Chapter 8 #2
I wiped my hands on a towel, blinked hard—and when I looked up, Jack was there.
He’d abandoned his table and come to stand beside me, a silent force at my side.
And just like that, the tightness in my chest eased a fraction. “He’s bitter. He’s holding a grudge,” I said and frowned. “What did he say to you?”
Jack went rigid, and his shoulders tensed as his eyes slid away from mine. “Nothing important.” The words came out too quickly, and I could see the lie written all over his face.
I didn’t believe him for a second. Whatever Ben had whispered had shaken Jack to his core. “Jack—”
“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Jack said, cutting me off.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I could count on Jack.
Around eleven, the bell jingled again, and Landon strode in, impeccably dressed as always. The manager of the town’s boutique hotel, Landon was well-connected.
“Cooper!” He approached the counter with a broad smile. “Just the man I wanted to see.”
“Let me guess,” I said dryly. “You heard about last night.”
“Darling, everyone heard about last night,” Landon drawled. “That kiss was the most exciting thing to happen in Seacliff Cove since Mrs. Peterson’s cat got stuck in the town Christmas tree.”
I sighed and steeled myself for another round of teasing. “Double espresso, Landon?”
“Yes, please.” He dropped his voice with a conspiratorial air. “And I wanted to offer you and Jack my congratulations. We’re all thrilled.”
I forced a smile and mumbled something that might have passed for thanks, even as panic clawed at my throat. How were Jack and I supposed to untangle ourselves from this mess?
Jack’s eyes briefly met mine across the room, a silent question in them.
What were we going to do?
I’d run away from that question last night.
I’d made an excuse about early opening hours and practically sprinted back to my apartment, where I’d spent hours staring at the ceiling, replaying the kiss and the feelings it had stirred.
Feelings of…attraction. To my best friend. The kiss had been a revelation.
As I surveyed the busy coffee shop—full of friends and neighbors who clearly expected Jack and me to be a couple—a possibility formed in my mind.
Maybe we could see where things took us and actually try being more than friends.
It made perfect sense. Jack and I already spent plenty of time together.
It would just be a slight change in the dynamic between us as we explored a relationship.
I began mentally outlining parameters—acceptable public displays of affection, restrictions on intimate behavior behind closed doors, remaining friends no matter what happened.
We’d need boundaries to keep things from getting complicated.
By lunchtime, I’d made up my mind. I asked Jessica and my second daytime employee, Marco, to cover the front, then approached Jack’s table with two fresh coffees in hand.
“Got a minute?” I tried to keep my voice casual despite the nerves bubbling in my stomach.
Jack looked up from his phone, his blue eyes cautious. “For you? Always.”
I nodded toward the back. “In my office? It’s a bit more private.”
Curiosity flashed across his face, but he simply nodded, pocketed his phone, and followed me through the shop. I was acutely aware of the speculative glances from customers as we passed, and the way our friend Declan, the diner’s manager, winked at Jack.
I led Jack down the narrow hallway to my cramped office, tucked away behind the storeroom, and set the two coffee cups onto the tidy surface of my desk. Jack quietly closed the door behind us, sealing us into the tiny space where we could finally speak without the entire town listening in.
“So,” Jack said after a moment of silence. “That was an…interesting morning.”
“That’s one word for it.” I settled into my chair. “Apparently, we’re Seacliff Cove’s newest power couple.”
Jack’s laugh was strained. “Yeah, I gathered that from the constant stream of congratulations and back slaps I’ve been getting.”
“Garrett, Ethan, Landon, Declan—even Mrs. Abernathy.” I shook my head. “It’s like the whole town was just waiting for this to happen.”
“And now that it has—or they think it has—what do we do?” Jack’s fingers tapped a nervous rhythm on his coffee cup.
I took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about that. A lot, actually.”
“Me, too.” Jack’s expression was guarded. He picked up his mug.
“And I think I have a solution.” I leaned forward, elbows on my desk. “What if we…roll with it?”
Jack’s eyebrows rose. “Roll with it?”
My heart hammered against my ribs, but I pushed on. “What if we try being a couple? Actually give ourselves a real chance to see if there’s something more between us.”
Jack froze with his coffee cup halfway to his lips, and his blue eyes widened with surprise. “Cooper, are you serious?”
“Dead serious.” Heat crept up my neck, but I didn’t back down. “Look, everyone already thinks we’re together anyway. And honestly? The idea doesn’t terrify me the way it should.”
A slow smile spread across Jack’s face, and hope bloomed in my chest. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered about it myself,” he said.
“We could take it slow,” I said quickly, needing to get all my thoughts out before I lost my nerve. “Keep things casual. No pressure for anything physical. We don’t have to rush into anything that might make things uncomfortable between us.”
Jack set his cup down carefully, his expression growing thoughtful. “What if it doesn’t work out? I don’t want to lose my best friend.”
The vulnerability in his voice made my chest tighten, and I understood his fear. I didn’t want to lose my best friend either. “Then we set an end date,” I said. “Valentine’s Day.”
Four weeks. I hoped that would be enough time to sort through my true feelings, to figure out what that kiss had awakened in me.
But what if things went badly? What if four weeks turned out to be an eternity of awkwardness and regret?
My stomach churned at the thought, but I pushed the doubts aside and moved forward with the idea anyway.
“We give it until then and reevaluate,” I said. “If it’s not working, we go back to being friends. No hard feelings, no awkwardness. Just an honest attempt to see what we could be.”
Jack was quiet for a long moment, and his fingers drummed against the desk while I held my breath. Then, that crooked smile I knew so well broke across his face. “Valentine’s Day, huh? Including the Ocean of Love dance?”
Relief flooded through me, and I couldn’t help but grin back. “I figured if we’re going to do this, we might as well do it right.”
“And in the meantime, we’d be…a couple,” Jack said carefully.
“Within parameters,” I nodded, on firmer ground now. “We’d set boundaries, of course. Rules for what’s acceptable and what’s not. That way, things won’t get…complicated.”
His eyes never left mine. “Boundaries like…?”
“Nothing too intimate.” The memory of last night’s kiss flickered through my mind again and sent a warmth through my veins that I firmly ignored.
I pulled a notebook from my desk drawer. “We should establish some ground rules.”
Jack’s crooked smile turned more genuine. “Of course you’d want to write this down.”
“I like clarity,” I defended myself, already jotting down notes. “And this way, there’s no confusion about what we’re agreeing to.”
For the next half hour, we hammered out what Jack teasingly dubbed “The Boyfriend Bargain.” Physical boundaries: hand-holding, arms around shoulders, and brief kisses were allowed, but no making out or anything more intimate.
Our cover story: we’d secretly started dating a month ago after years of friendship.
The timeline: revisiting the bargain after our appearance at the Valentine’s Day dance.
When we finished, I sat back in my chair and studied Jack.
The memory hit me again: the softness of his lips, the gentle but firm pressure, the way my whole body had responded with a shock of awareness I’d never experienced before.
For the first time, I let myself really look at him—the way a strand of his light brown hair fell across his forehead, the sparkle in his blue eyes, the curve of his mouth that I now knew the feel of.
How had I never noticed the deep rumble of his voice? Or the way his eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks when he looked down? Or how his square shoulders filled out his simple T-shirt in a way that was undeniably attractive?
I looked back down at my notes and tried to regain my equilibrium. “So we’re agreed? We do this through the Valentine’s Day dance?”
Jack nodded, and a small smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Agreed. I’ll be the best temporary boyfriend Seacliff Cove has ever seen.”
“Perfect.” I stuck out my hand formally. “Then we have a bargain.”
He laughed and took my hand in a firm handshake. But instead of letting go, he interlaced our fingers in a more affectionate hold, the gesture surprisingly comfortable.
“Like this?” he asked, his voice soft.
I stared at our joined hands, an unexpected tickle in my stomach. “Y-yes. That’s…that works.”
Jack squeezed my hand gently before releasing it. “So, boyfriend, what’s next on the agenda?”
The word sent another strange thrill through me. “I should probably get back out front. Saturday lunch rush will start soon.”
Jack stood and shifted from foot to foot as if nervous. “Dinner this evening? If we’re going to do this, let’s…make it a date.”
I rose from my chair as well, and my gut fluttered. “I’d like that,” I said quietly.
“Something casual? Six o’clock?”
“Sounds good.” I followed him to the door, slightly dazed by the turn of events. Why was I looking forward to it so much? And why couldn’t I stop thinking about how I had felt when Jack kissed me? Like it was the natural next step in our friendship?
As we stepped back into the bustling coffee shop, Jack’s hand found mine again, a casual gesture that sent a ripple of whispers through the customers.
He squeezed my hand and leaned close. “Here we go,” he whispered in my ear.
I tightened my grip as a sense of rightness settled over me.