Chapter 1
Georgia Burke slipped a hand down her hip, smoothing her favorite skirt in place as the summer breeze whipped across the lake. The last thing she needed was to flash the Drunken Duck patrons on the patio a look at her girly bits. Granted, they were covered in her sexiest pair of cream lace panties, and she was here to pick up a hot man to do the dirty with, but her newfound brazen spirit only went so far.
If she was lucky it would actually survive until she ordered a drink at the bar.
Georgia’s confidence crumbled as she made her way to the front entrance of the pub and a group of guys on the patio started laughing. Two pointed at her and the third whipped his head around to see her. They all had classically good looks, short hair and lean muscles behind fitted t-shirts.
Young. They snickered at her expense again, but she squared her shoulders and moved into the interior of the pub.
Fuck them and their frat boy mentality.
Women came in all shapes and sizes, and if they expected every female to fit their version of sexy, they were going to be sorely mistaken when they got out in the real world.
Georgia put a little extra swing into her walk as she gathered her confidence again. She had great tits and a curvy build with no shame in showing off. It might’ve taken years to find that confidence, only to have it knocked back by her last boyfriend, but she wasn’t letting any man dictate how she felt about herself ever again.
Fuck that and fuck them.
And with that final thought, she took her size sixteen ass straight to the mahogany bar and ordered a very nice local craft beer on tap. The little pixie behind the bar served it up without fuss and started Georgia a tab.
While she was sipping at her beer and scoping out the crowd, a body bumped into her right arm. The beer splashed down the front of her fitted, white shirt, highlighting the lace bra underneath for anyone to see. After setting her half empty beer down, Georgia turned to face the guy who had yet to apologize or acknowledge he was most definitely in her personal space.
It might be a Friday night on the lake, but it was still relatively early and the place wasn’t busting at the seams yet.
It was one of the college boys from the patio. He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face, staring down Georgia’s top but never really looking at her face.
“Nice rack for a fat chick.”
Before she could speak up, the petite bartender scooped up her glass and handed over a stack of bar napkins. “Apologize to the lady.”
“It was an accident.”
The bartender, all five feet nothing of her, leveled the kid across from her with a glare that could melt the skin off his face and said, “Acting like a dick in my bar will get your ass kicked out.
Now apologize.”
“Babe, this isn’t even your bar. And I’m a paying customer. No one’s kicking me out.”
Georgia raised a lone eyebrow at the kid’s audacity, but the bartender across from her just threw her head back and laughed.
And laughed some more.
When she dropped her head back down there wasn’t any lingering humor on her face. She was all business and looked a little bit deadly.
“That mountain standing behind you,” she lifted a finger to point at a very severe, and very large, man that appeared behind the frat boy, “is my husband.”
“Molly?”
Georgia did a double take when the massive man slapped a hand down on the kid’s shoulder. He was tall, well over six feet, built like a brick house, and completely bald. Dead sexy as well. But that was all secondary to how quickly the frat boy paled when he turned to face Molly’s husband.
“Cal, be a doll and show this dick and his friends off the property.”
The kid sputtered as Cal led him away with a firm grip without another word.
Georgia turned around and faced Molly behind the bar.
“Thanks, but you didn’t have to kick anyone out because of me.”
Molly frowned. “Honey, those fucking clowns needed to go. They’re predators and it was just a matter of time before Cal throat punched them. It was my pleasure.”
Even though she smiled, Georgia didn’t know what to say in response to that, so she just started to mop up her wet shirt.
“You vacationing here? Haven’t seen you around before.”
“My brother lives here and I’m house sitting while he’s road tripping with my
nephew. I just got in this afternoon.”
“You’re Dane Burke’s kid sister? Georgia, right?”
Georgia’s head snapped up. “You know Dane?”
Molly shrugged. “Small town. He’s neighbors with a good friend of
mine. Nice guy. Great kid.”
“Yeah, they’re both pretty great.”
“Welcome to Fox Lake.” She paused, placing a fresh beer down. “Your neighbor in the bungalow is Emma Rae, and her man is Gabe.
You let any of us know if you need something while you’re here.”
Georgia nodded, then sat back and took in the petite woman. Small town hospitality at its finest. She might actually like it here. “I appreciate that. I’m a little out of my element right now.”
Molly leaned forward and rested her arms on the bar before speaking. “Stop back in through the week sometime. It’s typically quieter, and I’ll buy you a drink. We’re going to be friends, chick.”
Georgia let a slow smile spread across her face.
“I’d like that, Molly.”
“Good. I’ll be back to check on you in a bit. Crowds going to be picking up
soon.” She slapped a hand down on the bar before walking away.
Georgia scanned the area again. It looked like everyone was paired off or in groups. So much for her grand plan to score a hot guy for some dirty sex. It was probably a dumb idea anyway. Just because you found your jerk boyfriend sticking it in your friend, in your bed, and in your apartment, doesn’t mean snapping up a random dude at a bar was a good idea.
But it definitely sounded like fun.