Our next stop was a couple towns over, at a diner in Cherry Lake. As we pulled into the parking lot, Jack said, “I figured you’d appreciate a meal without people staring or trying to overhear our conversation.”
“You figured right.” I looked over at him, a smile taking over my face. He’d very slyly reached across the truck to hold my hand on the way here, and we had t
Jack drove. I rolled my window down and reached over, taking his hand. As we entered June Lake, I watched his hair ruffle in the breeze. We were nearing my parents’ street. Soon, I’d be getting into my car and driving back to Port Agnes. Back to reality.
“You sure you don’t want to go back in there?” I asked as we stepped out onto the sidewalk. I looped my arm through Jack’s and cast a surreptitious look at his profile. The muscles in his jaw worked overtime as he thumbed through his wallet for the valet ticket. “I’m sure,&r
The next morning, I got to the office about five minutes late—not bad, considering how long I spent staring at my phone, willing it to ring. The regret of letting Jack leave last night was more intense than watching a slasher film before bed, even though you know it’ll give you nightmares.
“Tierney, can I see you in my office?” I looked up from a manuscript I’d been editing about the mating habits of army ants to find Ron’s head poking out of his office door. “Yeah, sure.” Tossing my red pen down, I stood and rounded my desk.
My phone rang about half a dozen times from Port Agnes to June Lake.“Do you have any allergies?” Jack asked the first time he called.
Many a suggestive comment and knowing smirk greeted me when I got to my parents’ house a while later. I refused to acknowledge my mother’s waggling brows and headed straight upstairs for a shower. An ice-cold shower. Now, it was just after ten a.m. the next morning and the house was filled with clu
“Boy, am I glad to see you,” I said to Jack a couple hours later. He stood on the front porch, looking like a tall drink of something that could make this entire afternoon disappear. Between the Lola incident and dodging questions about when Jack and I were going to have babies, I was more than ready to be rescued. Jack laughed and instantly my
As we weaved through the streets of Port Agnes, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Jack. Something had shifted between us back there, and it was terrifying and exhilarating all at once. Maybe we were moving too fast, but I could tell we were heading somewhere good. And I didn’t want to slow down. We we
Two hours later, I found myself parked at a table in the corner of the first bar I found. I didn’t stop when I walked away from Jack. I’d pushed through the crowd and right out the door. Took a right and followed the sidewalk until I found this place.Through the window, the Hope River glittered in the moonlight. All I could focus on, though, w
I had nearly two weeks to chicken out. To convince Cat that there was no need for me to attend the restaurant grand opening. To make her see that being in Jack’s presence would do neither of us any good. I was unsuccessful. Should have known better, really. Once Cat got something in her head, there was n
The next month flew by in a whir of brainstorms and phone calls and late nights staring at my computer screen. The end result: my very own literary agency.Well, technically, agent. Singular. Just me. Working out of my apartment after getting home from my day job. But I had plans, dammit. Big ones. Ones that involved getting good books by talented writers out in the world. Starting with Joy Ne
What did “fine” mean, really? For me, it meant getting up the next morning, putting my big girl pants on and finding a new job. I couldn’t just sit around and mope forever. There were bills to pay, man.
Getting dumped and getting your dream job in the same day sucked. Getting dumped, getting your dream job, and going to work the next day like everything was normal sucked even more.
A couple hours later, the sun had begun to dip below the horizon, casting a dreamy golden glow over the fairgrounds. People still milled about, laughing and talking, soaking in the magic hour before darkness took over. I sat back in my chair and surveyed the booth before me. Slim pickin’s. Jack’s a
The next morning, Cat and I were squeezed into her tiny kitchen, making pancakes and scrambled eggs before we settled down to a marathon of My Boyfriend the Vampire—a very nice Sunday, if you asked me. I had just flipped the final pancake when my phone buzzed from its place on the counter. Cat g
We wandered the fair for a while after that, hand-in-hand. Initially, we’d been looking for Luke and Cat, but they’d vanished. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I worried that the bearded man had actually murdered them. When I voiced my worry, though, Jack assured me that they were fine. “Pro
Jack was sitting on the front porch Saturday morning as I pulled into the driveway, looking like an excited kid. An excited kid with a naughty secret.We’d been talking since I left him on Thursday. His dad was on the upswing, so he felt comfortable leaving the hospital for the day.