Page 11 of Between Imminent Fates

The reclusive life was looking better and better.

Toweling off the remaining moisture from his boiling hot shower, he grinned. That night, he’d see his surprise hiking companion again, and he couldn’t think of anything better to brighten his day. It’d kept him going during hour seven, eight, and nine of listening to the desperate whines of immortal werewolves on the other side of the door.

He shrugged on a sport coat—then took it off—and glanced at the clock once more. If he left in twenty minutes, he could get there fifteen minutes early. That was the earliest that was socially acceptable.

Part of him was aware that she’d most likely stand him up. A woman as beautiful as Key would have no shortage of male interest. Plus, he’d literally met her in the wilderness, alone. Her being pleasant and receptive could’ve been a form of self-defense.

Regardless, Jax was looking forward to tonight. If she didn’t show, at least there was pasta to fill the hollowness inside.

Thirty minutes later, his leg bounced up and down where he sat on the bench outside Mario’s. Pacing back and forth hadn’t been a good look, and after ten minutes of glares from the hostess and passersby, he sat down.

Key hadn’t shown yet, but she still had a few minutes before five. Being criminally early was both a personal habit of Jax’s and a requirement for the Army. Arriving somewhere late typically led to pushup penalties, and he’d learned his lesson early in his career.

His hopes fell as the minutes continued to pass by. Sitting here alone only made his feelings of isolation sharper. Though he should have been used to it by now, the perpetual ache of it never stopped hurting.

“Jax?”

The voice of an angel pulled him from his spiraling thoughts. Startling, he turned wide eyes to the woman who beamed down at him. Her white-blonde hair was coiled in a sophisticated updo, revealing the delicate line of her jaw and skin that looked baby soft.

“Key.” He stood, shell-shocked, then blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “To be honest, I’m kind of surprised you showed.”

“Are you?”

Her confusion made her lips pout, and it took effort for him to refocus and explain. “We met in the woods, in the rain, and we were alone. It isn’t the best meet-cute. I’m fairly sure that’s an intro to one of those serial killer shows.”

“Do you watch those a lot? Should I have brought my pepper spray?”

“Nah.” Jax gave a single, self-deprecating laugh. “I prefer Hallmark Christmas movies, and I watch enough of them to know what a meet-cute is. I make it my personal goal to call out the tropes as I see them.”

“I’m not sure I’ve ever met a man who’s so secure in his masculinity that he actively admits to watching Hallmark movies.”

“Truly one of a kind.”

“That makes two of us, then,” Key admitted. “It’s also my guilty pleasure.”

“Match made in heaven.”

“I love that one.”

Chuckling, he opened the door to Mario’s and showed her inside. The restaurant was a few years past the need to remodel, but the booths were still comfortable. More importantly, the food was stellar, and the garlic bread was top notch.

A few minutes later, they were seated at a table and perusing the menus. Looking across to Key, he said, “So, besides Hallmark movies and hiking, what do you do for fun?”

“Annoy my friends, mostly,” Key admitted. “But I do like buying shoes. High heels. They’re one thing that doesn’t really change. You’re one size and you pretty much know what’ll fit you. Unlike clothes, where one size is vastly different depending on the manufacturer, the color, the material, the time of day. Shoes always fit. How’s that for a trope?”

“I’ve heard that about women’s clothes. Sometimes I’m glad my job requires fatigues.”

The waitress came over to get their orders, and quickly went on her way. As Key stowed the menu back in its slot near the red pepper flakes and parmesan, she froze. Everything about her went eerily still.

“You okay?”

It took a second before she replied. “It’s nothing.”

The breathy quality of her voice was so dissimilar to their conversation only moments ago that Jax frowned. If he didn’t know better, it seemed as though she’d become distant in the span of seconds.

Shaking herself, Key shrugged it off. “It’s a form of epilepsy. Absence seizures. They typically only last a few seconds, and they’re nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

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