One Last Shot (Cupid's Conquests) (9 page)

The memory of his voice rumbled through her head as the thought of his lips on her skin sent a wave of
tingles
across
her flesh
. S
he slipped her finger between her slick folds and plunged it inside.
Eyes closed,
she relived
every touch, every kiss, every brush of his
fingertips
that
had
made her beg for more.
She traced the path his tongue had followed, gliding between her legs, circling her tight bundle of nerves
. Heat rushed out from her core
as the orgasm blossomed and exploded in her center,
spreading to the tips of each limb, bringing his name from her lips.

Chest heaving, heart thudding, she wrapped herself in his memo
ry and drifted to sleep
.

#

The following morning, she pulled on shorts and a faded Dodgers t-shirt and hea
ded to the attic
to rip through her family’s history. Her dad’s record collection went in the “sale” pile, mom’s clothes dominated the “donate” stack, while old albums and yearbooks went into the smallest box of keepsakes. She sorted quilts, old letters,
and
toys, uncovering memories along the way
. T
he
re was the
lure she
’d
used to catch her first bass
,
the rocking chair her mom had cradled
her
in
, and
the bike she
’d
f
allen
o
f
f
of
the summer she
’d
turned eight, breaking her arm and earning her a faded scar on her elbow. Through dust an
d tears and laughter, she spent
hours cleaning the cobwebs of her childhood.

The tables were already filling up with the dinner crowd by the time she arrived at Shooters
. Crystal and
Leah
were run
ning trays of drinks and burgers.
Shelby
dove in, pulling beers, mixing spirits, and delivering orders.
A full bar had a way of making time disappear and the knot of worry about her finances eased as the tabs rolled in.

Just after nine
, Tim Harris dropped onto a barstool. “
H
ave a drink with me, we’re celebrating.”

“I don’t drink on the job
, but what are you celebrating tonight?”
Shelby
poured hi
m a
Crown and Coke and slid it across the bar.

“We got an offer on the house.”

Her hand froze, still clutching the glass in front of
h
im. “On my house?”

“Yep,” he said
,
grinning
like he
’d just
announc
ed
her winning lotto ticket.

Shelby
grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels, poured a shot and slammed it back.

Tim’s smile faltered as he watched her, not saying a word.

“The sign’s only been up a day,
”
she said.

“I know!” he said. “There’s an agent in my office who had a deal fall through, bad foundation or something. Anyway, he had this family all ready to go with their loan, but no house. I was downloading the photos of your
place
when they came in this afternoon to start looking again. We drove them straight over and that was that.”

She gave a weak smile, trying to match his enthusiasm, but the chasm opening up inside
her threatened to swallow her whole
. “
When
?”

“
When will it close?
Well, we’ll need an appraisal and the bank will have to underwrite the loan with the new property
, but they’ve already sold the house they’re living in and have to be out in three weeks. It’ll be a tight fit, but the loan officer assured me it’s good to go.
”

“Oh.” She knew she should have more to say, but nothing coherent came to mind.

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Fine. It’s just a little faster than I thought. I’m surprised, that’s all.”

“Do you have a new place lined up?”

Shelby
nodded.

“Great, well I’ll bring the paperwork by the house in the morning.”

“Okay.”

“Congratulations!” He raised his glass, smiling ear to ear.
Shelby
poured
herself
another
s
hot, clinked glasses with him and threw it back.

The rest of the night passed in a fog of amber liquid and broken-hearted crooners. The crowd was a blur of nameless faces and repeat orders. She was still lost in a haze when closing time rolled around. John stacked chairs upside down on the tables as
Shelby
wiped down the bar stools.

“John, you like working here
,
don’t you?”

“I love it. I get to stay home with my kids in the day, crack s
kulls at night, and the boss doesn’t bust my balls too much.”

“Well, good muscle is hard to find. I can’t give you too much shit or I’d have to train a new guard dog.”

“Seriously, Shel. I know things have been hard with your dad gone, but a lot of people love this place and business is picking up. I had to call my brother in to handle the line outside
tonight
.”

Shelby
hadn’t even realized they’d had that long of
a
wait. She’d gone through the motions on autopilot tonight. “Tell him thanks.”

“
Don’t be too grateful. You owe him fifty bucks.”

“Fair enough.”
Shelby
chuckled and wiped down the bar.

A half hour later they shut off the lights and met at the back door to set the alarm.
Shelby
handed
him
fifty dollars for his brother and thanked him again for his help.

“Your dad would have
been
proud, you know.”

Shelby
stopped, hand poised over the alarm keypad.

“I worked three years for him and this was his life. His daughter and this bar, that’s all that mattered to him and you’re both doing great.”

“Thanks, John.” She kissed his cheek, set the alarm and followed him into the back lot where a familiar form
leaned against the
trunk
of her car, setting off a flurry of nerves in her middle
.

John looked from
Justin
to
Shelby
and asked, “
Want me to wait
?”

“
Nah
, I’m good.
You get on home.
” They said goodnight, John nodded
to Justin then
got into his pickup.
Shelby
leaned
against the car
beside
Jay
and they watched John drive away, taillights disappearing around the corner.
J
ay
uncapped a beer and passed it to her then opened one for himself.

She picked at the label
,
waiting for him to start, but her patience burned out
and
she
broke the silence. “I guess you want to know about the ticket.”

“That’d be nice.” His voice was
deceptively quiet.

She glanced up, but his face gave nothing away. Words tumbled through her head, but there didn’t seem to be a best way to start this confession. She took a long swig from her beer
and said the first thing to come to mind
. “I saw every game.”

His head snapped up, surprise flashing in his eyes.

“Every single home game in college and the Majors, I was there. I cried the first game I went to because I wanted to go down there and grab you and tell you everything, but you had so much ahead of you
.
I didn’t want to be in the way of that. I didn’t want to hold you back.”

“Why the fuck would you think you were holding me back?”

She couldn’t meet his eyes. She knew she’d find betrayal there and she didn’t have the strength to take it.

“My parents
,
”
he said.

Her eyes snapped to his.
It was her turn to be surprised.

“I know about the money,” he said.

“
How
?”

“People talk.”

“No,” she said. “I never told anyone.”

“Not even you
r
dad?”

“I told him I got a scholarship.
” She tore off a corner of the label and watched the wind tumble it until it was out of si
ght
. “How was I supposed to tell
him the truth
?
”

“And what was the truth, Shel? Because I thought the truth was us
—you
and me. I loved you. That was true.”

“I loved you, too.”

“Did you?”

The doubt in his eyes nearly broke her, but she stumbled on.
“They said you were going to give up a full ride for me.
You’d dreamed about making it in baseball since we were kids. I loved you too much to stand in the way of your chance.
”

“I don’t know if I can forgive you for walking away.
”
Her
breath caught as his words struck home.
“
You know, it was one thing thinking you’d turned your back and moved on, but knowing you were right there within reach the whole time, but you didn’t trust me enough to tell me.
That’s a hell of a lot worse, don’t you think?
”

“I tried.
” Her lip trembled, but she swallowed, steadying her voice. “
There were nights I stood outside your dorm or waited in the parking lot after the games, but I didn’t know what to say, how to explain. Every excuse sounded like bullshit. And if your parents found out, they’d pull the money and I’d have to admit to my dad where it really came from. He was so proud of me. He went on and on about it. As much as it broke my heart, I couldn’t break his.”

“
And w
hat about mine?”

A tear slid down her cheek. “I never stopped loving you.”

“
Yeah
? Well t
hat would have been nice to hear about
ten
fucking
years ago.”

Chapter
Six

Small town gossip rippled through the bar that
Justin
was heading
back to
L.A.
His name was on the whole town’s lips.
Because they’d been high school sweethearts everyone assumed
Shelby
would
have some kind of inside information
. They’d ask if she knew whe
ther
he was
going back to
California
for good or if he’d be
coming back and look at her with expectant eyes, but she’d just shrug and disappoint them. Something she was too damn good at.

She hadn’t heard from him since that night outside the bar. He’d walked away when he’d heard the truth, just like she knew he would
. N
ot that she blamed him. Whether she’d made the right decision or not all those years ago, she may never know, but at least he knew the truth. There would always be guilt, but at least there wouldn’t be lies.

The three weeks of escrow on the house were a daze of paperwork, cleaning, and yard sales by day, and Shooters
, drunks and gossip
by night. She’d sold every last thing—the furniture, Dad’s records
and tools
, even most of the dishes. There’d be money left from sale of the house, but she had a final debt to pay
and
no matter how much she sold,
she came up short.
With sorrowful resignation
, she called John and told him to put the word out.

In two days time, he’d
lined up a buyer by phone
. She rolled up the garage door, the smell of oil and exhaust clenched her throat. The keys hung like one more disappointment in her hand. She slid into the
driver’s seat
and rolled the engine over, fighting back tears.

Shelby
took
her namesake
on one last tour of town, past the church her parents had been married in, the high school parking lot where she and
J
ay
ma
d
e out after
his
games. The car was in the background of countless memories, a silent observer to so many moments, so many years of day-to-day life that added up to every life-changing decision.
The bar was last on the list, a lunch crowd of cars filled the parking the lot. T
he rumble of the engine vibrated through her bones
as they drove by, somehow comforting her like the quiet hum of her mother’s voice when she used to rock her. No matter what else was lost, she had the bar and she had her integrity. If the
Mustang
paid the price to get her pride back, she knew deep down her dad would understand. A peace settled over her as she drove back to the house. It was going to be okay.