Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
One month later, Jessica was feeling settled in her new life.
Winter would be over soon, and she’d already planned to spend part of the summer back in Oklahoma with her family.
When she’d first booked the flight back, she’d been desperate to go.
But now, she’d fallen into a good routine, had gotten to know her students, and was feeling much better about her life in Georgia.
She still missed home, but she found that she thought about it less and less as the days flew by.
Hilton’s trial date still hadn’t been set, but he’d been denied bail, so she felt safe for now at least. And she’d also started taking Krav Maga self-defence classes. She wasn’t very good at it, but she’d already learned a few skills that made her feel a tiny bit safer should she ever need them.
She’d stayed late at school to work on lesson plans for the coming week and now was running late to get to her Krav Maga lesson across town.
She hurried to the studio and got changed in the bathroom.
By the time she made it to class, it’d already started, so she scurried in as quietly as she could manage and stood in the back.
The instructor was new. He had his back to her and was describing a move to the listening group.
He wore a white tank top and blue shorts, and his muscled shoulders rippled as he demonstrated the movement.
She couldn’t help admiring him. His golden hair was perfectly mussed, and his deep voice resonated throughout the room.
He reminded her of… Tyler. Just as that thought entered her mind, he turned to face her, and his eyes fixed on hers.
He didn’t show any recognition, but kept moving about the room, speaking to the group.
Then he asked for volunteers. Several people raised their hands, but he ignored them all and pointed directly at Jessica.
Her arms were crossed, and she made an “oh” shape with her mouth.
She was never that girl — the one who volunteered to show off in front of the group.
She was the stand-in-the-back girl, the one who didn’t want anyone to look her way.
Every eye in the class was on her. Every person had twisted or spun around to face her. She faltered, reached one hand for her mouth hesitantly, then made her way forward to the front of the classroom. She stood beside Tyler, mute.
“We have a volunteer, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming forward, Jessica.” He said her name, the first indication that he even knew her. It was as though he were pretending the two of them had never met. Well, two could play that game.
She offered a wobbly smile. “No problem.”
The move involved her trying to attack him from behind.
He stood in front of her with his back turned to her.
She rubbed her hands down the sides of her yoga pants, then sprang forward.
He immediately grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder to the floor in front of him, all the while feigning strikes to her groin and torso.
She ended up on her back, peering up at him with both hands guarding her face in panic.
He reached out a hand. She took it tentatively, and he pulled her to her feet.
Still making no effort to connect or flirt with her, he treated her like he would any other member of the class.
As she made her way to the back of the group, she couldn’t help feeling hurt and disappointed.
It’s not that she expected him to be in love with her.
Well, not entirely. She’d hoped he might be a little more torn up about the separation, but he hadn’t called her once since that day, and now he was treating her like a virtual stranger.
For the rest of the lesson, there was a heavy weight in her chest. She hated this.
After it was over, she walked to the locker room to shower and change back into her teaching clothes. It would be cold outside, she needed her coat and she’d forgotten it in the locker room, so back she went. By the time she emerged, everyone was gone. Everyone except one person. Tyler.
He sat on a chair in the reception area, talking to another woman who looked like an instructor for one of the aerobics classes the gym put on multiple times per day.
The woman was tall and glamorous, with perfect hair and makeup, and her workout clothes fit her lithe figure like a glove.
As Jessica approached them, the woman threw her head back and laughed, letting her blonde hair cascade down her back.
Tyler must’ve said something hilarious, or at least she was pretending he had.
What was he doing there, anyway? This was her gym.
When did he join? And why was he teaching a class?
Wasn’t he supposed to be training to be a deputy?
She stormed past him, doing her best not to make eye contact. When she got outside, she pulled her coat tightly around her as a cold wind whistled up the stairs that led from the road up to the gym’s front door and whipped around her, carrying sharp shards of frozen rain.
“Jess!”
His voice was soft. She almost didn’t catch her name on his lips over the sound of the wind.
“Jess! Wait!”
She spun around, her face thunderous. How dare he treat her like that and then expect her to be her usual sunshine-y self?
She stood, waiting for him to catch up to her, with arms folded over her chest, her gym bag hanging from one shoulder like an anchor in the storm.
Her eyes blinked against the frozen rain as she fought back tears.
When he reached her, he smiled warmly. “Hi.”
“What is it, Tyler? What do you want?” Her tone was brusque, and it clearly startled him.
“I wanted to say hi. That’s all. Are you okay?”
“I don’t know… Am I okay? I worked a long day at school, then came to my favourite class after work only to be completely surprised and then snubbed by my ex. I guess I’m fine. How about you?”
His nostrils flared. “I didn’t snub you.”
“You barely acknowledged me. In fact, you didn’t acknowledge me at all. You said my name. I suppose I should be grateful for that small offering.”
His eyes widened. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”
“Well, this is me when I’m angry.”
His tone softened. “Why are you angry, Jess?”
“You ignored me…” She almost sobbed around the word, but held her ground.
He sighed. “You broke up with me. Remember? What did you expect from me? I’m not going to treat you like my girlfriend when you’re not my girlfriend.”
She knew he was right, but it still stung. She wasn’t ready to concede the territory yet, even if she could hear the irrationality in her own words. “I know I’m not your girlfriend. That’s exactly the problem.”
“Huh?” He looked utterly confused.
“I guess I want to be your girlfriend.” She raised her chin. “So…”
“You do?”
“I hate this space between us. I’ve had time to think, and all I think about is you — what you’re doing, where you are, how things are going, if you’re dating someone else…
Are you? Are you dating that woman in there?
Because I can tell you, those things are fake…
and I’m pretty sure the hair and nose are too.
” She knew she was being catty, ridiculous, over the top.
But she couldn’t seem to stop herself. If she stopped, she’d burst into tears.
And she didn’t want him to see her cry like that.
“Fake? What are you talking about?”
“That woman you were sitting with.”
He rolled his eyes. “She’s the manager at the gym.
She asked me to cover for someone tonight.
I’ve known her for years. We’re friends, nothing more than that.
Besides, her husband would probably have an issue with me seeing her.
” Then he reached for her, taking her by the shoulders and pulling her toward him. “You want to be my girlfriend?”
She nodded. “And I’m sorry. I overreacted about your daughter. It’s just that with my ex, the lies and secrets led to some pretty crazy behaviour. And my parents said… well, never mind what they said. I was scared, that’s all.”
“I’m not your ex. And I’m not hiding anything else. I didn’t want to talk to you about my daughter right away because it’s all so new. I’ve hardly told anyone. I only told my mom recently.”
“Really?” She frowned. “I guess that makes sense. You wanted to keep her to yourself for a while.”
“Yeah. Exactly. And I’m not sure you’re ready for a relationship. You hurt me, I won’t lie.” His tone was cold and pierced her heart.
“I’m sorry. Really sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.” Even through the pain she felt in the face of his anger, she reached for his hand and held it. He didn’t pull away. Her skin tingled at his touch. She’d missed him.
He studied their fingers entwined and the scowl lifted from his face.
Then he met her gaze, his own softening along with his voice.
“For real this time. I don’t want this halfway stuff.
I’m all in, and I need you to be as well or it’s just not going to work out.
I don’t want whiplash from the on-again, off-again.
I’ve been there and done that in past relationships, and it’s not for me.
Either you’re in or you’re out. I need to know that now before we go any further. ”
Jessica drew a deep breath. She knew exactly what she wanted.
She’d known it for weeks. Ever since the breakup, she’d known it’d been a mistake, but she hadn’t been ready to do anything about it until she saw him up at the front of the class.
Until he’d ignored her. It’d been like a knife to the gut.
“I’m all in too,” she said simply.
He kissed her then in a demanding and passionate way.
His fingers wound through her hair, then cupped her cheeks.
It was as if he was consuming her, and she felt weakness flood through her body from her head down to her toes.
She collapsed against him, letting his kiss take over.
Letting his lips wake her from within. Allowing every feeling she’d suppressed, every desire she’d ignored, and every heartbeat for him come to life in one sudden rush.
When he pulled away, she still couldn’t stand on her own. He held her up with his arms around her waist. He laughed at her half-lidded drowsy look.
“You want to get some dinner?”
“I’d love to.”
“What do you feel like?”
“How about Mexican?”
He led her toward his truck. “You can leave your car here. We can get it after.’’
“Sounds good to me. Oh, and by the way, I’d like to meet Cici sometime, if that’s okay with you. Whenever you’re ready, of course. No rush.”
He looked at her with his head cocked to one side. “That sounds nice. I think she’d like that too.”
“Well, good.” She grinned. “I want to get to know her, since she’s a part of you.”
“I want that as well.”
He opened her door and used one hand to help her step up into the passenger seat. As she looked back to him.
“I’m going to make you very happy, Jessica Fleet.”
“I’m counting on it,” she said.
THE END