“You got it, Kins.” He grinned down at me. “Hopefully, I’ll see you around a lot more.”
“Doubtful,” I sighed. “This was a one-time favor for Chelsea. I’m heading back to Manhattan in a couple of days”
“That’s too bad,” Cade answered. “Told Mark you did great. If you were local, I’d love to have you on more of my shifts. You saved us tonight, and I told him as much.”
My smile stretched across my entire face. “Thank you, Cade. You didn’t have to?—”
“I wanted to.” His eyes danced with mine, and I waited, hoping for that hint of a spark. Not only was he handsome, but all night, he’d shown me nothing but kindness, kept me smiling even after I messed up. But no. My stubborn little heart only came back to life when Jace smiled down at me.
With one last pat on his arm, I walked into the locker room and grabbed my things, ready to call it a night. My stomach rumbled again, but it would have to wait until I got home.Was anything in my fridge still good? Probably not.Lately, off-brand cereals and canned soup had been the main staples of my diet. Enough to fill me, but not to scratch that itch. Whatever; it had to be enough. I wasn’t about to fill the fridge when I had to head back home in a few days. My firm had granted me time off to deal with my mother’s last days and the fallout from her death, but I had to get back to work, get back to my life.
With one last wave over my shoulder to the rest of the staff, I walked out not paying attention as I shoved the heavy metal bar open. But when I crossed into the employee parking lot, dark blue eyes met mine. My hand darted to my chest. “Jace? What are you doing here?”
“Buying you food, remember?”
Once my heart rate went back to normal, I shook my head. “Thought you left.”
“Nah, just wanted to give you space,” Jace said. “You want me to go?”
Say yes.I should say yes. For the past hour, I’d come up with a dozen reasons it was a good thing Jace left, convinced myself I was relieved when he walked away from the bar. But seeing him now, I couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s okay.”
“Good.” Jace smirked. “Because I didn’t want to leave without talking to you first. I’m sorry, Kinsley. I have a bad habit of opening my mouth before I speak.”
“It’s fine?—”
“No, it’s not.” Jace’s tone left no room for argument. “I had no right to talk to you like that. So if you want me to fuck off and leave you alone, I will. No explanation needed.”
He took a step back, and I searched his expression for a hint of a lie. But only sincerity called back to me. The smart thing to do would be to accept his apology and move on from tonight, forget about Jace and all the words he’d said to me earlier.Butit gets lonely keeping everyone at arm’s length.And God, he was so right. For one night, I wanted to pretend, to leave the past month in the periphery and let go for a couple of hours.
I was about to tell him as much when Cade appeared at my shoulder, his jaw set as he stared down at Jace leaning next to my car. “What are you doing here?”
I reached out to Cade, “It’s okay?—”
“No, it’s not,” he bit back. “This is theemployeeparking lot. You shouldn’t be here, Jace. Go home, and leave Kinsley alone.”
Jace’s eyes never met mine. Instead, he kept staring at my hand on Cade’s arm. I moved it away and then stepped between the two men. I turned to Cade first. “Thanks for looking out for me, Cade, but I asked Jace to meet me out here. He forgot his wallet upstairs, and I was giving it back to him.”
He clenched his jaw, and the muscles in his neck twitched. “You sure, Kinsley?”
“Yeah, it’s all good. You can head out for the night.” I glanced over my shoulder back at Jace, who glared at Cade as if he wanted to rip his head from his body. “I can handle Jace.”
It took a few more seconds, but Cade eventually nodded, turning back toward his car. When the door shut, the anger faded from Jace’s eyes, and he stepped closer to me. My breath hitched in my chest when he reached up and brushed some of the hair away from my face, tucking it behind my ear. “What about me, Kinsley? Do you want me to go?”
Yes, make the right choice for the first time tonight. Instead, my heart answered for me, and, truth be told, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Jace just yet. Shaking my head, I stepped a little closer to him. “Nope. Believe you said something about food?”
Jace’s face shifted into a soul-crushing smile, more genuine than anything else I’d seen from him tonight. “Yeah. I did.”
FIVE
“So where are we heading?”
Jace smiled back at me, and I sucked in a sharp breath. The sight of that same, genuine smile twisted something in my chest, nothing like his usual cocky smirk. It made him look so much younger—lighter—than he had before. He looked at me as if I’d promised him gold instead of another hour of my time. God, no wonder so many women fell at his feet. “I’m taking you to my favorite place in the city. Trust me, it’s the best food you’ll have all month.”
He reached out, letting me lead him toward my car, but before I unlocked the door, I held up my phone. “Just in case you have a secret murderous side, I’ve shared my location with Cade and all the other bartenders.” Notexactlya lie. Chelsea and I shared our locations with each other; she never thought to check, but Jace didn’t need to know that. “If you get any ideas about selling my organs or hacking me up into little pieces, they’d avenge me.”
Jace shuddered a little. “Dark, Kins. But trust me, the only thing being murdered tonight are your tastebuds. I’m going to take you to my secret spot.”
