Page 113 of My Vigilante Valentine

Chris and I shared a look that we’d practiced repeatedly for exactly this moment. It gave absolutely nothing away.

“I would never,” I said solemnly, placing a hand over my heart. “That would be a violation of your privacy and totally inappropriate use of my insider knowledge of your brooding habits.”

“Me either,” Chris added, the picture of innocence. “Though I have to admit, whoever did has excellent marketing skills. And coding abilities. And possibly access to really good 3D modeling software.”

Jax’s eyes narrowed further as he peered down at the screen. “The Kickstarter creator’s name is ‘WildeBlade4Ever.’”

“Common username format,” I said quickly. “Very standard.”

“With a coffee cup logo?”

“Lots of people like coffee.”

“That looks exactly like the ones on your shop’s sign?”

“Pure coincidence.”

He groaned, slumping back in the booth. “I’m going to wake up one day and find myself on lunch boxes, aren’t I? Maybe backpacks? One of those thermoses with my face on it?”

“Only if you’re lucky.” I patted his chest consolingly. “But hey, I bet the swords and the throwing knives would make a nice repeating pattern on a blanket.”

“Or pajamas,” Chris suggested.

Jax growled.

Chris’s phone buzzed with impeccable timing, and he checked it with a quick frown. “Guess I’m done with pancakes. I gotta take care of some stuff for my other outside-the-law job.”

“Have fun,” I said with a wave, not at all mad about alone time with the man next to me.

Chris stood, tossing some bills on the table and grabbing his jacket. “Oh, and Jax? Don’t worry too much about the action figures. I hear the production schedule is very reasonable.”

And with that parting shot, he was gone, and I turned to find Jax watching me with an expression that made my heart do funny things in my chest. It wasn’t his usual serious vigilante look or even his softer coffee shop regular one.

This was something else—something that made me feel like I was the only person in the crowded diner worth seeing.

“What?” I asked, trying to ignore the way my pulse quickened under his gaze.

“Nothing.” He smiled—one of those rare, full smiles that transformed his whole face and made me want to start another Kickstarter just to immortalize it. “Just thinking about how strange life is sometimes.”

“Strange good or strange bad?”

“Definitely good.” His arm tightened around my shoulders. “Don’t tell anyone.”

I snuggled closer, breathing in the familiar scent of his hoodie. “Because you have to maintain your broody reputation if you’re gonna be turned into an action figure?”

“Because somehow, even being turned into an action figure seems worth it.” His voice dropped lower, just for me, with that rough edge that never failed to make my toes curl. “If it means getting to love you.”

My heart did a full gymnastics routine, complete with a triple backflip and possibly some unauthorized pyrotechnics. “Careful there, superhero. That was very over-the-top cute.”

“I amnotcute.”

And the way he stared down at me from under his hood with his thumb tracing slow circles on my shoulder, leaving goosebumps in its wake?

I had to agree.

There were a lot of adjectives that would more accurately describe Jax Thorne at the moment, and cute wasn’t one of them.

I tilted my head to look at him properly, taking in the way the morning light softened his usually sharp features. “You know I’d love you anyway, right? Even without the whole vigilante thing?”

---