Southern Chance (Southern 1)

“Let’s just say I’m working,” I say, not bothering to tell him about a phone call I got this afternoon.

“What’s wrong?” I answered the phone after seeing Casey’s name.

“We have a situation,” he said, and I sat up at my desk. We had come up empty with the mystery guy. “The girls are making me take them dancing.”

“Dancing?” I repeated, making sure I had heard him right the first time.

“Kallie wants to go to the bar,” he said, his voice lowering.

“But …” I didn’t know what else to say.

“I tried to tell her, but she cut me off every time.” He sounded defeated. “I’m giving you a heads-up.”

“I’ll meet you there,” I said and hung up and then called Beau.

Now here I am walking toward the place I never go to. Especially not on a Friday or Saturday night. I pull open the door, and I’m shocked to come face-to-face with the woman who has my insides all twisted up. Who is everywhere. She’s on my mind when I wake up in the morning. She’s on my mind no matter what I do. She’s even in my dreams. I look at her, and my mouth hits the floor. I look over at Casey, and I want to ask what the fuck is he thinking taking her to go out like this.

“Well, this just got interesting,” Beau says beside me as he walks in to hug Kallie. I want to yank him back by his T-shirt and hopefully choke him at the same time. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”

“If you touch her again, I’ll make you blind,” I mumble under my breath. When Olivia chuckles, I have to wonder if I said that out loud.

“We should get a drink,” Olivia says, looking at Casey. “Can you get me a drink, cowboy?” She stands in front of him, and I have to wonder what is going on with him. It’s no secret he knocks boots, but he’s never been seen with a woman out.

“Whatcha want, darlin’?” he asks, and she shrugs her shoulders. “Okay,” he says. Then he grabs the back of her head and pulls her to him, and he kisses her on the mouth, leaving no mistake that she’s his.

“I’ll be back. Get a table,” he says, turning and walking away while Olivia puts her hand to her lips.

“What the hell was that?” She looks at Kallie, who just throws her head back and laughs, making her breasts stick out even more. There should be a dress code in here.

“That,” she says, pointing at Casey, “was him throwing down.” Olivia just looks at her. “He’s making sure that everyone knows you’re off-limits.”

“Are you saying he just marked me,” she asks, ticked, “like a dog that pees on a fire hydrant?”

“More or less,” Kallie tells her. “Now let’s get a table, and then I can show you a two-step dance.” She turns and looks at Beau. “See you later.” She turns and sways away, her ass molded in her jeans. With the way her hair swings from side to side, you see that the back of her top is a corset with the bow tied at the bottom. She was a girl when she left, but there is no mistaking that Kallie Barnes is all woman now.

“I know you don’t want to hear this,” Beau says, “but Jesus fuck, Kallie is—”

“I’ll rip your tongue out of your mouth if you finish that sentence,” I say and look around to see Grady and a couple of the guys here. After I called Beau, I called a couple of the guys in and told them I needed extra eyes with me tonight, and I wasn’t wrong. The place is packed with people coming from two towns away.

Savannah took her little dream and made it a reality. Besides Ethan, this is her second love. I just hope no one ever finds out how she really bought this place. I look at the bar and see Casey talking to some of the guys who work for him. They follow him to the table where the girls are sitting. Some people stop to say hi to Kallie as the music just gets louder.

“It’s like she’s a sitting duck,” Grady says from beside me all of a sudden, and I nod. “Is it safe to assume she’s off-limits?” I just look at him, and he holds up his hands with a bottle of beer in one of them. “Enough said.” What the fuck is it that all the men around me want to get to know her?

Following Beau, I make my way to the bar as he sits on the stool at the end of the bar. No one sits on that stool but him. Savannah actually keeps it behind the bar, and he gets it when he comes in.