Second Chance SEAL(101)

Hartley had a table picked out inside and was sitting already. I made a loop around the outside of Maud’s, just making sure that Janey didn’t bring any extra muscle. If she did, there was nobody hanging around ahead of time.

Reluctantly, I headed back inside, steeling myself for the upcoming conversation.

That meeting with Sam told me a lot more about Janey than he realized. Although we had to leave early, since I was worried Janey would get word that I was snooping around about her, I still felt confident that I was beginning to understand her.

She broke bad, went dark, turned into a criminal. All of that was the truth and obvious, but it was the motivations underneath that transformation that mattered. As soon as I heard about land deals and Sam’s marriage to that Sharon woman, I felt like I understood.

Janey wasn’t just a cutthroat gangster, though she probably was that too. More than that, Janey was a business person. She was in this to make money and to set herself up for power. That was why her cousin married Sam, to get an inside track on any upcoming development and land deals. That was why she continued to run the ATV tours, since they were profitable. She was slowly building a power base in Knoxville to rival and defeat the mafia.

I could work with someone like that. If Janey were just some psycho out looking for revenge for her bad lot in life, I’d have to do something different. But she was smart, and that was important.

I headed back inside and sat down with Hartley. I felt my pulse jump as I saw her looking at me, smiling slightly. I loved that way she looked, her body and clothes. She was wearing this tight sundress that made her curves look fucking incredible. I wanted to lose myself in her breasts and hips, but I had to focus.

“Well?” she asked.

“All clear for now.” I opened the menu. “You order anything?”

She laughed. “I can’t eat. I’m too nervous.”

“Don’t be. This is just a business meeting.”

“Does she know that?”

I smirked at her and leaned across the table. “You need to trust me, Hartley,” I said. “Maybe I can help you relax. Maybe I can take you into the women’s room, peel those panties off, and taste that pussy until you feel okay?”

“I’m not sure that’d be the best thing in this situation,” she said simply, hiding a smile.

“Face it. You’re soaking wet now, thinking about what I could do to you.”

“Hardly.”

“Whatever you say. I’ll fully admit that your little sundress gets me hard as fucking hell.”

“Is this all we’re doing now? You’re going to talk dirty until Janey comes?”

“I wouldn’t mind that, though I’d rather do dirty things to you than just talk it.”

She opened her mouth to reply but quickly shut it. “She’s here,” she said after a second.

I turned and saw Janey coming toward us, smiling. She was wearing jeans and an ATV T-shirt, looking like she’d just gotten off work. I stood up. “Janey,” I said. “Good to see you.”

“Same to you, Travis. I was surprised when you called.”

“Why?”

“You seemed a little distant at the tour place. Thought it might be weird between us.”

I shook my head. “Not weird at all.”

We sat back down and Janey smiled at Hartley. “Good to see you again,” she said.

“Same to you.”

Janey looked at me, still smiling, but I could see something behind her eyes. Something dark and harder than at first glance.

“Well, Travis, what’s this little meeting about?” she asked.

I raised an eyebrow. “Catching up with an old friend.”

“Bullshit,” she said. “I know you’ve been asking around about me. I’ve been doing a little digging myself.” Janey smiled at Hartley. “Little miss Hartley Baker. How much exactly does your family owe the Dixie assholes?”

I couldn’t believe how fast she transformed from the sweet southern girl to being all business. It was like she shape-shifted before my very eyes. Hartley looked completely taken aback, but neither of us should have been surprised. Janey hid behind her pretty looks and her confident, earnest smile, but beneath that mask she was all cold-blooded.

I laughed, shaking my head. “Should have known you’d figure us out,” I said.

Hartley shot me a look, even more surprised.

Janey shrugged. “Not much goes down in this town without me finding out about it.”

“Guess you already figured it was me last night that caused all that noise?” I asked.

Hartley was practically having a heart attack in her seat. I kept cool though, trying not to look at her. She knew the general idea of the plan, but she probably hadn’t figured out the particulars yet.