I don’t bother answering him. Because if I did, I might have to say that I think I’d like it if he got at least one of his wishes. I think I’d like it a lot.
“Let’s go find us an adventure, Red.”
I just hope that I can keep my head and my hands to myself.
“
CHAPTER 7
Jaxon
Idon’t know what the hell is going on but I know one thing. This woman is driving me nuts. The scent of her is almost as sweet as peppermint candy. Addictive and sweet and tempting as hell.
The air in the truck is close and warm. And yet I want more of it…more of her scent, more of her laugh, more of her smile.
Just more.
And although I should be keeping my distance because there’s something about her that tells me that I’m going to be fucked if she runs. I’m going to be lost.
That’s a scary thing for a guy like me that’s spent his whole life running in the opposite direction. Now I just want her to run to me.
Speaking of….”I heard all the women on the base and in Pine Ridge talking about how you don’t stick with any one woman. It’s well-known. So why should I let myself get any closer to you.”
“You want to know why?”
“It’s not necessary. We don’t have to talk about anything like that.”
“I think that we do. I want you to know me. I mean, really know me.”
“Okay.”
“I lost my parents when I was eight.”
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry.”
“It’s alright. I got over it a long time ago.”
“But have you really? Because you do your best to make sure you don’t get close to anyone. Don’t you think one thing might have something to do with another?”
“I guess. But really, I have gotten over it. But when I lost my parents, I was taken to my grandmother’s to live. And she was the best. She didn’t take my shit even when I was acting up because I was freaking pissed that they died. She just put me to work on her farm. At the time, I thought that it was horrible, working for her. That she was just mean.”
My heart jerks in my chest and I struggle to keep the neutral look on my face. I miss that woman.
“Was she mean?”
My lips curl into a gentle smile. Nana was something special. She was strict but I needed it. When my parents died all I wanted to do was act out. I wanted the world to know how damn mad I was every dang day of my life. But Nana understood that. And she funneled it into working on whatever she could come up with. Yard work, cleaning the bathroom, doing my laundry, doing my homework. All of it designed to help one lonely and angry little boy find a way to get over the worst day of his life.
“No, she wasn’t mean. She just believed in discipline, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else. She thought that if you had that fundamental basis for your life, everything else just kinda fell into place.”
“She sounds like a wonderful woman.”
“She was. She passed away as soon as I left for the military. I was on my first mission overseas and they couldn’t get ahold of me so I didn’t make it back for the funeral.”
“I’m so sorry, Jaxon. That is awful.”
“It wasn’t great. I got to come back to take care of all the things that needed taken care of though. I had no use for the house so I sold it and took care of all the estate things before I went back. I’ve been in ever since.”
“Was your grandmother the last of your family?”
