Nineteen
“Am I going to ruin the clan?” Nina asked as Jameson led her to his cabin. That was the last thing she wanted. She’d come here as a rest stop, not to make Jameson’s life more difficult.
“They’ll get over it,” he said, but the words sounded a little hollow.
Something smelled fruity and floury and delicious as they stepped through the door. Eager to ignore the yucky feelings about the unrest her presence was causing in the clan, Nina asked, “What did you make me for breakfast?”
“Well, I don’t know what you like,” he said, “but I thought I’d try crepes. I’ve never made them before, but I thought crepes sounded, I don’t know, romantic.”
“Crepes do sound romantic.” Her heart went all mushy at his gesture. “I’m sorry I didn’t have faith in you. I mean, I did have faith in you, but I was fighting inside. My heart knows you’re the real thing, but the old hurt of being left alone…it was overpowering. I wasn’t going to leave forever, just go into town for a coffee or something. Get my head on straight.”
He cupped her ass as they walked toward the kitchen area of his cabin. “I’m glad you didn’t doubt me. I’ll try not to leave you alone anymore, or at least wake you up to tell you where I’m going.”
“Thanks.”
His cabin was a lot more subtle than hers. Muted colors. There were some bright touches, like a photograph on the wall of Jameson and a group of people.
“That’s the old clan,” Jameson said. “Just after Rex and Gemma started it with me, before Jake came along. Some good people in there.”
She recognized Rex, Gemma, and Nolan, but there were a few other faces she didn’t recognize. “Who are all these guys?”
A sad look came over his face. He pointed at them. “Bronson, Sloan, Kayla—we called her Special K—and Matt. They left soon after Jake arrived.”
“Tell me about Jake,” she said. “You didn’t want him to see us—it was him in the woods?”
“He wants to control who’s in the clan. I don’t know what his deal is, but I can tell he doesn’t like anyone different. I think if he could put a giant wall up around our territory, he’d feel even better. But shutting things out—”
“You shut out the good along with the bad, right?” Nina asked.
He walked over to the stove and poured some batter into a frying pan. “Right. And I’ve never seen an open heart invite something bad in. Good attracts good.”
Her man—her man—was so smart. Nina gave a last lingering glance to the group in the photo, then she looked around Jameson’s cabin. Bookshelves lined one of the walls. All literature. Mostly poetry. Neruda, Rimbaud, Yeats, and some modern poets like Louise Gluck, Brenda Hillman, Billy Collins. Some longer works, novels and such. At the very end, she saw a big hardbound book, missing a dust jacket. She had to get closer to read the gold print on the outside. “Ooh, you have a romance novel here!” she said.
“It was Willow’s,” Jameson said, flipping over the crepe. “She hid it and until her death, I didn’t even know she’d had it. I wonder…I wonder if she thought I would judge her for it? I don’t know, but now I don’t have the heart to get rid of it.”
“Maybe I could loan you some of mine,” Nina said. “They’re a lot of fun, you know. Not everything needs to be Serious Literature in capital letters all the time.”
He nodded, his bright blue eyes warm with love. “I’d like that. You pick out your favorite one, and I’ll take a look.”
“Maybe you should ask to borrow Gemma’s copy of Dyin’ to be Your Lion.”
He sputtered and laughed. “That’s a book?”
“Paranormal romance. One of the best genres out there. I like historical, though, too. And science fiction. Really, I read everything. It’s why I have my blog, so I can talk about it.”
“I liked your blog,” he said.
He took the crepe out of the frying pan and spread jam on it and on the other waiting crepe. He gave one plate to Nina and kept the other. She sat down with him at the table and took a bite. Strawberry jam. So good, in the light, buttery crepe.
“Oh, wow,” she said. “This is freaking good, Jameson. Yum. I want these every morning.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll make you whatever you want. As long as you stay.”
She felt her eyes widen. “Stay?”
She hadn’t thought about it yet, but…what else could she do? The thought of leaving Jameson killed her inside. Of course she’d stay. This meant she wouldn’t go back to the Corona Pride. She’d pledge here, she’d move here. This place, the Rock Creek Clan, and the Ring of Fire would be hers, just like Jameson.
“Of course, um, you don’t have to stay,” Jameson said, but it looked like it was painful for him to say the words. “You could, I don’t know. We could…how can we make this work, Nina? I don’t want you to leave, but I want you to be happy.”
“Sorry—sorry,” she said. “I’ll stay. I was just thinking it through. I will. I’ll live here with you. For always.”
He nodded. “Perfect. We’ll tell the clan tomorrow. Today…” He looked intensely into her eyes, and she felt pinned in place—pinned in the best possible way. “Today I get out some rope and show you how much I really want you to stay.”
She gulped down her bite. “I’d, um. I’d like that.”