by Winters, KB
“I’m Jace Winslow,” Jace said, stepping forward and extending a hand to Mitch. “I’m Kat’s friend.”
Mitch ignored Jace’s outstretched hand. “Friend, huh?” He retorted, still staring at me with fire in his eyes. “So this is why you couldn’t take the call that your son was in the hospital? I wonder what the courts would have to say about that…” Mitch wondered aloud, letting his question hang.
There were about a thousand nasty things I wanted to say to him, but there was one thing outweighing my desire to rip him a new one. “Where is Jax?”
“He’s sleeping. The doctor wants him to finish the fluids in his IV bag and then we—” he snapped, pointing between Hannah and himself—“—are taking him home.”
My fingers balled into tight fists. Jace stepped back to my side and I could feel tension radiating off of him, but he didn’t say anything else. “I want to see him. Now.”
Mitch rolled his eyes as though I was being completely unreasonable. I was about to launch myself at him, when Jace put his hand on my elbow, stilling me. Before Mitch or I could say anything else to each other, a doctor—Jax’s doctor—came over and after explaining the situation to me, took me with him to see Jax. Jace waited out in the hall and I breathed a sigh of relief at not having to ask him for space. He had a way of reading me and I was appreciative that he didn’t get offended when he backed away and sank into one of the chairs on the opposite side of the hallway.
I slipped into the quiet room and stared at my little boy, tears welling up at the sight of him laying in the bed that was obviously made for adults. He had an IV in his arm and the slow, steady beeps of the monitors filled the room with a grounding, peaceful sound. I brushed his tawny hair with my fingers, lavishing the silky feeling. “Hey baby, it’s mama. I’m sorry I wasn’t there tonight,” I whispered, knowing he couldn’t hear me.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I was still smoothing his baby soft hair when a nurse came in, checked the IV bag and then began unhooking him. When she was done, she gave me a sympathetic smile. “He’s going to be all right. Kids get the flu like this all the time, but you did the right thing by bringing him in.”
“Thanks,” I replied softly, giving her a nod, pressing down the self loathing that I had not brought him in, that I hadn’t even heard about any of it until it was over.
Jax stirred and when he opened his eyes, they found me and a heartbreaking little smile crossed his face. “Mama.”
I gathered him into my arms and held him close, kissing his head over and over again, until Mitch and Hannah finally came in with the doctor close on their heels. “It’s time to go home, champ,” Mitch said.
Jax looked over at me and then back at his dad, the confusion on his face twisted another knife into my heart. Eventually, after a lot of consoling, and assuring him that I’d pick him up the next afternoon, he let Mitch carry him out of the room. After they were out of my sight, I collapsed against the wall in the hallway, and exhaled slowly, trying to keep a new batch of tears from spilling.
“It wasn’t your fault, Kat,” Jace said softly. I turned, surprised to see him standing right behind me as I hadn’t heard him approach. He brushed a hand on my shoulder. “Come on, let me take you home. You need some rest.”
I let him take me home, and we parted with a friendly goodnight at the door. “Call me if you need anything,” he insisted, fishing a business card from his jacket pocket, since I didn’t have his number programmed into my home phone.
“Thanks, Jace. For everything.”
He nodded and disappeared into the night.
That night, in bed, I had nothing but nightmare scenarios running through my mind as I tried to sleep. Each new “what if” worse than the last as I turned them over, unsure which one was about to become my new reality—but the only thing I knew for sure was that whatever had happened between Jace and me could never happen again.
No matter how much either of us wanted it to.
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More from KB Winters
Plush A Billionaire Romance
What The Luck
Fate Interrupted
Timeless Passion
Hooked (Get it free!)
SEAL’d Perfection
Temporary Assignment
Acknowledgements
First of all, I’d like to thank all my readers. Without you, my books wouldn’t need to exist. I truly appreciate each and every one of you.
Thanks to all of my beta readers, street team, ARC readers and Facebook fans. You girls are the best!
And a huge very special thanks to my PA, Shannon Hunt and Once Upon an Alpha. Without you, I’d be a hot mess! Thank you!
And a very special thanks to my editor, Tina. Thank you for making my words make sense.
About The Author
KB Winters has an addiction to caffeine, tattoos and hard-bodied alpha males. The men in her books are very sexy, protective and sometimes bossy, her ladies are…well…bossier!
Living in sunny Southern California, the embarrassingly hopeless romantic writes every chance she gets!
You can connect with KB on Facebook and Twitter!
Or stop by her website at KBWinters.com!
SEAL’d Perfection
Book 2
By
KB Winters
Copyright © 2015 KB Winters
Published By: BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC
Copyright and Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 KB Winters
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Chapter One — Kat
I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but when Jace Winslow walked through the front doors of the diner Monday afternoon, my heart shot straight up to my throat. I flashed a frantic glance over to Patrice, my co-worker and the only other waitress on duty, but she was sitting at the counter, texting on her phone, completely oblivious to my problem. Then again, even if she was paying attention, how would she know I didn’t want Jace seated in my section? Every day of the weeks before, he’d sat in my section, and I’d waited on him without complaint.
But that was before all hell had broken loose.
Just the day before, I’d gone to pick up my son, Jax, from his father’s house, and received a second round of ass-chewing for not having my phone on me Saturday night when Jax had come down with a vicious bout of the flu and been rushed to the ER. His words were still ringing in my ears…“For someone who fought so hard for custody, it seems like Jax isn’t your top priority,” “—you show up with some thug, smelling like alcohol and cigarette smoke!” and “—maybe Jax would be better with Hannah and me full time. She stays home and has the time and focus needed to take care of him!”
I’d vehemently shot down all of his claims, getting particularly enraged when he kept poking around for information about my boyfriend, Jace—regardless of how many times I insisted Jace was just a friend. I’d escaped further ridicule when Jax appeared, holding his little overnight backpack, and racing out to my car with his dog, Mickey in tow. But all the way home, I’d fumed, struggling to keep up with Jax’s cheery chattering about the new fire truc
k his dad had bought him for being such a trooper at the hospital—a fire truck that’s siren had given me a migraine on the ride home.
I looked over at Jace and sighed. The memory of his touch was still fresh enough in my mind, that just the sight of him riled me up, but for all the wrong reasons. After Jax’s scare in the hospital, I’d decided there could be no more dates and definitely no more make out sessions with Jace. It was too risky. Mitch had me in a vice grip, holding the custody agreement over my head, and I had to play his game or else risk losing it all.
“How’s the little guy?” Jace asked, as I reluctantly directed him to his usual table.
“He seems to have bounced back just fine, when I left him with Hilda this morning, he was running around in circles, chasing Mickey, while Mickey chased his own tail.” I laughed and shook my head softly, remembering his tiny little giggles. “Thanks for asking.”
“Glad to hear it,” Jace said, smiling up at me.
“Do you want a menu?” I asked, fidgeting my hands in the pocket of my apron to get a grip on one of the laminated sheets.
“No, thanks. I think I’ll just do the turkey club and lemon water.” I nodded and turned, ready to go put in his order, but he stopped me with a gently touch on my arm. “Kat, wait, I actually have something for you.”
I tried to shove aside the flicker of heat sliding up my arm, radiating from where his fingertips were still resting on my skin. I looked down as he fished into his jacket pocket and pulled out a cell phone…my cell phone. “Oh my God! Where did you—? How did you—?” On Saturday night, on my dinner turned dinner date with Jace, I had thought my phone had fallen out of my pocket on the motorcycle ride to the bar we went to.
“I called the bar. You left it on the table, so I went and picked it up yesterday.”
I flicked the screen on—surprised it had any battery left, and looked at the half a dozen missed calls from Mitch, remembering how frantic I’d been when I’d arrived home in time to hear his message about Jax on the land line answering machine. “Thank you, Jace. That was very sweet of you.”
He smiled and shrugged. “It was the least I could do.”
As I stared down into his deep blue eyes, I wanted to lean over and kiss him. Even in the midst of all the drama and chaos over the past twenty-four hours, my mind had managed to find plenty of instances to replay our smoldering hot make-out session in his loft apartment. My body temperature seemed to raise a few degrees just thinking about it. “Thanks, again. I’ll go put in your order.” I slipped the phone in my apron and hurried away, back to the safety of the kitchen, where I didn’t have those striking eyes bearing into me, uncovering all my secrets. He’d already seen too much. I knew I’d have to find a way to tell him that whatever we’d started—now needed to stop—but I hadn’t figured out how to explain it just yet.
I put in the ticket and then went to tend the other three tables, refilling water glasses, fetching napkins, and bringing out coffee and desserts when the meal was over, all the while avoiding Jace’s eyes that I knew were locked onto every move I made. When his lunch was ready, I took it to him, loading my tray with extra napkins and ketchup, just to avoid a second trip, knowing my resolve wouldn’t hold out forever.
“Kat,” he started, as I set down his meal, and arranged his silverware on the edge of the table. “Is something wrong?”
I looked away, the pit in my stomach opening into a bottomless hole that was about to swallow me up.
“What is it? Did I do something?” Jace pressed, reaching for my hand.
I pulled my hand back, knowing I couldn’t handle it if he touched me again. I wouldn’t be able to get out the words that needed to be said. I sighed, steeling myself, before saying, “Jace, listen, you didn’t do anything. You know that whole “it’s not you, it’s me” line that’s usually total bullshit?” I paused for a reply, but he continued to stare at me calmly. “Well, in this case, it actually is me. I thought I could do this—” I pointed between us, unsure of the exact label for what had happened, “—but I can’t. With work, school, and Jax…I don’t have any room left.” I stopped short of telling him what was really driving the conversation, that I was scared to death that my ex-husband would find some way to twist my happiness against me and use it as a chip to take full custody of our son.
Jace sighed. “All right, I guess I can’t really argue with that, no matter how much I want to.”
My heart twisted at the look on his face, like he was trying to bury the hurt I’d just inflicted. “I’m sorry, Jace.”
His expression shifted and he shrugged. “No biggie. Thanks for this,” he said, gesturing to the sandwich. I took it as my dismissal and wandered away slowly.
When I looked back, he was biting into the sandwich and staring out the window, across the street towards his tattoo shop.
* * * *
Thanks to a sleepless weekend, and a long Monday, I was bone tired by the time I dragged myself up the front steps of my next door neighbor, Hilda’s house, at five o’clock to pick up Jax. Luckily, there was some in service day, and I didn’t have to worry about going to class.
“Mama!” Jax screeched, launching himself at me as soon as I stepped inside. My fatigue faded away as I swung my little boy up into the air and twirled him around, the sound of his giggling a balm to my bruised heart.
“Someone has been waiting very patiently for you,” Hilda said, throwing me a wink as she joined us from the kitchen. She held two cups of tea in her hands, and once I’d set Jax back down, she handed one to me.
“Thank you,” I said, breathing in the soothing aroma. “I needed this.”
“I thought you might, dear. You looked a little beat up when you dropped him off this morning,” she said. “Come on, let’s sit. I have a casserole in the oven.”
I followed her to the couch and we watched as Jax proudly showed off his newest block creation—a tower of colorful blocks that he insisted was actually a fierce dinosaur. He was too adorable for either of us to argue with. While he busied himself with a new pile of blocks, Hilda turned towards me on the couch. “So, what’s going on?”
I sipped at my tea, letting the mint melt into all my senses. “Well, I told you about the hospital thing,” I started. I’d recounted the nutshell version to her when I’d dropped off Jax that morning. “Mitch is being…difficult,” I said, eying Jax. Regardless of how awful Mitch could be, when we’d divorced, I’d made a promise to myself not to bad mouth him in front of Jax—a promise that had turned out to be a lot harder than it had sounded when I’d made it.
Hilda lifted her brows. “He’s not talking about court again, is he?”
I nodded slowly. “I don’t know if he’s serious or not, but I don’t want to find out. I need to let this whole Jace thing go and just focus on being a mom and getting through school and move on.”
“Jace thing?” She repeated, her eyebrows shooting higher still.
Shit. I hadn’t meant to let that slip…
“He took me out Saturday…he was with me when I got the call about Jax, actually. He took me out to the hospital.”
“Ooooh! This is even better than my soap operas!” Hilda laughed. “Tell me more—don’t hold out the good parts! There were good parts, right?”
“Well…” my eyes shifted to Jax as my cheeks warmed.
Hilda was bouncing in her seat, her eyes lit with a sparkle like I hadn’t seen before.
“I mean, Hilda, it was…” I cut off again, looking over at Jax. “It was insane.”
“Say no more, dear,” Hilda said, throwing me a wink. “I told you he’d be a good match for you. Just the kind of man you need around to make you smile and curl your toes.” She winked.
I laughed. “No, no. It was a mistake—granted, a fun mistake—but I can’t go there. Not with everything else going on. Besides, he’s like twenty-five! I know I’m not old, but to me, that feels a little too young. Although…you should have seen the way Mitch looked at him,” I giggled, remembering t
he mix of horror and shock on his face. “Thank God he didn’t have his jacket off. If Mitch had gotten a look at all that ink…oh my God. I can’t even imagine!”
Hilda frowned at me. “So, what? That’s it? Just like that you’re gonna give up?”
My smile faded from my lips. “I don’t see what choice I really have. I can’t do anything that will make Mitch question whether or not I’m a good mother. You know what happened last time, with the court. His lawyer steamrolled everyone who came to speak on my behalf.” I shook my head. “No, it’s better this way. I need things to be simple right now.”
A timer went off in the kitchen, and Hilda went to go see about dinner. I knew the conversation wasn’t over, but for the moment, the pressure was off.
Chapter Two — Jace
Overnight, my life had turned into a circus. The camera crew for my reality show, Inked by Jace, arrived Tuesday morning to begin filming, and by Thursday afternoon, I was ready to lock every member of the production team in a closet. It had been at least six months since the first season had wrapped, and in that space of time, I’d forgotten how much of a pain in the ass it was to constantly be followed by cameramen, sound people, and that one guy with the stick that always managed to be in the way whenever I stood up.
My only escape was going across the street to the diner. At the beginning of filming, I’d let the crew know that space was off limits, and luckily, the diner owner had held out on signing the release papers to allow filming inside anyways. Before filming began, going to the diner had already been the bright spot in my day, but with filming, it had become an outright oasis.
The only problem was that Kat was getting farther and farther away with each passing day. After our conversation on Monday, I’d reluctantly agreed to back off from pursuing her—no matter how much it killed me to see her and not be able to touch her. It was like getting to lick the frosting from a cake, but not being able to experience the whole thing. Torture. I’d consoled myself with the fact that she hadn’t declared a friendship off limits, and had decided that if I couldn’t have her the way I wanted, I could at least be her friend, and wait for her to reconsider. However, she apparently was working from a completely different playbook and had all but ignored me in the days following her declaration that we weren’t able to be together.
