Let It Snow(4)

Chapter Two




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“Why can’t we play one more game?” Courtney whined as she stepped up to Jake and pressed her hands flat against his chest. The flirtatious redhead had just gotten back from the bar, where he’d seen her give Levi her number. “You said you’d play one more game. You can’t leave.”

He would tell her not to get her panties in a bunch, but since she wasn’t wearing any, there was no point.

“Can’t. I’ve got to be at the station house early,” Jake explained as he grabbed his coat off the barstool.

“Please, Jakey.” Courtney’s whine had turned into a full pout, boo-boo lip and all. “I just want to play one more game. I almost won last time.”

If she really believed that she’d almost beaten him in a game of pool, then either her IQ was several points lower than he’d originally given her credit for or she was delusional. Either way, his decision not to take her home tonight and introduce her to Levi instead was looking better and better.

“Yeah, come on, Jakey. One more game.” Randy put his bottom lip out. Chris and Peter folded their hands together in silent pleas.

Of course the guys wanted him to play one more game. It would give them more opportunities to look up Courtney’s too-short skirt and down her low-cut shirt.

“Nope, I’m tired. I’m headin’ home.” Jake pulled on his North Face down jacket as they were all booing.

“You’re no fun now that you’re a white shirt,” Chris yelled out.

Jake agreed that he had been different ever since his promotion to Fire Chief but only because it coincided with his purchase of the Shady Creek Lane house, which he knew had been the true catalyst for his change in behavior.

“Old Jake just can’t hang anymore,” Peter goaded him loudly.

Jake smiled, shaking his head while lifting both his hands and flipping both Chris and Peter the double bird as he turned to leave. Before he’d even made it a step, he was stopped short by what he saw.

His brother Eric was headed his way, and he was in uniform, which meant he must have been covering someone’s shift. Now that he was the Chief of Police, he normally dressed in a suit and tie. The stone-faced expression he wore made Jake’s chest tighten.

“What’s wrong? Are the girls okay? Mom and Dad?”

“Everyone’s fine.” Eric moved closer to him and lowered his voice, his tone in full “cop” mode. “Dispatch received several calls about a car swerving on the highway. One caller said that the vehicle turned into JT’s parking lot. I arrived and found the vehicle that matched the caller’s description parked in front, and I ran the plate…” Eric paused.

Jake waited, but Eric didn’t say anything else. Maybe working all these doubles and planning his and Lily’s wedding had fried Eric’s brain. Slapping him on his shoulder, Jake cleared his throat. “That’s a great story, bro. You feelin’ all right? How much longer you got on your shift?”

Eric narrowed his eyes and sighed, “The vehicle is registered to—”

“Did you find the bathroom okay?” Jake heard Courtney’s annoyingly high-pitched voice from behind him and felt her fingers wrap tightly around his bicep.

What the hell?

He turned to see what Courtney could possibly be talking about and why she was touching him, and when he did, he came face to face with…

“Tessa Hayes,” Eric said quietly.

Jake’s heart slammed into his chest and his body went completely numb. He stood perfectly still, not moving a muscle. He didn’t even blink out of fear that if he did she would disappear. Again.

She didn’t, but in that moment, the entire bar disappeared. The entire world disappeared. All he could see, all that existed, was Tessa.

She hadn’t changed much in the thirteen years, seven months, two weeks, three days, and about ten hours since he’d seen her last. Not that he was counting.

Her hair was a little shorter now, falling right at her shoulders, where it used to flow down to the middle of her back. Her cheekbones stood a little more pronounced on her rounded cheeks. She still had crystal blue eyes outlined with long, dark lashes, a button nose, and full lips that his body instantly responded to without getting permission from his brain.

“Hi, Jake,” Tessa spoke softly, the way she had when they’d gone camping and she’d woken him up inside their tent to tell him that she wanted him to be her first. And then after when she’d asked him never to let her go.

Her voice washed over him like the heated flames from a structural fire. Hot and consuming. Jake couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe.