Page 2 of Love or Leave (Mapleton #4)

Cara followed her saviour with the golf clubs and stepped through the door after he held it open for her. "I'm Jalen, by the way."

"Cara."

He smiled again. "Great to meet you."

She fell into pace beside him as they walked down the turfed path toward the driving stalls, passing the occasional space heater that blasted her with warmth. "Thanks again for saving me back there."

"No problem."

She glanced around, and when she was sure no one would overhear, she leaned toward Jalen to confess that this was her first time playing. Unfortunately, he spoke before she could.

"You should keep your clubs in your trunk. That way you won't forget them," he said, looking at her with a soft grin. "That's what I do."

Cara forced herself to keep a straight face, even though she wanted to laugh. "Right. Good tip. Thanks."

He stopped at two empty tees, placed his clubs between them, and pulled out a pair of gloves and a club with a bulky end.

"Which driver do you want?" he asked as he pulled the gloves over his hands.

She eyed the four remaining drivers, then reached for one, hoping it was the right choice. When Jalen bent forward without a word to place a ball on his tee, she figured she'd selected appropriately.

Luckily, she'd had the foresight to look up a few golf basics after registering, so she at least knew the difference between a driver and an iron. But that's where her knowledge ended. She hadn't got far enough in her research to determine the difference between different drivers.

With a shrug, she took a ball and placed it on the tee in front of her, then threw up a prayer and swung.

And missed the ball entirely.

She braced herself and glanced over her shoulder at Jalen. Unfortunately, he'd seen the whole thing.

"You didn't see that," she said, trying for a joke.

Jalen laughed. "It's all good. It takes time to get used to new clubs."

Cara's brows shot up. "Yeah, that's definitely the problem." She discretely shook her head, hoping for this to come to an end without embarrassing herself further. Jalen was cute and nice, but there couldn't be much kicking around in his brain if he really thought she'd done this before.

Or maybe he was too focused on himself to notice.

Behind her, Cara heard the whooshing sound of a club breaking the sound barrier followed by the high-pitched smack of the ball. She turned to see Jalen's ball sailing through the air in a perfect arc toward the 300 yard sign in the field.

"Wow," she said.

Jalen wagged his eyebrows. "Thanks."

She suppressed an eye roll at his cockiness. "Have you been playing long?"

Jalen nodded. "All my life. My grandpa gave me my first lesson when I was three. We still play every Easter morning. He's a member at Glenn Abbey."

Jalen's expectant stare made her suspect she should know what Glenn Abbey was and be impressed—what with being a golfer and all.

"Oh, wow," Cara replied with unnaturally raised brows and a bob of her head.

Jalen beamed. "Yeah, it's pretty great."

He turned back to load up another ball. Cara made a mental note to look up Glenn Abbey. This whole situation was hilariously beyond her capabilities, but she'd come too far to quit now.

She lined up her next shot, but before she could take another swing, her phone rang.

"Thank God," she murmured. She reached into her pocket, happy for the distraction until she looked at the caller.

Cooper.

"Ugh."

"Something wrong?"

She shook her head at Jalen and ignored the call.

"I can give you some pointers, if you'd like. You look a little rusty."

Cara’s cheeks flushed. "Sure, that would be great."

Jalen put his driver back in his bag, then came to stand beside her. "Widen your stance a little and keep your knees loose."

"Loose knees," she said with a nod. "That makes perfect sense."

Jalen chuckled. "Keep your grip strong and your front arm as straight as possible." He took her wrist in his hand and extended it down so her elbow wasn't bent.

"Thanks." As she turned she caught a whiff of his cologne—then her phone rang again.

"Maybe you should take that," Jalen said, backing away.

Cara shook her head. "No, it's just a…"

Delusional ex boyfriend who's begun stalking me.

"A friend," she said with finality. "He's just calling about a concert this weekend."

"Which concert?"

Uh oh.

"The Cherry Chasers."

"No kidding," Jalen said with a huff of a laugh and a wide, handsome grin. "I'm going to that concert this weekend."

Shit.

"Really?"

Jalen nodded. "Those tickets were impossible to get."

"Yeah." She was still annoyed at how hard she had worked to get tickets for a crappy band she didn't even like because she knew how much Cooper liked them. Cara had planned to either give in and send them to Cooper or sell them online to the highest bidder. It felt kind of petty, considering she’d bought them as a gift—back when she’d thought they’d be going together.

Embarrassed by the sudden shame that filled her whenever she thought of Cooper, she hit the decline button on her phone and placed it back into her pocket.

"We seem to have a lot in common, eh? Golf, music. I wonder what else," Jalen said.

Cara’s lip twitched. She hated both things. But few men shared her interests. Especially attractive athletic guys with wide smiles who smelled like heaven.

"So, will I see you there?" he asked.

Cara looked up at Jalen's dark eyes. "Yes," she replied without thinking.

Suddenly, the instructor was right next to her. He scribbled at his clipboard for a moment before finally looking up at her with an assessing glare. "Alright, let's see your swing."

Fuck.

Following Jalen's advice, she aimed and then swung. Mercifully, the club somehow made contact with the ball, which skidded along the grass for fewer than fifty yards before dying. But it was something.

"Hmmm," her instructor said with a disappointed look and an unsurprised shake of his head. "Needs work."

Jalen smiled and gave her a thumbs up before turning his attention to the instructor. She probably shouldn't be considering going to that crappy concert, but if it meant she'd see Jalen again, outside of golf, it would probably be worth it.

Besides, there had to be more to him than just sports and questionable taste in music. It was way too soon to write him off.

She gave herself a decisive nod. She'd keep the tickets and go to the concert, and definitely without Cooper. But the only thing worse than going with him would be going alone.

Which meant that she’d have to rope someone into going with her.

But who?