Page 4

Really, really nice. And...there was the swooping again.

"Magic, huh?" My voice didn't sound so smooth either. Maybe it was because I was suddenly a burning inferno. I grabbed a menu and fanned my face.

Do not think about Jackson.

Do. Not.

He shrugged. "It's true. You'll see." Then he glanced back at me with just his eyes, flashing that dimpled smile, and I knew if I spent any more time around Jackson I was going to be in oh, so much trouble.

So I shoveled down the rest of my food, made a hurried goodbye that left him flustered, and hightailed it out of that parking lot before I climbed across that booth and gave everyone a show that would surely have landed me in jail.

But hey, at least I forgot about the elevation.

Two

Jackson

I want front row seats to this

I generally never felt panic orregret, but the sinking feeling in my gut as Marley drove away was unmistakable. I had just fucked up.

"You're usually a lot happier to see me."

I shook myself out of my stupor and looked up at one of my oldest friends, Travis Montgomery. "Shit. Sorry man." I got up and hugged my best friend who I'd completely forgotten I was meeting on my way back home.

"You staring after that shiny black F-150?"

There was no point denying it. "Pretty much. Take a seat." I picked at my leftover fries while Travis yammered on about work. When his food arrived he stopped talking long enough to inhale it.

But that sinking feeling kept growing to the point I was actually considering jumping in my truck and chasing after Marley. Why was she so panicked? Why did she look so sad? And what was in that message that putthatlook in her pretty eyes? Damn they were stunning. Like a glass of whiskey by the fire. "You ever make a mistake that changed your whole life?"

Travis dropped his onion ring, mouth slightly ajar. "Well, there was that one time I stretched for another yard and ended my career."

I groaned. "That's not what I mean. Well, no I guess it's the same thing. A split-second decision that has unintended consequences."

Travis slowly turned to stare out the window. "Who the hell was in that truck?"

Someone important.I just...knew it. There was no other explanation. Something in that short time and the words we exchanged made my gut believe she was someone I was supposed to know. "When I pulled up, there was this woman having a panic attack in the parking lot. I talked her through it." And felt like I already knew so much about her even though I knew almost nothing.

"This is why you ate without me? You were flirting?"

"I was definitely not flirting. And she wasn't in any state for that." The one time I thought about it sent her into a panic and the next thing I knew I was staring at taillights.

Damn.

Travis devoured the last of his food. He still had the build of a professional football player and ate like it too. "She's got you rattled."

"Yeah, well, we just kind of clicked." Like taking a bite of something for the first time and knowing right away that it was your new favorite food.

"Your sisters are already beside themselves that you're coming home. If they find out youclickedwith someone they might actually drop dead."

My sisters were meddling, kinetic, balls of fire. Except for Karis. She was quiet like me.

Which was why she was the only sister I would drop everything for and come home for an indefinite period of time. It better be worth it because my skin was already crawling at the thought of dealing with the rest of my family.

There were entirely too many of us. And they were loud. Very loud. No one understood why I was happier staying away from Lost Creek because to everyone else, the Finn family was perfect. Two loving parents, a brood of well-liked children, no addictions, and no delinquents.

"You think I'm telling them I met a random woman on the way home? Hell no."