by Taylor Hart
Glancing around, he noted that the owner of the hardware store was standing by the window, watching them intently. “In that case …” He snaked a hand around her hip, pulling her closer. “Maybe we should get our kiss out of the way and give them something to talk about.” He wondered how she would react.
She hesitated, then slipped her arms around his shoulders and gazed into his eyes. “Go ahead, SEAL guy.”
His heart raced. Did he want this to be his kiss tonight? He decided not to waste it just to put on a show for the hardware people. He relaxed his hold.
“What are you waiting for?”
“I think I want to save the kiss. Should we go eat dinner?”
Chapter 8
Tia sat at Big C’s Diner, unable to believe that it’d only been one day with her fake boyfriend and Brad was having a total meltdown. She liked it.
They’d both ordered burgers and fries, and now they waited at the booth for their food. Jukebox Christmas music played in the background, something with Elvis Presley. Jax glanced around, inspecting everything in a hooded way. This guy could be the protagonist in the romantic suspense book she was trying to write.
“What’s up?” he asked, shifting his gaze back to her.
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “I’m just hungry.”
“The low blood sugar,” he filled in for her.
The guy was paying attention. “Yep.”
“Ya know, I thought you were extremely pale when I first saw you, but I couldn’t decide if it was because your ex was upsetting you or because of something else.”
She shook her head. “That’s nice of you to worry.” She averted her eyes, not wanting to ask the question she wanted to ask. “But I can handle Brad.”
The side of his lip tugged up. “I know.”
It made her feel better that he agreed with her, because sometimes she doubted herself on that front. She stared at Jax, two things on her mind. One, was this guy really dangerous? Two, did he wear contacts? It was a stupid question, but his eyes were like the color of the ocean. The year Michael and Janet had taken the whole family on a cruise to the Bahamas, she’d never forgotten the color of the ocean.
“So how was your day?”
“Fine, it’s …” She tried not to be nervous. “It was a long day today. The whole town called and ordered flowers for the Cole family.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Right, the big funeral. Did it go okay?”
“Yeah.” She rubbed at an itch above her left eye. “I bet it was interesting when you found out Brad was the guy who had been sent to help you get the heater started.”
Their food came, and she couldn’t stop herself from digging into the cheeseburger. She chomped down three quick bites, then took a sip of water and had a fry, her headache lessening.
Jax sat watching her, smiling.
“What?”
He finished a bite and wiped his face. “Nothing. I like it. For such a tiny thing, you’re just showing that burger who’s boss.”
She laughed, taking another bite. “I told you, I haven’t eaten.”
“Right.” He popped a fry in his mouth. “The low blood sugar.”
They both kept eating. She didn’t want to pester him, but more and more questions circled in her mind. About his past. About his girlfriend status. He’d said he’d known about exes; what did that mean? “Should we talk about the backstory that you gave to Brad?”
He nodded. “Sorry, I was going to fill you in. I thought I had time.”
“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “I just need to know the story so I can make it believable. So, we met in New York, and we went out dancing, and I thought you were really good.”
He cocked his head to the side and wiped his face with a napkin. “I didn’t say I was good. Brad might have inferred that.”
“Why would he have inferred that?”
“I told him we went dancing twice. Brad said, ‘She must have thought you were good.’ He looked ticked off about it, so I didn’t correct him.”
She smiled, feeling herself relax. “It’s always good to tick off Brad.”
“That was my thinking. But I’m not great at dancing. I really don’t dance.”
Her mind was already racing figuring out how to cover all of this up before the New Year’s Eve dance. “That’s okay. We’ll have to practice some dance steps. What are you doing tomorrow after dinner?”
He frowned. “Practicing my dancing?”
“Yep.” This could be fun. “Tomorrow after dinner, we’ll go back to my aunt and uncle’s dance studio and practice.”
“They have a dance studio at their house? Wow.”
“You’ll just have to see their place. It’s pretty amazing.”
“Just to make sure I can pass for your boyfriend, let me get this all straight. You used to sing, but you don’t anymore, except in the freezer at work.”
She smiled. “Right.”
“Now you write books. And you just do flower arrangements to help out your family.”
It felt like he was cataloguing her. “Are you using your SEAL skills on me?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Are you dangerous?” she blurted, her heart rate kicked up a notch. “Brad said he was worried that you were dangerous.”
Jax’s face turned serious. “I’m only dangerous when I have to be.”
She remembered how fierce he’d looked the night before, when he’d been boxing with his shirt off. She believed him.
His face softened. “Listen, I’m just a guy. Sure, my job is being a Navy SEAL, but I’m on leave. I’m just here to take care of my grandpa.” The side of his lip quirked up. “And to take a pretty girl to dinner for a couple of nights.”
Nervous flutters stirred inside of her, and she realized that the fact that he was a trained killer didn’t bother her as much as her attraction to him did.
“Plus, you made it clear there would be no falling in love, so we don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Is that one of your tactics, being witty?”
“You think I’m witty?” He grinned.
Tia’s cheeks warmed. She focused on her burger, taking another bite.
He ate for a bit too, then wiped his mouth. “So what’s your full story? The long one you said you would tell me yesterday.”
“It’s cliché. I tried to make it in New York, even had my music looked at by a label, but I never got past backup singer.” Her hand trembled and she put it beneath the table. “Things happened last year, and I don’t sing anymore.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”
Tia shrank into herself. She didn’t want to answer.
“Remember, I’m your boyfriend, I should know your story.”
She had an idea. “If I tell you my story, then you’ll tell me yours, too?”
He shrugged. “Sure, but for this op, it’s more important I know yours.”
It was interesting that he called their fake relationship an op. “Fine. It was always just me and my mom. I never knew my dad. The story is they got pregnant in college, he took off, and my mom moved back to Snow Valley. She lived with my grandparents for a time, and then, when Janet and Michael got married, we moved down the street from them. So I grew up with my cousins, Lacey and Mike. I’m a year younger than Mike. We’re more like brother and sister.”
“And where’s your mother now? You would be with her, right? If she were here?”
“Passed away two years ago.” Emotion clogged her throat. “Drunk driver when she was on her way to Billings.” She played with her mother’s ring, which she wore on her right hand.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” She met his gaze. “I was in New York at the time, singing as a backup singer. I came immediately, but it was too late. She died in the hospital.”
He reached out to her. “That sucks.”
“Yeah, it was brutal.” She took his hand. It was warm, soft, and callused.
; For a few moments, there was quiet between them.
He squeezed her hand. “I know how it feels to lose people you love, and there’s a part of you that feels like something’s missing.”
She hadn’t expected this guy to show such compassion, and his understanding comforted her. “That’s exactly how I’ve felt with her gone. Like something is always nagging at me, like background noise.”
“I know.” He pulled his hand back.
It surprised her that she missed his hand in hers. “Who have you lost?”
“Too many to count.”
The gravity of his profession washed over her. “Makes sense. I guess naively I’ve never thought about how many that is. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. But I had two hard losses, the biggest losses, in the past two years: my dad from cancer, and my best friend and teammate, Tim, who I lost in battle.”
The gravity of what this man had gone through hit the center of her chest, and she almost couldn’t breathe. She blinked back tears. Even though five years in age wasn’t that much of an age difference, right now it felt like he was ages older than her. She watched him massage his shoulder and wondered if his shoulder was somehow linked to losing Tim.
“I miss both of them every day.” After a moment, he turned back to her. “But let’s focus. I told Brad you really dug me, so let’s talk about that.”
Her heart kicked up a notch. Man, the guy was attractive. Like, superhero attractive. Aquaman, maybe Brad had been into superhero books, and he’d been obsessed with Aquaman, although Jax didn’t have the long hair. “Right, of course I dug you,” she said, feeling silly using that word.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing. I just would never say I dug someone.”
He grunted. “What would you say?”
Feeling put on the spot, she muttered, “I don’t know. I told you I don’t date now.”
“Because you want to be a successful writer.”
“Exactly.”
Jax crossed his arms and leaned back, seeming comfortable. He wasn’t the kind to show too much emotion. She found herself mentally taking notes on him. Maybe he’d been the secret special ops type, on missions to take down terrorists. The silent hero.
“I can literally hear the wheels turning in your mind,” he said.
She laughed. Her mother had always told her something similar. “Sorry, I was just developing your character.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Really? Please tell me.”
“Fine. Last night I started thinking about this guy who is the strong type. Maybe he’s supposed to save the protagonist, who is kidnapped or something, and I was just thinking …” She trailed off, realizing she sounded stupid.
His eyes leveled with hers. “Who is this strong guy saving her from?” he asked. “Terrorists? Mafia? Just some random stalker? It makes a difference if a SEAL team would be deployed. We mostly go into other countries and save Americans. But I don’t know if you wanted to go international.”
This was gold. She was immediately engaged. “She could be an American on vacation. Would that work?” She grabbed a fry as her mind raced.
“Yes. I don’t know where you are in the story, but her father could be rich—like billionaire rich—or a politician. That would give the cartel a reason to snatch her in Mexico or send a ship. It might be interesting if you had two points of view. Is she married? Wait, no, she wouldn’t be, because she’s going to hook up with this hero protagonist guy, right?”
“Right,” she said, letting out a chuckle. While she was still a bit embarrassed that she’d told him the truth, she was thrilled that he was taking it so seriously.
“You could have the girl be early twenties and in college, maybe go on vacation with the family. Oh, her father could be there. That would give your readers a sense of worry that no one is protected, not really.”
“I like it.”
He nodded, leaning in and putting his elbows on the table. “You could even have the bad guys going in one at a time, and maybe the hero guy is a bodyguard for the family. Yes, then you don’t have to write about so many characters. And you don’t have to know about the intricacies of SEALS.” He flashed her a grin. “Though I may know someone who might tell you some SEAL secrets.”
She was floored. “Oh my gosh, this is great.”
“I did tell Brad I had read your book. Maybe this is that book.”
“That’s awesome. But how do you know so much about writing a story?”
Immediately, he disengaged. “Uh, I read a lot. That’s all.”
“No,” she insisted. “You’re good. Like, I double majored in creative writing and voice, but … Did you take classes in college on writing?”
“Never went to college.”
“Then how do you know so much about stories?”
He shrugged.
Something didn’t feel right. “Listen, if we’re telling each other stuff, because we’re getting the right story as boyfriend and girlfriend, then whatever it is—just tell me.”
“Fine. Uh, my mother writes books.”
“What?” Now she was hooked. “What books? Is she published?”
He nodded. “Crime thrillers. Under the name E.J. Casey.”
“No way! Your mom is from Snow Valley, right? How come I never heard of her?”
Jax shrugged. “My grandpa was military, and he didn’t settle here until my mom was in college. So I came to visit snow valley when I was young.”
She tugged out her phone and googled it. “I can’t believe it. I never …” His mother’s Amazon profile showed almost fifty books. “Holy cow.” She was feeling less and less afraid of Jax. Everything crazy that Brad had said about him was dissipating. He was just a normal guy with a mom who was famous. “So, does your mom talk about it a lot?”
He leaned back, crossing his arms and looking uncomfortable. “She used to, before she left me and my father.”
All of her energy left. She put her phone down. “I’m sorry.”
“And just so you know, fake girlfriend or not—I don’t talk about my mother.”
The way he said it was so final. So she did the only thing she could think of to relieve his discomfort. “Topic change: how many people have you killed?” Whoops. Maybe she could have asked something else.
Chapter 9
Once again, this woman had gotten the jump on him. Jax hadn’t seen all these questions coming. “Ah, I don’t answer that question for civilians.”
“Right.” Tia stood and gathered up their trash. She laughed nervously. “Kill count, like you know that.”
Of course he did. He stood and followed her to the trash bin. “Guess dinner’s over?” he asked, walking with her as she marched to his grandpa’s truck.
She pulled her coat more tightly around her. “I …” She lifted and lowered her shoulder.
Had he scared her away already? He didn’t want this night to be over. “It’s fine.” He opened the passenger’s side door for her, and she got in.
Before Jax started the truck, he took a chance and asked, “Would you care if we stopped at the hospital to check in on my grandpa before I take you back?”
“Um …” She sounded reluctant. “Sure.”
Normally, Jax wouldn’t want someone with him if they didn’t really want to be, but he still hadn’t gotten that kiss. It was a very important part of the boyfriend contract.
When they got to the hospital, he rushed around and opened her door as she was getting out.
“You don’t have to open my doors.”
“Yeah, I do. Careful—”
She clutched his arm, almost slipping on the ice.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Look, no offense, SEAL guy, but you’re a lot to handle.”
That made him laugh. “SEAL guy, huh?”
“Would you prefer something else.”
“Nope.”
She grunted, still holding on to him. “I am finding I sound more and more like an idiot w
hen I’m around you.”
“No, you don’t.” He didn’t like that she felt that way.
The sliding doors opened.
She stopped walking. “I seriously just asked you how many people you’ve killed.”
He was nervous that she clearly had issues with his job, but he was also nervous that all he could focus on was the light flowery smell that was wafting off of her. “It’s fine.”
Tia collected herself and strolled up to the information desk. “Hey, Martha.”
Martha came around the information counter, her eyes widening in surprise. “Tia? What are you doing here? Are the kids expecting you? I thought yesterday was your day. I bet they’re in bed by now.”
Jax lifted an eyebrow. Kids?
Tia hugged her. “I’m here with Jax to see Roy.”
Martha’s smile widened as she reached for Jax, pulling him into a hug as if they were old friends.
He found himself hugging her in return. She smelled like peppermint.
“I heard that you two were seeing each other, but I didn’t believe it. I thought it was just Brad having sour grapes.” Martha laughed and put her hand to her mouth, taking Jax’s arm and ushering them through the lobby. “I underestimated Roy’s grandson. You weren’t just coming for Roy; you actually met up with our Tia in New York a couple of months ago, I hear?”
Jax nodded, finding it incredible the whole town already knew about their “relationship.” “We were keeping it under wraps.”
“I should say,” Martha said, taking Tia’s hand. “And so romantic, too. It’s like you kids are destined to be together.”
Jax chuckled. “It was a miracle.”
The edge of Tia’s lip turned up, and her eyes met his. Silently, they shared an inside joke. “A total miracle.”
“So sweet,” Martha commented.
They got to his grandpa’s room, and Jax was surprised to see an older gentleman there, holding a Bible.
Tia rushed inside. “Pastor John.”
The pastor hugged her. “Tia. You saved me today. Your flower arrangements were amazing. I’m telling Janet that you did good. Very good.”
