Page 13 of One More Time

“I can walk,” she insisted.

“Your jeans are torn, your knee is bleeding, and we’re almost to the front of the house.”

“Well, don’t you—” She began just when my knee collided with the very boulder in question that had already left its mark on her.

“Fuck!” I stepped around it, ignoring the sharp pain.

I started to take another step when McKenna began with, “There’s another —”

My other leg ran into a hard rock, and we fell together. I cushioned her fall by rolling quickly. Seconds later, she sat on my lap in the snow. Her surprise shifted from giggling to full-on belly laughs.

McKenna’s laugh was infectious. Moments later, we stared at each other as we tried to catch our breaths. Her laughter petered out, punctuated by a hiccup.

“Wow,” she finally said. “That’s what you get for trying to be chivalrous.”

“I’d do it all over.” I was completely serious. McKenna laughing in my arms as we sat after falling in the snow felt incredibly good.

We were both dusted with snow. I finally noticed the cold underneath me. McKenna was warm in contrast. My body revved its engine at the feel of her soft curves. She looked at me again. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her lips parted, and her tongue darted out to swipe across her bottom lip.

The urge to kiss her was fierce. As we stared at each other, I had no idea how much time passed. For that moment, it was just McKenna and me on a crisp, snowy day, tangled up in the snow. Her gaze sobered, and her lashes swept down.

“I want to kiss you, McKenna.” My voice was a gruff whisper.

The soft curves of her breasts pressed against me with the motion of her breath. Her eyes closed again. I didn’t know much about her, just a sketch of the outlines of her life, but I sensed a deep cynicism, almost as if a door was closed in a shadowy space. When she opened her eyes again, all the lingering laughter had disappeared.

“It’s nothing more than a kiss. It’s not worth it,” she said.

Before I could say anything, she scrambled off my lap. Seconds later, she was on her feet, holding her hand out to me. I took it and stood. I let my gaze travel over her. I could see that bloody scrape on her knee. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“You don’t have to help. I can take care of myself.”

Ah, so that was how it was going to be.

I wanted to say more, to press. But instead, I watched as she turned. When I belatedly began, “McKenna, let me —”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Really. You don’t need to save everyone, Jack. I just scraped my knee.”

Chapter Nine

McKenna

My breath came out in a startled gasp. “Ow, ow, ow, ow!” I exclaimed to myself.

I dabbed antiseptic cleaner over the scrape on my knee. I was alone in the bathroom in the house three doors down from Jack. I was between places, still trying to decide where I wanted to live.

I let out a little sigh. I kind of hoped he never noticed I lived just a few doors away from him. I’d had my own place in Seattle, but I’d yet to find a permanent place back here in Fireweed Harbor. Seeing as I’d been one of the squeaky wheels about wanting to be back in Alaska, I couldn’t complain.

Somehow, coming home felt like opening the doors for too many closets. I thought I’d effectively locked all the hatches in my heart. Instead, skeletons that had been tucked away were rattling their way out.

There was a sharp knock on my door, and I nearly jumped out of my skin and banged my head on the shelf on the wall behind me in the process. Speaking of skeletons, I had the worst startle reflex, and I hated it.

I took a slow breath. Letting it out, I grabbed the large bandage I’d set on the counter before I began cleaning the scrape and quickly smeared antibiotic cream on my knee before slapping the bandage over it. I yanked on a pair of leggings and hurried out of my bathroom.

I could see Tessa’s silhouette through the window. She held up a bottle of wine and waved. My rampaging pulse began to slow. “Come in!”

Tessa called through the window, “The door is locked.”

“Oh right.” I always locked my door. Fireweed Harbor was safe, but old habits die hard and all that. I swung it open with a smile. “You’re here first.”

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