Page 40 of Entangled

“Where’d you go in Europe?”

“The better question is, where didn’t I go?” I smile softly, remembering the crazy times with the guys fondly despite the pain threaded throughout them. “I started in Berlin and after that it was pretty much a different city every week.”

I had fled after the way everything with Coop had ended and the guys’ answer to my heartbreak had been the absolute debauchery of Europe.

Had it worked in the beginning? Not really.

Had one of them, mostly Stef or Mac because Kai couldn’t handle it without crumbling himself, had to keep me company while I drunkenly cried a lot of nights for the first half of it? Undoubtedly.

Had I managed to stitch myself back together somewhere in between it all? Somewhat.

Had it been one hell of a ride? Absolutely.

“Sounds like you were a woman on a mission.” Jace’s voice draws me back to the present.

I look up, meeting his too perceptive eyes. “Something like that.”

He tilts his head at me. “Want to tell me what taught you to take things one day at a time?”

I cock a brow of challenge. “Want to tell me why you were in the Navy and can pick locks?”

His firework eyes spark with appreciation and those dimples flash. “Fair enough, Blondie. Fair enough.” He leans back and lifts his hands, reaching up to rest his head in them. “Ugh. I guess you could say I fell in with a bad crowd after my mom died. Bottled up all that anger and pain from her death and found the most destructive outlet for it.” A weary sigh leaves him and he darts his eyes away before bringing them back to mine. “A couple years of that ended with me being hauled before a judge and given two options. Either enlist and serve my time doing something for the betterment of the county or spend that time behind bars.” He shrugs. “It was an easy choice.”

My eyes roll over his face as I consider what he told me. Trying to imagine the laid-back guy in front of me as the angry teenager he described and having trouble reconciling the two.

“Did you resent it? Your time in the Navy?”

“At first?” He huffs a quiet laugh. “Absolutely. But it wasn’t like I could do anything about it and eventually, I realized that holding on to all those negative feelings was what got me into trouble in the first place and then… I don’t know, I guess I found my peace. Knew my mom wouldn’t have wanted me to live that way.”

“And then you became the zen master,” I surmise, lips twitching and a surprised laugh leaves him.

He nods, amused eyes meeting mine. “And then I became the zen master.”

Our eyes lock and hold, playful energy and attraction threading the air between us. Brushing over my senses like a teasing caress and breathing life into me as I’m struck by the beauty of him. He’s breathtaking, sitting there, lying back with the sun highlighting his golden hair and glimmering on his tanned skin. Mischief and sensuality pouring out from his almond-shaped green eyes. Everything about him shining like the sun.

And I want to bask in his warmth. Really, truly, bask, for the first time in a year.

I tip back the last of my wine, finishing off the glass and eyeing him consideringly when he moves to pour me another. Trying to figure out how to broach the topic on my mind.

“You haven’t been as… flirty or overtly forward with me during this meal as usual.”

His surprised eyes meet mine for a second before he drops them to recork the wine, setting it aside and pulling on the lip of his boot in what I’m coming to recognize is a nervous habit.

“You.” He sits back in his chair and meets my gaze. “You’ve had a kind of a big day.”

“Still.” I take a sip and peek out at him over the rim of my glass. “Usually it’s all eggplants and innuendo.”

He looks down into his own glass, swirling the wine. “I didn’t want to add to it. Didn’t want you to have to worry about anything else today after…”

He really must shit unicorns.

“Thank you,” I tell him softly.

“Don’t mention it.” He brings his eyes back to mine. “I meant what I said at the beach last night. I’m here for you while you’re in town. Whatever you need.”

And as I stare into his eyes, everything that’s been taken from me comes to mind. The happy childhood that was taken from me by my parents’ deaths. The invulnerable girl that was dimmed somewhat by what happened with Coop last summer. And I want to take some of it back, if only for a moment, to be what I once was. Undaunted, brazen, bold. I want to be that girl with Jace again. I need her right now.

After everything today, I need to feel like myself again.

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