“What was that?”
I grabbed a menu from the far side of the table. “Nothing. So, what’s good here?”
But Jace took my menu and placed it down on the table, staring at me with a look that was all too knowing. “Not until you tell me what happened. Your entire face changed, and you looked…” He paused, searching for the right word. “Sad.”
I had to bite back a chuckle. Sadness was my default setting at this point. But as I looked into Jace’s sapphire eyes, my grief sank like a weight in the pit of my stomach. God, I was getting so fucking tired of trying to hold it all together. “This place reminds me of my mom.” I tried to smile, but it came out strained. “Pulled me back to my childhood for a minute.”
“What’s your mom like?” Jace asked.
“Dead,” I said, taking the menu out from under his hands. The word fell flat between us, squashing any of the tension that had lingered since the bar.Wasn’t that what I wanted?And if so, why did it make my stomach twist? I shook my head andlifted my menu to block my face. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It’s hard to talk about her right now.”
Jace leaned forward and laid the menu back down on the table. “I’m sorry. How long has she been gone?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Fuck,” Jace sighed, running his hand over his mouth. “How are you holding up?”
“Terribly,” I choked out, reaching up to brush the tears away. “God, I’m sorry. I’m okay as long as I don’t think about her.”
“Don’t apologize,” Jace said. “I haven’t lost a parent, so I don’t know what it’s like, but my mom…she left my dad when I was fifteen. Haven’t seen her since.”
“That’s awful.”
He shrugged, far too casually. “I’ve moved on from it. But you’re allowed to feel it, Kinsley. If you want to talk about your mom, I’m here.”
“Thank you,” I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. “But if it’s alright with you, I’d like to talk about anything else right now—like how many toppings I can put on top of my pancakes before Doris curses my name.”
SIX
Most nights, when I came to Doris’, I kept to myself.
Never brought another person. Never made niceties with anyone but the servers and the owner. It was my perfect little paradise, leaving my name at the door and hiding away for a couple of hours.
But sitting across from Kinsley, a peace washed over me, even more than the one I usually felt sitting here. She beamed as Doris brought over her stack of pancakes, piled high with every type of fruit and more whipped cream than anyone should ever consume. By comparison, my omelet and home fries looked pretty pathetic.
When Doris placed the plate in front of her, Kinsley dug in, smiling broader than she’d done the entire night. Her first bite made her moan—the sound so sensuous, I had to shift in my seat.Fucking hell. My eyes kept tracking the movement of her lips, especially when a small dash of whipped cream lingered on the edge. Without thinking, I reached toward her. She flinched at first, but when I pulled back, she leaned in, granting me permission to touch her, and damn, that was intoxicating. That this woman—the one who seemed so guarded and on edge—allowed me to touch her seemed like a gift I didn’t deserve.
My thumb ghosted over the corner of her plush lower lip, taking away the smudge of cream. When I pulled back, I popped the tip of my thumb into my mouth, sucking the sweetness away. Kinsley’s eyes widened at the gesture, and it only made my dick harden more. Her expression was so fucking sexy—seeing her drop her indifferent act long enough to show I affected her too.
“Delicious.” I smirked.
Kinsley narrowed her eyes. “Don’t get used to it. That’s the only taste you’re going to get.”
I grabbed my fork and dove into my plate. We ate in silence for a couple of minutes before Kinsley dropped her fork and stared at me. “Okay, I don’t get what we’re doing here. At least, what you’re doing here with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…” She crossed her arms, leaning against the back of the booth. “We both know you didn’t come to the club tonight to watch me eat pancakes. So what is this, Jace? I already told you?—”
I reached out, covering her hand with my own. Her skin was soft, far too soft for my calluses to glide against it, but there was something here. A spark. Something that intrigued me enough to want to stick around. I wanted to see that sparkle in her deep brown eyes as they met mine.
“Do you question everyone’s intentions?”
“Always,” Kinsley said back, the word instantaneous, but it lacked that defensive bite, instead almost coming across as sadness. This woman was a mystery, and each moment I spent around her only made me want to dig in deeper.
I cleared my throat. “When I first got drafted, my dad warned me to be careful about who I let get close. That, with a lot of teams, I was just a stack of numbers, only as valuable as my stats on the field. Beyond that, when people find out you make agood living and have some fame attached to it, you can never tell who’s there for the right reasons.”
“Sounds like a real joy.”
