A smile tugs on my lips as I lift the bag of pastries and set them on the counter for him to find, then walk back to the front door. Pausing with my hand on the handle, I glance back, my eyes drifting down the hallway. Jace is coming back out of the office. He stops and finds me across the clinic about to walk out.
He doesn’t break eye contact as the corners of his lips slowly lift. That smile, the one I always secretly hoped would be for me, leaves me breathless, like the oxygen is being sucked out of the room. There's a distance between us and an invisible string tugson the inside of my ribcage, urging me to close the gap, but I don’t.
“Should I meet you at the shop in the morning?”
I don’t stop the smile that drifts across my face. “That would be good.”
“Okay.” He adjusts the straps of his backpack on his shoulders. “I’ll see you then.”
My eyes linger for another breath before I force myself out the door. I can’t wash the stupid grin from my face and as I hop into my car, a soft laugh escapes me.
I can’t believe he went back for them. He knew how worried I was about those damn kittens so he made sure he was the one to give them the home I couldn’t.
What else has he done that I don’t know about?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
JACE
Asmall splash of paint hits the ground as I lift the roller and press it against the wall. Soft music plays in the background and Willow hums along with it. A slow smile drifts across my lips as the sound wraps around my eardrums.
Rolling my wrist, I check the time on my watch, noting that I have about twenty minutes before I need to go meet with the realtor. Willow’s back is to me and I pause for a moment. She extends her arm above her head, her tank top drifting higher up her torso. She presses onto her tiptoes, attempting to get as close to the ceiling as she can, but she can’t quite reach.
My eyes linger on the small of her back, on the way those two dimples form just above her ass. Her skin stretches across her ribs, her shirt lifting even higher. I let my gaze drift along her torso, up her arms, and to the wall where there’s a gap along the top that she can’t reach.
A chuckle rumbles in my throat and my footsteps are light as I pad across the drop cloth clad floor, stopping as I reach her. I’m easily over a foot taller than her and I don’t straighten my arm as I reach for the roller. “Here,” I say softly, my hands wrapping around the soft backs of hers, my fingers sliding into the spacesbetween hers as I hold the roller with her. Without trying, I half cage her in with my arm and my body. “Let me get it.”
She inhales sharply, her eyebrows lifting just a fraction of an inch as her body stills. She’s silent. No words, no breathing. And then I hear the soft exhale as she drops down flat onto her feet. Willow turns her head, tilting her chin up as she looks at me from over her shoulder. She wiggles her hands out from under mine, her body shifting as she spins around to face me. Her back almost brushes the wet paint, but I snake my free arm around her back, pulling her closer to my body.
“Jace,” she breathes, her eyes wide, pupils dilated, as she clutches my biceps. “What are you doing?”
“You were about to touch the wall,” I murmur. All my focus settles on her soft pink lips. “The paint is still wet.”
Her plump lips part, the tip of her tongue swiping across her bottom lip. “Right,” she says softly, her slender throat bobbing. Her body is warm against my arm and hints of jasmine and vanilla infiltrate my senses. My thoughts spin out of fucking control as the fronts of her thighs brush against mine. If she leans any more of her body against me, she’ll feel just how affected I am right now. “We don’t want to have to repaint it,” she says, as if I’m still worried about the paint.
“No, we don’t,” I agree, my eyes flitting back up to hers. “You have some paint,” I start, my voice catching in my throat as I lift my hand from her waist to her face. Her eyes are on mine as I brush my thumb against the smudge, just above her eyebrow. “Right here.”
A shallow breath escapes Willow and my hand lingers, my finger brushing over her soft skin. She’s silent—head tipped back, lips parted, eyes on mine. My gaze drifts to her mouth again, tracing the curve of her cupid’s bow and the way her lips touch just before she rakes her teeth across her flesh.
If I lower my head just a few inches, I can see how they feel against mine.
“I have to get going,” I say, my voice hoarse. I need to drag myself away from her before I end up doing something we’ll both regret. My hand falls from her face as I take a step away. “Don’t try to get to the spots you can’t reach. I’ll come back to do it.”
The space between her eyebrows momentarily creases. “I can use the step ladder.”
“I’m coming back later, Will. I’m just going to look at the rink with the realtor.”
She tilts her head to the side and she bites back a grin as she lifts her eyebrows. “I hope it goes well.”
My chest rises as I suck in a deep breath. “Me too.”
I do hope it’s a viable option for me and my future, because without it, I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do with my life. My aunt and uncle will be home soon enough and after that, I have nothing. I have no purpose.
Without hockey, I don’t know who I am and I have no other option than to figure it out. If I buy the rink, I hope it gives me some sense of direction in life. I’ve already failed the one thing I gave my entire life for, and I can’t do that again.
I refuse to let anyone watch me fail again—especially Willow Alder, the girl who has always believed in me.
The cold air of the rink washes over me like a cloak of familiarity as I stand in the doorway. The place looks exactly like I remember, without a single banner missing. After spending the greater part of my life inside an ice rink, it’s been a strange experience being away from one for the last few weeks.
