Page 20 of Jacob

Furrowing her brow, she peered at him. “Uh? What?” She blinked.

“Candy store,” he repeated. “I know we gotta go over books and stuff, but I got a hankerin’ for something. I’ll be quick. I’ll buy you something too.” He flashed his most charming of grins. “Then we can get to it. I know you know the drill. This isn’t the first time Odin’s Fury’s rolled through, I know you know what I need. So, why don’t we make this a little bit easier with some candy? What do you say?”

She eyed him skeptically.

Ensuring his face looked as innocent as possible, he waited.

“I like turtles.”

Now, it was his turn to knit his brows. “Huh?”

“You know those chocolate-covered nut and caramel things. They’re called turtles.” She laughed.

“Oh.” He hadn’t a clue what she meant, but if she gave him directions to a candy store, he had faith they’d know. When she started writing on a piece of paper, he nodded. “Turtles. You got it.” He’d order what he needed for Sparrow and all the reptiles for Jan at the storage facility.

Chapter 12

Sparrow

Sparrow could not possibly cram another bit of information into her head. There wasn’t one neuron of space left. Floating on a sea of complicated vocabulary words she’d never use in real life, she strolled into work, sure her brain would explode.

Keeping her throbbing head down, she gave Kimber, the bartender, a wave as she went to drop her purse in the stock room. She hesitated, hovering her hand over the knob.

What if he was in there?

Nah.

She shook her head. Laughing at her own foolishness, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. Finding the room dark and vacant, she dropped her bag beside the other waitresses’. The door half-open, she lingered a moment, staring at the spot where she and Jacob had once stood.

If she concentrated hard enough, she could smell him. Faint as it was, the scent of stale cigarettes tickled her nose. A combination of mint and pine followed. Bad beer after that. Him. She inhaled deeply, wanting more. It was gone and she let the breath out as her shoulders slumped.

Touching the pad of her finger to her bottom lip, she grazed it as he had with his mouth. Surely, she had lost her damn mind trying to relive that moment with her childhood crush.

“Hey.” Kimber bumped her hip, knocking her off balance and into the darkness of the room.

“Jesus!” Sparrow hissed as her face heated, wondering just how much her co-worker had seen.

“You gotta see this.” Her eyes sparkled, matching the giant smile on her face. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before.”

With Kimber’s hand wrapped around Sparrow’s wrist, she pulled and led her out of the stockroom. The door closed on her memory of Jacob and the missed kiss. Relief her friend and coworker hadn’t seemed to notice her reliving the moment pulled her in one direction while the want to remain in the past—even if just in her mind—yanked her backward, forming a tight knot in her gut.

The bartender all but skipped the few steps to the bar, positioning Sparrow between two stools. “Stay here,” she ordered with a bright smile that lit up the entire room.

Glancing around, Sparrow’s face heated in embarrassment. Butterfly nerves joined the knot in her stomach, fluttering about. The squealed giggles coming from Kimber only made it worse as she resumed her skipping around the bar to the back. “I think I’m supposed to be excited, but this is really having the opposite effect.”

“No, seriously.” The bartender slid behind the bar and trotted closer to her. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’m majorly jealous. You’re going to love it,” she said as she crouched down.

Disappearing for a few seconds, Sparrow didn’t have the time to wonder. The massive rainbow swirled circle lollipop at the center drew her eye immediately. Below it, arranged like a bouquet, was a variety of flavors and brands of lollipops in a ceramic flower pot. The rim of the pot had an orange ribbon and a beautiful bow with a tag attached.

Immediately, she snatched the tag to read the card.

I’ve missed you.

The air was gone. Not one bit of it was left for her to breathe. She’d written those same words. He’d used them against her.

Leaving the note, her gaze went to the display of sugary confections. The thoughtful arrangement—the perfect gift. Everyone knew she had a thing for lollipops. Hell, she had five of them in her apron to help her make it through the night. No one had ever thought to buy her something like this. She didn’t even know something like this was a thing.

TWIP.

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