Until Winter Breaks

by Elana Johnson

  He stretched his hand toward her, happiness filling him when she gave him her fingers.

  “Your leg needed stitches,” the nurse continued. She was nothing like Millie, with her gentle touch and intoxicating scent.

  “We took care of the stitches, and we’re prescribing you something for the pain. Now that you’re awake, we’d like to see you up and around for a couple of hours. Once you seem clear-minded, you’ll be discharged.” She pointed at him and shot him a look that would terrify an international spy. “Only take the dosage prescribed. Your friend here said she’d make sure of that.”

  “I will,” Millie pledged.

  Jared nodded too—anything to get the nurse’s finger out of his face and Millie to stay with him another night.

  He groaned, this time not out of physical pain. “Our date,” he said.

  Millie graced him with a genuine smile. “There’s always tomorrow.”

  * * *

  It was almost midnight by the time Jared had proved that he was clear-minded. Millie drove him home, helped him up the stairs, got him settled in bed. She gave him a tall glass of water and a single pill.

  “That’s all I get?”

  “That’s right.”

  He plucked the pill from her palm and put it in his stomach. “Satisfied?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I’m not.”

  “You can’t have another pill.”

  He let his eyes blink once, twice. “Can I have you?”

  She let seconds pass too, the indecision shining through the thin layer of her mask.

  “Nothing too serious,” he amended. “Just stay with me. I don’t want to be alone.” He pointed toward the hallway. “Sophie keeps extra blankets in the linen closet. You can sleep on top of the comforter. I’ll sleep under.” He held up his hands in surrender, sensing a victory. “Nothing too serious, I swear.”

  She considered him for another moment. And then another, before wordlessly retrieving a quilt from the closet. The hall light extinguished, leaving only the lamp shining through the darkness.

  Millie removed her blouse to reveal a strappy tank top that strayed an inch over the top of her leggings, revealing smooth, sexy skin. Jared itched to see a little more, but darted his eyes away when she looked at him.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  “For what?”

  He thought he heard her laugh, but that prescription melted through him, causing his head to tumble and his eyes to blur.

  “I’m turning out the light now.”

  A click later, the room plunged into blackness.

  “Millie?” He couldn’t tell which way was up. His fingers felt swollen like sausages.

  “Yeah?” The bed rustled as she moved. He imagined her positioning herself closer to him, but had no idea if that was true.

  “Thanks. For everything. I’m sorry I went to save that elephant seal. I didn’t know it would freak you out.” He needed to stop talking, but the words swelled in his mouth. “Why did it freak you out?”

  Her hand alighted on his arm, a feathered touch that planted wicked thoughts in his weak mind. “I knew someone once who got injured at the beach.”

  “Ohhh,” Jared slurred. He cursed the meds he’d taken. “Who was it?”

  “Someone special to me.”

  “What happened? Did he save an elephant seal too?”

  “No.” Millie shifted again, and this time the heat from her body met his, even through the comforter. “He went cliff diving for fun. Sky diving too. Zip-lining. Parasailing. Anything you can think of.”

  Her voice took on a dream-like quality, and it slipped through Jared’s mind like smoke. The words existed, but he couldn’t make sense of them. He stopped trying and slipped into sleep.

  * * *

  Millie woke a few minutes before dawn. She knew by the cadence of Jared’s breathing that he wasn’t awake. She rolled over and had just enough light to study his chiseled features. He was beautiful, slack with slumber, and she reached for him. She craved the warmth from his skin, let it infuse her until she felt whole.

  She’d loved waking up next to Brady. Loved sharing her life with someone. She wanted that again.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered to the ceiling, not sure who she was apologizing to. Herself? Brady? As a tear traveled over her nose, Millie experienced a release she’d never expected to feel.

  A rush of freedom almost consumed her. She’d always love Brady, but she now had a place in her heart for someone new. Another set of tears fell as she grieved the loss of her husband all over again.

  Jared flinched, and Millie removed her hand from his bare shoulder. He caught her fingers just as they left his skin, gently tugging them into position over his heart. “Why are you crying, sweetheart?” His voice was rusty, calloused from the early hour.

  “I’m not.”

  He didn’t open his eyes to challenge her. He simply lifted the blanket and allowed her to slip into his embrace.

  “You’re like a furnace,” she complained.

  “You like it,” he murmured against her scalp. “Admit it.”

  “It is hot.”

  “You’re hot.”

  She smiled against his throat, and as her lips came back to center, she pressed them against his skin. The second time elicited a moan from him. “You do that again, and I can’t keep my promise of nothing too serious,” he warned.

  She hesitated, but wanted that free-falling feeling again. She wanted to do what the moment demanded, not be so consumed with the memories of her past.

  She touched her lips to his chin, and he expertly dipped his head to align his mouth with hers.

  His kiss exploded through her body, igniting every cell and frenzying every nerve. She pressed further into him, cradling his face in her hands. “Jared,” she breathed. “Am I hurting your leg?”

  “No.” He nipped at her bottom lip with his teeth, stroked her top lip with the tip of his tongue. “Too fast? I don’t want to go too fast.” He handled her with gentleness, something she hadn’t expected. He seemed so rough, so tough, so rushed. But his kiss was anything but hurried.

  “It’s fine.” She needed this, needed him.

  He drew back, his eyes coming open to search hers. “When women say it’s fine, it’s definitely not fine.”

  “I’m lying in bed with you, asking you to kiss me.” Millie slid her hands down the muscled planes of Jared’s back, stopping at the waistband of his athletic shorts. He sucked in a breath, his eyes deepening into liquid pools of desire. “Trust me when I say it’s fine.”

  “So fine is good.” His brows puckered.

  “If you don’t kiss me right now, I’m going home.”

  “Oh, don’t do that.” He brought his lips to hers again, and she lost herself to his lazy, heated touch.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jared’s phone interrupted him and Millie. “That’s my sister,” he murmured against her mouth. “I should probably get it.”

  “I texted her to let her know you’d been hurt.”

  The ringtone cut off, and Millie kissed him again. Her lips were magical against his, pulling tricks inside his chest that sparked through the rest of his body. “She’ll call again.”

  Sure enough, his phone rang only seconds later. Millie carefully slid her legs away from Jared’s and scooted to her side of the bed. Jared reached for his phone and answered it, the empty spot next to him too cold and too cavernous.

  “Hey, Soph.”

  “What happened? Are you okay? Do I need to come home?” Sophie’s voice was amplified in shrillness by the long distance between them. “Millie said something happened to your leg, and Lucy said you were in the hospital last night.”

  “I’m fine, Sophie.” He threw a meaningful glance to Millie who mouthed, I’m sorry. She pulled on her blouse and motioned toward the kitchen. He nodded and watched her go.

  “I went to visit Mom and stopped on the way home at the nature preserve and saw a beached elephant sea
l. I went to help it get back in the water and had a little fight with the cliffs.”

  “You hurt yourself helping a seal?”

  “Don’t say it like that.” Jared chuckled. “It sounds so stupid. It was actually very heroic.”

  Sophie laughed, and happiness rolled through Jared with the sound. “It’s good to hear your voice, sis.” His throat suddenly closed, and he couldn’t get his next words out.

  “You too,” Sophie said.

  Jared leaned back against the pillows to open his airway. “While I’ve got you on the phone, I want to ask you something.”

  “Anything.”

  “I’m, well, I wonder what you’d think of me opening The Sandy Tortilla this summer.” His eyes danced along the patterns in the drywall on the ceiling. “I don’t exactly have a job, and by the time June gets here, my savings will be gone, and—”

  “I’m actually coming home this summer.” Sophie’s voice blew through Jared, and the lines on the ceiling spelled the word no.

  “You are?” he asked. “Why? Is everything okay with you and Mont?”

  “Yes, yes,” Sophie said with a sigh. “Everything’s fine. He’s gone almost all the time. I’ve seen nearly everything there is to see in Spain.” She paused for so long, Jared checked his phone to make sure the connection hadn’t cut off.

  “So….”

  She exhaled. “So, we’ve been talking about me going home for a few months and working the stand.” The more words she said, the less certain she sounded. “Then we’ll have more savings too, until Mont can get another role.”

  Jared suspected she wasn’t saying everything. He didn’t know how much Mont had made from his current role, but Jared knew it was a lot. Surely his sister wasn’t hurting for money.

  “Okay,” he said. “Maybe I can work for you this summer, then.”

  “Sure,” Sophie said. “I always need someone to take orders. You can still live with me too, Jared. I have plenty of room.”

  He glanced toward the hall, which remained empty. He thought of Millie and how rooted in Redwood Bay she was.

  “Maybe,” he said. “I need to figure out what to do and get on with my life. I should get my own place—if I’m going to stay in town.”

  A floorboard creaked and Millie filled the doorway. With her dark hair tousled and her lips still slightly swollen from his kisses, the sight of her sent a thrill across his shoulders.

  “I have to go, Soph. My nurse says it’s time for more pain medication.”

  Sophie said her goodbyes, and they hung up. Mille wore a silly grin as she settled into the rocking chair next to the bed. “I’m not your nurse.”

  “Sure you are.” Jared put his hands behind his head. “You make me feel so much better.”

  She dropped her gaze to the floor. “Is that all this is?”

  “No,” he said quickly. “I—I want to take care of you too.” He wasn’t sure how much to say and how much to keep quiet. Millie was confident, capable, and clever. She didn’t need him to take care of her, and yet he wanted to hold her at night, tell her how beautiful she was, let her know he admired her drive.

  “Look,” he said and her head snapped up. He shot her a half-smirk. “See? It’s not the best way to start a sentence.”

  “It works.”

  “It does not,” he said. “You look like you’ve swallowed a grenade, and I’m about to pull the pin.” He lifted the comforter from his legs and sat on the edge of the bed, his knee touching hers. “Admit it.”

  He inched his hand closer to hers, and only when he laced his fingers through hers did she concede. “It’s not the best way to start a sentence.”

  “So listen—”

  “That’s worse.” Millie rolled her head like her neck couldn’t hold up its weight. “Start again.”

  “Millie.” He made his voice as milky as he could. “I think you’re one of the smartest, most beautiful women I’ve ever met. I like spending time with you, even when we argue.”

  “You do not,” she said, but her tone held no contention.

  “I do.”

  “You’ve walked away from me before.”

  “That’s because sometimes you say ridiculous things. And—” He squeezed her fingers. “You’ve run out on me before. While I was injured and couldn’t run after you.”

  “You made it just fine.”

  “Are you really arguing with me right now? After I told you you’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever met and I want to kiss you all the time?” He released her hand and sat back. His leg throbbed, but he didn’t want another strong narcotic. Didn’t want to sleep anymore.

  “That isn’t what you said.” She looked up at him through her lashes. “And Jared, there has to be more to this than amazing kissing.”

  “So you think I’m an amazing kisser.” He couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from lifting.

  She looked heavenward, as if praying for patience while dealing with a misbehaving toddler. “Jared.”

  “Millie.” He stood, testing his weight on his leg before committing to walking. “Do we have to have a plan? Can’t we just spend time together, get to know each other better, kiss every day, and see what happens?”

  He kept his eyes trained on her as she stood too. “And can you maybe get me a shirt?”

  She pursed her lips before moving to the closet. She returned with a blue T-shirt, which he pulled over his head. “So?” he asked. “What’s the verdict?”

  “You really hurt yourself saving an elephant seal?”

  Sourness coated Jared’s throat. “Do I have a reason to lie about it?”

  Millie watched him, a tiny muscle near her right eye twitching. She didn’t trust him—her question spoke of that—and Jared wondered why. He remembered her saying something about her friend—someone special to her—who’d gotten hurt while cliff diving.

  He remembered more of what she’d said. I don’t like men who take risks with their lives. The words, angry and shouted, reverberated through his head.

  Something had definitely happened to a man she’d cared about.

  “Millie,” he said again, his voice as placating and placid as he could manage. “Who’s the man in the picture you have at your shop?”

  She fell back a couple of steps like he’d punched her. “No one,” she bit out. She strode toward the doorway. “I made tea and toast, if you want it.”

  By the time Jared hobbled to the kitchen, Millie was gone. He picked up the toast she’d made and took a bite, but it tasted like greasy sawdust without her there.

  * * *

  Millie paced on Jared’s front porch, half desperate to return to the house and let him have it. The other part of her didn’t dare, because his question was valid. He should know about Brady. She should tell him everything.

  But she couldn’t. Wasn’t ready. Even if Jared was the most amazing kisser she’d had the opportunity to taste.

  A shard of shame stapled her throat shut. Better than Brady?

  If she was comparing, she’d say yes. But she knew she shouldn’t compare the two men. Brady had died a long time ago, and Jared was here, alive, breathing, telling her she was beautiful. Brady got hurt for fun; Jared saved seals.

  Millie’s heart rate sped, though she wished it wouldn’t.

  “Your orange tea is fantastic.” Jared’s words startled her and she tripped over her own feet and fell off the porch.

  She caught herself before landing flat on her face, and spun back to Jared, who stood there holding two teacups. He raised one to her. “Is this what you drink every morning on your balcony?”

  “Yes.”

  “You seem to have a routine. Would it be ruined if I joined you?”

  Yes, she thought.

  “No,” she said before leading him across their driveways and through her house. She arrived on the balcony while he was clunking his way up her front steps. Annoyance mixed with regret as she realized she hadn’t even helped him with the teacups.

  “
Nice bedroom,” he commented as he arrived on the balcony.

  “And that’s why I didn’t help you carry the tea,” she said as she took her cup.

  He laughed, which somehow irritated her and turned her on simultaneously. She sipped her tea, deliberately avoiding the entire view to her left. Instead, she focused on the ocean and beach to her right, focused on sipping her tea, focused on finding the peace she usually did while enjoying her morning on her balcony.

  But today, her thought patterns were different. Before, she might have decided which sewing projects to work on that day. She might have thought about something Desi had said. She might have considered her menu options for an upcoming girl’s night.

  But today, the only thing she could think about was Jared. Sleeping next to him. Listening to his steady breathing. Smelling his sandalwood skin. Tasting his lips, exploring his ear, chuckling against his chin as he touched his lips gently to her closed eyes.

  “I can tell you’re thinking about me,” he finally said, shattering her illusion that this was just a normal Tuesday.

  “You’re delusional.”

  “And you’re fanning yourself in February.”

  She dropped her hand, unsure of when she’d started trying to cool herself. “The tea is making me a bit warm.”

  He gulped his gone because it wasn’t even close to hot, and gave her a knowing glance.

  She set her cup aside. “So I have a question for you.”

  He placed his cup next to hers and stretched his injured leg to rest on the railing. “I’m sure I can answer it.”

  “What are your plans?”

  “Plans?”

  She leveled her gaze at him. “For the future. Are you staying in Redwood Bay?”

  He shifted in his seat, readjusting his leg. It could’ve been to get more comfortable, but Millie saw the swallow that accompanied the movement.

  “Okay, I lied,” he said. “I can’t answer that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t know.”

  “I heard you tell Sophie you could work for her this summer—if you decide to stay.”