ways than one.
In the row in front of us, Case’s parents were fused together in a liplock. When I looked around, they weren’t the only ones. At least half the attendees were kissing their dates.
I’d thought the etiquette was to keep our eyes forward and watch the happy couple, but not in this town.
Rusty smiled my way, with a fair bit of Callie lipstick on his face.
Over my shoulder I caught sight of the Clausens. Tally looked away, embarrassed, while her mother, Stacy, entwined with her husband, Carter, who had just returned from overseas. When I shifted my attention back to the front, where it should have been, Boone’s gaze was on me. His eyes held a promise to devour me as soon as he got a chance. I gave him my best bring-it-on smile.
Next to him, Waylon was equally focused on Anna, on the other side of Pris.
Poor Pris was the odd woman out here, having pushed Rusty away.
* * *
I wantedto save my feet for the dancing portion of the evening, so Boone and I sat at our assigned table, waiting for dinner to be served.
Boone had made good on his nonverbal promise and had maneuvered me outside the tent for a minute of making out. I’d called an end to it because otherwise he would have dragged me off somewhere and probably ripped my dress in the process. I owed it to Jordan to stick around until the end of the night, so I’d convinced him to take me back inside.
As I looked over, Rosella from Boone’s hardware store waved from a table on the other side. She was sitting with a man. I nudged Boone and pointed. “Rosella is trying to get your attention.”
She waved again, and Boone waved back.
“Is she happy with the software?” I’d fixed the ordering software Boone had purchased from some schlock outfit in Richmond.
“She’s ecstatic.” He turned and pulled me closer with a deft move of his hand. “You’re a miracle worker. I’m so glad I asked you to help with it.” He placed a gentle kiss on my lips.
“I told you software was my thing,” I said when I recovered. The simplest things from this man took my breath away.
“I can’t believe how talented you are. Like ninja good.” In those simple statements were the truths of the difference between my past and my future. Kevin degraded me at every turn, and then apologized for it before repeating the cycle again and again. Boone handed out praise rather than criticism, and every time felt better than the last.
I shifted my hip against his crotch. “There’s also some hardware I like to work with.”
He tapped my nose playfully. “What name did you used to use online? Before, I mean…” He adjusted me so I wasn’t rubbing against him.
“DarkLord666, but that’s in the past.”
“Yeah. You said Dickless locked it so you can’t get back in, right?”
“Uh-huh.” For a second, the reminder brought me back to a dark place where I was still under Kevin’s thumb. But I would give up my claim to DarkLord666 if it meant leaving Kevin behind. I’d won the contract and completed the HD project, but building my rep back as Lord Sauron could take years. It would be worth it to deny Kevin any leverage over me, though.
