Reckless Faith

Elle heated up some milk for a customer’s coffee. It had been a busy morning in the café, but thankfully the rush was dying down. Usually, she didn’t mind being busy. She loved people and enjoyed her job, plus the influx of visitors made time speed by.

Today, she did mind.

How many mistakes had she made? So many she’d lost count. She’d dropped and broken a plate, undercharged one customer, then overcharged another, and burned two croissants. Why? Because she was distracted. Really freaking distracted—and that distraction came in the form of one man. Or, more specifically, a kiss from one man, which had taken place days ago, but she still couldn’t get it out of her head.

God, she couldn’t believe she’d kissed him again. Actually, that wasn’t true. She could believe she’d kissed him after what he’d said to her. Most women would’ve probably thrown themselves at him.

Memories of being lifted in his arms and pressed against the wall made her cheeks heat. Of the way he’d palmed her breast.

Too. Freaking. Addictive. That’s what his kisses were.

“What has you blushing?”

She jumped at Molly’s voice beside her, some of the milk splashing out and burning her hand.

“Crap.” Elle lowered the milk and ran her hand under some cool water in the sink, feeling Molly’s stare on her.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just distracted.” It was becoming a common theme for her. She looked up at the other woman. “Everything okay?”

“Actually, now that we’re quieter, I can finally tell you about my disastrous night at the bar last weekend.”

Her muscles tensed. Molly hadn’t mentioned the bar incident, and Elle hadn’t asked. She was pretty sure Molly had no idea that she’d even made an appearance that night.

“Disastrous night at the bar?” Elle poured the milk into the to-go cup before popping on the lid.

“I drank so much.” Molly groaned. “And proceeded to absolutely humiliate myself.”

Elle turned and smiled at the customer as she pushed the coffee across the counter. “Here you go.” She grabbed a wet cloth and started cleaning the machine.

“I did something really stupid,” Molly said quietly.

Elle raised her brows. “What did you do?”

“I hit on Jace. Well, drunk Molly did, and she did not take the hint that he wasn’t interested. But once I’d sobered up, I remembered everything, including his not-so-subtle hints that he wanted nothing to do with me.”

She scrubbed the machine harder, not taking her eyes off it. “Really?”

“Yep. It may go down as one of my most embarrassing evenings in history. I apologized to him the next time I saw him, but I still don’t want to show my face in front of the guy.”

Elle paused, looking at the younger woman. “You apologized?”

“Oh yeah, and he was so good about it. Told me it was already forgotten.” Molly sighed. “The entire time, his big, burly muscles were pushing against the fabric of his shirt, and all I could think was, he’s going to make some woman a very happy lady.”

Elle’s heart rattled. “I’m sorry he wasn’t interested.”

“Eh. These things happen. I regret throwing myself at him, but not that I expressed my interest. Sometimes you need to put yourself out there, otherwise you’ll never know what could be.”

Elle tilted her head.

“Speaking of guys,” Molly continued, “have you been on any more dates since Art?”

“Nope. I deleted the app.” She started heating more milk. “Do you want a coffee?”

Molly frowned. “No, thanks. And let’s back up a step. You deleted the app? Why? You’ve only been on a few dates.”

“Five. I’ve been on five dates, and I am done.” Done with a capital D.

“Elle, you’re so hot. Get out there and let the world see that hotness!”

A laugh bubbled from her chest. “Let the world see my hotness?”

“Hell yeah! Maybe you and I should go out together.”

Ha. That was a big fat no. She was too old for Molly’s kind of evenings out. She was pretty sure the other woman’s nights didn’t finish until midmorning, at which point Elle would probably be asleep in the booth.

“Maybe.” That was as committal as she planned to get. “Do you mind if I go for a walk for my break? I could use the fresh air.”

“Go for it. Plus, it will give you time to think about where we could go for our night out.” Molly winked before stepping up to the counter to serve the next customer.

Elle shook her head as she walked out onto the deck. The second she breathed in the fresh mountain air, she was hit by that familiar sense of peace. Man, she loved this place. Everything about it just put her at ease, even on her hardest days. How often had she gotten lost out here after Jace left town, needing to be alone with her thoughts?

So many times.

She stepped off the deck and onto the path. A couple minutes into her walk, Kayden came around a bend up ahead, a small group behind him.

He dipped his head. “Hey, Elle.”

She smiled and said a quick hey. It must be nice for him to get to spend all day, every day, out here. She’d only been out for a few minutes, and already she felt like a new person. Since promising Eastern she’d drive everywhere, she hadn’t been getting nearly enough fresh air or exercise. The feeling of being cooped up was driving her crazy.

Her mind flickered to the missed call and text that had interrupted her kiss with Jace the other day. Both were from Eastern, telling her that the tattooed guy’s car was stolen. That meant they didn’t know his identity. They didn’t know anything about him…except that he was a thief. Probably a criminal.

A shudder coursed down her spine.

She sipped her coffee, passing a couple more groups of people before hearing a small crack in the leaves somewhere in the woods beyond the path. She paused and frowned, glancing around her.

There was no one there. No one that she could see anyway.

She had to be going mad. Because this kept happening. These little sounds. This feeling of being watched. But there was never anyone around. So, what on earth was it?

Swallowing, she continued forward. She’d taken several steps when she heard it again, but this time behind her. She turned—only to yelp at the sight of a big chest. Jace’s big chest.

The air rushed out of her, and she put a hand over her heart. “Jace! You scared the crap out of me.”

He frowned. “Sorry, I thought you heard me coming. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just a jumpy mess.”

His gaze moved over the trees around her. “It’s probably not a good idea for you to be out here by yourself.”

“I can’t stay cooped up inside all the time.”

A corner of his mouth lifted. “Well, lucky for you, you have a big strong best friend.”

“Where?”

His grin widened. “Ha ha.”

With a chuckle, she turned and started walking again. “Did you know I was out here or is this a random coincidence?”

“I may have gone to the café looking for you. Molly told me you’d gone for a walk, then I ran into Kayden, who told me which direction you’d gone.”

“Wow, you’re like a detective.”

“Well, I barely saw you yesterday. I’m getting Elle withdrawals.”

“That must be tough. I don’t know how you’re managing.”

“Me either, Tink.”

While she’d been joking, he had a ring of truth in his voice that felt…intense.

She gulped down another mouthful of coffee, the hot liquid burning her throat. “Being away from a friend can be difficult.”

“Friend. Right.”

“We shouldn’t have kissed, Jace. That was a mistake.” The words fell from her mouth, and the second they did, they felt wrong.

“I will never call a kiss with you a mistake. Way overdue? Sure. Hot? Hell yeah. But not a mistake.”

She blew out a breath. “Jace, we’ve been through this, and you agreed we’d be friends. We were always friends. We were good at friends. We should stick to what we know.”

“I said we’d be friends first.”

She frowned, opening her mouth to respond when he got in first.

“April twenty-sixth, fourth grade.”

She stopped. “What?”

“You walked into class. You were wearing your backpack with the Tinker Bell key chain dangling from a zipper. Your hair was in a braid over your left shoulder. Casper was being an asshole to Bianca. He told her she looked like shit in her overalls.”

Why was he—

“You walked straight up to him and told him that if he ever spoke to your friend like that again, you’d kick him between the legs and make sure he didn’t get back up.”

She had said that. She’d been new to the school, and Misty Peak, and Bianca had been her first friend. Her only friend for a while.

“You came up to me after and said you wanted a friend like me.” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. She hadn’t known Jace before that, but one look into his ocean-blue eyes and there’d been no saying no.

“And you said yes.” He inched closer.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because that was the day I knew I needed you in my life. Not for a moment. Not for a few years. Forever.” He’d just forgotten for a while.

“That was the first day we met.”

“Yeah, it was.” And he remembered it like it was yesterday, because it was the day his world changed. He lifted a lock of hair from her cheek. “I want to give you what you’re asking for and be your friend again. But when I’m close to you, it becomes impossible to not touch you.”

“You used to do just fine,” she whispered.

He shook his head. “Not true. Even when I was sixteen years old, not touching you was torture.”

She sucked in a full breath before responding. “That’s not true.”

“It is. I ran from it for a long while. For years, actually. I’m done running. You don’t even realize how easy you are to fall for, Elle.” He lowered his head, and the need to kiss her was so strong that it pulsed through his veins. But she didn’t want that right now, and goddammit, he had to respect that. Instead, he grazed her cheek with his lips, moving across to her ear. “So. Damn. Easy.”

“Jace.” She pressed her hand to his chest, and he expected her to push him away. She didn’t. It was almost like she was as torn as he was. They couldn’t kiss because of the boundaries she’d put in place. He couldn’t back away because her pull was undeniable. So here they remained, frozen in this in-between.

“Come to my family dinner next Monday night,” he asked, finally breaking the silence.

“What?”

He lifted his head, only a fraction, then immediately slipped a hand around her waist, needing the contact. “We do family dinners most Monday nights. I’m hosting the next one.”

One side of her mouth lifted. “You mean I get to return to our old hangout spot? The Walker family home?”

So many memories lived in that house. Of evenings when she’d come over for dinner. Afternoons together after school. Nights when they’d been a bit older, and she’d had her license and driven over to see him.

“Yeah, come to the Walker family home and have dinner with me.” He stroked her hip with his thumb. “It’ll be like old times.”

Her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth before she nodded. “Okay.”

Why did he have a sudden need to punch a fist into the air in victory? He grinned at her. “Good.”

“As friends.”

“As friends.” For now. The quiet, unspoken words whispered in his head. “And as a friend, I feel it’s my duty to walk you back to the café.”

“How can I say no to that?”

He slipped his hand into hers and led her toward the visitors center, and damn, even that felt amazing.

They were just nearing the building when his cell rang. He frowned when he pulled it out and saw it was an unknown number. The burner phone? They’d never called before.

Elle looked up at him, questions in her eyes.

He answered the call. “Hello?”

For a moment, there was silence. Not even the sound of a breeze over the line. He was about to hang up when heavy breathing sounded. It was so fucking creepy, he stopped in his tracks.

Elle stopped with him and touched his arm. “Hey.” She inched closer. “Everything okay?”

Another few seconds of breathing and he hung up. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

“Jace—”

“Hey. It’s okay. Come on, let’s get back before someone at the café sends out a search party.”

It wasn’t fine. Someone was fucking with him—and he needed to figure out who the hell it was.