Chapter 2 #3
"You could say that," he replies. "He's young and wild, out running around all night. I'm constantly chasing the damn thing and bringing him home."
"What kind of dog is he?" I ask.
"His mother was a wolf. I found her on the side of the road, she'd been hit by a car and been killed. I saw she was nursing so I went looking and two days later I heard them crying in the forest. Brought both pups home, but his sister didn’t make it."
I turn to look at him over the back of the couch as I see a new side to the prickly man.
"I think his father must have been a dog though," he continues, "or there is one somewhere back in his family, he's not a full-bred wolf."
I sip my whiskey as I listen. "Is that why he acts different, cause he's half wild?"
"Maybe," he replies. "I don’t try and curb him too much. He has free reign. I let him be who he was meant to be. I do spend way too much time looking for him though."
I smile impressed. Jack’s a big softy.
I finish my dinner and he comes to collect my plate. "Leave that," I say. "I'll wash it in the morning, you’ve done enough."
He gives me a lopsided smile as he picks it up. "It's okay, I'm used to doing everything."
I watch him, and suddenly I want to know all there is about Jack.
"Come sit with me and talk," I call, while I hold my empty glass in the air. "We can have another drink together."
He picks up the whiskey bottle and comes and sits down on the other couch. He refills both of our glasses and takes a sip as his eyes hold mine. "What do you want to talk about?"
I shrug. "Is there anything you want to ask me?"
He shakes his head.
"What's your last name?" I ask.
"Stevens."
"Jack Stevens?" I smile.
He nods.
"I'm Holly McMillan."
His eyes hold mine and he takes a slow sip of his whiskey. "You got a man at home, Holly McMillan?"
My stomach flutters. "No."
"Why not?"
I shrug. "I was married once, to a liar."
He listens intently.
"It's ridiculous. I thought he was the love of my life and he thought I was his meal ticket."
He frowns.
"He was a stockbroker and he got caught for insider trading."
"He stole from people?" he asks horrified.
"Aha, and I thought that was the worst of it. But when they were doing his character analysis in court, they brought up all these affairs that he had behind my back with numerous women and it was splashed all over the tabloids."
His face falls. "You didn’t know?"
"No idea at all. I was completely blindsided. He even had a child with another woman and paid her off not to tell me." I shrug sadly.
He raises his eyebrows and sips his drink as if lost for words.
"He's in jail."
"You divorced him?"
"Aha." I smile sadly. "It's funny you know, you think you know how your life is going to turn out. But I never imagined I'd be a thirty-three-year-old divorcee, that was never even on my radar."
He nods as if understanding.
My eyes go to him in question. "Did your life turn out to be what you thought it would be?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "No."
I wait for his reply.
"Never thought I'd be a widower."
My face falls. "Your wife died?"
He nods.
I stare at him.
"Brain tumor, seven years ago."
My heart drops. "I'm so sorry."
He smiles sadly. "Me too."
"Were you together long?"
He nods but doesn’t elaborate and I get the feeling that he doesn’t want to talk about this anymore. I change the subject. "So, what do you build?" I ask.
"Houses."
"Tree houses?" I tease.
He chuckles. "No, not tree houses. I own my own business. I have six guys working for me."
"How wonderful." I smile as I think about this. "It must be so rewarding to see something that you built from the ground up come to fruition."
"It is." His eyes rise to mine. "What do you do?"
"I'm an acquisitions manager."
"What does that mean?"
"I work for a large media company in New York and I buy small companies around the world for them."
He frowns. "You travel a lot?"
"I do." I frown as I remember Clancy. "Oh shit. She's going to be freaking out."
"Who is?"
"My assistant, Clancy. I have no internet on my phone, and I couldn’t check in, she'll be worried sick."
"You can use my phone if you want, I have coverage."
"Would you mind?"
"Sure." He gets up and hands me his phone and I dial her number.
"Hello." She answers.
"Clancy it's me."
"Oh, thank fucking God. I thought you were dead. I was about to send out a search party."
I smile. "No, I'm fine. I did crash my car but I'm okay and the weather is horrendous so I'm staying with a…
." My eyes flick up to Jack and I pause as I try to think of the right description…
a hot mountain man. "At a farmhouse. A very kind person brought me in.
I just wanted you to know I'm safe and I'll call you in the morning. You can reach me on this number."
"Okay, great. I'm so relieved."
"Speak tomorrow." I hang up and pass the phone back to Jack.
"You have an assistant?" he asks.
"I have three."
He raises his eyebrows in surprise.
"Well you have six," I reply.
"I guess." He sips his drink, amused. He refills our glasses.
Two hours later
I hate to admit it, but the cranky mountain man is actually quite witty.
And dare I say it…. a little gorgeous. We've chatted about everything, with no real deep subject. He's easy to talk to, and smart. A lot more intelligent than I first gave him credit for.
"Are you working tomorrow?" I ask.
"No, there’s more rain in the forecast."
"You don’t work in the rain?"
"Depends where we are in the job. If the roof is already on, we do."
I smile as I imagine him being all rough and rugged with a hammer. "So, what do you do for fun up here?"
He shrugs. "Not much. There's a few bars in town."
"Not much?" I tease. "I imagine you would have Alaskan women falling at your feet."
He smiles bashfully. "Well… I'm a one-woman kind of man."
What does that mean? "You don't have a girlfriend or someone you see?"
"No. Not since…." His voice trails off.
"Not since your wife?" I frown.
"No."
I stare at him and blink in disbelief. "I didn’t think men like you existed."
"We do."
The air crackles between us as we stare at each other.
"I should get you to bed." He murmurs.
"You should," I whisper.
He stands and picks me up and I put my arm around his neck. We walk into his bedroom and he places me down to sit on the bed. He pulls the covers back and I notice a photograph of a woman on the side table. "Is that your wife?" I ask. I pick it up.
"That’s Tara."
She has blonde hair and is laughing, she seems kind. "She's beautiful." I smile.
"She is… was."
He opens the bottom drawer and puts her photograph in it. "About time I put that away," he mutters to himself.
"Don’t do that," I say as I open the drawer and pull her picture back out. I put it back on the side table. "She should always be next to you when you sleep, and when you meet your new love, she will want to sleep next to her as well… because she's a part of you."
He stares at me as his jaw clenches.
A closeness runs between us and I reach up and run my hand down the stubble on his jaw.
His forehead creases and he stands in a rush and turns his back to me. "Do you need anything else?"
"No."
He drops his head and stares at the floor as if contemplating a decision. "I'll see you in the morning."
I close my eyes, shit… I crossed the line. "Okay, goodnight."
He walks toward the door.
"Jack."
He turns back.
I give him a soft smile. "Thank you."
He nods and leaves. The door clicks closed. I turn the lamp off, flop back to lie on my back and stare at the ceiling. I wasn’t joking, he really is one of a kind.
I wake to the sound of rain, hard on the roof and I lie and listen to it for a while.
I need to go to the bathroom. It's just getting light and I can see the glow of white through the crack in the curtains as the sun gets closer to rising.
I climb out of bed and wince while I do so because my ankle is still sore.
I hobble over to the door and peer out. Jack is asleep on the couch. I tip toe past him and make my way out to the bathroom.
After finishing, I wash my hands and open the bathroom door to see Jack standing there waiting for me. "You alright?" he asks.
I nod with a smile. "I'm fine."
He bends and picks me up like a bride once again.
He holds me close and his eyes drop to my lips; my heart stops.
Is he going to kiss me?