The Last Second Chance: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon Book 3) Read Online Free
Author: Lucy Score
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
“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
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