Chapter 3

It was like ripping off a Band-Aid; the faster, the better. Isabella took a deep breath before she pushed open the door with her shoulder to Jack’s new office.

“Hello? Jack?” she asked to the empty room.

“In here,” he shouted.

She found him standing on a ladder hanging a few photos on the walls to liven the place up.

“Hi. I brought coffee,” she said as she entered and stood behind him, watching his shoulder and back muscles flex under his t-shirt as he lifted, then hung, the last photo..

“Thanks. It was just as good as Marc said it would be,” he said stepping down off the ladder and taking the coffee from her hand. She was careful this time to not let his fingers brush against hers.

“So, you seem to be settling in well enough. What kind of law do you practice?” she asked after an awkward silence.

“Contract law. I don’t need much to get started. I can deal with a lot of my clients online or over the phone, so business won’t be slow while the town figures out if they like me or not,” he said with a smile.

“Oh, yeah. What they say about small towns is true. They’ll all be judging you and waiting to see what kind of a person you are before they come to you with their business. Just be prepared for all their lawyer jokes. We’ve not had a proper lawyer before and they’re bound to ask you some strange questions.”

“Duly noted,” he said before he took a long drink of his coffee. He paused and looked down at the cup. “You changed it.”

“Just slightly. I put less espresso in it and a dash of almond milk in it to calm it down. I hope that’s okay. It’s just, I know espresso isn’t good for stress and if Marc’s so concerned about your stress levels, then I really don’t want to be responsible for giving you a heart attack,” she said in a rush as she waved her hands around to explain things.

“No, it’s fine. It tastes better this way, actually. Funny. I never liked milk in my coffee before,” he mused. “And honestly, I’m not going to drop dead. I promise.”

“Okay. Good,” she said with a smile. “So, what do you need help with?”

“I don’t suppose you want to help me pick out some paint samples, do you? I’m not artistically inclined and I’d hate to choose the wrong colors.”.

“Plus, I know what the town might like, is that it?” she asked with a grin.

“Something like that,” he said and winked at her.

“Fair enough. I grew up with an artist so I have some inkling of how to choose paint colors. We’ll head over to Cody’s Hardware store. He has every possible color you might want.”

“Oh good. I was thinking a nice bright red would do the trick,” he said in all seriousness.

She looked at him, not entirely sure if he was serious or not. He looked serious. He sounded serious. But she didn’t know him well enough to know for sure.

“I’m joking, Isabella. It’s okay. I was actually thinking gray would work,” he finally said as he took pity on her.

She released her breath, glad she didn’t have to try and explain to him why red would be a bad choice. She had heard so much color theory from her sister while they were growing up that she could give the lecture herself.

“Good. I was worried for a second,” she finally said.

He smiled as he grabbed his light coat and threw it on before he opened the door for her and gestured her to lead the way.

Isabella actually enjoyed spending time with him. Not that she would ever admit

After they picked out paint samples they brought them back to Jack’s office. Just as they entered the office, Jack’s phone rang.

“Sorry. I should take this,” he said as he sent the bags down on the floor and went to answer the phone.

Isabella began pulling the paint samples out of the bag and set them against the wall, along with the large can of primer. It would probably only take one day to paint everything.

“Hey, Isabella, I’m really sorry but this is going to take a while,” Jack said as he walked up to her.

“Oh, it’s no problem. I’ll see you later then,” she said and grabbed her coat to leave.

“Wait. Have dinner with me tonight,” he said.

“Not tonight. I’ve got some work stuff to take care of before the end of the month,” she said after a moment of hesitation.

 

“Right. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he said as he walked her out.

“Tomorrow?” she asked.

“For coffee,” he said and winked at her.

She looked at him and knew that if she gave an inch he would take a mile. And so she smiled, a friendly smile, but a closed off smile, before she turned and walked away.

She couldn’t afford to let him in, to let him close. Or to let her desires take over her. It would only end in disaster. Past experiences taught her that.

She looked down at the small scar on her wrist and her determination was reaffirmed. No, she would not fall for a charming man again. He acted so confident at the wedding and then he could act oddly gentle or tender. It confused Isabella to see both sides of him like that. And it made her worry because her ex-boyfriend had been two-sided like that, too. Gentle at first, and then the insults would come into play. And yet, she was still intrigued by Jack. Maybe it was because of his confident nature. That was always something she admired in people, how they could be so confident in themselves and their abilities. After the abuse David had hurled at her for a year, she had lost her confidence and fought tooth and nail to build it back up.

Isabella had learned her lesson the hard way and no matter what anybody said, time didn’t necessarily heal all wounds. The physical ones, yes. But the mental and emotional wounds would stay with her forever.

She would just have to be firm. polite and distant. For Marc and Lucy’s sake. Jack was a permanent person in her life now and she could hardly be rude to him just because she was a little scared. After all, there was no one who could protect her from the particular threat of the past but herself. She couldn’t rely on a man again, not after last time. This time, it was up to her to keep herself safe. And she wouldn’t let Jack tall-dark-and-sexy risk her safety.

She couldn’t risk it. She just couldn’t. Jasper, that kind college boy, had died because of his involvement with her a few years ago. What if what happened to him happened again? History tended to repeat itself. But this time, it would be Jack. Isabella shook her head and wiped a single tear away. She wouldn’t let anyone else get hurt because of her. I promise, Jasper, I won’t let it happen again.