His Revenge

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Tiffany

We’d had a particularly hard day at the Dairy King, the little café my parents bought seven years back. We’d moved out of the Dallas suburb of Seagoville when they bought the place in Carthage. The café came along with a small two-bedroom house that sat behind it. Mom and Dad, along with my younger brother and sister, had moved into it, and I got a small apartment not too far from them for my daughter and me to live in.

With Jasmine at my parents’, I decided to hit the local bar, The Watering Hole, for a little drink before going home myself. Dad had put corndogs on sale for a quarter at the Dairy King, and the whole town had to have what seemed like five apiece. I’d spent the entire day on the fryer. My legs ached, my back hurt, and my brain was just about as deep fried as all those corndogs I’d dunked.

Heading into the dimly lit bar, I looked the room over to see who all I knew there. I could hardly believe my eyes when they landed on a tall, dark-haired man with the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen.

I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. Like a moth to a flame, I was drawn to the man—much the same way I’d been back in our high school days. “Jasper Gentry. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Jasper had grown into quite a man over the years we’d been apart. He stood and wrapped his strong arms around me; he smelled like leather and sunshine, and I felt like I’d come back home with him holding me like that. “It sure has, Tiff.” He let me go but left one arm draped over my shoulder as he steered me to sit at another table. I noticed that he’d been sitting with his older brother, Tyrell, and I should’ve said hello to him, but I couldn’t quite pull my attention away from Jasper for even a second.

The broad shoulders and wavy dark hair that I knew was so thick and lustrous and soft to the touch, that it all came together, reminding me of the days when he and I were like one. “I just can’t believe I’m seeing you here in Carthage, Jasper.”

I took the seat he’d pulled out for me, my eyes glued to him as he sat down in the other chair, then pulled it closer to me, the sound of the wooden legs scraping against the hardwood floor.

“I can’t believe I’m seeing you here, either, Tiffany McKee. It’s been a very long time since I’ve laid eyes on you. How long have you been here?”

“Since high school graduation.” I’d left town without telling him a thing. I’d thought it best to do that at the time. “My parents bought this little café here in Carthage, and we all made the move with them.”

“So, Bo and Carolina are here, too?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Carolina got married last year. She moved to Abilene. And Bo joined the Marines. He’s on his second tour.”

Jasper’s eyes went wide. “Wow, it’s hard to believe that hyper little brother of yours went and joined the military. And the Marines of all things. Just, wow. And you’re doing what now, Tiffany?”

“Working at the café. It’s called Dairy King.” I wasn’t sure if I would tell him about my daughter or not. So, I didn’t say a thing about her.

“You living with your folks then?” he asked as he reached over and played a little with a lock of my hair, making me tingle just a little inside.

“No, I’ve got my own place.” I knew what he’d ask next.

“So, you wanna show it to me?”

I laughed. “No.” His bearded face was so familiar to me, yet so unlike how he used to look. “I see you finally got enough hair on your face to make a real beard instead of that peach fuzz you used to have.”

His fingers grazed my cheek. “Yeah, I’m all grown up now, Tiff. And so are you. Come on. Let me come over.”

It wasn’t like I could actually allow him to come over anyway. “Look, I’ve got a little girl to think about. I don’t want to ever have men coming and going around her. That’s why you can’t come over.”

I saw his chest stop moving as he held his breath, then slowly released it. “You and her daddy have anything going on?”

“No, we do not.” I hadn’t had a thing to do with Jasmine’s daddy since leaving Dallas. “He’s not in her life—never has been.”

“I’d say that was a real shame, but then I’d be lying.” With a sly and sexy smile, Jasper leaned in real close—so close I thought he might kiss me. “I’m glad to hear you have no ties getting in my way of getting you back where you belong, girl.”

I couldn’t ever get back together with Jasper Gentry. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but I can’t start seeing you. I can’t start seeing anyone. Since I had my daughter, I’ve kept to myself. It’s best that way.”

“Even mommas need love, Tiffany.” His lips barely brushed my cheek. I felt the whisper of his warm breath on my skin.

The flood of desire that rushed through me took my breath away. “Oh, Jasper, you are still bad, aren’t you?”

He leaned back, giving me space. “I wouldn’t say that. I still have it bad for you, Tiff, that’s all. Always have. When your whole family disappeared without a trace, I did more than worry about you. And to be honest, I was kind of hurt that you hadn’t told me a thing about you leaving. I mean, why not tell me, the guy you were seeing, why you had to move and where the hell you were moving to?”

I had my reasons—good ones. “We were kids, Jasper. I’ll have you know that most young couples don’t last. It was time to move on. How would you have gotten to Carthage to come see me anyway? You had no car, no money, no way of getting to me. So, why tell you where I’d be? I felt it best to sever all connections. I stopped talking to my friends from Seagoville, too. I just wanted a brand-new start.”

I wanted to be where no one could look at me with sad eyes and wonder what had happened to little Tiffany McKee—she’d had so much potential until she met that boy and got herself into trouble.

At least in Carthage, no one knew me. I would’ve experienced those looks and more had I stayed in my hometown. But I couldn’t explain that to Jasper.

“Yeah, I know you stopped talking to them.” His blue eyes moved slowly over my body. “I asked around about you. I asked them all. No one knew a damn thing. Not even your younger brother’s and sister’s friends. Why did they dump their friends, too, Tiff?”

They did it for me.

“We all wanted a fresh start.” I knew that sounded insane, but I had nothing else to say.

His eyes cut away from me as if he were a little upset or mad about my answers. “I had no idea life was that damn bad for you guys back then.”

It hadn’t been bad at all. My father had managed a popular restaurant in Dallas and made great money doing it. We’d had plenty of money, a nice home, nice cars—the works. My brother, sister, and I made good grades and were popular in school. Our abrupt departure didn’t make any sense.

“It wasn’t that bad.” I boldly reached over and ran my hand over his shoulder, feeling the muscles he had grown in our time apart. “It was more like we came to this town to start a business and wanted to give it our all. I enrolled in an online college and got my bachelor’s degree in food science, so I could bring more to the table at the café. We dove into the business headfirst.”

“But you’d always talked about going to Texas Tech,” he reminded me. “And not for food science, either. You wanted to get a degree in agriculture so you could work with animals one day. So, your parents buying some little café changed everything you’d ever wanted? Them buying a café made you not want me anymore, either? I could’ve come with you, Tiff. I didn’t have a damn thing else to do.”

I couldn’t tell him that I chose online courses, because I didn’t want any of my schoolmates to see my big belly.

“I wouldn’t have asked you to follow me around, Jasper.” And I couldn’t have counted on him to be able to do what was best. The fact was, Jasper Gentry was on the immature side when we’d graduated. His only goal after graduation was to get a job flipping burgers, so he could get free meals. “What did you end up doing anyway?”

“I got a job at the Piggly Wiggly stocking groceries at night.” A smirk pulled his lips up. “But I don’t do anything at the moment.”

I knew he’d turn out to be a loser.

“So, your older brother moved here, and you came along for the ride,” I said, knowing that was what had happened. Jasper wasn’t one to have big dreams.

I couldn’t fault him. His father made very little money and didn’t seem to care at all about trying to get a better paying job. He had poor role models; I’d never blamed Jasper entirely.

“Nope.” Jasper looked me right in the eyes. “I’m not riding anyone’s coattails, Tiff. My brothers and I have recently inherited our grandfather’s ranch. Whisper Ranch is now ours, and so is all the money that comes with it.”

Whisper Ranch is theirs?

“I knew the man who owned it was a Gentry, but how in the hell was he your grandfather when you all lived the way you did?” I knew it came out sounding rude, but I was at a loss.

“My mother and father have been keeping secrets. My grandfather didn’t approve of their relationship, and my father chose love over money.” His hand trailed over my shoulder. “We Gentrys are passionate men. I thought you needed to be reminded of that fact.”

I didn’t need to be reminded of anything—I’d never forgotten how passionate this guy could be. And that was back when he was just a teenager. By now, he just had to be out of this world in bed. “Jasper, no one ever said you lacked passion—just money.”

“Well, I’ve got more than I can ever spend now, honey.” Once again, his eyes moved over my body. “But you don’t care about that, do you?”

Not about that.