It's harder than it should be, and as I’m walking back to my office it occurs to me that my daydreams are making me see things, because there’s no way the only other guy I’ve been with since my breakup with Brian just passed in front of me carrying a stack of boxes.
Get a grip, Kane.
I shake my head to clear it. It’s a halfhearted effort, because that’s another nice image. We may have only had the one night, but I’d confessed to just coming out of a relationship, and Jace had taken extra care to make me feel treasured, as if he could sense I needed that reassurance.
I wasn’t foolish enough to think our time together was as special for him as it was me. It was a hookup plain and simple, but I loved that he didn’t treat me as one of many.
For me it wasn’t just sex, but something that restored my confidence and sense of self-worth. And yes, mind-blowing orgasms. Can’t forget those. As a result, a tiny part of my heart has belonged to him ever since. I always hoped I’d see him again—he’s friends with my oldboss Jackson—but his job as a videographer for some pro biker keeps him on the road non-stop.
I heard he’d been to visit Jackson a few weeks back, but I’d been visiting my sister and missed him. That’s when I met Blake, the other hookup who treated me as more than just a one-night stand. That must be why I’m manifesting Jace now. I can’t have what I want with Blake so I’m substituting Jace in the lead role of that daydream. It seems plausible, until I realize I’m still staring at the doorway he seemed to disappear into, and he comes walking out of it.
Hot damn, he looks good. Tall and lean, with muscled calves flexing as he walks, he looks just as dark and brooding from afar as I remember him, though I know all too well his feelings run deep under that stoic exterior. It’s one of the things that draws me to him, the knowledge that the sexy outer shell hides a gentle soul. The same way Blake’s does. Apparently, that’s my type, and somehow the two men who fit that criteria are here. In my new hometown.
I can tell the moment Jace sees me, pausing mid-stride as if he’s trying to reconcile what his brain is probably trying to convince him is impossible. Despite having a few minutes head start, I feel the same way, barely finding the strength to lift the hand hanging limply at my side in a tiny wave. That breaks him out of his stupor, and he stalks forward, closing the distance between us.
“Kane?” He cocks his head to the side, voice filled with disbelief.
“Hi.” I cringe as the word squeaks from my mouth.
“I looked for you when I passed through Utah this summer. You weren’t at the resort, but Jackson didn’t make it sound like you’d left.” Jace’s eyes roam over me as if he still doesn’t trust that they’re seeing things correctly.
“I hadn’t left it, not then. I was visiting my sister.” My hand points in the general direction of her house in Arizona, as if that would meananything to him.First, Blake and now Jace? Why am I suddenly a disaster around guys I’m drawn to?
“What are you doing here?” The hint of a smile tugs at the corner of his lip, and my stomach flutters.
“I live here now. Just moved in the other day. I’m in charge of building the new bike park. They want to create something similar to what we created in Utah, and since I helped Jackson design that one, he recommended me for the job.”Stop rambling.
Jace looks me up and down before wiping a hand down his face. “You’re KP?”
The nickname brings a smile to my face. “Only Jackson calls me that.”
He shakes his head back and forth with a bewildered laugh. “All these years, Jackson raved about his assistant, KP. I never realized it was you. I thought you were part of the crew that maintains the trails? I swear the first time I caught a glimpse of that pink hair was on the mountain.”
“Trail maintenance is a key part of the job after you build it.” I bite my lip to stop from saying anything else since I think that might’ve sounded rude.
“Why does Jackson call you KP?”
“That’s my name. Kane Price,” I mumble as a wave of heat races up my neck.
“Huh.” Jace gives his head another shake, as if that will somehow make things fall into place. “Why didn’t you tell me you helped build the bike park?”
I assume my cheeks are pink as my hair as I look anywhere but his eyes. “We sort of… didn’t talk much about work that night.”
“I told you what I did.” He folds his arms in front of his chest and arches a thick brow.
“Only because I saw all the camera gear in your hotel room. And when I asked about it all you said was you make highlight videos of some pro motocross rider, and you were only in town for the night before you had to go to the next location. I don’t know who you film or how you got into that, or how you know Jackson come to think of it.”
A playful grin spreads across his face. “Yeah, sounds about right. I wouldn’t have wanted to spend our only night together talking about work.”
“So, why areyouhere? Is this a location for one of your shoots?”
“It was last month. Axel, the guy I film, decided to stay.”
“And open a restaurant?” I look around his shoulder to the doorway he came from, which reads ‘Murphy’s on the Mountain,’ in the same type as the Murphy’s I went to on Main Street a few days ago with Blake.
He jerks a thumb over his shoulder. “That’s his boyfriend’s place. They roped me into moving a few boxes.”
“Lennon? That’s your boss’s boyfriend?”
