Hard as Stone (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnnon Sisters) by Sarah O'Rourke Read Free Book Online Page A

Jacob.  “And if you’re truly interested in Harmony in the way you claim to
be, you’re gonna need one, too.  This isn’t a pretty story, Stone.  It’s
ugly…sad… and totally fucking infuriating.”
    Straightening from
his perch, Jacob squared his shoulders as he wondered how the hell much worse
it could get.  “Then we better order the bottle because interested is a mild
term for the attraction I feel toward Harmony.  I want to know everything,
Zeke.  I want to know it all.”
     

Chapter Three
    Jacob followed Zeke
inside the restaurant, frowning as the bell above the door drew the curious
stares of several patrons inside the bar.  He’d never liked being the object of
attention, but in the small town of Paradise, new people tended to garner
interest.  Ambling in with the Sheriff in tow only seemed to add to his
mystique, and he felt the stare of several pairs of curious eyes on him as he
moved toward his normal table. He nodded to the pretty waitress headed their
way as he shifted his bulk into the high-backed booth opposite Zeke.  
    “Well, two fine ass
men are sittin’ in my station this evening.  I need to check the calendar and
see if it’s my birthday,” the woman, whose nametag declared her to be Sherri, greeted
them with a flirty wink in Jacob’s direction.  “What can I get you tonight,
sugar?  Beer?  Bourbon?  A little taste of me?” she asked lightly, dropping her
slim hand to the back of Jacob’s neck and rubbing her palm slowly as she canted
one rounded hip to the side and rested it against his shoulder.  Glancing at
the sheriff, she giggled.  “I know better than to offer the good Sheriff Monroe
here anything extra again,” she remarked to Jacob with a wink.  “I do believe he
still has both his heart and all his other important manly parts on hold for
another lucky lady, aren’t they, Zeke?”
    Jacob took
uncharacteristic mercy on the man across from him and cut the flirty waitress
off abruptly.  Clearly Zeke was in no mood for the woman’s antics and
truthfully, neither was he. “Neither one of us is interested in what you’re
tryin’ to offer, babe.  Just do us both a favor and cut the idle chitchat and
get us both have a couple of fingers Jack Daniels.  Neat,” he ordered in a
surly tone that made the woman’s eyes widen slightly. 
    “Anything else?”
she asked sharply, her face hardening as she narrowed her eyes on him and
withdrew her hand from his neck.
    “No,” Jacob
returned flatly, watching as the woman nodded before scurrying back toward the
bar.  Meeting Zeke’s amused eyes, Jacob shook his head and shrugged.  “I don’t
think either of us is in the frame of mind to be hit on, do you?”
    “Can’t deny that,
but not many men are brave enough to put a stop to Sherri when she’s on a roll. 
For payback, she’ll have it all over town by mornin’ that you’re as gay as
Liberace.”
    Jacob snorted.  He’d
seen Sherri around the bar during the past month, and had already labeled her
as a harmless flirt.  “There’s only one woman that I give a shit what she
thinks, Zeke, and it ain’t Sherri.  Besides, that woman knows damn well that
I’m seeing Harmony tonight.  She was standing there when little Heaven arranged
our ‘date’ for me.  And any fool with a working set of eyes knows how you feel
about Honor.  Well, everybody with the exception of Honor, that is.  She’s
free to try and do her worst to me.  I won’t be leaving Harmony with any doubts
about my masculinity.”
    “You have impressed
her; I’ll give you that much,” Zeke conceded, slouching into the corner of the
booth with the ease of a man who had been there many times before.  “The fact
that you got Harmony to agree to go out with you tonight might go down in
Paradise history as a genuine miracle.”
    “That was more
Heaven’s doing than mine,” Jacob replied evenly as Sherri returned with their
drinks, sliding them in front of each man without a word