Dawson put her down and Magnolia tugged her dress back in place. “Dawg? Well, that’s appropriate. Here I thought the entire town was wrong about you and you were just a misunderstood sweet book nerd. Boy, was I wrong. Just so you know, you don’t have to put up with me. You can find another place to buy your precious books.” She looked at Tully. “Come on, Tulls. Let’s get out of here.”
Tully wanted to leave. She really did. She just couldn’t get her feet to move. Not with that golden gaze pinning her. Magnolia sent her a questioning look, then sighed.
“Okay, I get it. You have some unfinished business here. But I’ll expect you to call me later with all the deets.” She hobbled to the microbus since her broken high heel seemed to be missing. Before she climbed in, she looked back at the Hennessys. “Sorry about letting the air out of your tire, Jaxon, but you deserved it.” She turned, her gaze narrowing on Dawson. “I’d watch my p’s and q’s, Country Thor, or I’ll do more than let out a little air in your tires.” She got in and peeled out, with a grinding of gears and a spray of gravel.
Dawson blinked. “What the fuck?”
Poppy socked him in the arm. “I think you just met your match, Country Thor. Now come on, y’all. Like Ditzy Barbie said, Tully and Jax have some talking to do.”
But once the Hennessy siblings had gone back inside Honky Tonk Heaven, Jaxon didn’t say a word. Tully might have turned around and walked home if not for the emotion she read in those warm honey eyes. Regret . . . longing . . . and something that made her heart beat faster and her lungs feel airless.
Finally he spoke. But it wasn’t what she expected. “So now that you aren’t a deputy anymore, you’ve turned to a life of crime?”
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say to me?”
He took a deep breath before he released it. “No, but damned if I know where to start.”
Her heart sank because there was only one explanation for that.
“You don’t need to search for the right words, Jax. I’m a big girl who can handle a break up—especially when you never made me any promises.” She moved closer. “But you did make a business deal with me, which is a promise. So you can walk away from me, but you can’t walk away from our partnership. Unless you want me suing your butt, we have a dancehall to finish.”
She turned to leave, but his hand shot out and stopped her. When she whirled around, his eyes were confused. “Partners? That’s all you think I want us to be? Business partners?”
“Isn’t it? You called me a little tattletale and then ghosted me. What should I think?”
“That maybe I was working my ass off trying to make sure you got your dream.”
She stared at him. “What?”
He let go of her arm and looked away, running a hand through his hair and further pulling it from his ponytail. Sawdust sprinkled down from the dark strands and landed on his broad shoulders as he looked back at her.
“I’m sorry, Tallulah. I’m sorry for all the things I said the night of the fire. And I’m really sorry I listened to Huck and Poppy’s relationship advice. They seemed to think, since you love Honky Tonk Heaven so much, cleaning up the fire damage would be the perfect way to apologize. And since words have never been my forte, I went along with their lamebrain idea. But now that it doesn’t look like we’re going to meet the deadline, I should have just had enough guts to face you with the truth.”
He stared at her with the heart-stopping, breathtaking look again. “I love you, Tully. I don’t know how it happened. All I know is one second my heart was cold and dark and the next it was flooded with warm light and I was happier than I’ve ever been . . . until our fight. Then everything went back to dark. I guess what I’m trying to say is that you are my light, Tallulah Gentry. And I don’t want to live without you. I know I come with a lot of baggage—baggage you might not want to deal with. Especially now that we aren’t going to make the deadline and I can’t give you your dream. But if there’s any chance that you feel the same way?—”
She threw herself at him and cut him off with a kiss. There was a moment when she was the only one doing the kissing, then his arms came around her and he started to participate.
It was hands down the best kiss of her life. Not because of the hungry slides of his lips or the sultry brushes of his tongue, but because of the love that was in each hungry slid and sultry brush.
When they finally drew apart, they were both breathing hard . . . and smiling.
“I feel the same way, Jaxon,” she said. “I didn’t know what true happiness was until you showed up into my life and taught me how to be who I really am. You helped me figure out what I wanted in life. And it’s not an old dancehall.” She smiled softly. “It’s you.”
He looked stunned. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent positive.” She hesitated. “Now that doesn’t mean I don’t want an old dancehall too.”
Disappointment filled his eyes. “I’m sorry, Tull, but there’s much more work to be done than time left to do it.”
The door flew open and Huck stepped out. “But that doesn’t mean we should quit.”
Dawson filed out behind his brother. “It would be a waste of time, Huck. We can’t do everything we need to do in a week.”
Poppy joined her brothers. “What would be a waste is all the time and money we already spent. Which is why I vote with Huck to keep trying.” She looked at Tully and smiled. “I guess that makes you the deciding vote, Princess.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Tully was in Honky Tonk Heaven.
