The Last Second Chance: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon Book 3) (2 page)

“You’re drunk.” He sounded out of breath and accusatory.

“I’m not drunk. I have a nice little buzz going. I know what I’m doing,” she told him.

“We can’t do this, Joey,” he was pulling her hands away from him. “You’ve had too much to drink.”

“I’m giving you permission.”

“Not like this.” Jax’s tone left no room for argument and it pushed her over the edge.

All of the heat from their kiss evaporated into the bitterest of anger.

She bit her tongue and spun around, intending to march off, leaving him and his spectacular hard-on alone. But his hand snaked out and grabbed her by the elbow. “Joey, I’m trying to be the good guy here.”

“Have fun with that,” she bit off the words. “You don’t want me, I’m sure there’s someone else inside who won’t have any problems going home with me tonight.”

She’d gone too far, hadn’t actually meant it. But before she could take the words back, which she wouldn’t have anyway, he was whirling her around. Now it was Joey who had her back to the tree. Jax stepped in on her, robbing her of her personal space. His hands gripped her arms hard.

“Don’t ever say that again.” The tic in his jaw, once only visible on the lacrosse field, flared to life. He gave her one good shake. Rather than fear, Joey felt fury race through her system.

“You have no say in what I do with my life. You lost that privilege a long time ago.”

“I’m back, Joey,” he gritted it out. “And I
will
fix this.”

“Not this way, Ace.” Joey stomped on his foot and shoved away from him. She thought about running back to the party, but that would only result in two broken ankles from the ice picks on her feet. At least they served her well on Jax’s foot. She settled for a steamed stomp toward the tent. But it wasn’t fast enough. She heard him coming and barely had time to brace for the impact. He was on her like a freight train, manhandling her over his shoulder. She landed hard enough to knock the wind out of her, if not the fight.

She got in a half-assed punch to his kidney and a weak kick to his stomach before he slapped her on the ass hard. Handprint hard.

Joey gasped in shock. Her dress had ridden up scandalously high, showing off her very small underwear. Jax’s hand settled over her ass and she froze, not willing to move a millimeter in case it would make his palm press even harder against the part of her that, a minute ago, had been a rainforest of lust.

“Where are you—”

“I’m taking you home.”

“I’m not ready to go home.” She was pouting. She was hanging over a man’s shoulder and pouting. Maybe she had had a little too much to drink. Joey Greer didn’t pout. She punched.

Jax set her on her feet next to his car. “Get in.”

“No!”

He yanked the passenger door open so hard she thought he might rip it from the frame. “Get in the fucking car, Joey.”

She took a page from Summer’s book and primly slid onto the seat, refusing to look at him as he slammed the door shut. It wasn’t the first time she’d been in Jax’s car. The Nova was a sweet ride. He’d even let her drive it once after Summer had stupidly broken up with Carter and they all convened at his house to cheer Carter up with greasy food and zombie TV.

Jax certainly wasn’t going to let her take the wheel this time. He slid into the driver’s seat and slammed his door. The tic in his jaw was pulsing.

“You know, it’s rude to leave without saying good-bye to the bride and groom,” she said icily.

Jax didn’t bother sparing her a glance.

“Shut up, Joey.”

S
he woke
up the next morning with a mouth dryer than the sawdust floor of the stable’s riding ring and a marching band of a headache. Goddamn that Jax. She hated when he was right. She’d had too much to drink and humiliated herself with the one man she was determined to never let see her vulnerable again.

And that asshole turned her down.

How dare he? Joey started to stomp downstairs until she realized her head was about to snap off her neck. Carefully, she made her way into the airy kitchen that was way too bright. She intended to keep her head on straight enough to start the coffee. Only the coffee had already been started. Next to the machine sat a horse-covered mug that she’d tucked away in the back of her cabinet out of stupid sentimentality. It was the mug Jax had bought for her at their first date at Overly Caffeinated. There was a bottle of aspirin next to the mug.

Jax.

Last night, she’d busted through her front door the second his car came to a halt out front. He must have come inside after she stormed upstairs.

She had offered him a night of no-strings-attached fun and he had the audacity to lecture her on alcohol consumption. What she wouldn’t give to throw this horse mug at his head right now.

She settled for putting her head in her hands to block out the annoying light of dawn that was beginning to invade the front windows of her house. She had work to do, plus it was launch day for Summer’s online magazine. She had to slap on a not hung over supportive face for her friend.

Her groaning must have drowned out the purr of the engine, because she jumped when she heard the knock at the front door.

“Go away if you value your life,” she said in a half-yell, half-moan that had her head splitting open again.

She lowered her forehead to the cool granite of the island.

The door opened.
Damn it. She was going to have to start locking up.

The smell of warm, deep-fried goodness had her peeking over an arm. Jax stood just inside her door grinning and holding a grease-stained paper bag.

“Get out,” she rasped.

“Not feeling so friendly this morning, huh?” Jax smirked.

She hurled the coffee mug at him showing off her Little League arm. She would have nailed him too if he hadn’t ducked. The ceramic shattered against the doorframe, sending red splinters everywhere. Unfazed, Jax crossed to her.

He dumped the bag on the counter and handed her a sports drink. He reached around her, caging her against the island.

“Listen, Ace, last night was a one-time offer. There’s no second chances,” she told him trying to shove past him.

He handed her two aspirin and looked her dead in the eyes.

“I didn’t turn you down, Joey. I took a rain check.”

Desperate for relief, she washed down the tablets with a glare and the never-found-in-nature blue liquid.

She tried not to pay attention to the fact that he looked entirely too good in jeans and a tight thermal shirt. It made her nauseous.

“No rain checks, Pierce.” She tried shoving him back a step, but the man was a mountain. Immovable and impressive.

“We
will
happen, Joey. There’s no point fighting it.” He tucked a clump of hair behind her ear and, before she could react, he leaned in for a hard, fast kiss.

He pulled back before she had time to respond…or kick him.

“I’ll see you around.” And with that, he was gone, whistling his way out the front door leaving Joey wishing that she had something else to throw at him.

She waited until she heard him drive up toward the brewery before sneaking a peek in the bag. Three hash browns, glimmering in their own oil, beckoned her unsettled stomach with the promise of carbs and grease.

“Bastard,” she muttered as she took a healthy bite of the first one.

J
ax was still whistling
when he got to the brewery. He’d beat Carter and didn’t expect Beckett until well after lunch seeing as how his brother was probably still in bed with his new bride.

He tried not to think about how long it had been since he’d been with a woman.
Great, now he was thinking about it. And about last night. And, great. Now he was hard.

Jax took a few deep breaths and concentrated on his surroundings, willing the blood to return to his head. The day before the grand opening and the construction work was finally complete, leaving only the chaos of dressing and outfitting the place to be ready to serve a few hundred beers and plates of farm-to-table goodness.

The tables and chairs had been set in the Summer-approved layout, which he had to admit was a much better use of the space than the haphazard jumble he and his brothers had originally planned.

The bar was stocked with a shiny new tap system and shelves of full liquor bottles. There was another box of glassware ready to run through the washer, new towels ready to sop up the inevitable spills. The barstools were a work of art. They’d been a stretch for the budget, but the metal bodies and rustic wood tops fit the space perfectly.

He could see it all in his head. His family clustered around a table while half of the town bustled in and out, sampling, laughing, gossiping. His brothers and their wives would raise their families here with the solid pine floors beneath their feet. He’d win Joey back here and their story would begin again.

He always had a knack for seeing stories. That was the appeal of screenwriting to him. And his story in Blue Moon was just getting started. As an idiot teen, he’d been convinced that he needed to go somewhere to be someone. As John Pierce’s son, he had already been defined, already had expectations. And as the brother of an Army Ranger and a lawyer, he was already fucked.

It hadn’t bothered him really. Until Joey.

She deserved more than a jock and a teenage screw up. She deserved a man. One successful in his own right. And if Blue Moon was her home, well then it would be his, too.

He’d doggedly pursued a career in Hollywood, slowly crawling up the food chain until one of his pet scripts hit it big. It could have been enough, probably should have been enough. He could have come home flush with success and cash. A real somebody. Jax felt the familiar stab of guilt when he thought what his selfishness had cost his family. He hadn’t been here when his dad got sick or when Carter was discharged with bullet holes.

But more doors had opened for him. More opportunities arose. He’d carved out a comfortable life for himself on the west coast. A nice house in the hills, the phone numbers of several aspiring actresses and models, invitations to the hottest events. But it hadn’t been enough.

No matter how fat his bank account or who was on his arm on the red carpet, something was always missing.

When he found the picture of Joey—all cocky grin and long, long legs—that Summer had posted on her blog last June, he’d booked a red-eye home. Nothing would ever be enough without her. So he’d plant roots here with his brothers on the land his father had loved. And he would make it all up to them. Especially Joey.

She’d kissed him last night. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. It had been a power play on her part, but it still counted. Joey didn’t do things she didn’t want to do. And for the first time since he’d come home, Jax felt hope. She still wanted him.

And now that he’d had a taste of her, he wasn’t going to stop.

A commotion from below had him snapping back to reality and shoving thoughts of Joey and her wicked mouth aside.

He found Franklin, his mother’s fiancé and Gia’s father, directing a symphony of chaos on the lower level. He was a bear of a man, broad shoulders and generous proportions. Today he was wearing a long-sleeve Hawaiian shirt with hula girls and sharks on it. He held a cellphone to his ear while carrying on a conversation with a delivery guy and rolling silverware into paper napkins.

Jax sighed with relief. Franklin, Blue Moon’s most successful restaurateur, had volunteered to help the brothers set up for the opening. And thank God for that because Jax was just starting to realize that they were dangerously close to being in over their heads.

“Morning,” Franklin greeted him from the center of the chaos.

“Morning. I thought you’d take a few hours off this morning to recover from the festivities last night.” Not only had he walked Gia down the aisle, but Franklin also sang a convincing Sinatra tune with Fran’s band.

“I’ve been thrown out of my own house,” he lamented with a chuckle, signing the delivery slip. “Eva and Emma commandeered Phoebe and the kids.”

“Poor Evan,” Jax said, thinking of Gia’s twelve-year-old son trapped in a house full of women. “I’ll have Beckett swing by and pick him up before he comes in this afternoon.”

“My grandson will be eternally grateful.”

“Yeah, especially if I let him hang out with Joey for a while today,” Jax said, whipping out his phone and firing off a quick text to Beckett.

Franklin chuckled. “He’s got good taste. Seems like you do, too.”

“All of us Pierce men do,” Jax said evasively.

“Do what?” his older brother Carter said strolling through the downstairs door.

“Have good taste in women,” Franklin grinned.

Carter lit up as he always did at the thought of his wife. “You know, I seem to recall Jax and Joey disappearing from the reception right around the same time,” he said stroking his beard.

Franklin’s eyes sparkled. “That’s right. The photographer was looking for you two for the countdown to midnight.”

Jax looked at his feet. He sure as hell wasn’t about to give his family any ammunition over him and Joey, not when he finally felt like he had a shot.

“What are you doing here so early?” Jax asked Carter, ignoring his brother and Franklin’s speculation. “Shouldn’t you be hovering over Summer for launch day?”

Carter shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. “She kicked me out. Said I was driving her nuts. She’s being eerily calm.”

The brothers knew from experience that a calm Summer was a dangerous Summer. It meant she was burying all her stress and pretending everything was just fine. Jax decided then and there that he’d swing by Summer’s office a little later in the morning to see for himself how close to the deep end his sister-in-law was.

“We still on for the celebratory dinner tonight?” he asked Carter.

“Yeah. I was thinking maybe we should have it here? Kind of a family-only grand opening.”

Jax nodded. “I like it.”

A
fter helping
with the feeding and turning out the horses, Joey was feeling marginally better. Not good enough to tackle the thirty pounds of paperwork that had piled up while she helped Gia and Summer wrangle wedding plans—did anyone really care what color the napkins were on the damn table? You were just going to smear food on them anyway. So as long as
storm cloud gray
absorbed cake the same way
pewter
did Joey couldn’t understand the fuss.

She decided to pay Summer a visit to see how the launch was going. Joey found her friend in her office on the second floor of the farm’s smaller barn. Clad in leggings and a thick sweater, she was obsessively hitting refresh on her screen.

“Load, damn you!” Summer yanked her blonde hair back into a low ponytail with a frown.

“I was going to ask how the launch is going, but judging from your angry face, it sucks and you’re going to have to find a day job.”

Summer snorted. “I’m just trying to look at the web traffic stats and the idiotic, moronic, freakishly perverse page won’t load.”

“I’m glad to see you’re handling stress so well during your pregnancy,” Joey quipped.

Summer shoved back in her chair and took a deep breath. “Fine. We’ll try patience and see where that gets us. Now, distract me from my obsession.”

“You can take me to pick up my truck this afternoon,” Joey offered.

Summer came out of her chair awfully fast for a woman nearly six months pregnant with twins. “Did you go home with someone? Oh, my God! Did you go home with Jax?” She paused and Joey could see her wheels turning. “Wait, Jax was home last night. Did you go home with someone who isn’t Jax?”

Joey rolled her eyes at the interrogation. Summer was famous for weaseling information out of reluctant people. “Jax drove me home after I got slightly shit-faced.”

“Damn it. I was hoping we could all exchange hot sex stories from last night.”

“Don’t rub it in,” Joey sighed. It had been too long since she had a hot sex story to share.

“I wondered where you disappeared to. Did he at least make a move on you?” Summer asked.

The dredges of her hangover came racing back and she dropped down into one of the vibrant floral print chairs in front of Summer’s desk. “There was a move,” she confessed. “But Jax didn’t make it.”

“What?” Summer shrieked.

A disheveled red blur dashed through the door. “There’s screaming! What did I miss? What’s the traffic look like?” Gia demanded.

Joey and Summer blinked. Gia’s hair was falling out of the sloppy knot she’d shoved it into. She was wearing pajama bottoms and one of Beckett’s law school sweatshirts. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright.

“Jesus, I can almost smell the sex on you,” Joey groaned.

“My husband is insatiable,” Gia grinned wickedly. She took the seat next to Joey. “Now fill me in.”

“Well the page with the site stats won’t load and Joey here went home with Jax last night after she made a move on him.”

“Have you tried contacting tech supp—” Gia’s head swiveled so fast in Joey’s direction that Joey was surprised she didn’t hear a snap.

“You and Jax? On my wedding night?” Gia’s slim hands fluttered. “This is the best, most amazing—”

“Hold your horses,” Joey cut her off before Gia could start levitating with joy. “I had too much to drink.”

“And?” Summer prompted.

“And I kissed him.”

“Where and where?” Summer demanded resting her chin in her hands.

“Don’t you have some numbers to freak out over?” Joey asked her.

“Nice try. Now answer the questions.”