Jump Start (Texas Hotzone 1)

He gave her a quick glance and maneuvered onto the highway. “I’m still waiting for the question. Because I didn’t hear one in there anywhere.”

She crossed her arms. “There’s no question, after all. Because I’m not asking. We’re going to see your father.”

“A waste of time when we could be enjoying each other,” he said. He’d given this a lot of thought. He was glad he’d been detoured from seeing his father. He wasn’t giving his father a chance to mess up what he had going with Jennifer again.

“You said—” she began.

“I know what I said,” he agreed. “I thought visiting him proved he had no control over me. But I was wrong. It gives him control. As if he decides my future, or worse, our future. He doesn’t. The whole point is that he never had any control over me, he never decided who I was, or what I would become. It was my youthful perception and immaturity.” He glanced over at her, settling the car into cruise control. “He doesn’t matter. We do.”

She reached out and took his hand. Hers was soft and delicate and perfect against his. He wanted to hold it forever; he wanted to be here with her.

“Please, Bobby,” she said. “Get this behind you. You need to face this.” She hesitated a second. “And if your father drove you away from me, I need to know he can’t do it again.”

He cut her a fast sideways look. “He can’t. He won’t.” An acidy burn rasped through his throat and then exploded in his chest. “And I don’t want to ruin our day together.”

“We can purchase Ella today, but pick her up after the honeymoon,” she suggested. “That’s better, anyway. Then we can go see your father on the way back.”

“A destructive ending to a perfect day,” he said dryly. “No, thank you.”

“It ends with you and me, not him,” she reminded him. “And he does have power over you if he can ruin our day. He has power over us. Let’s take that from him.”

“I don’t need to prove anything to him, Jennifer,” he said. “I don’t want to try anymore.”

“You were determined to see him yesterday. What changed today?”

“I thought I had to see him to prove something to you and me,” he explained. “But that’s exactly what I’ve done for seven years—prove I’m not like him. I’m done with that. No more.”

“He’s your father,” she insisted. “You haven’t seen him in seven years. When was the last time you actually talked to him?”

“A year ago,” he said. “He cussed me out, slurring every other word because I sent him five hundred dollars instead of the six hundred he asked me for. I was overseas, and it was all I could do from there.”

She inhaled softly and drew her hand from his. He felt a razor-sharp jab in his chest. She’d decided this defined their relationship in some way and fool that he was, he’d put that idea in her head.

“Let’s go buy Ella,” he said. “We’ll see how late it is when we’re heading back.”

She cast him a smile that shined as brightly as a Christmas tree. “I’m so glad you’re going to do this.”

He grimaced. “I said we’d see how late it is.”

Her eyes twinkled. “I know.”

Which meant she had every intention of forcing him to see his father. “You’re stubborn as a rock when you want something.”

“I prefer persuasive,” she said, reaching over and sliding her fingers between his again. “For instance, after we see your father, I was thinking about a few hot soldier fantasies.” She drew his hand to her mouth and kissed it, casting him a seductive look that shot straight to his groin.

“I didn’t say we were going to see my father,” he reminded her, glancing between her and the road. “I said we’d see.”

“I know,” she said and slid down in her seat.

In other words, they were going to see his father.

***

TWO HOURS LATER, they’d met Ella the cat, loved her, and arranged to pick her up the day of Marcie and Mark’s return from Hawaii. In exchange for the courtesy, Jennifer had spent some time with the breeder, examining some of the cats.

Another two hours later, and they were on the road, not far from where Bobby’s father lived. Shades of yellow and orange painted the sky, the sun in steady decline, when Bobby pulled down a dirt road, which she assumed led to “Joey’s Garage.” Joey being Bobby’s father.

They’d talked nonstop during the drive toward their visit with Ella—about her clinic and his time in the Army, at least what he was allowed to share. But since getting in the car, heading toward his father’s place, he’d been tight-lipped.

Suddenly, they were parked between several large oak trees, not a building in sight, and Bobby killed the engine. “Why are we stopping?”