The Edge Read online

  “I thought bartenders were supposed to be the ear to get troubles off our chests.”

  Tony leaned on the bar top and held that damn blue gaze that had lassoed his heart from the first time he’d seen it. “I’ll take anything you want to get off your chest. I can listen if you want, but I’m not going to keep my opinion to myself.”

  She arched a perfectly plucked blonde brow. “Gosh, how will I survive with such a swing in your behavior?”

  “So, she does have a sense of humor beneath that uptight demeanor.”

  Jenn sighed and he was momentarily distracted by the rise and fall of her breasts behind the crisp white button-down shirt she wore. She’d not settled in to the farm life yet. He remembered her in school, typically hair coming out of her pigtails or ponytails to frame her face. She always had a sparkle in her eye that could and did rival the sun’s brilliance.

  This woman, while not the young girl he’d fallen for, had lost something. The beauty was there and had increased, for sure. And he could give her a lack of joy in her expression for the stroke that happened to her old man, but it was more than that. She’d lost something that made her Jenn from his childhood.

  “I’d really like to know who you think you are to comment on my sense of humor or lack of one.”

  He made her a Cosmo and pushed it in front of her. She cocked an eyebrow and looked at him.

  “Why did you put orange in it?”

  “Because it’s good. Just try it, Princeton. Stop being so damn uptight.”

  She lifted it and sipped, a smile curving her mouth up. “This is nice. Very good.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m someone who grew up with you, Jenn. I’d be hurt that you don’t recognize me but it’s okay, I’ve changed a bit since school.”

  “We went to school together? Here?” She ran her gaze over him as she took another lengthy drink. “No way.”

  “Most definitely. Mrs. Kessler in kindergarten, Mr. Peele in first. Then it was Mrs. Smith, Mr. Charles, Mrs. Hogan and Mr. Kennedy in fifth.” He stroked his chin. “Then it got confusing as they combined us with the rest of the county.”

  He’d shocked her, that was obvious. His groin stiffened when she licked her lips.

  “You live here now. It’s not hard to find out about teachers from then.”

  “Suspicious much? Fine. Your favorite color growing up was green and you hated how Joe loved to embarrass you at school.”

  “You know Joe?”

  “I know your entire family. Enjoy your drink,” he said, flipping the towel back over his shoulder and walking off down the bar to assist another patron.

  She watched him. He could feel her gaze on him but he left her alone. When he saw she’d finished her drink, he made his way back to her.

  “Anything else?”

  “Yes,” she said, pulling out her wallet. “Two things, how much do I owe you, and your name?”

  He smiled. “I told you, this was on the house. Come by again if you’d like to make it up to me. And if you want my name, you can figure it out. Think on it, it’ll come to you.” He reached over the bar and tucked some hair behind her ear. “Night, Princeton.”

  She left a bit later, and he missed her already, but he wanted her to care enough to seek out the information on who he was. Hell, she could do some of the work. He’d pined after her enough in school and she’d looked right through him, never once giving him the time of day.

  Now he knew who she was, and if she wanted answers, she would have to seek them out.

  Chapter Two

  Jenn walked up to Joe two mornings later and stood in front of him as he fixed his coffee. He stirred in the creamer and sugar with one eyebrow arched.

  “Something you need?”

  Yeah, there was quite a bit she needed, but one bit of information was first and foremost on her mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about that bartender. While she hadn’t gone back there, she couldn’t quit thinking about him.

  “Perimeter.”

  He sucked the coffee off the spoon and set it in the sink. “What about the bar?”

  “Who’s the bartender?”

  He brought the cup up to his lips and took a drink. “Tony.”

  He picked up his plate of toast, walked to the table and sat. She joined him.

  “Tony who?”

  Joe bent one piece in half and took a large bite. His blue eyes assessed her as he chewed. Jenn made sure she didn’t fidget or fuss, just held his gaze back. He sucked peanut butter off his thumb and leaned back in the chair.

  “Tony Blackstone. Why?”

  “He says he knows me but I can’t place him.” Even with the last name it didn’t ring any bells for her. In fact, she was sure the man had lied to her.

  Joe laughed and picked up his coffee again. “I’m not surprised. He was that quiet little scrawny kid in the back. The one with horrible acne, braces and those magnifying lenses for glasses.”

  She thought back through school and swore as it hit her. “Holy shit. That little blond boy who looked like he washed with grease in the mornings.”

  Joe nodded. “Yep, that was him.”

  “Are you sure? I talked to him but I don’t remember his name being Tony.”

  “Because you were all about schoolwork and not much else.” He leaned forward. “What were you doing at Perimeter?”

  “What does one do at bars? Drink? I sure as hell wasn’t there for a pickup.”

  Although the thought of sleeping with Tony held some merit. A huge bunch of it. Her dry spell had been going on for far too long.

  “Didn’t think that was your kind of place, not considering where we went out to drink last time I came to visit you.”

  She flipped him off and stole the rest of his toast, shoving it into her face before he could grab it back. “Thanks,” she sputtered with a smirk.

  “You’re a bitch.”

  She grinned and swallowed after chewing the food. “I am. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have another year of books to get through.” She felt around her head for her glasses and frowned when she couldn’t locate them.

  “You do know you can wear jeans here, right? Your business suits don’t quite fit in on the farm.”

  Jenn glanced down at her navy-blue pencil skirt and the light rose shirt. “My clothes are just fine.”

  “Button-down plaid shirt and torn jeans would be just fine as well and you’d be a hell of a lot more comfortable, especially if you took your hair down out of that damn bun.” He pushed his plate toward her and left.

  “Why don’t I clean up after you then, Joe,” she called out after him.

  “You should, as you ate half of my breakfast. You can do half the work. I fixed it and carried it in. You can carry it back and clean it.”

  Some days she wished she were an only child. She took another look at her clothes and thought about what he’d said. How long had it been since she’d worn jeans? Much longer than she cared to think about.

  She took care of the breakfast dishes and went upstairs. Her mom was in her room and she knocked on the frame.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m going into town to get some other clothes. Do you need me to get you anything?”

  “No, sweetie, thank you though. Sissy is doing some shopping and is bringing it out later today.”

  “I’ll be back in a bit and then I’ll be in the office.”

  “I know.” She hooked a bracelet on her wrist and checked her reflection.

  It broke Jenn’s heart to see her so sad. She crossed the room and hugged her. “He’s getting better, Mom.”

  “I know, it’s just hard.”

  Tears pricked the backs of her eyes. It was hard, she couldn’t and wouldn’t deny that. But she was trying to remain positive. Not an easy task, especially when he didn’t seem to be improving all that quick.

  Leaving her mom up there, she went back to her car and headed for the store to grab some more appropriate clo
thing. On the way, she placed a phone call.

  “You’ve reached me, you dialed it, so you know who it is. Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you on my time.”

  Jenn laughed over her friend’s message. She waited for the beep, then responded, “I do know who this is and so do you. I could use some advice if you get some time. Miss you.” She hung up and tossed her phone to the seat beside her.

  As she parked in front of the shop, she shook her head. “Okay, so perhaps I’m a bit of a snob now, but I prefer to buy my clothes from a place that’s more than one hundred feet from a bag of seed for the lawn.”

  Hesitantly, she climbed out and walked to the door, her heels crunching on the gravel. She pulled the door open, frowning over the stickiness on the handle, and stepped inside the shop. Classical music played in the background. She made her way over to the women’s section and stared down at her options.

  ‘Limited’ was being magnanimous. Extremely so.

  She checked the sizes and grabbed seven pairs of jeans then went to the shirts.

  “I think you’d look great in this one.” A pink-and-white plaid tie top was placed before her.

  She flicked her attention from it to Tony, who stood across from her, an impish grin on his face.

  “I’m not looking to dress like Daisy Duke.”

  He canted his head to the side, roving up and down her body with his heated gaze in a blatant move. “More’s the pity. I would love to see you in those tiny shorts.”

  Christ, his voice was sex on steroids. Her belly clenched and she bit the inside of her cheek to make sure she didn’t say something that would be around town in less time than it took her to leave the shop.

  She picked up the top and held it to her. Okay, so it was kind of cute. Kind of. “And if I wear it, do I get another free drink?”

  “You’d just have to come in and see.”

  She narrowed her gaze at the challenge in his tone. “I suppose so.” No way she was giving him a heads-up that she would be there. She wanted to surprise him.

  Jenn turned away from him and completed her shopping. She had a few things to finish up before she could have some fun.

  * * * *

  Tony gazed over the small crowd in tonight. His regulars. On occasion they had people from neighboring towns who wanted to get an alternate atmosphere they received from their typical watering hole. Tonight wasn’t one of those nights, at least not yet.

  A few played darts and some just played pool in the corner. The door opened and he needed a chair to sit on since his legs no longer wanted to hold him. In walked Jenn Meyers, but damn it all, that wasn’t the Jenn he’d seen earlier in the week at the store.

  She wasn’t an uptight business woman—this here was a pure sex kitten. And damn do I want to make her purr.

  Her blonde hair fell in graceful waves around her face, hitting below her shoulders. That tie top he’d picked out for her, she’d actually worn. It tied below her full breasts, showing off her flat stomach. Her jeans didn’t leave anything to his imagination and he exhaled slow as everyone turned to stare at her striding over the floor to the bar.

  “Good evening, Tony.”

  God, he wanted to preen. Whistling at her, he tossed the towel over his shoulder, more to give himself some time to recover than anything.

  “Evening, beautiful.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “You are fucking hot in that. Thank you.”

  A faint blush skated up her cheeks. “More like the people in town now?”

  He shook his head. “Princeton, no one in this town can even come close to you.” He ran another perusal of her figure. “Not even in their dreams. Now tell me, who told you who I was?”

  “Small town,” she said, claiming a barstool.

  “Family then?”

  She laughed and coated his cock in iron. Christ, I am in trouble with this one. She tossed her head and he was mesmerized by her hair as it settled back around her.

  “And my drink?”

  “What do you want tonight?”

  The way her eyes deepened had him needing to readjust his pants. Acknowledging another customer farther down the bar, he gave her a smile.

  “I’ll be back.”

  It didn’t take him long and he was again in front of her, wishing the bar was closed, and that they were somewhere else with a hell of a lot less clothing between them.

  “Make a decision?”

  “Same thing as you gave me last time, but not the scotch.”

  “You got it.”

  He whipped up another Cosmopolitan for her and slid it over the smooth, worn bar to sit in front of her.

  Her lips curled up as she stared at the glass. He watched her. That full, plump bottom one, he wanted to suck into his mouth. She had pink gloss on them and they shone in the light.

  They talked throughout the remainder of the night in between his customers. When it was time to close, he told her she could stay and he would walk her out later.

  After he’d finished up the nightly paperwork and secured the bar, he walked out to where she still sat on the stool. She couldn’t see him and he took the opportunity to watch her. She’d relaxed. No, he wouldn’t say she was drunk or even buzzed. She’d nursed that one Cosmo all night and had some coffee as well.

  So, relaxed was his choice. A sad smile graced her features and he wondered if she were thinking about her father. But at least that ball-busting bitch attitude had vanished. She brushed some hair back from her face and he smiled—it was obvious, she was used to it being out of her way, because she had been fighting to keep it where she wanted it all night.

  Personally, he preferred her hair down and loose. Hell, he was going to have visions and wet dreams of holding her by the hair as he fucked her doggy style.

  When she glanced at her watch, he strode out. “Sorry.”

  She shrugged. “That’s fine, it’s a business—you need to do what you have to.”

  He straddled the seat beside her and spun so he faced her. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m fine. Why, what did you hear?”

  He put a hand on her arm and stroked the skin. “Nothing, calm down. I’m just asking because I care.”

  For a moment, he thought she would open up, but she shook her head and her expression smoothed out. “I’m fine.”

  Tony let it go. Releasing her, he then drummed his fingers on the counter with his other hand. “Okay then. Ready?”

  She rolled her bottom lip in her teeth and he almost held his breath.

  “Do you think it’s okay if I get a cup of coffee to go?”

  He slid her his mug of it. “You can have mine if you don’t mind sharing germs.”

  Her gaze landed on his mouth and his cock responded with a furious pulse.

  “No, I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

  Tony was trying so hard to be a gentleman, but the way she was staring at him was testing his control. “Princeton?”

  Ever so slowly, she dragged her gaze back up to his face. “Yes?”

  “Keep looking at me like that and this goes somewhere else.”

  She dropped her stare once more to his mouth. “Where’s that?”

  “Somewhere that has you waking up in my bed with abraded skin from my facial hair between your legs, a hoarse voice from all your screaming and no clothes on.”

  “You’ve definitely changed, Tony,” she whispered, leaning closer to him. “And if I didn’t have to be up in less than four hours I would take you up on that offer. But I’m taking my daddy for his checkup and we have to leave at six.”

  He lowered his gaze to her breasts that were barely contained by her top, staring at the full creamy skin, then dragged his focus back up to her face.

  She kissed the tip of her index finger and smoothed it along his lips. Eyes hooded and a sex kitten aura pouring out of her like a waterfall, she enamored him. one hundred percent.

  “I’ll take a raincheck though.” She took the mug and slid off the stool. “Thanks for t
he coffee.”

  She was gone.

  Wiping away the trickle of sweat that ran down his face, he exhaled and rested his head on the counter. Holy hell. His cock throbbed out some tribal drumbeat on the imprint of his zipper, reminding him it needed some relief.

  Not here, but when he got home, hell yes, he’d be jacking off to the image of Jenn Meyers in that skimpy top and the way her eyes darkened with desire as she watched him.

  Raincheck accepted.

  Chapter Three

  Jenn smiled as she watched the members of the quilting club—also known as the book club, depending on how Ms. Jeanne wanted it to be called at that moment—finish their pastries in the bakery. This group of women were nothing more than busybodies and yet they never failed to make her smile.

  She was across the street, and knowing they were in there had her hesitating to head there herself. They were a force to be reckoned with. Deciding to pass, she walked down the street, tugging her jacket tighter around her. The day was unseasonably cold and she wished she’d packed a heavier jacket.

  I didn’t expect to be here this long.

  She stopped walking at the end of one street where it opened up into a small park. While it was empty now, she knew it would be full of tourists in a few weeks. Her brother was hard at work making sure the fruit was ready to be picked.

  Checking her watch, she hurried to her car and drove out of town to the roadside stand they had. Mary was sitting there on the tailgate of the old pickup they used to bring stuff to the stand. Her sister smiled at her and scooted off. She was just adorable. She had a bright purple slouch beanie on her head that offset her jet-black hair beautifully.

  To see her in this light, she looked like a kid from the farm, sweet and innocent. Not at all like a veterinarian.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said, approaching. “I wanted to go to the bakery but Ms. Jeanne and her clique were in there.”

  Mary widened her eyes. “Yeah, don’t blame you. That would have been bad. ‘Ms. Jennifer, I don’t know why you haven’t found some nice young man to settle down with. Don’t you know you’re getting older? Probably getting some dust on those eggs of yours. You need to use them before they get too old.’ Or something like that,” she said, laughing.