Page 14 of A Better Place

The dignity train that I got kicked off this morning? It just ran me over.

I take in a deep breath and turn my head to look up into James’s smiling face. “Hi,” I say with a grimace as my eyelids shutter. My elbow rests on my knee, hand to my cheek, and my lips press together.

I bite the corner of my mouth again, a nervous habit that I find myself doing around him far more than any other time. His smile is blinding, and bright blue eyes are twinkling. Shit. He looks good. He shouldn’t. It’s not like his outfit is anything that would normally scream sexy. But it works for him. Really well.

His worn jeans hug his thighs, and even though he’s in a hoodie, I can still see the definition of his strong upper body. He’s swapped out his ball cap for a simple black beanie. My eyes meet his and once again, I’m caught checking him out.

“Hi,” he says and doesn’t hesitate to sit next to me, nudging me slightly with his knee.

I have a brief flash of wishing he would lean over and kiss my cheek. And damn if he doesn’t smell good, too. I have to tell my body not to press into his.

Finally getting my bearings, I look around him and see Barrett and Tess. Barrett isn’t even trying to hide the fact that he finds the entire situation amusing and gives me a big toothy grin.

And… if I’m not mistaken, I believe he just either recorded that or snapped a pic of the two of us.

“Well, hi, Ms. Hanson. I hear you’ve met my brother-in-law, Captain James Cole,” he says proudly.

“Barrett!” Tess shouts and hits him in the shoulder at the same time that James reaches around and hits him in the back of the head.

“Ow! Damn, you two! What? I just wanted to make sure they were properly introduced!”

“I’m sorry, Carly. He was dropped on his head as a kid,” Tess says smiling apologetically.

Barrett scoffs next to her and inclines to say something to James.

I smile gratefully at her, desperately trying to ignore the level of heat that I feel coming off James’s thigh that just happens to be pressed against mine.

“Hey, Christine.” Tess says, leaning over James to get her attention.

“Hey there.”

“Thanks for picking up Maggie last night from practice.”

“No sweat, girl. I was there anyway for Bri. Besides, I got some of this guy’s cooking, so it was far from a burden,” she says, pointing toward James with her thumb while nudging my knee. It’s as if we’re in high school.

“He mentioned that he made supper for whoever stopped over, which explains why there’s no leftovers for us,” she says, grinning.

“Pretty sure the guys ate well after practice. How was your trip? Get recouped? Sleep better without Miss Harper around?”

“It was good. And yup. Lots of sleep. Just what we needed,” she tells us and blushes slightly.

“Good?” Barrett asks with his eyebrows raised. “I think it was better than good. Outstanding. Tremendous. Mind-blowing. Unforgettable. Those are all adjectives I would use. And sleep? Not so much,” he says waggling his eyebrows at James who wrinkles his nose, shakes his head, and mutters, “Dude. Gross.”

She rolls her eyes. “Okay, fine. Yes, it was all those things. We didn’t realize how much we needed the time away.”

“I’m glad you had that time together.”

“Us too. If it weren’t for James staying with the kids, it wouldn’t have been nearly as relaxing. I mean, aside from him letting her break her arm, of course.”

“Hey!” James shouts, offended. “Accident!”

She smiles. “Calm down. We know. Just teasing you.”

“How’s Harper? Was she too tired after school today?” I ask, redirecting where the conversation seems to be heading.

“Clearly,” she says pointing down to where she’s sitting with Maggie and several other high school students who all seem to be signing her cast, “she’s doing very well.”

“Ha, ha! I can’t say as I’m surprised. She seemed to be getting along quite well today. Didn’t slow her down any, that’s for sure.”

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