by Taylor Hart
She began putting the food into Tupperware. “So when you said you understood exes, you weren’t kidding.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
For a while they both just worked, cleaning up and putting things away. Silently, she chewed on everything he’d told her.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he asked, still scrubbing a pan.
“Oh, I was just thinking about how much you need family. The family you can count on for hard things.”
He glanced back at her. “Like your aunt and uncle.”
She nodded. “Like your grandpa.”
“Agreed.”
They finished up the kitchen, and she turned to him. “Ready to go to the dance studio and dance?”
He gave her a scared look. “Do I have to?”
Motioning to his shoes, she reached for her boots. “You’re the one who told Brad about how I just couldn’t get enough of your dancing.”
He sat and put on his shoes, cringing. “Fatal mistake, I’m afraid, because I’m going to be disappointing on the dance floor.”
“Let me decide that.”
Chapter 13
The building they entered was a lot bigger than Jax would have expected for a dance studio. Tia opened a sliding glass door, and he saw that one side of the huge warehouse-like structure was a dance studio. A hallway led to what looked like a huge workout space. He pointed to the gym. “Can I look?”
“Go for it.”
He rushed down and couldn’t believe there were floor-to-ceiling windows with the mountains as the view. There was also a huge boxing rink and so many treadmills, ellipticals, and stair machines. On the other side were various weights and machines, and there was a whole area with mats.
She followed him in. “My aunt and uncle’s son, Mike, was a boxer—well, really an MMA fighter. So they built out this side for him.”
He would love to have a gym like this. “Dang.” As she led him through it, he inspected the quality of the equipment and all of the mirrors. It even had a drinking fountain and a huge stereo system. “I like it.”
She laughed. “Oh my gosh, I just thought about how Lacey, my cousin, brought this guy home for Christmas as a fake boyfriend and they told us he was in college, but he ended up being totally military. In the Air Force. She ended up marrying him.”
“What?” He followed her back to the dance studio. “So their fake relationship turned real?”
She wagged a finger at him. “But this thing with us definitely won’t.”
Jax hesitated. “Of course it won’t.” How come he didn’t feel like he was telling the truth. Then he remembered what she’d said before. “You mentioned that your cousin married a military guy and he was never home.”
She flipped on the lights inside the dance studio area. “Exactly. They live a couple of miles down the road. They have their own place. They have a couple of kids, and Lacey still teaches dance out of this studio. But it’s really hard on her with Dom gone a lot.”
“I bet,” Jax said, checking out the wood floors. Again, there were floor-to-ceiling windows with the view of the mountains. The ballerina bars and mats hung on the walls. Mirrors took up all the other walls. “This is sweet.”
She walked over to a stereo system and turned it on, using her phone and hooking it up to a playlist. “It is sweet. When I was little, Lacey and I spent hours in here.”
The music started, a country song by Montana Cruz.
Jax took off his coat and boots.
She tugged off her sweatshirt, revealing a black Lycra leotard top. Her pants were black Lycra, too.
Jax felt a burst of adrenaline. The woman looked good. Better than good.
She turned to him and pulled her long red hair up into a ponytail. “Ready?”
“Sure.” He suddenly felt awkward. She looked so graceful, and he felt anything but graceful.
She put her hand on his shoulder.
He put his other hand on her waist. “Gotta make sure the town thinks we really know how to dance together, right?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”
“I told you, I’m not great. I’m going to need some Christmas magic to sell this.”
Tia started moving them into a two-step. “Well, lucky for you, sailor, I am pretty good.” She led him into more complicated steps. He had to stop a couple of times, and she had to slow it down for him, but it was working. After a bit, she squeezed his hand. “You said you didn’t dance.”
“Hardly.”
She broke their hands and twirled out, then back in. “You’re a quick study.” She winked at him and fell back into a two-step. “I think that’s what attracted me to you the most when we met.”
He was thrilled that she was flirting with him like this. He laughed. “You threw me into the deep water; I had to keep up.”
She giggled.
“What?” He liked the sound of her laughter.
She put a hand to his chest, laughing harder. “l cannot believe that I told Brad you were my date and my boyfriend and that—” She broke off, trying to catch her breath.
He smiled at her. She was a bit out of sorts, but he liked it.
She lifted both of their hands over their heads, and then she went underneath and kept hold of one. “Now break and turn, then bend forward.”
He tried to follow what she was saying.
“This is a tabletop.” She let go of his hands because it wasn’t working.
He laughed. “A table what?”
She showed him again, and then they were moving through it faster. “I knew I liked you when I saw you beating the heck out of that bag at your grandpa’s place.”
He froze.
She stared into his eyes and then trailed a hand down his back. “What does your tattoo mean?”
Fire burned through him. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
This sent her spinning into more laughter.
They continued dancing, and it felt like all the barriers between him and this woman had come down. He held her close, and there were so many times he wanted to just kiss her, but he waited.
“You’re good,” she said when they walked to the drinking fountain for a water break.
“I’m adequate, but you’re amazing, so I’m better when I’m dancing with you.”
They walked back to the dance studio, and she played the tango song. They’d gone through it already, but now he was getting the hang of it.
“Yes!” she said as he nailed a move.
Jax never would have guessed that coming to Snow Valley would lead him to dancing with a woman who wasn’t just beautiful, but also had so much going for her that she didn’t even realize. If he’d known, he would have skipped Cabo any day.
A different song came on, and he stumbled, trying to keep the beat.
“Whoa, you have to keep moving.”
He put his hand on her hips and moved her closer, focusing on her lips. “Sorry, I guess I’ve been distracted thinking of ways to make the end-of-the-night kiss more enjoyable for you.” He didn’t lean in yet.
She let out a laugh and changed into a simple swaying. “Oh, so that’s what we’re doing now.”
“Is that okay?”
She went perfectly still, almost statue-like. “Okay.” It was like she was preparing for battle.
“You sure?” he asked. He’d been thinking over this situation all day, and he didn’t want it to turn into something forced. “If you don’t want me to, I won’t.”
She reached up, putting her hands on his chest, then upwards to his shoulders, circling behind his neck. “I can handle whatever you bring at me, SEAL guy.”
His heart beat rapidly as he peered into her liquid green eyes. Those eyes peered back, burning into his soul.
“Ready,” she said, her breath on his lips.
He closed his eyes and leaned closer.
Her lips touched his, softly at first, like the wings of a butterfly.
He let her lead for a bit until he couldn’t hold back, turning his h
ead and pulling her closer. She matched him, moving her hands to his face. Fire burned through him, and he had to force himself to keep this kiss light and easy. She began kissing him more fully. He pressed his hands deep into her hair, loving its silkiness.
Finally, she pulled back, a smile on her face. He wanted to kiss her again, but he didn’t.
One kiss.
He shouldn’t have put a limit on them.
“You didn’t disappoint tonight.” She shimmied out of his arms and laughed.
She was like a drug to him, and he wanted to insist she keep kissing him. He grinned at her. “That’s good because I don’t think my ego could have taken disappointing you twice.”
A hint of a smile played at her lips, then she shook her head. “Okay, let’s get back to practicing. We only have two days until the dance. And we have sell it, remember?”
“Right.”
“Tia,” a male voice said.
Startled, Jax faced the door. Brad was standing there in a coat and boots, covered in snow.
“What are you doing here?” Tia asked.
“I’m here to check in on you. You weren’t answering my texts or calls.” Brad looked at Jax. “What is going on?”
Tia’s expression turned furious, and she marched toward him. “Get out, Brad.”
Brad whipped his phone out. “What would your aunt and uncle say if they knew that you were out here so late, dancing with a guy you don’t know?” His tone was clearly to taunt her.
Jax didn’t like this guy even more.
Tia rushed at him, reaching for the phone. “Don’t disrupt my aunt and uncle’s vacation. You know they’ll be worried if you call them.”
Brad held the phone away from her, his thumb over the button. “Then tell me the truth about you guys.”
“Brad!” Tia yelled, trying to get the phone still. “If you call my aunt or uncle, they will worry about me and I don’t want that.”
A huge smirk filled Brad’s face. “I’ll do it. I’ll call them and worry all of them. You know I will. I’ll tell them you’re hanging out with a trained killer.”
Total calm washed through Jax and he was instantly on ‘mission alert.’ The kind of mission alert where he and his team had to be ready to engage with enemy combatants. The problem, was that Brad was just a school boy idiot and Jax didn’t want to hurt him, but he wasn’t going to put up with him tormenting Tia like this. “Give her the phone.” He kept his voice calm, but he stepped closer.
Brad snarled at him. “Get your boyfriend out of here, Tia, or I’ll really do it.”
Jax was ready to put the hurt on Brad, but he didn’t have to.
Suddenly, Tia punched the guy right in the gut.
Clearly unprepared for it, Brad let out a grunt and leaned over. “Gahh!”
Tia grabbed his phone and easily opened the sliding glass door and chucked the phone outside.
Brad rushed beside her, staring out into the snowy darkness. “What the heck did you do that for?” He demanded, stomping out into the snow and looking for it.
Tia glared at him and then shut the door.
Jax was proud of her. He laughed. “Nice. I didn’t see that move coming.” He watched as Brad fell to his knees and searched for his phone.
Tia pursed her lips together. “He’s just …” She turned away from Jax, moving to the stereo and picking up her phone. “He doesn’t know when to quit.”
Jax watched her gathering her things. “So I guess we’re done practicing?”
She moved toward her coat and shoes. “I think so.”
Jax wanted to demand that they stay, but he didn’t want to upset her. He put on his coat and shoes, too.
Tia turned off all the lights.
When they walked outside, Brad had a flashlight and he was searching the snow. “I’m not happy about my phone, Tia.”
Tia took Jax’s hand and bypassed Brad on the trail to her house. “I’ve told you plenty of times not to come out here and bug me. Stay away.”
“You’re going to regret this,” Brad said.
Jax stopped walking and turned back. “I wouldn’t make threats.”
Brad stuck his chin in the air. “What does that mean?”
“Just what I said.” Jax kept his voice even.
Brad scoffed. “Oh, what are you gonna do? Some special opps move on me?” He pointed at him. “I could sue you because your hands are like considered weapons, ya know?”
Jax wanted to make some crack about how Brad was right; he could kill him with his bare hands, but instead he chose to ignore the idiot and began walking with Tia again.
When they got to Tia’s door, Jax didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to leave but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
Tia dropped his hand and stared past him at Brad, who was still searching. “I guess I shouldn’t have thrown his phone.”
Jax grunted. “I think you could have done worse things than throw his phone.”
Her eyes met his and the side of her lip tugged up. She leaned in, conspiratorially. “You forget, my hands aren’t trained weapons.”
It felt like they were sharing an inside joke and he liked it. “True.”
She leaned into Jax. “You’re a good dancer, you know. I could see why I dug you back in New York.”
Warmth filled him. “Thanks.” He shrugged. “You’re okay, too.”
She laughed.
For a moment neither of them moved.
“Don’t kiss him, Tia. I told you he’s dangerous, you don’t even know him!” Brad yelled out.
Tia glanced at Brad, then opened the door. “You’re staying and watching a a cheesy Hallmark movie with me, aren’t you?”
He followed her into the house. “I love cheesy Hallmark movies.” He shut the door behind him.
She hesitated, still looking out the window at Brad. “Good.” She sighed. “He gets in these moods and I honestly think he really believes he can just convince me to be with him again.”
Jax was more than a little unsettled to hear that. “How often does he come out here?”
They both shred their coats and boots.
She shrugged. “It used to be when things would go wrong between him and Ellie, but now that they aren’t together, he’s been coming out more and more. I actually worried a bit with the family being away and knowing how desperate he was feeling.”
Wild horses couldn’t drag Jax away at this moment.
Tia popped popcorn in the kitchen and then they found an old black-and-white Christmas movie that was playing on television. “It’s a Wonderful Life. Have you seen it?” she asked him.
Pain shot through the center of his chest. “Yes,” he said softly, trying to sound nonchalant about it.
“What?” she asked, sitting on the coach and putting the bowl of popcorn between them.
He sat, forcing himself not to think of his mother and how every year she’d made them watch this exact movie. “Nothing.” He picked up a handful of popcorn and checked out of the window to see if Brad was still here. Yep, there he was.
Tia was instantly engaged in the movie. “Oh my gosh, I love this part, where Jimmy Stewart jumps in the water to save Clarence and ends up saving himself.”
Bam! He was transported back to childhood, and he found himself eating more and more popcorn and leaning more and more into Tia as they watched the movie. Was it a conscious decision when he put his arm around her shoulders and scooted in, putting the popcorn on his lap? It felt natural.
Tia looked up at him. “Could you really kill Brad with your bare hands?”
Jax wanted to smile and say something egotistical to blow off the question, but he could tell she was serious. “Uh, yeah, but it wouldn’t come to that.”
“What would it come to?
He shrugged and put his attention on the movie. “With untrained fighters you pretty much just have to move out of the way and let the momentum fight for you.”
“What does that mean?”
He
turned to face her. “Untrained fighters make mistakes, use their bodies to express emotions. It makes them have a lot of disadvantages.”
She still stared at him, seeming as though she wanted to ask so many more questions.
He searched her eyes, loving how intensely green they were right now. Loving how curious she was. Loving how they’d laughed together while dancing and how she really had taught him a lot. “What?”
“Should I be afraid of you?” her voice was so vulnerable.
His heart raced and he thought about how he’d never felt so … attracted to a woman. Not just in the physical sense. But, of course there was more than enough of that going on. He liked her. He thought she was funny and brave and was a good person. So much better of a person than him. Slowly, he trailed a finger down her jawline. “Believe me, Tia Snow, I’m much more afraid of you.”
He wanted to kiss her. And kiss her. And kiss her. His mind was instantly lost in all the ways he wanted to push his fingers through her hair, in how he wanted to run his nose across her neck and breathe her in. She smelled so good.
She smiled at him. “You’ve already had your kiss tonight.”
His mind flashed to earlier in the dance studio. He grinned. “It was good.”
She laughed.
“What?”
Then she was giggling.
He put his hands on her shoulders. “You’re giggling at my kiss?”
Which made her giggle harder. “No, I’m not giggling at your kiss.”
He tickled her beneath her chin and she pushed him back.
“Stop!” She sucked in a long breath.
Warmth filled him. He liked being with this woman.
A lot.
She pointed a finger at him. “I’m just saying … one kiss per night, that was the agreement.” She turned back to the movie. “Let’s watch.”
He slipped his arm back around her shoulders and before long Tia’s head was resting against him and she was sleeping. He put his hand on her hair and smoothed it down. She had gorgeous hair. The smell of flower hit him again.
Could he not re-enlist for a girl like this?
The thought hit him out of the blue. Not that he hadn’t considered the question, but it didn’t seem possible that Tia might want someone like him.
