One Last Dance Read online

  ONE LAST DANCE

  Book 2 in the Oak Grove series

  by

  Nancy Stopper

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dear Readers

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

  Dear Readers,

  Welcome back to Oak Grove. It feels like it hasn’t been that long since we visited with Lucas and Sarah, or Butch and Carla, and here we are with another story to share. Joey and Brittany’s story was a fun one to write. Joey’s larger-than-life attitude and Brittany’s spunky one lead to a lot of fireworks, in and out of the bedroom. Joey has been hiding so much below the surface, it was really an adventure to explore his character.

  And Brittany, what a hoot! I can just picture her red stilettos spinning around the dance floor at J.J.’s now! But don’t let her tough exterior fool you, she’s also nursing some deep wounds that maybe only Joey can heal. You’ll just have to turn the pages to see.

  But never fear, your favorite characters that you’ve already come to know and love are still hanging around. You’ll be able to check in with Lucas and Sarah and keep track of what’s going on with Rachel and Michael as well. Those Bennetts are a close-knit bunch—they never stray too far from the fold, no matter how hard they try.

  It’s nearly summer in Oak Grove and that means bonfires and barbeques. So pull up a log, pop a marshmallow on a stick, and stay a while. There are no strangers in Oak Grove.

  Nancy

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  Nancy Stopper

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  Dedication

  To David Keuhner, whose dedication to active-duty military and veteran’s causes was the inspiration for Joey’s.

  Chapter One

  NOBODY COULD CALL Joey Bennett a useless playboy who wouldn’t amount to anything, even though he’d skipped college and hadn’t been able to enlist in the Army like many of his friends. They also couldn’t say his bar and grill wouldn’t succeed, as the proof was spread out in front of him.

  His foot tapped to the upbeat music the band cranked out. The tune had the customers whooping and hollering. He’d expected a full house the first time his bar debuted live music and the expanded dance floor, especially over Memorial Day weekend, but even he couldn’t have predicted the numbers that poured through the door. Customers filled every empty space and overflowed onto the back patio.

  Tonight’s take would be epic. He was sure of it. He’d had a solid business before, but now the pressure of a construction loan hung over his head. If the crowds kept coming like they did tonight, though, he wouldn’t have to worry.

  “Hey, honey, you’re lookin’ good.” The shapely blonde at the end of the bar sent him a invitation with her eyes.

  His smile faltered for a beat, but he screwed it back on before he responded. In the past, the blonde with the smoking hot figure would have been just what he was looking for at the end of a long shift. Not anymore. He’d grown tired of his love ’em and leave ’em attitude. Night after night with one woman or another but always waking up alone. He might look outwardly happy to his friends and family, but the reality was markedly different. Besides, he’d had more important things to focus on over the past six months.

  But he also knew that flirting led to more drinks and bigger tips, so he turned on the charm. “What can I get for you, darlin’?”

  The woman brought a single finger to her pouty lips, sticking her tongue out to lick it while she decided, a move likely intended to be sexy. Finally, with a twinkle in her eye, she said, “How about a cosmopolitan?”

  “Comin’ right up.”

  Damn girlie drinks. Why can’t they drink a beer or a simple rum and coke? He shouldn’t scoff. Every drink ordered was another satisfied customer. Tonight’s success thrilled him, but something was still not right. He was content but couldn’t say he felt happy. Real happiness seemed to be meant for everyone else, not for him. He’d reached for the brass ring once and fallen short. He wouldn’t put himself out there again, not just to be left alone.

  He put on a good front for family and friends. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Regardless, he didn’t need to worry about that tonight. The line was building behind the woman, and his focus should be solely on keeping the customers happy.

  He finished prepping her drink, topped it off with a lemon twist, and slid the drink in front of her.

  “Thanks, honey.” She pulled a bill out of her cleavage, laid it on top of another napkin, and pushed both across the bar, winking at him. “Keep the change.”

  “You got it, darlin’.” Joey stuffed the ten-dollar bill into the pitcher behind the counter. He glanced at the napkin in his hand. The words call me were scrawled in bold red lipstick. Call her? Not a chance.

  He stuffed it in the pitcher that held the other “invitations” he’d been given over the past few hours. He’d asked for this, right? This was what he got for spending the past few years squiring the women of Oak Grove around town but never settling down.

  There had to be more to life than this. His one-night stands had grown stale, but he didn’t think he wanted a relationship. He wasn’t sure where that left him. Alone, probably. Much like he’d been since Shelby left.

  His eyes fell to Lucas, who swayed on the dance floor with his fiancée. His big brother had done well for himself, having gotten engaged to Sarah last month. While Joey stood behind the bar holding… nothing. His eyes twinkled at Sarah, who smiled and laughed with him. Lucas fingered her blonde hair, and she laid her head on his shoulder while he rubbed the small of her back.

  Joey swallowed and his chest tightened. He didn’t want a girl to call his own. Been there, done that. No chance he’d open his heart to another kick in the teeth. Women like Lucas’s fiancée were one in a million. The rest were like Shelby.

  “Hey, man.”

  The tightness in Joey’s chest relaxed when his eyes fell on Sawyer at the end of the bar. Since they were young, his best buddy had always been able to put the smile back on Joey’s face.

  “Am I ever glad you could make it. What can I get you?”

  Sawyer climbed onto the only empty barstool. “Whatever you’ve got on tap.”

  Joey grabbed two mugs, filled both with the new IPA he’d recently added, slid one across the bar, and took a long pull off his own. This was the first chance he’d had to relax since he’d opened the doors hours ago. Leave it to his friend to come in just when Joey needed him.

  “Man, that’s good,” Sawyer said after taking a long drink.

  Joey hadn’t shared with Sawyer, or most of the town, the other additions at the bar—this beer being one of them. Joey was saving those changes for his big announcement at his planned barbeque on Monday. He may not have enlisted like Sawyer
and some of their friends, but supporting the military and their veterans was important to Joey. His launch, surrounded by his family and friends, would demonstrate that.

  There were still a million other things he had to do before the barbeque, but he’d worry about that tomorrow. Tonight was about his grand reopening and showing the town what he could do.

  Wait a minute… Sawyer usually had a late-shift patrol on Friday. “No deputy duties needing your attention tonight?”

  “All’s quiet in town. I think because everyone is here.” Sawyer motioned to the crowd and chuckled. “The boss told me I could leave. Since it’s not often I get a night off, I jumped at the chance. Besides, I’m here if someone decides to get out of line.”

  “Damn straight.”

  Joey turned back to the crowd as he and Sawyer drank their beers. They’d always commented on the ladies but tonight, Joey said nothing, and neither did Sawyer. Was he feeling the same way? The renovation of J.J.’s had the entire town laughing and dancing, but Sawyer and Joey stood at the bar like a couple of wallflowers. The rousing success of the renovations should have produced more than just contentment on his part.

  The band kicked up the pace with a faster song, prompting screams of excitement from the ladies. As the crowd spun into the fast dance, the throng shifted and his eyes locked on her.

  The brunette danced in the middle of a group of women. A magnetic smile that lit the room graced her face. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she laughed with one of her friends. Her tight red shirt showed off her perfect breasts. His palms itched to cup them, to feel them in his hands. He could slide down to her slim waist and pull her shirt out of her jeans. Jeans that clung to her rounded ass and long, sexy legs. Damn. He’d always thought he was a breast man, but a pair of legs like that had him rethinking his priorities. His gaze trailed to the bright red stiletto heels she wore, heels he could imagine wrapped around his waist as he…

  He shook his head. He’d mused earlier about being sick of one-night stands, but here he was debating time between the sheets with the gorgeous stranger. No doubt she was a friend of a friend. He rarely met a woman in Oak Grove that didn’t know someone he’d been with before.

  One more look wouldn’t hurt. He wasn’t made of steel, after all, and her skin-tight outfit deserved to be appreciated.

  It was a good thing he did, too. Walter Michaels sidled up to the brunette at just that moment.

  The creep slid his hands to her hips to dance with her. It figured Walt would hone in on the brunette. Joey’s lip curled and his stomach churned. He and Walt had grown up together, and Walt took every opportunity to one-up Joey. Walt thought he was better than the rest of them. He probably had come tonight to make a mockery of everything Joey had worked so hard for. Well, he’d shown Walt. By all accounts, tonight was a rousing success.

  As usual, Walt was being an ass, showing his disrespect for women and giving Oak Grove a bad name. The smile had dropped from the brunette’s face, and her shoulders stiffened. Even from this distance, Joey could tell she wasn’t happy with Walt pawing at her. He leaned in closer and a look of fear flashed in the woman’s eyes.

  Joey sat his beer down. Not in his town, and certainly not in his bar. No way was that creep going to ruin today.

  Sawyer must have noticed, too, because he stood.

  Joey waved at Sawyer. “I got this.” He wouldn’t tolerate Walt harassing his customers. But as Joey rounded the bar, the woman’s look of discomfort changed as fire shone in her eyes. He’d heard the expression before, but he’d never seen it—until now. Before Walt even knew what happened, she raised her heel and drove it squarely into his foot.

  He howled as he jumped up and down.

  Joey laughed. Good for her. He loved a strong woman, and this one could clearly stand up for herself. The women with her laughed, too, as Walt limped toward the back, wailing and hopping on one foot. After a minute or two, the crowd resumed dancing, the incident quickly over and done. But Joey wouldn’t soon forget the woman who’d put Walt in his place.

  Joey must have stared for too long because by the time he focused again, the woman in question was striding directly toward him like a runway model, her shoulders back and a smile on her face, no evidence of the previous emotions that had marred her beautiful features. She pushed through the crowd and stepped up to the bar.

  He grinned at her and realized that, for the first time tonight, it was a genuine one. “What can I get you?”

  “How about something in a bottle? What do you recommend?”

  “I’ve got the perfect thing.” Finally, a woman who appreciated a good beer. Joey pulled out a bottle of the new IPA, popped off the cap, and slid it across the bar toward her. “On the house. To make up for Walt being such an asshole.”

  “You saw that, huh?” Her entire face relaxed as she laughed. Thick eyelashes rimmed her deep brown, soulful eyes, giving her a doe-eyed look. Her ribbon-shaped lips, painted in a similar bright red color to her shirt and shoes, wrapped around the mouth of her beer bottle as she drew in a long drink.

  His groin tightened. It had been a long time since he’d been turned on without touching a woman. But this beauty, on sight alone, had him hardening. “Yeah. I was impressed.”

  “Thanks. I hope everyone in town isn’t like him.”

  If Joey had his way, he’d show her exactly how the real men in Oak Grove treated their women. With respect. Not that he didn’t want to grab a fistful of her hips like Walt had. But not in the aggressive way Walt had forced himself on her. Joey would seduce her, turn her on to the point that she’d be begging him. Damn. “No. Most of us know how to be a gentleman. Even if Walt doesn’t.”

  “Good to know.”

  The conversation trailed off. Damn the silence. Joey normally wasn’t this tongue-tied around women. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something but closed it again. He could introduce himself. Maybe he could get at least a name out of her. No matter what, he better speak before she headed out into the crowd to find another creep to dance with.

  But instead, she spoke first. “I need to get back to my friends. Thanks for the beer.”

  And then she strode away. What just happened here? After swearing he was done with women for a while, he’d immediately found one who interested him, and he hadn’t even gotten her name. Maybe he’d lost his touch, because everyone knew Joey Bennett appreciated a good-looking woman. At least until recently.

  He didn’t stop watching as she headed to the corner booth. Her hips swayed and she added a little swagger. His gut tweaked with each step she took. When she reached the booth, her head whipped around, her brown hair flipping, and her eyes locked with his. She smiled and then turned back to her friends.

  He couldn’t let her go without getting her number—or at least her name. But before he could regroup and head around the bar, Carla hurried out from the kitchen, frantic.

  “Boss, you gotta get back here. Diego is behind on orders and he’s threatening to quit. Again.”

  Dammit. Duty called… while the brunette was in the bar, smiling up at one of the regulars who had approached her booth. Probably for the best. He had more important things to focus on. He threw a last look at the brunette and as he started to wrench his gaze away, the woman caught his eye and winked.

  Joey smiled. He hadn’t lost it, after all. He’d get her name all right… and her number—as soon as he dealt with the problem in the kitchen.

  The rest of the night was so busy that Joey didn’t have a chance to lay eyes on the sexy woman again. When he finally emerged from the kitchen at last call, the booth she’d occupied sat empty. Oh, well, another missed opportunity. Since he’d sworn off one-night stands, it was a good thing she wasn’t here to tempt him. She wasn’t from around here, and he’d probably never see her again. That didn’t stop his blood from pumping as he pictured her, her hands waving above her head as her body swayed with the music. Why now, when he thought he had everything figured out, did one woman turn every
thing on its ear?

  Joey grabbed a bus tub and walked around the bar. The band had long ago finished playing and packed up. He pressed a button on the jukebox in the corner, and music filled the air. He’d need the music to keep him company while he cleaned up. If the mess in the bar was any indication, tonight was a complete success.

  As he cleared the glasses and plates from the corner booth and swiped the seat with a wet rag, he brushed up against something tucked in beside the cushion. He reached over to find a bright red purse. It had to belong to her. His heart raced as he imagined dancing with her, stepping up behind her, his hands on her hips as they swayed together. He should have done that instead of being so focused on the kitchen. Yeah, his business was important to him, but when had it become more important than the draw of a beautiful woman?

  At least he now had a way to track her down. And track her down he would. If she were just visiting town, she might be the perfect woman to take the edge off. He’d been solely focused on the business in the past few months. With his mind conjuring images like it had, he definitely needed a few hours between the sheets with a willing woman.

  He tucked the purse behind the bar, and with broom in hand, he headed back onto the floor to finish closing.

  Chapter Two

  BANG, BANG, BANG. The bar’s heavy front door stung Brittany’s palm as she smacked the wood, trying to get someone’s attention. A Closed sign fluttered in the window, mocking her while she stood outside. Shadows moved inside—someone was still there. It wasn’t like she wanted a drink. She just needed her purse. Karen had told her it would be okay until tomorrow, but that wasn’t good enough.

  With her hand above her eyes, she peered into the window.

  A person was cloaked in the shadows at the back of the room. His back was turned, and he obviously didn’t hear her knock. She pounded again and the man spun around. With a tilt to his head, he peered toward the window.

  She gasped. It was him, the bartender she’d flirted with. She hadn’t planned on meeting anyone on her visit to Oak Grove, but she couldn’t help herself. Once she laid eyes on him, she couldn’t look away. His smile drew her in, but that wasn’t all. She’d also seen an emotion below the surface when he was focused on his work and the bar. His smile didn’t reach his eyes and felt forced at times. He was handsome and rugged, not “metro-sexual” like a lot of the men she met in New York. Broad shoulders, thick brown hair, intense eyes. Exactly the kind of man she’d choose if she were looking for one. Which she wasn’t. That wasn’t why she’d come to town, and she certainly had no intentions of starting any kind of relationship with any man in Oak Grove.