AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I follow the way her lips tilt up into a small smile, shallow dimples evident in her cheeks. She’s captivatingly beautiful, and I don’t think she realizes it. A curtain of dark curls falls over her face as she looks down, the same way they have all night. My fingers itch to brush them away, to find out if her skin is as soft as it looks.
Three sharp knocks sound at the front door, breaking the trance we seem to have slipped into. I take a step back, putting some much-needed space between us as I walk toward the door. My eyes lock on the image of Laura holding baby Morgan while Maddie clings to her shoulders, and my heart drops.How could I betray Laura like that?
???
The drive to Jana’s house is all too quiet, filled with a low humming from the radio. It takes maybe ten minutes to get to the small, relatively new neighborhood from my house, and by the time we get there, I have warring feelings boiling just beneath the surface.
I’ve loved Laura since I met her. We were college sweethearts, and I always knew I would marry her. We were married for eight years before she died from complications giving birth to our son. Maybe it would’ve been easier had Maddox lived, but his arrival had been somber. Laura passed away before Maddox arrived, and he died within a few hours of her.
I swore I would never love anyone the way I did Laura, yet the feelings I’ve had throughout the day with Jana…they were far too real for my liking.
I pull up in front of the small white house and shift into park. Jana clicks open her seatbelt and grabs her bag from the seat beside her.
“Thanks for the ride,” she says, her voice barely a whisper. I nod, not trusting myself to speak, to even move. I keep my hands placed firmly on the steering wheel, my eyes locked on the large pine tree at the end of the street. “I guess we can try to plan some other time.”
Again, I nod.
“Can I, um…” Her words trail off with a nervous laugh, and I peek at her. If it wasn’t so dark out, I’m sure I would see her cheeks stained a pretty pink. My palms slip against the steering wheel, damp with sweat.I swear to God…“I thought maybe we should exchange numbers?”
That’s when I notice she’s holding her phone out to me. I take it, being careful not to let our fingers touch again, and I type my phone number in quickly. I send myself a quick text so I have her number before handing it back to her.
This time, our fingers brush, and heat spreads from the touch. I clench my jaw, pulling my hand away quickly. I hate the way her face falls, but I can’t stop thinking about my betrayal of Laura.
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll text you?” Jana asks, opening her door. The cab light turns on, and I can see her face clearly again.I was right. Her cheeks are stained bright pink. She bites her bottom lip, and I zero in on the movement.What is it about her lips that entice me so?
“Yeah, sounds good,” I say with a nod. The way she smiles before climbing from the truck sends my heart racing, and I scold myself for feeling like a schoolboy with a crush. I watch her until she closes the front door, disappearing into the house. “Dammit, Alex, get it together. You’ve got kids to take care of, and a childish crush isn’t helping.”
Despite my words, Jana’s smile never leaves my mind.
Chapter Ten
Jana
“Wait,” Hadlee looks at me through the mirror, her hands stilling in my hair. “Are you still sworn off guys? Or did you decide to forgo that now that you know the bookworm is actually a sweet single dad?”
I bite a little too hard on my cuticle and wince at the pain that blossoms. It’s been two days since I went to the Christmas tree farm with Alex and his daughters, and I still haven’t reached out to schedule a time to brainstorm our booth. Hadlee is still irritated that I forgot to bring our tree home, but the whole interaction with Alex in the truck that night had thrown me off.
“I don’t know, Lee,” I say, tucking my hands under my thighs. I’ve been full of nerves since that night with Alex, and my cuticles are taking the brunt of the emotions. “It was like one second, he was a total dick, and then suddenly, he’s the sweetest dad. Then I find out that his wife died. I don’t know how to feel.”
“Do you think he’s just guarded?” she asks, resuming the task at hand. She offered to cut my hair before we went to lunch, but it’s already past her lunch hour, and I’m not sure we’ll actually make it to the diner. I shrug. “It makes total sense, right? Maybe he’s protecting his heart, and his daughters’, by putting up this tough guy exterior.”
“You think so?” I bite my lip, thinking about the other night. “I dunno. I mean, that doesn’t explain why it felt like he wanted to kiss me, and then I got the cold shoulder the whole drive home.”
I feel silly for being upset about the complete 180, considering it had only been one day, but still, it stung my ego.
“Maybe he’s concerned his daughters will see him dating someone new as him trying to replace their mom,” Hadlee says, crouching behind the chair. I feel the comb tug through my hair and then hear the unmistakable sound of shears.
“Where did that come from?”
Hadlee shrugs, meeting my eyes in the mirror. “My parents got divorced. When Dad got remarried, I was so mad he’d replaced my mom so quickly and easily.”
It makes sense. The way Maddie spoke of her mom with utmost reverence, I could see why Alex might worry about that. “But I don’t want to replace their mom.”
“That won’t matter to them.”
“Hadlee, I don’t even want to date Alex,” I say, crossing my arms. I tap my arm as anxiety creeps in. Sure, I’m attracted to him, but that doesn’t mean anything. I simply want to get through this festival with my heart still intact.
“Are you sure?”
