Busted (Promise Harbor Wedding)(19)

The hell if he knew. He felt more off-balance with her than the first time he’d tried skating, but the feeling was becoming a little addictive.

A wayward lock of her hair distracted him, and he drew the thick blonde strands back, tucking them behind her ear.

“You shouldn’t have been in the shed.” She didn’t make it sound like an accusation this time.

“Didn’t mean to be such an inconvenience.”

Her lips parted, her gaze falling to the hands she clenched in her lap. “If I had hurt you or if you’d banged that thick skull of yours…” The words were swallowed by another cough.

“I’m fine.” And he was. Better than he’d been in a good long while overall. Maybe fifty thousand volts weren’t exactly the highlight of his day, but sitting this close to Hayley, her skin warming his side, worry reflected in those pretty eyes of hers, he was more than fine.

“There are laws against trespassing, you know.”

“I didn’t think Coach would mind.” He gave the room another once-over. “Though I’m pretty sure he’d mind what you’re doing to his house. Do all the rooms look like you set off a renovation grenade?”

“Stop changing the subject.” She ran her hands through her hair. “When you didn’t drop the ax, I thought you were the same guy who’s committed multiple break-ins around town.”

“Is that your apology?”

Her earlier vulnerability retreated. “I was doing my job.”

“I think you were better at breaking the law, Hayls. Kidding,” he threw in before she reached for another weapon. “And you can’t blame me for not keeping up with the local news coverage when I haven’t been home in a long time.”

“Well, now you know.”

“Good. Any other criminal activity I should be aware of? Anyone streaking at the football games? Toilet papering the mayor’s place? Stealing the high school mascot’s costume for nefarious purposes?”

Surprise flashed across her face, and was then buried beneath a frown so quickly he might have imagined it. A cop frown if ever he saw one, and with his reputation for fighting both on and off the ice, he’d earned the same frown from a police officer a time or two. The look of surprise before that was definitely new.

Hayley pushed herself to her feet. “We have to sell the house. Medical bills are piling up and Gramps’s insurance coverage isn’t so great.”

“Now who’s changing the subject?” Because it was easier not to talk about the fact that Coach was dying, Jackson redirected the conversation back to the intriguing part. “Let me guess, you once stole the high school mascot suit.”

She ignored the comment. “The guy I had lined up to refinish the cupboard doors and woodwork in here backed out on me last week, and the other local carpentry place is already booked for the next month and a half with other jobs.”

“Your rebellious days aren’t exactly a secret,” he continued, remembering when the mascot’s costume had been tie-dyed and glued to the hood of their principal’s new Beamer.

The guy had been a genuine dick, and it had been hilarious to watch him rip the bear suit off with half the afterschool crowd looking on. No one had been caught in the act, but more than a few people had whispered about Hayley being behind it. He also had a vague memory of their mascot being linked to the disappearance of the stall doors in the girls’ bathroom.

Jackson stood and leaned against the fridge. “You weren’t the first person to use that bear suit inappropriately. I made out with Bernice Cabot one night after a pep rally while she was still wearing it.” The result of a stupid dare to kiss Brace-Face Bernice.

Hayley studied her toes. “It’s a wonder that newsflash didn’t make it into the high school newspaper.”

“Tell me about it.” Not even Matt or Josh had believed he’d gone through with it since Bernice hadn’t blabbed to a single person.

Now that he thought about it, it was a wonder Bernice hadn’t mentioned it when she’d run over to say hi to him at Stone’s last night. The former-school-mascot-turned-real-estate-agent hadn’t stopped talking until Allie had coaxed her back to the girls’ corner.

That kiss should have been worth at least a mention given the rest of the high school stories she’d launched into that night. Christ, she’d yammered on about everything from getting her braces off to his old hockey records and the ten-year reunion he’d skipped a couple years back.

Something tugged at his memory, something to do with the stupid braces…

Maybe it was just nerves left over from the failed cigarette attempt that made Hayley almost squirm in place when he looked her way. Or maybe it was something else…something…

No f*cking way.

“It was you.”

“Me?” Her neutral expression didn’t slip even a little.

“Yes, you. You in the bear suit that night.”

That’s why he couldn’t remember kissing Hayley. It had been dark inside the janitor’s closet when he’d led Bernice—or so he’d thought—inside after they’d left the gym. He’d tugged that ridiculous bear head off and kissed her before he could think about it, wanting the whole damn thing over with.

“You kissed me back.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t want you giving me away.”

“No, you kissed me back.”

“Should I have given you a demonstration of proper mop use instead?”

“You held on to me.” He grinned, knowing he’d just recalled a very important detail. Almost as important as the fact he hadn’t been kissing a girl with braces at all—and how in the hell had he let himself forget that detail?

It probably had something to do with the embarrassment of getting a hard-on kissing Bernice, or so he’d thought at the time.

But it hadn’t been Bernice at all, and the second his tongue had slid into Hayley’s mouth, she’d made the most perfect sound and wound her bulky bear arms around his neck.

One quick kiss had lasted nearly five full minutes, ending when he’d tripped over a broom trying to figure out how to get her out of that bear suit. They’d both been breathing heavy until he realized how turned on he was. Then he’d plunked that bear head back in place and gotten the hell out of there.

“You liked kissing me,” he insisted, half annoyed he hadn’t figured it out back then.

“You’re full of yourself.”

He took a step toward her, smiling when she scrambled back a step. “Really? Then how come I’m making you nervous?”

“Cautious, not nervous. And you would be, too, if you had tased six-feet-plus of glory seeker with fists tougher than titanium.”

He scoffed. “Glory seeker?”

“All those fights on the ice were about something.”

“I liked to think of it as doing my job. Sound familiar?”

Hayley frowned, and it only made him want to get closer to her. The kind of closer that would have her flush against him, his hands on her hips, fingers skimming beneath that Superman T-shirt.

He took the first steps to make it happen, crowding her against the counter.

“How’s Josh holding up?”

“I’m sure he and Devon are fine.”

Her eyes, which had been half-shuttered, flew open. “Him and Devon?”

“They went to Greenbush Island to look for Gavin and Allie.” He set his hands on her hips, gaze locked on the sexy curve above her collarbone.

“Together? You don’t find that odd?”

He nodded. “Almost as odd as the bride running off with her ex.”

“Point taken. Gavin wouldn’t have taken Allie to Greenbush Island. He’d want to make her forget Josh, not take her to the one place they were headed after they were married.”

Jackson didn’t let the sensitive subject sway him from touching her. Not this time. He ran his hand down her arm, his thumb brushing the inside of her wrist. Her breath hitched, and some of the tension left her shoulders.

Better, but not quite good enough. He followed the lines of her palm, tracing the soft skin until she closed her hand around his, lacing their fingers together.

“I’m not some—”

“Flavor of the week?” he guessed. “I know.”

The slow smile that curved her lips was nothing short of gorgeous. “Stop reading my mind.”

“I’ll make a mental note.” He hooked a finger through the belt loop on her jeans and tugged until she bumped against him.

“Not sure I can trust that with the number of concussions you’ve had.”

“Probably not as damaging as fifty thousand volts.”

She cocked her head, her eyes full of trouble. “Are you still whining about that?”

He nipped her bottom lip, her answering moan sending a rush of heat straight to his groin. “I don’t whine.” His lips found a sweet spot below her ear.