Page 28 of A Lonely Road (Spruce Hill #2)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Nora

“ Y ou didn’t eat a single donut,” I pointed out when we were back in the truck.

Jake groaned. “You’re right. Do you mind swinging by The Mermaid on our way home? I want to check my records for the bachelor party booking and Casey wants an official introduction bad enough that she offered to meet us there,” he said.

Curious to meet one of Jake’s friends, I agreed. I’d noticed Casey behind the bar with him that night and felt a twinge of self-consciousness, knowing she’d witnessed my probable overreaction and almost certainly heard more about it from Jake afterward.

Oh god—the whole town of Spruce Hill had probably heard about it .

“Would you believe me if I told you I’ve never been embroiled in this much drama before in my entire life?” I asked dryly.

“I believe that with every ounce of my being, Nora,” Jake replied with a grin. “I’d go so far as to guess you wouldn’t have spoken a word to me when you first moved in if you’d had it your way.”

“Hmm. I suppose that’s accurate. That howdy thing really was a turnoff, you know.”

Jake laughed, but he shot me a pointed glance. “I say this only because I am utterly infatuated with you, Nora, but I have definitely noticed that you can be a little prickly.”

“Infatuated,” I repeated, cocking a brow. He wasn’t wrong.

“Hopelessly devoted?” His lips tipped upward, clearly pleased that I’d chosen to question that particular word, rather than prickly.

We’d get to that later.

I laughed. “Does that mean we’re going steady, Jake Lincoln?”

“Hell yes, it does.”

“Good, I do appreciate knowing exactly where things stand,” I said primly.

Jake’s arm stretched out along the back of the seat so he could toy with my hair. When I relaxed my head into his palm and closed my eyes, he said, “You’re like a cat, the way you lean in and purr every time I touch you. It’s terribly sexy, you know. ”

I didn’t open my eyes, but I smiled. “Well, I guess being compared to a sexy cat is better than a porcupine.”

“I should have known you wouldn’t let that comment slide,” he replied with a laugh. “You’re too soft for a porcupine, anyway, but you’ve sure as hell got claws. It’s one of my favorite things about you.”

He parked outside the restaurant but didn’t make any move to leave the truck, just kept playing with my hair. With a soft sigh, I opened my eyes and rolled my head toward him so that his hand cupped my cheek.

“I appreciate you sticking around long enough to get past my prickly side. I’m not sure what you saw in me to make you think it was worth the trouble, but I’m very glad that you did.”

“Well, I’m sure my position on ignoring a woman’s signals has been made pretty clear by now, but I would've backed off in a heartbeat if you’d wanted me to, Nora. I do hope you know that.”

His gaze was as soft as the way his thumb brushed over my cheek in a tiny, hypnotic arc. I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat and nodded.

“I know you would have. That’s probably why I couldn’t bring myself to give you the boot. No matter how many hurdles I threw out there, you cleared every one of them.”

“And I’ll clear any more that come my way.”

I sucked in a shaky breath. “You see me in a way no one else ever has. ”

“I like what I see,” he whispered, then leaned over and kissed me. By the time he drew away, I was dazed and a little bit ruffled, which was probably exactly what he intended. “There’s more where that came from when we get back to my place.”

My lips twitched up into a smile. “So your plan is to just hole up at your house and fool around all day until the police solve this mystery?”

“Well, I was planning to replace the door at your apartment and set you up with a security camera somewhere along the way, but as for the rest of the time, I’m not opposed to your plan.”

There were definitely worse things than hiding away with Jake Lincoln, at least until we knew what was going on. The break-in by itself would've been easy enough to explain away, but the text?

That was intentional.

Just like the bar and the shopping incident, my thoughts had immediately gone to Shawn Milton when we found the apartment door open, even though I’d already decided it was highly unlikely that he was the one at the bistro.

Now I was thinking about the guy from The Mermaid, the way his eyes slithered over me, the way he shrieked when I twisted his arm. After learning that Jake had gone back to threaten him, it was obvious that guy had a reason to want revenge on both of us.

In truth, I wasn’t sure what bothered me more—Jake getting tangled up in something because of me, or the niggling feeling that whoever was behind all this would be more than happy for me to continue my usual pattern of moving on after a few months.

What would it be like to stay for once, to put down roots instead of running away? To rely on someone else and be relied upon, to weave my existence into a tapestry of others?

Those questions echoed through my mind until I realized Jake was still watching me, quiet and patient as ever.

I shook myself from my tangled thoughts, keeping my tone intentionally light as I said, “Let’s get this over with so we can hole up at your house.”

“Excellent plan.”

With a wink and that beautiful dimpled grin, he opened his door and led the way into the restaurant.

The Mermaid was eerily quiet at this hour of the morning, but Jake’s friend Casey was waiting for us at one of the tables near the door.

Her short hair was dyed a brilliant shade of red that bordered on burgundy, and she had bright hazel eyes and an easy smile that somehow made me feel immediately at ease.

And she was beautiful in a sharp, edgy way that made me wonder if this was who held Sam’s heart.

“This must be the infamous Nora Cassidy,” Casey said as she stood to offer her hand.

I shook it and shot Jake a look. “I don’t know about infamous, but yes. It’s nice to meet you, Casey.”

“I’m going to go check the booking information. I’ll be as quick as I can,” Jake told us. “Sit, chat, give Casey the third degree about my background. Casey, you have my permission to tell her anything, unless it makes me look bad. Do not mention that birthday party junior year.”

He winked at me and I laughed, grateful to him for not abandoning us to awkward silence. Casey returned to her seat across the table while I pulled out a chair. Though her lingering smile was friendly, her gaze was razor sharp on my face.

“He’s crazy about you,” she said.

“Sam said the same thing,” I replied evenly.

I got the impression that Casey wasn’t being possessive of Jake, only protective. It struck me much the same as Sam’s attitude, a fact which I filed away to think more about at a later time.

Casey nodded and relaxed into her chair. “I had dinner with Sam last night. She might have mentioned it a few dozen times, but I’ve seen it for myself.”

“You caught me on a bad night,” I said, grimacing.

“To be perfectly frank, I thought I was going to be posting bail for him when that guy grabbed you. Not only was I pretty impressed with the way you brought the sucker down, I was also grateful that you took care of it before Jake could get involved. He’s not a violent man, but he’s got a protective streak a mile wide.

Maybe two miles now, with you in the picture. ”

A wry smile curled my lip. “Glad I could help out.”

“Are you as crazy about him as he is about you?” Casey asked.

My eyes narrowed on her face and she gave a small, unapologetic shrug.

“I’m not trying to force any declarations out of you, I just want to know he’s not going to get his heart broken.

Sam doesn’t think you’ll hurt him, but she tends to be an eternal optimist.”

“I have no intention of breaking his heart,” I replied quietly.

Part of me was annoyed by the probing, but the other part was pleased to know Jake had friends who were willing to put themselves in uncomfortable positions in order to watch his back.

“I’ve never really been known for making declarations of any kind, so I’ll just say that I’ve never wanted something to work as much as I want this to. Does that answer your question?”

Casey’s smile was swift and satisfied. “That’s what I was hoping to hear.”

“Good. I promise I’m not the enemy here, Casey. I—I’m happy. For the first time in a long time, and Jake is the reason for that.”

The expression on Casey’s face softened, but instead of speaking, she reached out and squeezed my hand on top of the table. As my throat clogged with emotion, I gave a quick nod and squeezed back.

It seemed that my friend count in Spruce Hill was slowly increasing.

Once I’d gained control of my voice again, I refocused on Casey with a flare of interest. Maybe it wasn’t my place to question, but I was intensely curious—and desperate to shift the conversation away from myself.

“So, you and Sam seem to be very good . . . friends? ”

“Hmm,” Casey replied thoughtfully, but her eyes narrowed for a second before she grinned. “Good friends, yes. We all grew up together.”

It was a very careful non-answer, but I smiled back at her. “Okay then, new subject. Junior year birthday party?”

Apparently, that was the opening Casey had been waiting for, because she launched into a hilarious recollection of Sam and Jake’s seventeenth birthday party.

Jake had been dared to chug a half gallon of blue raspberry snow cone syrup and ended up vomiting all over the cake.

As a result, his twin gave him a black eye and the guests were all sent home early.

Damn, I wished I could have been there to see it.

Jake reappeared a few minutes later and shot a glare at Casey. From the way I was trying to muffle helpless laughter with my hand, he must have known the subject came up. Unfortunately for him, he could barely muster up even fake outrage and I saw that dimple peeking out at me beneath his scowl.

“Dammit, McDonald. I asked one thing. One thing!”

Casey gave an unrepentant shrug. “Sorry, Jakey boy. She asked. How could I refuse when she turned those big brown eyes on me?”

He grumbled under his breath, sliding into the chair between us. “Yeah, yeah. You get a pass this time, I guess. She’s pretty irresistible.”

I preened for a moment, but my smile quickly dropped. “Did you get the names? ”

“I found the host’s name on the booking and sent it over to Chief Roberts. He’ll follow up with them to figure out who else was there. I need to hit the hardware store, Nora. I could have Sam come hang with you at the house, if you want?”

Casey choked back a laugh when I turned my narrow-eyed glare in his direction.

“That’s my cue, folks. Nora, it was a pleasure meeting you.

Jake, I’ll see you around, if you survive the next ten minutes.

” With that, she pushed out of her chair and left the restaurant with her hands in her pockets, whistling a jaunty tune.

Jake blinked at me in confusion. “What did I do?”

“I don’t need a babysitter, Jake. Your sister doesn’t need to keep me company and I really don’t think I even need security cameras. I’m not helpless or a child or some kind of weakling.”

My voice rose toward the end as my careful composure began to crack, and I covered my face with my hands.

“Nora,” Jake said gently. He didn’t touch me, just leaned his elbows on his knees and waited until I finally dropped my hands to look at him again.

“Believe me, I know all of that. You know I do. I’m sorry if I made it sound like I thought you needed a babysitter, but I promise it was not my intention.

Sam has been texting me nonstop all day, that’s what made me think of it.

That’s all that made me think of it. You’re the strongest person I know. I have absolute faith in you, okay?”

“I’m sorry I’m such a mess,” I whispered, suddenly feeling so sad, so lost. If only I’d built a stronger foundation before it started crumbling under my feet .

He opened his arms in invitation. I stayed quiet for a long moment before I stood and wrapped my arms around his neck. The position placed his head level with my sternum, and he pressed a warm, sweet kiss to my collarbone.

“You are an absolute badass. A smoking hot badass, at that. Wanna come pick out a new door for your badass apartment with me? Letting me loose in a hardware store alone is a dangerous and generally expensive prospect, so you’d be doing me a favor, really.”

“Yes. Let’s go hardware shopping.”

“I’ve never been more turned on in my life,” he said lightly, blue eyes lighting up at my laughter as he stood and took my hand.

I dropped my head to his shoulder as we left the restaurant. When we reached the truck, Jake sighed softly.

“I wish I could shield you from the world.”

I could see in his expression that he knew, even as the thought crossed his mind and slipped past his lips, that I didn’t want someone to shield me.

I wanted someone to fight by my side, to have my back, someone who respected just how strong I was and wouldn’t try to shove me into the background for the sake of chivalry or macho pride or whatever happened to be at stake.

Before I could respond, though, he hugged me tight to his chest and shook his head .

“I know. Believe me, I know that isn’t what you need from me, Nora. Whatever you do need, I’ll give it to you, be that for you. No matter what.”