by Roxie Ray
Turning to my left, my elbow nearly slid off the podium when I realized Jace was standing inside the door. I hadn’t even heard it open.
“What are you doing here?” I asked in shock. I didn’t even realize he knew where I worked. But then again, small town, I was sure it wouldn’t have taken him long to figure it out.
He smiled at me and my heart skipped a beat. He smiled wider as if he could hear it. I tried to warn myself not to react to his smile, but damn, that was impossible when he looked so sincere.
“Jace?” I asked. He hadn’t answered why he was here.
His grin widening, he stepped closer, about halfway across the front of the classroom, and pulled a bag from behind his back. About the time he did, the smell hit me. My mouth watered from the delicious scent. I hadn’t realized how hungry I’d gotten, but the aroma alone told me what was in the bag. There was a small sub shop in town that did an amazing steak sandwich, and I’d been obsessed with it from the moment I’d tried it.
I narrowed my eyes on Jace. “How’d you know?”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “I have my sources.”
When I narrowed them further and put my hands on my hips, he laughed. “I might’ve asked Skye.” He inched forward, holding out the bag.
I bit back my smile. “Well, thank you. That’s sweet.” Maybe a teensy bit intrusive? But it was just my favorite sandwich. Not too terribly personal.
“I wouldn’t have had to ask your friend if you’d give me a chance to get to know you. How about dinner Friday night?”
“Smooth,” one of my cheekier students said.
I shot the class a glare. “You lot can hush.”
They erupted in giggles and laughter. I stepped forward. “I feel a little ambushed,” I said under the cover of the kids’ noise.
His eyes widened in panic. “Oh, no, that wasn’t my intent. This was supposed to be romantic and sweet.”
I burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, I had to give you a hard time. I’d enjoy going out to dinner.”
Holy shit. I didn’t know what might come of it, but I’d just agreed to a date. In my world, that was a monumental occasion.
His face went back to grinning from ear to ear, his smile almost blinding.
Damn, it was hard not to swoon a bit, though I’d never in a million years admit it to him.
“I’ll text you for an address,” he said. He leaned forward and put the sandwich on my podium, then waved at the class. “Have a good day, kids. Don’t give her too much trouble.”
The boys gave him macho little head nods, but the girls giggled and waved. And I was saved by the bell. The class filed out to go to lunch, and I dug into mine.
It was divine.
I couldn’t shake him for the rest of the day, especially when halfway through my sandwich, I got a call from the elementary school office asking if it was okay to give Hayden the lunch that was dropped off for her.
That sweet man. He hadn’t just brought me lunch. He’d brought some for my daughter.
When the day finally ended, I went down to the elementary school—all in the same building. The middle school was on the other side—and got Hayden from her classroom.
On the way home, Hayden chattered on about her day, telling me about something she and Tori did. I kind of tuned her out until she said everyone was so jealous of the surprise lunch she got from the office. “Did you get it for me, Mommy?”
I eyed her in the rearview mirror. “No, a friend of mine dropped off a sandwich for me. What did you get?”
“Ham and swiss. Like you usually get me at the deli.” She beamed at me in the mirror.
My chest pulsated with how happy Hayden was to have gotten the surprise treat.
“I should write a thank you note. Can you make sure your friend gets it?” she asked.
I beamed at my sweet girl, so glad she wanted to write the note. “I absolutely will.”
After dinner, Hayden played dolls in her room while I tucked myself into my bed at my parents’ house and video chatted with Kaylee and Skye.
“I’m feeling feelings and I don’t know how to deal with that.” I looked at them pitifully, and they both laughed in sympathy.
“What’s wrong?” Skye asked.
I sighed. “Jace.” I explained what he’d done.
Skye and Kaylee had both been very anti-Jace in the past. They kept telling me what a player he’d always been. I knew they just didn’t want me to get hurt. “Something seems different with him,” I said. “He’s not just flirting with me. It’s like he’s… wooing me.”
Kaylee rolled her eyes, but Skye had a bit of a change of heart. “I think people can change,” she said uncertainly. “Especially if the right person comes along and rocks their world.”
Kaylee’s disgusted face made me laugh. “Don’t try to play the player,” she said. “I know one when I see one. And you’re not the person for a player. You’re a settle-down-and-have-babies sort of person.”
“Yeah, but who’s to say Jace isn’t as well if he found the right person to settle down with? You should be open-minded. Don’t count him out just yet. You never know what you could learn about a person, but remember, they’re still a person.”
I stared at her image on the screen in confusion, but Kaylee interrupted to fill us in on her latest boyfriend drama and I forgot to ask Skye to clarify.
Early the next morning, I got a text. Good morning, beautiful.
Son of a bitch. I was sure it was Damon, but he’d been scarily absent since being locked up again. He was either moving on or plotting something heinous. But then a follow-up text came through. This is Jace, by the way.
I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. I replied to him and that began a text conversation that went on all day. I was like a teenager all over again, getting little butterflies every time a text came through.
This thing with Jace was new and different and so much better than it had ever been with Damon.
I didn’t want to put too much thought into it or create too much pressure on myself, but if nothing else, I was enjoying myself.
That night, he texted and asked for my address. I gave it to him, and he confirmed that seven would be good for the following evening.
Then it hit me that I really had a date. Terror rushed through my veins.
What the hell was I supposed to do on a date?
Friday at work was torture. Not only because I was nervous, but because the kids all knew I had a date, and they didn’t let me forget it for a freaking moment.
But I hadn’t dated since I was a teenager. Not one time had I accepted a date since the divorce. I wasn’t totally sure why I’d accepted one this time either, except that Jace made me feel things for some reason.
All up in my feels.
I’d gone over the clothes in my closet at home a million times, texted my parents to make sure they were okay with Hayden hanging out. She was almost seven years old and spent more time playing with her toys. It wasn’t like she was a huge inconvenience. But I didn’t want to keep them from doing things they wanted to, either.
They were fine with it, and I had a bad feeling they were going to give me a hard time.
When I was finally able to dismiss the kids and wish them a happy spring break, most of them shot back with some sort of good wishes about my date. “Yeah, yeah, get out of here.”
Hurrying, I gathered my materials to get ahead on lesson plans over the break and hit the road. I’d prepped all day to have my things ready to go so I could slip down and get Hayden and get off campus as quickly as possible.
She chattered all the way to my parents’ house, excited about her break. We’d lined up several playdates with her friends, mostly Tori since I trusted Lisa to take care of her.
I tried to drop her and run, but my parents came outside. Damn it. “Have a good time, sweetie. Let loose a little.”
Dad glared at Mom before turning back to me. “Don’t let loose. Nobody needs to be loose. Who would buy the cow whe
n the milk comes free?”
I opened my mouth to tell Dad to stop it with the antiquated expressions, but Mom spoke first. “You bought the cow.” She stared at him with raised eyebrows.
I gagged. “Bye!”
Dad laughed. “Have a good time. You deserve it.”
Now. To go get dressed first or nails first? I had plenty of time before he picked me up, since I’d hurried so much. A good three hours.
Nails first. When I got to the nail salon, I saw they were running a triple threat special. Facial, mani, pedi. “Excuse me,” I asked the woman behind the front counter. “How long does the triple threat take?”
“About an hour unless you want some intricate art on your nails.” She popped her gum and waved her fingers at me, showing the detailed flowers painted on her exceptionally long nails.
“Oh, I’m not fancy like that,” I said with a chuckle.
She blushed and took it as a compliment, but in my mind, I’d meant I wasn’t that high maintenance. I wouldn’t want her to think that I considered it a bad thing, so I smiled at her.
“Shouldn’t be more than an hour then.”
What the hell. “Let’s do it.”
With another crack of her gum, she hopped off of her stool and led the way. In no time I had a hot towel on my face, my feet soaked in hot water, and another lady with enormous hair was rubbing lotion all over my hands and arms.
“Hot date?” she asked.
I grinned under the towel. “Actually, yes.”
“Well, you’re gorgeous. We’ll make sure your nails match your face.”
What a nice compliment. I settled in and imagined the date as the aesthetician rattled on about her favorite dates. Once again, I went over my outfit choices and finally settled on one.
The next problem was my underwear. Good underwear or comfortable? I wasn’t planning on having him see it. I probably should go for comfy. But what if things progressed? I wasn’t totally against sex on the first date. Carpe diem and all that.
I was glad I’d picked out my outfit in my head so that my nail color matched. I had a peach sleeveless jumpsuit that was beautiful on and flattering to my mom-bod. I got home and after a rinse-off shower, I put it on, then stood in front of the mirror with one nude heel on and one jet black. It took ten minutes to decide, but I went with nude and draped a towel over myself to fix up my makeup. My hair was good from this morning, but I added a subtle peach barrette to give it a little razzmatazz.
In the end, I went with the good lingerie. I had to force myself not to be critical of my post-Hayden body, even though I was a little insecure about my pooch under my belly button.
I didn’t need to feel insecure tonight.
When I finished fluffing my hair, I stood in front of my mirror and grinned. Damn. I did look pretty freaking good.
I was going to rock this date.
10
Jace
My mom threatened to show up at the bar if I didn’t come to see her. I’d arranged for the bar to be covered all day in anticipation of my date, but that had turned out to be a bad idea because it left me with far too much time on my hands.
And I was nervous. As much as I tried to convince myself not to be, my stomach wouldn’t stop clenching in fear. I’d avoided my mother all week until she’d threatened to crash the bar. She wasn’t bluffing.
I’d been avoiding explaining all the mess about the mating bond to her, not to mention the appearance of my brother, and the guilt was getting to me a little bit. It had always been me and Mom against the world. Especially when I was younger, and my father was in and out of our lives all the time. She was my lady; my best friend.
And I was a shit for lying to her.
“Here you go.” She put a plate of cookies on the coffee table. “I made your favorite.”
Classic chocolate chip. “I can’t eat too much.” Time for the first bomb of truth. “I have a date tonight.”
Didn’t stop me from grabbing a handful of cookies as my mother froze and gaped at me. “An actual date?”
I nodded with a mouthful of cookie.
She cocked her head, still staring like I’d grown a second nose. “But you don’t date. What has changed?”
Mom was right, until now. I’d only casually seen women, had hookups, etc. I didn’t date. Even if I asked a woman out, I made sure she knew up front that it was casual. And would never lead to anything.
“Well, who is it? Where are you going? Are you planning on a second date if this one goes well?” She hovered over the coffee table and rubbed her hands together nervously.
I swallowed my cookie. “Mom, sit.”
She looked concerned like she was going to try to see if I had a fever again. “I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.”
Her eyes narrowed. She knew I didn’t normally keep things from her. “What?”
“I’ve been processing it. Trying to deal with it.”
She didn’t interrupt, but the emotions that poured off of her told me I was going to pay for not coming to her with this sooner. I unbuttoned my sleeve and rolled it up. When I turned my arm over, Mom could see the tattoo, which had come in pretty dark and big by now, growing and deepening as my surety about the mating grew.
She gasped and clutched her chest. It was for dramatic effect, as a dragon she wouldn’t have heart palpitations. “Jace,” she whispered.
Before she could start yelling, I hurried up and told her why I was so hesitant. “I almost let the bond break.”
When she closed her eyes and leaned back against the couch, I knew though this was hard to tell her, it probably had been the right decision. She would’ve freaked out if she’d known the pain I was going through. “Briana has a little girl,” I explained.
I knew that would tell her a lot, and I was right. She jerked upright. “Oh, Jace.” She shook her head and stared at me as I continued my explanation.
“When I saw Hayden for the first time, I realized that the bond isn’t just for Briana. It clamped down on her daughter, too. We’re meant to be a family, all three of us.”
“Why would you consider breaking the bond, then?” she whispered.
I shrugged. “You know what I went through.”
Her face darkened. If anyone in this world hated that woman for what she did to me more than I did, it was my mother. I didn’t know that Mom wouldn’t physically hurt her if she ever saw her again, even now, well over a decade later.
“She’s a human,” I said. It was like I could read my mother’s mind using her facial expression. She went from furious at my ex to shocked about Bri.
“Jace.”
Before she gathered her thoughts, I barreled on. “But we know now, thanks to Anthony, that this is possible. It can happen.”
“How?” she asked. “After no humans and dragons mated, how are there two in one clan?”
I shrugged. “That’s a question for Sammy.”
The determined look on Mom’s face told me she planned on asking as soon as she had a chance.
“Anyway, the pain from the bond breaking, and it came really damn close to it, had been nearly unbearable. I was going to let it go on, though, but then Sammy projected visions on me. I saw what my life would be like both with and without Briana and Hayden.”
“And?” Mom asked. “I assume since you’re going on this date that you opted not to let the bond break.”
I nodded. “The vision of the future with Bri and Hayden was like nothing I ever could’ve imagined on my own. I thought over both visions and gave it all my attention for a good week. And in the end, I couldn’t risk losing it.”
I trailed off and mom leaned back. She glanced at me a few times but didn’t speak.
When she did, her voice was soft, and she sounded hurt. And it broke my damn heart.
“I don’t understand why you’d keep this from me. Something as big as a fated mate is a bit of information a son should share with his mother.” She put her hand on mine. “I’m even more upset that you chose t
o go through the pain alone. If rejecting the bond was what you’d decided to do, you should’ve let me help you through it. You can come to me with anything and I will always be on your side, even if you’re being a total idiot.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Tell me more about Bri.”
“I don’t know nearly as much as I hope to soon. I pushed her away and right now, she has no reason to like or trust me. I managed to turn things around before I shattered the bond, but I hope it’s not too late to win her over. Especially now that I don’t feel like I’m knocking on death’s door.”
“I genuinely hope it goes well for you, but keep in mind that this isn’t a game.” She gave me a shrewd look. “Is there anything else you want to get off your chest?”
I checked my watch and thought about Porter. “Yes, but this isn’t a good time. It’s not something I want to go into right before my date. Can we have a rain check on the rest of the conversation?”
Mom pursed her lips. “That is difficult for me, knowing there’s something else big you want to talk about.”
I laughed. “That’s because you can’t stand not being in the know.”
Mom leaned forward and grabbed a handful of cookies. She put most of them in my hand, then held one up to my lips. I opened my mouth and she shoved it in. “There,” she said. “Now you can’t talk, because I raised you right.”
I laughed around my cookie and nodded. I wouldn’t give her a hard time anymore.
We talked about light things while I finished the cookies she’d given me. Then I checked my watch again. “Okay, it’s time to go home and get ready,” I said.
“Well, have a good time, but if you’re serious about this woman, and I think you are, have a good time while keeping it in your pants.”
I groaned and stood, not wanting to hear about this from my mother.
She walked me to the door and after kissing her on the cheek, I jogged down her porch stairs and to my truck. “Be a gentleman!” She slammed the door after that last tidbit of advice.