Millie
Jesse and I had been ‘a thing’ for a couple of days, and we still hadn’t told Brandon, something that had been playing on my mind greatly. I had wanted to speak to him the day after my ‘hissy fit’ as Jesse had called it, but Jesse wanted to speak to Addy first. Thankfully, Addy had taken it well; in fact, as soon as she saw me, she squealed and ran into my arms telling me that her daddy was taking me on a date. And so, here we were, going out on our date. Jesse was taking me into town. He’d wanted to go into Knightingale to some fancy restaurant, but I’d put my foot down and told him the diner and Rowdy’s was perfectly fine. Brandon was out of town for a couple of weeks, on some business for his parent’s guest ranch, so there wasn’t any chance we’d bump into him. It did worry me, though, that someone else may tell him before we had the chance, so Jesse promised to do it as soon as Brandon got back.
“I’m not happy taking you there when that’s where you went with Brandon,” he grumbled, lifting the diner menu to read it.
“Oh, stop being a grump,” I giggled. “I told you, you’re not driving into Knightingale when you have to be up so early tomorrow. You’ve got all those calves to castrate, so you’ll need to be rested.”
“Millie, I’ve been castrating calves since I was thirteen years old. I could do it with my eyes closed. A late night in Knightingale isn’t going to hurt me.”
“No, but that horrible nut nicking contraption might if you’re tired.”
Jesse’s dropped his menu and grinned at me. “’Nut nicking contraption’? Shit, Millie, where do you get this stuff?”
“Well I don’t know what it is,” I grumbled, lifting my own menu. “What is it called, anyway?”
“It’s a Burdizzo, but to be honest, I’m liking nut nicker. I dread to think what you call the dehorner ‘contraption’.” He laughed softly and continued reading his menu.
“I know that’s a hot iron,” I said proudly.
“Yeah, and how on earth do you know that, sweetness?”
I looked up at him and sighed. How could one man turn me to a hot, needy mess just by calling me sweetness?
“Well? Or is it a secret?” He smiled over the top of the laminated pictures of burgers, ribs and fries.
“Oh, sorry, Garratt told me,” I replied, quickly pulling myself from my Jesse daydream.
“Yeah well, I could work both the Burdizzo and the Hot Iron perfectly well, on two hours sleep if I had to.”
I sat back in my seat and watched him decide on what to eat. His brow furrowed with deep concentration while his hair fell boyishly over his forehead. He looked handsome and sexy, as his tanned biceps flexed under the sleeves of his plain white t-shirt.
“Keep looking at me like that, Armalita, and we’ll be going home with empty bellies,” he said in a low voice without looking at me.
“How do you know I’m looking at you? You’re reading the menu.”
He looked up at me and there was a twinkle in his eyes. “Because your breath hitched and I felt you push your thighs together.”
God, he was right, and calling me out on it had only increased the throbbing between my legs.
“I can’t help it,” I sighed, dreamily. “You’re too beautiful not to look at.”
Jesse let out a laugh and, lifting up from his chair, reached a hand across the table to the back of my neck. He captured it and pulled me to meet him before kissing me softly and nibbling at my bottom lip.
“I think you’ll find you’re the beautiful one,” he whispered before flopping back into his seat. “I think I’ll get the Tower burger, what about you?”
“I’m going to get the same.” I put the menu down on the table and looked up to see Jesse grinning. “What?”
“A Tower burger? You know how big that thing is, right?”
He reached for my hand across the table and took my fingertips in his, while his other hand played with the sugar dispenser.
“Yes, your mum and I came in for coffee when we went shopping, and there was a guy eating one. It looked really nice, so I asked Cynthia what it was.”
“You think you’ll eat it?” Jesse asked incredulously.
“Well, you obviously don’t think I will.”
Jesse sat back in his chair, keeping a hold of my hand. “I know you won’t.”
My eyes widened and my mouth gaped open. “Jesse Connor, that’s practically a bet.”
“No way, I’m not taking your money from you.”
“You may not win, and anyway, who said I was going to bet money on it?”
I gave him a cheeky wink, kicked off my shoe, and lifted my foot to brush it up the inside of his thigh. Jesse’s eye’s darkened and his breathing became labored as I edged my foot further up his leg.
“You sure you know what you’re doing?” he asked, his grip tightening on the sugar.
I nodded. “Yep.”
“So,” he grunted out on a deep exhale. “What’s this wager going to be?”
I licked my lips while I pretended to think about it. I already knew what I was going to offer as my stake.
“Okay,” I finally said. “I eat it all, you have to give me a lap dance back at your cabin later. If I don’t eat it, then I give you one.”
I pushed my bare foot against Jesse’s rock hard cock and gave it a rub before pulling back. As I did, Jesse grabbed it and held it against his hardness. His jaw was tight and I could see that he was having difficulty keeping control; I loved it.
“That’s a no lose situation,” he said, moving my foot up and down his length. “If I dance for you or you dance for me, I still get to fuck you afterwards.”
I shrugged. “Not all bets have to be a poor investment.”
“You are the most…”
Before he had time to finish, a woman I didn’t recognize bounced over. She was probably in her mid-thirties, but the lines creased around her mouth and eyes meant she could have been older. Her waitresses’ uniform was unbuttoned a little too low, displaying a neon green bra that pushed her chest almost to her chin.
“Jesse, honey. How ya doin’?” she asked, flicking her tongue along her top lip.
She’d obviously read somewhere that it was a sexy move, but it had no effect on Jesse, whose eyes remained on me. His hand was still clutching mine, but neither that nor Jesse’s apparent lack of interest bothered her.
“Not seen you since Founders Day,” she giggled, landing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it.
Jesse looked up at her and flashed a quick smile before gently shrugging away her hand.
“Hey. Janet, been busy,” he answered. “So, we’ll have two Tower burgers, fries, and salad.”
“You going to Rowdy’s later? It’s open mic night.”
No, she was still openly panting for him, despite his brush off.
“Not sure, depends what Millie wants to do.”
Jesse nodded towards me, and finally Janet noticed me. Her smile slipped momentarily when she noticed our joined hands, but it was quickly back when she turned her attention to Jesse.
“Thought maybe we could get together some time. It’s been a while.”
Jesse’s nostrils flared and I felt nauseous at what that meant. Surely he hadn’t slept with Janet? Angie I understood; she was an attractive, if not a little bit brassy, girl. But Janet was definitely older and apart from the huge breasts, wasn’t particularly attractive. Her bleached hair was the color and texture of straw, and besides the lines of a well lived life, she had poor skin and uneven teeth. Yep, it was official; I was a nasty, jealous bitch!
Jesse looked up at her. “Janet, I don’t want to be rude, but you can see I’m here with my girl, so if you wouldn’t mind taking our order and then leaving us alone.”
That still didn’t do it and Janet giggled, poking Jesse in the arm. “You always was a kidder. So, Rowdy’s, you gonna sing, darlin’? And then maybe we can get a beer together.”
I could see that any control Jesse was holding on to had now firmly disappeared. He let go of my foot under the table and gently pried his other hand from mine. Turning in his seat so that his knees almost touched Janet’s, he took a deep breath.
“Okay, I’m sorry about this, but you obviously aren’t getting what I’m saying.” He paused, giving her time to respond. When she didn’t, he continued. “We had one night over a year ago, a night that you know full well was when I was a mess in my head. I told you then and I’m telling you now, it was a one-time thing and would not and will not be happening again.”
I held my breath as I watched the exchange, wishing that Janet would just turn and leave to get our order. The way she was looking at Jesse told me that whatever scrap of hope she had, she was going to hang onto it until the very last. There was a need in her eyes, a look that I was sure was in my own more often than not. She was in love with him. One night had given her that, and she couldn’t give it up.
“We had a good time,” she protested, still smiling, but it was more forced now.
“Janet,” he sighed. “It’s not going to happen. I’m with Millie, who to be honest, you’re kinda disrespecting by doing this.”
Janet glanced at me and her smile finally slipped.
“Now, do you want to go and get our orders, with two beers, so I can enjoy a meal with my girl before I take her over to Rowdy’s to drink and dance and maybe sing, then depending how things go with the food, there’s going to be some more dancing back at my cabin, and well, then you can guess what happens next. Do I make myself clear?”
Janet looked between us and then nodded. “Two beers and two Tower burgers with fries. Gotcha.”
Then she was gone.
“You sing?” I asked.
Jesse stared at me and burst out laughing. “Everything that just went down, and all you took away was me singing?”
“Really, you sing?” I breathed.
“Yep and play guitar, why?” he asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“Oh shit, I may need fresh knickers.”
Jesse roared with laughter again, then reached forward and took my mouth in a long, sweet kiss and bang went another brain cell.