Page 59 of Falling for the Enemy

“Uh, we won’t wait up,” Ella said. They snickered excitedly as I walked out.

I got in the car. Jack lived near the university, about a twenty-minute drive from the cove. When he’d sent the text, I read it several times to make sure I read it correctly. I hadn’t expected his response. Not in a million years had I expected himto tell me that he needed a friend right then and that I somehow fell into that category. I hesitated before deciding to go. The truth was I’d missed his wry humor, and though I hated to admit it, I missed talking to him. We left Costa Rica with hardly a word to each other, and nothing about that felt right.

The drive gave me time to relax. Surprisingly, I’d had a case of nerves about seeing him, especially in a situation where we weren’t surrounded by students and science labs or in a place where we were fighting off mosquitos and sloshing through mud. I tried to find a source for the case of nerves, something that was rare for me, but the only answer I could come up with only made me more anxious. It was impossible to believe that the butterflies started up because I liked Jack. How could I possibly fall for a man who was so clearly not a suitable match? Temporary insanity—that was the explanation I was sticking with. Maybe I’d come back with more mosquito bites than I realized.

Jack lived on the second floor of a rather sad-looking apartment complex. The outside of the building was in bad need of a fresh coat of paint, and the community pool area was closed for remodeling. The whole pool had been drained, and there were cracks in the plaster bottom that someone had tried to fix with gray cement. That seemed to be the extent of the remodel.

I climbed the stairs and turned right to Jack’s apartment. The paint on the door was as faded and cracked as the paint on the plaster façade. I knocked. The butterflies took off again when the door opened.

Jack was wearing a green T-shirt that looked good with his tanned complexion. It seemed he’d showered, too. His thick dark hair was combed back. He’d shaved, and I was sure I could smell aftershave through the scent of my own fruity shampoo.

“Thanks for coming,” he said. His expression showed that he’d just gone through something. The cocky grin and thatconfident twinkle in his eyes were gone. Holly’s health scare had wiped him out. “Come on in, but I have to warn you, it’s pretty shabby. Gwen has the house, of course.”

“Divorce must be so hard.” I followed him inside. “Good to hear Holly’s better.”

Jack was acting unusually shy and far from the usually self-assured man I knew. “Her fever broke. No sign of a bacterial infection.” He walked straight to a bottle of wine on his small kitchen table and poured us each a glass.

Jack gazed at me as he handed me the glass. Our fingers touched as I took it from his hand. “I’m really glad you came, Ava. I consider myself to be a fairly strong, confident person, but when it comes to Holly—” He shook his head as we sat at the kitchen table. It seemed he’d gone through a storm of emotions in the past few hours. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

I reached over and took hold of his hand. “I don’t have a child, but I can only imagine.”

I took a sip of wine. “Hmm, nice.”

“I’ve got some snacks—cheese puffs and some salt and vinegar potato chips. And I’ve got a lot of dinosaur-shaped pizza bites if that suits your culinary fancy.”

“Spoken like a true dad. I’m good with the wine. Is Holly going home tonight?”

“They want to keep her overnight, which, of course, makes me anxious.”

“I’m sure it’s just a precaution.”

“That’s how they explained it. Still, I can’t wait for her to be bouncing around the house again singing off-key Taylor Swift songs and retelling everything that happened at recess.”

It was hard not to find him irresistible when he talked about his daughter. His eyes sparkled, and he had a beaming smile that could melt anyone’s heart. Even mine, apparently. And that was when it hit me—my crazy, tangled emotions when it cameto Jack. One minute I was yelling at him, feeling ridiculously defensive, the next I was kissing him and then I was running away from my feelings about him as if my hair was on fire. It was becoming clear now. My past relationships had always felt more like a whim, but being with Jack was different. It wasn’t just a whim, a flight of fancy relationship. Being with Jack felt far more real, far more intense. Whether we were angry at each other or on good terms, like now, I felt incredibly connected to the man.

“I met Nate.” He took a sip of wine.

“Nate?”

Jack took another sip. “Gwen’s new boyfriend.”

Suddenly, my stunning revelation felt heavy in my chest. It seemed only I felt that deep connection. He still had feelings for Gwen, and now she had a new boyfriend to compound his heartache.

“I’m sorry.” It was the only response I could come up with because frankly, the breath had been taken out of me. I was about to let Jack know my true feelings, but thankfully, he brought up his ex and her new boyfriend before I’d confessed everything.

Jack looked up with confusion. “Sorry about what?”

“I’m sorry she’s found someone else.”

Jack chuckled. “I’m not. I’m relieved. My only concern with her dating was how it would affect Holly’s life. He seemed genuinely concerned about her, and Gwen seems smitten.”

I stared shyly down at my wineglass. “I guess I misread that.”

“That’s all right. So, the class was all right for you?” He shook his head. “Why am I even asking? They’ll be disappointed to see me on Wednesday after having the cool Professor Lovely to themselves for two hours.”

I rolled my eyes. “Not at all. In fact, Sherry and, hmm, I think her name was Olivia, were quite disappointed that Professor Sinclair was out. Something tells me those two sit up front withtheir cute little chins on their fists and sparkly stars in their eyes while you’re standing there in your rolled-up shirtsleeves talking about plant genetics.”

Jack took a sip of wine to avoid answering.

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