And he did want her. He wanted her morning, noon, and night. She had given him a thirst that only being in her arms could quench. With each passing day, the thought of leaving grew less and less appealing.
She drew back from the kiss and smiled up at him. “Thank you for voting for the mahogany bar. I’m so happy you want the dancehall to be exactly as it once was.”
He turned her so she could see the sunset and pulled her back against him, pressing his nose into her curls and taking a deep breath.
“It will never be exactly as it once was, but we’ll get it close.” He’d make sure of it. It was something he wanted to leave to her. Something to remember him by. Even if she couldn’t figure out a way to buy it—or her daddy talked her out of it once she was brave enough to tell him—he wanted her to think of him every time she stepped in the door.
The thought of her in Honky Tonk Heaven without him caused his arms to tighten around her. She placed her hands on his forearms, lightly running her fingertips over his tattoos.
“I guess things can’t always stay the same. They need to evolve.”
“Like dancehalls and Tullys?”
He was teasing, but she didn’t seem to get the joke. Her voice was sad when she spoke. “I don’t know how much I’ve evolved. I can’t even tell my daddy I want to quit and buy a dancehall.”
“Or that you’re dating the town bad boy.” The words came out a little sharper than he’d intended. Or maybe just more hurt.
She hesitated. “Dating? Is that what we’re doing? Because you haven’t asked me out on a date once, Jax.”
He turned her to face him. “I’m not the one wanting to keep us a secret. If you want things to be different, you should have said something. Or maybe taken the first step by telling your daddy.”
“And then what? If I tell my daddy and the entire town, then what? Then you stay and we end up living happily ever after?”
He didn’t realize how much that’s what he wanted until it had been put into words. He wanted a happily ever after. He wanted it with Tully. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
If he stayed, he’d always be the Hennessy Hooligan who had robbed the gas station. While he could deal with the town judging him, he couldn’t deal with them judging Tully for being with him. She couldn’t deal with it either. She cared too much about what people thought of her. Cared too much what her daddy thought of her. And her daddy would never like her dating someone he saw as a criminal.
“I can’t stay,” he said.
A deep sadness entered her eyes. “I know.” She turned away and headed for the ladder.
“Tully, wait! Let me go first.”
But she didn’t wait. And maybe it was for the best if he let her go and they ended things now. Honky Tonk Heaven was almost finished and Poppy had already started hiring servers and bartenders so they could open before the deadline.
But as he watched Tully disappear over the side of the main deck, his heart felt like it had been cleaved in two at just the thought of never again waking with her naked body pressed against him. Never again feeling her soft hands cradle his jaw as she rained kisses all over his face. Never again hear her sweet moans when he was so deep inside her they felt like one.
And he couldn’t do it.
He couldn’t let her go.
“Tallulah!”
By the time he reached the bottom of the ladder, she was already heading toward the river. He ran faster than he had ever run in his life. But before he caught up with her, Huck came charging up the bank of the river. It was dusk now and he couldn’t see his brother’s face, but he could hear the panic in his voice.
“Honky Tonk Heaven is on fire!”
Tully started running and so did Jaxon. He easily caught up with her and Huck, throwing an order over his shoulder. “Stay at the house, Tully. Let us handle this.” He should have known she wouldn’t listen.
“Like hell I will.”
He and Huck arrived at the house first, but Tully was close behind them. He didn’t try to stop her when she hopped into his truck with Huck.
“What happened?” he asked as soon as they were headed to Honky Tonk Heaven.
“I don’t know. Poppy went into town for a chocolate-dipped cone. Five minutes later, she called and told me that the dancehall was on fire.”
“Where’s Dawson?”
