Page 7 of Bounced Into Love

“How’s one of my favorite meals supposed to compete with you when you’re all tall, dark, and dangerous?” she quipped.

I appreciated how quick she was with the comeback. It demonstrated something I’d already figured out for myself by observing her over the past five Fridays. My little angel was more than just a pretty face with a killer body. She was intelligent, too. I just had to hope she decided not to be smart when it came to me. Because if she did, she’d go running in the opposite direction before the waitress had a chance to serve her the waffles she wanted so much. But I owed her the truth so she could make her decision with her pretty blue eyes wide open. I needed to stop being a pussy about it, and deliver on my promise of honesty at all times.

“My life is a fuck of a lot less dangerous since I moved to Chicago.” Kiara placed her hand over mine where it rested on the table, shocking the fuck out of me. She gave it an encouraging squeeze, and I swore I felt it deep in my chest.

Kiara was as sweet as she was sexy, and it made my heart clench at the thought of possibly scaring her off with my past. I scooted a couple more inches closer to her, practically pinning her in the booth and making it difficult for her to escape before I was done with my story.

“My dad split shortly after I started high school, and I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. My mom was stuck working two full-time jobs just to make ends meet, and it wasn’t long before I started helping one of my older buddies out to make some quick cash. He needed someone to watch his back when he was collecting on bets for his boss, who was a bookie. I was big for my age and pissed off at the world, so I made a good lookout for him.”

Kiara’s wide blue eyes searched the diner before she lowered her voice and asked, “A bookie, as in the mob? Is that what your boss meant by that joke about making an offer you couldn’t refuse?”

“Nah, if Louie had been part of the mob, I never would’ve been one of his enforcers. They like to keep it in the family, and I don’t have a drop of Italian blood in me.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” She slumped back in the booth with a relieved expression on her face.

“Just because I wasn’t working for the mob doesn’t mean I didn’t get my hands dirty,” I warned.

She lightly traced my knuckles with her fingertips. “But you’ve left that all behind you?”

“I needed to get out of that world before it either killed me or I went too far. It’s far behind me, and I have no intention of ever going back.”

“How did you end up here?”

“I played a small role in helping Ariana when she found herself in a bad situation with my old boss through no fault of her own, so it’s more her story to tell,” I explained. “But it was enough for Mark to offer me a job when everything was resolved. It took me a little while, but I extricated myself from my old life and moved out here.”

“He still gave you the job even though somewhere along the line you gave him a black eye?” There was a twinkle in her eye that eased some of my tension.

I shook my head and chuckled. “As crazy as it sounds, he didn’t hold it against me.”

“Your story is way more colorful than mine. It sounds like my life is beyond boring compared to yours.”

“You can call yourself boring as often as you’d like, but that’s not how I see you. And even if it were, it wouldn’t scare me off.” I flipped my hand over to hold onto hers. “But what about you? Will my colorful past send you running?”

Chapter 6

Kiara

“I’ve never been much of a runner.” My response was pretty lame, but my sense of humor tended to fall flat when I was nervous. Judging by the look in his green eyes, Jaxson needed more from me. I’d spent my entire life being the girl who always played it safe and made the smart decisions. But with Jaxson, I wanted to be different. I wanted to throw caution to the wind and take a leap of faith...with him. “As long as the past is firmly where it belongs, then I’m willing to leave it there as long as you promise to let me know if that ever changes.”

“I have no intention of ever going back there.” He lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to my palm. “And with you in my life, I’ll have even more of a reason to stay on the straight and narrow. I know I haven’t done anything in my life to deserve a chance with you, and I would never want to do something that would make me lose the one you’ve given me.”

Whoa.That was one heck of a promise for him to make on what was only our first date. And yet...it felt oddly right. It was as though I’d somehow gotten to know Jaxson during those five weeks I’d spent fantasizing about him. Like I’d already fallen for him at a distance, and now there was no going back.

Not that I even wanted to. I was going to grab hold of this opportunity to be with him with both hands and never let go. Everyone always said I was a smart girl, after all. And I had a feeling giving Jaxson a chance was going to be my smartest decision ever.

“That’s more than good enough for me.”

“Thank fuck,” he breathed as the waitress came over with our meals.

“You guys have moved from tossing around perfects like they’re going out of style, to swearing. That’s more like it!” she complimented us as she transferred our plates from her tray to the table.

“She sure is an interesting one,” Jaxson chuckled after she walked away.

“She’s a hoot,” I agreed.

He quirked an eyebrow up and grinned at me. “A hoot, huh?”

“What can I say? It seemed to fit the atmosphere of this place.” I shrugged before picking up my fork and knife to dig into my waffle before the ice cream started to melt. “Plus, my parents had me late in life, and they’re kind of old-fashioned. I picked up a lot of my quaint lingo from them.”

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