Rising from the Ashes (10 page)

“Tuesday.”

“Three years ago?” I guesstimated.

He shook his head. “That’s just sad.”

I crossed my arms and leaned against the counter, mimicking his stance. “No more avoidance, Jer. What’s all of this about?” I asked, waving my hand around the kitchen to indicate his cooking.

He stared right in my eyes while responding, “This is me showing you what you’re getting by being with me.”

My heart started to speed up at the same time my stomach dropped while I looked down at my lap. The whirlwind emotions I was experiencing were driving me insane. The majority of me wanted nothing more than to be with Jeremy. But that little voice in my head was still reminding me that I didn’t deserve him, that I’d screwed up, and if he ever found out, he would hate me forever.

I took a fortifying breath and looked back up at his beautiful face. “Jeremy, we aren’t together.”

“Keep telling yourself that, sugar.” He rounded the island and came to stand right beside me, ignoring my personal space. “Did you forget what I said last night? We’re doing this my way. If you insist on being your typical stubborn-ass self, that’ll just make proving you wrong even sweeter.”

I tried to scoot back to put a little bit of room between us. Having him so close was shattering my resolve. “You aren’t going to prove me wrong,” I said with as much determination as I could muster. My words still sounded weak, even to my ears, so I knew he didn’t believe me.

“If you say so.”

With that, he leaned into me and kissed me so fiercely that it stole the breath from my lungs. My lips parted on a gasp, and Jeremy took that as an opportunity to slide his tongue between them. The flavor of maple syrup and coffee overwhelmed my senses, and before my brain had a chance to click on, my arms were wrapping around his neck, and I was pulling him to me in an attempt to deepen the kiss. My body heated, and it felt like a swarm of butterflies had been let loose in my stomach.

Before I was ready for the kiss to end, Jeremy pulled my bottom lip between his teeth and gave it a playful nip before disentangling himself and stepping away. “Have a good day, sugar.”

My mind couldn’t play catch-up. “What? Where the hell are you going?” I demanded as he headed for the front door.

“Work. Gotta busy day today, and I’m sure you do too.”

Before I could formulate a response, he was gone, leaving me aching for him
again
. I was going to kick his ass the next time I saw him.

It was inevitable that walking out on Savannah for the second time in only a matter of hours meant that I was going to be stuck with a raging hard on for the rest of the day. But I could tell I was wearing her down, and that was worth every second of discomfort I would have to deal with. I’d watched as the struggle played across her eyes this morning, and after I kissed her, I could see the indecision had vanished and been replaced with hunger.

It wasn’t going to be an easy fight, but I refused to give up. That girl took pride to a whole new level, but there was no doubt that I was going to win out in the long run, and I was going to savor her telling me I was right.

I was leaned over the engine compartment of my 1967 Pontiac GTO, working on restoring the engine, when Luke walked in.

“What are you so happy about?”

I looked up to see him decked out in his full deputy uniform. “Do you ever work, man?”

Luke rolled a chair over and plopped down, making himself comfortable. “What the hell does it look like I’m doing right now?”

I pulled out the rag that was tucked into my back pocket and wiped at the grease on my hands. “I don’t know. Wasting taxpayer dollars?”

He kicked his feet up on the bumper of the GTO and leaned back. “What can I say? Since I got back, crime has been down. I must scare people straight. I’m a badass.”

I leaned back against the car and let out a laugh. “I don’t suppose it has anything to do with the fact that Cloverleaf is small and never really had a high crime rate to begin with?”

“Nope, it’s because I’m a badass.”

“Whatever.”

“You still working on this thing? Damn, Jer. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you must be a shitty mechanic.”

I kicked his feet off the bumper and laughed as he tried—and failed—to keep himself from falling. “It’s a slow process, asshole. I’m just about finished with her.”

Luke propped himself back in the chair and dusted off his pants. “Whatever. I still say you suck.”

“Don’t you have a speed trap to set up or underage kids to catch smoking?”

“Nah, I’ll let the little punks get a few more packs in their lungs first. That way, I won’t have to chase ’em very far.”

“You’re a disgrace to the badge.”

He waved off my comment without even a blink and switched topics. “So, you never answered my question. What are you so happy about this morning?”

There was no way in hell I was going to tell Luke about Savannah. Breaking her walls down was a work in progress, and Luke had a bigger mouth than every damn woman in Cloverleaf combined. If Savvy found out that people knew about us, she would shut herself off tighter than she’d ever been. Nope, no way I was risking it.

“What are you talkin’ about? I’m always in a good mood.”

He eyed me skeptically. “Yeah, but not like this,” he said, waving his hand at me. “You were whistling when I walked up. You’re downright chipper this morning. What’s going on?”

I turned back to the car and began working again. I needed him to get of here before I found myself spouting shit about Savvy that would undo all the work I’d already put in. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, man. Nothing’s going on. Just a good day, I guess.”

Like an answer to my prayers, the radio on his shoulder screeched and pulled his concentration away from harassing me. He mumbled a few words into the radio and stood. “Gotta go. Got a drunk and disorderly.”

I looked at my watch and glanced back up at him. “At nine thirty in the morning?”

Luke chuckled as he called out over his shoulder, “Yeah. Apparently, Forrest Hendrix had a hard night of partyin’. Barb got pissed and locked him out of the house…naked.”

The image of a naked Forrest Hendrix sent a chill down my spine. “Wear gloves,” I hollered after him.

I was sitting at work later that morning, trying to concentrate on my job and not that smokin’ hot kiss Jeremy gave me before walking off again, when my cell phone rang on my desk. I looked down to see Emmy’s gray eyes smiling back at me, and slid my finger across the screen to answer. “Hello?”

“OMG!” she exclaimed before I ever got the full word out.

“Emmy, we’ve discussed this. I will hang up on you if you insist on text-talking. You’re better than that.”

Her tinkling laughter rang through the speaker. “IDK what you’re talking about BFF, Savvy.”

“Hanging up now,” I said with a chuckle. “I’m kind of busy right now, Em.”
Trying not to spontaneously combust from thinking about Jeremy.

“So, you’re telling me that you don’t want to hear the latest in the Cloverleaf grapevine?”

That instantly piqued my curiosity. “You’re telling me you got gossip?” I asked, sitting up straighter in my chair.

“Jeez, you’re such a gossip whore,” Emmy replied with a laugh.

“Guilty as charged. Now, spill it, sister.”

As Emmy spoke through the phone, my thoughts trailed back to Jeremy—how the muscles on his back had flexed while he’d been making breakfast this morning, how his chest and stomach felt when I ran my hands down them, how the kisses he’d given me were enough to crack the foundation I’d built over seven years of regret and self-denial. I was so wrapped up in everything Jeremy that I hadn’t listened to a single word Emmy had been saying.

“Are you listening?”

Emmy’s annoyed tone broke through my lusty haze and pulled my attention back. “Sorry…what?” I asked.

“Ugh! You didn’t listen to a damn word I just said.”

I rolled my eyes before responding, “Oh, untwist your panties, you big baby. You enjoy telling gossip as much as I like hearing it, so just start again from the beginning.”

“Okay, well”—she took a breath for dramatic emphasis—“this is coming straight from the source, so you’re the first to find out.”

The anticipation was killing me. I really was a gossip whore.

“So,” Emmy continued, “I’d just opened up Virgie May’s, and I was setting up the pastry case when Charlotte came bursting through like her ass was on fire. And she just up and quit. Can you believe it?”

My back went stiff at the mention of her name. “What? Did she tell you why she quit?” I asked, completely shocked.

With everything that had happened between me and Jeremy since last night, I never stopped to think about how Charlotte might have handled the breakup. Clearly, she hadn’t handled it well.

“She was totally hysterical,” Emmy said dramatically. “I’m talking tears and snot—the whole ugly-crying thing. I could barely make out a word she was saying.”

Oh God.

“What was wrong with her?” I asked in a small voice. I knew damn good and well what had been wrong with her.

“Well, my lovely Savvy, that’s the good part. Charlotte and Jeremy broke up!” Emmy screeched into the phone.

I had to pull it away from my ear to prevent any permanent hearing loss.

“Um…did Charlotte say why they’d broken up?”

“No,” Emmy replied. “She didn’t say why. She just said that he’d dumped her, so she couldn’t work here anymore because she knew we were all friends, and she didn’t want to risk running into him.”

I sat there, trying to figure out how I should feel. While part of me was glad they had broken up because she was a horrible person, the other part couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her.

“Well, it sucks that you’re out a waitress,” was the only lame-ass reply I could come up with.

“You don’t sound surprised. Why don’t you sound surprised?” she demanded.

“What? No! I’m totally surprised!”

I was so full of shit. I knew Emmy saw right through me, but there was no way I was going to be the one to tell her about Jeremy’s little epiphany from the night before. She would sink her teeth into that one and never let go. Besides Jeremy himself, the only person more determined to get us back together was Emmy. I needed to keep this one close to the vest while I figured out what in the world I was going to do.