Page 11 of She Autumn Be Mine

He followed. “Autumn, are you okay? You’re acting kind of—I don’t know—jealous.”

“Jealous?” My voice went an octave higher. “We’re just friends, Jake. No green-eyed monster here.” But I stopped and faced him. “I mean she had her hand on your thigh, and tongue in your ear, but no, I’m not jealous⁠—”

“So you were paying attention?” His smile held all the cockiness in the world.

“I’m a bartender working around drunk people who can often be unpredictable. I have to notice things. And clearly she wanted you.”

“Didn’t mean I wanted her. In fact, do you want to know where Tess is right now?”

“No.” I thought about it. “Fine. Yes.”

He yanked his head toward the truck. I squinted. The windows revealed Tess—and Cash—from what I could tell through all the steam building up there.

Jake chuckled. “Tess means nothing to me. Just a woman who is a big flirt and gets on my nerves every time I’m at the Saloon. I complained to Cash about her, and, well, let’s say he took one for the team.”

After about a second to let it all sink in, I snorted and we both ended up laughing.

“Well. Good for them. I hope they’ll be very happy.” Giggles continued to run through my chest. Why was I so relieved about this?

“I couldn’t care less about the two of them. All I care about is…” His eyes fell to mine in a heavy stare left entirely to interpretation, my heart beating out of sync. But nothing more was said.

“About?” But did I really want to know?

“Come on. I’ll walk you home.”

He held out his elbow and without hesitation, I slipped a hand in, touching his bare forearm. Warm skin over hard muscle, and my palm settled onto it as if it had been assigned there years ago. Such a small thing, touching a man’s arm—nobody watching would think twice. While my whole nervous system lit up like the Sapphire’s neon, and I spent half a block pretending my thumb wasn’t resting directly over his pulse.

We passed by the hardware store, its windows boasting a mid-summer sale of lawn equipment. But all I kept circling around was who Jake cared about.

“So, we have Knox and Daisy’s wedding coming up,” he opened first. “He’d had a thing for her for some time. I’m glad it all worked out for them.”

“I wish them luck. Lord knows I haven’t had any,” I slipped that in under my breath.

“Autumn, one bad man doesn’t mean that’s all there is.”

“Sure. I keep telling myself that, too.” We rounded the alley, my door just ahead.

“I hate who hurt you. I hate him in ways I don’t want to admit out loud.”

“You and me both.”

“He’d better hope I never see him near you.”

“Protective like my brother,” I commented flippantly.

“No. Worse. But I’d never, ever hurt you, Autumn. Not all of us are like your ex, the type of man you need to run from.”

I swallowed back a huge lump in my throat, wanting to believe everything Jake was saying. What woman wouldn’t want a tall, muscled SEAL swearing to protect her? Threatening to hurt the man who hurt you most? But we were just friends.

That was all this could ever be between me and Jake. Not so much because I couldn’t trust him—he’d proven time and again I probably could. But because I didn’t trust myself to believe a good man like him truly existed.

“Here’s my door,” I managed, but silly. He knew that of course.

He took my key out of my hand and reached past me, unlocking it, his cedar scent combined with beer and smoke gave me a heady night on the town high that I missed from the days when I didn’t carry around so much on my shoulders.

“Go on. Be sure to give Stetson a hug and a high five from me.” He didn’t turn away back to the truck, just stood there arms crossed, waiting.

I stared at him, incredulous. What the hell did I do to find a man like him? And how bad was his timing, coming along in my life when I didn’t want to want anyone, when the only thing that mattered to me was taking care of my child.