Chapter One

Karmen Jones

“Will you stop staring and just do

something?” my best friend Lenor says with a glare.

“I’m not staring,” I counter, taking a sip

of my beer. “I’m people-watching.”

“I’ve known you since I was six years old,

Karmen. You can lie to everyone else, but you can’t pull the wool

over my eyes.”

I roll my eyes. She isn’t wrong but I won’t

be admitting to anything out loud. I do divert my gaze from the

object of my obsession — Wesley Blake, the

oldest of the Blake brothers, and my brother’s best friend.

It started out as an infatuation before I

even knew what that was, but with time it has warped into a full-on

obsession. I can honestly say I am unequivocally in love with him.

I don’t even see any other men. The problem is, he still treats me

like the little girl that followed them around town. He doesn’t see

me as a woman, and it is driving me nuts.

Laughter draws my gaze back to the booth

where Wesley is seated with his brother Adam. The bane of my

existence, Charlotte Wilson, is standing beside him, her hand on

his shoulder while she laughs. I want to launch myself from the

barstool I am sitting on, but Lenor places her hand on my thigh,

holding me back.

“Sit.”

“I’m sitting,” I grit out through clenched

teeth.

“You can’t say or do a damn thing about it

until you pull up your big-girl panties and tell him how you feel,”

she says. “Until then, he is fair game.”

I hate the words that fall from her lips,

but I know they are true. It doesn’t make it any easier to hear,

though. Maybe it would be easier to see him with someone else,

anyone else, just not Charlotte the harlot.

Since we were in kindergarten that girl has

pushed my buttons, taking what isn’t hers and looking down on

people around her. Just because her daddy is the richest man in the

county doesn’t mean she is better than the rest of us. It just

means her clothes are better.

She is vapid and vain and a total bitch. And

one of these days I am going to lay hands on her, and no amount of

money will stop me.

“He’ll never feel the same way I do,” I

murmur, flagging down the bartender instead.

“Tequila,” Lenor says once he reaches

us.

She knows me well enough to know why I

called him.

“Can we please just enjoy the night?” she

asks after we both shoot our shots and finish with salt and lemon

slices. “I know you don’t want to go anywhere else, but I won’t let

this crush ruin our night.”

“I’m sorry,” I say softly.

“I love you, girl, but this crush is taking

over your life. It’s your birthday, for heaven’s sake. Let’s dance

and get drunk. The same problems you have today will still be there

tomorrow.”

I stare at her as she implores me with her

gaze. “You’re right. Let’s have some fun.”

Lenor makes a loud whooping noise before

ordering another round of shots. The bar is filling up with people

ready to end the week on a high note with a couple of beers and

some friends.

The local band starts setting up for their

regular Friday night gig and soon the loud music flows over us, the

lead singer’s voice the perfect blend of twang and smoke. Already,

I can’t help but shimmy in my seat, enjoying the song. The alcohol

is flowing through my veins and soon I don’t care about the people

around me or even where Wesley is or who he is talking to.

“Hello, sexy ladies,” Jacob Wilson says as

he finds a spot beside me at the bar. “Why are you looking so fine

tonight?”

“Not for you,” Lenor says with a glare.

“Move along.”

“You wound me,” he says placing his hand on

his chest. I can’t help but smile at his theatrics. “You know I’m a

lover and not a fighter.”

“We are well aware that you love every woman

that gives you the opportunity,” she snaps.

“Okay, that’s enough,” I cut in.

I know they are going to start fighting in

the next five minutes and then our night will be shot to hell.

Lenor and Jacob used to date until he cheated, and now she can’t be

near him without flaying strips from his skin with her sharp

tongue.

“For tonight, for me, can we all please get

along?” I ask, batting my eyelashes at first one then the

other.

Lenor sighs before her tense shoulders

relax. “Only because I love you.”

Jacob smiles with his hands held in the

air.

It sucks that they are at odds. I miss the

days when the three of us used to ride our bikes together and life

was simple. But kids grow up and things get complicated. Now, I try

to keep them as far away from each other as possible except for

special occasions.

“Let’s celebrate your birthday,” he says

with a smile.

****

Wesley Blake

I may be sitting with my brother having a

beer, but my focus is at the bar. I watch her full, jean-clad ass

sway to the song the band is playing. I know I shouldn’t be focused

on her, that I’m being a fucking bastard, but I can’t help

myself.

Karmen Jones has grown to be a stunning

young woman. I want to walk over there and wish her a happy

birthday, but I know what will happen. She will look at me with

those green eyes and I will have to fight every instinct I have to

keep from kissing her where everyone can see us.

Charlotte says something from beside me

where she slid in — uninvited — twenty minutes ago, but I ignore her. She knows I’m

not interested, I have made it more than clear, but she insists on

hitting on me every chance she gets. My attention is locked on her

man-whore little brother.

Severn is a small town, with a population of

less than two thousand people and an hour from the nearest city.

That means if you fart too loudly it makes front page news in the

local paper, and everyone knows Jacob Wilson is a prick who can’t

keep his dick in his pants. He screws any woman who gives him the

time of day before moving on to the next.

And he has his arm around the woman I am

obsessed with, pouring a shot down her throat, literally. What the

fuck is going on with her tonight? She rarely drinks anything

harder than beer and I know that is her fifth shot in the last

hour.

I swear to Christ if he tries to take

advantage of her, I’ll kick his ass.

Adam waves his hand in front of my face,

drawing my attention. Charlotte has left and I didn’t even realize

it until now.

“He’s going to spontaneously combust if you

glare at him any longer,” my brother jokes.

“Fuck off.”

“I will not!” he gasps. “You invited me here

and you clearly need an intervention.”

“Huh?”

“Stop mooning over Karmen. Man the fuck up

and tell her you like her already,” he says, pointing his beer

bottle at me. “You’re like a bear with a sore paw and it’s driving

everyone insane.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking

about,” I lie, looking him right in the eye. “I’m protective. I

promised Tommy I would take care of her. It’s the last thing I said

to my dying best friend.” I emphasize the last sentence, making

sure he hears every word.

Adam shakes his head. “It’s been six years,

Wes. Are you going to wait until she finds another man before you

realize you’re fucking up? There is a line of guys around the block

waiting to take her out and eventually she is going to say

yes.”

I glare at him. The idea of her with anyone

else is enough to have my vision swimming as rage pumps through my

system.

“Not that it’s any of your damn business,” I

say leaning forward into his space, my anger dictating my actions.

“But there is nothing between the two of us. There never has been

and never will be.” The lies fall from my lips, tasting like poison

but I can’t tell anyone the truth. “Karmen Jones is the little

sister I never had. Thinking of her as anything else is

disgusting.”

I hear the gasp of shock behind me, and I

know I have fucked up. Slowly, I turn my head to see the woman in

question standing there with tears swimming in her eyes.

“Karmen,” I start but she cuts me off with a

wave of her hand.

“Save it, Wesley.” She clears her throat

while rapidly blinking back the unshed tears. “I wanted to ask you

and Adam to join us to celebrate my birthday, but you can consider

yourself uninvited.”

“What about me?” Adam asks with a frown.

“I don’t know,” she says with a final glare

in my direction before she focuses on my brother. “Do you think I’m

disgusting?”

“Fuck, no! I think you’re hot.” He chuckles

when she smiles, knowing full well he is pushing all my buttons

even if I won’t admit it.

I growl at him, clenching my fist on the

table.

“Then you can join us. I’ll need your fake

compliments to make me feel better after your asshole big brother

stepped all over my ego.”

“Karmen, you know I didn’t mean it like

that,” I try to explain.

“How else could you have meant it, Wesley?”

she asks, tilting her head and examining me. “Never mind. I see

your date is on her way back.”

She spins on the heel of her cowboy boots

and walks her fine ass across the dance floor. Charlotte glares at

her as they pass each other, and I know this situation is going to

get worse before it gets better. If it ever does.

“Way to put your foot in it,” Adam says as

he slides out of the booth.

“You could have warned me she was coming,” I

complain, allowing my head to hit the polished wooden top of the

table.

“You told me it wasn’t my business.”

I spear him with a glare that makes him

chuckle once more as he walks away. Moments later he joins Karmen

and her friends at the bar before smirking in my direction.

Charlotte slides into the booth beside me

once more and I want to push her out. I can’t stand the idea that

Karmen thinks I’m on a date with this girl.

“I know you were friends with Tommy,” she

says, staring at her manicured fingernails. “But you’re not

responsible for his bratty little sister. You’re a man and you need

a woman in your life, not some tagalong.”

“Charlotte.” I wait until her focus is on

me. “I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. I am not

interested in you.” I enunciate each word hoping to drive them into

her thick skull. “And you can believe any man would be lucky to

have Karmen in their life.”

She glares at me, her eyes narrowed to

slits, before she huffs out of the booth and disappears into the

weekend crowd. My gaze immediately seeks Karmen out at the bar

where she has her head thrown back in laughter at something Adam

said. I rub at the center of my chest, hoping to alleviate some of

the pressure that has settled there.