by J. H. Croix
“Yeah, she mentioned you didn’t know she was here.”
Levi looked completely flummoxed, but he nodded and opened the door, gesturing me through. With Levi pointing the way, I carried Jasmine to the couch and set her down. Between her unexpected kiss and the way it felt to hold her in my arms, I was doing battle with the state of my body.
I followed Levi into the kitchen. “Thanks, man. Anything I should know about?”
Standing there, I contemplated whether it would be better if he heard from me that Jasmine hauled off and punched a guy who grabbed her ass, or through the grapevine.
I decided hearing it from me was better. “Well, the bartender asked me to take her home after some guy grabbed her ass, and she hauled off and punched him.”
Levi’s eyes widened and then he shook his head slowly back and forth. “Do you happen to know who the asshole was?”
“Nope. She can hold her own though.”
“Oh, she can,” he said with a wry chuckle. “Thanks for bringing her home.”
“Not a problem. See you at the station.”
Driving home through the falling darkness, the only thing my mind tripped over was the feel of Jasmine’s lips against mine. With a hard shake I forced my attention off of her, watching as the moon rose ahead in the sky, stars claiming the fading light.
Jasmine
Bright light woke me, the sun warm on my face. Ugh. My head was pounding. It took me a moment to get my bearings. Opening my eyes slowly, first one and then the other, I glanced around, realizing that I was in Levi and Lucy‘s guest bedroom. I was fully dressed with my blouse twisted around my waist.
My mind flashed back to the evening before. A man, a classically handsome, tall, dark, and sexy-as-fucking-hell man had driven me here last night.
For the life of me, I couldn’t remember his name. But I had a crystal clear picture of what he looked like and the way his mouth felt against mine.
I flung my arm over my face, my cheeks getting hot. Said man had almost black hair and rich hazel eyes. I remembered looking into them, the layered colors of green and gold mingled with nutmeg. His face had clean lines—sculpted cheekbones, a square jaw, a slightly crooked nose as if he’d been in a fight, and a sensual mouth with a dimple in the center of his chin.
Even though my memories were blurry, I recalled that he’d made me feel safe. As mortified as I was that I’d kissed him, I was positive I’d seen a flicker of desire in his eyes.
Who the hell was he?
I’d have to figure that out later. For now I had to sort out who I would be facing here. I wasn’t quite ready to face my brother Levi, especially not with a hangover. I adored Levi, but he could be overprotective. I’d come home unexpectedly without any advance warning, so I knew there would be questions. Levi thought I was too wild, too reckless, or so he’d said once upon a time. I hoped my options were no one, or my sister-in-law Lucy. I could handle Lucy.
I slowly dragged my arm away from my face and rubbed my eyes with my fists. Moving carefully and trying not to jostle my pounding head too much, I swung my feet over the side of the bed and straightened up gingerly.
Opening the door crack, I listened to see if I could hear any voices. Silence greeted me, so I pulled the door open and walked toward the bathroom. I paused for a moment when I rounded the edge of the balcony upstairs. I loved this house. Levi had built it himself. The upstairs had a balcony that followed three sides of the house with windows from below extending to the upper floor in the front of the house.
Mist rose off the field outside with the sun angling across the dew-covered grasses and flowers in the field. The home offered a view of a field with a small pond to the side. Spruce and birch trees were scattered in the field and gradually thickened into forest with the mountains rising tall in the distance. My heart gave a hard thump. Alaska was home to me, and my heart knew it.
Over the balcony railing, I could look into the living room. As far as I could tell, it appeared no one else was here. With a sigh, I shuffled into the bathroom and paused to take a look at myself. My dark blond hair was a tousled mess, and my cheek had an imprint of the wrinkled sheets against it. My eyes were puffy and bleary.
In short, I looked like hell. I could only hope that when I’d made a pass at tall dark, and sexy last night, I hadn’t looked this bad. I was about to strip out of my clothes when I saw a note taped on the shelf by the shower in front of a clean stack of towels.
Morning, Jasmine. Levi’s off at the station, and I’m out on a few errands. Here’s a change of clothes. I’ll see you when I get back. To start the coffee, just turn it on. There are bagels and cream cheese in the fridge. We missed you. Glad you’re here.
Lucy
PS: Levi’s wondering what the hell is going on. We hope you’re OK. Love you.
I started laughing. Because what else was there to do? Lucy was the best sister-in-law. She was also sarcastic and kind of quirky, which made her even better.
Peeling out of my clothes, I climbed in the shower, sighing at the feel of the hot water pouring over me. That alone eased my headache a bit.
As I showered, a few more memories filtered in from last night. Specifically, the idiot who grabbed my ass and then I punched him.
Great, just great. I couldn’t wait to hear what Levi had to say about that.
After I showered, I downed two ibuprofen I found in the medicine cabinet and made my way downstairs in the clothes Lucy had left for me. She was smaller than me, but she tended to wear loose clothes. Her comfy sweatpants and T-shirt fit just fine.
Seeing as I couldn’t go anywhere, it didn’t really matter how I looked. After I started the coffee, toasted a bagel and slathered it with cream cheese, I sat down at the kitchen table to eat. I felt halfway human after some coffee and a few bites of my bagel.
The tension bundled inside of me started to ease slowly. The problem with that was I wanted to cry. Five days ago, I stopped by my apartment to pick up my lunch after I forgot to bring it to work. My life in San Francisco consisted of working my ass off at a pottery cooperative because I loved it and working at an art gallery to make ends meet. I worked insane hours and was rarely home during weekdays.
When I’d arrived at the apartment I shared with my now ex-fiancé, I’d been puzzled when I heard a thumping sound. Because I could be a spectacular idiot sometimes, I followed the sound, right to our bedroom. Even then, I didn’t get suspicious. It was only when I started to open the door that a cold prickle ran up my spine and my gut clenched.
That moment of tension was followed by a bolt of anger. The door swung fully open, and I was greeted with a sight of Glen—my now ex-fiancé—on his back with the assistant manager from the gallery where I worked straddling him. To say they were going to town might’ve been an understatement.
That thumping sound? That was the headboard hitting the wall over and over and over again. She was gripping it with her hands, so every time she moved, it bounced against the wall. I was in such shock, I just stood there watching them. I oddly tried to recall the last time Glen and I had sex and thought maybe it was about three weeks.
I’d chalked it up to being too busy. We both had crazy schedules and sometimes passed like ships in the night for days at a time. In the throes of their rather enthusiastic fucking, it took them a moment or two to notice my presence.
Lisa, my now former assistant manager, looked over her shoulder. “Oh shit!”
She started to move, but I was surprisingly calm. “Just carry on. I won’t be hanging around.”
I walked out of the room, calling over my shoulder, “Be out of here within an hour. I’ll be back to get my stuff and I don’t want to see either one of you.”
Thinking back, I couldn’t quite believe I managed to think at all. I heard Glen scrambling off the bed and his footsteps.
“Jasmine, it’s not what you think!”
I spun back to find him hurrying out of the bedroom, wrapping a sheet around his waist. I’d taken a moment t
o stare at him. “There’s not much to think about for me to interpret what I just saw. We’re done.”
Tears were threatening, and I wasn’t about to let them see me fall apart. I clung to my anger like a shield. Because it was all I had. “Be out of here in an hour.”
He hurried after me, but I left, slamming the door in his face.
That was five days ago. He’d had the decency to be gone when I came back. I’d packed all of my clothes, took all of my pottery and put it in my car, and left. I’d spent the night with another friend and then came home. I’d considered staying, but I managed to get myself fired on the same day.
I had a bit of a temper sometimes. That same afternoon, it wasn’t a shocker that I was in a pissy mood at the gallery after my lunch break. Working in an art gallery wasn’t really a great fit for my personality, but I’d needed the money.
I preferred to have my hands dirty while throwing pottery, not dolling myself up and being polite and gracious to the rich people who would spend money on art. I’d been a little emotionally overwhelmed and so out of sorts inside that I’d publicly confronted Lisa when she returned to the gallery in front of a customer. I couldn’t believe she’d had the nerve, but then she was a step above me there. The manager didn’t appreciate me calling her second-in-command a whore. She’d fired me on the spot No job, no fiancé, and no money.
I hadn’t been thinking it through, but the next morning, I’d pointed my car north and driven home to Alaska. It took me four days to get here.
Just now, emotion finally pushed through that shield of anger, the cracks in it spreading rapidly. Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as I cried, so hard I was hiccupping. Trying to catch my breath, I felt a tickle on my foot. Glancing down, my brother’s hamster, aptly named Ham, was sniffing at my feet. Brown and white, little Ham looked up at me as if he somehow understood how upset I was. I sniffled, dragging my sleeve across my face, and managed to smile at Ham. Leaning over, I stroked my fingertips across his back. He sniffed my hand and then scurried away.
I watched as he climbed up a step stool that Levi left there for him to scurry across the windowsill into a little pillow bed. Only my brother, my hotshot firefighter, badass brother, would have a hamster he let run loose in the house and treated like a king.
My tears subsided. I didn’t like thinking about all the reasons why I was back in Willow Brook. I took a sip of my coffee and wondered what my next steps were. Because I’d come here in a huff and had no plan. For a huff, I sure had to drive a long damned way to get here.
I’d left Willow Brook straight out of high school. I wanted to see the bigger world. I had landed in San Francisco. I loved many aspects of San Francisco—the hum and busyness of the big city, the eclectic mix of people, the quaint buildings, and the art, so much art. I’d finished college and started working at a studio, falling in love with making pottery. There were some things I hadn’t loved so much though. For example, apparently lots of people were gluten sensitive and most of them were vegan. I loved bread and I ate meat, and I didn’t intend to change that anytime soon.
I never quite felt like I fit in. I was perhaps too rough around the edges, definitely not glamorous enough. While I wasn’t a full on tomboy, I definitely bordered on it. I preferred to wear jeans and boots and T-shirts while I worked, dressing up only when necessary. Cowboy boots were practically uniform for me.
I’d also missed Alaska. Once the novelty of seeing the wider world had worn off, there was always a little ache in my heart—longing for the midnight sun of summer days, the crisp snowy nights, and the sense of feeling like I belonged no matter who I was.
That was a funny quality here. Alaska was so filled with transplants that you could find every kind of person. There were plenty of gluten-free vegans, but they rubbed shoulders with the fishermen and hunters and then some. There was a high tolerance for to each their own here.
And, oh my God, I’d missed the view. Just now, looking out over the field outside the kitchen window, that tight ball of tension and hurt eased. Oddly, I was more hurt by Lisa’s actions than Glen’s. While she’d sort of been my boss, until the other day, I’d have considered her a friend.
That was like a rule, right? You didn’t fuck your friend’s fiancé.
Copyright © 2018 J.H. Croix; All rights reserved.
Coming soon!
Play With Fire
If you love steamy, small town romance, take a visit to Diamond Creek, Alaska in my Last Frontier Lodge Series. A sexy, alpha SEAL meets his match with a brainy heroine in Take Me Home. Don’t miss Gage & Marley’s story!
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Into The Fire Series
Burn For Me
Slow Burn
Burn So Bad
Hot Mess
Burn So Good
Sweet Fire
Brit Boys Sports Romance
The Play
Big Win
Out Of Bounds
Play Me
Naughty Wish
Diamond Creek Alaska Novels
When Love Comes
Follow Love
Love Unbroken
Love Untamed
Tumble Into Love
Christmas Nights
Last Frontier Lodge Novels
Take Me Home
Love at Last
Just This Once
Falling Fast
Stay With Me
When We Fall
Hold Me Close
Crazy For You
Catamount Lion Shifters
Protected Mate
Chosen Mate
Fated Mate
Destined Mate
A Catamount Christmas
Ghost Cat Shifters
The Lion Within
Lion Lost & Found
Acknowledgments
This story goes out to my late editor, Laura Kingsley. Her sharp comments on story, character development, and more helped me learn so much over the last few years. She handed this one back to me the same week I learned she passed away unexpectedly. My heart goes out to her family.
Even though her part was done, and this story was on the way to the proofreader, I fretted. She tore my work apart time and again and became a friend in the process. As is so often the case, we don’t realize how much we rely on someone until they aren’t there. She’s not here to read this, and I don’t quite know how to show my gratitude. These two words will have to do: thank you.
My proofreader angels catch anything that gets by - Janine, Beth P., Terri D., Terri E., Heather H., & Carolyne B. - a bow of thanks. Yoly Cortez spun magic with this cover once again.
My husband makes sure I laugh. Or rather, I should say he makes it impossible not to laugh. My dogs - always there in heart and soul.
xoxo
J.H. Croix
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author J. H. Croix lives in a small town in the historical farmlands of Maine with her husband and two spoiled dogs. Croix writes steamy contemporary romance with sassy independent women and rugged alpha men who aren't afraid to show some emotion. Her love for quirky small-towns and the characters that inhabit them shines through in her writing. Take a walk on the wild side of romance with her bestselling novels!
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