Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

RHETT

“You, know…I didn’t take you to be such a pussy,” Mr. Sanders says, shocking me only slightly. Growing up in Telleville, North Carolina, I’ve heard much worse fly out of the old man’s mouth. However, this is the first time he’s taken fire at me.

I lift my chin to meet his narrowed gaze with a raised eyebrow.

This guy.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed again, huh?”

“Nope,” he growls as he leans over the counter, and pushes his pointer finger against the dress shirt covering my chest.

“But someone did wake up and decide to lose his balls.” He gives my chest another poke. “You disappoint me, kid.”

I swat his hand away. Along with being blunt and outspoken, Mr. Sanders has made it his job to be in the middle of everyone’s business. If you sneeze at the grocery store, five minutes later everyone at the liquor store down the road is talking about it.

“I bet Vernon fifty dollars you would come to your senses and stop Paisleigh from marrying that fool.”

Anger soars through my veins and I find myself reaching for the bourbon I’m trying to purchase. I need something to hold or I’m gonna wrap my hands around the old man’s neck, and while he may be a giant pain in my ass, he’s a national treasure to the people of our small town.

“Stupid bet.” I grind out.

An hour ago the odds of him winning that bet were pretty good. I paced outside the church for a good twenty minutes, trying to figure out the right words.

Don’t marry him.

He’s not good enough for you.

Do you really love him?

He’ll never make you happy.

Fuck him. Fuck this. Choose me. Marry me. Let me show you how a man treats a woman when he truly loves her.

That last one was comical. I had resigned to the life of a bachelor with no intentions of ever changing. I’m perfectly content hiding up in the mountains of Western North Carolina with nothing but nature to keep me company. And on the nights when it’s not enough, I come to town, find myself a willing woman, and take her to the nearest motel.

A broken man doesn’t need more than that.

Until he catches sight of his best friend’s sister all dressed in white, about to marry a man who isn’t right for her. Apparently, he has a fucking epiphany then. Regret seizes him and panic rushes through his veins as he realizes he’s about to lose the only thing he loves in this world.

Mr. Sanders is right.

I’m a fucking pussy.

Because instead of going into the bridal suite and telling her all the things I wanted to, I wished her luck and apologized for not being able to stay for the wedding, making up some lame excuse about clearing the main roads before the impending storm rolled through.

Did she buy it?

Doubtful. But I didn’t stick around long enough for her to call me out on my bullshit. Seeing her in her wedding gown, all dolled up for another man was too much for me. It’s a sight that will haunt me for the rest of my miserable life.

I force a swallow and meet Mr. Sander’s gaze.

“Can you please just ring me up?”

He continues to stare at me, then sighs and mumbles something I can’t quite make out. It’s just as well. Anything he says will only anger me more. Snatching the bottles of bourbon from me, he takes his time scanning them before he finally changes the subject.

“They’re saying we’re going to get a lot of rain. Anticipating power outages all over the area. You got a generator up in the mountains?”

I slick my tongue over my teeth. The whole town is up in arms over the storm that’s about to roll into the area late this evening, stocking up on all the essentials, fighting over the last loaf of bread on the shelf and filling gas cans for their generators.

Good for them.

I, on the other hand, require a lot less maintenance. All I need to get me through is a couple bottles of bourbon.

“I’m not worried about it,” I mutter, reaching into my back pocket of my dress pants. I pulled them from the back of my closet for the big occasion. Even wore my good boots too.

“Still, might want to stock up on something other than this.”

I bite back a growl. What is with this guy? One minute he wants to pummel me to the ground for making him lose a bet, the next he’s looking out for my safety.

“Appreciate the concern, man, but I’m good. If you could just give me the bottles, I’ll be on?—”

He cuts me off before I can finish the sentence.

“I know your type, kid. Used to be you until I smartened up,” Mr. Sanders says as he levels me with a stern look. “You’re running from something, something dark and devastating. But you ain’t gonna escape it. Best to make peace with whatever demons you got that way you can move on. Start living again.”

“I live just fine,” I grind out.

“Secluding yourself on a mountain ain’t livin, kid. Neither is letting the woman you love marry another man because you’re too scared to claim her for yourself. Can’t believe Cade hasn’t told you that yet.”

At the mention of Paisleigh’s brother, and my best friend, I bite the inside of my cheek. I met Cade when we were both ten years old. His baby sister had just been born, and he was not all that impressed with being a big brother. That eventually changed as she got older. By the time we were twenty and she was ten, he had taken on the role as her protector, and somehow, someway so did I. The girl kept us on our toes too. I spent the greater part of her teen years chasing away every guy who gave her a second glance, knowing very well they weren’t good enough for her. Her twenties were the same.

That’s also about the time I started seeing Paisleigh as more than just Cade’s sister. She was fucking gorgeous with long, dark waves that tumbled down her back, and the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. I could stare at her for hours and it quell the heat inside of me and just like all those other guys weren’t good enough for her, neither was I.

Actually, I was probably worse because while they likely moved on to something else and forgot about her, I went home and fisted my cock to thoughts of her.

I thought I did a good job of hiding my attraction to her until the night before her twenty-fifth birthday. It was one of the rare occasions that I let Cade drag me away from my cabin. I had just beat him at a game of darts when he revealed Paisleigh was joining us, and that she was bringing her new boyfriend.

It was the first time I had heard of her being in a relationship, and the news didn’t sit well with me. Sure, I knew she dated, but this was different. No guy had ever stuck before. At least not long enough for her to want him to meet Cade.

I thought about dipping out before she arrived, but just as I was about to close my tab, Cade stopped me.

“She’s not going to wait around forever, pal. You might want to pull your head out of your ass. Take your shot before this guy secures the deal.”

To say I was shocked by his words would be an understatement. I pulled myself together and denied what he was suggesting. But Cade wasn’t having it. He saw right through my bullshit.

“I ain’t blind, Rhett. I see how you look at her. You can deny it until you’re blue in the face, but you seem to forget that I know you better than anyone. Hell, maybe even better than you know yourself.”

I fell back into my seat, not sure what to say. If Cade had caught on to my feelings for Paisleigh, did that mean she knew too?

“She’s not a little girl anymore. She don’t need protecting,” he continued. “She needs someone to love her like she deserves to be love. Someone she can build a life with. A man that will respect her, and there’s no man better fit for the job than you.”

His faith in me was too much and I quickly reminded him of my track record. Before I chose a quiet life in the mountains there was time where I prided myself of living life in the fast lane, chasing the Devil down every dead-end highway. I was a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie, who got off on making bad decisions. Starting bar fights was a favorite pastime of mine, and chasing women was a fucking talent I was proud to call my own.

That shit wore off when I started noticing Paisleigh in a different light, but I’d never admit that.

“That’s horse shit, and you know it,” he called. “You’re not that guy anymore. Haven’t been in a long time.”

He finished his beer and hit me with a stern look.

“You think you’re not good enough because your mother left, but that ain’t on you, brother. You did nothing to run her out of town. That’s all on your old man.”

Like I thought I did good job of hiding my feelings toward his sister, I also thought I did a good job of burying the family trauma that plagued me. Turns out I’m not good at keeping anything under lock and key.

I met his stare head on, and for the first time, I acknowledged the fear I kept tight to my chest.

“And who’s to say I’m not like him?”

Cade met my old man a handful of times, and there was no hiding the fact that he was nothing more than an abusive alcoholic with no regard for anyone but himself.

“You really want your sister with someone that has that blood running through his veins?”

He stared at me for a long while before he finally replied.

“I don’t know what you see when you look in the mirror, but brother, I’m here to tell you that you are nothing like your old man, and I’m so fucking sorry you think otherwise.”

He paused, visibly frustrated with me as he released a ragged breath, then continued .

“It’d be a damn shame for you to miss out something good just because you’re carrying a cross that don’t belong to you. For what it’s worth, I can’t think of a better man to love my sister than the one sitting before me.”

I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Paisleigh walked into the bar with her boyfriend, Gary. I instantly didn’t like him, for no other reason than he got to touch her and all I could do was watch.

A kiss here.

A brush of his hand there.

I couldn’t blame him, though.

If she was there with me, I’d never be able to keep my hands to myself either.

Throughout the night, she baited me with stolen glances— something she’d been doing it for years, always tempting me to cross the imaginary line between us. But there was something eerily different about that night. It’s like my subconscious knew that was my last shot.

I never took that chance, though, and a year later they were engaged. Since Gary put a ring on Paisleigh’s finger, I’ve tried to push her out of my head. I told myself a bunch of lies and tried like hell to believe them too. Then the invitation to the wedding came in the mail, and I’ve been on a downward spiral ever since.

Mr. Sanders pushes the bottles of bourbon toward me, disrupting my thoughts. There is no avoiding the pity reflected in his eyes and it rattles me even more than the trip down memory lane. It’s like everyone sees my demons clearer than me. But they’re foolish to think I can beat them.

I slap some bills on top of the counter and tuck my wallet back inside my pocket. The need to get the hell out of here too dire.

“That should cover it,” I growl before taking the bottles and turning my back on the old man. I make my way out of the liquor store, and head straight for my pickup truck. I brace my hands against the steering wheel, dragging in a deep breath.

Visions of Paisleigh in her white dress cloud my vision.

By now she’s probably already made her way down the aisle.

~*~

I stare at the crackling fire as the sound of the rain slashing against the windows of my cabin fills my ears. The eye of the storm hasn’t even hit yet, and the power went out an hour ago. Sighing, I rise from the couch and make my way to the adjacent kitchen. The two bottles of bourbon sit on the island untouched. I’m about to crack one open when my cell phone rings.

Can’t turn the fucking lights on, but I can still get calls I don’t want to answer.

Go figure.

I stare at Cade’s name on the screen as I unscrew the top of the bottle, debating if I should accept the call or not. I’m not really in the mood to hear the recap of his sister’s wedding or listen to him get on my case about being a fucking fool.

I reach for the phone, my thumb hoovering above the screen, but instead of declining the call, I do the complete opposite, and when his voice sounds, I bite back a curse.

“Is she there?” he asks, his tone frantic.

My brows pinch together. “Is who here?”

“Paisleigh,” he grinds out. “Fuck, man, tell me she’s with you.”

My heart stops and my body goes completely still at those words. I force a swallow, trying to make sense of them. “What are you talking about?” I glance at the clock on the stove, but it went out with the power. “Shouldn’t she be on her way to her honeymoon by now?”

“Can’t have a fucking honeymoon without a wedding,” he growls.