From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(85)

It was three in the morning, and the road rolled under him, the lines hypnotizing as they disappeared under the Jeep in a steady beat that was almost audible. They had just driven through Chicago, and he was hurting for sleep with heavy limbs and a creaky brain.

He glanced over at Josie.

She lay curled up in her seat with a Mexican blanket over her and her head propped on the window as they bounced down the highway. She had only been asleep a few hours, and he wanted to give her as much time as he could. They’d be no good if at least one of them didn’t get some decent rest.

The worry and stress had been erased from her face as she slept, and she looked like a girl, peaceful and without a care. Emotion welled up in him as he imagined a different world, one where he could touch her hair like he wanted to so badly in that moment, to kiss her rosy cheek, warm from the heater. To pull her into his lap and hold her, protect her.

After the day they’d spent together, he was optimistic about his chances for redemption for the first time in three years. He’d been practically giddy, unable to believe that she was sitting next to him, smiling and open. Accessible. She’d been fighting him for so long that he almost forgot what it was like to make her smile, to see her happy in any form.

He hit a pothole, and the Jeep jolted.

“Fuck,” he said under his breath for not paying attention.

Josie stirred, pulling a deep breath through her nose. She blinked and looked at the clock. “Hey,” she said, her voice rough from sleep.

“Hey, sorry about that. Go back to sleep, Jo.”

“S’okay. I’m up.” She shifted in her seat and stretched her legs and neck as she took another deep breath. “Can we stop for coffee? We can switch places so you can get some rest.”

“You sure? I can keep going.” He would, too, bone tired or not.

“Yeah. You’ve been driving for”—she squinted at the clock—“thirteen hours. Holy shit. You should have woken me.”

Jon smiled sideways. “It’s all right. I really don’t mind.”



Josie looked over his tired face, illuminated by the dash. He leaned on the steering wheel like it was keeping him upright, and his hair was tied back in a small, messy ponytail, which somehow didn’t look douchey. In fact, it looked the exact opposite of douchey. Loose hair blew around his face, and he tucked a particularly aggressive strand behind his ear. She blinked stupidly before pulling her phone out to pretend to check the map as he pulled off the interstate and into a huge Flying J.

He parked the car, and they stepped out into the island of fluorescent lights in the dark night. Josie reached up over her head and yawned before following Jon inside, who was dragging ass.

Sweet ass, she thought.

But she caught herself and rolled her eyes.

Once through the automatic doors, she walked directly to the coffeemaker and picked up the biggest cup they had. She filled it to the brim with hazelnut brew and dumped in a couple of packets of sugar. When she took a sip, she made a face. It was terrible.

She was too tired to care.

Josie wandered around the massive store, looking at the trucker hats and dream catchers. She spun around a display of magnets and sipped her coffee for a second before walking around some more. When she came across Jon, he was flipping through postcards with a couple of energy drinks under his arm.

He picked up one with a cat on it that said, Meow’s the time.

“For Lola?” Josie guessed.

“She’s obsessed with cats.” He shrugged.

“Jon, she really is just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Thanks,” Jon answered with a smile at the corner of this mouth.

“I…I’m glad I met her today. Tori, too.”

“Me too, Jo.”

She didn’t know what else to say, and Jon didn’t press her, just smiled at her with understanding and turned for the counter.

He laid his haul down and pulled out his wallet. “Add her coffee to that, too.”

“Thanks.” Josie couldn’t remember the last time a man had bought her anything, even coffee. The realization depressed her.

They walked back out to the Jeep, and she held out her hand for the keys.

He pulled them out of the front pocket of his jeans, looking conflicted. “You sure you don’t want to sleep?”

“Nah, I’m good. It’s your turn. You sure you can handle me driving your Jeep?”

Jon laughed. “As tired as I am right now, that’s about the last thing I’m worried about. I know you can handle it.”

He stepped toward her and laid the keys in her hand, and her palm tingled when his fingers grazed her skin. Their eyes locked, and they stood there for a moment before she looked down and sorted through the keys.

“All right,” she said with her eyes on her hands, not wanting to make eye contact again.

When he turned, she snuck a look at him as she made her way to the driver’s side and unlocked the door. She leaned over the seat and put her coffee in the cupholder. Then, she hauled herself in and slipped the key in the ignition just as Jon climbed in next to her.

He laid his head against the headrest and looked over at Josie as she started the car, adjusted the mirrors, moved the seat up. When she looked over and caught him looking, she thought he was suppressing a smile.

“What? You’re like a foot taller than me.”