Seduced (Whiskey Run Book 4) Read online

  Seduced

  Whiskey Run 4

  Hope Ford

  Contents

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  1. Violet

  2. Josh

  3. Violet

  4. Violet

  5. Violet

  6. Violet

  7. Violet

  Epilogue 1

  Epilogue 2

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  About the Author

  Seduced: Whiskey Run 4 © 2021 by Hope Ford

  Editor: Kasi Alexander

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  About

  All that’s ever mattered to me is football. Until I meet the woman that makes me question everything.

  She thinks I care that she’s older than me.

  She thinks I’ll just give up and forget the one night we had together.

  But that’s not going to happen.

  We may have drunk too much.

  We may have gotten married in a drive-thru wedding chapel,

  But there’s no way I’m just going to let her run from me.

  After months of trying to track her down,

  I finally find her.

  From that point on, I don’t give her an option.

  She’s going to be by my side until

  I know she’s going to stay there willingly.

  She has a secret,

  But I have one too.

  None of that matters because she’s mine now...

  And I’m not letting her go.

  1

  Violet

  I needed time away from the diner. Ever since I took it over three years ago when my parents retired to Florida, I have worked nonstop. My brother has his own mechanic shop and had no interest in the family business, so it was all me. I had to get away or I was going to go crazy. I’ve tried taking time off before, but I always end up at the restaurant. Someone calls in or something stops working—it never fails. This time, I went out of town, and all I can hope for is that the restaurant is still standing when I get back.

  I'm in Jasper. It's only 45 minutes away from Whiskey Run, but it might as well be across the country it's so different. Where Whiskey Run is small and everyone knows everyone, Jasper is big and easy to get lost in.

  I'm pumping gas in downtown waiting on my car to fill up when the black car pulls in. I'm not even gonna pretend to act like I know what kind of car it is, but it's obviously expensive with its sleek curves and black-tinted windows. Like everyone else, I watch as it pulls in next to the pumps. I may not know a lot about cars, but I know this one is impressive. I instantly start making up stories about the driver, wondering what kind of job or life they have. It’s just a thing I do, and even though I’m probably never close to reality, it’s still fun. My pump switches off, letting me know my tank is full. I remove the handle but keep glancing over at the car.

  My mouth drops open when the man gets out. He’s on his phone, clueless to all the stares he’s getting, but my God he is something. He’s at least six foot four, and his shoulders are so big I wonder how he can get through doorways without turning sideways. He’s gruff looking with a pissed-off expression on his face but it doesn’t take away from his good lucks. I fan my face as I walk past his car and inside. The man is hot and way out of my league.

  I go to the ladies’ room to take care of business, and when I go to the coolers to grab a bottle of water, Mr. Good-looking is still on the phone, staring at the refrigerated bottles, and I don’t pretend not to eavesdrop.

  “I don’t care, Nick. This was the kid’s wish. He wanted to have dinner with me at my house.” He pauses for a minute. “Really? The kid just beat cancer and he wants to have dinner with me and you think I should just get him takeout?” After another pause, “I know he’s just a kid, but forget it, Nick. I got this.”

  He hangs up the phone, and before I can get caught standing there, staring at him, I reach around him. “Excuse me.”

  I grab a cold water, and the man behind me grunts. I do my best to ignore him, but I can’t resist looking up into his face. I knew he was tall, but the way I have to almost bend backwards to look up at him really makes it obvious how tall.

  He’s glowering down at me, and I can’t tell if he’s mad that I reached around him, mad about his phone call, or what, but he has a heat in his eyes that is turning my insides to Jell-o. You’d think when you have someone as big as he is looking at me the way he is, I should be scared. But I’m not. Not in the least.

  “Hi,” he grunts.

  Heat fills my face, and I blink, because even the tone of his voice is gruff and sexy. “Hi,” I squeak and then tuck my head and walk to get in line at the cashier. I force myself not to look around, but as soon as I hear his voice behind me, a tingle goes down my spine, making me wish I could just record his voice and replay it when I’m alone in my bedroom. I can’t stop the tremble that shakes my body. “You from around here?”

  When no one responds, I turn around and realize then he’s asking me the question. “Oh, uh no, I’m just here for a few days.”

  He opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, his cell phone rings, and he looks down at it. It looks extremely tiny in his big beefy hand. “Sorry. I gotta take this.”

  I shrug, smile, and turn back around, taking a step forward in line.

  “Thank you for calling me back. My caterer canceled for tonight. It’s only for a dinner of three.”

  He pauses, and I can hear the defeat in his voice. “Yeah, sure I understand. It’s short notice. I get it.”

  I’m starting to notice that people are staring at the man behind me when they walk in. One man asks him for his autograph, and it piques my interest even more, making me realize that I’m obviously standing in line in front of someone famous.

  I pay for my water and walk out of the store when the man in question catches up with me. “Hey.”

  I stop walking and turn toward him. I mean to smile, but I’m sure it looks awkward. I’m not used to talking to random men. “Hey.”

  He’s walking toward me, and before I realize it, he grabs me around the waist and hauls me to the side. I was standing right behind a car that was backing out. I’m breathing heavily, and he doesn’t let me go, even as the people roll down the window and apologize.

  My feet are dangling as he holds me, my arm and water smashed between us. “You okay?”

  I nod because there’s no way I can say a single thing. Our faces are only inches apart. His dark brown eyes are brooding, and my fingers itch to touch the stubble on his chin. This man is lethal and should come with a warning label. I put a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m good. You can put me down now.”

  He grunts, which I’m learning is his way of communicating. He sets me down on my feet but doesn’t let me go. “What’s your name?”

  “Uh, Violet,” I stutter.

  His phone dings, and he pulls it out of his designer jeans with one hand, still not letting me go. I push on his chest, and even though he lets me move away, he doesn’t completely relinquish his hold on me. He stares at his phone, blows out a breath, and puts it back in his pocket. I should force him to let me go, get away or something, but instead I ask, “Bad news?”

  He shrugs. “Another caterer can’t fit me in.”

  Walk away, Violet. Walk away. I put one hand on my hip and with the other I bounce the water bottle against my thigh. “What do
you need a caterer for?”

  “I sponsor a program where we grant wishes for terminally ill children or children that have been sick for a while.”

  My stance softens, and I nod my head, wanting him to continue. “So a child that just finished his cancer treatment last week requested to have dinner at my house tonight. I got an idea from his mom for all his favorite foods, but the chef backed out.”

  Don’t do it. Don’t do it, Violet. You’re trying to get out of the kitchen for a few days. “Who are you?” I ask and realize as soon as it comes out it sounds rude. “I mean, the way people are staring at you, and you’re giving autographs, I’m assuming you’re somebody famous. Not like a killer, rapist...” I blush. “I mean, if I offer to help, I’m not going to disappear with my body parts ending up in some dumpster.”

  He turns me, and we start to walk toward his car. He stops beside it. “You’d help me... just like that?”

  “Uh, you didn’t answer my question. Who are you? And yeah, but I need you to answer the part on whether you’re some killer.”

  He laughs, and it completely transforms his face. He was hot when he was all broody. Now, my God he’s just too much. “Do you watch football?”

  I shake my head. “Like on TV? No.”

  He laughs like what I said was funny, but I wasn’t trying to be funny. “Yeah, on television. My name is Josh Chambers. I play for the Jasper Eagles.”

  I stare at him blankly, and he goes on. “I went first in the draft. Running back.”

  Man, I guess I should know who he is. He sounds good, and by looking at him, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to be on the opposing team, even if I did have a helmet and pads on. “I’m so sorry. I have no clue. But I mean, good for you.”

  He smirks. “Okay, so you don’t know me... but you’re going to come to my house and cook dinner? You know that’s not smart... to meet men you don’t know and go to their house.”

  It’s then I get offended. I mean, I’m trying to help him out. Now he’s making it sound like either I’m stalking him because I do know who he is or I’m some child that needs reprimanded. My face heats as I think about him punishing me, bending me over his lap and spanking me... Oh my God, what is wrong with me?

  I come back to the conversation at hand. “Fine. I’ll give you a recipe. I mean if you really are feeding some kid that just finished chemo, I can walk you through it.”

  “Me cook? I can’t even boil water without setting off the fire alarm. And I want you to come... I mean help me out. I would hate to disappoint the kid.”

  I eye him critically. “Is this like your thing? Am I being pranked or something? Is this a joke?”

  He opens his phone, types in something, and then hands it to me. I’m expecting to see him in football pants holding a trophy or something like that, and damn if I don’t ready myself for that image but instead I’m looking at him surrounded by a bunch of children. There’s a headline and article talking about how much his sponsorship has meant to the children. I only get a few lines in. “I’m in. Just tell me a menu and where I need to be.”

  He shakes his head. “Just like that?”

  I nod, not wanting to offer any more explanation.

  2

  Josh

  My phone dings again, and at this point I want to throw it on the ground and stomp on it. I know it’s my reminder that I’m supposed to be at the field for practice, but I don’t want to leave yet. I want to keep talking to Violet. Who am I kidding? I want to do a lot more than talk to Violet.

  I noticed her when I pulled in and she walked by my car. She’s got curves in her petite little body, and when she reached around me into the refrigerated coolers for a water, it took everything in me not to throw her over my shoulder and take her home with me. She has a body made for sin and a face that I could look at all day every day and never want to look away. The fact that she’s agreeing to come and cook the dinner is insane to me, but I’m not going to turn her down. I don’t care if she burns the food at this point; I want her any way I can get her.

  “It’s for a ten-year-old little boy. I mean, it’s like chicken nuggets, some kind of mac and cheese, he mentioned some kind of apple cake that the hospital treated them with and I’m still trying to track down a recipe, but I have to be at practice five minutes ago.”

  She’s nodding, taking it all in. “I can handle it. I graduated top of my class in culinary school, and I’m pretty sure I know the cake he’s talking about. I got it. I just need an address.”

  I reach into my car and come back out with a piece of paper. I write my address down and hand it to her. “They are supposed to be there at 6 pm.” I pull a key off my key chain and hand it to her. “This will get you inside. I wrote down the alarm code. Oh, and here.” I reach into my wallet and pull out the black American Express card. “Here you go. Get whatever you need with that.”

  She holds her hands up. “That’s okay. I’ll just get it.”

  But I grab her hand and force her to take it. I don’t know why it’s so important to me. Maybe because I’m worried she’s going to back out, and if she has my card, at least she’ll have something of mine that I need to track down. “You’re not paying for it. Take my card.” I hold it out to her until she takes it, and I let out a sigh of relief.

  My phone rings, and when I look at it, seeing it’s my coach, I know I have to answer it. “Hey, Coach.”

  Violet turns to leave, but I reach out and grab her hand to stop her. I walk with her to her car as I talk to my coach. “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in ten.”

  I click the phone off just as she reaches for door. Reluctantly, I let her go, and she gets in. “So I’ll see you later?”

  She smiles up at me. “Yes. I’ll be there. Dinner will be ready by six. Don’t worry. I got this.”

  But I am worried. Not about the dinner or any of that. I’m worried that I’m going to let her drive away and I’m never going to see her again. How she can be under my skin that fast is beyond me, but I know I want to get to know her better.

  I start to shut the door. “Oh, I’ll pay you for your time and services too.” I take my wallet from my front pocket and pull out the cash. It’s five one hundred dollar bills, and I hand them over to her.

  She shoves my hand away. “Hold on to your money. We’ll discuss it later.”

  I pocket the money and say to her again, “All right, so I’ll see you later?”

  “I promise. It’s going to be perfect,” she replies.

  I shut the door and watch as she pulls away. My phone dings again, and this time I ignore it and go over to my own car before pulling out and rushing to the stadium. I should have gotten her number. I shouldn’t have let her out of my sight, but it’s too late now.

  All I can do now is hope and pray that she shows up and I get to see her again. I want her. Seeing her, touching her was like a kick to the gut, and I know I need to see her again.

  I get to the stadium, and even though I’m already late, I pull up my alarm app on my phone and check it. She hasn’t had time to get there yet, but that doesn’t stop me from looking at the camera function just in case she’s already sitting in my driveaway. I turn notifications on so that as soon as someone pulls in it notifies me. Coach is just going to have to deal today. I’m bringing my phone to practice.

  It seems like hours go by before my phone vibrates in my waistband pocket. I keep running and finish the drill before I walk to the sidelines with my phone out. The app opens, and immediately I see her. She’s walking cautiously up the walkway as she looks all around. She’s got her arms full of grocery bags, and my heart starts to pound knowing that she’s going to be in my house, in my kitchen, preparing my food. I’ve never been one for that type of thing, but fuck if it doesn’t make my heart pound in my chest. I haven’t even tasted one morsel of her cooking, but I know I’d eat it every day if it meant I would get to come home to her.

  “Chambers. You too good to practice? Get it together.” The coach is yelli
ng as he jogs across the field. When he stops next to me, I’m still staring down at my phone. I’ve moved to the indoor cameras, watching her in my kitchen. She’s smiling, and I swear she looks like she’s singing. Coach looks over my shoulder. “Well, fuck. Is that your house? Here it goes. I’m telling you, Chambers, this better not get in our way. We have games coming up, and I need your head on straight.”

  I laugh because Coach is a good guy, but he sure is melodramatic sometimes. “Yeah, that’s my new girlfriend. But no worries, Coach, I’m good.”

  “Girlfriend.” He smirks. “Yeah, right. If Josh Chambers had a girlfriend, it’d be all over the news by now. I don’t think so.”

  I take the ball from his hands. “I’m telling you, Coach. She’s mine.”

  3

  Violet

  I don’t know what the hell I was thinking. I mean, I’ve never done anything crazy like this. Going to some stranger’s house and cooking dinner... I mean, that’s off the wall. Obviously, I don’t know how to handle time off. But as I sit around the table eating with Josh and his guests, I’m finding that this has been the best night I’ve had in a long time.

  The meal was an easy one to make and it’s all comfort food. We’ve been eating and talking for over an hour, and I get up to serve the cake. It’s good, because I need to put some distance between Josh and me. Watching him with Trevor makes me like him even more. The fact that he invited Trevor and his mom over for dinner still astounds me. I spent part of the afternoon googling Josh, and everything I read tells me he’s a good guy. He’s all about giving back to his community and helping those in need. The only thing that bothered me at all was all the women that he’s photographed with. The last image I looked at was an article about the Eagles winning a game and the players were at an afterparty. The headline read Who is Josh Chamber’s catch this week? and the picture was him holding a football in one hand and his arm around a beautiful, model-looking woman. I quit looking after that. That right there tells me that even though he is a good man, he’s definitely one I should avoid. I’m not interested in being anyone’s catch of the week. But damn, watching him all night, talking with him... he’s hard to resist.