A Word with the Bachelor

by Teresa Southwick

  “It’s all right” was all he could think of to say.

  “Good. Because there will be an offer coming. We’ll contact your agent and he’ll be in touch.”

  “You’re serious about this? You really want to buy them?” That sounded an awful lot like “you really like me?” But he couldn’t hold back the question.

  “This is a new career direction. Just in case you decide to kill off Mac Daniels,” she said. “A lot of well-known authors are branching into children’s and young adult genres. I just never thought you would be one of them.”

  “Should I be insulted?” he asked.

  “I can’t stop you and it’s not what I meant.” She laughed. “It was a compliment. But, fair warning, we’re going to want you to do some media.”

  Before he’d met Erin, he would have shut down the idea. But he’d done the interview for the Blackwater Lake newspaper and lived to talk about it. Logan had told him the issue with the article about their local author had set a record for newspaper sales. And he never would have agreed if Erin hadn’t talked him into it. Since she showed up at his door life had done a one-eighty on him and nothing bad happened. If he didn’t count her leaving.

  “I’ll do media,” he said.

  “Wow.” There was stunned silence for a moment. “That’s it. Just wow.”

  “Was that sarcastic?” he asked.

  “Maybe a little.” Again there was a pause before she said, “About the other book. The sequel to High Value Target...”

  “It’s finished.”

  “Great. I can’t wait to read it,” she said.

  “About that—”

  “Jack, you have to let it go sometime. No one likes a clean, problem-free manuscript more than me, but I really need to see this book.”

  “Look—” He leaned back and stared at the empty chair in front of his desk, the one where Erin always sat. If she could hear what he was about to say there would be no living with her. Actually there was no living with her now. Self-righteous indignation completely deserted him and the dam on his pain crumbled, letting it all rush in. “The book needs a little tweaking. Not the story. It’s fine. Just something isn’t right.”

  “I don’t know, Jack—”

  “I know it’s a lot to ask and I don’t deserve it, but can you give me a couple of weeks for a small revision? I’ll send you a detailed outline.”

  There was a long, tense silence before Cheryl sighed. “Okay. You’ve got two weeks. Max.”

  “Thanks. You’re the best.”

  “Yes, I am. After all, I sent you Erin.”

  “You did.”

  That was a blessing and a curse. Living the blessing was the best time he’d ever had. The curse part he could do without and had no one but himself to blame.

  “She really brought out your creativity, Jack. At the risk of patting myself on the back, I have to say that she’s good for you.”

  If ripping a guy’s heart out was the goal, then yeah, she was good for him. But that was information better kept to himself, so he did.

  “So what did you do to her?”

  The question came out of left field and caught him off guard. Somewhere this professional conversation had taken a personal turn. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

  “I don’t think that’s true. But you’re a man so I’ll explain. Erin is different since she spent time with you. I sent you an outgoing, cheerful young woman to help with your manuscript and she came back distant and, there’s no other way to say it...she’s sad.”

  Jack drew in a breath. He was a writer. Words were his weapon of choice. But he couldn’t think of anything bad enough to call himself for what he’d done. And apparently she hadn’t told Cheryl about being fired or his editor would have mentioned it.

  “Jack? You didn’t hang up on me, did you?”

  “Still here,” he answered.

  “I’ll say it straight out. I’d like to know what happened because you broke my book coach.”

  From his point of view she’d broken him. When Erin arrived he’d been a fat, dumb and happy loner. Now he was talking to his dog about plot twists. But this woman deserved something. “What happened is that she brought out more than just my creativity.”

  “You fell in love with her.” Cheryl wasn’t asking a question.

  And he wasn’t going to tell her she was right. His editor shouldn’t be the first one to hear the truth.

  “I’m sorry for the delay on this book. I apologize for any inconvenience to you and the publisher. It will never happen again. You’ll have it in two weeks. I give you my word on that.”

  “Okay, Jack.”

  After saying goodbye he hung up. There was a manuscript to deal with, then the real work would start.

  He’d made Erin cry and somehow he had to fix that.

  * * *

  Erin sat behind the desk in front of the classroom and monitored the seniors who were taking a pop quiz. They didn’t know it wouldn’t count toward their grade and was basically busywork. In about fifteen minutes the final bell of the day would ring and she could go home and curl into a protective ball. It had been her go-to coping mechanism since Jack threw her out a month ago.

  How long would she feel so empty inside? she wondered, because this funk showed no sign of letting up anytime soon.

  The flip side of the final bell was that she’d have to assume her coping mechanism in her lonely apartment. Maybe she should stop at the dog-rescue shelter again and get a pet for companionship. She’d really become attached to Harley. And Jack... Her eyes filled at the thought of him but crying in front of a room full of teenagers wasn’t an option. Darn it, why did she have to go and fall in love with him?

  She looked at the clock again. “Okay, class. Time is up.”

  There was a collective groan and automatic protests of not being finished with the test they’d griped about taking in the first place.

  “Mrs. Castillo warned you she would do this and instructed me to be firm.” She stood. “Please pass your papers forward.”

  The sound of paper shuffling filled the room and her back was turned, which was why she didn’t hear the door opening or see who walked in.

  “Who’s the dude with the weird-looking dog?” one of the students asked.

  Erin whirled around and saw Jack just inside the door with Harley in his arms. After one bark, the little guy wiggled until Jack set him down. His paws had barely hit the ground before he ran to her.

  She dropped to one knee and took his noble little face in her hands, scratching him under his chin. “Hi, Harley. You’re such a handsome dog. I’ve missed you.”

  “Miss Riley? Should we notify the office?” one of the guys asked.

  “It’s okay,” Jack said. “I stopped to see the principal and for probably the first time I wasn’t even in trouble.”

  The kids laughed at his joke and it would have been funny to her under different circumstances.

  “I know him,” Erin said. “This is Jack Garner, the author of the runaway bestselling book High Value Target.”

  “Why did Mr. Pascale let you in with the dog?” a girl asked.

  “I vouched for him,” Jack explained. “I have permission just this once. And if anyone asks, he’s a service dog.”

  “I know him, too,” Erin said. “His name is Harley.”

  “My dad read your book.” The girl in the first desk couldn’t take her eyes off the author.

  Erin knew
the feeling, but she was in charge here and it was time to take control of the class, at least, even if she was having trouble managing her feelings. She couldn’t look at Jack hard enough and her heart was racing, trying to outrun the pain of seeing him again.

  She ignored both and took the quiz papers that were passed to her, noting that the bell would ring in a few minutes. She’d make her escape then. “Never miss a teachable moment. Jack, why don’t you tell the kids about yourself.”

  “Just the high points? Maybe five minutes?”

  “Yes.” That was the advice she’d given him when he’d shown up at Kim Miller’s classroom in Blackwater Lake without notes for his talk. He’d remembered and she found that oddly endearing. Foolish, but true.

  So, Jack told his personal story again and, like the last time, didn’t gloss over the fact that he’d chosen the army over juvenile detention and liked the life so much he joined the rangers. But for every up there was a down. He lost brothers in arms that he cared deeply about and it left a mark. Writing helped him deal with those scars and he got lucky.

  Then he asked if anyone had a question and most of the hands in the room shot up. He pointed to a kid sitting in the middle row.

  “What’s your name?” Jack asked.

  “Cameron. How do you know Miss Riley?”

  Jack met her gaze. “I was having trouble with my second book. My editor sent her to me to move things along. I’d never collaborated before and it didn’t go well at first.”

  Because he was a loner, she thought. She wasn’t sure what he was doing here, but there was no reason to think he’d changed. She watched him answer the kids’ questions in a straightforward, humorous way and he had them firmly under his spell. So what else was new?

  She recalled the moments before his first time in front of a high school class, when he’d said it was too late for a personality transplant and no one had ever accused him of being charming or approachable. Apparently he was capable of learning because he was both of those things now.

  Good God, would the darn bell ever ring?

  A girl in front of him asked, “You said you live in Montana. Why did you come all this way to see Miss Riley?”

  He looked over at her, but before he could answer the question, the darn bell finally rang. She really wanted to know why he’d come, but this group didn’t need to hear the free-at-last signal twice. They grabbed their things and headed for the door.

  Jack called after them, “Thanks for not throwing spitballs at me.”

  And suddenly it was quiet. She was alone with Jack.

  Erin moved to the desk and retrieved her purse from the bottom drawer. “That’s my cue. I’ll just be going—”

  “Please wait.”

  She looked down for a moment, then slid her hands into the pockets of her black slacks. With a deep breath she forced herself to meet his gaze. “I don’t think we have anything to say to each other. You made yourself clear the last time I saw you.”

  “You’re not at all curious about why I’m here?”

  She was trying not to be and failing miserably. “Okay. Yes. Why are you here?”

  He watched his dog wander the classroom, exploring and stopping occasionally to sniff something that caught his attention. “I know you sent the Harley books to Cheryl.”

  “So you came all this way to yell at me for violating your privacy? News flash, Jack, you can only fire me once. After that, technically I don’t work for you anymore and it’s—”

  He moved closer and touched a finger to her lips, stopping the flow of words. “She loved the stories.”

  “What?”

  “Cheryl passed them on to the editor in charge of children’s books and they bought them. Everyone at the house loves the idea of an ongoing series.”

  “Congratulations.” Oh, she wanted to rub that in, but taking the high road seemed... The hell with the high road. She’d already been fired. There was nothing left to lose. “I told you so.”

  “What?”

  “I knew they were good but you wouldn’t listen.”

  He nodded. “I was an ungrateful jerk.”

  “Yes, you were.” There. She’d said it and waited to feel some satisfaction. Unfortunately, there was nothing.

  “I came here to explain why I reacted so badly.”

  “It’s not necessary. I get it. You felt vulnerable revealing so much of yourself.”

  “It’s more than that.” The easy charm he showed the kids was gone, replaced by a tightly coiled intensity. The warrior. He was fighting for something. “I believed when you saw the real me you’d be disappointed and—”

  “Leave?”

  “Yeah.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Sending you away first was my way to control the situation. It was knee-jerk.”

  Gosh darn it, she understood and didn’t want to. She was trying to stay mad at him because it was the only protection she had.

  “You really didn’t have to come, Jack.”

  “Yeah, I did. Cheryl said I broke her book coach.”

  “What?” Erin never mentioned what had happened between her and Jack. How could the editor have known?

  “She said you were different. Sad.” He looked troubled for a moment, then went on. “Delanie said you stopped by on the way out of town and you were crying.”

  “She was wrong.” Talk about knee-jerk. “Bar None is dark. I had something in my eye.”

  “Liar.”

  She had seen many expressions cross his face. Anger. Irritation. Passion. Intensity. Tenderness and toughness. But there was a look now that was different from anything else. It had all the signs of self-recrimination. “Okay. I may have shed a tear. But it had nothing to do with you.” Now that was a lie. “I’ve never been fired before. It was a shock.”

  “I’m sorry I made you cry, Erin. It was definitely not my finest hour.”

  “Understood. But it wasn’t necessary to come all this way to apologize. Although I appreciate it and accept your apology. Now I really need to go.” She started to reach for her purse again. “We’re done.”

  “I’m not.”

  “What else could there possibly be?” She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep it together and wished he would leave.

  “You never asked about the sequel to High Value Target.” He held up his hand to stop her when she started to say something. “I thought you should know that I figured out what was missing from the book. And from my life.”

  “What?” She held her breath as hope twisted free inside her.

  “The answer to both is you. I love you, Erin.”

  She had an imagination and knew how to use it. She’d pictured a scenario where Jack would say those words to her. Never once had she seen herself bursting into tears, but that’s what happened. The feelings came spilling out and she covered her face with her hands.

  Instantly, strong arms pulled her in close to his body. “Please don’t cry. I can’t stand it.”

  She laughed, but it came out more a snort. “You? Big, bad Special Forces ranger?”

  “It’s our secret. I’d rather face incoming fire than see you cry.” He cupped her cheek in his palm and lifted her gaze to his. “I love you. I came to get you and bring you home to Blackwater Lake. I’m asking you to marry me. If you meant what you said. That you love me.”

  She sniffled, then pulled away just far enough to look into his eyes. “Yes.”

  He waited, looking increasingly frustrated. Finally he sai
d, “That’s all you’ve got? I expected more.”

  “Show, don’t tell.” She shrugged, then stood on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his. She poured all the pain of rejection and now unexpected joy into the kiss. Both of them had trouble catching their breath when they reluctantly pulled apart.

  “Sometimes a guy needs more than a word. Does that mean you’ll marry me?”

  “I love you, Jack. No one warned me you would be so much trouble, but I fell in love with you the moment we met.”

  “Love at first sight?”

  “Laugh if you want, but it’s true.”

  “I’m not laughing. Thanks to you my career in action-adventure is on target and I’m doing a series of children’s books.” He lifted one shoulder. “Even I couldn’t have made this up. So, who knows? Maybe together we’ll break into the romance genre.”

  “The best part is we’ll live it. Nothing would make me happier than marrying you. And I love Blackwater Lake, too. Just try and keep me away.” She smiled up at him. “Is that enough words for you?”

  “For now. But there’s a lot to be said for ‘show, don’t tell.’”

  And he proceeded to kiss her again. Being in his arms was like coming home. Life was funny and wonderful. She’d taken a job looking for adventure and found the most exciting one of all. Love.

  A word with the bachelor had turned into her happily-ever-after.

  * * * * *

  Can’t get enough of THE BACHELORS OF BLACKWATER LAKE? Don’t miss Teresa Southwick’s previous books in this heartwarming miniseries:

  HOW TO LAND HER LAWMAN

  THE WIDOW’S BACHELOR BARGAIN

  A DECENT PROPASAL

  THE RANCHER WHO TOOK HER IN

  Keep reading for an excerpt from ALWAYS A COWBOY by Linda Lael Miller.

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