Chapter One

Jennifer Meyers closed the book and pinched the bridge of her nose. Lordy, I hurt. Every inch of her was sore. Rubbing the back of her neck, she sighed. She cracked open her eyes and glanced over to the clock. Six hours had passed since she’d sat down in this chair.

She sobered. It wasn’t her chair, it was her father’s. A man she’d always idolized as far back as she could remember. Her days of sitting in this office with him, at her own little desk with her very own ledger, were fond memories she never forgot, no matter how much she moved beyond this small town.

Now that man, the one she’d thought would never slow down, lay upstairs recovering from a massive stroke and she was the one in the chair.

“I’d much rather you be sitting here, Dad,” she muttered.

“You okay, Jenn?”

She took off her glasses and peered up at her baby sister as she walked in. Mary removed the stethoscope from around her neck. Her jeans hung low on her hips, making Jenn realize that she’d lost more weight since she’d gotten home. It was hard to miss the dark circles beneath her eyes, as well.

“I should be asking you that. You’re home late. Everything okay?”

Mary tucked some of her hair behind one ear and rocked back on her heels. “You do know I’m not a baby anymore, right? I am allowed to be worried and ask how everyone else is doing.”

There was an edge to her tone but Jenn ignored it. Instead, she left her glasses on the desk and got to her feet.

“Let me fix you something to eat,” she said, shepherding Mary out of the room.

Jenn had mixed feelings about that space. As children, for the most part they hadn’t been allowed in there—it had been off limits aside from special occasions. Part of the reason it was all the more special for her was that she had memories of being in there with her father. And selfish as it may be, she didn’t want her sister in there now.

In the kitchen, she fixed them each a cold meat sandwich with a glass of tea. They sat across from each other at the oval dinner table.

“Anything I can do to help?” Mary asked her as she got a dab of mayo that had hung on the corner of her mouth.

“Nope.”

Mary’s gaze shuttered, and Jenn hurried to reassure her.

“Not because you’re the baby, but just because it’s all numbers and book work. I am catching up. It’s merely taking a bit longer than I thought it would. He was further behind than I first believed on writing everything down.”

“Fine.” She lowered her gaze back to the sandwich and finished it. “Thanks. Goodnight.” Mary got up from the table, rinsed off her dish and left Jenn alone with her thoughts in the old kitchen.

She could do to talk to someone. Rubbing her neck again, she demolished the rest of her sandwich then departed as well, clicking off the light as she went.

Jenn swiped her keys and opened the door. With a look over her shoulder, she acknowledged she had a small measure of guilt. She was sneaking out like she had done growing up. Only right now, that just left Mary in the house with her parents. Joe was most likely out with his fiancée and Patrick was settling into his job on the force.

She’d heard rumors they wanted him to take over as sheriff, with his experience. A final look over her shoulder and she hurried down to her car. She climbed behind the wheel and started the powerful engine.

Not much later, she was driving through town, heading to one of the bars. There were three of them in The Edge but she pulled in to the first establishment she came to, Perimeter.

Parking her small sports car next to the old, big trucks, she shook her head. Definitely not in the big city anymore. She grabbed her purse and went inside.

The interior wasn’t horrible, but so not what she was used to. Trying hard not to curl her lip in disdain, she made her way to the bar, dusted off the barstool and took a seat with caution.

A pair of dark gray eyes held her interest as their owner watched her. She bit back her irritation, accepting she was spoiling for a confrontation. Probably shouldn’t have come to a bar then, her subconscious cheerfully commented. She ignored it and gazed at the man watching her.

Big and strong. Not like the bartenders she was used to. This man had muscles gotten from hard work, not the gym. They weren’t over-exaggerated. Nope, pretty damn perfect if she had to say anything about them.

His jeans hung around lean hips and hugged tight to powerful thighs. She deliberately skimmed over what lingered in the center there and moved her gaze back up to safer territory. Or so she thought. His shaggy dark brown hair was stylishly messy. Scruff covered his chiseled jaw and she wanted to touch it.

Whoa! That’s not a good thing. Looking was fine. Touching would only lead to trouble, especially in a bar in The Edge.

Trouble was, if he kept looking at her like that, she would be over the bar doing a lot more than touching. He’d ignited a flame inside her that she needed him to extinguish.

Rallying her waning control, she cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Going to take my order or do I wait for someone else to walk by and do their job?”

A hint of a smile teased the corners of his lips. “From the look on your face before you sat, I wasn’t sure you’d want anything in a glass. Perhaps they’re not clean enough for you, Princeton.”

She drew back, furrowing her brow in confusion. “Princeton?”

He grabbed a glass and placed it on the bar in front of her. “That is where you went to school, isn’t it? Pretty sure the bars around there are a bit cleaner, higher end than this.”

He leaned on the counter, ran a hand through his hair, then gave her a smile which damn near melted her panties.

Giving her pussy a severe mental chastisement on how to behave, she narrowed her eyes. “How do you know that? How do you even know who I am?”

 

Tony Blackstone stared at the woman he’d crushed on all throughout school. It didn’t surprise him one bit she hadn’t recognized him. He’d come a long way from the dorky, nerdy boy with the braces and thick glasses.

Jenn, on the other hand, had only gotten more stunning as the years had passed. He’d like to muss her up. Ruin that straight-laced person he saw in front of him. Make her sweat and get dirty.

Having her rake those French-tipped nails up and down my back would also work just fine. He reached behind him, swiped a bottle of scotch and poured her some.

Her gaze flicked to the glass and back to his face. Using one finger, he nudged the tumbler in her direction. “On the house.”

“Sure the boss will approve of you giving out his drinks?” She curved those long, thin fingers around the glass.

He noticed there was no ring on the most important finger there. Good.

“I get a bit of leeway.”

She lifted the glass and drank, eyes closing as the liquid slid down her throat. Seconds later she coughed and he hid his smile.

“Not used to the real stuff?” He raked his gaze over her. “I’m going to guess your drink of choice is a Cosmo of some sorts.”

She sniffed. This woman was all kinds of cute when she looked disgruntled. “Nothing wrong with enjoying something other than whatever that was.”

“That was scotch. Nothing else in it to water it down, but I can make you a Cosmo if you’d like a pussy drink.”

Jenn snapped her gaze up to him. “Do you always speak thusly to your clientele?”

He laughed. “Thusly? Yes, I do. Look, Princeton, this isn’t a bar that is going to cater to your every whim and pad over-inflated egos. We serve hard drinks with a side of truth.”

“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.