Page 26 of The Convict Gets His Girl

She stretched her neck, trying to ease the tension in her shoulders and the aching in her knees. She wiped her mouth on the napkin and took another drink of water.

Chase broke the stillness, his movements deliberate as he kneeled before her. His hands, strong yet gentle, cradled her muddy ankle, easing off the wedge heel that was entirely unsuited for the muck and urgency of the evening. With a section of his soaked t-shirt, he wiped away the grime from her foot, his touch unexpectedly tender. Jewel watched, her breath catching at the simple intimacy of the act.

"Your feet must be freezing," he murmured, his voice low and rough like distant thunder. He produced a pair of thick, dry socks from inside the boots and slid them over her toes, cocooning them in warmth up to her knees. Next came the pair of sturdy boots, their leather well-worn and comforting. "Figured Ma's boots would do better than those fancy church shoes."

"That's really thoughtful of you." There was an odd sense of vulnerability in her voice that she couldn't deny. Her hands fluttered to his shoulders for stability as he kneeled in front of her.

"My pleasure," he said gruffly, sending a shiver of awareness up her spine.

His hands smoothed the edges of the socks up to her knees, and he looked up at her, his hazel eyes darker in the dim light of the barn. When their eyes connected, she knew he heard the breathless tone of her voice. His thumbs stroked her knees just under the edge of her dirty church dress, and her body burned with desire for him.

Again? Still? Had she ever really stopped aching for him? They'd been teenagers with raging hormones, and she'd been caught up in flames since that first intimate moment. She'd convinced herself for years that's all they'd had. She'd been weak and had given in to temptation. She hadn't expected this reaction to him now that she was an adult.

Her breath caught in her throat, and her hands gripped his shoulders as she stared down at him. "Th—thank you," she murmured softly.

His eyes remained locked with hers as he stood slowly, the distance between them evaporating like mist. The quiet strength of his presence enveloped her, and she leaned into him, drawn by a force she couldn't resist. His gaze held the soft glow of affection, but there was a wildness there too—predatory and protective all at once.

Chase reached up, brushing a stray lock of hair from her forehead. The gesture was so achingly sweet, it contradicted the fierce desire that simmered in his eyes. It left Jewel reeling, caught in the storm of his attention, her heart racing with possibilities.

Would his kiss be the same addicting tease as before? The memory of their past kisses haunted her still. The longing to rediscover their connection clashed with the fear of reigniting a flame that could burn out of control. She hesitated, torn between the comfort of the past and the uncertainty of the future.

As they stood there, close enough to share each other's breath, Jewel realized that sometimes the most dangerous storms weren't those that raged outside, but the ones that stirred within.

The sudden crack of lightning split the skylights above, a stark white vein that illuminated the darkening barn for a fleeting moment. Medusa's sharp neigh pierced the charged air, her distress a siren call to Jewel's responsibilities. The proximity of danger—the kind that a kiss with him could lead to—forced Jewel to step back from Chase's enveloping presence.

"Thank you," she murmured again, her voice low and shaky, clinging to gratitude like a lifeline as she wiggled her toes in the sturdy boots. Her body was warm from his touch, grounding her in the present. She wasn't some horny teenager anymore.

Her spine straightened as she stepped back and her chin tipped up. "For the dinner, for thinking of these." She gestured to the boots, feeling the comforting weight of them replace the impractical church heels.

Jewel avoided Chase's gaze as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear, spun on her heel, and strode down the aisle. She was unwilling to let herself be trapped again in the intensity of his stare. Her pulse thrummed with a cocktail of emotions—nostalgia, desire, confusion—but she stomped on them with each step. She couldn't afford to be swayed by teenage whims; life had taught her too much since then.

With each step toward Hunter and the laboring mare, Jewel fortified her resolve. She was an adult now, with a daughter who depended on her, a new job that demanded her focus, and a health condition that allowed little room for reckless indulgence. That something could still spark between her and Chase was both thrilling and terrifying, but it was a luxury she couldn't entertain.

"Focus, Jewel," she whispered to herself, opening the stall door as she returned to the reality awaiting her. Medusa's trusting eyes flashed, a simple reminder of her priorities. As the storm raged outside, she pushed away the tempest inside her chest, vowing to keep her heart sheltered from the chaos.

ChapterTen

Jewel's phone vibrated against the counter, its screen lighting up with a picture of her daughter's beaming face, framed by the backdrop of a simulated Martian landscape. She answered, balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder as she continued to fill out paperwork at the veterinary clinic.

"Mom! Camp is incredible!" Destini's voice crackled with excitement through the line as she explained about the little kids and the projects they were doing. "We're wrapping up next weekend, but guess what? I've applied for an internship here at NASA!"

Jewel's hand paused mid-signature, the pen's tip hovering over the paper as her heart sank. "That's... amazing, honey," she managed, the words tasting like ash. An internship? She wasn't even sixteen yet, but she was champing at the bit to get a job. Not just any job—Destini was aiming for the stars with NASA.

"I know, right?" Destini bubbled on. "I'll find out in a few weeks if I get it. Until then, I can stay with Aunt Liz and Uncle Joe. I talked to them about it last night, and they're cool with it."

Jewel tossed the pen down and gritted her teeth. She loved her cousin Joe like a brother, but this was between her and Destini.

"Destini," Jewel interrupted gently, her throat tight. "We've talked about this. We need to be in Crimson Creek. It's our new home, and I'm looking at a few houses. Don't you want to be part of the process?"

"But why, Mom?" There was a note of frustration creeping into Destini's usually sunny demeanor. "Everything we want is here in Houston."

Jewel gripped the phone tighter, the edges biting into her palm as she fought the urge to confess the gnawing secret that had been eating away at her. "I just... I have commitments in Crimson Creek that I can't put off any longer," she said evasively, hating herself for the web of half-truths she'd spun. "Your grandpa and Aunt Gemma need me, and it's better for my health."

The silence stretched between them, filled only by the distant chatter of the clinic behind Jewel and the muted sounds of the camp from Destini's end. When her daughter finally spoke, her voice was tinged with confusion and hurt.

"Is there something you're not telling me, Mom?"

Jewel rubbed her forehead then her neck. Destini's voice, charged with dreams and determination, filtered through the receiver, and it made her both proud and weary.

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