Jack's Surrender (Holiday Cove 5)

I know you too well. The thought popped into my mind but couldn’t make it past my lips. So instead, I just nodded and smiled at him. I slid my own hands into my pockets and grimaced. “Crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

I produced the half-chewed hedgehog and held it out. “Hunter did a little shopping before you got here. Or is it shoplifting? I’m not sure.”

Jack laughed and shook his head as he stared down at the overgrown puppy’s head. Hunter was almost four years old but acted just like the chubby little troublemaker pup he’d been when Jack and I first met. When Jack’s eyes found mine again, something sparked between us. And I knew we were thinking about the same thing. Reliving the same memory.

“He’s a handful,” Jack said, scratching Hunter’s ears. “But I’m pretty damned grateful. I still remember the way you looked running after him on the beach that morning. Your hair all golden in the sun, flying behind you.”

I couldn’t breathe. The way he was looking at me was too intense. Like if I took one breath, the bubble we were suspended in would pop.

“Then again, you just did a dead-on impression,” Jack teased gently. He waved his hand in the direction I’d just careened from moments before.

I smiled. “New rule, hiking boots whenever going anywhere with Hunter.”

Jack laughed and reached for my hand. I drew in a sharp, silent breath as his fingers grazed my knuckles, only to exhale with a sigh as I realized he was only taking the remains of the poor little hedgehog toy. “Here, I’ll have Paulie ring this up with my stuff. Did you have anything else?” he asked, looking behind me.

“Oh! Yeah. A bag of food. I’ll go grab it.” I turned to go, but Jack stilled me with a light touch on my arm.

“I’ll get it.” He disappeared before I could object and insist that I could haul my own bag of kibble. He reappeared a minute later, the forty-pound bag on his shoulder like it weighed nothing. My eyes traced the lines of his biceps as he carried the load. The t-shirt he was wearing was just tight enough that it showcased his muscles perfectly. I ached to feel his arms around me. Even though I knew it had only been a few days since the last time we’d been together, I craved him.

“Didn’t we just get a new bag?” he asked once he rejoined us.

Hunter and Princess followed as we went to the register. “I took some when I…left.” God, this is so awkward! “But I accidentally left it at Rachel’s. Oh!”

I hurried back in the direction of the food and grabbed two stainless steel bowls from one of the shelves. They were the same ones Hunter was used to and the easiest ones to keep clean. Jack was nearly done paying when I came up behind him and added the two bowls to the purchase. He handed his debit card to the cashier. Within minutes, all four of us were back outside, walking down the sidewalk toward my car.

Jack loaded the food into the back. I tried—and failed—to not stare at his ass. My heart ached. I missed him. I wanted my Jack back.

“Did you eat dinner yet?”

I thought of my pizza box on the dresser back in my hotel room. “Not yet,” I answered.

“You want to grab a bite? We could drop the dogs off at the house.”

His eyes searched mine, waiting with bated breath for my answer. Finally, I gave a slight nod. “I’d like that.”

“Your ride or mine?”

My cheeks warmed, thinking up other ways his offer could be interpreted, but managed to keep it together long enough to agree to ride in his car. “You know I always love to ride in the Camaro.”

13

Holly

With each passing mile, my anticipation and anxiety intensified. Jack was behind the wheel and kept his eyes on the road, almost deliberately. Like he didn’t want to look at me. I scanned through the radio stations until I landed on a channel playing one of my favorite 80s songs.

Jack typically would have flashed me a smile, made a comment, something. But instead, he kept his hands glued at 10 and 2 and his eyes trained on the road ahead. I sighed and looked out the passenger window as the coast flew by in a blur.

Princess and Hunter were safely back at the house, as we’d left, they were already cuddled together on the couch as though their separation had been months, not days.

“How’s work?” I asked, more for there to be some kind of conversation than actual curiosity. After all, it had only been a couple of days since the last time we spoke.

Jack hitched one shoulder. “Same old. Aaron’s off on some treasure hunt this weekend. Nick’s a little afraid of what he’ll bring back.”