Title: Bennett
Series: Bourbon & Blood #1
Author: Seraphina Donavan
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 14, 2016
Blurb
Mia Darcy plays by the rules, and her Daddy, Samuel, for better or worse has made them all. She takes care of her ailing mother, she manages PR for the family’s distillery, Fire Creek. And every day she quietly resents the fact that he stepped in and kept her from being with the one man she loved… a man who still lives there in their small town of Fontaine, Kentucky and who haunts her every minute of the day, waking or asleep.
Bennett Hayes has loved Mia his whole life, and for one brief moment, when they were young and full of hope, it seemed like even the long history of bad blood between their families wasn’t enough to keep them apart. But he’d been wrong. Mia never showed the night they were supposed to run away together and when he confronted her about it, she broke his heart.
But fate and circumstance throw them together again and the fire that raged between them at eighteen is even hotter now. The burn is inevitable. But there are forces at play, people on the periphery of their lives whose agenda goes far beyond just keeping them apart… they want Mia dead and will stop at nothing to make that happen.
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Excerpt
She took a deep breath. When that didn’t work to calm her nerves, she took a sip of the amber liquid. There was no burn. It was smooth and sweet on her tongue.
“Did you see anyone at the scene? Any other vehicles?” she asked.
“No. I drove up and saw the churned up mud and broken light covers where you hit the guardrail. If it hadn’t been for that—.” He stopped to take a sip of his own whiskey. When he continued, his voice was deeper, gruffer. “You drive too fast, Mia. You always have. You hit that curve like a bat out of hell. If I hadn’t come along, hadn’t realized you’d been on that road right in front of me, you would have died there.”
Her blood ran cold. He said it so matter of factly. It was true. She knew that. But it didn’t change the fact that she hadn’t been alone on that road, and her car hadn’t gone into the creek without someone else forcing her over the edge. “I do drive too fast… but I only swerved and lost control because of the other car, Bennett!”
“I know,” he said softly.
“It was a big black SUV… I’m not really sure what kind. With all those bars on the front of it,” she continued on, not quite processing that he’d agreed with her.
“The deer guard.” The words were supplied in an even tone, no censure, not disbelief.
“Yes,” she replied adamantly. “I rounded the bend and it was parked in a way that it blocked both lanes!”
“I believe you,” he said. “You don’t have to convince me that it happened that way.”
She stopped then, drew a deep breath and stared at him in stunned disbelief. “You believe me?”
“Yes. I saw the glass and plastic where your headlights got busted in… Directly in line with where your back wheels went over the edge. It’s not possible for you to have simultaneously damaged the front and back end of your car in a single car accident before the rollover.”
“It was deliberate,” she said softly.
“Maybe they just panicked,” he offered.
“I need another drink,” she said.
Bennett refilled her glass.
“Someone tried to kill me, Bennett,” she stated it emphatically. “I’m not imagining that… they waited for me on that road!”
“Why would someone do that, Mia? No one has any reason to hate you that badly,” he shot back before draining his glass.
“You do,” she finished quietly.
His eyes widened for a second in surprise, before narrowing in anger. “You come into my fucking house and accuse me of something like that?”
She shook her head. “No. I wasn’t accusing you… I know you’d never do anything like that. But it’s true, Bennett… you do have every reason to hate me.”
He settled back against the counter, arms crossed over his chest, muscles rippling and bunching beneath the open plaid shirt. “I don’t hate you, Mia… I’ve tried to. I’ve tried to every damn day of my life, and I just can’t.”
She set her glass on the counter. Her hand was trembling too much to hold on to it. “Do you need to hate me, Bennett? Clearly whatever was between us hasn’t kept you from having a very active love life!”
He leaned his head back against the cabinet door and stared up at the ceiling as if praying for strength, or possibly patience. “That’s not how it works. I was’t the one who stood you up.”
She glanced beyond the kitchen and into the living room, where new and decidedly feminine curtains hung over the window behind the couch. “It looks like you’ve managed okay… You and Lacey.”
His eyebrow shot up. “You really wanna go there? We’ve not been together for ten years! Should I have waited, Mia?”
“No,” she said quickly. “And I didn’t mean it like that, Bennett! … Yes, I did, but I know I don’t have the right. I’m jealous and not just because you’re with someone else, but because…You’ve made a life for yourself. And… I’m still doing the same thing I was at eighteen. Taking care of Mama, handling the distillery tours and—.” She stopped speaking abruptly, the unfinished words hanging between them.
The silence was heavy, laden with the anticipation of what went unsaid between them, the tension building until it was unbearable. It was Bennett who finally snapped. “And what, Mia? For the love of God, just say it!”
“And thinking about you. All the time,” she replied. “At this point, I should be nothing more than a distant memory to you, and you’re on my mind all the time.”
He smiled, but there was no humor in it. It was a bitter and self-deprecating twist of his beautiful mouth. “Not so distant. I see you in town. I see your car speeding up and down this road. I hear your name whispered by every gossip in town as I walk past them… People in this town remember everything. They remember us. And so do I.”
She had memories of her own. His mouth on hers, his hands on her body. They’d been greedy then with the newness of it all, just a couple of inexperienced kids with more hormones than skill. Of course, Bennett was more experienced now, but more than that, the heat that burned between them then was still there. Dating wasn’t a part of her life. There was no time for it. With taking care of her mother and her job at the distillery, it was almost like time had stopped for her that summer. He’d gone on with his life, at least somewhat, and she was in the same rut she’d always been in.
The mistake she’d made in coming there was glaring. Panic hit her, sinking into her gut like a twisting knife. Seeing him, being close enough to him to smell him, to touch him, it was an epic error in judgement on her part. Nothing in this world could hurt her as much as the man in front of her. The first time had been bad enough. To go through it all again when the outcome couldn’t be any different was just more than she could contemplate. “I should go,” she managed. “Coming here was a mistake.”
She whirled and headed for the door and was halfway there when he caught her. One of his large hands snaked out and captured her undamaged wrist, closing over it and tugging her back to him. “You’re right. I know you’re right… and I don’t fucking care.”
With her chest close to his, her head just below his chin, his arms slid around her. It was like breathing, the most natural thing in the world. She leaned into him, savoring the heat, the hard press of him against her. “I cannot even count the number of ways in which this is a bad idea… There’s no way this ends well, Bennett.”
“Never say never,” he advised softly.
“Highly unlikely, then,” she amended.
“Lots of things are unlikely, oh wise one. Doesn’t mean they can’t happen.” His voice was little more than a deep murmur, his lips brushing against her forehead as he spoke. He held her gently, tenderly. It was something she’d missed so much it wasn’t even possible to put into words. Even then, the heat was there, arcing between them, taking on a life of its own.
“Like what?” she asked. Her skin burned beneath his hand like he’d set her on fire. With nothing more than a touch, it raged for him.
“You… standing here in my kitchen for starters.”
“I’m blaming my la
“Did you see anyone at the scene? Any other vehicles?” she asked.
“No. I drove up and saw the churned up mud and broken light covers where you hit the guardrail. If it hadn’t been for that—.” He stopped to take a sip of his own whiskey. When he continued, his voice was deeper, gruffer. “You drive too fast, Mia. You always have. You hit that curve like a bat out of hell. If I hadn’t come along, hadn’t realized you’d been on that road right in front of me, you would have died there.”
Her blood ran cold. He said it so matter of factly. It was true. She knew that. But it didn’t change the fact that she hadn’t been alone on that road, and her car hadn’t gone into the creek without someone else forcing her over the edge. “I do drive too fast… but I only swerved and lost control because of the other car, Bennett!”
“I know,” he said softly.
“It was a big black SUV… I’m not really sure what kind. With all those bars on the front of it,” she continued on, not quite processing that he’d agreed with her.
“The deer guard.” The words were supplied in an even tone, no censure, not disbelief.
“Yes,” she replied adamantly. “I rounded the bend and it was parked in a way that it blocked both lanes!”
“I believe you,” he said. “You don’t have to convince me that it happened that way.”
She stopped then, drew a deep breath and stared at him in stunned disbelief. “You believe me?”
“Yes. I saw the glass and plastic where your headlights got busted in… Directly in line with where your back wheels went over the edge. It’s not possible for you to have simultaneously damaged the front and back end of your car in a single car accident before the rollover.”
“It was deliberate,” she said softly.
“Maybe they just panicked,” he offered.
“I need another drink,” she said.
Bennett refilled her glass.
“Someone tried to kill me, Bennett,” she stated it emphatically. “I’m not imagining that… they waited for me on that road!”
“Why would someone do that, Mia? No one has any reason to hate you that badly,” he shot back before draining his glass.
“You do,” she finished quietly.
His eyes widened for a second in surprise, before narrowing in anger. “You come into my fucking house and accuse me of something like that?”
She shook her head. “No. I wasn’t accusing you… I know you’d never do anything like that. But it’s true, Bennett… you do have every reason to hate me.”
He settled back against the counter, arms crossed over his chest, muscles rippling and bunching beneath the open plaid shirt. “I don’t hate you, Mia… I’ve tried to. I’ve tried to every damn day of my life, and I just can’t.”
She set her glass on the counter. Her hand was trembling too much to hold on to it. “Do you need to hate me, Bennett? Clearly whatever was between us hasn’t kept you from having a very active love life!”
He leaned his head back against the cabinet door and stared up at the ceiling as if praying for strength, or possibly patience. “That’s not how it works. I was’t the one who stood you up.”
She glanced beyond the kitchen and into the living room, where new and decidedly feminine curtains hung over the window behind the couch. “It looks like you’ve managed okay… You and Lacey.”
His eyebrow shot up. “You really wanna go there? We’ve not been together for ten years! Should I have waited, Mia?”
“No,” she said quickly. “And I didn’t mean it like that, Bennett! … Yes, I did, but I know I don’t have the right. I’m jealous and not just because you’re with someone else, but because…You’ve made a life for yourself. And… I’m still doing the same thing I was at eighteen. Taking care of Mama, handling the distillery tours and—.” She stopped speaking abruptly, the unfinished words hanging between them.
The silence was heavy, laden with the anticipation of what went unsaid between them, the tension building until it was unbearable. It was Bennett who finally snapped. “And what, Mia? For the love of God, just say it!”
“And thinking about you. All the time,” she replied. “At this point, I should be nothing more than a distant memory to you, and you’re on my mind all the time.”
He smiled, but there was no humor in it. It was a bitter and self-deprecating twist of his beautiful mouth. “Not so distant. I see you in town. I see your car speeding up and down this road. I hear your name whispered by every gossip in town as I walk past them… People in this town remember everything. They remember us. And so do I.”
She had memories of her own. His mouth on hers, his hands on her body. They’d been greedy then with the newness of it all, just a couple of inexperienced kids with more hormones than skill. Of course, Bennett was more experienced now, but more than that, the heat that burned between them then was still there. Dating wasn’t a part of her life. There was no time for it. With taking care of her mother and her job at the distillery, it was almost like time had stopped for her that summer. He’d gone on with his life, at least somewhat, and she was in the same rut she’d always been in.
The mistake she’d made in coming there was glaring. Panic hit her, sinking into her gut like a twisting knife. Seeing him, being close enough to him to smell him, to touch him, it was an epic error in judgement on her part. Nothing in this world could hurt her as much as the man in front of her. The first time had been bad enough. To go through it all again when the outcome couldn’t be any different was just more than she could contemplate. “I should go,” she managed. “Coming here was a mistake.”
She whirled and headed for the door and was halfway there when he caught her. One of his large hands snaked out and captured her undamaged wrist, closing over it and tugging her back to him. “You’re right. I know you’re right… and I don’t fucking care.”
With her chest close to his, her head just below his chin, his arms slid around her. It was like breathing, the most natural thing in the world. She leaned into him, savoring the heat, the hard press of him against her. “I cannot even count the number of ways in which this is a bad idea… There’s no way this ends well, Bennett.”
“Never say never,” he advised softly.
“Highly unlikely, then,” she amended.
“Lots of things are unlikely, oh wise one. Doesn’t mean they can’t happen.” His voice was little more than a deep murmur, his lips brushing against her forehead as he spoke. He held her gently, tenderly. It was something she’d missed so much it wasn’t even possible to put into words. Even then, the heat was there, arcing between them, taking on a life of its own.
“Like what?” she asked. Her skin burned beneath his hand like he’d set her on fire. With nothing more than a touch, it raged for him.
“You… standing here in my kitchen for starters.”
“I’m blaming my la
