Johnnie and June Read online

  “I guess I know that, too.” She sat on the barstool and watched him. He slid the cooked eggs out of the pan and added a few more, never turning to face her. She watched him put bread in the toaster before she spoke up again. “Milo, are you okay?”

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah.”

  “Really, because you haven’t looked at me since I walked in the door, and I don’t think that’s normal.” He glanced up at her as if to prove her wrong, but it was such a brief glance that she thought he was only validating her point.

  “I wasn’t ignoring you, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “I know I left before you woke up, but I had to be out of there by eleven. You looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to wake you.”

  “It’s okay, Shea, honestly.”

  She sighed and waited until he placed a plate full of food in front of her. “Milo, I appreciate you listening to me last night and for letting me stay here.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “Yeah, you sure sound fine.”

  He was the one that sighed that time. “Look, Shea, you’re in a transient state right now.” He took a deep breath and finally looked directly into her eyes. “You’re only here temporarily. If we become . . . friends, and you leave, I don’t think I’d enjoy that very much.”

  “I don’t plan on leaving, you know. Not that you’ve asked, but I think you’re right that I could get a job here and it would be fine. He wouldn’t be able to find me just because I’m working.”

  “Okay.” He sat next to her and picked up his fork.

  “The only bummer is that I have to give up the money I wasn’t able to remove from the bank before I left him. There’s a daily limit, and I couldn’t alert him ahead of time by going back a second time.”

  “Good to know.” Milo thought about how much money she might have had as he ate his breakfast. Apparently, it didn’t matter now.

  “So you think I can work in the bar?”

  “I have a bartender class going on right now, and it includes an internship at Carter’s. If you join and don’t suck entirely, you have a job.”

  “You don’t have to check with the owner?”

  He frowned into his coffee. “No, I’m the manager, and it’s part of my duties to hire employees.”

  “That’s good. So, can I start today?” she asked hopefully.

  “No, I don’t go back to work until Monday.”

  Shea got up to grab a mug off the counter and pour herself some coffee. “You have the weekend off?”

  “Lillie covers for me every Saturday night and the occasional Sunday. She likes to go in and be with the people. It’s something she loves.”

  She raised a brow and returned to her seat. “Interesting.”

  “She also runs a tattoo parlor, if you should ever feel the need to get one of those.”

  She paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. “She does both?”

  He nodded. “And she paints for a gallery in Austin. Lillie is a complicated person, Shea. Once you meet her, you’ll understand.”

  “Um, she sounds like she’s got her shit together.” Her brows felt permanently knitted together.

  “Lillie has her shit together more than anyone else I’ve ever known, as a matter of fact.”

  “And I’m far from that, so it sounds scary.” She shoveled eggs into her mouth.

  “She’s very nice, though. Don’t worry about it; she’d like you.”

  “Why would anyone like me after what I’ve done?” she mumbled.

  He looked over at her. “What have you done?”

  “I stayed with that creep despite what he was doing to me. I hid like a baby every time he came in late. I knew he would have stopped at the bar and that he’d be drunk and more likely to beat me.”

  “That makes you a survivor, Shea. Nothing less.”

  “No, I should have—”

  “Stop talking badly about yourself,” he said sharply.

  She fell silent. She didn’t know what to make of Milo, exactly. He was incredibly kind to a perfect stranger, but he was standoffish that morning. He’d erected a wall, it seemed, and she lacked the equipment to scale it.

  “Do you think I’ll be safe here?” she asked in a tiny voice. She hated how scared she sounded.

  “I’ll make sure of it, Shea. Anyone here will. You only have to ask for help around here to receive it.”

  “I’ve never lived in a town where everyone knew everyone else and they were all friendly like that.”

  Milo picked up his empty plate and rounded the counter to put it in the sink. “And I’ve never lived in a town where nobody knows the person next to them on the sidewalk. Even when I was a troubled teenager, I could ask for help and get it.”

  “You were troubled?”

  “Yes.”

  “You?” she asked dubiously.

  “Yes, me. I was in the gang that resides here on the outskirts of town.”

  “No shit.”

  He nodded. “My mom didn’t give two shits about me. She’s gone, now, living God knows where. I had no one to turn to at that point in time other than the Bandidos. I thought they were my brothers. They taught me some bad shit, and I was not a good person,” he said dryly.

  “And yet, now you run the only bar in Abbott, and you take in strays.”

  He smirked at the way she referred to herself as a stray. “And I have friends that aren’t thieves, and I babysit their kids. I still have my bike though, as you’ve noticed.”

  Oh, she’d noticed. He was hot on that bike. “I’m a big fan.”

  “My point is, nobody is perfect. In Abbott, you ask for forgiveness, you’ve got it. You ask for help, it’s given. Nobody would allow you to be roughed up without stepping in.” He turned off the tap and stared at her across the island. “You couldn’t have picked a better place to hide out and get over your creep of an ex.”

  “I might as well have thrown a dart at a map. I guess I got lucky in more ways than one.” She moved around to his side of the counter and slid her plate into the sink. “You were a big part of that luck. You were very good to me that first night.”

  He backed away from her. “None of that talk, Shea.”

  “What talk?” She was amused, but afraid he’d shut down yet again.

  “I’m going to be your boss. There’s no hanky panky allowed.”

  “I can’t even believe you just said the words hanky panky.” She advanced toward him, a predatory gleam in her eyes.

  “I’m not kidding.”

  Shea was fairly positive she could easily convince him it was okay for him to get in her pants, but she wanted him to want her. “Milo, we have amazing chemistry.”

  “Maybe.” He bumped into the wall.

  “Undoubtedly.”

  He swallowed. “You’re not making Abbott your permanent residence. It would be a bad idea to get involved.”

  She ran her hands up his chest, bunching his t-shirt and pulling it over his head as she went. “Says who?”

  “Logic.”

  She grinned and threw his shirt on the floor. “Fuck logic.” She rose on her toes to bite his bottom lip. “Fuck me.”

  Milo groaned. “Shea.”

  “Yes?”

  “You’re making me crazy.”

  “I know.”

  He didn’t want to want her, so why did he feel as if he would explode if he didn’t get inside her again? She was going to break his heart, there was no way around that. If he fucked her or he didn’t, his feelings were already wrapped up in her so completely he couldn’t untangle them if he tried.

  “God dammit.”

  He crushed his mouth down on hers, grinding her hips against his with a grip that stole her breath. She’d wanted the thrill of him losing his cool, and she’d gotten it.

  He pushed her face first into the wall and squeezed her full ass cheeks in both hands. “You tell me if I’m too rough,” he said into her ear.

  She whimpered and nodded.

  He yanked her s
hirt over her head and tossed it behind them. Her bra came next, and he pressed kisses up and down her back. He kneeled behind her, tugging on her shorts. His lips and tongue made a trail of fire over the skin of her lower back and ass.

  “Oh, my God,” she whined. She’d planted her palms on the wall for support, but her knees were so weak she feared her legs would give out any second.

  Milo parted her cheeks and swiped his tongue over her wet heat, pushing her thighs out to widen her stance and plunging his tongue into her pussy. She cried out, pressing her face into the drywall. With fingers and mouth, he covered her front and back entrances with his attention until she fell apart, screaming his name.

  He stood, pulling her hips back to give him easier access, and pulled down his waistband enough to wrap his fist around his cock and tease her with it.

  “Milo, please.”

  He grinned at her panting plea. “Whatever you want.” He pushed into her pussy, grabbing her hips for a second to brace himself against coming.

  Shea’s moan was long and loud. Milo moved, pulling back and slamming in fast enough to have their skin slapping. She pushed against the wall to drive him in deeper, gasping as the head of his cock rubbed her just right each time. Her inner muscles clenched around him, and he grunted.

  “You’re going to make me come, Shea.”

  “Then do it, Milo. Fill me with your cum.”

  “Fuck.” Her dirty words sent him over the edge of reason, and he squeezed his eyes closed against the onslaught of pleasure.

  Her forehead was resting on the wall when he pulled out and turned her around. He gathered her close, resting his chin on her hair.

  “That was even better than our last time.”

  “Are you sure I wasn’t too aggressive?”

  “You weren’t.”

  He was already thinking it was a bad idea to get involved with her, but he knew he was fucked either way. At least this way, they’d both be satisfied. It was the best he could hope for at that point.

  Chapter Seven

  Shea had never been more satisfied in her life. Milo knew what he was doing, that was for certain. She figured if they did that more often, she’d never need to touch herself again. She wasn’t afraid to admit that she liked sex and she liked it frequently. Unfortunately for her, Alex had only wanted sex when he was through beating her which was never a good time.

  She despised herself for putting up with him for so long. It had grown gradually; one minute it was laughter and fun, and then it was criticism over little things, and then it was controlling when she left the house and who she saw. He didn’t like her friends or her job, and when her parents passed away, it was as if he had all the control over her life. She didn’t even know how it had gone that far. When he began going out more frequently and leaving her home alone, she was actually relieved.

  That was about the time he first hit her. It began with a slap to the face when she’d asked where he’d been and who he’d been with. They’d both been shocked, he’d apologized, and she’d immediately forgiven him. That kind of thing wasn’t the Alex she knew, and so she thought it was a one time mistake. Things had been nice for a few months after that, and Shea thought for sure he’d changed. It was as though he’d learned a lesson from that incident and he would never act that way anymore. She’d been sadly mistaken.

  He’d lost a promotion in December and might as well have lost his mind at the same time. He grew more aggressive, more hostile. He stayed out later, drank more, and yelled more. Shea wasn’t allowed to make a move without him hovering over her and asking a thousand questions. The smallest things pissed him off, and he would take it out on her. She thought it was a phase, thought he’d change as he’d done before. If only he could be recognized at work, or maybe he needed to be coddled at home and treated like a king. If he were happy, he would be nice to her. She was wrong again.

  She’d taken to hiding in the closet when he got home from a night of drinking. If he didn’t see her, he’d pass out on the couch. But then he grew furious that he couldn’t find her, and he’d search long and hard until he discovered her hiding place. The first time he found her hiding, he beat her so badly she couldn’t walk right for a week, but she didn’t say anything to anybody. The second time he found her hiding, he added sex to the beating, and still she didn’t say anything to anybody.

  Over and over, she wished she’d reported him. She wished she’d called the police after the first incident. She wished she’d done so many things differently, but it had gotten to the point where she felt that no matter what she tried, Alex would find her and punish her. She’d grown to think of him as omniscient and omnipotent. Nothing she could have done would have saved her from his wrath.

  She’d finally gotten the nerve to leave him when he told her he was moving them across the country. He’d gotten a new job in California, and they were going to live in an apartment. She had no desire to go with him to a new state, to feel even more isolated than she had before. She knew that if he moved her out of state, she would be stuck with him for the rest of her life—which she feared would be shortened if she remained by his side. So, she gathered all the things she could pack in one suitcase and an overnight bag and withdrew as much money as she could take in one day from the bank. She left while he was working, taking busses and cabs, swapping them for Ubers and trains; whatever it took to feel safe.

  As far as she knew, Alex hadn’t followed her. She never got the feeling that he was right behind her, just that he would track her down one day and surprise her out of nowhere. In Abbott, she felt especially safe. It was a town that barely even registered on the map, a town that anyone would, and probably did, drive right by on the interstate. The residents were trusting and friendly.

  Shea hadn’t expected to find Milo, but he was irresistible. She felt safe with him, and she felt that he was someone she could trust. The fact that he’d given her the best night of her life the first time they were together had only confused her. She hadn’t expected to trust anyone else again, and not so soon at that. Using fake names had been the best idea she could come up with to keep him in the dark about her and ensure that Alex had not followed her. She wanted to stay away from men; she wanted to make it alone. She hated feeling that she had to rely on a man for help. The problem was that she was alone in a new town and she couldn’t stop thinking about her Johnnie. No matter what she did to get him out of her mind, he was stuck there.

  The fact that he so graciously let her stay with him proved what she’d thought about him all along. The fact that he wanted to keep things platonic between them was incredibly sweet. Only she didn’t want that; she wanted him.

  He didn’t scare her, and he wasn’t rough with her. He gave her what she wanted and never asked for anything in return. She didn’t know how she’d gotten so lucky, but she wasn’t going to let him get away anytime soon. Milo was the only guy to treat her politely, with compassion and understanding. He respected her and wouldn’t let her say anything negative about herself. Even if the idea of his friend Lillie scared the shit out of her, he sounded as if he’d have her back no matter what. That type of behavior was a foreign concept to her.

  He’d asked if she wanted to watch a movie after their epic sex against the wall. She’d had a shower first and was cuddled up against his side while something banal played across the screen in front of them. She liked his place with its bright colors and untidiness. It was a good reflection of the man, in her estimation.

  She wondered if he’d be up for more fun times since he had the weekend off, or if he was the one and done type. Hell, he was still young, as far as she knew, so maybe he’d be all for a few rounds. She grinned at the thought.

  She snaked her hand under his soft t-shirt, noting the way his abdominal muscles clenched under her fingers. He didn’t move other than that, appearing to be watching the movie intensely. She didn’t know if it was a favorite of his, or if he was just pretending. Smoothing her hand back down his warm muscles, she sn
uck it under the elastic waistband of his sweatpants. Milo had taken a quick shower after she had, and it occurred to her that she hadn’t yet had the chance to taste him.

  He must have figured her out by then because his hips moved up just before she closed her fist around his shaft. A low moan sounded from his throat and she felt a surge of victory run through her. He hardened under her touch and turned his head to kiss her temple.

  “Shea.”

  “Yes, Milo?”

  “You’re insatiable.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  She pumped her hand until he was hard as steel, smiling into his shoulder as he opened and closed his fist on the arm of the couch. His other hand was in her hair, tangling and tugging. She shifted, kneeling on the floor in front of him and pulling his pants out and away from his erection. Licking her lips, she looked up at him and enjoyed the lust in his heavy-lidded eyes when they met her gaze. Shea ran her tongue up the length of his cock, earning a groan, and then closed her mouth over the head.

  “Fuck.”

  She hummed in response, moving up and down over him and marveling at the way his desire turned her on. She squeezed her thighs in an attempt to stem the tide of her arousal, but she felt it leaking out, anyway. She stood abruptly, peeling her clothing off as he stared at her. He licked his lips, and she felt the responding pulse in her clit. She wanted him; she wanted him so much it surprised her. She’d never felt that way for her ex, not that she wanted to think about him right then, but she did for Milo. She straddled him, loving the way he grabbed her hips to hold her close to him as she sank down on his wet, throbbing cock.

  She cried out at the way he filled her, the thickness of him touching her deep. Those long-fingered hands of his went to her breasts, plucking her nipples and pulling them to his mouth to suck and lick. She began to ride him, pushing her knees against the cushion and bracing her hands on his shoulders. The way he looked into her eyes when he fucked her was enough to have her come undone; it got her close, at any rate.