Page 47 of Cold Foot Curse

“Did I find you interesting.” He tossed the stick into a nearby bush. “Yes.”

“Why…why didn’t you talk to me?”

“I talked to you when the time was right. When I had something to offer you.”

“Your rank.”

He grinned a wicked expression, and told her, “I talked to you when you wouldn’t tell me to go fuck myself again.”

Her mouth fell open as he pushed open the gas station door and disappeared inside, allowing the door to swing slowly closed behind him. She just stood there like a dummy, watching her shocked reflection in the door glass.

Kade had paid attention to her. He’d watched her. He’d been there all along, and she’d had no idea.

He’d formed their plan long before she’d even known she needed it.

Jess needed a minute with this new information.

She moved out of the way of a man entering the gas station and moved to the corner of the building. There were a couple of rocking chairs here, and she sat in one slowly, her mind racing.

A dozen memories hit her. Kade watching her at the meetings. Kade talking to Samuel in the yard of their house, his eyes tracking her as she worked on the landscaping. Kade in Tawk’s driveway, hanging out with him and Seth. Kade moving his way up the ranks, Challenging other males over and over, fighting monsters and winning. The way his gaze would always find her.

She’d been so deep in her own life, none of these things had meant anything to her back then, but now? They meant everything.

But…the curse.

Her heart sank.

Kade didn’t realize it, but he was maneuvering them into dangerous waters.

Not for her, but for him.

Chapter Ten

Never in a million years would Kade have guessed at Jess’s life before she’d fallen into the lap of Sister’s Edge.

No wonder she’d stayed.

No wonder.

Sister’s Edge was probably the steadiest she’d ever felt, and so it was easy to overlook the bad in a place if she couldn’t understand good. Chaos was probably familiar.

God, what a woman. What a strong woman to have gone through what she’d gone through, in almost a constant fashion. And then the accident, on top of everything else, and the loss of her animal as she’d known her.

And she could still smile.

Kade’s heart was hammering in his chest as he grabbed a pair of bottled sodas from the fridge.

He’d watched her through the window, and she’d shrunk to the side, expression on her face haunted. She needed a minute, and he understood. He needed a damn minute too.

God, she was strong. Did she realize how damn sexy she was? She’d locked her legs against every storm in her life and was still standing, and never in her story did she describe anyone behind her keeping her upright. That woman was a powerhouse.

The cut on his palm tingled, and he clenched and unclenched his fist to rid himself of the sensation. It had been doing that a lot over the last few days.

He pushed open the ice cream freezer near the cash register and pulled out a couple of the Drumsticks Jess had described.

As he was paying out, a familiar engine sound filled his senses. He looked over at the gas pumps knowing what he would find there.

Wreck was pulling up to pump number four. Kade tossed another Drumstick into the pile on a whim. He paid for their snacks and then made his way outside.

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