Page 6 of Jasper

“I don’t know, man,” I answer honestly. Though I should care a lot more about the answer to that question than I do, I’m too distracted to focus on the dire consequences. With Vanessa not just in my time zone now, but my orbit, I can’t seem to think too clearly about anything other than her. Letting her walk away without giving this everything I have seems wrong. “I hope so.”

“I’ll come to your funeral, but I ain’t planning the shit.”

“Just make sure there’s plenty ofCaribou Creek Stoutto go around.”

I drop Joel off, longingly gazing at the helicopter on the flight line I should be flying. I absently rub my wrist brace,silently cursing the careless accident that caused the sprain and grounded me for six weeks. The sky is my happy place. The place where I find calm among the chaos. Even in risky storms, I feel the world still.

I could sure as hell use a flight or two to figure this whole Vanessa thing out. To clear my head and make a plan.

Instead, I’m forced to leave behind the hangar and head into town.

Vanessa never told mewhyshe had her rule about not dating military. I assumed, after I discovered she was the admiral’s daughter, that she wanted a different type of life. But whatever her reason, my resolve to wear her down has only intensified since that dinner last night. To ensure if she’s still clinging to that rule that I convince her to break it.

I pull up to the hotel and am hardly out of my truck before I catch her clearly on a mission to escape me. It’s the only reason she’d dodge behind a tall plant near the sliding doors at the sight of me.

“Going somewhere?”

“Damn you military and your early hours,” she mutters, letting out a heavy, annoyed sigh from behind the fake plant.

“Where’s your assistant?”

“Conveniently MIA.” Vanessa drops her eyes closed as she spins around slowly and steps out from behind the tall plant. With pursed lips, she looks up at me. I subtly rake my gaze up and down her curvy figure once, admiring the dark skinny jeans that hug her sexy legs. “I don’t want to do this, Jasper. I’m still mad at you for lying. For spoiling that memory for me. It would just be easier if we stayed out of each other’s ways this weekend.”

“Itwouldbe easier.”

“Good. I’m glad we agree?—”

“But sweetheart, I have no plans on taking the easy road.”

“Don’t call me that,” she grumbles.

“Let’s start with breakfast. If you’re planning to be on your feet all day bossing people around, you can’t do it on an empty stomach.” I might sound a bit desperate, but I’m not driving away without her. I know I lied, but I also know what we experienced in Cape Cod was real. “Plus, you can shoot your firing squad of questions at me over the world’s best pancakes.”

“I already ate.” Her stomach rumbles, as if on command. Calling out her lie. She grumbles again, and dammit if it doesn’t turn me on. Then again, damn never everything about Vanessa Wheeler turns me on—from her narrowed eyes to her sly smirk to the way her blue eyes darken when she thinks about the past. “Fine. But after breakfast, I need to see where the festival is being staged. I need to do a walk through and?—”

“Afterwe eat.”

“Fine. Let’s hurry up then.”

I open the passenger door and offer my hand. She stares at it for several beats, then at the lifted truck before letting out a heavy sigh and relenting.

The contact is almost as electrifying as it was when we shook hands at dinner. An instant trigger to the memory of a passion-filled weekend. Last night, we pretended not to know one another. But the wattage is higher now. More charged after a night apart knowing that out of all the places in the world either of us could be, we were both sleeping in the same small Alaskan town.

My dick twitches against my zipper as my hand brushes side boob. It was an accident, but her gasp isn’t one of shock and indignation. It’s a gasp I recognize from our nights of passion. A sexy exhale that promises everything we shared then is still present now. Lurking just beneath the surface, waiting to be coaxed out.

“Don’t get any ideas,” she says with narrowed eyes. The minx means to fire daggers at me, but their potency is no match for thedesire that is aimed my way instead. She can pretend to hate me all she wants. The truth is fighting its way to the surface, and I know it’s what’s going to win this round.

“Sweetheart,” I say, tracing a single finger along her jawline and eliciting that sexy little inhale I’ve missed so much, “all I have are ideas.”

5

VANESSA

“These arethe best pancakes I’ve ever had.” I’m fully aware that I not only moan but also sink in my booth seat as I savor my breakfast. I can’t remember the last time I had such a simple but tasty meal. The clients I’ve had these past couple of years would scoff at a diner literally calledThe Diner. From the outside, it looks a run down. Like a strong gust of wind might blow it over. The full parking lot, however, doesn’t seem to mind the rough exterior.

“Told you,” Jasper says.

“Too bad they don’t have a booth at the festival.”

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