When We Met

by C J Marie

“Oh, the judge agreed not everyone was cut out for this job. Said it would be cruel and unusual to keep you here. So, go on. Dot’s waiting.”

  Jo gripped her bag tight over her shoulder as she took in everyone waiting patiently in the office. She turned toward Zac. He tried to tease about it, but Jo understood what he’d done. She didn’t know when her reaction to wrap her arms around his neck took hold, but she didn’t mind the way her chest ignited in warm fire bursts of sparks deep in her core once she was pressed firm against his chest. When Zac’s strong arms wrapped around her waist in response to the embrace her blood turned to a constant boil.

  “Thank you, Zac,” she whispered near the shell of his ear.

  He cleared his throat, those dark eyes finding her as they slowly inched apart. The way he studied her face for half a breath sent Jo’s brain into overdrive. Did Zac share similarly traitorous thoughts about touching longer than appropriate?

  “Yeah, well, I expect if I get maimed like August I won’t get a bill.”

  Jo chuckled and finally released his body. “It’s a deal.”

  Chapter 9

  Every inch of her body ached in the best ways. Jo plopped back onto the mattress after ten hours of running up and down hallways, bandaging wounds, setting a bone, and playing peek-a-boo with infants to get a glimpse in their ears. She smiled even if her skin smelled as if she’d been doused in powdery rubber with a dash of rubbing alcohol. Jo clutched the keys to the BMW. She’d been set up, and once Dot and Jo arrived at the clinic, Olive was there with Rafe waiting to abandon their silver car, before husband and wife drove away together in Rafe’s truck without a backward glance.

  Freedom from spending lonely nights cooped in the dingy motel was as real as the never ending frizz in her humidity soaked hair. Every sunrise would bring a new excitement working at the clinic, the thrill bubbled in the pit of her stomach, a feeling nearly forgotten through the years. Although Jo couldn’t say the shop wasn’t growing on her at this point. Maybe the employees at Zac’s Auto Repair weren’t reprehensible. Maybe their employer wasn’t thrust from the pits of Hell.

  Without Zac, she wouldn’t have this buzzing euphoria raging through her system like a wildfire burning away any doubt she was doing what she was meant to do. Without Zac. Such a strange concept, but as if old Maggie slapped her upside the head, Jo accepted the heavy truth she might be glad she knew Zac Dawson.

  Jo smiled and rolled over, tapping the number pad on her cell phone. It only rang twice before Emmitt’s face filled her screen. She beamed, brushing her hair behind her ear, knowing she must look ragged and weary. Emmitt was dressed in his mint scrubs, his hair neatly combed. She wondered what he would look like with a little more tousle—maybe a bit of scruff on his chin. Probably delicious.

  “Hi, Jo. It’s good to see your face.” He grinned.

  “I had the best day,” she squeaked, knowing her smile was wider than a kid in a candy store.

  He offered a polite chuckle. “Really. I didn’t think I’d hear those words come out of your mouth.”

  “I know, I think I saw a pig flying down the street.”

  “What’s changed?” Emmitt sighed as he plopped onto their couch.

  “I got fired.”

  His brow furrowed and he leaned forward on his knees. “What? How…how is that even possible?”

  “It was all a set-up. I was fired for not answering phones right, or some ridiculous excuse Zac made up—”

  “First name basis, huh? No douchebag anymore?” Emmitt smirked, one brow raised in his doctor look. It was the same expression used when Emmitt gathered patient histories.

  “He might have a few…redeeming qualities.” Some were hidden beneath Zac’s T-shirt. Jo nearly choked on her own tongue for thinking such a thought while speaking with her boyfriend. Shameful.

  Emmitt laughed, lying back on the arm of the couch and rolling his eyes. “Okay. Well, does that mean you’re coming home? It’s getting busy at work without you.”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m still toeing the legal line, I was fired and hired in the same day. I’m working full-time at the clinic.” She nearly squealed the words, the rush of pleasure filling her cheeks as she awaited his response.

  Anticlimactic didn’t justify the reaction of the man who was meant to hold her heart.

  “The clinic. Again with that place?” Jo nodded, her smile fading the darker Emmitt’s expression went. “So, you’re working full-time for free, probably running around with your head cut off for every little ache and pain when you could be back at a desk, doing the court requirements, but able to study like you said you were. Now, when are you going to study, Jo?”

  She rubbed the bridge of her nose. Happy moment equaled shattered into oblivion. “Emmitt, why is working at the clinic such a big deal to you?”

  “It’s not the image I thought we wanted.”

  “Emmitt, I don’t live here,” she cried, slamming one palm down on the mattress. “It isn’t permanent, what image is going to be ruined?”

  “It’s not just this clinic, Jo. I see the way you light up talking about the grunge work, and how long until you find a family practice in Boston and give up all our hard work?”

  “That isn’t going to happen,” she muttered. A spark of frustration mounted in her chest after a thick pause. “But if my eyes light up, wouldn’t you want me to do what makes me happy?”

  He sighed, rolling his eyes again. Those small acts bit harder than anything really. Every eye roll, every frown, every tilt of the head made Jo a child, and Emmitt the wiser, experienced professional. “Not when I know it would be a waste of your potential.”

  “In your opinion.”

  “See,” he grumbled. “This is what I’m talking about. Already, you’re letting the idea pollute the plan. There’s no future in general practice, Jo. I thought we’d decided specializing was the direction we wanted to go.”

  “I love working with you, Emmitt, but don’t you think it’s important to do what excites us?”

  “So, all our conversations have been you faking excitement?”

  Jo’s lips tightened. Emmitt had a way of pouting and making her apologize for situations where apologies weren’t necessary. “No, that’s not true,” she insisted. “I love cardiac care, I love my patients, but I can’t deny working with such a variety is exciting to me. I had fun today, that’s all I was calling to tell you. I thought you’d be happy.”

  “Don’t make me the bad guy, Jo. I’m looking out for you and trying to help you make the best decisions so you don’t go down a rabbit hole you can’t escape.”

  “I appreciate your concern, but I’m a big girl, Emmitt. I can decide for myself. I don’t think if we practice in different areas it will hurt your chances of a fellowship. I don’t think one of the application questions asks what your significant other does.” Jo tried to lighten the conversation, but Emmitt’s face contorted deeper in frustration.

  “You make emotional decisions based on your family. Remember that’s part of the reason you didn’t want to go down there in the first place. But what’s more, you need to remember you can’t take back what happened by following in those footsteps, Jo.”

  “I wish you would stop using my parents against me, Emmitt,” she snapped. “That isn’t fair, nor is my dad the reason I love family practice.” Although, Jo wasn’t certain that was true.

  “Fine, Jo,” he growled. “Do what you want. I’ve got to be honest, I feel a little betrayed.”

  “Betrayed, Emmitt? I’m working off a court ordered community service!” This was ludicrous. Why was this becoming an argument? “Sometimes it feels like you care more about image than what makes me happy. I sincerely thought to call my boyfriend so we could celebrate. I didn’t think you’d want me to go back to an auto repair shop over helping sick people because you have a prejudice against general family clinics.”

  “There you go again making me the bad guy.”

  “Well, a little support would be nice.�
�

  “You’re not thinking clearly, and I’m not going to argue with you when you’re emotional.”

  Jo swallowed the thick buildup in the back of her throat, and straightened her shoulders. “We wouldn’t want to get emotional, now would we?”

  Emmitt scowled, his brows shadowing his normally calm eyes like a hurricane was brewing behind his gaze. “I’d better go.”

  “Fine.”

  “Jo, I care about your happiness, but I think sometimes you live in the past. That’s why I push you.”

  “Fine.”

  He scoffed and his eyes narrowed. “Alright, when you want to have a mature, adult conversation, give me a call back.”

  Emmitt ended the call in rapid fire before Jo could retort. “When you want to support me, I’ll be waiting!” She shrieked at the blank screen.

  Jo stomped around the room, her insides toiled in frustration as she plodded about the small space. After the heat built in the bottoms of her feet, Jo relented to a chilled shower to soothe her blazing frustration. The motel had laughable water pressure, but after Jo stepped out of the shower she did feel better.

  The room dripped in mugginess from the lingering heat of the day mingled with the steam from her lukewarm shower. She opted to slip on a black skirt instead of her long pajama pants in the heat. Jo was scrunching her natural curls when a furious knock sounded on the door. She startled, slipping a form-fitting pink top over her head and creeping toward the door.

  She jumped again when a knock rattled the plywood door. Peering through the peephole, Jo sighed her mouth flinching into a genuine smile. Odd, since she wasn’t supposed to like anyone in Honeyville.

  “Hi,” Olive chirped after Jo opened the door. “We’ve come to get you.”

  “Get me for what? I just got out of the shower.”

  “You look great,” Dot insisted shoving her way inside the room. Lily waved, and Jace had come with them this time. She beamed, tossing her auburn hair over her shoulder. “Throw some shoes on, we’re going out.”

  “Out where?”

  “To dinner. We have a standing monthly night out at the battery, but it ends up being more like once a week.”

  Jo laughed. “You use any excuse to get down to the shore, don’t you?” Olive and Jace nodded in unison. “Well if you don’t care that I look like I drowned, I’ll go.” Jo found it another strange turn of events that she was looking forward to going out with these women again.

  “We don’t care, but in transparency the guys are coming too,” Dot said with a knowing grin.

  Jo’s throat tightened. “Guys?”

  “Yeah, husbands, brothers,” Olive said, pointing toward Jace. She could assume that meant Will was coming. Olive paused, her full mouth twisting in a coy expression before she finished. “Zac.”

  Clearing her throat, Jo’s cheeks riddled with a crimson flush that she wished would slip back into the embarrassing pit it came from. “Oh, okay…I’ll just tie my hair up.” And maybe do something with her face. Maybe even dry her hair. Who knew?

  Dot snickered, nudging Olive in the side while Jace and Lily found a seat on Jo’s bed. “I told you,” Dot whispered.

  “Told what?” Jo asked, rushing into the bathroom.

  “Oh, nothing,” Dot called out. “Nothing at all.”

  Jo leaned out of the bathroom, one brow raised. “What? You have a tone.”

  Dot beamed, braiding the ends of her shoulder-length fiery hair, but it was Jace who spoke. “Dot might have mentioned something about an impressive hug with a certain man at the shop,” she explained with intentional dramatic flair.

  Jo wished the ground would split in two and swallow her whole when she disappeared into the bathroom again. “That was a thankful hug. The insufferable man did something nice.”

  “Insufferable,” Lily crooned. “Sounds like a woman hiding compliments behind regency insults.”

  Jo smirked and tightened the damp bun at the back of her head, trying to hide the new pink gloss on her lips. “Regency insults. I haven’t heard that before. It’s a good word.”

  The others snickered, gathered purses, and headed toward the door once Jo grabbed her wallet. Olive smiled and slithered her arm through Jo’s elbow like they’d been friends since birth. “What we’re saying is perhaps there might be an opinion that’s changing about a certain bearded, auto shop owner.”

  Jo scoffed. “I know what you’re thinking,” she said to the entire group. “And no. Just no. I think nothing more of Zac than I did when I first came here.”

  “Sure,” Dot said.

  “I mean it. He did something nice, but it doesn’t mean I like him as a person. And besides, I have a boyfriend.”

  “Whoa,” Lily said, her pleasant teasing grin in place before she dipped into Jace’s sedan. “We didn’t bring up boyfriends. We didn’t mean you liked Zac in that way, what are you doing bringing up boyfriends?”

  All the women laughed and Jo covered one side of her face before slipping in the back seat with Olive and Dot. “Well good, because there’s nothing like that going on.”

  Jo said the words, but they didn’t seem to have any effect on the three women surrounding her in the car. Each one giggled and snorted under their breath as Jace drove them out of the motel parking lot.

  “Whatever you say, Jo,” Dot teased. “Whatever you say.”

  ***

  Zac almost stayed in. Abnormal amounts of calls came in last minute for the shop. Going through the schedule, payroll, and making sure customers didn’t sit in the front lobby for four hours was like a second job sometimes. August helped, but as the owner most of the work fell to Zac. After enjoying a glimpse at the help of having an office assistant, Zac determined it was probably time to fill a full-time position.

  He’d almost stayed in, but when he caught her eye across the diner, Zac was glad he hadn’t. And that thought unnerved a deep part of his core. Zac shifted in the booth as Rafe and August moved aside so their wives could slip next to them. Jace nestled next to Olive, avoiding Will’s slug to her shoulder.

  “We aren’t five, William,” Jace grinned, dodging with experience.

  “Come sit by me, Jo,” Dot insisted. Zac swallowed the tension staking like bricks in the back of his throat when Dot patted the space between him and her own seat. Jo averted her gaze, seeming to find a new fascination in the milkshake menu on the table before she slithered over Dot’s lap and settled on the padded seat. It wasn’t the convenient place, Zac wouldn’t protest, but he was suspicious of what Miss Dot Gardener was up to.

  His palms were already damp when he scrubbed his palms across his jeans and smiled at Jo. “How is the clinic?” He asked. The way his mouth dried, Zac felt like a teenager finding the gumption to hold a crush’s hand.

  The most aggravating part of Josephine came after she’d left his house the day she’d done laundry. Zac realized she did something, like a curse whenever the woman was around, he could hardly keep his head on straight. Zac didn’t know what being awkward around women was, but whenever this woman glanced his way, inside Zac imagined he was on the road to becoming Andy part two.

  Jo grinned, her eyes sparkling like gems in the diner lighting. He must have asked the right question.

  “Amazing,” she breathed. One of the most sincere statements he’d heard from her lips. Even when Jo had spouted off he was her mortal enemy the first night they’d met, he believed this single word more than those insults.

  Zac sipped some water and leaned back against the booth. “Sounds like someone did you a big favor.”

  Jo snorted and shook her head. “Shocker, that you’d find a way to make yourself the hero.”

  Zac held up his hands. “Did I say me? I was talking about the judge.”

  Jo’s smile was quickly becoming one of his favorite things. “Sure, I bet that’s what you meant.” She shifted in her seat so her shoulders were squared toward him. Zac was positive he saw Dot lift her brow and grin through a gulp of sweet tea. Was he allud
ing to the attraction he buried inside so others could see? If so, that needed to stop.

  Jo leaned forward, her eyes locked on his. Zac forgot his declaration when he drew in a breath and caught the clean, sweet aroma of Jo’s hair and skin. Who cared—she was an attractive woman, he was a single man. So what if everyone squeezing in the booth saw him stare a little too long.

  “You meant the judge? Oh, well I’ll be sure and thank him. I was going to agree with you, Zachariah and say thank you, but you’re right. You didn’t have anything to do with setting up the clinic.”

  Zac laughed, and leaned his elbows over the table. “I’m glad you like it Jo. Although, I’ve made the decision I’ve been spoiled the last week, and it’s time to hire an assistant.”

  “What are you talking about?” August called down the table. “I’m your assistant, and I think I do a perfect job.”

  Jo flashed a smile toward Lily and August who sat closer than normal since these gatherings were one of the few nights they went out without little Brin. Zac scoffed and glanced back at Jo. “I’m still going to look for an office assistant.”

  The table laughed, Rafe shoved August in his shoulder and teased him about applying for the position permanently. Jo seemed to ease into the conversation like she’d always been there until Jace tapped her hand from across the table, beaming.

  “So, Jo what does your boyfriend think about the change of employment?”

  An innocent question, but a suffocating reminder that Zac was attracted to a taken woman. He wasn’t that guy who stepped on other guy’s toes—until he saw the hollow expression coat Jo’s smooth face. It was a split second before she smiled again. Although, her eyes didn’t smile with her mouth this time.

  “Um, he’s good,” Jo insisted, although Zac wasn’t certain she believed herself. “Yeah, he thinks whatever passes the time is good.”

  “Did you tell him how amazing the clinic is?” Dot asked, her tone on the defense of her precious baby.

  Jo snickered and nodded. “Yes, I told him how I felt right at home. Like I was…meant to be there.”

  Zac forgot how to breathe when Jo met his eye. These feelings were strange for him. This attraction was like a foreign entity taking hold of his ability to think, breathe, talk. He didn’t know why Jo fueled such things inside. Their relationship had hardly been cordial, yet there was something different about Jo Graham that ignited a desire inside he couldn’t deny.