If Love was Fair Read online

  “I have to start my last set, but if you want to hang around I heard a local guy was playing for a few hours after I finish up.”

  I nodded. “Sounds perfect.” My cheeks hurt from smiling like a fool as I dropped my eyes to the floor and turned to grab us another round of drinks.

  Before the end of the night, Colin Banks would be the death of me. I could feel it deep in my bones.

  Two

  Fred Lawson strummed away his version of Sam Smith’s "Stay with Me" as I whispered the words right along with him. Colin’s hands were firm against the curve of my back, pulling me tightly against his body on the dance floor. I closed my eyes and slid my hands up his spine. Yeah, I was being a bit more touchy-feely than my average self thanks to the mass amounts of bourbon I’d downed, but he didn’t seem to mind. My head was clear enough to know if I was doing something I didn’t want to do, which was the exact opposite of how I felt.

  He rotated his hips against me and instead of the next lyrics of the song passing my lips, a sigh replaced them. Colin dipped his head so he could speak into my ear. “You’re a good singer.” His voice was low and smooth as his words ran through my entire body on a chill.

  “Thanks.” I lifted my eyes to his. “I love to sing, just too much of a chicken to do it.”

  “You shouldn’t be.”

  I shrugged and continued singing.

  “Last call,” the man behind the bar called out to the crowd.

  “Want another round?” Colin asked.

  I shook my head, knowing another drink wasn’t the best idea.

  As the song came to a close, Fred announced he had two songs left before the bar closed. A frown pulled my lips at the thought of letting the night come to an end.

  “What’s with the frown?” Colin’s eyebrows pulled deep in the center.

  “The night’s almost over.”

  His eyes searched mine as if he was thinking about what to say next, but instead of speaking he slipped his hand into my hair and connected his lips with mine. It took a millisecond before I realized what was happening and instantly opened my mouth, granting him access with his tongue. Heat raced through my body with every stroke of his tongue against mine. A groan rumbled his chest as I stepped into his body and gently tugged on the short hair at the base of his skull. Colin was feeling exactly what I was feeling, and neither of us were ready to let the night end.

  He leaned back just enough for our noses to brush against one another’s. “The night doesn’t have to be over.” His words affected me even more than his kiss.

  My mind was a jumbled mess as he rubbed the tip of his nose against mine waiting for my response. So instead of listening to the teeny tiny voice in my head telling me to take my own ass home, I nodded, “Okay.”

  A victorious grin danced across his lips as he linked his hand with mine and we headed toward the back exit. My eyes connected with the bartender's as we passed the bar and he gave me a wink. My face heated, knowing it was obvious we were going home together, but it didn’t take long for me to shake the embarrassment.

  The glass door slapped the frame as we stepped into the summer night’s air. I sighed as a gentle breeze blew across my heated skin and goose bumps rose in its wake.

  We crossed the small parking lot where Colin opened the passenger door to a topless jet black Jeep. “Hop in.”

  “Is that such a good idea? We’ve both had quite a bit to drink.”

  Colin took a step closer and smoothed a hand across my cheek to cup my face. “Trust me.” His eyes danced with mine until I nodded and slipped into the passenger’s seat against my better judgment.

  I watched him quickly round the front of the vehicle before sliding into the driver’s seat. My heart thundered with the anticipation of the decision I had made as we pulled out of the parking lot and drove directly across the street to an old bed and breakfast called Marlee’s.

  Laughter bubbled up my throat at the memories from the last time I had stepped foot in that same bed and breakfast…two words could perfectly explain it.

  Prom night.

  “Something funny?” Colin cocked an eyebrow as he pulled into a parking spot on the right of the large plantation-style home.

  “I spent my prom night here.” I pointed at the house. “Haven’t been back since.”

  Colin chuckled. “Hopefully I’m not staying in the same room.”

  “I’d die.” My own round of giggles escaped me.

  He winked and slid from the Jeep.

  I reached for the handle just as he pulled the door open and extended his hand for me to take.

  “Thank you.” I smiled shyly.

  Colin shut the door behind me and we walked hand-in-hand to the entrance.

  For the love of all that is holy, don’t let my hand get clammy. It’s not the time for that…

  Marlee’s was silent as we stood in the foyer while Colin searched for his keycard. Once he had it in his grasp, I followed closely behind him as we ascended the staircase that wrapped to the left of the second story. The floor creaked with each step we took. My mind wandered to the stories the house could tell if it could talk, one particularly about me and my boyfriend of two years both losing our virginity on prom night. Talk about being awkward and anything but sexy. That’s one night I’d never want to relive.

  Colin stopped mid-way down the hall and slipped the card into the slot on the door of room two twenty-two. He smiled at me over his shoulder as it clicked and turned the knob to open it. I thought I’d be nervous when it came down to just being the two of us, but as I stepped over the threshold and the door closed behind me, I couldn’t think of anything other than crashing my lips against his.

  So I did just that.

  My arms snaked around his neck as my body molded against his and our mouths fused. He palmed my backside with one hand and cupped the side of my face with his other. I emptied a deep moan into his mouth as our tongues danced and his teeth lightly scraped my lower lip. Colin pushed my back against the wall and started a trail of open-mouthed kisses down the curve of my neck, stopping where my tank top covered my shoulder and groaned.

  Our panting filled the room as I quickly slipped my hands beneath the hem of my tank and hastily pulled it over my head, exposing my black satin bra. Colin groaned and quickly brought his lips back to mine. I reached for his belt and hastily made work of undoing it as he pulled me from the wall, and with one swift movement undid the clasp securing my bra.

  I shimmed it off my shoulders and stood topless before him. His eyes roamed my flesh as he worked his bottom lip between his teeth. Being well-endowed never mattered to me, I’d been blessed in that department, but the way he was staring at my body, as if I were a goddess from above, I was thanking my momma for passing her gene’s on to me.

  “Those should be illegal.” He brought his eyes back to mine and I chuckled.

  “Like what you see?” I cocked an eyebrow.

  Colin stepped forward until my back was flush with the wall once more and his knee spread my legs wide. I pushed the button of his jeans free and lowered the zipper before I slipped my hand inside and massaged his length. He groaned and palmed my breast as his other hand worked on freeing me from my own pair of jeans.

  Once they were undone, he shoved them from my hips. No sooner than the material hit the floor he hoisted me into his arms, cupping my ass as he carried me to the king size four-poster bed in the center of the room. I didn’t have time to take in its antique beauty before his mouth was on mine.

  I pushed the material of his shirt up to let him know I needed him just as naked as I was, and he obliged. The muscles in his tanned chest rippled as he slipped from his jeans. I was in awe of his body. I’d never seen a man look as good as he did without clothes, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

  “Like what you see?” Colin mocked.

  I nodded as I reached for him, “Yes.”

  He leaned back just enough so that I couldn’t reach him and drug his eyes down my bod
y, stopping on the tiny black triangle that covered me. His hands smoothed up my legs, massaging as they made a path up my thighs and stopped on my hips. His fingertips curled around the thin material that held my thong together over my hipbones and slipped it down my legs. My eyes were pinned to his as he dropped my panties to the floor and began kissing a path up my leg before running his tongue over my left hipbone. My pelvis bucked forward as I gasped. I needed to feel him, to have him touch me, to cure the aching pain that was building deep in my core.

  “Oh. God. Colin, touch me…” I moaned, as his tongue drug across the invisible line where my panties usually laid.

  His eyes darkened as he watched me through thick lashes. With his mouth barely touching the center of my lower abdomen, two words passed his lips and brushed across my heated skin, “Yes, ma’am.”

  His head dropped and I instantly cried out from the warmth of his tongue running up me. “Colin…” his name fell from my lips as a heated whisper while my legs quivered from the intensity of his tongue lapping against me.

  I closed my eyes and gripped his hair with one hand, and the sheets with the other. It’d been far too long since a man had done what he was doing to me, and to be honest, I couldn’t remember if any of them had taken me to the level Colin was raising me to.

  My back arched from the mattress as my labored breaths quickened. “Oh…mmm…”

  His mouth left my body but was quickly replaced by two fingers pushing deep into my core. “Shit!” I called out as my eyelids fluttered open.

  “Keep your eyes on mine,” Colin demanded as he pumped his fingers not once, not twice, but three times in and out of me.

  My mouth was slack as I kept my eyes on his. Delicious pressure was building as he slipped his fingers from within me one last time and crawled up my body until his face was hovering above mine.

  “I want to fill you with every inch of me,” Colin growled as his teeth scraped my bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth, making a loud popping noise as he released my lip from his hold.

  I caged his body between my thighs and pulled his head back down to mine. My tongue rolled against his and I slipped my hand into his hair, gripping it tightly. A throaty moan released from him as he ground his hips between my legs, his erection pressing firmly against my leg. My tongue ran up his cheekbone and across his earlobe before I spoke against the shell of his ear. “What are you waiting for?”

  With one swift movement, Colin filled me with every inch just like he’d promised.

  My breathy moan danced across the shell of his ear and my nails ran down the length of his back, taking in every movement of his muscles as he pumped into me like a piston. The intensity of his whiskey irises drinking me in, the feel of his body moving in perfect sync with my own, and the crashing orgasm that washed through me was almost too much to process.

  My last night in Jonesborough was a helluva lot more unforgettable than I’d imagined it would be.

  Three

  My mouth was as dry as the Sahara Desert.

  I rolled onto my back and fluttered my eyelids open. The sun was beaming through the white lace curtains that covered the room’s windows. Realization that I wasn’t at home in my own bed for the last time hit me, but before my heart rate had enough time to spike, I rolled my head to the side and took in a still sleeping Colin sprawled out on his stomach beside me, his mouth barely open as he slept so soundly. I rolled my bottom lip between my teeth to try and suppress the mega-watt smile that was trying to make an appearance, and lifted the heavy comforter to take a peek at the beautiful man beside me.

  Gooood morning to me.

  A quiet sigh passed my lips as I refrained from snuggling into his side and gripping his perfectly sculpted ass to suggest we go for another round.

  I slipped from the sheets and tip-toed throughout the room collecting my things. I threw on my clothes and took one long glance at the beautiful man I was leaving all alone in the almost as beautiful antique king size bed. But before I convinced myself to crawl back into that bed, I stepped into the hallway and quietly shut the door behind me.

  “Good morning,” an elderly woman announced as I turned toward the staircase.

  “Oh!” I startled. “Good morning.” I gripped my chest and forced a smile.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you, darling girl.” Her shaky hand covered her lips to hide her grin.

  “You’re fine.” I shook away the nerves and began to descend the stairs.

  “That boy of yours is one of a kind.” The lady followed me down the stairs. “He helped me carry in my things.”

  “Did he?” I smiled, not wanting to inform her that he wasn’t my boy.

  “He did.” She patted my shoulder as we reached the bottom floor. “I didn’t even have to ask, he offered as soon as I pulled up to the curb with my car service. And the other night he sat out back by the pond playing that guitar of his. He looked so sad…probably missing little ole’ you.” She beamed and took my hand in hers. “Hold on to him. Gentlemen like that are few and far between.”

  A nervous giggle bubbled up my throat from the lack of knowing what to say.

  “I had one that got away over forty years ago and I never found another like him. Regret is a hard thing to swallow, you know.” She gave me a pointed look.

  I nodded.

  “Join me for breakfast?”

  “I wish I could but I have somewhere to be.”

  She gave my hand a pat and released it. “Maybe another time, dear.”

  “Another time.”

  I hated lying to her but the look on her face when I gave her hope of sharing breakfast together in the future was worth it. She was a lonely soul looking for someone to share a bit of her time with. I’m glad Colin was the type of man to help her out.

  Sadness pinged deep in my chest at the thought of being a lonely soul myself, but I quickly shook it away as my Uber pulled up to the curb. I took one backwards glance at the large home that held a man I’d just met but wouldn’t soon forget.

  Four hours had passed since I left Marlee’s Bed and Breakfast and I still couldn’t shake Colin from my thoughts. Yes, the sex was mind-blowing, but it wasn’t dirty or tainted like you would think a one-night stand would be. I’d never travelled down the one-night stand road before, but I couldn’t imagine them all being as heartfelt and deeply rooted in one’s soul as my night with him had been.

  With the last box shoved into the back seat of Eliza, my Ford Edge, I clicked the camera on my phone on and snapped the last picture of the duplex I’d called home for the past nine years. Even though I was leaving the small town in the dust, I wanted something to remember it by. Mainly because if I had anything to do with it, I wouldn’t step foot back in Jonesborough, Tennessee without one helluva good reason. I adjusted my rearview mirror and put Eliza in drive. It was officially time to get the hell out of Dodge.

  I’d planned on leaving before the sun broke, but my night with Colin had taken my path on an unexpected turn. I bit my bottom lip at the thought of his name. My skin prickled from the wind blowing through the front windows as I remembered the feel of his hands exploring my body. He sure knew how to make a girl feel wanted, which was something I hadn’t felt in far too many years.

  The very last red light in town caught me, leaving me staring down the road that separated The Lounge and Marlee’s. A bit of disappointment fluttered in my chest as I tried to find Colin’s Jeep in the parking lot but came up empty-handed. I knew he was headed out of town, to where, I had no idea. Hell, I couldn’t even tell you where he was from. I couldn’t help the thoughts that were clouding my mind.

  Was he pissed that I’d left without waking him?

  Did he regret last night?

  Would I ever see him again?

  I shook my head and pulled my sunglasses from their resting spot in the cup holder and slid them on. The sun peeked from behind the large cloud that had been hiding it. The day was going to be beautiful, the weatherman had announced on the lo
cal news this morning. It was almost like Jonesborough was as happy about me leaving as I was.

  The light turned green and I watched as the Jeep I’d been looking for pulled up to the curb in front of Marlee’s and Colin stepped out of the driver’s side, his chocolate hair a mess like he’d just rolled out of bed. A navy blue shirt stretched across his broad shoulders with a pair of dark wash jeans perfectly fitting the curve of his ass.

  Loud honking startled me as I realized I’d sat through the entire green light. Colin’s attention swung toward my vehicle and I slouched down, hoping he wouldn’t notice it was me. As much as I’d love to pull in that parking lot and follow him up to his room, the stars just weren’t aligned for that to happen. I glanced in my rearview mirror to find the person behind me throwing their hands in the air and most likely rambling off a few choice words. I held my hand up to apologize.

  “Yeah, yeah…sorry,” I mumbled to myself.

  Colin grabbed what looked like grocery bags from the back of the Jeep and started up the walkway when that same elderly lady from this morning came out to meet him. He bent forward and kissed her cheek which had her beaming from ear-to-ear. There was no way they didn’t know one another. That or he was truly a gentleman.

  Had Colin been in town before?

  Why would he have grocery bags?

  “Aw, come on!” the person in the car behind me yelled as they laid on the horn again.

  “Son of a…” I jumped and stomped on the gas.

  So much for wanting to stay under the radar.

  My face heated from embarrassment instead of the sunshine beaming through the window. But instead of taking another glance in Colin’s direction, I sped down the road like a bat out of hell, praying there weren’t any patrolmen around.

  Four

  Seven hours and twenty-three minutes later, the building that would be my home for God only knew how long sat before me. I’d pulled into one of the parking spaces designated for apartment 4B and slouched back in the driver’s seat.