Dirty Tricks One Up On You html

  Dirty Tricks: One Up On You

  by Myla Jackson

  Copyright © 2011, Myla Jackson. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Editor: Layla Chase

  Cover artist: Myla Jackson

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  One Up On You

  Charli Sutton sighed and swiped the surface of the bar, her hand moving in slow, listless circles, her gaze following Kendall Mason and Ed Judson as they spun and laughed around the dance floor.

  "What's wrong, Charli?" Audrey, the owner of the Ugly Stick Saloon, relieved Charli of the rag and tossed it into the sink behind the counter. "You haven't been yourself lately."

  "I don't know." Charli heaved another sigh. "I think I'm missing Austin." She filled an order for a cowboy in a black T-shirt, sitting at a barstool and turned back to Audrey.

  Audrey shook her head. "I don't miss Austin. That's where Randy and Jason live. I've never been happier getting as far away from the city as I could."

  "Yeah, I don't miss them, but I miss the nightlife and the variety of people you met there. I've been here with you at the Ugly Stick from the start, but I'm...well..." She flung her hand in the air. "I don't know."

  "Bored? Lonely? Need to get laid?" Audrey chuckled. "I can understand that. Been feeling a little that way myself."

  "You?" Charli blinked hard and stared at her boss, noting the beautiful strawberry blond hair and light blue eyes. "How could you be bored or lonely? You're gorgeous."

  "And driven to make this place work. I don't have time to date. But you," she waived a hand in her direction, "have no excuse. You should be out there dating."

  "Yeah, but it's been so long, what do I do? I'm starting to feel itchy. Wanderlust is tugging at me, making me want to leave or do something different." Charli pulled a beer mug from the shelf above her and filled it halfway from the tap, swallowing a healthy slug before she set it on the counter. The cool beer slid down her throat but did nothing to take the edge off her twitchiness.

  "Are you unhappy being the assistant manager of the Ugly Stick?" Audrey asked.

  "No, don't get me wrong." Charli leaned on the counter and sighed again. "I love my job."

  Libby Hammons, with silky brown hair and deep cleavage flashing out of her low-cut blouse, slid her tray on the bar and offloaded the empties.

  Even Libby managed to find dates in this little corner of Texas.

  "Need 5 whiskey shooters, you choose the whiskey, a pitcher of Bud Light, a fruity wine cooler and five mugs for table twelve." She pushed her curly blond hair behind her ears and glanced over at Audrey. "I could use a hand with the tables in the far corner. Tia picked a bad night to be sick."

  "I'll take care of them." Audrey grabbed an empty tray and hurried to the corner where the waiting customers were getting restless.

  After Charli filled Libby's order and sent her on her way, she sighed for the hundredth time and slumped a hip against the bar.

  "That's a mighty big sigh for such a pretty little lady."

  Charli glanced at the man sliding onto the stool to her left. "What can I get you?"

  "Guinness." He leaned both elbows on the counter, the movement stretching his blue chambray shirt over broad shoulders.

  A tug of latent awareness pulled at Charli's gut. "Need a mug?"

  "No, I like it straight from the bottle."

  That tug blossomed into full-fledged attraction—the first she'd felt for a male in at least four months. Charli popped the top off the bottle and plunked it on the counter in front of the stranger. "You're not from around here, are you?"

  "Actually, I am." He downed a healthy swallow and turned halfway around to watch the crowd on the dance floor.

  Charli's brows dipped. "I haven't seen you in the saloon."

  "Just back from a tour in Afghanistan. Before that, I was too busy preparing for deployment to stop in."

  "Oh." Charli's interest perked and she looked closer. She should have known he was in the service. Hair cut short on the sides, his face angular, tanned and lean, the man reeked of military, his movements confident, strong and proud. Not a bad looking guy.

  He faced her again, a smile lifting his lips, his teeth shining white in the semi-darkness of the saloon. "I'm Connor Mason, Kendall's older brother." He held out his hand.

  Her brows lifted and she shook the man's hand, a jolt of awareness shimmying through her body. "Ah yes, Kendall talks about you all the time. Nice to finally meet you."

  "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Audrey."

  "It's nothin'”. Charli shrugged. “I like moving around. I grew up in a family that moved every two years. I'm hitting the two-year mark here."

  "Thinkin' about leavin' then?" He swirled the beer in the bottle of Guinness, his attention there.

  Not on Charli, as if he didn't really care what her answer was. A stab of disappointment made her reply short, "Yeah. I think so."

  His chin came up and his lips twisted. "Be a cryin' shame. I was hoping to get to know you. To me, you're a fresh face to Hole In The Wall, Texas."

  "Thanks, but I live in Temptation." The blue funk she was in lifted slightly, a glimmer of hope making her smile.

  The cowboy in the black T-shirt lifted a finger to capture her attention. "Can I get another beer?"

  Charli hurried toward him, anxious to take care of his order and get back to her conversation with Connor. "Another draft?"

  "Yes, ma'am." His lips quirked up on the ends.

  After filling his order, Charli hurried back Kendall's brother. She could imagine him in a uniform, her body warming all over. She loved a man in uniform. "How do people deal with nothing to do?"

  "There's always something to do around here, you just gotta know how to make things happen."

  "Maybe that's my problem. I don't know how." But she'd like it if he gave her a few ideas. She looked at him from beneath her eyelashes.

  "You city folks are used to having everything at your fingertips."

  "Are you slamming me for being a city girl?"

  "No, not at all, just makin' a statement." He leaned forward, his lips turned up at one corner. "Out here, you gotta make your own fun."

  "How?" Charli flung both hands in the air. "When people leave here, they go home. The Ugly Stick is where they go to make things happen. I work here. It's not the same."

  Mason shrugged and took a long pull from his beer before he answered. "Guess it's up to you to figure out what's fun." He stood, slapped a couple bills on the counter, and tipped his fingers at her. "Nice to meet you," he said in his smooth southern drawl. Then he winked, nodded to the man in the black T-shirt, turned and left the bar.

  Charli couldn't take her gaze off the man. Not until he disappeared through the entrance of the saloon did she realize her heartbeat had kicked up a notch. Not only that but she hadn't sighed in the past ten minutes, nor did she feel like it.

  Connor Mason had h
er blood pumping like no other man had in the past two years since she'd been working the Ugly Stick.

  With a lift in her step, she finished her shift, helped shut down the bar, slid into her black Mustang and pulled out of the parking lot. She lifted the hair from the back of her neck and let it fly in the wind from the open window. Before she'd gone more than thirty yards down the road, her cell phone rang on the seat beside her.

  Now who the hell was calling her at three o’clock in the morning?

  She glanced at the caller ID.

  Blocked Sender.

  She debated not answering, but after the fourth ring, she hit the talk button. "This is Charli."

  "Ever skinny dipped in someone else's pool?"

  Deep and masculine, the voice in the receiver was the kind that made coffee commercials sound sexy. It reached out to caress Charli's ear and other more easily aroused places of her body. A shiver of awareness snaked across her skin. "Who is this?"

  "Let's just say I overheard your conversation at the bar."

  Her breath catching in her throat, Charli clutched the phone tighter.

  "You can spice things up if you dare," he said, his voice a sensuous whisper.

  Charli tried hard to think who had been sitting at the bar that evening, only conjuring one image. That of the sexy soldier who'd blatantly eavesdropped on her conversation with Audrey. "Connor?"

  "I'm not tellin'."

  A surge of anger spiked her adrenaline. "Look, I don't need a pervert daring me to skinny dip in someone else's pool. Do me a favor and don't call this number again."

  "With a body as beautiful as yours, I'm surprised you're afraid."

  Charli's thumb hovered over the off button, but the deep timbre of his voice had her mesmerized, her body heating at the rich tone. "I'm not afraid. I'm just not stupid." She'd hoped to come off indignant, but the best she could do was breathless.

  "Suit yourself and play it safe...or take the dare. Judge Stephen’s pool, three fifteen—be there. I'll be watching."

  A click followed by silence indicated he'd hung up. Charli stared down at the phone, not sure if she'd heard things. She shook her head. No, she had not just had a call from a sexy stranger daring her to skinny dip in the judge's pool. Temptation was too small a town. Getting caught wasn't a question. Everyone was always in everyone else's business. Besides, the judge lived smack-dab in the oldest neighborhood, surrounded by old biddies who spread gossip faster than a wildfire during a long Texas drought.

  What was she even thinking about this challenge for anyway?

  As her SUV drove past the turn to Judge Stephen's house, her foot slipped off the accelerator, her belly tightening.

  She glanced at the clock on her dash. At three-twelve in the morning, all those old biddies were sound asleep. The judge would be as well. Her skin felt sticky from eight hours of work behind the bar and the hot Texas night wasn't helping to cool her. The thought of slipping naked into the cool waters of a swimming pool made her body yearn.

  Before she could think a rational thought, her foot hit the brake, she spun the steering wheel and she slammed the accelerator to the floor, headed for the center of town. Two minutes until three-fifteen.

  Mr. Sexy-Voice would be there watching.

  Another titillating shiver slithered over her body, the body that had been beyond tired while working the bar now pulsed madly in anticipation.

  A block away from the judge's place, Charli pulled to a stop in the driveway of a deserted house whose for sale sign had long since fallen over. She shifted into park and paused, her fingers curling around the door handle. Should she?

  She waited, hoping the phone on the seat beside her would suddenly ring, the sexy-voiced caller egging her on. Then she'd tell him to go jump in the pool himself, she sure as hell wasn't. A minute passed, the clock on the dash blinked to three-fifteen and no ringtone pierced the night.

  Somewhere out by Judge Stephen's pool, Mr. Sexy Voice waited.

  Would he come out when he saw her? Or would he remain hidden, a peeping Tom, watching to see if she stupidly fell in with his dare. How could a man stay in hiding with a naked woman floating so close? Maybe if she touched herself, he'd come out and take over.

  Her pussy creamed as she envisioned the sexy caller, tall, dark and handsome, sliding into the pool with her, naked, his cock jutting forward, the moonlight glancing off his glistening body. The sun-warmed water would caress her skin, lapping at her breasts with the movements he'd create, stirring the surface.

  Her breathing coming faster, the heat of the night pressing in, Charli jerked open the door, jumped out and eased it closed to avoid waking the neighbors. Then she ran for the judge's house, stripping her clothes as she moved from bush to bush. If she stopped to think, she'd change her mind. Her stomach quivered with anticipation.

  When she arrived at the side of Judge Stephen's house, she hung her clothing over the edge of a bush, perfectly located for a quick escape. With a furtive glance in all directions, she slipped between the bushes and tiptoed toward the pool.

  Her body tingled. If Mr. Sexy Voice was out there, he'd be watching.

  She straightened her shoulders, letting her breasts jut out. Let him eat his heart out. If he wanted some of this, he'd have to show himself.

  Glancing up at the windows overlooking the pool, Charli imagined Judge Stephens restless and unable to sleep, pushing aside the curtains to stare out at the calming waters of his swimming pool. The man was older than her by fifteen years, but he still had a commanding presence, broad shoulders and a physique younger men might envy.

  Her heart thundering against her ribcage, Charli made an exaggerated show of dipping her toe into the pool to test the temperature. Warm and soothing, the water felt almost bath-like. She lowered herself down the steps until she could sit on the highest step, her torso above the water, only her bottom submerged, the mound of light brown curls halfway in and halfway out of the water.

  Now what? She glanced around, peering into the shadows, trying hard not to squint and give away that she wanted to see who was out there. No amount of scanning the bushes revealed a voyeur, a peeping Tom or even a stray cat. But the skin on the back of her neck tingled, the hairs standing on end. He was there and he was watching.

  Charli's nipples puckered, her pussy aching. Damn the man. He'd gotten her so horny, she was ready to fuck a perverted stranger. And he wasn't even coming out to play. Maybe he needed more encouragement. She cupped a hand, filled it with water and dribbled it over her breasts, letting it slide over the tips and back into the pool.

  No bushes rustled, nobody emerged from the shadows to claim a ripe, wet breast or any other part of her pulsating body.

  Charli's lips pursed and she started to rise when an air mattress floated her way, bumping into her leg. Instead of slipping out of the pool, she scooted her naked ass out on the mattress and laid back, letting the moonlight paint her body a silvery blue. Fully exposed to God and Judge Stephens, she lay back, letting her hair trail into the water, her breasts pointing skyward. Wearing nothing but the moonlight, she floated across the water, the gentle rocking motion lulling her into a surreal sense of otherworldliness.

  Still her insides remained tense, ready for more, anxious to reach some level of sexual satisfaction. If her mystery voyeur wasn't going to get her there, she'd have to pleasure herself.

  Her hands slid up and over each of her breasts, caressing and pinching until the sharp pain made her nipples pucker and tighten even more. The tingling in her breasts set off a barrage of fireworks erupting lower still, stirring her core to the temperature of a stewing volcano, ready to blast—if given the right attention.

  Charli bent her knees, letting them fall to the side of the air mattress, exposing her pussy to the warm night air. A cooling breeze brushed through her mound, stirring more than hairs in the process. Slowly, savoring the feathery soft connection, she let her fingers skim ever downward, over her ribs, past her bellybutton to the curls guarding her fol
ds. She laced her fingers through their softness, locating the sensitive nubbin beneath. Flicking once, she sucked in a sharp breath, her groin tensing and her knees pushing upward.

  "Oh, yes," she moaned and flicked again, her clit swelling, throbbing, demanding more. With two fingers extended, she dipped into her channel, swirling in the wash of juices drenching her. A third finger teased her clit, stroking and scraping. Whispering a little louder, she called to the darkness, "You don't know what you're missing."

  Her breathing grew more labored, her eyelids dropping low as her hips rocked, water lapping up over her hands, splashing across her breasts. Lord, she felt as if her body would explode. When she did, her orgasm rocked her world, shattering her soul into a thousand shards, sending her spiraling over the edge. "Oh, sweet Jesus!" she called out, her words echoing in the stillness of the night.

  Startled by the loudness of her own voice, Charli opened her eyes and shot a glance around. The air mattress had completed a one-eighty, spinning around to face the way she'd come. As she turned full circle, her hand still stroking her cunt, Charli froze.

  Poised halfway down the steps, his taut body still fully visible in the moonlight was a tall, dark Texan wearing nothing but a broad-brimmed black cowboy hat pulled low, blocking his facial features so thoroughly, Charli couldn't discern who he was.

  Heart beating rapid fire, she gasped and sat up, nearly upending the air mattress.

  By the time she righted herself, the mystery cowboy had captured the end of the float, and dragged her close, within sight and reaching distance of the most magnificent cock she'd ever seen. It thrust out, hard, full and larger than she could have dreamed. Her tongue swept across her dry lips and she wondered how it would feel to take him into her mouth and...

  "Let go." Charli dragged her gaze away from his dick, her glance darting to the windows above. "If we're caught, we'll both go to jail."

  He ignored her, tugging her closer until her body lay within reach of his hands.

  Tingling from head to toe and especially at the juncture of her thighs, Charli tried to muster some semblance of modesty, but she couldn't. She wanted him to touch her, wanted him to drive that big, thick dick straight into her dripping cunt.