14. Sadie
Sadie
I’m catching feelings. Real, inconvenient, terrifying feelings that make my chest feel too tight and my thoughts spin in loops I can’t seem to break.
I don’t want this. This was supposed to be temporary.
I had rules back in Halo City on that porch.
No flirting. No nicknames. No letting the arrogant, charming, fun-loving bodyguard get under my skin or into my bed.
But the rules are scattered like broken glass now.
After the beach where he saw me in my bikini and couldn’t stop staring.
After the club dinner where his arm around my waist felt too right.
After this afternoon, when he gazed at me as if I were the last steady thing he could hold onto, then showed me exactly how much he wanted me with those talented hands and that sinful, charming mouth.
And now we still have to keep pretending.
The concert’s in two days. Victor, his father, is out there somewhere with answers and secrets and a new name.
We need to be visible tonight. Act like a normal couple enjoying summer in Sunbreak Harbor.
Maybe Victor will show up again. Maybe we’ll spot him first. The thought makes something twist low in my stomach, but I push it down.
Jace needs the distraction. I can give him that much at least.
He releases his hold on me, and I miss his touch already. "So, Wells. How should we spend the rest of today?"
I smile. "We should figure out the plan. Your mom's house tomorrow morning, right?"
He nods, one hand sliding up my back in a slow, absent stroke that sends little sparks across my skin.
"Tomorrow morning. Gives us time to breathe. Tonight we go out. Be seen. Lobster Shack for dinner. Walk the boardwalk afterward. Make it look as if we’re another couple enjoying the town.
Maybe Victor shows his face. If he does, we play it cool. "
I raise an eyebrow at him, trying for serious even as his fingers keep tracing patterns along my arm. "You’re very confident. What if he does show up? What if he saw you yesterday?"
Jace's grin softens into something more real.
He leans in and brushes his nose against mine in a gesture that feels far too intimate for two people who are supposed to be pretending.
"Then we deal with it. Together. You’re good at this, Sadie.
The way you handled the women at the club, the way you kept it together when everything went sideways. I trust you."
The words hit somewhere deep. I don’t know what to say to that, so I deflect with banter instead. "High praise from the man who thought I was going to climb out a window and run when we first met."
"You were glaring at me," he says, laughing. "It was adorable. Still is."
I try to look annoyed, but my lips betray me. "You’re too much."
"And you like it," he shoots back, pressing a quick kiss to my forehead before walking away.
The afternoon passes in a strange, comfortable rhythm that feels far too real.
I shower while he makes coffee in the kitchen, the sound of him humming something upbeat drifting down the hall.
When I come out in a simple sundress, hair still damp, he’s leaning against the counter in low-slung jeans and nothing else, scrolling his phone with one hand and holding a mug in the other.
The domestic picture of it makes my chest ache in a way I’m not ready to examine.
"You’re staring," he says without looking up, but the grin in his voice is obvious.
"I am not," I lie, moving to pour myself coffee. The mug is warm in my hands. "I’m assessing the tactical advantages of having a shirtless bodyguard in the kitchen."
He glances up then, eyes warm and teasing. "Tactical advantages include excellent coffee service and the ability to carry you to bed if you get any ideas about working on lesson plans tonight."
I laugh despite myself. "Lesson plans are the last thing on my mind right now."
"Good," he says, setting his phone down and stepping closer.
He takes my mug and sets it aside, then pulls me in by the waist. His hands are warm through the thin fabric of my dress.
"Because tonight we’re being a couple. Holding hands.
Maybe stealing a kiss or two on the boardwalk.
Making sure anyone watching sees exactly what we want them to see. "
The words send a shiver through me that has nothing to do with the air conditioning. "And what is that?"
His voice drops deeper, playful but with an edge of something real. "That I can’t keep my hands off you. That you’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a very long time. That this stopped being pretend a while ago."
I don’t have an answer for that. Not one I’m ready to say out loud.
So I rise up on my toes and kiss him instead, quick and soft, tasting the coffee on his lips.
He makes a low sound in his throat and deepens it for a moment before pulling back with a grin.
"Careful, Wells. We’ve got plans tonight. "
The drive into town is easy, the Jeep's top down and the afternoon sun warm on our skin. The town’s alive with summer energy.
The sound of laughter and music carries from the boardwalk.
Families walk with ice cream cones. The distant creak of the wooden planks under feet mixes with the thump of bass from somewhere down the line.
I keep my hand over his on my leg and let myself lean into the pretense.
We park near the Lobster Shack and walk hand in hand toward the patio.
The place is exactly as last time. We get a table overlooking the dark water, the lights from the boardwalk reflecting in soft ripples.
Jace orders for us after I tell him what I prefer, and the easy domesticity of it makes something warm settle in my chest.
We’re halfway through a basket of perfectly crispy fried clams when he flags down the server, a young guy with sun-bleached hair and an easy smile.
Jace leans back in his chair, all casual charm.
"Hey, quick question. Victor around tonight? We heard he’s the guy to know in town. Wanted to say hello."
The server shakes his head. "Nah, man. He left town this afternoon. Business up the coast or something. Said he’d be back for the big concert though."
Jace thanks him and the guy moves on. I watch Jace's face carefully across the table.
His expression stays relaxed, but I see the slight tightening at the corners of his eyes, the way his jaw flexes once before he smooths it out.
I lean in, keeping my voice deep over the sound of the ocean and the restaurant chatter.
"Do you think he saw you yesterday at the restaurant?"
Jace shakes his head, but there’s a careful note in his voice when he answers. "I don’t think so. He was already heading for the door when I turned around. But you can never be too sure with him. He’s always been good at noticing things."
He pulls out his phone and types something quickly, thumb moving fast over the screen.
I catch the name before he hits send. Crewe.
One of the brothers. Probably updating the family about the plan to visit their mother tomorrow and the news that Victor has left town again.
The web of secrets and family and danger feels tighter around us every hour, but sitting here across from Jace with the string lights glowing overhead and his knee pressed against mine under the table, it doesn’t feel as terrifying as it should.
Dinner stretches into easy conversation, and for once, I’m not thinking about the fact that it’s all supposed to be an act.
He tells me stories about his brothers. The time Colt tried to teach Banks how to surf and they both ended up with matching bruises.
The way Mack always had the best plans but somehow they still got caught.
I counter with stories about Anniston dragging me into her schemes when we were kids, the way she could talk me into anything with that serious little face.
The food’s perfect. The clams crispy on the outside, tender inside.
The cold beer cuts through the richness.
Every time our knees brush under the table I feel the spark of it.
The lights from the boardwalk dance across the dark water and the sound of the ocean is a constant low rhythm underneath the laughter and clinking glasses.
After we pay and step back out into the night air, Jace takes my hand again without asking.
We walk toward the candy-striped lighthouse at the far end of the boardwalk.
The tower stands tall and bright against the dark sky, its red and white stripes glowing under the lights.
People take pictures at the base, but we find a quieter spot near the railing where the sound of the waves is louder and the crowd thins.
The breeze is cool against my skin. Jace stands close, his shoulder brushing mine, his hand still warm in mine.
I lean against the railing and look out at the dark water.
The lighthouse light sweeps across in steady arcs.
After everything today, after the way he touched me and then held me as if I was the only thing keeping him from falling apart, the feelings I’ve been trying to ignore are impossible to push down anymore.
I’m falling. Hard. And I don’t know how to stop it.
"I’ve never really had a serious boyfriend," I say quietly. "A few dates. Nothing that ever stuck. I always told myself I was too busy with work. Too focused on my students and my quiet life. But the truth is I never met anyone who made me want to try."
Jace squeezes my hand gently. His voice is calm and honest when he answers. "I’ve only had the one girlfriend. But it never amounted to anything.”
I turn to look at him. The lighthouse light sweeps over his profile, highlighting the sharp line of his jaw and the warmth in his eyes. He looks at me like he’s waiting for more, so I give it to him.
"I always thought the perfect man would be someone serious. Buttoned-up. The kind of man who wears suits and has his whole life mapped out. Someone stable. Predictable. Safe." I laugh softly, shaking my head. "I never could’ve imagined falling for a man with your personality. Cocky. Charming. The kind of guy who shows up in board shorts and then goes down on a woman like it’s the most important thing he’s ever done. But here I am. Falling anyway."
The words hang in the air between us. I didn’t mean to say it quite like that, but it’s true and too late to take back. Jace doesn’t look away. His free hand comes up to cup my cheek, thumb brushing over my skin in that slow, deliberate way that makes me lean into his touch without thinking.
"Good," he says, voice rough around the edges. "Because I’m right there with you, Sadie. Have been since the first time you glared at me on that porch and made it clear I was the last person you wanted to deal with."
He leans in and kisses me. It’s slow and deep, his hand sliding to the back of my neck as he pulls me closer.
I kiss him back, my hand resting over his heart the way I did yesterday when everything changed.
The lighthouse light sweeps over us in steady arcs.
The sound of the waves fills the spaces between our breaths.
His body is warm and solid against mine, and for a moment the rest of the world, the danger, the secrets, the upcoming concert, all of it fades into background noise.
When we finally pull apart we’re both breathing a little faster. The town continues around us. People laughing farther down the boardwalk. Music playing. The steady flash of the lighthouse. But in this small space none of it matters more than the man holding me.
We don’t say anything else on the walk back to the Jeep. We don’t need to. My hand stays in his the whole way, and the feeling in my chest is equal parts terrifying and right.