Over Easy: (Santa Lena Sizzles, #1)

by Jessa York

  “Well, I’m starving. Maybe Aunt Debbie can bring over some surgical masks from the hospital, so you can sit at the table with the rest of us,” I teased her. She pushed me lightly from behind, and we both giggled. “You call me when you’re feeling sick. I don’t want to miss out on anything else.”

  “You want me to call you from my bathroom? That’s gross, Harper.” She scowled at me.

  “So call me right before or right after or even if you just feel like crap.” I tried to comfort her and offer my support.

  “So basically, we’ll be on one long conference call,” she said sarcastically. But I couldn’t blame her. She must have been feeling like supreme crap because Charlie was anything but a whiner.

  “Sure, honey. Sounds good to me,” I said and wrapped my arm around her.

  15

  Harper

  The days passed, but the adage “time heals” didn’t seem to apply. An unfamiliar heaviness surrounded me that I hadn’t even encountered after my divorce. How that was possible seemed ridiculous. I mean, why would losing a non-relationship that lasted only hours hurt so bad? Stupid. But true nonetheless.

  Hope. The loss of hope was the likely culprit. A beaming ray in the darkness, a yearning for not ordinary, not boring. Something wonderful. A wish you didn’t know existed.

  The shitty thing was now I knew what I was missing. I dared to believe that something like that—no, someone like that was within my reach. Stupid girl. There was no Mr. Wonderful out there for me, and I wasn’t going to settle for an asswipe like Gabe again. That left me alone.

  As I drove to work, the shining sun seemed incongruous with the constant ache in my heart. I parked and gathered my work stuff.

  Jack

  At what point was it considered stalking? I’d asked myself that many times the past couple of weeks. My body craved her, my mind called out to her, but I knew it was better if I stayed away. Life was complicated, but my life was a series of unfortunate events. She deserved better than me and the baggage I came with.

  But that still didn’t keep me from following her on occasion. I drove past her work or apartment in the hopes of catching a glimpse of her to satisfy my brain and ease my guilt. Maybe she’d met someone else already. Someone good enough.

  That thought ate away at my gut, and I rubbed my hands on my face to try to forget. I also needed to know if that dickwad contacted her again. But of course, picking up the phone and asking her would be too easy. No, I had to stake out her work and home to make sure she was safe.

  Everything seemed fine. She came and went with nothing unusual happening. I’d inquired a few times about her to Vivienne, only to get shot down. Diplomatically, of course. “Jack, she’s fine. But this is between you two. If you have a question, I’d rather you ask her.” In other words, she preferred it if I’d man up and grow some balls. Well, she’d be waiting a long time for that.

  I took a deep breath in as I watched Harper’s car arrive for work. Same time, almost to the minute, every day. Out she got, juggling a bunch of work shit and bags, and closed the door with her foot. Her hair shimmered like gold in the sunlight. My hand itched to touch its silkiness.

  Fuck. I needed to stop this. She was fine. This irrational fear I carried that someone or something was going to hurt her was contrived. My hands gripped the steering wheel even harder. It was time to let go of this situation. But just as I started the ignition, I witnessed a man approaching Harper. Hmm. Probably just an early customer, overeager to start the day.

  She seemed to know him, so I lowered my hackles and reached down to put my SUV in gear. I drove my black Land Rover, so Harper wouldn’t recognize the vehicle. Just as I hit the brake, Harper’s papers and bags flew all over. There was a substantial breeze today, so the mess quickly spread. What was it with this woman and spilled papers?

  Oh, I did not fucking think so. My heart beat out of my chest at what I saw. The man grabbed Harper’s arm and forcefully pulled her across the lot. She grappled with him but was no match for his strength. Before I knew what I was doing, I peeled out of my seat, my brain exploding in fury.

  Harper managed a futile cuff to his head, but it did nothing except fuel his rage. He screamed at her before backhanding my woman across the face. The force from the blow knocked her to the ground.

  As soon as I ran up to them, I recognized the bastard as her good-for-nothing ex-husband. My blood boiled at the sight of him, and then I punched the creep in the face. That sent him reeling back like a windmill. It would have been comical if it weren’t so sad to watch. The look on his face was one of complete and utter shock as he collapsed on the hard pavement. He tried to climb back up, but I delivered a well-placed kick to his flank and he hurtled back down. Clutching his side, he choked and struggled for breath. But I wasn’t done with the asshole. Not by a long shot.

  “You like attacking defenseless women, you little dick?” I blasted at him. My fist opened and closed, ready to deliver another jab.

  “She’s a fucking whore.”

  Red flashed in front of my eyes and anger shot through me. Nobody called Harper a whore. Especially not this asshole. The sound his head made as it smacked against the pavement ignited my fury. Somehow, I managed to straddle him, and my temper flared. Hit after hit, he came back for more. My ego craved the satisfaction of pounding the shit out of him, vengeance my only goal.

  Sounds of pleading rang in my ears, but his grunts gave me a rush of adrenaline, and I continued battering the little fuck. “Buddy, hey, Jack, enough. Stop it.” I heard as someone cranked my arms together behind my back. Blinded with rage, I challenged my captor and attempted to break free. “Jack, for fuck’s sake, stop. He’s down.” I found my feet and stopped. Harper was crying, and witnessing that killed me. The asshole on the ground held his jaw and his ribs. Yeah, your pretty face wasn’t so pretty anymore, was it? He turned his head, agitated, and bolted.

  My instincts kicked in, and I was ready to chase the idiot down again as he scampered away, sliding on the gravel, but Dean caught me. “Let him go. You did enough damage, trust me. Are you okay?” That question was so bizarre, I burst out laughing. Was I okay? I wasn’t the one who just got the shit kicked out of him.

  “Uh, yeah, Dean,” I said and shook off his hands. He reluctantly let me go. I advanced on Harper like an out of control speeding train and scooped her up.

  “Fuck, are you all right? Did he hurt you?” Her sweet body melted into mine, and her hands clutched my shoulders until her nails dug in. She shook her head and continued to sob into my chest. Jesus, I forgot how much I loved feeling her against me like this.

  “How…how…how did you know he was here?” she said, and her tear-stained eyes made me feel like dirt. The sight of the red mark on her cheek shot me through the gut. This was my fault. If I hadn’t dumped her, I would have been here to protect her sooner.

  I lied, “I was in the parking lot when I saw him grab you. Good timing, I guess.” She nodded her head and sighed. “Has he been contacting you since we…since that first time in my office?” Her head again responded with a “yes”. Shit. The little prick had been terrifying her all these weeks, and I was off licking my wounds like some fucking coward. Well, that ended now.

  “He’s been texting, calling, and showing up in odd places.” She frowned. “Sometimes he’s mean. Sometimes he wants to get back together,” she said and rolled her eyes back in her head. “Which is so insane. He can’t think I would actually go back to him, can he?” The look on her face broke my heart into a thousand pieces, and all I wanted in life was for her to glue them back. But this time, they needed to be put together correctly. Years ago, my heart was ripped to shreds, and until this very moment I hadn’t realized it never healed.

  In order for something to completely mend, it needed to completely break. And my heart was shattered. All these years I’d been protecting a fragmented soul. For what? Was I any happier? But this woman, she knew pain and disappointment. She understood how life handed you sh
it on a platter and you just had to fucking deal with it.

  I looked into her eyes and pushed her hair back with my hands. “Have you reported him to the police?” Her eyes darted to the side, and I had her answer. “We have to go. Now.” My eyes pleaded with her. “Honey, you can’t let this slide. It sucks, but you have to let the authorities know.”

  Harper’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Yeah, I know. I’ll just clean up this disaster and get to work. I can go to the police station tonight.” Like hell she would.

  “Dean, can you guys clean this up? I’m taking Harper to the precinct.”

  16

  Harper

  Dean waved us off and told me to take as much time as I needed, but he didn’t want to see “my ass” back at work today. I protested as best as I could, but Dean wasn’t giving in.

  And needless to say, Jack was equally as pissed off and told me in no uncertain terms that he was taking me down to the police station to report the spineless dick.

  He made true on his promise and we were now sitting at the police station, waiting to speak to someone. Good fucking grief. I had other, way better things to be doing today, other than sitting in this scary place. The bright lights and constant noise in here pierced my already throbbing brain and my cheek still burned from where Gabe hit me. Hit me. I still couldn’t believe he’d done that. The smells wafting around were less than pleasant. What did criminals have against good hygiene?

  Jack went to get us coffee while we waited, and I had to admit that I watched his very tight ass in his very expensive light gray suit as he walked away. Even under these circumstances, a girl had to do what a girl had to do. We hardly spoke in the SUV on the way over here, so I still had no idea why he was in the parking lot. Not to mention why he beat my ex-husband to a pulp.

  He returned with ice for my face and coffee that tasted like mud. Well, that would be generous. I was sure boiled mud tasted better than the slop I just drank. He stayed by my side the entire time, holding my hand and keeping his arm around me until our turn popped up.

  A balding, middle-aged officer with a large belly called us and herded us back into one of the rooms. The walls were white and had seen better days. Paint was peeling here and there, and some of the floor tiles were missing. One scruffy table sat in the middle with four equally well-worn chairs surrounding it. It smelled like antiseptic, and I wondered who was in here before us and for what. I set my ice down onto the table before he started talking.

  “Hi, folks. I’m Officer Davis Miller. What seems to be the problem?” He sat down first, placing his hands on his large gut.

  Jack held a chair out for me, and I spoke up and informed Officer Miller of what had been happening with Gabe the dick, and even plucked my phone out and showed him the texts. He didn’t react, just sat there and stared at us like we were nuts. After Jack added his two cents, we sat again in uncomfortable silence.

  “There’s nothing we can do here today. The man hasn’t threatened you, and there’s been no crime committed. Unless you have something more, we are finished here,” Officer Miller said and got up, huffing with effort.

  Jack tried to reason with him, but Officer Asshole was done with us. We slogged out of there, feeling more than a bit dejected and defeated.

  “That is fucking bullshit,” Jack said as we got outside into the fresh air. I took a deep, cleansing breath and tried to get the smell of that place out of my lungs. “I’ll talk to some people tomorrow, see if there’s something we can do.”

  He opened his SUV’s door for me and helped me in. Once he was in, he turned to me. “What do you want to do? Should we go back to your place? My place?” I glared at him like he had two heads. Did he want to pretend he didn’t dump me? Should we erase the last two weeks I spent in hell because of him?

  “Uh, if you can drop me off at my apartment, that would be nice. Thanks. I’ll go back and pick up my car from work later.” I stared out the window and heard him exhale loudly.

  “I just need to make a quick stop first.”

  Fine, bossy pants. What did I care if it took me a few extra minutes to get home? Not that I wasn’t on the verge of losing it completely, but the unavoidable temper tantrum I was going to have could wait.

  My finger drew an invisible heart on the window. It’s suiting, I thought, seeing as though my real one was also invisible. My ex never saw my heart or cared how he treated it—only what he could get out of me. Jack didn’t stick around long enough to find out.

  We weaved in and out of traffic so methodically it felt like I was being rocked to sleep. I couldn’t stand it anymore and I let my eyes close. Dreamland seemed preferable to the real world at the moment.

  It couldn’t have been longer than a few minutes when the SUV came to a jarring stop. My arms splayed outward onto the seat before my eyes opened. I was positive we’d hit something. “Oh God,” I breathed heavily, trying to restart my heart. I clutched my chest and bowed my head.

  “Shit, honey. I didn’t think I stopped that short. I’m sorry.” Jack put his hand on my leg, and I frowned but shook it off. I was done reading into anything he did.

  “It’s fine. It just startled me, that’s all.” I glanced out the window and saw the huge Pat’s Grocery Store that was right by my apartment building. He couldn’t have taken me home before getting his groceries?

  “Do you want to come in with me or stay in the SUV?”

  My desire-to-respond ratio was approximately zero on a scale of zero to a hundred. So, I practiced my adult prerogative and stayed silent. Instead, I watched the busy shoppers bustle around the parking lot with carts and bags and kids.

  Jack allowed this for about a minute before saying more crossly, “What do you want to do?” Did he just raise his voice at me? This man was confusing as shit and I’d had about enough from him.

  I gave him my best don’t mess with me face. “Well, Jack, I have no fucking clue what I want to do. Other than get in a time machine, go back four years, and throat punch my much younger self. Anything else seems rather pointless right now.” I sighed and went back to peering out the window.

  He grumbled something to himself and slammed the door. Good riddance, jerk. Part of me was sad that he left, but a bigger part was relieved. With him gone, I lay back and closed my eyes again. Maybe I could fall back to sleep and forget this day ever happened.

  Suddenly, my door opened and a rather pissed off, tall, hunk of a man stuck his long arm around me and undid my seat belt. “What the hell’s going on?” I snapped at him and pushed his muscular arm away from me.

  “We’re going shopping,” Jack said and proceeded to lift me out of the SUV. He did not just do that.

  “Are you out of your mind?” I asked him and gave him my best death stare. Incidentally, it didn’t work.

  “Apparently,” was all he mumbled before he grasped my hand and dragged me into the store.

  Jack

  Fuck, this woman was trying my last nerve. The attitude she was showing me should have been a turn-off, but instead, it was making me hard. But then again, there wasn’t much Harper did that didn’t turn me on.

  I yanked a cart out of the stand and stormed right to the produce section. The cart had a wobbly wheel and it was a bitch to steer. My temper was getting the best of me and I needed to slow down so Harper could catch up. That wasn’t fair, I knew. She wasn’t out of line to give me shit. I deserved that and more. But that didn’t mean I was happy about it.

  “Do you like peppers?” I picked up a bag of three stoplight peppers and examined them for bruising. Hmm, not bad for a discount grocer. Not great, either. But not as bad as I’d imagined.

  “I told you I didn’t care about anything. Did you hear me?” She raised her voice and people were beginning to stare. “Buy the peppers. Don’t buy the peppers. The suspense is killing me.” What she did next surprised me and a few dozen of the shoppers. She grabbed the peppers out of my hand and threw them across the produce section.

  Perhaps I should
have let her sleep in the SUV. The women gasped, and a few men chuckled. One older woman walked past and said with a nod, “You tell him, sweetheart.” Oh, fuck me.

  “Jack?” My stomach churned at the sound of that nasally voice. Do not tell me today of all days I had to bump into her. After I picked up what was left of my patience, I spotted the one person I wanted to see the least in the world.

  Harper

  Jack’s entire body froze when the gorgeous brunette with the perfectly straightened hair said, “Jack?”

  He twisted to me and said a stern, “Stay here. Do not fucking move.” Then he stomped off toward the beauty queen. I thought about taking off—my apartment was only a five minute walk from here. But my legs were still shaky. The last thing I wanted to do was walk all the way home in heels.

  The beauty queen had a bouquet of roses in her hands and I giggled at my reference. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but from their exaggerated body language, I ventured to guess they were pissed right the hell off with each other. Well, how nice. The shoppers tried to avoid them, and I was so uncomfortable heat crept into my cheeks and I wanted to disappear.

  After what seemed like forever, Beauty Queen threw the flowers at Jack, swivelled, and stomped out on her pricey heels. Jack chucked the flowers onto the apple display and lumbered back to me. I put my hand on my hip and gave him the evil eye. No way was I going to speak first and make this easy for him to get out of.

  Finally, he spoke, “Look, she’s someone I knew a long time ago. We were together for a while. Then we weren’t.” That was his explanation? Stellar job.

  I put my hands onto the shopping cart and said, “Let me guess.” I tilted my head and put my finger on my lips. “You made her pretty pink drinks, got into her pants, and didn’t call her back?” His jaw dropped. So did the young mother’s beside me. She huffed and darted away with her two kids in tow.