It feels like a dream, but it’s not until sunlight is pouring through the curtains that I realize it wasn’t a dream at all. My towel is wrapped awkwardly around my hips, my breastsexposed to the cool air, my nipples perked up but not quite ready to cut glass.
Stretching, I see a note on the nightstand and smile even before I see the words.
Nessa,
Coaching, holidays, book clubs—there’s nothing you can’t do. Enjoy today and don’t worry about rushing home. I’ll grab takeout for dinner and we can eat it naked in bed.
Sheriff
Sighing dreamily,I clutch the paper to my chest and roll my head to the side where the bed is empty, the sheets cold, though the faint smell of his cologne still lingers. My brows furrow as I sit up.
Am Igiddy?
No, that can’t be right.
My jaded heart had long since been broken, the pieces never quite fitting back together the way they had before the accident. I’d lived years without ever having to face the reality of my past, the one that had so pragmatically shaped my future.
It had been easier.
But now there’s nothing easy about lying in Jensen’s bed, the one where he fucked and made love to me in equal measure. The one I fell asleep in his arms in night after night and couldn’t imagine leaving.
Angry at the spiral my thoughts have taken, the way I allowed myself to be so easily swept up into the fantasy of a life here, Ithrow back the blankets and relish in the feel of the cool wood floor against my feet.
Heaving out a breath, I stand naked in the center of the room, trying desperately to calm my racing heart as I mentally shove all my wayward emotions back into their box.
The box that seems to be overflowing these days.
I’ve almost managed it when my phone dings with a text from my agent.
AGENT: CHECK YOUR EMAIL
Hands shaking,I swipe the screen and stare at the subject line:
Hot New Contract—You Need To See This!
Skimming the details, my heart sinks instead of soars. It’s everything I wanted and more.
Fuck.
“Is everything all right?” Dottie asks as she takes her coat off and hangs it on the hook by the door. Even hours later, I haven’t been able to shake the mood the email had put me in. And even though she barely knows me, Jensen’s mother can tell I’m not myself. I briefly wonder if all mothers can do that, but I couldn’t remember a time my mother had ever looked beyond the surface.
I open my mouth and close it, thinking over my words before speaking. I don’t want to lie to her, but I’m not ready to delve into everything either.
“Being in Blackstone Falls has been unexpected. I’ve seen bits and parts of small-town charm over the years, traveling and spending time with friends. But”—I swallow hard as I meet hergaze, her eyes seeming to understand exactly what I’m feeling—“there’s something special here, and it’s been hard to reconcile this with my life in Nashville.”
Her smile is kind as she takes a seat at the island. “The year my daughter, Indie, turned nine, I came down with one of those colds that hits you outta nowhere and lands you right on your rear. Do you know the kind I mean?”
“I do,” I hedge, not sure where this is going.
“Everyone, Indie included, told me that we could postpone her day until I was feelin’ better. Wayne was workin’ but knew I was upset and said he could pick something up on his way home.” She chuckles as I lean my hip against the counter. “But Jensen wasn’t having it. He wrapped the rest of her presents and found a cookbook for a cake recipe. He wouldn’t even look at a box cake mix. Sawyer ran him to the store and then he made a mess of my kitchen, measuring and stirring until he’d made this lopsided chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. He dyed the frosting pink because it was her favorite.”
“How did it taste?”
“Delicious even though it looked like it’d been patched together after bouncing around in a cake box.” She chuckles. “But it was a great reminder and something I think of often even now.”
“What’s that?”
“Life doesn’t always fit into a box as neatly as we want it to. That year, Indie had done a lot of growing up, finding her way and all that with friends and school. It was an important birthday and I’d wanted something elaborate for her, something special, andIcouldn’t make it happen.”
