Page 2 of Handling Skylar (Hope Parish #5)

“Oh, puh-lease,” River said. “He thinks he wants respectability and that Anna Kate can give it to him, to us, our family. But he’s so dead wrong, and I hope he learns that lesson soon.

He doesn’t need her family name or her high society snootiness.

He can change everything with just being who he is.

Who he really is. I was lucky and married an Outlaw, but I am positive that I don’t want that woman for a sister-in-law.

She’d make him completely miserable, and he doesn’t love her.

I don’t want to see my brother make the biggest mistake of his life.

” She cast me a knowing look. “He’s always staring at you when he thinks no one is looking.

There is no denying my brother likes what he sees.

So spill. You have the hots for him, too.

That’s what got into little miss “Bless Her Heart.”

I laughed at the bland inflection in River’s tone and the way she pegged Anna Kate. “Is there ever a kept secret in this small town?”

Verity said solemnly as she bracketed my other side, “Oh, sugar, haven’t you lived here long enough to get that? The answer is a big no. Even the deepest and darkest ones are known by someone.” She met River’s eyes, and they shared a silent moment. “So what is your secret, Skylar Bransom?”

“Yes, our dear and wonderful friend,” Aubree said as she materialized out of the crowd and faced me, smiling at her two friends. “What are you hiding behind those sultry eyes and that devil may care attitude?”

“I’ve heard about being double-teamed, but this is crazy,” I groused.

But deep inside, I was thrilled to have this sisterly affinity with the Outlaw women.

I’d known them for so long and our friendship had only grown.

It was River Pearl who had helped to build my business and I was so thankful for her connections and respect in this town.

Even after her tumultuous time wooing her Brax, the town would forgive this dynamic and outspoken woman just about anything short of murder…

maybe even that, if it was a certain blond harpy.

“Don’t you know there is astonishing power in threes and we’re all a little bit crazy,” Aubree said in a hushed tone of conspiracy, wicked mischief flashing in her blue eyes. “This is the South, darlin’.”

I was convinced the Outlaw brothers’ influence had rubbed onto their wives. Those boys always had something going on and it was never, ever good. I smiled. “Okay, I have a secret. Nothing gets past you ladies.”

“Nothing gets past River Pearl,” Verity said in a reverent tone, hip checking me into the blond juggernaut, who, even after three babies, looked fresh, slender and beautiful.

River hip checked me back as people started to take their seats for the speech. “All right,” I breathed. “I have a thing for Jake. Are y’all happy?”

“Ah, she’s trying to butter me up with the y’all.

” She gave me an indulgent look, wrinkling her nose.

“Cute.” She took my arm and drew me toward the chairs, and when I tried to backpedal, she just clamped on harder.

She wasn’t as easy to shake as Anna Kate.

She whispered in my ear. “Admitting you have a crush is the first step to making that crush a reality. Believe me. I know.” She looked across the lawn as the Outlaws walked down the street, three shaggy, dark-haired, identical men that made you have to take an uneven breath because they were so gorgeous.

They walked with purpose, one calm and unpredictable, his eyes only for Aubree, one wisecracking and reckless, his eyes only for Verity, and one cocky and charming, with eyes only for River—all of them heartbreakers. “I’m married to mine.”

I laughed softly and realized she was pulling me right toward Jake. She paused for a moment and whispered something into the ear of a woman in her early forties, who gave River a smiling laugh and nodded.

Then, I was completely distracted. It was as if the world slowed on its axis, as if time hushed out a soft breath and slowed down.

My body softened and all resistance drained out of me like liquid quicksilver.

Our eyes met and heat shimmered through me in a wave of power, pushing me toward wildness.

I wanted to see the same kind of hunger in him that I felt every time I saw him, every time I thought of him.

I wanted to see the same raw longing burning in his eyes.

I was caught in the beam of his intense, dark gaze, held captive by it, mesmerized, his eyes locked on me as I moved across the lawn.

The experience was seductive, breathlessly intimate.

Wholly unsettling. It wouldn’t be smart to get involved with Jake Sutton.

Possibly it was mostly physical. Right. I’d had a great connection with Seth, but that hadn’t lasted.

Maybe romantic love didn’t actually exist or I was immune to it.

Without giving anything away, he managed to broadcast loud and clear in an elemental, rough, sexy, almost frightening way there was something deep at his core he thought I would understand. My whole being leapt in response to his wordless, primal message, sending shivers over my skin.

“Miss Skylar,” he drawled in greeting. “Fine day to you.” His voice was low, rich and smooth. Slow and comforting, it had the power to lull, woo and reassure all at once.

“Why don’t you sit with us?” River asked as she shooed Jake over to a seat, displacing Anna Kate, who shot daggers at me sharp enough to draw blood.

I wasn’t sure this was the best course of action as I wasn’t a home wrecker, but something pinched tight in me when River said that Jake would be miserable.

I thought he had enough of that in his life and I wanted more for him, so much more.

Did she? I didn’t think so and there was something inherently wrong in that. Something…lacking on her part.

My body came alive when I settled in the chair, and the delicious scent of him hit me with the strength of a moving brick wall.

Everything in me melted, the heat of his arm and thigh so close.

The woman, the one River Pearl had whispered to, came over and struck up a conversation with Anna Kate.

After a few moments, Anna Kate reluctantly rose and followed the woman, and I turned to look at River.

She gave me a wink and nudged me with her shoulder, then turned to Braxton and started talking to him.

My whole body was jangling and it was as if my core exploded with energy and light whenever I was near him.

I couldn’t explain it. He made me illuminate.

Before I could say anything, he leaned over and said, “You come to this shindig every year. You know, even with you being a transplanted Suttontowner, I think that makes you official. You’ve passed the test of time. ”

That low, cultured drawl wrapped around me like silk. I could have curled up beside him and listened to him talk for a hundred years. “Your family is on the leading edge of Suttontowne politics and gossip. But I come for the profound things you have to say.”

I got my wish, and it was a curse. A smile spread across his face and his enticing blue eyes sparkled.

The caramel stubble on his face was most likely a small rebellion on his part, just that hint of bad boy that made my heart beat a little faster.

He chuckled and the sound rifled through me like Jake had just rummaged through my unmentionable drawer.

His laughter was just as rich and compelling as his voice.

“Profound? You always seem to surprise me, Skylar.”

“Do I?”

He nudged my shoulder. “Yeah. I like that.”

What was a girl to do when confronted with all that Jake had to offer?

His looks aside, he was intelligent, obviously, he’d graduated from Harvard.

He was resourceful if the rumors were true that he was stirring up things in their local pecan groves, the staple of their business.

Couldn’t be easy to come into a well-established business and make changes, even and especially if it was a family business.

Jake’s father struck me as the kind of man who didn’t manage change easily.

But Jake was a full-grown man now, not the silent, waters-run-deep kid he’d been.

The anger in him seemed to define him like a dark outline that made me want to fill in all the color of him, the frustration and the way he was searching for answers only added more layers. I could understand all of that.

The deep waters were still there. It was always the quiet ones that seemed to make the biggest revelations and the most penetrating marks. It was also something about him that made me want to peel away all those layers to the core of the man that intrigued me beyond belief.

“It’s a shame you don’t have a nicer place to deliver the speech. I love that it’s outside, but with the statue gone, it seems to me a bit…empty. You know what would be quaint and pretty?”

“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”

She laughed, and I was mesmerized. “You are astute. “A gazebo would be perfect and a park with benches—call it Outlaw Park and do a nice plaque for Duel Outlaw.”

“You have a fresh and satisfying way of looking at things,” he murmured.

The timbre of his voice was soft and intimate.

I wanted to just take his arm, run away with him to someplace comfortable and cozy, delve into him.

I also wanted to give him comfort, an inexplicable message channeled from him telling me he needed that.

Needed a safe haven. I also knew all about that as well.

The aroma of Samantha Wharton’s pies drifted on the warm breeze, and it was only about fifteen minutes before Chase was going to speak. “Want to get a piece of pie?” I asked.