Chapter 9
Exhausted,Jack walked into his apartment, crossed the small living room, and dropped onto his couch, sinking into the seat. His T-shirt was grimy, and the jeans were one hole away from indecent. His stomach grumbled, but whatever energy he had left him on his way from the truck to the apartment. He wasn’t even sure how he’d managed to navigate the steps to the second story of his building.
He draped his arm over his eyes and let out of a breath. He knew he needed a shower, but moving… Moving was more energy than he could muster at the moment.
“You look beat.” Ruger’s voice cut through his thoughts.
“Because I am,” he said without moving his arm.
“You should take a break and come fishing with Ethan and me tomorrow. We could plan the bachelor party.”
Jack took his arm from his eyes. “I can’t. I need to work. What brought you to town?”
“Booker and I are signing the papers for the house on Monday.”
“Monday? Then why are you in town this weekend, and why are you so dressed up tonight?”
“Ethan asked me to come home early. I think Serenity is trying to set me up with one of her friends. I asked Ethan, but he was dodging the question.”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, but I don’t see anything coming from it. Those girls are on a different level. I mean, I don’t think I’m bad looking, but those sort of women are used to a certain lifestyle that I don’t think investment planning can give them.”
Jack shrugged. “Never know. Doesn’t hurt to try, I guess.”
“You could help me out and be my wingman.”
Shaking his head, he groaned. “I’m not going anywhere. I need a shower, food, and sleep. In that order. Maybe. We’ll see how hungry I am after I shower.”
“All right,” Ruger strode to the door. “I’ll catch you later.”
“I guess,” he said and waved from the couch. “I’ll see you later.”
Jack closed his eyes. Man, was he grateful for air-conditioning. He couldn’t remember who invented it, but that dude needed a medal or a peace prize or something. He sat there a few more moments, taking a minute to catch his breath and gather enough energy to move.
Unable to handle the smell of his own stench, he pushed off the couch and rambled out of the living room and into his bathroom. He set the shower to a temp just above freezing, peeled off his clothes, and stepped in, letting the water roll over his muscles.
In the last few days since Craig threatened to kick Charlie out of Stewart Mansion, he’d worked harder than he ever had, but he wouldn’t complain. Charlie was a sweet lady, and now that he knew Craig was up to something, Jack would work even harder to help her keep her home.
The highlight was Jo. Talking, laughing… flirting. It made work feel a lot less like work. He looked forward to seeing her every morning and hated to leave in the evening. He loved every minute he spent with her.
Just as he’d soaped up, the doorbell rang. Frustration swelled as it rang a second time. No doubt Ruger forgot his key or something. The guy was always forgetting something.
Jack quickly rinsed off, threw a towel around his waist, and left a trail of water as he made his way to the door. Just as it rang for the third time, he yanked the door open. “Ruger…”
Only it wasn’t Ruger.
“Jo?”
Her gaze flicked from his bare chest to his face and back. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. Finally, she blinked. “Um, I um…you worked so hard today, and I thought you might be hungry, and I didn’t want you to have to cook or call for takeout or something. But you’re probably sick of seeing me after all the time we’ve spent together. I can leave them?—”
“Jo.”
She clamped her lips shut and rolled them in.
Doing his best to keep a straight face, he asked, “Is there enough for two?”
She slowly nodded.
“Come on in. I’ll get dressed, and we can eat. Okay?”
Her throat moved as she swallowed hard, and she nodded again, almost like she couldn’t trust herself to speak.
He smiled, still working to keep from cracking up. “I’ll be quick,” he said and sprinted to his room. The moment he stepped inside, he softly laughed. Her, standing at his door, face beet red, would be a scene he wouldn’t likely forget for a while. The grin on his lips stretched wider and remained while he dressed.
She’d thought of him. Enough that she cooked him dinner and brought it to him. Gorgeous and sweet and now he could add caring to the growing list of things he liked about her. He finished pulling on a T-shirt and paused at his bedroom door to take a breath. “Slow down, dude. She’s being nice. Just… relax.”
Forcing himself to keep his stride unhurried, he walked back into the living room, taking a right with another couple of steps to reach his kitchen.
“Uh, I hope it’s okay. I found plates and got drinks.” Her gaze never lifted from the food she was uncovering.
Jack stopped next to her. “Thank you for this.”
She gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I… just… wanted you to know that I appreciate all that you”re doing for us.” She finished the statement and lifted her gaze to his. “There’s no way I could do it on my own.”
For a moment, all he could do was stare at her. Every time he saw her, she was more beautiful than the last. From her freckles that seemed more pronounced after working in the sun to the gold flecks that shimmered in her eyes. And what was that alluring smell? Something soft and flowery but not eye-watering or overpowering.
He should have stopped himself from reaching over and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, but he didn’t. His gaze shouldn’t have lowered to her lips, but it did. Even while telling himself not to step closer, he shuffled even nearer to her.
His hand slid down her jaw as his thumb brushed across her cheek. There wasn’t a time he could recall that he wanted to kiss a woman more than he wanted to kiss Jo. It was like an invisible force placed a hand on his back and pushed him until he could see the lines in her lips.
Jo cleared her throat and stepped back. “You must be starving.” She smiled.
Yeah, he was hungry, but not for food. “I could eat.”
“Go sit, and I’ll bring it to you.”
“I can help.”
“I’ve got it.”
As he took a seat at the table, Jo plated the food.
He’d barely sat down before she was sliding a plate of something cheesy and gooey in front of him. He took a long whiff. “Wow, this smells great.”
She shot him a grin. “It’s a recipe I learned in college. My roommate was Italian, and she invited me home from time to time. I think I gained twenty pounds every time I visited, but they were such lovely people. Her mom made it her mission to teach me how to cook.” She chuckled. “I make it from scratch every now and then.”
Jack swirled his fork in the noodles and took a bite. Thyme, rosemary, basil, and rich tomato flavors burst on his tongue. His tastebuds were never happier for a forkful of spaghetti. He swallowed and said, “Wow. This is fantastic. The pasta and the noodles taste like they were made today.” He forked another bite into his mouth and washed it down with the sweet tea she’d poured for him. “I can see the sauce being fresh, but how did you make boxed pasta taste this good?”
Her gaze lowered to her plate. “They’re not boxed. I made the sauce, and while it cooked… I… I made them this morning.” She glanced up and back down. “I was going to invite you to dinner, but you just looked so exhausted that I couldn’t bring myself to ask you to stay. So, I boxed it up and brought it to you.” Another bashful glance.
He sat in stunned silence for a moment. “This must have taken you hours.” She’d devoted time to him. To him? No one, certainly not a woman, had ever thought of him enough to do that.
“You labor with your hands. It only seemed fitting to say thank you with mine.” She looked up and flashed a smile.
Jack didn’t know how to respond. A surge of emotion lodged in his throat. Instead of commenting further, he filled his belly with the most delicious dish of food he’d ever eaten.
Once they’d finished, Jo took his plate and began washing the dishes. He joined her at the sink and tried to take over. She’d cooked, so it only seemed fair that he did the cleanup.
“No. I’ve got it.” She said, knocking him with her hip. “You worked hard today.”
He gently hip-checked her back. “So did you.”
She scrubbed a dish, shaking her head. “Not nearly as hard as you did. I saw your eyes before you left. I’m surprised you were able to make it into your apartment.”
As he picked up a drying towel, he said, “Thank you for thinking of me. It was delicious, and I appreciate it.”
“Sure.”
Working together, they made dish duty fly by. Looking around his kitchen, it was almost like they hadn’t eaten at all. He might even say it was cleaner than when she started since she wiped down all the counters after washing the last dish.
Jack followed her into the living room, nearly bowling her over as she abruptly stopped and faced him. He caught her by the arms.
“I’m sorry!” she said.
“No, I’m sorry. I was following too close. Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah.” The word came out breathlessly as their eyes met.
The proximity scrambled his brain, and the staccato beat of his heart pounded in his ears. He wanted to hold her, kiss her, and never let her go.
“Um…” Her cheeks flared pink. “You can let go now.”
He shook his head and dropped his hands from her arms. “Oh, sorry,” he said and raked his hand through his hair. “I, uh, you wouldn’t…” Sheesh. Tongue-tied? Him? “I mean, if you want, you could hang out for a minute. You don’t have to eat and run.” He smiled.
“Okay, sure.” She curled up on one end of the couch.
Jack nearly fist-pumped the air. More time with her was a super win in his book. He plopped down on the other end of the couch, laid his hands in his lap, and searched his brain for topics.
Silence filled the space, and he kicked himself for not thinking the whole thing through a little more.
“Did you ever consider leaving Wishing Well?” she asked.
Thank goodness she spoke up. A sigh of relief, but he played it off. “For about two seconds.”
“That long, huh?” She giggled.
“After my injury, I needed help getting around. It took a while to get the okay from the doctor to be on my own. They were afraid that I’d reinjure my leg, and it could be bad. By the time I was well again, I just didn’t want to leave.”
“I found a video of the play. It looked bad.”
He rubbed the spot over his heart. “It was. The pain was excruciating. Trying to learn how to walk on it again, even worse. I had six surgeries in as many months. Doctors thought I’d use a cane the rest of my life, but I worked hard, so that didn’t happen.”
“Surgeries? As in plural?”
Tugging on his sweatpants leg, he hiked it up far enough to show off the beginning of the thick scar running from his hip and down his thigh. What most people in the town didn’t know was just how much that injury had changed things. He’d been headed down a dark road, and as painful as it was, looking back, he wasn’t disappointed that his football career ended. His life had actually started with that accident.
She sucked in a sharp breath and moved closer. “Oh, Jack. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” She reached her hand out, skating her fingers over the last inch or so of the scar. When she lifted her gaze to his, there were unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “That must have just been awful.”
Tears for him? He didn’t even get that from his girlfriend at the time. She’d stepped into the hospital room and did a one-eighty. “It’s all in the past. Sometimes, if it’s cold or if I’ve worked hard, it can get stiff, but for the most part, it doesn’t bother me anymore.”
She pulled her hand back as he pushed his pants leg back down but didn’t return to the end of the couch. Resting her arm on the back of the sofa, she held her head in her hand. “I’m glad.”
Silence hung in the air a moment.
“That accident saved my life.” It was the first time he’d really voiced that to anyone outside of his family.
“What do you mean?” Her eyebrows knitted together.
He inhaled and exhaled slowly. “I was the guy everyone looked up to. I was under a ton of pressure to be perfect, and I felt this weight of maintaining my reputation because people were depending on me.”
Jo’s hand covered his. “I bet you were.”
Smiling, he said, “I was already cracking before I left Wishing Well, and when I got to college, I wasn’t Jack Turner. I was just some freshman that no one knew. I found myself surrounded by people who didn’t care about me at all.” He cleared his throat. “So, by the time I got hurt, I’d had two close calls with alcohol poisoning, a near miss being arrested by campus security, and bar fight, and if I hadn’t injured myself, I’m pretty sure I would have ruined more than my career.”
Her mouth had slowly dropped open as he spoke. “Oh, Jack. I can’t imagine that level of expectations and pressure. I’m so sorry.” She moved closer and reached out to hug him. “That breaks my heart.”
Jack accepted, tucking his face against her neck, he inhaled and savored being held by her. Not that he felt sorry for himself, but he appreciated her compassion and understanding. He’d always been hesitant to tell anyone for fear of being judged.
When she finally leaned back, she held his gaze. “That wasn’t fair. To put all that on you. I’m surprised you ever wanted to come back now that I know how you felt.”
Shrugging, he said, “This was my home. I didn’t blame anyone. I mean, I went through the five stages of grief when I realized I’d never play football again, but that’s when it occurred to me that I’d suffered a little bit of pain now instead of a lifetime filled with regret for stupid choices. I didn’t have to be Jack the Golden Boy any longer. I could just be Jack.”
Jo continued to hold his gaze to the point he wondered if she was struggling with the temptation to kiss him as much as he was fighting the pull to kiss her.
The bubble broke when she shook her head, let her arms drop from around his neck, and moved back. “You really are an amazing person.”
He waved her off. “Eh, it was either come to terms with it or let it rule me. I wasn’t keen on the latter.” He eyed her. “Did you ever consider staying in Wishing Well?” More than anything, he wanted to hear the answer to the next question. “Or ever thought about moving back?”
She had a slight hesitation, like she was debating what to say. “No.” Although, the way she said it, it wasn’t as cut and dry as she was making it out to be.
“Oh.” He couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice.
“My mom… everywhere I go, I see my mom.” She sat quietly for a minute. “Things were never the same after my dad left. She became so hypercritical, almost mean, like she didn’t know how to process her emotions, so she took it out on me. Then, right after I turned thirteen, she dumped me on my grandma’s porch and said she was done. Grandma tried everything to convince her to come back, but my mom changed her number, and I never saw her again.”
Jack was speechless. He couldn’t fathom his parents doing anything close to what Jo’s mom did. They’d been supportive of his football career and even more so when he returned home injured. They never pushed him or said anything derogatory while he floundered for a while. The entire time, they loved him. For all their faults, they were great parents.
“I’m so sorry, Jo.”
She lifted her head and palmed his arm. “It’s okay. I was still pretty angry when I left for New York, but I realized a few years ago that I needed to let it go. I was hurting myself, and it was stupid. Doesn’t mean I’m ready to be confronted with her at every stop, but I’ve let the anger go.”
He covered her hand with his. “That’s good.”
The gesture was small, but the change in atmosphere was noticeable. The air felt charged, like a lightning storm had formed inside his apartment. The hair on his arms stood on end, and his heart felt zapped. Their eyes met, silence drawing out. He wasn’t sure if he was moving closer or she was, or if it was a mutual meeting in the middle. Her tongue darted across her bottom lip ,making his pulse race dangerously high.
Maybe he was getting that kiss tonight, after all.
A car backfiring outside broke the spell, and Jo jumped up. “Well, I guess I should get back home.”
Inwardly, he was muttering all sorts of words that weren’t fit for proper company. He shook off the need to kiss her and reasoned that it was probably for the best. He didn’t need to kiss her when there was a good possibility she wouldn’t stay in Wishing Well.
Jack grunted as he stood and shook out his hip. It’d been okay when he sat down, but it was a little stiff now.
“Are you okay?” she asked, taking a step closer.
“Yeah.” His lips twisted as a dull ache throbbed.
Her lips turned down, and her eyebrows drew together. “I knew you’d worked too hard today. You should take tomorrow off. There’s no reason to push yourself.”
“I’ll be fine. A good night’s rest, and I’ll be good to go.”
He could see in her eyes that she was debating whether or not to argue with him.
Her shoulders loosened, and she nodded. “All right.”
Jack followed her to the door, working to keep the limp that sometimes came with the stiff joints from being noticeable. He was being honest, though; it’d be fine in the morning.
She opened the door and turned as she stepped outside. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
What happened next was neither planned nor thought. Jack just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. “Thanks for dinner.”
Talk about fitting. Her head fit under his chin, giving him just enough room if he wanted so that he could rest his chin on the top of her head. Her body filled every nook and cranny of his. She was just right. She felt great in his arms. Soft and feminine and all the things in between that he’d had no idea he was looking for. Perfect. The word was perfect.
Leaning back, he loosened his grip on her a fraction. Her gaze traveled up his chest, finally reaching his. The word kissable flashed in neon. It was so tempting. Almost too tempting, but somewhere in his mind screamed she wasn’t ready, and he knew it.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bright and early.” Then she popped up on her toes, brushed her lips against his cheek, and dashed down the stairs.
Instead of a hit and run, she was a kiss and run, and he felt about as dazed from that as he suspected getting hit by a car would be.
She’d said she couldn’t stay in Wishing Well because of the memories her mom conjured. Somehow, he needed to figure out a way to make new memories. Ones that would make her want to stay. With him. Forever.