Chapter Seventeen
Jackson took one look at Summer’s slashed tires and growled. He wanted to hit something, but couldn’t damage his rental. Besides, Summer was already walking over, arms linked with a blond man who was nearly as tall as Jackson.
“This is Luke Roberts,” she said. “Luke, this is Jackson Jaynes.”
Jackson shook Luke’s hand. “I’m glad you were here for her.”
“Anytime,” Luke said. “It’s nice to meet you, but I should get going. Summer, good luck with everything.”
“Thanks,” she said, giving Luke a hug.
Jackson heard Luke whisper in Summer’s ear, “He seems nice,” before Luke walked over to a bike on the bike rack at the edge of the parking lot.
“I want to take a look at your car, if that’s okay,” Jackson said.
“I don’t see what good it would do,” Summer said, wrinkling her nose. “The tires are well and truly slashed. That vehicle isn’t going anywhere.”
“Just the same,” he said, hoping she wouldn’t ask too many questions.
She trailed behind him as he stalked over to the car. There was that cologne scent in the air, and it infuriated Jackson even more, now that he knew why the perpetrator had worn it. Trying to put Jackson off his scent. Fucker.
A few minutes later, a tow truck pulled up. Jackson watched as the driver hooked up Summer’s car. Summer’s eyes were wide as she watched her car hoisted onto the platform of the truck.
She looked lonely and frightened and it just killed Jackson that this was happening to her.
“Can I take you out to lunch?” he asked.
Summer blinked, as if coming out of a daze, and turned to face him. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“There used to be this old fifties style diner off of Main Street. Is that still around?”
Summer grinned. “Yes.”
“Is it still full of greasy food that is also strangely comforting?”
“Yes.”
“Can we go there, please?”
Summer laughed. “Yes, I’d love that.”
“Great. Let’s go.”
He held her hand as they walked back to his little car. When he climbed in, Summer was already in her seat, and she looked over at him and laughed. “You barely fit in this thing. Why on earth are you driving it?”
“It was the only one the rental place would give me.”
She laughed again. “Bummer. I want to take a photo of you and title it Tall Man, Tiny Car.”
“You can take a photo of me anytime you want,” he said. Maybe it didn’t sound like a promise, but he meant it like one.
He drove them toward the center of town, and they saw Summer’s car, on the tow truck, being taken to the tire place. Jackson shook his head. Some stupid-ass shifter had it out for Summer…or for Jackson. Was she being targeted because of him? It was the only thing he could think of, although he didn’t know her that well. Maybe she had some kind of past with a local shifter. But whoever the guy was, he shouldn’t be frightening her or damaging her property.
This wasn’t going to end well for that motherfucker, once Jackson got his hands on him.
“Um, are you okay?” Summer asked, reaching out to touch Jackson’s arm.
He pulled up to a red stoplight and turned to look at her. Her dark brown eyes were worried, her forehead wrinkled as she stared into his face.
“Yeah, fine. Why?”
“You just…you look really, really mad.”
“Sorry.” He looked down at his hands, which were squeezing the steering wheel too hard. “I was thinking about who would hate you so much that they’d slash your tires and scratch up your car. It pisses me off, and I want to stop them.”
“You look like you want to murder them.” She gave a little laugh.
“Nah,” he said. “A good roughing-up will do.”
The light turned green and he drove the rest of the way to the diner. The place looked different from how Jackson remembered it. The kitschy decor was still in place, the white paneled front, the red, blue, and green trim in long lines across the false front. Stella’s Diner. The difference was that now, it seemed smaller. Silly idea, given that he couldn’t have grown more than a couple extra inches since leaving Huntwood. But it was an idea just the same. He’d changed, and now his view of the diner had changed, too.
Summer got out of the car, and he followed suit, rushing to her side so he could open the door for her.
“Chivalry isn’t dead,” she said, sounding amused.
“I know you can open the door just fine on your own,” he said. “I just like to do things for you.”
“As long as you let me open the occasional door for you, I don’t mind.” She grinned and winked.
They picked a booth near the front of the restaurant. Jackson wanted to be able to watch the parking lot, and the street beyond. Something made him think of danger and if he’d been in his lion form, his tail would’ve been twitching in irritation.
A young woman came by to take their orders. Summer ordered a burger, so Jackson did the same. “Split a milkshake?” he asked Summer.
She laughed. “So we’re really in the fifties now, huh?”
“Some traditions should never die.”
Nodding thoughtfully, she turned to the server and said, “Chocolate, please.”
The server left with their orders and Summer looked back at Jackson. He didn’t think he would ever get tired of seeing her kind, brown eyes looking into his.
“So,” he said. “Last night.”
She blushed. “Maybe this isn’t a conversation for…a public place?”
“There’s no one around, but if you’re uncomfortable, we can get the food to go.”
“It’s okay,” she said, “as long as you’re sure no one’s listening in.”
“I’m sure. I was just hoping you might want to do some of that again.”
“Yeah, I’d like that,” she said. “I…I don’t know about you, though, but it…it meant something to me, to let you touch me like that.”
“It meant a lot to me,” Jackson said, trying to let his sincerity be heard in his voice. She was human, he reminded himself. He had to go slow, not rush her. They didn’t know about whatever kind of magic held shifters to their mates. The thought that the two of them belonged together—forever—what if she didn’t buy that? So he’d just have to be as sincere and honest as possible, until she knew in her heart what he already knew in his.
“Good,” she said. “Then I guess I might be up for doing that again.”
He chuckled. She was so damn cute.
“Tell me about where you grew up,” he said. “It couldn’t have been in Huntwood, or we’d have known each other, right?”
“Right. I grew up in Seattle. It was just too big of a city, though. I went to school to become a dental hygienist. Then, when I was looking for a job, I narrowed the search results by size of the town. I wanted to go someplace where people knew each other, even though it cut down the dating pool by quite a lot.”
“Not interested in dating?” he asked.
“Oh, I was,” she said. “But I’d already met my boyfriend. Cory. We started dating while I was finishing school. He didn’t have a good job, so he moved here with me.”
Jackson waited. It sounded like there was a lot more to this story.
Summer continued, “And things were good, I thought.”
The server arrived with their burgers and milkshake. “Can I get you anything else?” she asked.
“No, thanks,” Summer said, and Jackson shook his head, too.
After the server disappeared, Summer said, “There’s more to the story, but you probably don’t want to hear about a whole lot of drama.”
“Actually, I do,” he said. “If it’s something about you, I want to know it. But if you’re not ready to share, I can wait.”
She bit into a french fry and rolled her eyes in pleasure. “This hits the spot after all the stress this morning.”
“My mom was all about this place when I was growing up,” Jackson said. “If she had a bad day at work, she’d have me, Will, and Hayley all pile into the car and she’d drive us here. We’d get a giant plate of french fries to share. She said it worked every time.”
“What does she do?”
“She owned an online gardening business.”
“Owned? Past tense?”
“She died a few years ago, in an accident. My dad, too.”
Summer reached out and took his hand. He’d had plenty of time to grieve with his siblings, but this was the first time that someone else had given him real, true sympathy. Someone from the outside, who didn’t know any of the sordid details surrounding that “accident.”
“Anyway,” Jackson said. “I got sidetracked. I’m still curious what the story is, with your ex, if you feel like talking about it.”
“Short version is that he ran out on me and stole not only my savings, but all of my private information so that he could take out several credit cards in my name. He’s racked up a lot of debt and I’ve been dealing with the fallout ever since.”
“That’s awful,” Jackson said, wanting, again, to punch someone who had hurt Summer.
“Well, I was gullible and thought I was in love. You know how it goes.” She sounded so resigned when she said it. She continued, “Luke thinks I need to forgive Cory, and then I can finally move on with my life. I have been moving on, mostly.”
Jackson polished off the rest of his burger, but he looked carefully at Summer. “What do you mean, mostly? Is Cory holding you back from something? Or your…grudge, if that’s what you want to call it?”
“More that I haven’t really been willing to take any risks with anything,” she said. “It’s been hard, knowing that when I let my guard down, something so awful can happen.”
She’d finished her burger, so Jackson slapped some money down on the table. “Let’s get out of here,” he said. “I’ll take you home and make you a drink and we can relax. No pressure, no risks. No need to let your guard down with me—you can keep it up all you want, until you’re ready.”
“I—that’s one of the nicest things a guy has ever said to me,” she said.
“Oh, babe. I’m just getting started.”
They both laughed, and Jackson took her hand as they left the diner. He never wanted to let her go.