Page 33 of Crazy Little Thing Called Love

“My mom loves Kismet and never wanted to leave so Dad stayed. Even when he had to do a tour of duty, he never packed us up to move. He did his time and came back home.”

Wow, they truly had opposite childhoods.

“I remember when he died, Mom…wanted to fall apart. I could see it in her eyes. Even when she tried to be strong for us, I could see the tears she held back, the emptiness. But she pulled herself together, worked any job she could find to keep us in our home, keep some stability through the dark times.” He turned to face her again, grabbing her hand tightly. “That’s what parents do, Cassandra. They put their kids first even when it hurts, even when they’re dying on the inside.”

“It must have helped that she had all of you.”

“And your father had you.” He shook his head. “He should have seen that. He may have lost a wife, but you had lost your mother. He should have been there for you.”

His anger on her behalf touched her. Suddenly Del’s face turned blurry, and to her horror, she discovered her eyes welling up. Emotions she didn’t want to acknowledge or deal with choked her.

Pulling her hand from his grasp, she busied herself with polishing off her drink. She didn’t know what to say. Having been friends with the Jackson family for a long time, she knew their father had died, but she never put it together that they’d both lost parents.

It felt odd connecting with Del on something this deep and personal. Hell, it was weird connecting with him at all. Who knew the man hid such depth behind the fun-guy façade? Could there be more to Delta Jackson than met the eye?

“Cassie? Are you okay?”

She was saved from having to answer his question when Shandra came back.

“Well you two look just about done.” The woman bent down to pull their feet from the sweet-smelling water, drying them on the softest towels in all of Kismet. “Are you all done for the day or can I interest you in our couples massage?”

Couples massage? As in, get naked and enjoy a rub down in the same room with Del?

“It’s very relaxing and romantic,” she continued. “Perfect precursor to a night of enjoyment.”

“Mmm, sounds nice. What do you think, sweetheart?” Del gave her a grin, which could only be classified as seductive. The jackass.

Cassie sucked in a sharp breath as she felt her nipples tighten. Oh hell no! If just the thought of getting a naked rub down next to Del made her body tingle with desire, then she absolutely did not need to follow through with it. That would be the stupidest thing she’d done all year. Except for fake marrying her best friend’s little brother.

Yeah. Good decisions all around for her lately.

Well, this was one good decision she was going to make. No naked time with Del, even if it was presumably innocent. Two mimosas in, she didn’t trust her ability to keep her hands to herself. It had been way too long since her last boyfriend and longer still since her last mutual orgasm. Sadly, no one else seemed to get the job done right.

Staring at the man seated next to her, Cassie had no doubt in her mind Del could get her there with barely any effort at all. Judging by the two fantastic kisses they’d shared, she could tell he knew his way around a woman’s body. She wasn’t sure if she was excited or annoyed by that fact.

Annoyed. Definitely annoyed.

“Um, I think we’ll pass today Shandra, but thank you,” Cassie said. A soft chuckle sounded from beside her, and she swore she heard the word chicken muttered, but she ignored it and smiled at the shop owner. “Can you just put today on my card and bill me?”

Before the old woman could nod her acceptance, Del raised a hand in protest. “Oh no. Today’s on me, cupcake.”

Cupcake? They really needed to talk about his choice of nicknames.

“Del, that’s not necess—”

“I insist.” He pulled out his wallet, handing over enough cash to cover their treatments and a very generous tip. “This is your day, and I won’t have you lifting a finger. Even to pay.”

Shandra took the cash with a knowing grin. “You’ve got yourself a keeper here, honey.”

A keeper? Sure, she’d keep him. Locked in a box in the old jail cells underneath town hall, she’d keep him. Del knew she had the funds to cover today’s pampering. The spa hadn’t even been his idea. What was he up to?

The question kept rolling over in her mind as they walked back to Gran’s house. The whole day kept playing on repeat. The revelation to his family. The fight with Charlie. The odd connection she made with Del while he allowed her to do whatever she needed to make herself happy.

“Do you want to grab some dinner?” Del asked as they approached her door. “Or maybe we should just skip food and go straight to dessert.” His eyebrows bobbed suggestively.

Knowing he was only joking, she shoved him lightly. “No, you perv. I just want to inhale some rocky road ice cream, slip into my comfy PJs, and watch a marathon of Gilmore Girls again.”

He winced. “I’ll suffer through a spa day, but I draw the line at strange mother-daughter relationships that talk so fast I can’t follow.”

---