Page 83 of Redemption

“Out on a call?” I offered.

“Yeah…maybe. Anyway, when’s our next date night?”

I chuckled. “Whenever you like, honey bun.”

“Cool, I’ll check my schedule and drop you a note. Gotta get to training, I’ll catch ya later,” he said, and then he was gone, and I was saved a round of questioning over the basket.

I headed back to the cabin and hid the basket just in case Kat came over later. I was planning on taking her for a ride tomorrow to one of the more secludedpastures so we could have some alone time. It was great getting to spend all day with her and nights too, but we didn’t get to go out and do anything like other couples did and I was craving some normalcy.

I went back to work, fixing and rehanging one of the stable doors. I had more confidence in my abilities now. I could fix pretty much anything, that included the stage at the bar that Max had requested. He’d paid me well for it and that led to buying more tools. I was trying more ambitious projects now and working with reclaimed wood from some of the older, dilapidated structures in town. I’d been sneakily working on restoring the Adirondack chairs for Kat. I’d seen how much she sat in the one on the porch and it looked seconds from crumbling to pieces. I figured she’d be devastated if anything happened to them.

The day’s work ended and I headed back to the cabin to shower, shoved some food in my face, and gave Teddy some love before heading out to the bar for my shift. The evening was half gone when I heard a familiar laugh and looked up, my stare racing over the crowd for her.

There she was.

My chest did this weird fluttery thing as I watched her laughing with August over something. Her head thrown back, blonde hair flowing around her. I watched her talk, the way she moved her hands, how animated her face was when she was excited and felt a grin settle on my lips.

“Hey, Jack!” Someone clicked their fingers in front of my face. I blinked and turned towards the owner of the fingers and saw Daisy glaring at me. “She ain’t for you, better get that through your head, now.”

I bit my tongue to stop the retort that would reveal that shewasfor me, was currentlywithme.

It hurt that Daisy was the only sister who hadn’tsoftened towards me, except every now and then it was like she wanted to but held herself back.

I pasted a smile on my face. “What can I get you?”

“Three lemon drops.” She continued staring at me, God, was I sweating? This woman was slightly terrifying. I racked up the glasses and poured the shots.

“How much?” she asked.

“On the house.”

Her eyes narrowed at me. “What’s the catch?”

I shrugged. “No catch.”

She continued staring at me but picked up the shots and as she walked away, I called after her, “I will make you like me.”

She scoffed and shook her head before stomping off, but she didn’t say anything back, so I counted that as a win. The crowd grew heavy and I lost sight of Kat for a while until my phone buzzed in my back pocket.

Kat:There’s a real sexy man in the bar tonight.

Jealousy snapped through me before I realized what she was doing.

Jack:Oh yeah? Where?

Kat:Behind the bar. Every time he turns around, I catch a glimpse of his perfect ass.

I snorted and I think I even blushed, I hadn’t had a compliment in a long time. I glanced up looking for her, and like the crowd knew what I wanted, it parted and there she was. All alone.

Jack:Perfect huh?

I watched as she read my reply, she looked up and met my eye and nodded nice and slow. I couldn’t fight my smile.

Jack:How perfect?

I watched as she typed and then raised an eyebrow at me. I grabbed my glass of water and took a sipas I read her response.

Kat:Perfect enough that I want to bite it, right now.

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