One Last Shot (Cupid's Conquests) (11 page)

“
You’re
Justin
Tanner
, aren’t you?” the man asked.

“Yeah.”

“Sorry about your arm, that’s bum luck.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Sometimes the gods have odd ways of leading us back to where we belong.”

Justin
stared at the man,
the
words rolling through his mind.

“I hope you find yours,” he said and slid into the car.

#

Justin
pulled into the parking lot an hour after closing.
It
was empty, but he’d heard she was staying there now.
He backed into the spot across from the rear door and revved the engine a few time
s
before he shut it down and got out. Leaning against the hood, he crossed his arms and waited. Not ten seconds pas
sed
before the back door flew open.

The sight of her standing there
damn near stopped his heart
. Hair pulled into a loose ponytail, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, she looked like the seventeen-year-old girl he’d fallen in love with a decade before.

He pushed away from the car and made his way to her, standing frozen beneath the single bulb at the back door.
He’d been an ass, just sitting there at his parent’s table, the last time he’
d seen her. He wasn’t sure if she’d even speak to him, or maybe break his nose again, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the car.

“Where? How?” Her jaw worked, but no other words came out.

“That old thing? I found it in
L.A.
, but it said it missed
Texas
.”

“Is that so?”
She
finally met his eyes and
gave him t
hat half-smile
that
melted him to the core.
His heart jammed in his throat.

“Yeah,
” he said, his voice a little more tentative as he admitted, “A
nd I guess I missed it a little, too
.
”
 

“Well,
Texas
missed you a little, too.”

Something eased in his chest, like he could finally breathe for the first time in a decade.
“I thought maybe I’d
buy
you a drink, if the bartender
is
still on
duty
, that is.”

“I think I could work something out.”

He followed her inside
, the dim room illuminated only by the accent lights behind the bar
. She went behind the
counter
to grab two beers and he walked to the jukebox in the corner.
They met in the middle of the dance floor and each took a long pull on their beers
t
hen the first notes from a piano
echoed through the empty room
. Garth’s voice filled the bar and tears welled in her eyes as he sang, “What’s she doing now?”

Justin
wrapped his arm around
Shelby
’s waist,
pulling
her against him as they swayed together in the dark. “I thought of you every day. You stopped taking my calls and even your dad
put me off
. No explanation, no real goodbye. I tried to be pissed off, but it never lasted long enough to get you
out of my head. Then
after all this time
I was back and in your bed and you w
alked out again. I’ve been lost since the injury, and truth be told, long before that. I though
t
leaving
L.A.
would solve my problems, but everything was so wrong here.
”

“I tried to make it right the best way I knew how
,” she said
.
“
I knew paying off the debt wouldn’t erase the last ten years, but I couldn’t have it hanging between us forever.
Everything I did was because I loved you. They may not have been the smartest things, but I thought I was doing what was right.
”

“I know,” he said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
“I was pissed and confused and ran
back
to
L.A.
, but
things
were even worse there
—t
hat’s when I knew.” He pulled back enough to look into her eyes. “My home isn’t in
L.A.
and it’s not in
Texas
.
I
t
’
s right here in this bar, with you.”

“Welcome home,” she whispered. 

His lips met hers and she wrapped her arms him. As the song ended, he broke the kiss, picked her up and carried her to the little room in the back of the bar, knowing there’d be no more running away for either one of them.

Epilogue

Eros
slid onto the barstool beside Dionysus, still riding the high
from reconnecting Justin and Shelby
.

“Well done,” Dionysus said, waving at the bartender for another shot.

“It was a good match.” Eros slammed his shot and dropped the glass on the bar.

“I have to say, you had me a bit worried there when he took o
f
f to
L.A.
, but the car was a nice touch.”

Eros shrugged
,
but couldn’t keep the grin from his lips.

“I told you she was
a
fiery one, didn’t I? Damn I love a woman with a temper like that. Not only did she keep the bar, she drew blood as well.” Dionysus pounded his shot and called for another round. “So how many more of these things do you have to do? Because the parties just aren’t the same without you around charm
ing the panties off all the wome
n. We make a great team.” They clinked shot glasses and threw them back.

Eros spun his empty glass in circles on the bar. “I have no idea. I haven’t heard word from him yet so I don’t know if I’m getting any closer to coming back or if I’
ve just cracked the tip of the iceberg
.”

“He’s just got a bolt up his ass
.
H
e’ll come around. In the meantime, you
fulfilled y
our
end of the
bargain and earned yourself a little bonus.”

“Is that a fact?” The heat of the tequila flared to life, radiating to the tips of every nerve.

“Yes, it is.” Dionysus grinned, motioning to someone behind Eros.

A hand slid across his shoulder and down his chest. The warmth of a body pressed in against him, lips tickled his ear, sending a shiver
up
his spine. He turned and found a curvaceous maenad attached to his side. Dark curls slithered down her back and over
her
shoulders, ruby lips giving him a wickedly inviting smile.
Her
emerald slip dress left nothing to the imagination, her nipples hard and tight beneath the shimmering satin. She gave him a slow wink and his cock hardened. He
slid
his hand
across the slick fabric at her
waist and
glided
it
down the curve of her ass
, cupping the ripe flesh in his hand.
It may not be a happy-ever-after ending for him, but
he
was damn sure going to be a happy-for-right-now.

The End

www.daniellelapaglia.com

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