Steer clear! Stay in control! Don’t trust anyone else!
The rules for her life would fly out the window.
Across the table, Jack raised an eyebrow. “Good to know you can take instruction.”
Thankfully, the waitress chose that moment to skate up to the table and deliver their burgers along with a giant basket of fries.
“Watching the servers in this place, I’m glad I don’t have to wear a pair of roller-skates and a short skirt to deliver drinks,” she said, reaching for the ketchup. “I’d get more than a wink and stupid come-on lines when new guys dropped by. Maybe even from the regulars. Though they mostly behave themselves now.”
Except you, Jack.
“Because they’ve seen you take on ten misbehaving Marines,” he pointed out before sinking his teeth into his burger.
“Hasn’t stopped you,” she countered.
“No, but you find me charming.” But his hand-over-your-panties grin quickly faded. “And I’m sorry about my brothers. My mom did her best, trying to raise them right. But five boys running wild on a cattle ranch proved to be too much.”
“Are your parents still in Texas?”
He nodded. “They all live on the ranch. I think Mom likes having most of her brood close even if they are a little wild.”
“That sounds nice,” she said, fighting back emotion. One car crash had altered her future, erasing the possibility of a family home where her parents would welcome her back during the holidays.
“I take it for granted, focusing on the parts I hated about growing up the youngest. And Colton was right.” He paused and set his burger down. He raised his right hand and ran his fingers through his short hair, his muscles flexing and threatening to distract her from his words. “Jesus, I can’t believe I said those words.”
“I won’t tell Colton,” she said, looking away from his arm. “What was Mr. Belt Buckle right about?”
“My older brother nailed it when he said I was scrawny as a kid. Sometimes, in my head, I still feel like that weak boy who needs to fight back.”
She reached for her milkshake. This man possessed the kind of muscles male underwear models dreamed about when they hit the gym. And hi
s biceps came from fighting the bad guys, training to be the best and save the world. But she couldn’t tell him that. Right now, she couldn’t even find the words to tease him.
“The accident today,” he said, his tone surprisingly serious.
Oh no. The Prince Charming of the Navy SEALs didn’t do deep and thoughtful. Did he?
“Please. We don’t need to—”
“It hit close to home, didn’t it?” he asked. “Cade told me about how you lost your parents.”
“Yes.” She let go of her milkshake and stared at her plate, unable to say another word. The feelings were too big, too powerful. The sadness and anger would tear through her control. And she refused to rip the Band-Aid off her emotional scars over burgers with the man who had bet that he could seduce her.
She could fantasize about stripping off Jack’s T-shirt, undoing his cargo pants, and reaching inside to stroke his hard length. While she lay in bed with her battery-operated friend, she could close her eyes and dream about the naughty things he’d described in the back room of her bar after he’d kissed her. She could imagine his tongue teasing her clit and his cock thrusting into her as she mimicked the motions with her toy in the real world.
But she drew the line at liking Jack Barnes. She couldn’t open up to the charmer. She’d considered Cade her best friend for years, and there was so much she’d never shared with him—about the night Lucia was attacked, about her own lingering feelings of guilt, about her fear of letting anyone too close. Sure, that had come back to haunt her when Cade had discovered how living in foster care had literally scarred her little sister. But Natalie refused to show anyone what it had done to her on the inside.
She turned away from him. “I’m going to take my burger to go,” she said, wrapping it in a napkin. “The milkshake filled me up, and Mufasa would love this.”
“Natalie, I’m sorry,” he said quietly.
She felt his blue eyes on her, tracking her movements as she grabbed her purse, then withdrew a twenty-dollar bill and tossed it on the table. “You don’t have to apologize. I just need to see my dog. Make sure he hasn’t claimed one of the beds. I’d hate for you to have to sleep on the floor.”
She slid out of the booth and headed for the door leading to fresh air and emotional safety.
Jack watched Natalie wait for a break in traffic before she raced across the two-lane road to their motel. He stayed focused on her, waving away the waitress when she rolled by to check on him. After Natalie disappeared around the corner, he turned back to his meal. The burger was pretty damn good, but his appetite had walked out the door with his dinner date. Not that this was a real date, but—
Fuck, I can’t even tempt her to share a burger with me. How the hell am I going to talk her into kissing me again?