Page 137 of Break the Ice
“It’s what they train for,” I say. “And they have pads…”
Not that it stops them from getting hurt. That bruise Jayden brought home the other night was bad. And I know that he was putting on all his macho bravado when I was taking care of him, but even so, I could feel him bunch up under my touch.
“You’re a braver woman than I am,” Summer croons as the bell above the door rings.
I all but jump out of my skin at the sound, until Christina waltzes in with a drink tray in hand.
“Afternoon, ladies!” Pausing, she puts the drinks down on the desk Summer assigned me, followed by her large, heavy-looking purse. “Why is it so quiet in here?”
“It was until you walked in,” Summer teases as Dex jumps Christina.
“It’s cause I’m fun. Yes, I am,” she coos at the dog. “And I brought your fave puppucino. Vanilla with doggy pumpkin spice. Yummy-yum...”
“You spoil him,” Summer chuckles while Christina feeds Dex the whipped cream with dehydrated pumpkin pieces on top.
“Don’t get jealous, I got you an orange and ginger juice and Goldfish crackers.” Looking at me, she beams, “I got us something to celebrate when we go back to your place.”
Checking the time, Summer sighs. “I need to leave to meet with anew client. They just bought a beach house in Malibu, right on the water.”
Opening up the portfolio with the samples, she shows us the photos of the space.
“Wow, that’s so pretty and airy...”
“Right?”
“How the other half live...” Christina hums. “I might trade my soul to wake up to that view every morning.”
“It is special,” Summer says. “And they’re an older couple, widowers... get this, they grew up in the same town, but then his family moved away and they lost contact. She ended up marrying his best friend and he married another woman. They had kids, and her son and his daughter met in college... they reconnected, and by then his wife had passed, her husband was terminally sick?—”
“Sounds...” Christina starts.
“Don’t be mean. I think it’s cute and so wonderful that they found their way back to each other.”
“After their spouses died.”
“It’s not like they killed them.”
“Ooo... that would make the best true crime story.”
“There’s something seriously wrong with you,” Summer tells her, packing up the portfolio along with her laptop into her purse. “So anyway, forty years after they lost contact, they got married and now they’re settling down together. I think it’s romantic.”
“It is,” I agree, ignoring the yucky face Christina pulls.
Once I’ve booked an Uber and gathered my things, Christina and I head out.
I can tell there’s something up when we get in the car and she’s silent. Silence and Christina don’t go together. Unless there’s something bothering her. I’m about to ask when my phone vibrates with a message.
Jayden
Let me know when you’re home. X
I can’t stop myself from smiling at the kiss. A warm buzz tingles across my lips at the memory of it. The same way it does when I remember Elijah’s kisses.
And as though my thoughts are connected to him, my phone vibrates with his name lighting up my screen above the photo I took of him sleeping on the couch recently.
“Hey you,” I answer.
“Hey, sweet girl,” he replies, his voice tender. I haven’t seen him since he went to bed last night, and I was worried he’d be awkward today. He’s not. Or at least he doesn’t sound it. “How was your first day?”
