The Jackpot Screwer: Enemies to Lovers (Love In Dayton Valley Book 2) Read online

  Contents

  Warning

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  The Jackpot Screwer Playlist on Spotify

  Nikki’s Links

  Copyright © Nikki Ashton 2020 All Rights Reserved

  The Jackpot Screwer

  Published by Bubble Books Ltd

  The right of Nikki Ashton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  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, without prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A reviewer may quote brief passages for review purposes only

  This book may not be resold or given away to other people for resale. Please purchase this book from a recognised retailer. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  The Jackpot Screwer

  First published January 2021 All Rights Reserved ©

  Cover design – LJ Stock of LJ Designs

  Edited by – Anna Bloom

  Formatted by – LJ Stock of LJ Designs

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental

  Warning

  This book contains scenes of a sexy man being kind to children and puppies

  Please don’t read standing up in case you swoon

  This book is for my gorgeous niece, Peggy Casewell

  Never stop being independent and brave

  Acknowledgments

  Wow, what a joy it has been writing this the second book in the Dayton Valley series. I had no idea when I started how much I would grow to love these characters. Therefore, my first thanks go to the Maples, Jackson and Delaney families for talking to me and pretty much creating yourselves. I only hope you the reader love them and their craziness as much as I do.

  Obviously, this book isn’t all down to me. I write the words and rely on a whole host of other people to get it out to you, the reader. So, here come the thank yous.

  My alpha team - Donna, Lynn and Sarah. Without them and their guidance on plotlines and keeping me on the straight and narrow you could well be getting a murder mystery set on a pig farm in Norfolk—nothing wrong with that but not what I promised to write.

  My beta readers, Cal, Sophie, Kimberley and Leanne who were the first to read the finished book and luckily loved it. A note to everyone—Carter belongs to Sophie and she will fight you for him if the need arises!

  Anna Bloom for her usual work of excellence in the editing department. You have no idea how many times you could have been reading the words real and evidently but for her.

  Lou Stock for the absolutely gorgeous cover. It is Bronte to a T. Also, thank you Lou for finding me the star who is Flora Burgos. Thank you, Flora, for getting my Texan right and being so sweet and kind.

  I have to mention my Carter muse—I have no idea why I do this because they never see it. However, thank you to the gorgeous redhead, Ken Beck. You sir are a vision to behold and you can certainly stroke my puppies any day of the week.

  Mr. A also gets a mention. His encouragement and love are sometimes what keep me going. The days when things are getting a little dark in the book world, he reminds me why I write—because I love making people smile. His words and the offer to pour me a rum and coke usually get me focused again.

  As usual I want to thank you the reader. You may not always read the acknowledgements, but you really should. Be assured almost every writer will thank you because we couldn’t do this without you. Writing is hard work and lonely at times and we don’t always please everyone, no matter how hard we try. We are human and will make mistakes. We are emotional and get upset when people don’t like our words. We are however appreciative of every one of you for taking the time to read our books. So, thank you and here’s to a better future for all of us.

  “Lollipop, open the damn door.”

  “Go away, you pickle stealer.”

  I swung around to face my best friend. “What the hell is she talking about? Why is she going on about me stealing some damn non-existent pickle?”

  Hunter shrugged but had a huge, teeth flashing grin on his face, which was totally unwarranted. We were outside my girlfriend's house because only an hour ago she ended our relationship. In the local bar of all places. I had no idea why, only that she’d accused me of being a pickle stealer and said we were over – she doesn’t even eat pickles!

  What made it worse was that it had all happened in front of my sister and best friend, who’d recently started going out. They were sickeningly loved up and had just returned from a quick sex session. Where they’d had sex, who the hell knew, but while they both had satisfied and smug grins, I was shrouded in misery and trying to reason with Bronte.

  “This is not funny, dick head,” I hissed at Hunter. “If my sister ended things with you because you’d stolen her invisible pickle, I doubt you’d be smiling like that.”

  “One, I would never steal Ellie’s pickle, and two, what the fuck? Lollipop?”

  “And?” I asked, frowning at him. “You don’t have a cute nickname for Ellie?”

  He colored a little and moved to bang on the Jackson’s door. “Bronte, just come out and speak to him.”

  “What is it?” I asked giving him a wink, my misery momentarily forgotten as I tried to work out what nickname he could have for my sister. “Tell me, I won’t repeat it.”

  Hunter rolled his eyes. “Yeah right. It’s marginal who’s the biggest gossip in this town you or Mrs. Callahan at the gas station. Anyway, if I have a nickname for Ellie, and that’s a big if, it’d between me and her.”

  At that moment, my sister walked out of the house. She looked a little mystified and was shaking her head. “She won’t come out and she won’t tell me what you did.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” I protested. “Not a damn thing. I even told her how good her tits were looking.”

  “Well, that’s a little bit caveman and not the most romantic of compliments.” Ellie sighed. “But even for Bronte, it’s a little harsh to dump you on your ass for praising her assets.”

  “Exactly.” I threw my hands into the air. “She’s definitely hormonal, like I said.”

  Ellie’s eyes hardened as she widened her stance. “You did not?”

  “Yeah, she was being bitchy, so I said I didn’t realize it was that time of the month.”

  Hu
nter winced. “Shit man, that was totally the wrong thing to say.”

  “No wonder she dumped you.” Ellie glared at me before turning to Hunter. “Let’s go. I can’t deal with his stupidity any longer, plus remember Dad took Mom away for the weekend, so we have the house to ourselves.”

  My best friend grinned like he was the fox who’d stolen the fattest chicken from the coop. “Okay, let’s go.”

  “So, you’re not going to help me?” I asked as they both turned and practically ran for Hunter’s truck.

  “Sorry, but your sister needs my full attention.” He took Ellie’s hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing the back of it.

  “You disgust me,” I called. “You know that?”

  Hunter flipped me off over his shoulder without even looking back.

  “Hey, Ellie,” I shouted.

  “What?” she asked with a sigh, pulling up short and turning toward me.

  “What’s Hunt’s cute little nickname for you?”

  She shrugged her shoulders and answered, “Cutie pie, why?” at the same time as Hunter shouted, “Don’t tell him.”

  “Why’d you tell him?” Hunter asked as he dragged her away.

  “He asked.” Ellie sounded a little frustrated.

  “Yeah, well now he’s going to give me shit about it.”

  “But I am your cutie pie.”

  I rolled my eyes as my sister pushed up on her toes and kissed the life out of my best friend.

  “Please, just go,” I called to them. “Leave me to my damn misery.”

  Laughing and tangled in each other, they stumbled to Hunter’s truck. When it finally rumbled away down the quiet street where the Bronte and her family lived, I turned back to the door. It felt impenetrable, like the drawbridge of some damn castle I couldn’t scale up to reach the damsel.

  However, I was never one to quit. Fisting my hand, I banged on it again.

  “Bronte. Open up or I swear I’ll stay here all night. Maybe I’ll even start singing.”

  We Maples were not the best of singers, and Bronte had often likened mine to the sound of a mule with a head cold.

  “I mean it,” I cried. “I can sing the whole Blur back catalog if you want me to.”

  British Indie bands were our thing and Bronte particularly liked Blur. I knew it would hurt her feelings if I ruined her favorite tune.

  “I could murder Tender right here, right now, if you want me to.”

  Within seconds the door swung open and Bronte stood in front of me looking as damn beautiful as ever, with her blue and purple hair hanging in beach-waved tendrils around her face and over her amazing bigger-than-usual tits.

  “Don’t you dare,” she hissed as she rubbed at her nose with a handkerchief and then swiped away a stray tear.

  I took a step closer and held my hand out to her. “Lollipop baby, please tell me what I’ve done wrong. How can I fix it, if you don’t tell me?”

  “You can’t fix it,” she yelled, stamping her foot. “Nothing can fix it. Things will never be the same again.”

  I took a deep breath and tried not to show my frustration. We’d only been together a few months, but I’d known Bronte all her life. That meant I knew exactly when to let her know she pissed me off and when not to – the when was usually when she was horny because I knew my being all macho and angry got me some extra action in the bedroom. The when not, well that was times like now when she was obviously upset about something, even if I had no idea what it was, or why the fuck I was suddenly a pickle stealer.

  I took a breath to beat down any sharpness in my tone and took her hand in mine. “Please, Lollipop, tell me what’s wrong.”

  She took a deep breath and watched me carefully, her chin quivering as she contemplated whether I was worthy of an explanation.

  “Well?” I coaxed.

  “I’m pregnant,” she blurted out. “You impregnated me, you stupid idiot. You and your super swimmers made a baby.”

  The last thing I remember was the image of Bronte going all fuzzy and me shouting out, “It’s a lie.” .

  Carter sipped the sweet tea and eyed me warily, like it was all my fault.

  Okay, I was fifty percent culpable, but he’d been the one to put his dick inside of me. And okay, so I’d asked him to, but how was I to know that the one time we forgot to use a condom he’d manage to hit the jackpot.

  “Well.” I sighed crossing my arms over my already sensitive boobs. “It’s pretty obvious that you’re not happy about the situation. I mean, unless of course you’re having sympathetic fainting spells. Just wait until the labor pains.”

  The impregnator’s face blanched and he took another huge gulp of tea.

  “Nothing to say?” I snapped. “Okay, well I guess we’re done here.”

  “No,” Carter cried and put his cup down. “I have plenty to say. Like, how?”

  “Well, I don’t know if you remember,” I replied with a bite. “But you put your penis inside my vagina and wiggled about a bit and then collapsed on top of me and began snoring in my ear.”

  “That was not how it went,” Carter cried. “And you know it.”

  He was right, I did know it. It was so much better than that, but I’d be damned if I’d let him know. After all, he’d given me a baby which I wasn’t ready for.

  “You and me,” Carter said, getting up from the sofa. “We are dynamite in bed, especially as I always put one hundred percent into everything I do.”

  “Yeah, you do,” I snarked. “And this time you not only put one hundred percent in but a damn baby too.”

  Not wanting him to see me cry again, I turned away and took a deep breath. This could not be happening to me. It was the worst possible time. I was twenty-four years old and was only a year into owning my beauty salon. I loved going out and getting drunk with Ellie or fooling around with Carter, I wasn’t ready to be a mother. Shit, my own family was falling apart, how the hell could I create another with the idiot standing opposite to me. There was no way he was ready.

  “You can’t even do your own laundry,” I burst out. “How the hell are you supposed to bring up a child?”

  If I’d expected Carter to give me any assurances, I’d have been wrong. He simply shrugged and fell weakly back onto the sofa.

  I’d known this would be his reaction. Deep down, I’d guessed he’d be real unhappy about it. God knew I wasn’t actually ecstatic about it myself. That’s why I’d ended things with him. Maybe it had been a spur of the moment decision. A whim based on his stupid face when he’d asked me what was wrong, but it was the right decision all the same.

  “I think you should go,” I said moving toward the door. “Mom will be home soon, and I need to tell her.”

  Carter nodded slowly and stood up again. “Don’t you think we should tell her together? Or maybe I should come with you to see your dad.”

  My parents were currently ‘taking some time out’ and Dad was renting an apartment in the same block as Carter, on the other side of town. They’d been having therapy for the last four weeks since Dad moved out and Mom was hopeful. Apparently, Mom had felt neglected for the last year and Dad just didn’t see why. He thought buying her new boobs was showing her plenty of attention; Mom thought it meant he didn’t like her old ones. And they say the parents are the sensible ones.

  “I’ll tell him myself,” I replied. “I’ll be doing this by myself anyway. I may as well start now.”

  Carter took a step back. “Who says you’re doing it alone?”

  “Well me.” I shrugged. “It’s obvious this isn’t what you want, so…”

  “Is it what you want?” he asked. “Is it what you planned for?”

  “No, of course it wasn’t what I planned for.”

  “But you’re going to do it, anyway, be a mom?”

  “Of course, I am.”

  His eyes went dark as he pushed his hands to his hips. “Well, then so am I. We are both responsible.”

  I wasn’t sure he was being totally honest with h
imself and I couldn’t afford to be taken halfway down a road, for him to suddenly stop and say, ‘actually I wanna go back now’.

  “I don’t think you have any idea what this entails, Carter.”

  “Do you, Lollipop?” He looked at me earnestly, moving toward me. “Don’t you think it’s something we can figure out together?”

  “Life would be so much easier, if I said yes,” I replied, letting out a heavy sigh. “But this isn’t what you want. You want to take over the veterinarian practice and carry on having boy’s nights with Hunter whenever you can.”

  “Don’t tell me what I want, Bronte,” Carter said in a low tone. “You and I discussed moving in together, didn’t we? I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t want to. That shows you I’m committed to you.”

  I let out an empty laugh. “Moving in and having a baby together are two very different things. Just take the get out of jail free card, Carter. Once the baby is here if you still feel the same way, well then I’ll let you be fully involved in its life.”

  His face screwed up into anger as he stalked to within inches of me. “Oh, you’ll let me, will you? Gee that’s real kind of you, Bronte.”

  “I’m giving you an opportunity,” I cried. “To be single but be involved if you want to be.”

  “Maybe I don’t want to be single.” He gripped his hair and then turned to pace back toward the sofa.

  His shoulders were hunched as he dragged a hand through his beautiful hair, the color of cinnamon sticks it was flecked with gold highlights when the sun shone on it. Through all the years we’d known each other and had fought and disliked each other, I never thought I’d end up loving him. I did though. I adored him and hated the idea of not being loved by him, or fighting with him, but this was something he was just not ready for and I didn’t want my heart broken.