She kicked at the dirt and glanced down the road, wondering if she would have known he was the only man for her if they’d stayed together after high school. Or when they ran into rough spots, would either of them have had second thoughts? The day her father came home and announced that he was leaving because her mother didn’t get him and he’d found someone who did had sparked a whole new set of worries. How many relationships actually lasted forever? Jake’s own father had left his mother for someone else. No matter how all consuming their love had felt, would it have been enough to stand the test of time? Her mother’s advice had come on the heels of her father’s leaving, making it seem even more sound.
Strangely, she’d never worried Jake might cheat on her. He’d been as loyal as a person could be, and he’d never once questioned her fidelity to him. But once her mother began urging her not to tie herself down so young, she’d become scared. She trusted her mother’s judgment, and after her father left, her mother had shared stories of how much they’d loved each other when they were Fiona’s and Jake’s age. That had scared her even more. Could a person’s feelings change so much over the years that their values changed?
Fiona had taken her mother’s advice and dated in college and she’d slept with a few guys, but her heart was so full of Jake that it was a futile effort. It had taken Fiona years to get up the courage to approach Jake again, but she didn’t care how long it had taken. Or that she’d spent years agonizing over her feelings for him. At least now she’d done it. It was a start, even if a rocky one. She was as sure of her love for Jake as she was that she’d needed that time after high school to figure it out.
Some mistakes had to be made. Didn’t they?
She heard the even cadence of his footfalls coming up the road, and it sent a storm of worry whipping through her. He’d barely been able to look at her last night. Maybe this was a bad idea. She looked at the hill on the other side of the road and the bank at the ridge behind her. Short of hurling herself down the side of the mountain, there was no escape. She had no choice but to go through with her plan and hope for the best.
She took a few tentative steps toward the center of the road and drank him in. He was running in nothing but a pair of black running shorts, a sheen of sweat glistening off his insanely defined muscles. An armband was secured to his bulging biceps. A wire ran to a pair of earbuds. She’d thought he looked delicious last night in his low-slung jeans and tight T-shirt, but holy cow…Jake had always had an athletic build, but the man barreling up the hill was a bronze god. Pure, unadulterated power.
He lifted his eyes and met hers.
A very angry god.
Crap.
Jake’s brows knitted together. His hands fisted, and the muscles in his arms flexed as he sped up and ran right past her. Fiona was momentarily stunned. She shook it off and sprinted up the hill after him.
“Hey.” He probably couldn’t even hear her with those damn earbuds in. She touched his elbow to get his attention. He stared straight ahead and kept up his pace as they rounded a bend at the top of the hill.
Really? This is how you’re gonna play it?
Fiona knew just how stubborn Jake could be, although she had never been the target of his efforts. Oh wait. Yes, she had. The mere fact that he’d avoided her for more than a decade proved that. Her stomach was tied in knots, but she wasn’t going to back down just because he was ignoring her. She sprinted ahead of him and turned around, running backward in front of him.
Jake tore his earbuds from his ears. “What are you doing?”
She noticed he had yet to say her name, and it annoyed her. “Running.” They’d trained this way in high school. Jake had taught her that she used different muscles running backward, and it helped her hone her other senses. As Jake picked up his pace and circled around her, those other senses kicked in to gear, telling her that she might have stumbled across a hornet’s nest.
She wasn’t allergic to bees. Bring it on.
She spun around and caught up to him.
He shoved one of his earbuds back in his ear. When he went to do the same thing with the other, she grabbed his wrist and stopped him. Jake came to an abrupt stop, nearly sending her tumbling onto the pavement. She used his wrist as an anchor.
They were both breathing hard, standing inches apart. Fiona was thrown back to the million times they’d been in the same position and he’d pulled her against his sweaty body and sealed his mouth over hers.
“Why are you here, Fiona?” The venom in his eyes pierced her confidence.
“I…” She looked away, shocked by how disgusted he’d sounded when he’d said her name. She’d had no idea that she’d hurt him so deeply.
“What?” His eyes narrowed, and he ran a hand through his hair.
Her stomach dipped. She loved when he did that.
“I thought we could talk.” There. She’d said it.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” He shoved the earbud back in his ear and took off up the hill.
Fiona knew it would be hard, but they’d shared so much and cared so deeply for each other. She didn’t think he’d really turned off all of those feelings.
Shea’s words came screaming back to her. You broke him, and you broke him bad.
She turned away and took off in the opposite direction, blinking away tears and wondering if she’d been wrong.
Maybe some mistakes could never be fixed.
Chapter Three
IT WAS SIX o’clock by the time Ross and Wes showed up at Wes’s house to help Jake with the roof of the shed. Wes ran a dude ranch just outside of Trusty, and he looked the part today in faded jeans and his cowboy boots. Ross was the town veterinarian, and Jake had to smile at his older brother, who must have come straight from work, as he was still wearing a pair of khaki pants and a Trusty Veterinary Clinic polo shirt. Jake knew how busy they were, which was why he’d agreed to help in the first place. Besides, Jake was still reeling from his run-in with Fiona, and physical labor was a great way to work out his frustrations. His career demanded a whole different level of physicality. There was no bigger thrill than jumping out of burning buildings or off a moving train. Jake lived for the rush of the risk, and he was one of the best damn stuntmen in the country—but he missed the manual kind of physical labor.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and gazed down at the ground, where Wes and Ross were stripping off their T-shirts. They were both heavily muscled and well skilled with tools of any kind. When they were growing up, the boys had all taken care of their own cars and any repairs around their mother’s house. Each one always trying to outdo the other.
“Don’t even bother,” Jake called down to them.
Wes stopped with his shirt halfway over his head. “Why not?”
“I’m done. This was a piece of cake.” He climbed down the ladder and handed Wes his tool belt. “Replaced the plywood and reshingled it. You should be good for many years.”
“Damn. Really?” Wes slapped Jake on the back, then wiped his sweaty hand on his jeans. He picked up Jake’s T-shirt from the ground where Jake had tossed it, and Jake used it to wipe his face.
“Y’all bring me a beer?”
Ross reached into the paper bag he’d set on the ground and handed Jake a beer. “Elisabeth said Emily called you at the crack of dawn.”
Jake nodded, wiped his brow again, then guzzled the beer. “Yup. She was all over me about that chick from the bar.”
“I told you not to hook up with her.” Ross rubbed the back of his neck. “Emily cares, Jake. She doesn’t like people talking trash about any of us, and you gave the town a reason to.”
“I’m a big boy, Ross. I can handle a few rumors.” Jake finished his beer, rethinking his decision to stay in town. He didn’t really want to deal with rumors, but moreover, running into Fiona had done strange and confusing things to him, and he didn’t want to deal with that, either.
“You don’t have to. You live a million miles away. She’s in the thick of it day in
and day out,” Ross reminded him.
“Whatever.” As if Jake didn’t feel shitty enough after the way he’d blown off Fiona two times in a row. He was confused and angry about all of it, and the last thing he needed was to catch hell from his brother.
“Come on.” Wes nodded toward the deck. “Take a load off. Callie and Lis should be here with pizza soon.”
“So, what was that stuff you pulled last night?” Wes asked as they settled into the deck chairs.
Jake slid him a narrow-eyed stare. “You tell me.”
Wes and Ross exchanged a glance, as they had last night, and Jake flexed his hands.
“You’re the one who left with Sarah,” Ross reminded him.
“You guys told me that she was going to Allure, remember?”
“She?” Wes asked.
Jake finished his beer.
“You still can’t even say her name?” Ross asked.
“What the hell is going on? Why do you care if I say her name? And why did you take me there last night? There’s no way you didn’t know she’d be there.” He wiped his face again. “Stop looking at each other and fess up.”
Wes held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, as far as I knew, Fiona was going to Allure.”
“That’s what Em said.” Ross’s lips quirked up as he glanced at Wes again.
Jake shoved him and shook his head. “Jackass. If I find you’re full of crap, heads are gonna roll.”
Ross and Wes both laughed.
“What’s the big deal?” Ross asked. “So you talked to Fiona. You guys ended it a long time ago. There’s no need to be a dick to her, is there?”
Jake sighed. He didn’t need to be reminded of his less-than-stellar behavior. He couldn’t change the way he’d reacted to Fiona and the emotions she’d stirred in him. He could only survive it in the best way he knew how, and the best way he knew how was to keep his distance and pretend it never happened.
“Seriously, Jake. You’re not a stupid kid. Would it hurt to talk to her?” Wes waved to Callie as she and Elisabeth pulled into the driveway.
“I talked to her this morning.”
Wes’s head snapped back to Jake. “You did?”
“I did.” And it totally screwed with my head.
“And?”
“And…you should go help Callie.” He pointed to Callie carrying two big pizza boxes.
Wes got up and took the pizza boxes from Callie, then greeted her with a passionate kiss. Ross was right behind him, pulling Elisabeth into an embrace. Jake was glad for the distraction from talking about Fiona, but Ross and Elisabeth were all whispers and rubbing noses with about a hundred sickening little kisses. Jake turned away. He’d watched his siblings fall in love over the past few years, and each time another one of them took the monogamous plunge, it got a little tougher for him to remain as immune to the idea as he’d once been. Except there was only one woman’s image that accompanied the thought, and he wasn’t going down that path again.
He took the pizza boxes from Wes and set them on the table, flipped the top, and took out a slice.
“Jake, thank you for fixing the roof.” Callie reached for a slice of pizza. She’d come from work and was still dressed as a prim librarian in her knee-length sheath with a strand of pearls around her slim neck.
“Happy to help. It’s done, so you shouldn’t have any more trouble.”
“You finished? Already?” Callie’s eyes widened. Her brown hair was pinned up in a tight little bun, which Wes was quick to take down by removing the pencil that she’d used to secure it in place. Callie shook her hair out and held the slice of pizza up for Wes to take a bite.
“You guys are too cute,” Ross said.
“Hey, we’re pretty darn cute, too.” Elisabeth slid an arm around his waist and kissed his cheek.
“We’re the epitome of cute.” Ross kissed her softly.
“The epitome of sickening.” Jake smiled to soften the tease, trying not to think about the fact that part of him envied his brothers’ relationships. He finished his slice of pizza and grabbed another.
“I heard you saw Fiona today,” Elisabeth said with a tentative smile. She tucked her blond hair behind her ear and shrugged at Jake’s deadpan stare. “What? I had lunch at the Trusty Diner. Margie asked me about you guys.” Margie Holmes had worked at the Trusty Diner as a waitress since Jake was a kid. She was the eyes and ears of the small town.
Jake wondered what she thought of Fiona’s recent pursuit.
“I was there for coffee this morning,” Callie added. “She was quick to fill me in on your night with Sarah, too.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin and sat beside Wes. Wes reached for her hand.
“Nothing to fill you in on with Sarah, and yeah, I saw Fi—her when I was out running this morning. So what?” It was like Margie had video surveillance drones hovering over the town.
“Nothing.” Callie sat up straighter and pressed her lips together. She was usually careful about saying and doing the right thing. Jake could tell by the worry in her eyes that she thought she’d crossed a line.
“Sorry, Callie. Really, there’s nothing to tell. I drove Sarah to her house last night, but I never even went inside.” Jake reached for another slice of pizza, then thought of seeing Fiona and lost his appetite. When he’d looked up from the pavement and seen her standing there in those curve-hugging spandex shorts and tight tank top, he’d nearly lost it. It was all he could do to keep moving.
“Wait,” Ross said. “You didn’t hook up with Sarah? So why’d you take her out of the bar with you?”
Jake shrugged. He’d asked himself that a hundred times between last night and this morning. “Habit, I guess. I’m not used to leaving places alone.”
That was bullshit. He left plenty of places alone. He just didn’t want to leave alone after his run-in with Fiona. He’d planned on taking his frustrations out in his normal way, with a night of banging-hot, meaningless sex, but then he’d left the bar and taken a few breaths to clear his head. Even clearheaded, his mind had been wrapped around Fiona and the look of shock on her face as he’d stormed out. Thoughts of Fiona and Sarah had collided, and something unfamiliar had happened. His conscience had kicked in. Sarah wasn’t a kid, but she was young compared to Jake—a beautiful, willing young woman, but too young nonetheless.
And more important, she wasn’t Fiona.
The thought had shocked him into reality. Jake had driven Sarah home, and much to her dismay, he’d walked her to the doorstep like the gentleman the Braden men were known to be, and he’d bade her good night—sans a kiss or even a hug. Well, okay, he no longer had the rep of being a gentleman, but he sure as hell didn’t need to leave a trail of one-night stands in his own hometown. It was an eye-opener that hit him like a brick in the face, and it pissed him off that he’d fallen so far from the Braden reputation.
Jake had driven home facing a new frustration. The realization that, after seeing Fiona, the urges he felt couldn’t be tamped down by just anybody. The itch he’d felt was different from his usual need for release. It was a desire for something more. A deeper connection. A connection he thought he’d left behind long ago and no longer needed—and that had scared the hell out of him and pissed him off in equal measure.
Emily and Dae pulled into the driveway. Pierce and Rebecca stepped from the backseat.
“Great,” Jake mumbled.
“Emily will be relieved to hear you didn’t sleep with Sarah.” Ross patted Jake on the back.
Dae opened Emily’s door for her, and they crossed the yard hand in hand. Jake took a moment to really take stock of his sister. She walked easily beside Dae, and she gazed up at Dae like…like...like Fiona used to look at me.
Yeah, now he saw it. That extra bounce in Emily’s step, the rosy glow of love on her cheeks. He glanced around the table. Wes was holding Callie’s hand. Elisabeth sat on Ross’s lap, one arm around his neck, a smile on her lips. Jake couldn’t deny the longing buried deep in the pit of his stomach. He forced
himself to bury it deeper and cleared his throat in an effort to clear his mind.
“Bro.” Pierce patted Jake’s back.
Jake nodded. “Hey, Pierce. Hey, Rebecca. How are you?”
She embraced Jake. “I’m good. How was your day?”
“Good, thanks. Fixed up Wes’s roof, had a nice run.” Nice. Right, that’s not exactly how he’d classify his run when he’d nearly lost his mind over being faced with Fiona for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. “Are you guys still heading out tomorrow?”
“We postponed our meeting so we could stay for the annual County Fair.” She looked up at Pierce and smiled.
The County Fair was a big deal in Trusty, and it had always been a family affair for the Bradens. After two run-ins with Fiona, Jake was even more rattled by the idea of going and possibly running into her again.
Pierce kissed her temple. “Family first.”
“He also didn’t want to meet with the guy we had the meeting with. The guy is a jerk, but he’s a jerk that we’re going to make hand over a sweet deal,” Rebecca reminded him. Rebecca’s mother had died a few months before she and Pierce met. She’d spent two years caring for her mother, and after her mother passed away, leaving a mountain of medical bills, Rebecca had been forced to live in her car for a brief period of time, until she’d found her footing again. She’d been too prideful to accept financial help, and in the year since, she’d finished her degree and moved out of waitressing and into the acquisitions department of Pierce’s Reno resort.
“Only because you’re such a keen negotiator.” Pierce kissed her cheek. “It’ll be great to see Danica and Blake. I haven’t had a chance to meet their baby yet. Chessie’s got to be a year old by now. Danica’s sister Kaylie’s band is playing at the fair this year.” Their cousin Blake Carter and his wife, Danica, lived in the neighboring town of Allure. They’d met after Blake’s friend died in a tragic accident, when he’d sought help from Danica, who had been a therapist. It was love at first sight, and although Danica’d had to give up her therapist’s license in order to be with Blake, she’d never regretted it. And their cousin had never seemed happier. They were wildly in love with their baby girl, Francesca, who went by the nickname Chessie.
Crashing Into Love Page 3
