“Really! That’s awesome,” Ellie said cheerfully.
No. It wasn’t. He still said nothing. Everyone started to realize he wasn’t reacting with enthusiasm.
Daisy cleared her throat. He recognized the sign of her nerves. She hugged herself. Nervous and uncertain. Somewhere deep inside him, feelings unfurled. He’d pushed them deep. Locked them away. But her presence awakened them.
The need to protect. To take command. To care for.
“Jed. How are you?”
“Fine,” he snapped. Why was she here? This couldn’t be a coincidence, no matter how she was playing it.
His Grandfather’s warnings came back to him, about how all sorts of people would come out from the past, wanting something from him when they realized he’d inherited a fortune. He’d never wanted his grandfather’s money, had always wanted to go his own way. He’d thought Daisy had understood that.
Until she’d left him. With just a note telling him that she could no longer wait. That she needed to get out of that town. That she’d fallen in love with Bobby-John Jones, the biggest dick in the county. That last bit wasn’t in the note, that was just his view of BJ.
His grandfather had told him back then that he’d always thought Daisy was with him for the money, that she saw him as her ticket out of her life. Had she searched him out now because she’d heard about his inheritance?
“Good. That’s good.”
“Wow, this is awkward,” Clint commented.
“Clint,” Charlie scolded.
“Well, it is. Obvious that they more than knew each other. Look at that body language and how tense they both are. Question is, would they rather tear each other’s heads or clothes off?”
“Clint!” Both Charlie and Abby protested this time. And Jed realized this couldn’t happen with an audience. Especially not around Clint, who was the nosiest, most interfering bastard on the planet. And he had a warped social filter.
“We need to talk. Alone,” he told her.
He put his plate down on the table and gently but firmly grasped her wrist and tugged her behind him towards the tree line.
She didn’t protest as he tugged her along. Her stomach bubbled with nausea. How had this happened? How was Jed here? Was he no longer in the Navy? Was his wife here with him? She studied him as they walked. The boy she’d known had been the promise of this man. He’d been much thinner back then. His shoulders were broad, his arms thick with muscle.
Suddenly, Jed came to a stop and she crashed into his broad back. His scent surrounded her. Sandalwood and leather. Manly. Sexy. She breathed him in before forcing herself to take a step back. Her entire body felt like it had been given an electric shock. A burst of adrenaline.
Like she’d eaten too much sugar and was on a high.
He turned, and grabbed hold of her. “You all right?” he asked gruffly.
“Yes. Sorry. You stopped so suddenly, it surprised me is all.”
He let her go and took a step back. “Not like you not to pay attention to your surroundings.”
No, it wasn’t. The only time she’d ever really let down her guard was when he was around. She didn’t tell him that.
“People change, I guess.”
“Over ten years? Yeah, they do.”
Silence fell. And it wasn’t a good silence. They stood a few feet apart from each other, not saying or doing anything. In the distance, from the direction of the cookout, came the sound of laughter. The food had smelled amazing and everyone she’d met so far had been friendly.
There wasn’t a friendly vibe coming from Jed.
“So, do you live here now?” she asked him, desperate to break the silence.
“Yes.”
“Not in San Diego?” That was where he’d lived a few years ago.