Reckless Faith

Elle threw back her head and laughed at Jace’s impersonation of Jimmy Fallon. They stood at a table in Meridian, with Tilly and Kayden. Cody and Harper were working the bar, but they came over whenever they got a chance.

Jace, of course, was the life of the party.

She playfully thumped his shoulder. “Stop, I’m laughing so much my stomach hurts.”

His arm slid around her waist. “Well, my darling, I’ll just have to kiss it better.”

She shook her head. It was nice to see him so relaxed after the Boyd stuff. He’d been on edge for the last week. When he lowered his head and kissed her cheek, she all but melted into him.

“You two are so good together,” Tilly said softly.

Kayden lifted his beer to his lips. “Yeah, just lay off the PDA.”

This time, it was Tilly who shoved Kayden’s shoulder. “Don’t listen to him. Kiss. Cuddle. Do everything.” She sipped her own cocktail. “Kayden said you were friends growing up?”

“Best friends,” Jace confirmed, his thumb grazing her side. “And we still are.”

Elle’s belly did a little somersault. She’d been fighting against those words for so long, but she didn’t need to fight anymore.

As the guys started talking about the things that needed fixing at Jace’s house, Elle’s gaze roamed the bar. It was busy, but that wasn’t a surprise, it was Saturday night.

She had been the one who’d pushed to go out. Jace hadn’t wanted her to go anywhere until they found Boyd or had confirmation he’d left town. Hell, he didn’t even want her going to work, but she’d started going stir-crazy staying home every night. There was only so much of the walls of her apartment she could take.

He’d agreed to go out on the condition that it was at Cody’s bar and they invited another of his brothers. It felt like overkill to her, having two former special operations brothers here, in addition to Jace, but at the same time, she loved that he got to spend more time with his family. He’d missed them. He hadn’t said it out loud, but she could tell by the way his energy changed when he was around them. It became lighter, and he smiled more, and God, she loved that smile.

“Hey.” She glanced up at Tilly’s voice. “Do you want to go get another drink with me?”

“I wouldn’t say no to another strawberry daiquiri.” Apparently, they were a new addition to the menu, and she hoped they remained. She was a sucker for a good daiquiri.

She went to step away, but Jace grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?”

“To get another drink. Do you want one?”

He shook his head. Not a surprise; he’d been nursing his one beer all night. His gaze moved around the bar like he was searching for danger.

She touched his chest. “It’s fine. We’re just going to the bar, and Cody’s there.”

He tugged her toward him and hovered his lips over hers. “Come straight back.” Then he pressed another kiss to her lips, and even though it was probably the tenth kiss since stepping into the bar, she wasn’t sick of them. She didn’t think she could get sick of them.

The second his hand dropped, she wanted to snatch it back. To pull him to her again. Instead, she exerted a little thing called self-control and headed toward the bar with Tilly.

Tilly leaned her head into Elle’s. “You two are so perfect for each other.”

“Thank you. You and Kayden are pretty great too.”

Red flushed the woman’s cheeks. “Thanks. It was a tough road getting to where we are, but I’m so glad we got here.”

“I’m sorry it was hard.”

She lifted a shoulder. “A lot of people disliked me when I first returned to Misty Peak, and Kayden definitely didn’t trust me. But he does now, and the other locals are slowly coming around.”

Elle nodded. She knew all about what Tilly’s father had done, everyone in Misty Peak did, but unlike a lot of locals, Elle never blamed Tilly for that. She wasn’t the one who’d done anything wrong. “I’m glad people are finding some sense.”

They stopped at the bar, where Harper stepped in front of them and smiled. “Hey! More daiquiris?”

“You read my mind,” Tilly gushed. “They are amazing. Please tell me they’re a permanent addition to the menu.”

Harper was just responding when a group of guys approached the bar, standing beside Elle. She was going to ignore them, but when the closest guy bumped her shoulder, she turned—only to groan.

Casper. Lord grant her patience.

His mouth spread into a wide smile. “Elle Marshal. You are looking hot tonight.”

She scrunched her nose. She wore jeans with heels, and a tank top that showed maybe an inch of midriff. It wasn’t the sexiest outfit she’d ever worn, but then, whenever this guy came home for a visit and bumped into her, he loved to make comments about her appearance.

“Thanks.”

She turned back to the women, only to have Casper lean into her side. “Ya know, every time I come to town, you get hotter.”

Was that supposed to be a compliment? “Please don’t do that.”

“What?”

She looked back at him. “You and I aren’t friends. In fact, you’ve always been a huge, gigantic ass to me. So don’t comment on the way I look, and don’t stand so close to me.”

“Can’t a man change his mind when a woman becomes hot as fuck?”

Becomes? Argh. If there was a king of the pigs, it would be him.

“Everything okay, Elle?”

She turned back at Tilly’s voice, just as Harper set the drinks onto the bar.

“Yeah, let’s go back to the guys.” She was not going to let this jackass affect her mood tonight.

She went to reach for her card, but Harper shook her head. “No money needed.”

“Thanks.”

Elle grabbed her drink and started to follow Tilly away, only to have her arm yanked back. She gasped as the drink spilled onto her top.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she shouted.

“Me?” Casper asked. “You’re the one acting like a bitch. What? You think you’re too good for me now you’re not packing the weight anymore?”

She moved on instinct, throwing her drink into his face. “Don’t ever talk to me like that again. Or better yet, don’t ever talk to me again.”

Red tinged his cheeks and anger darkened his features. Then he reached out to grab her.

“You can’t stop touching her,” Kayden said quietly the second the women stepped away.

“I know. I feel like I’ve been fighting my feelings for her my entire life, and now that I’ve finally allowed myself to have her, I need to make up for lost time.”

He watched as Elle and Tilly stopped at the bar.

“What changed?” Kayden asked.

Jace looked back to his brother, having to roll the question over in his head a couple times before he could figure out his answer. “A few things. I don’t think I have anything to prove anymore, whereas when I was a kid, I felt like I had to do something big and important to be good enough for her.”

Kayden frowned. “You were always good enough.”

“I’m starting to believe that. And I guess, being back and around her all the time, my feelings have just become so intense I can’t fight them anymore. And I’ve lost so many people in my life that I know tomorrow’s not guaranteed. If I want something, I have to take it.”

“You’re not wrong.” Kayden was about to sip his beer when he stopped, eyes narrowing on the bar. “Who the fuck is that leaning over Elle?”

Jace’s gaze shot up—and anger punched through his veins. What the fuck? Some asshole was leaning into Elle’s side, his head low, presumably to talk into her ear.

Jace was stepping around the table when Elle turned away from the bar and started walking back to him. She only got a few steps in before the asshole turned and grabbed her arm to swing her back around.

Casper.

He stormed across the floor, reaching them just as Elle threw her drink in his face. Jace would have been proud if the asshole’s eyes didn’t blacken with rage. He lunged to grab her, but Jace stepped between them, shoving him away.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jace shouted.

“What am I doing?” Casper sneered. “She threw a fucking drink in my face.”

“I know. I also know she wouldn’t have done it without a reason. So what did you do to make her throw it?”

“We were having a damn conversation, but that bitch decided to act like an animal—”

Jace grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him hard against the bar before shouting, “Did you not hear me last time? You don’t fucking talk about her like that. Do you understand?”

Casper’s eyes widened, his expression changing to one of fear.

When he didn’t respond, Jace yanked him forward and shoved him again. “I said, do you understand?”

A small hand touched his shoulder before Elle’s voice sounded. “Jace. It’s okay.”

It wasn’t okay. Not even close.

Suddenly, Kayden was beside him. “Jace. Let him go.”

“Not until he tells me he gets what I’m saying.”

The expression on Casper’s face shifted back to anger. “I understand,” he seethed.

Jace didn’t believe him for a second. Still, he released his shirt. “Get out.”

Casper’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have the right to—”

“But I do,” Cody said, crossing his arms from the other side of the bar. “Leave.”

Casper’s jaw clicked, his gaze shifting from Jace to Cody. “You’re shitting me, right? I get a drink thrown in my face and I’m the one who has to go?”

“Damn straight,” Cody said. “Get out.”

Casper scowled as he looked back at Jace. “You’re gonna regret this, Walker.”

Then he shoved past Jace and stormed out of the bar. Jace waited until the door closed behind him before turning to Elle and studying her face. Her body. Searching for any sign that she wasn’t all right. That he needed to go out there and beat the fucker.

He gripped her arms. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, he was just an ass, as per usual. I probably shouldn’t have thrown my drink in his face. I’m—”

“Don’t. Don’t apologize for that sack of shit. What did he say to you?”

“He…” She paused and frowned. “It was nothing. Nothing important or that I care to repeat anyway.”

“Elle—”

“Really, I’d rather not focus on him or any stupid thing he said.”

Jace wanted to push. He wanted to know every word the asshole had said. Instead, he cupped her cheek. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, but I think I’m ready to go home now.”

Thank fuck. He was past ready to have this woman home, in bed and in his arms. “Your place or mine?”

“Anywhere there’s you and a bed, I’m good.”

His lips twitched. He was ninety percent sure she hadn’t meant that to be sexual, but with her, he couldn’t help but go there.

He turned to see Kayden and Tilly behind them, and Cody and Harper on the other side of the bar.

“Everything okay?” Kayden asked.

“Yeah, now the asshole has left.”

Cody’s gaze shifted to the door and back. “Who is he?”

“A jerk Elle and I went to high school with. He lives out of town now. Hopefully he heads back soon.”

“Can I make you another daiquiri, Elle?” Harper asked.

She shook her head. “No, I think we’ll head out. Sorry about the last one being wasted.”

Harper snorted. “That was not wasted. Seeing that jerk get nailed in the face with a drink was the highlight of my week.”

Tilly touched Elle’s arm. “I’m sorry I just kind of walked away from you there.”

Elle shook her head. “You didn’t know he’d grab me. I didn’t know he’d grab me. Besides, if he’d tried anything before Jace got to me, I still had the glass to throw at him.”

Despite everything, Jace’s lips twitched. He would have liked to watch that.

He slipped an arm around her waist. “I wouldn’t have let it come to that. Come on, let’s go home.”

After a quick goodbye to Cody and Harper, Kayden and Tilly walked out with them. Both he and Kayden scanned the surroundings. It wasn’t until he and Elle were in the car that she touched his thigh. “You asked me if I was okay, and I am…but are you?”

Was he? He was angry. Hell, angry didn’t even cover it.

He covered her hand with his own. “Yeah, I’m okay, Tink. And I’ll be even better once we get home and I get you all to myself.”