Whisper of Surrender

by Melanie Shawn

  Jess ran out of tasks and realized she was only postponing the inevitable. She prepared herself for an even more uncomfortable conversation than the one she’d had with her mom. She still wasn’t sure if her mom totally believed Jess’s story, but she seemed satisfied for now. After all, who would suspect a sham relationship?

  Jess still couldn’t believe that they’d won the game last night. Ethan must be clairvoyant or something. How else could he have known when her first kiss was? If she had been fourteen or even fifteen, maybe she could fathom it as an honest guess. Nine was a little bit too young to just randomly estimate. She’d never even told Ali about that kiss. So how in the world…

  “So, my dear,” Daisy began, and Jess knew her time was up.

  She crossed the room to her station feeling much like she was walking the plank. She braced herself for what she was sure to be a series of rapid-fire questions shot in her direction. She was unprepared for Daisy’s opener.

  “You and my grandson made quite a splash yesterday.”

  Jess couldn’t help but smile as she lifted her arms and fanned out the smock. “I guess we did.”

  “Ethan said you two were planning on keeping things low-key.”

  “Yep.”

  “That kiss didn’t look very low-key.”

  Jess bit the inside of her mouth. That kiss wasn’t low-key. It was high-key. “Yeah, that was…unexpected.”

  As she began brushing out Daisy’s hair, she could feel the woman’s stare through the reflection in the mirror.

  “It was a shame that he got called into work.”

  “Yeah.” Jess had actually been relieved. Ethan was a wildcard yesterday. She had no idea what he was going to do next and she’d had her fill of surprises for one day.

  “Have you talked to him this morning? How did it go last night?”

  Oops. If they really were a couple, he would’ve probably checked in with her at some point since yesterday.

  “I’m not sure. I was running late this morning.”

  Jess’s punctuality, or lack thereof, was common knowledge in Whisper Lake, so she figured Daisy wouldn’t bat an eye at her excuse.

  “Oh, hello, Mrs. Steele,” Amelia said as she emerged from the back of the building.

  Thank God. Backup.

  “Good morning, dear. And it’s Daisy,” Ethan’s grandma corrected.

  She’d been on a kick since her eightieth birthday that everyone called her Daisy, not Mrs. Steele. It took a little getting used to.

  “How’s Sabrina feeling?” Jess asked.

  Amelia’s daughter, Sabrina, had been running a fever over the weekend, so she’d had to skip Jess’s parents’ party.

  “She’s doing a lot better. I think she must’ve picked something up at daycare.” Amelia set her purse down at her station. “How was the party? I was so bummed that I had to miss it, I would’ve given anything to see your dad playing The Newlywed Game.”

  “It was great!” Jess enthused, hoping Daisy would let her out of revealing the big news for now.

  “The game was a hoot.” Daisy agreed. “Jess and Ethan won.”

  Guess not.

  Amelia’s face scrunched in confusion. “Oh, you and Ethan played?”

  “Yep.” Jess wanted the subject to drop immediately.

  Lying had never been a big deal to Jess. Maybe it was because she’d spent her childhood imagining that she was living a life that wasn’t her own. Also, mortality puts things in a very stark light. A little white lie here and there, especially if it was for the greater good, didn’t bother Jess. But this, this wasn’t bending the truth, it was snapping that sucker in half and then putting it through a wood chipper. There might be shreds of truth, but they were in tiny, itsy bitsy pieces.

  “Haven’t you heard the big news?” Daisy shifted in her chair to face Amelia.

  “Big news?” Amelia’s eyes bounced between Jess and Daisy.

  “Jess and Ethan are dating.”

  “They are?”

  “They are!” Daisy enthused, before her perfectly drawn on eyebrows lifted. “It came as quite a surprise to everyone at the party as well.”

  Amelia looked at Jess. “I bet.”

  Jess reached down and got her spray bottle as Daisy settled back in her chair. Before either woman had a chance to say anything else, Amelia’s first client, Mrs. Potter, walked into the shop.

  The woman sat down, and the first thing out of her mouth was, “Boy that was some kiss yesterday.”

  And that was pretty much how the rest of Jess’s day went. Everyone that came into the shop wanted to talk about Jess and Ethan. The kiss. The Not-So-Newlywed Game. There were Instagram videos of her pushing Ethan in the pool and, of course, their kiss. Being on the receiving end of the kiss, she’d missed the aesthetics of it. When Ethan’s hands cupped her jaw, the look in his eyes was so…intense. So real.

  By the end of the day, she wasn’t sure if the things coming out of her mouth were lies or not.

  Why had she ever thought this was a good idea?

  Her lips tingled with a reminder of the hottest kiss in her life.

  Oh yeah, that’s why.

  CHAPTER 11

  Ethan double checked the address that Jess had texted him and looked up at the nondescript warehouse in Rosewood Grove, a town about thirty miles outside of Whisper Lake. He was in the right place, he just wondered what this place was. There was no signage anywhere. He’d checked online to see what kind of business this was but hadn’t been able to come up with anything.

  He checked his watch. He’d arrived with five minutes to spare, and he’d been waiting for ten. Jess was late, which was not a shocker. She rarely, if ever, showed up on time.

  The thought of seeing her had adrenaline traveling through his bloodstream like water in a rushing river. That kiss had knocked him on his ass yesterday. Figuratively speaking, anyway. He’d had some pretty high expectations for their first adult kiss, but it turned out to be more than anything he’d ever imagined. It was magical, as corny as that sounded. And he was anxious to see if he’d get another opportunity for magic tonight.

  Since their relationship had quotations around it, he was going to have to plan his seduction strategically. That was not something he had any experience with. If he was interested in someone, he let them know. If he wanted to sleep with someone, he made a move. He’d never understood why people played games. To him, the direct, straightforward approach had always worked best.

  Until Jess.

  Nothing was simple or straightforward when it came to Jess.

  He had no idea what he was in for tonight. She’d agreed to his terms, and he’d agreed to hers. The only difference was, he had no clue what her terms were. Ethan was not the kind of man that said yes and asked questions later. He was the man that read the terms of service agreement before clicking ‘agree.’ He always wanted to know exactly what he was getting into and what would be expected of him before he agreed to anything.

  But he’d blindly agreed to do whatever she wanted him to do. Because it was Jess.

  He glanced down at his clothes and he wondered what her quid to his quo could possibly be. She’d told him to dress in athletic wear and texted him an address and a time.

  That was the totality of the information he’d been given.

  So he stood outside a large brick building wearing a pair of sweats, a T-shirt, and sneakers. His mind wandered to what he could’ve possibly gotten himself into.

  Was she on some sort of coed team that he was going to be joining?

  Was she going to be opening a second salon location and he was here to do some manual labor?

  “Hey!” Jess came around the corner and bopped up to him, smiling from ear to ear.

  His eyes shot straight to the lips that had been pressed against his the night before.

  He’d forced himself to push the memory out of his mind when he’d been called in to work. When he was on the job, he couldn’t have any distractions. And that rule was eve
n more critical now that he was on the tactical team. It took one hundred percent focus.

  Usually, keeping his mind clear was not difficult. But last night had tested his ability to compartmentalize his life, something he’d never struggled with before.

  “So, any guesses as to what you’re in for?” Jess wagged her brows as she reached and pulled the door open.

  “I have a couple.” He lifted his arm and held the door open for her before entering behind her.

  His mouth went dry as he stared at Jess’s perfect, pear-shaped ass swaying back and forth as she made her way up the steps.

  About halfway up, she glanced over her shoulder. “Such as?”

  He cleared his throat, hoping to be able to speak over the lust he was choking on. “You’re in a competitive dodgeball league, and you guys need to win the championship to save this old building that may seem like a dump to everyone else in town but has sentimental value to the captain of the team whose family ran a tire business in it for years until they went bankrupt.”

  Jess stopped and turned around, lips parted and eyes wide. “No. But that sounds like a great plot to an ABC Afterschool Special.”

  “I don’t think they’ve made those for twenty years.”

  “Then it’s time for a reboot.”

  Jess had an answer for everything.

  She paused when they made it to the top of the stairs and turned back to face him. He could feel the excitement radiating off of her. “Any other guesses?”

  “Is it a new location?”

  “A what?” Her baby blues squinted as her head tilted.

  “Are you expanding The Mane Attraction?”

  Her lips pursed and he could see that his statement made her emotional. He just wasn’t sure why. Had he guessed right? He didn’t know because the girl who had an answer for everything was surprisingly quiet.

  “Am I here to do manual labor?”

  She shook her head, and it looked as if she were shaking away whatever emotions she’d been feeling. “Nope. Do you want a hint?”

  This interaction, right here, was the reason he’d had to figure out a game plan to get a chance with Jess. As bold and unfiltered as her persona was, she was not as straightforward as people assumed she was. She loved games. This guessing game. And the constant game of keep-away with his heart.

  Ethan decided to play along. Crossing his arms, he responded. “Sure.”

  “Do you remember what I was watching when you came by and made your disappointingly decent proposal?”

  “Disappointingly decent?” Ethan had plenty of indecent proposals he could make, if that’s what she wanted.

  “Focus.” She snapped her fingers sassily.

  “Your favorite movie. Dirty Dancing.” Ethan was still proud of himself for remembering that one last night.

  “Yes, but do you remember what scene?”

  “They were dancing.” As soon as he said it, he realized how stupid it was to describe a scene from a movie called Dirty Dancing by explaining that they were “dancing.”

  At least the look on Jess’s face told him she didn’t think it was stupid. She was grinning from ear to ear and nodding her head up and down.

  “We’re dancing?”

  “Yes. And it’s for a good cause.”

  “A good cause?”

  “The Battle of the Badges.”

  “The Battle of the…” Ethan fell silent when he remembered what the event was this year. A talent show.

  She wanted him to dance in a talent show.

  “No,” he stated firmly as he began to turn and head back down the stairs.

  “Hey!” Jess didn’t miss a beat as she reached out and grabbed his arm and pointed a finger directly in his face. “A deal’s a deal.”

  Damn.

  “I can’t dance,” he admitted.

  “Yeah. I know. That’s why we have an instructor. Miss Penelope.”

  She said the name as if it should mean something to him, It didn’t. But Jess did, and if this is what it took to finally get her to see just how right they were for each other, then he guessed he was going to be dancing in a talent show, even if it killed him. Which…it might.

  * * *

  Ethan looked like he wanted to puke but that didn’t stop her from dragging him into the rehearsal space. She pulled the steel barn door and tugged the Steele human being at the same time. The door was easier to budge.

  They walked into the space and a sense of joy and rightness infused Jess’s entire adrenal system. She’d dreamed of dancing all of her life, but her condition had always made it impossible.

  But now it was possible.

  This was her dream coming true, torturing Ethan was an added bonus.

  A woman swept into the room, making a grand entrance. “Darlings, you’re here. I am Miss Penelope. It is so lovely to meet you. Doris has told me so much about you.”

  The first thing that Jess noticed about Miss Penelope was her hair. It was a stunning shade of natural grey with highlights of silver woven through. If every woman aged so gracefully, Jess would be out of a job. The woman was exactly what Jess had always pictured a dance instructor would look like in her all-black leotard, tights, jazz shoes, and sheer wrap around her waist.

  After she’d gotten the brilliant idea to make Ethan dance with her in the Battle of the Badges, Jess had gone to the one person she knew that had experience in dance. Doris Weathersby. She’d been one of the original Rockettes, and at eighty-eight she still competed in ballroom dance competitions.

  Mrs. Weathersby had wanted to be the one to train Jess and Ethan, but when Jess explained that she wanted to keep it a secret, she was so happy to be in on it that she recommended Jess call Miss Penelope who taught dance two towns over from Whisper Lake in Rosewood Grove.

  “Hello, Miss Penelope, I’m Jess, and this is Ethan.”

  “Miss Myers and Mr. Steele,” Miss Penelope took both Jess and Ethan’s hands in her own. “Are you ready to let your souls be free and express yourself through the healing practice of dance?”

  “Yep.” Jess did her best to hold in a snicker as she glanced at the mirror and saw the look on Ethan’s face. He was going to hate every minute of this.

  Jess elbowed Ethan.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replied.

  “Wonderful.” Miss Penelope’s hands flew in the air and then landed on her belly. “Let’s begin with our breathing.”

  Miss Penelope led them through several warm-up exercises and stretches before instructing them to face one another and “connect.” Jess wasn’t exactly sure what that was supposed to mean, and Ethan seemed as lost as she was.

  Staring at one another cluelessly apparently wasn’t what Miss Penelope had in mind.

  “Connect!” she instructed harshly.

  Jess flinched as the woman clapped her hands mere inches from her face. When she opened her eyes, she expected to see Ethan giving her a “what in the hell have you gotten me into” look, which would’ve been wholly justified. But that wasn’t how he was looking at her.

  He stared at her with the same look she’d seen in the pictures from the party. The intensity had her pulse racing like it was trying to qualify for the Daytona 500.

  “Good. Very good.” Miss Penelope praised them as she settled Ethan’s hand on Jess’s waist. “Now move together.”

  And they did. Ethan may have been a beginner, but he was a natural. He moved them around the dance floor with confidence and command.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised, that was what Ethan did. He took control, and despite herself, she was discovering that she loved it. She loved every second she was spending with Ethan.

  And that, she feared, might just end up breaking the heart that she’d waited her whole life to get.

  CHAPTER 12

  Jess was speechless as she stared at her best friend standing on a pedestal in the center of the boutique in downtown Chicago.

  She and Ali weren’t the girls that ever talked about what their weddings w
ere going to be like or had their Barbies marry Ken. They were the girls that changed their Flight Attendant Barbies into fighter pilots. Instead of house they played clothing designers and when they played dress up, their go-tos were a news reporter and a lawyer, not a bride or a princess.

  So, when Ali had asked to tag along with Jess on her weekend trip to Chicago for a beauty convention so she could dress shop, Jess had figured it would be a quick visit to a boutique. She’d try on a few dresses then they’d go hang out in the city. No biggie.

  But seeing her friend in this gown…this was a biggie.

  “What do you think? Is it…” Ali turned side to side as she ran her fingers down the torso of the dress. “I don’t know…too plain?”

  “It’s…” Jess searched for the right word. Unable to come up with anything more original she settled on, “perfect.”

  Ali’s eyes lifted and met Jess’s reflection in the mirror. Her forehead creased as she asked, “Are you crying?”

  Jess wiped the extra moisture from beneath her eyes. “It’s allergies.”

  Not crying had been a source of pride for Jess growing up. She would get test results that made other kids bawl but she wouldn’t shed a single tear.

  Her friend smiled, “Oh that’s right, you’re allergic to emotions.”

  Jess stuck out her tongue at Ali.

  Ali just smiled wider. She swayed back and forth several more times and turned so that she could see the back of the dress before declaring, “I think this is the one.”

  The simple sheath was the fourth dress Ali had tried on and had been Jess’s least favorite on the hanger. It was so plain compared to the lace and beading details on the other dresses that all had a “wow” factor.

  Ali had looked beautiful in the other options, but as soon as her friend walked out of the room, Jess knew this was her dress. It was a showstopper. Stunning. It complimented Ali by highlighting her collarbone and neck and accentuating her curves. The other dresses were beautiful on her, but she was beautiful in this one.