Chapter 2
JACE
After dropping off a box of canned goods at The HOPE Kitchen food drive, I introduce Mia to Carter Jensen. “Nice to meet you, Mia. Thanks for the donation.”
She blushes as she glances at me. “I wish I could take credit, but this was Jace’s doing. I’m just in town to visit my Nana.”
Carter gives me a curious look, so I explain. “This is Miss Hattie’s granddaughter.”
“Miss Hattie, huh?” Carter snickers. “If this girl’s anything like her grandma, then you’ve got your hands full.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” I mutter, then Mia gives me a slight jab to the ribs with her elbow. “We’ll catch up with you later, man. Have a good one.”
With a hand on the small of her back, I escort Mia through the rows of tables and tents. I’m just about to suggest grabbing a frozen lemonade when Mia hears something that stops her in her tracks.
“Boots? Well, chile, what are you doing here?”
Miss Hattie’s sweet matronly voice with a soft southern twang is like a soothing balm to so many people here in town.
But it's her charming spirit and timeless grace that makes everybody love her and treat her like she’s their grandmother.
Mia and I find Miss Hattie exactly where I saw her last, after I finished my rounds this morning before heading home to change out of my uniform at the end of my shift.
She was regaling an audience of enraptured male suitors—geriatric male suitors—down by the gazebo while listening to live music.
Mia looks at the group surrounding her grandmother. “Nana, who are all these men?”
Miss Hattie stands and walks over to Mia, linking her arm through hers. “Why, these are my friends, sugar.” She kisses Mia’s cheek and bops her on the nose. “That’s Ted, and that’s Bill—”
“I’m Bob,” the man corrects her.
“Of course, darling.” Miss Hattie placates him with extra sweetness in her tone before continuing. “And that’s David, and that’s—”
“Nana. I mean, what are you doing? I feel like I'm watching a scene out of the senior citizens' version of Gone with the Wind, and you're the Black Scarlett O’Hara.”
I can’t fucking help it; a loud, deep laugh erupts from chest as tears leak from the corners of my eyes. I certainly wasn’t expecting that to come out of Mia’s mouth upon discovering her grandmother like this.
“Oh, hush, chile. Senior citizens, my ass. Besides, what kind of chairwoman for the Maple Ridge Welcoming Committee would I be if I didn’t entertain visitors?”
Mia leans in and whispers to Miss Hattie, “Nana, I don’t think you meant for that to sound the way it did.”
“But didn’t I?” Miss Hattie tips her chin down and peers up at Mia, trying to look coy and demure… and failing miserably. Several of her gentlemen friends snicker quietly while attempting to hide their amusement. Miss Hattie may be old, but she’s still a minx.
Before this conversation goes too far off the rails, I interject, “Well now, Miss Hattie. Mia—I’m mean, Boots, here—was desperate to see you. She left work in the middle of the day and drove all over town looking for you.”
“Boots, are you alright?” The concern is evident in Miss Hattie’s voice.
“Oh, she’s fine, Miss Hattie. I’m taking good care of her.
” I turn to Mia and give her a wink, watching as a faint blush appears on her light-golden cheeks.
“We can see you have your hands busy fulfilling your Welcoming Committee duties and all. So how ‘bout we leave you to it, and I’ll show Boots around our world-famous fish fry? I’ll even be sure to get her home before her curfew tonight too. ”
Mia starts to protest, but Miss Hattie cuts her off. “That’s an excellent idea, Jace. You’re a sweet boy, to make an offer like that.”
“It’s no problem, Miss Hattie. You stay outta trouble, now.
No more getting arrested for public misconduct.
” I give her a stern look, and I clock Mia’s shocked reaction from my peripheral vision.
Guess she doesn’t know about Miss Hattie’s record.
“Don’t worry, Mia. She doesn’t have any convictions. ”
“Oh, sure. That makes me feel so much better,” she deadpans.
“Let’s go, smartass.” I take her by the hand and lead her away from Miss Hattie and her throng of men.
It’s obvious Mia has no idea how beautiful her grandmother is for an older woman, or just how…
active she is either. Far be it from me to tell her that, though.
If Miss Hattie wants her granddaughter to know her business, she can be the one to share it with her.
My job is to play tour guide to the one girl I’ve dreamed about since that first summer I saw her when we were kids. The girl I’ve fantasized about intimately when I lie in bed at night. I’m hoping, if I play my cards right, maybe I can live out one of those fantasies. A man can dream, right?
Spending the day with Mia has been more surprising than I expected.
Of course, I knew I would enjoy having a pretty girl on my arm, making her laugh and stealing touches of her curvy, sexy body any chance I could get.
But what I didn’t plan on was how right it would feel having her next to me the entire day—like she belonged to me and shouldn’t be anywhere else.
And I’d put money on it that Mia felt the same way too.
She clutches our joined hands to her chest and peers up at me with big doe eyes.
The feel of her large, warm tits against my palm causes my dick to stir.
I try my best to resist the urge to tease her supple flesh through the thin chiffon tank top she’s wearing.
But fuck, she’s making it difficult when she’s looking at me like I’m her favorite snack while holding on to my hand so tightly.
“Today has been a lot of fun, Jace. It’s not over yet, though, is it?
” Her gaze drifts down to my mouth as the corners of her lips slightly curl into a smile.
When she looks back up at me, I get lost in the golden flecks of her hazel eyes, and all I can think about is what she might taste like.
I’m desperate to finally kiss her after dreaming about it for all these years. But not just yet.
“You up for a bonfire, Boots?”
“You’re not gonna let that go, are you?” That soft blush I’m growing to love blooms across her beautiful cheeks.
“It’s good enough for Miss Hattie, so it’s good enough for me. Why does she call you that anyway?”
Mia sighs softly and rolls her eyes with a laugh. “Much to my mother’s horror—being the cultured, urban sophisticate she is—Nana bought me these hot-pink cowgirl boots when I was a little girl. And I loved them so much I wouldn’t take the damn things off. I wanted to wear them with everything.”
“I bet you were adorable in ‘em.” I can just envision a mini-Mia in her cute pink boots with her beautiful black curls and big toothy smile.
“Nana and I thought so, but my mother disagreed. She despised those boots, saying they were a crime against fashion. And as soon as I outgrew them, she threw them away and refused to let me have another pair. She made Nana swear to never buy me more either.”
“Well, that’s depressing.”
“Yeah. It was always different being here with Nana. At home, there were… expectations. And I had to meet them or else.” There’s a bitterness in Mia’s voice that I don’t like.
That I immediately want to erase and make her forget.
“But here, in Maple Ridge, with Nana…” Her face softens as she smiles, and my chest instantly warms. “Here, I can just be me. No expectations, no judgment, just Mia.”
“Good. I want you to just be you. I like you.”
She blushes again, and I fucking love it. So does my dick. She looks up at me through her lashes.
“I like you too, Jace.” Her voice is thick with lust.
“C’mon, honey. Let’s get to that bonfire.”