Chapter 1
Susanna stood by the bar watching the other women and hired staff set up for tonight. The floors looked clean and shiny, the bars were all well stocked, and the band was ready to play. She heard them testing the mike. “One, two. Testing…one, two.” She gave a wave, letting them know that she heard them loud and clear. She had that excitement bubble in her belly again. Every night before they opened she’d have that feeling. This was a special place owned and operated by her and her five friends. As soon as her cousins showed up, they’d have a share in it, too.
She looked at Ava and the others as they approached. Ava handed her the magazine, and she smiled wide. She still couldn’t believe it, and in under two years’ time.
Susanna stared at the article and the large photo on the cover of the magazine while the others gathered around her. Their dance hall and bar, Dixie Chix, had made the top-ten list in the very famous Texas magazine.
“Holy crap!” Paula stated as she played with her long brown hair, bringing it to one side of her shoulder as she smiled wide. “I know I keep saying that, but, damn, this is awesome.”
“I know. This is great, but it’s also scary,” Susanna told her.
“Scary how? This is why we’ve been working so hard. This is why we settled here in Delite instead of any other Southern state, Susanna. You and Ava have been working your asses off,” Elise added. She was so confident now and outspoken. It was a drastic change from the shy, battered woman of three years ago. Susanna was proud of her.
“We’ve all been working our asses off,” Ava stated, and Susanna smiled. Ava, with her long red hair, had really taken to a position of authority and leadership. She just needed a push from Susanna and the daily support of the crew of friends. Susanna smiled.
“This call
s for a celebration,” Juliet chimed in.” She was a petite little thing and full of energy and sweetness. She was shy and only recently began to come out of her shell but just barely. Susanna worried about her just like she worried about all of her friends.
“No celebrating until Alexa and Sally are with us,” Susanna said, and everyone nodded their heads in agreement. It still wasn’t safe for her younger cousins to join her in Delite. She was worried. She hadn’t heard from them in a few weeks and she was concerned for their safety. She took a deep breath as she looked around the dance hall. She needed to distract herself from those types of thoughts.
Susanna had done some major growing herself. Her confidence and self-esteem had been nonexistent before she escaped. It was a do-or-die situation three years ago, and if she had stayed, she knew she’d be dead, whether it was by their hands, his hands, or her own.
“Let’s get back to work. We need to get things in order in case this article makes Dixie Chix even busier,” Ava interrupted as if sensing Susanna’s thoughts. Her cousins were on all their minds. They had a strong bond, the seven of them, and none of them would rest until they were together again and safe from harm.
The group of women each had a story, a tale about their lives and their young pasts. They grew stronger together. One unit, one family, and they would fight their battles together to the end.
Susanna watched as everyone headed back to work, preparing their stations and checking on staff. They had come so far in just two years’ time. Glancing around the large venue, she remembered knowing the moment she saw the old warehouse exactly what she wanted to create. They each had money to contribute and each had a share in Dixie Chix, and that was why it was so successful. It was a safe and fun place for both locals and travelers to go. Now that it made the top-ten list, their place would become even more famous. She swallowed hard. With fame and recognition came exposure. She didn’t have a problem with that except her face needed to remain hidden. Her last name wasn’t even real, just like Juliet’s and Ava’s. They had no choice. Their pasts could come looking even after all this time.
She took a deep breath and walked toward the back room and the entrance to the elevator. She needed to change upstairs then get some paperwork done before they opened.
* * * *
A few hours later, Susanna stood in the control room with security, watching on numerous cameras as another successful night continued. Dixie Chix was a success because of their combined hard work, and she was proud of them. Ava, Juliet, Paula, Elise, and Susanna just wanted to make a good living, put their pasts behind them, and succeed without having to spread their legs.
It seemed their five-year plan had worked. Now all they needed was to hear from Alexa and Sally. The seven best friends for life would be back together and living the way they should be instead of under the controlling command of men.
She swallowed hard as she stared into one of the several cameras on the panel in front of her. By the entrance she noticed Don, one of their bouncers, flirting with a young woman who definitely wasn’t legal age to be entering the bar. Twenty-one and over was a rule for good reason, but lately Don had been breaking that rule, and she had given him his last warning two weeks ago. He had a bad attitude to boot, and some of the other staff members were complaining. She didn’t need the trouble of serving to underage people or breaking any other laws or regulations in this business. They ran a clean and safe establishment. They couldn’t allow fast growth and bad employees to ruin that for them. They even scored high with the health inspector. One of the health investigators lived in the community and loved coming here with his wife to line dance. There were others to worry about, too. One of them came to mind immediately. If Sheriff Parker or one of his deputies caught Don or someone else serving to underage people, they would be on her ass. Those men and women in the sheriff’s department were intimidating. One man in particular seemed to be hanging around more lately, and it made Susanna very uneasy, never mind her friends. The seven of them, including Alexa and Sally, had done their share of illegal shit over the years in hopes of survival. Susanna cleared her head. Why the hell am I thinking about that? We’re fine now. We can each breathe easy knowing that with hard work and commitment, things can only improve for us.
“What do you think, Susanna?” Carl asked her. He was head of security and cousins with the good sheriff. Usually, Carl had his eye on Juliet. She worked the bar area, being sure that the bartenders didn’t give the stuff away. In the past two years since opening, the place had become so busy they had to hire on some locals to add to their staff. They were having trouble with Don, but the other ten staff members were working out just fine, thanks to Carl and his brother Richie. They knew a lot of ex-military types and also wives of ex-military who needed work and were trustworthy.
“I think I’m going to have to let him go tonight,” she responded.
“I think you’re going to have to let him go right now.” The deep Texan accent came from behind her at the entrance to the security room.
She turned and was shocked to see the sheriff of the town of Delite, Texas, BJ Parker, standing there out of uniform and looking just as intimidating without the badge. The man had such a grand personality it made her shake in more ways than just with fear. He, too, was ex-military just like most of the town. It really wasn’t a small town at all, and besides the surrounding city, it made for a great location for Dixie Chix.
She placed her hands on her hips and gave him the evil eye.
“You’re not supposed to be up here.”
He raised those big green eyes at her and gave an expression as if saying, “Honey, I can do as I please. I’m God.”
She heard Carl chuckle in the background.
She whipped her long blonde hair around and gave Carl a dirty look. “Keep an eye on things, will ya? I apparently need to speak with the sheriff.”
She confidently—well, at least she hoped that she appeared confident—walked toward him with her tight, short skirt, sequined, sheer blouse, and sexy cowgirl boots.
“Shall we?” she asked with attitude and nodded toward the door, waiting for him to exit, but he had other intentions.
“You first, ma’am.” He tipped his black Stetson while his other hand gestured for her to precede him.
She instantly inhaled his cologne and felt the zing of attraction the moment her body brushed by his very large muscular one. She knew that if she touched him, he would feel hard as stone. Many nights she imagined his other parts being hard as stone, and boy did those nights make for the worst sleep ever. She wasn’t sure what she feared more, the fact that she was attracted to a man after several years or the potential of being intimate with a man after how she had been treated in her past. She trusted her judgment, but it was easier keeping her pussy dormant than taking a chance of losing all control and power again. The sheriff had that superior personality, and with his good looks and amazing body, it would be hard for a nun to not spread her legs to get a feel. Susanna tried to shake the thoughts from her head.
She made her way down the hallway and to her office, the sound of her boot heels clicking on the hardwood floors and his echoing louder while he walked behind her. She knew he was checking her out. Ava, Juliet, Paula, and Elise had been teasing her relentlessly for the past year. They believed that the only reason why she had gotten the permit and town board approval for the dance hall was because the sheriff had been in the town municipal building that day and was instantly interested in her.
Well, she really shouldn’t entertain the attraction, especially since his brother Monte, some sort of security expert and ex-military man, had been sniffing around her, too. She sure wouldn’t like to cause trouble between brothers. Although ménage relationships were not uncommon in in town of Delite, Texas, she wasn’t interested. Her past made her cautious.
She allowed the sheriff entrance to her office and walked over toward the front of her desk. She turned around to give him a piece of her mind and let him kno
w that she was more than capable of handling Don when she saw him close the office door and lock it.
“What are you doing?” she asked him as she placed her hands on her hips. He gave her a sexy smile then leaned against the door and stared at her with his arms crossed in front of his chest. She could barely make out the green color of his eyes under the rim of the Stetson.
“I’m at my wits end with you, Susanna.”
Damn him and that sexy smile, those long, thick, jean-covered thighs, and his superior presence. He towered over her by more than a foot. He looked cocky and confident even without the badge.
“I can handle this, Sheriff. So if you don’t mind, I’ve got things to do.”