Chapter Two
Jett
Whenever I’m on an assignment, the only free time I get is when I’m faking jail time. My sister’s neighborhood is nothing like the ones I run jobs in. Thank god. So more often than not, I hole up with my sister and nephew during this downtime instead of staying at my own apartment where anyone could find me. Clint is still behind bars, so until he’s released, I need to lay low. I don’t need his friends seeing me out and about and getting the message back to him that they saw me. That could lead to questions on why he went to jail and I didn’t. Once Clint is released, I’ll go home, but till then, this is where I’ll be.
I jog around the corner to the main building where the residents’ gym is located. Not leaving this place can make me go a little crazy. Plus, if I’m going to crack the Kincaid case, I need to say focused. Nothing sharpens my train of thought like a good workout.
Usually, the gym is vacant in the mornings, but not today. Today, Charlie, my sister’s new neighbor is in here. She’s on the treadmill with a towel over the time and speed and with what I think is an e-reader in front of her.
She hasn’t noticed me yet.
She has light brown hair that looks insanely soft. Right now, it’s braided down her back and hits just between her shoulder blades. I hadn’t noticed it before. I’d been so memorized by the green in her eyes to see anything else. And her lips. Fuck. I’d never seen a set so full and alluring in my entire life.
She presses a button and her speed walk turns to a slight jog. Her ass looks perfect and round as she runs.
Okay, don’t be weird.
She’s beautiful and has a banging body for someone who can’t weigh more than one thirty. Dating, or even the idea of casual sex, isn’t something I should think about in the middle of an assignment, but with Charlie, my mind goes there and there is no going back.
Against my better judgment, I step up on the treadmill next to her.
She startles at first, but then her eyes meet mine, and I swear to god, I’ve never in my life seen someone smile so big at me.
I could get used to this.
“Hey,” I say. She shakes her head and points to her ear.
She’s got headphones in.
How can she listen to music and read at the same time? Either way, this is good. No talking.
I came in here to focus. To get my head in the game. Not flirt.
I press start and put the speed to a nice jog. When I find my pace, I hear the beep as Charlie ups her speed.
She can run faster than me.
It’s fine.
I make it a whole thirty seconds before I up my speed to what I assume hers could be near. If she’d move the towel, I could match it. Right as I find my stride, she ups her speed, again.
I side eye her. She’s still reading her book.
I up my speed again.
So does she.
Me.
Her.
Me.
Her.
Fuck, I’m running out of breath here. We’re both at a full-on sprint now, and this time when I look over, she’s grinning at me.
“How fast are you going?” I ask. She shrugs and again, points to her headphones.
“Fine,” I say, knowing she can’t hear me. “You want to race, let’s race.”
I knock my speed up to nine point zero and find the best fucking stride I can. I’m focusing on my breath and my steps now, but I’m aware of her reaching for the adjustment button.
The next few seconds happen before I can process them.
Charlie pushes up her towel and e-reader to view her speed. She pushes too much, and her e-reader falls off, hits the handle bar, and lands on my track. I leap to miss it. My foot catches the edge of the belt, jerking me back. I reach for my handle, but all I see are Charlie’s eyes going wide as she jerks her headphones off and watches me fly off the gym equipment.
Not my finest moment.
“Oh my gosh!” she cries out, taking the time to stop both her track and mine before she hops off. I’m front side down, looking up at her. If I weren’t holding my head up, I’d have a burn mark from the track on my forehead.
“Are you okay?” She drops to her knees next to me and leans forward when I don’t answer right away. “Jett?”
I hear her; I know I should say something, but damn. I should have just stayed in the apartment. At least there I’m not making an ass out of myself.
“Jett,” she says again and I finally roll over.
“I’m fine.”
She breathes a sigh of relief. Her eyes meet mine and she gives me a closed mouth smile. “Sorry.”
I nod and then push myself to sit next to her.
“If you hadn’t said ‘let’s race,’ we’d probably both be still successfully running right now.” I twist my neck to look at her.
“You heard me?”
She shrugs. “You were talking to me, right?”
“Yeah, but you kept pointing to your headphones so I didn’t think you were listening.”
“Well, after the second time, I put them on mute.”
“That would have been nice to know,” I say with a laugh.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks again.
“Yes. My pride is a bit bruised, but I’ll manage.” I rise to my feet and then help her up.
“Oh no,” she says and points to the wall. “Was that from you?”
I follow her finger and sure enough, there is a hole in the wall where my heel hit.
“You know, we might keep this between us,” I tell her.
She fake zips her lips and fake tosses a key over her shoulder and then hops back on the treadmill.
“Round two?” she asks.
“No,” I say firmly and shake my head.
“Okay.” Another shrug as she picks up her e-reader and adjusts her towel to resume her run.
“Do you always read when you run?” I ask.
“No, I really wasn’t a reader till maybe late teens.”
“And now you’re how old?” I ask.
She bites her lip to keep from smiling and I swear the movement is like a magnet, pulling me toward her just to be closer.
Her bottom lip pops when she releases it, and her eyes flash to my lips before she answers. “I’m twenty-two.”
Wow. She must have been really young when she had Sam. Like, crazy crazy young.
I want to ask her more, to know her story, but with that comes questions about myself, and well, I’m not in a place to be sharing anything.
I take a step back and wink.
“See you around, Charlie.”
Her smile stretches wide.
“See you around, Jett.”
I hop off the treadmill and round the corner to the free weights before I do something I know I shouldn’t.
I sit on one of the benches and pull my phone out to set a song when an email comes through. It’s from Captain, an article with an attached image of Jimmy Kincaid and the latest update. The clipping reads: Jimmy Kincaid spotted less than twenty miles outside of Casper, Wyoming.
That’s right outside of town, west of the Volney Ranch.
At the bottom of the email, in bold red letters, my captain writes,
Keep your eyes open and stay focused.
Focused.
When am I anything but focused?
I hear the sound of the treadmill speed up right before I put my headphones in and turn up the music.
Focus. You’ve got an assignment to take down and money to find.
Charlie
I’m all about Sam making new friends, but I really don’t want him to wear out our welcome by spending too much time at our new neighbor’s place. Plus, I start work next week and I thought we could hang out. He may be my nephew, but he’s like my best friend, too.
Stepping out the door, I knock on Whit’s.
The sound from the boys’ video game is clear through the door, and I’m not sure they will hear me over the TV volume.
I’m about to knock again when the door swings open. I was already mid-knock, so this leaves me tripping to catch my feet.
Two arms steady me and I freeze.
“You okay?” Jett asks.
“I’m fine.”
“Think we’ll ever be able to be around each other without one of us falling?” he asks.
“Technically, I didn’t fall,” I point out.
“Yeah, because I caught you. Which, by the way, would have been cool if you’d attempted to do the same for me earlier today.”
I have no time to stop my open-mouth laugh. I’d gone to the gym to release my tension over Jimmy escaping prison, but then Jett showed up and I forgot everything. I’ve never met anyone who could pull me from my own thoughts the way he does.
“If you had seen it from my eyes, there was nothing anyone could have done to help you,” I tell him.
“Yeah, well,” he starts, but the video game goes off again and I can’t hear him.
“Sam,” I call out to tell him to turn it down, but Jett nudges me outside.
“Let them play a little longer. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Max this excited over a friend,” Jett says.
As much as I want to hang out with my nephew, I’m sure he’s having more fun in there.
“Okay, well, just send him home when they’re done, I guess,” I say and turn for my apartment.
“Hold up,” he says and points to the steps before taking a seat. “It’s mid-July and still sixty degrees out with no wind. Let’s take advantage of it.”
“All right,” I say and take the seat next to him. The steps aren’t very wide, so when I sit my leg brushes against his and stays there. The touch sends my heart racing.
He’s just a guy. No big deal.
But you haven’t had sex in over a year.
Whoa.
I shake the fighting devil and angel off my shoulders and smile at him.
“So do you live with your sister and nephew?” I ask.
“No, I’m just visiting.”
“Oh,” I say, and there is no missing the disappointment in my voice.
Jeez, Charlie, you just met him.
“My, ah, apartment is having some work done. I live across town.”
“Oh.”
“Sam’s eight, right?” Jett asks.
“Yep.”
“I’m guessing that means you were in still in high school when he was born?”
I nod again. “Yep.”
I really appreciate his word choice because it means I’m actually sharing an honest answer about Sam and my past.
“And his dad?” he asks. “Since we’re getting all personal.”
“Is out of the picture.”
Another true answer.
“Your turn,” I say. “You’ve learned a few new facts about me tonight; it’s time I hear one about you.”
His deep chuckle tickles the pit of my stomach. “Well, I’m a fabulous uncle,” he says.
I burst out laughing. “Of course, you would say that. I revealed answers that were obviously PG-13 rated. You have to give me something more than G.”
Holy crap, his laugh.
“Okay,” he says.
He pauses for a moment.
“You don’t have to share with me. I was only—”
“I love my job,” he says. “Even though I have to do a lot of bad things that I wish I didn’t have to.”
He looks me in the eye.
“And I hate following the rules,” he adds. “Life is so much more exciting when you don’t have limitations.”
A bubble of laughter escapes me, and the right side of my mouth pulls to a smile.
“Well, rules are meant to be broke—” is all I get out before his lips press against mine.
Jett’s lips are soft and gentle. He doesn’t rush it or even try to coax his tongue into my mouth right away. His hand glides up my neck, gripping my hair to deepen the kiss enough for me to tangle my tongue with his.
A groan vibrates through his chest and onto our lips, egging him to slide me closer by tugging at my hips. When his hand touches my leg, I break the kiss.
Holy shit.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about kissing you,” Jett says, and that may be the sexiest thing a guy has ever said to me. I kiss him hard this time, wondering where all this bravery is coming from. I’ve kissed guys before, but this—this kiss is a game changer.
“I’m going to go ask, just give me a second, okay?” I hear Sam’s voice through the door and push myself away from Jett, standing just as the door opens.
“What are you doing out here?” Sam asks.
“Just talking. It was hard to hear each other over the volume of the video game. You should really—”
“Turn it down so I don’t lose my hearing at a young age, I know.”
So, he does listen.
“Hey, can I join Max’s soccer team?” he asks and presses his palms together. “First practice is tomorrow and he said if I come with the signup fee, I could probably still join.”
“Soccer? Really?” I ask. Sam’s always been a video game kind of kid. It wouldn’t be a bad thing for him to do something outside, though. I just never imagined soccer.
“Please.”
“All right, yeah.”
“Yes!” He cheers and runs inside.
“Whit is working so I’m taking Max tomorrow; you can ride with us if you want,” Jett suggests.
“Okay, maybe. I have a few errands to run beforehand, but I’ll let you know,” I say and point to my door. “I should get going. I still have some things I want to hang on the walls before the day is over.”
“I can help,” he says and stands.
“Oh, no. You did enough helping me move in the other day.”
“I want to,” he says and his eyes meet mine then move to my lips.
“Yeah, okay,” I say quickly and head inside my apartment.
“What’s first?” he asks, surveying what I’ve put together so far.
“Um.” Everything is leaning against the walls; where is it? “This one,” I say when I spot the canvas print.
“Is that Sam?” he asks.
I nod. I’m in the picture too, but I’m looking down so you can’t really see my face. It was the day Kenzie brought him home from the hospital. He’s yawning while I can’t take my eyes off him. I loved the picture the moment I saw it.
Jett grabs the picture and I rush to stand next to him. “Careful,” I say. “It’s a gift from my sister.”
“It’s a beautiful gift,” he says.
It sure is. She gave it to me a week before she died.
He holds it up, and I direct him left and right till it’s in the spot I want. After that, we hang a mirror near the front door, and Jett helps me level out a few shelves in the living room for more pictures.
“What’s next?” Jett asks, and suddenly I’ve very aware of how close we’re standing to each other. Of how I can feel the heat from his body against my back. Of how I could easily give in to the way my heart is pulsing. I already want to spend more time with him and he hasn’t even left yet.
Which are the reasons why I have to cut this off before it starts. No man should ever be this easy to adjust to. Ever. I watched my sister fall for a man she thought was going to be her forever and look how that turned out. I can’t turn down the same path as her.
Sam can’t lose us both.
“I’d better go get Sam. I need to get more information on this soccer thing,” I say and open the door. I must give off a vibe that screams everything I was just thinking, because Jett only nods as he leaves. “I’ll send him over.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem, and, Charlie, about that kiss. I hope I didn’t ruin—”
“You didn’t,” I interrupt before he can finish. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” I ask. It’s stupid. I know I will see him tomorrow, but if I don’t say anything, there is a good chance I’ll kiss him again and that would go against everything that just went through my mind.
“You can count on it,” he says and turns for Whit’s place. When he reaches the door, he looks back over his shoulder.
His brows dance as he smiles at me before he steps inside.
I release a long breath, lean against the door, and wait for Sam.
Jett is … god, he’s cute. And funny. And easy to talk to. And, boy, can he kiss.
This is the type of thing I should be thinking about, not about my sister’s mistakes, not about Jimmy Kincaid or his money or the part where I hope he doesn’t think I still have it. I’d have found it by now. I mean, come on, where in heck would I be hiding just over a million dollars?
“See ya, Max,” Sam says in the doorway, pulling my attention.
“Did you have fun?” I ask, closing the door behind us.
“Yes, I can’t wait for soccer tomorrow,” he says and runs off to his room.
Soccer. Where Sam will be with Max and I’ll be with Jett.