Betting the Farm Read online

  Betting the Farm

  Annie Evans

  Clay Hearts, Book One

  Fritz Carter has carved out a nice life in his hometown of Serenity, Georgia. Together with his brothers, they’ve made the family farm more successful than ever. Fritz wants for very little—save for the girl he’d loved in high school. The girl who’d left Serenity behind…left Fritz behind as well.

  The girl who just sauntered into the local dive bar, looking all woman and hotter than ever.

  Fritz would have to be blind not to want Kai back in his bed. He’d also have to be stupid to give her his heart. Not again. Not right away. They’ve both changed, and past hurts haven’t healed as well as either had thought. A few sultry summer nights in Kai’s arms don’t equal love…even if his heart says otherwise.

  A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

  Betting the Farm

  Annie Evans

  Chapter One

  Fritz Carter narrowed his eyes to study the tall, sexy blonde who walked through the front door of Sam’s Tavern. Without bothering to give her surroundings even a cursory glance, she strode purposefully to the bar and plopped onto a barstool, tossing her phone and purse on the counter in front of her in what looked to be aggravation.

  “No fuckin’ way,” he muttered.

  Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. The light was dim inside Sam’s, he’d downed a couple beers and she was supposed to be living in Athens now with her rich lawyer fiancé. What would she be doing back in Serenity, dressed like that in a place like this? The she in question was asking for trouble, wearing a red dress—short, snug, sinful—in a bar full of half-sauced, testosterone-laden males.

  Kai Donnelly couldn’t be more of a target if she had a bull’s-eye painted across her tight little ass.

  His pal Richie bumped his elbow. “What’s up, dude? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

  “I don’t know if you’d call her a ghost, but she’s sure haunted a few dreams,” he grumbled into the mouth of his beer bottle.

  “She who?”

  Fritz was still trying to determine if it was really Kai. Her hair was twisted into a fancy knot on the back of her head. Seth, the bartender, was propped on the counter in front of her grinning like an idiot, and God knows Kai could sweet-talk a grizzly bear away from a honey pot.

  “Fritz, who are you talking about?” Richie asked when he didn’t answer right away.

  “Kai.”

  Richie scoffed. “Oh hell, it can’t be. Didn’t she marry a rich doctor in Atlanta?”

  “He’s a lawyer in Athens, and I don’t think they’re married yet,” Fritz replied, not at all liking the bitterness the words left on his tongue. He took a long pull of his beer, trying to wash the unwelcome taste away.

  She turned her head to look at something on one of the televisions mounted above the bar and Fritz studied her profile closely. Yep, dammit, it was Kai.

  “You gonna stare at the back of her head all night or go speak to her?”

  “I’m gonna stare for a while if that’s all right with you.”

  “More like work up your nerve.”

  “Kiss my ass,” Fritz snapped.

  “Ooh, touchy. It’s gotta be Kai, ’cause she’s the only girl who’s ever put you on cloud nine or in the pits of hell. Two of you never had an in-between.”

  Unfortunately, Richie’s assessment was spot-on. The relationship he’d had with Kai had been either heaven or hell. No gray areas. She could make him crazy with lust one minute and madder than a wet hornet the next.

  Just thinking about the warm summer nights they’d spent together under the moon and stars on a blanket in one of his family’s hayfields had his dick stirring behind his zipper. They’d been each other’s firsts, and deep down, Fritz had hoped she’d be his last. But that didn’t happen.

  Theirs had been the redneck version of Romeo and Juliet, without the tragic ending…sort of. Her wealthy parents weren’t about to stand back and watch their princess fall in love with a lowly farm boy, get hitched at eighteen and play happy homemaker while popping out a passel of kids by the time she was twenty-five. So naturally, they’d encouraged her to head for college in Athens as soon as possible.

  There’d been phone calls and letters for a while, a few quick visits home, but then college life took her over and took her away. The communication between them had eventually dwindled down to nothing.

  He’d moved on, hard as it was. Although he was still farming, now he was damn successful at it. Fritz and his two brothers had expanded the family’s business into one of the largest suppliers of corn, hay and sorghum in the state of Georgia. Truth be told, his bank balances had several digits in front of the decimal point too. But that was information he chose to keep to himself.

  He’d thought he was over her, but now…

  Seeing her again like this brought back all those old memories, good and bad; all those raw emotions he thought he’d buried in that goddamn hayfield six years ago.

  Hoyt Tanner sidled up next to Kai and flung his arm around her shoulders. She turned her head and smiled at him, although it did look tight and forced. Fritz squeezed the neck of his beer bottle until it was a wonder it didn’t shatter in his hand.

  Richie grinned slyly. “Dude, Tanner is making a move on your ol’ lady.”

  Fritz ground his teeth together. “She’s not my ol’ lady.”

  “Well, she might be his ol’ lady before the nights over if you keep sittin’ here on your ass. You know what a smooth talker he can be.”

  Fritz grunted as he watched Hoyt’s hand slide over Kai’s back. She shifted on her barstool, maybe trying to shake his arm loose. When she turned sideways to perhaps put distance between her and Hoyt, Fritz got a glimpse of long, tanned legs crossed at the knee and a pair of sexy black fuck-me heels.

  Shit. Why was he feeling so possessive? She wasn’t his anymore. Hadn’t been for a long time. Now she belonged to somebody else, so she’d just have to fend for herself—and she was plenty capable. He’d found that out the hard way when he’d tackled her playfully once and tried to hold her down for a birthday kiss when she turned seventeen. Somehow she’d managed to get one hand free and clocked him in the jaw. He’d rolled away from her, cursing and counting stars. In the end though, he’d played on her sympathies, received that kiss he’d wanted and a heck of a lot more.

  Fritz shook his head and couldn’t help but smile as he watched her knock back a shot of something dark in color. He’d be willing to bet good money it was Jack Daniel’s. Kai might be a beautiful thoroughbred but she knew how to let loose every now and then too. Judging by the way she threw her head back and laughed out loud at something Seth said—probably one of the old man’s trademark dirty jokes, if Fritz had to guess—she was well on her way to being tipsy. Being sauced and alone made her even more of a target.

  And if Hoyt Tanner touched her one more time, Fritz made up his mind he was going to tip him on his ass. Yeah, so much for keeping his distance.

  * * * * *

  Kai glared at her cell phone lying on the bar in front of her, willing it to flash back with a text from her friend Grace. She was supposed to meet Kai at Sam’s thirty minutes ago. The last thing on earth she wanted to do was sit in a bar alone, especially overdressed like she was. She stood out like a fly in the sugar bowl. Although the alcohol was taking the edge off her temper.

  What had ever made her believe she could move back to Serenity and her parents would stay out of her life? She must have been insane to think her mother could ever do that. God forbid. No, when she found out Kai had broken off her engagement to Phillip and was moving back home, her mother’s matchmaking wheels started spinning in high gear.

  Her plan ha
d been to stay in her old bedroom for a few months until she could find a place of her own, but she could already tell she’d be lucky to last a week. There was always the option of moving in with Grace, but her apartment was tiny and Kai wanted privacy too much to share minimal square footage. So the first thing on her agenda for Monday morning was to cruise town searching out “For Rent” signs and scanning the papers.

  Earlier tonight at her cousin’s wedding reception, her mother had forced Trent Lathrop on her. Ick. How could he have a bald spot and a paunch at thirty? Every time he’d spoken, his garlic breath nearly knocked her off her chair.

  As soon as the cake was cut, Kai hightailed it out of there and made a beeline for the closest bar before she was missed. Problem was she was on foot. Her stilettos were cute to look at and did great things for her calves, but they weren’t exactly conducive to walking long distances. Her poor pinched toes were crying in protest, begging to be set free.

  Her phone’s screen blinked in front of her with a message from Grace.

  Sorry, not gonna make it. Long day. Can u get a ride home?

  That killed her buzz. Kai groaned and dropped her forehead to the bar. She couldn’t blame Grace, really. Kai was the one who’d slunk away from the wedding reception, where she’d had a ride home. And she’d asked Grace to join her for a drink knowing Grace had worked all day. To be upset with her would be unfair, so she’d just have to suck it up and deal with the dilemma.

  Seth wandered back over after waiting on other customers. “Something wrong, Kai?”

  “Grace isn’t coming and she was my ride home.”

  “I’m sure you won’t have any trouble catching a lift with somebody here, but if you care to wait, I’ll drop you off. I go right by your folks’ place on my way home.”

  “Thanks, Seth. I may need to take you up on that.”

  She sent Grace a text telling her not to worry, she had it covered.

  “Can I set you up with more shots? Since you’re not drivin’ and all.” Seth gave her a broad smile and added a wink for good measure.

  “Sure, why not? I haven’t let my hair down in a long time. Too bad I’m doing it all by myself.”

  Just as the words left her lips, Hoyt Tanner returned from a stroll around the bar. Obviously he’d struck out elsewhere and was back for another go at talking Kai out of her panties. He was about to be disappointed for the second time. All smooth, suave, wannabe cowboy with his crisp, too-tight Wranglers, pristine Stetson and roving hands. Every time he opened his mouth, Kai wanted to shove it full of cocktail napkins. Why couldn’t the boy take a hint?

  Damn, it had been a mistake to act on her impulse. She should have stayed at the wedding reception and gotten drunk on champagne instead of Jack Daniel’s. Her mother would’ve crapped a gold brick, but then she wouldn’t be too pleased to know her only daughter was sitting alone in a dive bar down the street getting soused either. Nothing Kai ever did made her mother happy.

  Seth sat three shot glasses in front of her and poured each one full of the amber-colored firewater. Without preamble, Kai swallowed her fourth of the night in one burning, unladylike gulp while silently toasting her mother. As soon as the liquor hit her stomach, heat spread outward like an atomic bomb had gone off. It crawled upward, warming her neck and face. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that when she opened them again they’d still focus, and with any luck Hoyt would’ve magically disappeared.

  So what if she got a little drunk? Okay, a lot drunk. She wasn’t kidding when she told Seth it had been a long time, since before she graduated college, and of course, before she met Phillip.

  Smart, handsome, proper Phillip Rutherford, with a pedigree the size of the Athens phonebook. Everything about him was perfect—perfect job, perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect family—and perfectly boring sex. Quick, missionary-style, orgasm-less sex. She’d gotten really good at getting herself off afterward while he showered. And Phillip always showered after sex.

  Aside from being stupid enough to think she could live with “perfect” the rest of her days, what on earth ever made her think she could live with that in the bedroom? She should’ve been tipped off when they’d visited his parents one weekend and he’d refused to do it under their roof. It wasn’t as if he was going to make her scream with ecstasy or anything. Or he wouldn’t have a shower handy. For goodness sake, they lived like Rockefellers.

  Hoyt’s hand gradually made its way down her back. Kai swallowed her fifth shot, gritting her teeth as it numbed her throat.

  “So, sugar butt, I say you’n me ditch this place for somewhere a little more…private,” he said, giving her a pat on the ass with the last word. Her face grew hot and this time it wasn’t caused from the liquor.

  Sugar butt?

  As Kai readied to ask Hoyt to remove his big paw from her ass, a husky male voice spoke from behind and beat her to it. “Take a hike, Tanner, before I break every fuckin’ finger on that wanderin’ hand of yours.”

  While her muscles automatically tensed, something akin to warm honey pooled in the pit of her belly. Her traitorous nipples hardened to painful points beneath the thin fabric of her dress. The heat from his body touched her back and shoulders as if he were pressed against her, skin on skin. There was no mistaking that voice—rough and potent as the whiskey she’d just inhaled—or the way her senses reacted to its owner.

  Fritz.

  A little voice inside her head screamed run while you can! Meanwhile other body parts begged no. Stay. Touch.

  “I believe the lady here might have somethin’ to say about that,” Hoyt replied.

  Staring at the colorful wall of liquor bottles in front of her, Kai said, “Get lost, Hoyt.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Hoyt’s mouth open to say something, then snap shut as his face turned as red as a beet.

  “You’re an asshole, Carter,” he spat at Fritz.

  “I’ve never denied that,” was Fritz’s cool answer.

  Hoyt pushed away from the bar and stomped off.

  Long arms stretched past her shoulders, trapping her between his body and the edge of the bar, while warm breath fanned across her exposed nape. His aftershave teased her nose, something spicy and masculine and all Fritz. But he didn’t touch her, and of course, a small part of her felt disappointed.

  He murmured next to her ear, “Of all the gin joints in this town, you had to walk into mine.”

  Kai couldn’t stop the smile pulling at the corners of her mouth any more than she could stop the tiny shudder that rippled through her body. God, let him stay behind me. Please don’t let me see that face because I’ll go under.

  “That’s mighty ballsy, borrowing a line from Bogey,” she quipped.

  Then he was there, close, propped on his elbow inches away from her. Kai took a deep breath and gradually raised her gaze to his face.

  Damn. Just…damn.

  The years had honed him from cute to fine. Ruggedly handsome. Almost too pretty for a man. He should be in one of those magazine ads for four-wheel-drive trucks—shirtless, sweaty and fixing fence.

  Back then he’d worn his chocolate-brown hair longer, a bit shaggier. Now it was trimmed short and neat, but still made her palms itch to grab double handfuls. Eyes the color of Spanish moss studied her face, a trace of amusement dancing in their depths. Those soft, full lips Kai remembered all too well. The thick column of his neck disappeared into the collar of a plaid Western-style shirt. A few open snaps revealed a dusting of dark chest hair. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing tanned, corded forearms. Broad chest, narrow hips, long legs. Maturity looked awful good on him.

  “I don’t think he’ll mind. He’s dead.” Leave it to Fritz to be concise. Kai tried hard not to laugh.

  “You know, I had Mr. Tanner under control.”

  His eyes narrowed. “When? Before or after he touched your ass?”

  “I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”

  He laughed and rubbed his jaw. “H
ow well I know, Donnelly. How well I know.”

  The corners of his eyes crinkled attractively when he smiled and Kai felt her stomach flutter. Lord Almighty, the man was still more potent than the eighty-proof alcohol patiently waiting in the last shot glass in front of her. He should come with a warning label—one look at him will melt your panties right along with your resistance. She gulped the liquor down, thinking she needed it to steel herself against the onslaught of raw lust threatening to overtake her. It was almost as if time had been turned back and she was eighteen again, completely smitten yet scared to death of the effect he had on her, body and soul.

  Fritz leaned in close. “How many of those have you had tonight?”

  “Not enough.”

  One dark eyebrow shot up. “You’re not drivin’ I hope.”

  Seth picked that perfect moment to butt into the conversation.

  “Nope, she ain’t drivin’. I was gonna give her a lift home but maybe you could, Fritz, so she won’t have to wait on me to close up.”

  Kai gave Seth the stink-eye but he just shrugged his shoulders.

  Without taking his watchful gaze off Kai, Fritz pulled money from his shirt pocket and tossed it on the bar. “Close out her tab, Seth, and give us the rest of that bottle of Jack.”

  She was being manhandled and it was starting to piss her off. “I can pay my own tab, thank you very much, and I can find my own way home.”

  Seth slid the bottle of whiskey across the bar and Fritz tucked it under his arm, then grabbed her elbow to help her stand. Kai snatched her arm away.

  “I’m quite capable of walking on my own!”

  “You’re gonna break an ankle in those damn shoes. Give me your arm, Kai.”

  Kai spun around on the barstool and planted her feet on the floor. When she stood, the room tilted sideways and so did she. Fritz caught her around the waist with one arm, and if she wasn’t mistaken, snickered under his breath.

  “Easy there, tiger.”

  Once everything was somewhat level again, she shoved her shoulders back, put one foot in front of the other and wobbled out of the bar.