Dangerous: A Seaside Cove Romance (16 page)
Read Dangerous: A Seaside Cove Romance Online
Authors: Cora Davies
"I think he's coming," Molly said, concentrating over the stranger's shoulder across the street. Light from the bar spilled on the freshly fallen snow, disappeared, then reappeared again. Molly saw Brian's distinct tall frame and thought she saw another man walking behind him. She could not tell who followed Brian because suddenly the stranger pressed his body against the glass taking up most of the window frame. She backed away from the door, knowing a piece of glass was not going to keep them safe.
"Good evening, sir." Molly heard Brian's voice muffled through the door. Molly vowed to exchange the too thin glass with a thicker piece as soon as possible. Molly reached under the counter for her winter jacket she stashed there this afternoon.
"What are you doing, Mols?" Rachel squeaked. "You aren't going out there are you?"
"Yes. Yes, I am. What if I want to press charges?" Molly said, digging around in the sea of scarves and hats for two that looked extra warm.
"You can't press charges on someone for smudging your window and looking creepy. Brian’s just going to scare him off.” But Rachel was wrapping herself up in her own scarf even as the words left her mouth. The two women approached the door, and after confirming the stranger was a few feet away with Brian, Molly pushed the door open. The icy blast stung her still bare hands as she worked the red mittens over her fingers.
"Brian! Thank you for coming so fast and for bringing-" She looked at the other man, freezing when she realized it was Jack. Standing there like he belonged there. On her side of the street.
She studied his frame while no one was paying attention. His jeans were tighter than she remembered him wearing when they were young. The years had filled his once small frame into a muscular one, and her eyes trailed across his profiled butt. He was dressed like any townie fisherman in his brown beanie that his dark messy hair peeked out from the bottom edges. He was clean shaven, and she realized she missed the goatee he kept in high school. His white t-shirt had the words
Jack's Bar
across the front with a ship’s wheel underneath. It was the same design she had seen him wear every time she saw him since he bought the bar. He pulled his long sleeved green flannel tight against his abs and chest as he buttoned it. An image flashed by Molly's mind of Jack on his pull-up bar he hung above his apartment window, only shorts on. She only peeked a few times. A day.
As Molly inspected his body, slow as she thought she could get away with, she was not surprised to feel the stirring within her soul caused by being so close to him. The few times he had been that close in the past few years, the feeling had been the same. Anger because he had never forgiven her for her mistake, no matter how much the evidence had been stacked against him. The anger never lasted too long. No, anger was always pushed aside for the pure fantasy. The desire to run to him and run her hands up his strong, hard arms.
Molly felt something sharp in her side and realized Rachel was nudging her. Molly followed Rachel’s pointed look towards Jack and Brian. The men's focus on the stranger; Rachel's glare told Molly she should be paying attention.
Head out of the clouds, Mols.
"Can I give you a ride somewhere, sir?" Brian asked.
"No. Just going to that Inn down there." The man pointed in the opposite direction of the only inn on Main Street and swayed, right as his left knee buckled. He toppled and Jack caught him before he hit the ground. Jack steadied the man on his feet. "Thank you. As I was saying- I was walking back to the hotel and I spotted this store. I thought what a nice place to grab the old ball and chain a gift before I leave town."
The man, now standing on his own two feet, pointed at his wedding ring. Molly relaxed, but only a little. Just because a man was married, did not make him honest. The man stared her down and she felt a strong urge to hide behind Jack, no matter how much he hated her.
"Alright, well, we're going to take you for a ride to the hotel anyway. And then
tomorrow
, after you've sobered up, you can come back and get what you want to buy." Brian pulled his keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Rachel. "I'll get him in the back, you're driving."
"Um." Rachel looked around as though he were talking to someone else she could not see. "Are you sure?"
"I've had a couple beers, can't drive the cruiser." Brian put a hand on Rachel's back. "The hotel is just a couple blocks away; no one will see."
Molly wondered if Brian meant no one would see him letting someone else drive his car. Or, if he meant no one would see him with Rachel.
Rachel nodded, looking pleased with herself as if she had just won some small trophy and Molly felt sorry for her. Brian placed his hand on the stranger's back to guide him towards the cruiser. Rachel followed with an extra bounce in her step.
"I'm sorry Brian made you come out here," Molly said when it was just her and Jack. She did not take her eyes off the stranger.
"Brian didn't make me do anything," Jack said, defensively. The silence that came next was as thick as the frigid and foggy air. Molly searched for something more to say, and as she glanced across the street she remembered the Christmas beer lights.
"Did you get my Dickens flier?" Jack turned around and looked into her eyes for the first time that night, probably for the first time in years. His penetrating glare rode deep into her eyes, and she had to force herself to not look away from the emerald green.
She cursed herself as her knees turned to rubber. "The flier about what we can and can't decorate the outside of our store fronts with?"
"Yeah," he answered. Despite the freezing temperature, her body melted at the sound of his voice. Deep and raspy, he still had some of the Georgia accent he moved to town with all those years ago.
"Well, the only reason I'm asking, is because I saw the beer lights and the sign in your window and I just wasn't sure if you read it..."
"Jesus Molly, are you serious? Right now you want to talk about the lights?" Jack stared at her, brows furrowed. Molly searched for something to say. Nothing.
She looked at Rachel and Brian, at the edge of the sidewalk. Rachel laughed at something Brian said. The stranger turned around and winked at Molly. "You sure you don't want to come back with me? Keep a man nice and warm on his vacation."
Molly felt of a pit of fire in her chest and stepped back. As much as she kept telling herself the man was drunk and harmless, his gaze frightened her. Before she could open her mouth to speak, Jack stepped between them. She watched his fists clench at both sides, always the defender. He was easily twice the man's size in broadness, and Jack’s presence made her calm immediately. "Come on now man, let's get you in the warm car."
She wanted to slip her hand into Jack’s and pull him back to protect her. Instead, she squeezed her hands together as if she was ringing out a cloth. "Thank you, Brian and Rachel." Then, after forcing the name to her lips, "Jack."
Jack smiled at her, a sad smile, but a smile nonetheless, and her heart broke all over again. Jack turned around and helped Brian escort the man to the back of the cruiser. As soon as his attention was diverted, she turned around and ran inside of her shop, securely shutting the door and checking the lock three times.
Molly leaned back against the door and surveyed her winter wonderland. The joy she felt decorating washed away with Molly's confused feelings. Bing Crosby crooned through the shop's speakers, and when the song was over she finally turned and looked outside. Brian's car was gone. So was Jack.
"Jack," she whispered, liking the way his name sounded on her lips. How had things gone so wrong?
She jumped as her phone began to vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen before answering. "Jeremy, how are you, babe?"
As her boyfriend began to speak, she forced herself to tune into the current conversation.
Stop thinking about Jack!
The guilt washed over her about the thoughts that had been running through her head about Jack.
"Molly! Are you even listening to me?" Jeremy asked.
"I'm sorry, something just happened and it kind of spooked me-" Molly was interrupted.
"Okay, that's great babe. Look, I know I said I was taking some time off in December-"
"You aren't coming home anymore?" she asked, Jack suddenly far from her mind as she felt the desperation to see her boyfriend who she had not seen in two months.
"Shit, will you let me finish? Damn, always running your mouth; it's a wonder I can tell you anything," Jeremy barked into the phone, and Molly felt her shoulders shrink. Jeremy's promotion left him stressed and angry lately. It was only for a little while. He promised. They were going to hire another person to split the workload, and then things would be back to normal. "
As I was saying
, I’m still coming home; I just have to bring work with me. I'm going to be staying at my parents because there is no room at the crap, sorry,
craft
store for my setup. I'll have an office there."
"Okay, I understand," Molly said, backing away from the window and taking her eyes off Jack's front door at last. Molly heard her voice crack as she climbed the stairs to her loft. She told him had happened with the man in her window.
"Babe, just put a curtain up." Jeremy laughed. "Look, I gotta go; they're waiting on me for this meeting."
He hung up as Molly glanced at her clock. A meeting at ten o'clock at night?
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I am an especially lucky writer because I am surrounded by friends and family who support me. I want to thank everyone I know for their support.
My husband and two daughters for their constant encouragement.
My writing buddy DMPaul, though our imagined worlds are millions of miles apart, the support and guidance I receive from you is more than I could ever hope for.
Bonnie, for all of your encouragement and support. I wouldn’t have made it to the finish without your kind words.
Angela, who has been since day one, one of the most supportive and honest friends I’ve ever had.
To all my friends and family who put up with my dramatic mood swings as I throw myself back in forth between my imaginary worlds and my very real grown up world.