Chapter 8

She was on cloud nine. Isabella had made the decision to live boldly after the incident in Jack’s office three days ago. The Incident. That’s how she’d refer to it. He made her feel things she hadn’t ever experienced before and she didn’t want to deny herself any longer.

Isabella smiled to herself as she made coffee for her customers. A few wisps of her blonde hair had already escaped her French braid as she worked, but she ignored it as she continued. Her life was good right now. She had finally opened her own coffee shop after years of her father and David telling her she couldn’t do it and that she should be a stay at home trophy wife and mother. Business was good. Her sister was happy. And she was happy, too. Jack made her smile, laugh and joke around. He was good for her.

But all good things come to an end at some point, a fact Isabella knew very well. So she would enjoy it while she could, every second of it.

Her breath caught in her throat, threatening to choke her when she turned around to shout out the next order.

“David,” she whispered, her eyes wide. He was just as good looking as she remembered in her nightmares. Tall, but not as tall as Jack, blond, blue eyes, tan skin. The all American boy next door, wrapped around a vicious heart.

“Hello, Isabella,” he said, his eyes sharp as he studied her.

“What are you doing here?” she finally asked.

“Getting coffee.”

“You hate coffee,” she reminded him.

“I’ve learned to appreciate it. And I must say, little Isabella, you’re rather good at making it.”

“Funny. You never used to think so before.”

“I’ve changed. And so have you it would seem,” he said as he looked her up and down with a small sneer on his face.

She looked at him and knew he was lying. He hadn’t changed. Not if that letter the other day had been any indication. He was just as manipulative and abusive as ever. And she would not trust him.

“Please leave,” she said, her voice blank as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him.

“But what if I want to move back to town?” he asked, a hint of menace in his voice.

“You never liked Gulls Hollow.”

“Maybe it’s not the town I want to come back to,” he suggested as his blue eyes studied her.

“Then I don’t understand why you would want to come back,” she said, not willing to let him think she wanted him back in any way.

“Oh, have you grown claws, little Isabella?” he taunted.

“Maybe I have,” she said, shoulders back and eyes hard, even though she was shaking inside, afraid of this man who stood before her.

“Cats can be declawed,” he whispered as he stared right into her eyes.

The fear blossomed even more as Isabella heard the unmistakable threat in his voice. He wanted to break her again. That’s why he had come back. He would break her, destroy her body and soul, and make her question her own self worth again. She had promised Lucy she would never go back to that. And she intended to keep her promise.

“But they still have teeth,” she retorted in a quiet voice. She would not break. She would not even bend. Not for him. Not to him. Never again.

Isabella heard the bell chime over the door and felt the energy in the room shift. The panic uncurled in her belly at the same time her breath returned to normal and the ice thawed in her veins.

Jack was here. She glanced over at him and gave a little smile. She hoped he saw the plea for help in her eyes and wished his protective instincts would surge through him. She knew he was not happy if the glare he threw David’s way was any indication. Keeping track of him out of the corner of her eye, she waited while he bypassed the front counter altogether. She was scared of David and she knew Jack could sense that. He seemed to have this ability to know when she was uncomfortable and she chalked it up to his years as a lawyer. Although if she were honest, the defensive way she curled her arms over her chest and raised her chin in defiance probably gave her away, too.

“Morning, Izzy,” he said as he placed his left hand against her back and leaned down to place a lingering kiss on her cheek.

And just like that, she relaxed. Jack was here. She was safe.

“Who the hell are you?” David demanded as Isabella relaxed into Jack.

“Jack Grayson, lawyer,” Jack said as he reached out his right hand to shake.

“David Lassle, Isabella’s boyfriend,” said David as he completely ignored Jack’s outstretched hand and inwardly seethed. How dare Isabella cozy up with some other man!

“Ex-boyfriend. I broke up with you four years ago,” Isabella said, voice steady.

David sneered down at her. “Whatever you say, little Isabella,” David said in an overtly friendly voice. But Isabella knew better. “Like I said, I’ll be in town for a while, Isabella. We should catch up,” said David as Isabella curled under Jack’s arm.

“I don’t think so,” said Isabella, confident and sure of herself in a way she had never been when she had dated David.

“Given enough time, I’m sure I can change your mind. Just like old times, Isabella,” said David as he stared at her before he glared at Jack and walked away.

Isabella let out a huge breath as she sagged against Jack for support, his arm tight around her waist as she practically melted against him, but not in a passionate way .

“Thank you,” said Isabella as she looked up at Jack.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he rubbed small circles on her back.

She nodded and said, “I’m sorry, Jack. I didn’t mean to panic like that.”

Jack watched her walk back behind the counter to make coffee, but she knew he wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

“Charming man. Who is he?” Jack asked as he leaned on the counter, careful with her for the moment.

“An old boyfriend. One who wasn’t too happy about me breaking up with him,” Isabella answered in a quiet voice as she made coffee. She had deflated after David left, wilted like a dying flower. And she was angry with herself for that. And angry at David. How dare he come back into her life and dredge up painful memories?

Isabella knew Jack deserved an explanation for what had just happened. She just wasn’t sure how much to tell him right now. If things kept progressing with them and their relationship, he deserved to know everything. But knowing everything might scare him off and then she would be alone again. Isabella shook her head. That wasn’t fair to Jack.

She shook her head and finished making coffee for them before she led him down the hall to her small office in back. Isabella wasn’t ready to tell him everything, but he needed some sort of explanation for what had just happened.

She closed the door behind him before she sat down in her chair and laid her head back against the seat. She knew he studied her from the chair across her desk, but she screwed her eyes tightly shut as if to block out the world. The tightness of her eyebrows and the furrow between her brows created a deep crease on her otherwise smooth face.

“David’s my ex. It didn’t end well. I wanted a clean break and he couldn’t accept that,” she said, all her energy gone.

“And he’s just coming back now?” Jack asked.

She rolled her head against the back of her chair in the negative. “He came back once before, or tried to, when I was still in college. That didn’t end well, either. Lucy almost pulled a restraining order against him, but he left before she could. Gone without a trace. We thought that would be it and he was well and truly gone. Apparently not.”

Jack hesitated. Isabella could see his struggle, as if he held back all his questions to avoid making her feel like a witness on the stand, and smiled at him softly. He tilted his head in question.

“I don’t really want to talk about it too much right now, Jack. Let’s just say that neither time ended well. I’ll tell you the rest in time, but right now I just want to put it aside and finish my work for the day.”

The note from the other day ran through her mind. You belong to ME, it had said. Was David the one who sent it? If he was, then Isabella wasn’t safe at home. She might not even be safe here in her own coffee shop.

“Fair enough. I’ll be here when you want to talk. And if you want me to stay with you, just so there’s another person in your house, I don’t mind. Or you can stay with Marc and Lucy if that would make you more comfortable,” he said.

“I’ll be fine at home,” Isabella said.

“It’s more for my peace of mind than anything else,” he said. “I worry about you, Izzy. Especially now with David here. I’m not leaving you alone.”

“That’s sweet, Jack, but I’m a big girl and I’ve been taking care of myself for a while now.”

“I’m sure you have, but he didn’t look like he was going to leave you alone.”

“He will for a little while. I need time to think about what I’m going to do,” she said.

“A restraining order would be most effective,” he said bluntly.

“I think you know the law better than I do, but I’m pretty sure I need a reason to file a restraining order other than I just don’t like him,” she said, trying to infuse a sense of humor into an otherwise humorless situation.

Jack nodded. It wasn’t the typical kind of case he usually took on as he preferred other legal matters.

“Jack, I’m fine. And I will be fine. But if you’re so worried, come over for dinner tonight. I know I said Sunday, but let’s move it to tonight if that’s okay with you?” she said. “I’m not going to say that I’m not a little rattled at seeing David here, so maybe it would be nice to have you over for dinner.”

“It’s a start,” Jack said, a glint of humor in his eyes. He would protect her, but right now she didn’t need to be smothered by his protective streak.

She shook her head at him before she said, “You’re impossible to deal with sometimes.”

“But it makes me a good lawyer,” he said with a grin.

“I can see that.”

They smiled at each other for a second before a knock sounded at the door. It was Isabella’s assistant manager. She needed Isabella back out on the floor.

“Duty calls. I’ll see you tonight,” she said to Jack.

“Call me if David comes back. Otherwise I’ll worry all day and not get anything done,” he said before he leaned down to plant a kiss against her forehead.

That small kiss, so gentle and unassuming and not sexual at all, melted her heart. She was falling in love with this man. There was no denying that anymore.

“He won’t come back,” she said.

“But if he does, call me.”

It wasn’t a request. It was an order. Isabella rolled her eyes but eventually nodded. She knew he wouldn’t let this go, so she decided to give in and accept that he would be protective. It was thrilling in a way, to know that someone other than her sister could be so protective of her. David had only ever been jealous. And Jasper had worried about her, but never shown this level of protection.

“Now go to work,” she said and pushed between his shoulder blades as they walked out to the main area of the coffee shop again.

“I will,” he said. “Thanks for the coffee.” He leaned down once they were at the door and placed a gentle kiss on her lips in front of the whole coffee shop, which was full of long-time customers and locals as it was so early in the morning.

The excited cheers of the customers as Jack pulled away and grinned at her before striding out of the shop made her face heat..

“All right, that’s enough! It’s not every day that our town coffee connoisseur get smooched right in front of us, but let’s make it as embarrassing for her as we possibly can!” Jessica shouted as the crowd cheered again, loud enough to be heard from people walking by outside.

“Jessica!” chided Isabella as she covered her cheeks to hide the blush that bloomed there. Jessica only laughed as the others joined in.

“I give up,” Isabella said as she went back behind the counter and began making coffee again.

“We’re just happy for you,” said Jessica as she came around the counter to give her friend a hug. “Are you happy, Izzy?”

Isabella sighed and then smiled before she turned to Jessica and said, “I am. I’m very happy.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear,” Jessica said and gave Isabella another hug.

“David’s back,” Isabella whispered abruptly and watched as Jessica froze and her eyes widened in horror.

“When?” Jessica asked.

“Today. Just before Jack got here.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” said Isabella. “And now Jack is overprotective and everything’s getting more complicated by the day.”

“Are you going to tell Jack?” Jessica asked.

Isabella sighed and looked away. “Yes, at some point. I just don’t know when.”

“Sooner rather than later would be better.”

“How can you be so sure? He might decide he doesn’t want me after that. Damaged goods and all that,” Isabella said in a quiet voice.

Jessica snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think you have to worry about that. Jack isn’t a little boy who will get scared off by your past. He’ll still want you, Izzy, every part of you, damaged goods and all.”

Isabella nodded and studied her friend. It sounded so easy, so simple. And she wished, with all her heart, that it were true. But she was scared. Her old insecurities were rising up with the appearance of David and she wasn’t sure she could push them back down again. After all, it had taken four years for her to get where she was emotionally. David’s presence had shaken the foundation of her hard work like it was nothing.

She smiled at Jessica and waved her off before she went back to work, letting her thoughts wash over her as she made coffee after coffee. She wouldn’t let David take away the life she had built. She wouldn’t let him ruin her self-esteem or her confidence. And she wouldn’t let David steal her future away from her again.

Isabella would fight back this time and show that she did have claws.