“Morning, Blondie,” Jared says, walking over to me as I pull the bags from the trunk to take inside, one of them being Fiona’s.
Jared’s tall, at least six-foot-one with dark, slicked back brown hair and matching stubble, plus the most mischievous grin that I’ve ever seen on a man. He’s also got to be at least five years younger than I am. And the fact that I’m married hasn’t deterred him either. Which yeah, not going to lie, kind of makes me feel good. And I need all the good I can get these days.
“Hey.” I struggle to close the trunk with my hands full, trying to use my back and ass. He chuckles, grabbing some bags from me and freeing a hand for me to close it and lock the car. I’m in a pretty rough part of the city of Rayleigh, so leaving the car unlocked is not an option.
“How’re you doing?” His eyes probe my face, which I’m sure is a little puffy from last night’s crying jig.
“Great,” I lie. “You? Have you been behaving?” I arch a brow at him.
He winks at me as we near the doors to the shelter. “Define behaving.” His handsome face lights up with his grin.
I snort. “Never mind.”
He hip bumps me. “Now, now, Blondie. You know you’re the only one for me.”
That makes me laugh. We walk inside, and I pass the bags over to Glenda, who thanks me and wishes us a good morning before she opens them up to sort through them.
Jared follows me into the kitchen after we both sign in and wash our hands. We then spend a minute pulling our hair nets and aprons on.
He’s here on account of needing to complete his community service hours whereas I’m here because I want to be.
My mom raised me without my dad around. I knew him, sure, but rarely saw him, and he died when I was a teenager. Mom often went without basic things like food when times were tough with money, opting to make sure I was taken care of first. We came here to this very same women’s shelter quite a few times. My mom would put in several hours volunteering so we could have food in our stomachs during those tough periods.
So even though my husband is loaded, I still find it hard to think of myself that way. Don’t get me wrong; I’m more than grateful for everything he’s provided for us. It’s more than I ever dared to dream of. But I’d trade it all in in a heartbeat if it meant he’d come back to me.
Jared suddenly laughs, reaching over to fix my hair net.
“What?” I frown.
“Nothing,” he mutters, stroking a finger down my cheek. I blush and move away farther into the kitchen to start preparing lunch. Being that it’s a half an hour’s drive to Rayleigh, I can usually only stay a few hours. Then I have to head back to Bonnets Bay so I can get a few things done before I need to pick up the kids.
“Okay, so seeing as you won’t let me take you out to dinner, have coffee with me.”
I pause while cutting up some carrots. “Jared.” I smirk down at the food. “We’ve been over this. You know I’m married.”
I go back to chopping.
He sighs dramatically. “Yes, you’ve told me. Three times already.”
“So why do you keep asking me?” I can’t help it. I’m curious.
He moves in closer to my side. “Because I can smell a broken heart from a mile away, Blondie. And you”—he points a peeler at me—“reek of it.”
Despite the accuracy of his statement, I laugh quietly. “Is that like a weird fetish of yours or something?”
He huffs. “Hardly. But it comes in handy because I usually want to steer clear of that shit.” His eyes fall on me. “But you … well, you look like you need a good bit of loving or at the very least, a friend.”
My heart stutters at his words. He’s right. I do, but I just don’t want it from him. Besides … “I have friends.”
“While that may be so, it might help to hang out, you know … to take your mind off whatever is troubling you so much.”
I scoop the carrot slices into a bowl and grab the cling wrap from the counter behind me, mulling over it for a few minutes.
Is it wrong to have coffee with another man? One who’s made his interest in me so blatantly obvious over these past few weeks? Hell yes, it is. But I’m beginning not to give a damn about right and wrong. Not when Leo so clearly doesn’t seem to give a shit anyway.
“Okay.” I lean a hip against the stainless-steel counter to face him. “One coffee.” I raise my brows and pointer finger in warning.
He grins, startling me when he leans in to grab my cheeks to place a quick, loud peck on my forehead. “You won’t regret it, Blondie.”
Let’s hope not.
We finish our shift, and I wait for him outside while he fills out some paperwork needed for his probation officer. I don’t know all the details of what he did, but I heard that he used to be mixed up with a bad circle of people, who were heavily involved in motor vehicle theft. He swaggers a little as he walks out to find me standing here. Beaming, as if he thought I’d renege on our coffee date.
Date? Nope, just coffee, I tell myself. And who knows, maybe caving a little will help in getting him to back off a bit.
He wraps an arm around my shoulder, and I instantly lift it off me, scowling up at him.
Chuckling, he raises his hands in the air. “Okay, got it.”
We walk into an old diner at the end of the street, and Jared slides into an empty booth in the corner. I hop in on the other side, placing my purse down next to me and ordering a latte when the waitress comes by. Jared orders a flat white, and I can’t help but think about Leo and his love for black coffee, no sugar. I pull my phone out to check it but find no missed calls or texts. I don’t know what I was expecting really. Maybe a sign that I shouldn’t be doing this? I bite my lip as anxiety assaults me and put my phone away.
Jared leans across the table between us, clasping his hands together as he stares intently at me. My teeth slowly release their hold on my lip as I realize no man has really looked at me in this way for months.
“What’s eating at you, Blondie? Is that Rover of yours giving you trouble? Because I know a guy—”
A laugh escapes as I hold a hand up, halting his words. “Stop, no.”
He winks. “Just let me know.”
“Aren’t you in enough trouble with the law?” I ask him.
“Well, I didn’t say I’d be doing anything, now did I?” He gives me a wicked grin, and I feel butterflies slowly awaken in my stomach. Which terrifies me, so I decide to cut the bullshit. “Jared, you’re funny, handsome, and I’m sure you can be very sweet, in your own unconventional way …”
He gasps loudly. “You can’t break up with me yet, babe. We’ve only just begun.”
I burst out laughing again, wiping underneath my eyes.
“Man, you should really do that more,” he says quietly.
“Huh?” I thank the waitress when she places our mugs down and moves to the table across from us.
“Laugh. You should definitely laugh more.”
Oh. The smile wilts off my face as my cheeks start to heat. I tug my mug over to me, prepping it before blowing and taking a small, tentative sip. “Wow. This is amazing.”
He takes a sip of his own. “Right? Best coffee in this damn city.”
We drink in silence for a few minutes, and I start to fidget under his searching green gaze.
“It’s your husband, isn’t it?” he asks suddenly, looking at the diamond ring on my finger.
I almost choke on my coffee. “Excuse me?”
“Your husband. He’s the one who’s got you looking like you’re barely scraping by.” He then eyes my Gap t-shirt dress, my hair, and my purse. “Even if you have money.”
“Funny you should say that. I grew up in this city in a tiny one bedroom flat—just me and my mom.”
“No way.” He whistles. “And Mr. Rich swooped in to save your ass? Cinderella style?”
I smile sadly. “Not exactly. We met in college, and I thought he was a rich prick until I finally gave him a chance. He grew up where we live now, Bonnets Bay.”
Jared’s eyes widen. “A Bay bitc—” He cuts himself off, a wee bit too late.
“A Bay bitch,” I finish for him, rolling my eyes. “Yes. Though not all of us are bitches. Just FYI.”
He simply smirks. “So Miss I have a perfect life, what’s happened?”
I take a deep breath, not sure whether to say anything. We haven’t really known each other that long. So I settle on something small. “Just … things between my husband and I have been, strained, I guess.” I shrug as if it’s not tearing me to shreds.
He leans forward again. “Well, just FYI … He’s an idiot.”
I can’t help it; I start laughing again.
We finish our drinks, watching each other, me discreetly—though it’s hard to be discreet when his eyes are constantly watching me. “Have you and your husband, ah, talked about it?”
I nod my head. “I’ve tried. He insists that nothing is wrong, that he’s just got a lot going on at work, and that he’s busy. But I know something is definitely wrong. Nothing about how he’s been acting lately has been right.” I shake my head. “What am I even doing? You probably don’t want to hear this.”
He grasps my hand, gently squeezing it in both of his warm ones. I look down at them, unable to tear my eyes away from them. From the way they seem to shield mine protectively yet also hide the evidence of my wedding ring.
“Blondie, I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t interested. And in case you haven’t noticed these past few weeks, I’m interested. Very interested in you.”
A shaky breath leaves my lips as I raise my eyes to meet his heated gaze. “Why? You’re probably six years younger than I am.”
His green eyes narrow. “I’ll be twenty-seven in a few months.”
“Ho, wow,” I breathe.
“What?” His thick brows pull in.
“I can’t. It’s not … It’s just not something I ever thought I’d do. Besides, I just turned thirty-two, Jared.”
His eyes widen a fraction. “I thought you were in your late twenties, max.”
That makes me smile. “Flattering, thank you.”
“It doesn’t matter, you know. Hey, maybe you just need a bit of fun. Maybe, just maybe,” he says quietly, tilting his head, “I can make you come so hard you’ll forget you even have a husband.”
Holy shit. Yep, my panties are officially damp, and my brain is screaming at me to run, run, run.
But I don’t. I stay seated, shocked and turned on by his audacity.
He chuckles, running a finger over the top of my hand. “You haven’t been fucked in a while, have you?” he asks with a deceptive softness in his voice that I feel all the way down to my bones.
“Jared,” I hiss, glancing around to make sure no one heard him.
“Relax. I’ll help you. Come on.” He gets up, digging out a twenty from the pocket of his black jeans before holding a hand out to me.
I swallow over the boulder forming in my throat.
I can’t do this. Why am I even thinking about doing this?
Shaking my head, I tell him, “I have to go. My children need to be picked up in a few hours.” He takes my hand anyway, helping me up and passing me my purse.
I thank him but release his hand as soon as we step outside into the midday sun.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he says.
When we reach my Range Rover, I dig my keys out and unlock it, opening the door and throwing my purse on the passenger seat. I turn around to find him right there. There’s so little space between us that when I inhale, I can almost taste the coffee and the slight hint of mint on his breath. My eyes involuntarily land on his lips. Thin, but tempting lips, I think as I watch his tongue dart out to lick at the corner of them.
“Ummm …” I mumble shakily, having no idea what to do. Back my ass up into my car somehow, or tell him to back up?
I opt for the second option, but before I can get the words to leave my mouth, his lips are dangerously close to mine as he places a soft kiss right beside my mouth. Breath whooshes out of me when he pulls back and winks at me once more. “Later, Blondie.”
I watch, trying to draw air into my starving lungs as he swaggers off down the sidewalk and disappears into the crowd of lunch goers who have filled the streets.