Busted (Promise Harbor Wedding)(23)

All three boys sighed. “Good luck. You’ll need it with a team like that.”

Jackson waited on the porch until the kids disappeared from view. Inside, he walked down the hall, staring at the door he’d raised his stick at earlier, which now stood open.

Ignoring the goose bumps on the back of his neck, he returned the stick to Coach’s den. It belonged here with the rest of Jackson’s past. Not with the guy sick and tired of feeling angry and sorry for himself.

That needed to change, and he knew it. He just wasn’t sure yet how to make it happen.

After giving the open door a long, hard look, daring it to shut while he was watching it, Jackson fiddled with a few loose cupboard fixtures, then locked up the house and drove toward Stone’s. He recognized Hayley’s black truck parked in front of Barney’s Chowder House on the way, and at the last second changed his mind about going to see Matt.

The lunch crowd hadn’t arrived yet, making it easy for him to spot Hayley.

And Eric.

Thorton slid into the booth across from her, and Hayley’s shoulders instantly stiffened. He didn’t have any flowers with him. Too bad. It would have been amusing to watch Hayley contemplate which hole she should cram them in.

Jackson leaned in the doorway, guessing he wouldn’t have to wait long.

Less than a minute later Eric stood. If there weren’t a stick shoved so far up the guy’s ass he was probably choking on it, Jackson might have felt sorry for him. The guy just didn’t know when to quit.

Eric’s eyes sparked when he noticed Jackson by the door. “You’ve got your hands full with that one, Knight. Hope you can handle her better than you can a puck.”

Ignoring the dig at his hockey skills, he straightened. “She doesn’t need handling. She’s a woman, not a pet.” He walked past him before Eric voiced his disagreement.

“Jackson!”

He turned at the familiar voice, felt warm arms wrap him in a hug that should have been too strong for the petite woman in front of him. “Mrs. Stone. Or should I say Madame Mayor?” he asked, reminded that Matt and Hayley’s mother had been voted into office three years ago.

Hayley’s mom reached up and planted a smacking kiss on his cheek, then stepped back. Her gaze slid sideways and she swatted at him. “Don’t be too rough on Eric. He’s a determined one, but doesn’t handle rejection very well.”

So Eric had a fan in Mrs. Stone, did he? Hayley couldn’t be thrilled about that.

“Hi.” Hayley walked up, her bright smile lifting his mood instantly.

People moved around them in search of a table, but he didn’t take his eyes off her, giving him plenty of time to slip an arm around her back when she pressed up against him. She lifted a hand to his face, her palm sliding along his jaw as she rose up to kiss him.

Soft and sweet, her mouth opened over his, coaxing him to return the kiss.

She didn’t have to try very hard. The taste of her awakened a fierce craving for more. More of her hair tickling his skin, more of her fingers curling around his nape and digging in, more of her breath catching between each pass of his mouth across hers.

He knew exactly what was happening, knew she was putting on a show for Eric. And he also knew the second it became more than that.

She melted into him, so damn hot he was having trouble not thinking about doing a lot more than just kissing her.

“Hi,” he said back finally, drawing away but not letting go of her.

Mrs. Stone cleared her throat, her smoke-gray eyes fixed on Hayley with laser precision. “That wasn’t very nice to Eric,” she said quietly.

Hayley faced her mom, but allowed Jackson to keep ahold of her hand. “Eric and I were over a long time ago.”

“He still loves you.” Mrs. Stone shot Jackson an apologetic look, like she regretted that whatever he and Hayley had going wouldn’t last with Eric in town. Apparently Eric wasn’t the only one hung up on he and Hayley getting back together.

“He never loved me, Mom. Not the way he was supposed to.”

The two women stared at each other, and the tension between them had Jackson squeezing Hayley’s hand.

“Haven’t had your turkey sandwich in ages, Mrs. Stone. Any chance I can convince you to sneak into the kitchen and whip one up for me?” Hayley’s mom had managed Barney’s Chowder House for years before she’d gotten into politics.

Her warm smile slipped back into place. Although she was dressed for a day at the office instead of waiting tables, she waved for them to go ahead. “You two sit and I’ll take care of it, Jackson.”

He didn’t wait for one of the women to be the first to walk away. He tugged Hayley along behind him, keeping a grip on her hand even after she dropped into the booth across from him.

“Guess I need to work on your mom.”

Hayley rolled her eyes. “Great, then I’ll be stuck trying to explain why I couldn’t hold on to you either.” She blew out a breath, finally taking notice of his hand still holding hers. She shifted in her seat. “Sorry about that.”

“You shouldn’t be. I’m not.” He had much bigger problems in life if kissing Hayley was something either of them needed to apologize for.

She arched a brow, not trusting him.

“You’re right.” He leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. “That’s a lie. I’m sorry you weren’t kissing me and naked at the same time.”

She smiled again, not the same knock-him-on-his-ass smile as earlier, but he could work with it. “Like we haven’t given everyone something to talk about already.”

Jackson shrugged, lacing their fingers together when she would have tugged her hand back. “Eric is still watching.” An exaggeration, but the feel of her hand in his was too good to give up just yet. “Thought you didn’t want to keep up the whole pretense of us being in a relationship.”

“Relationship? Try dating.”

“Dating doesn’t seem serious enough if you’re making out with me in public.”

Amused eyes met his. “We were not making out.”

“You’re right.” He glanced over her shoulder long enough to make her think he was watching Eric, then crooked his finger.

Curious, she leaned forward, close enough it was too damn easy to meet her halfway to claim another kiss.

While he appreciated the slow and soft approach earlier, he wanted too much of her to take his time. Cradling her cheek against his palm, he pulled them both headlong into a wild kiss.

She didn’t resist, surprising him when she sighed against his lips, then playfully nipped with her teeth. The second her tongue swept across his, all slick and teasing, he groaned softly, gripping her hand tighter. He wanted to touch so much more of her, but hauling her across the table and into his lap wouldn’t happen with half the surrounding crowd pretending they weren’t watching.

Jackson couldn’t care less who was watching. Hayley was there. Bold, unpredictable and maybe-just-a-little-crazy Hayley, and he was half drunk on the taste of her. All the blood in his body had traveled south, the evidence making him almost painfully hard, and Christ, what he wouldn’t give to feel her fingers close around him.

Something hit the table, and Jackson broke the kiss, looking up into Mrs. Stone’s disapproving face. She set their drinks on the table.

Sensing that Hayley’s mom was two seconds from crossing her arms and waiting until he was back on his side of the table, Jackson released his hold on Hayley, moving faster than a horny seventeen-year-old diving out of a girl’s bedroom window after midnight.

“Thanks, Mom.” Hayley took a sip of her drink, her eyes laughing at him.

He nodded his thanks, wondering where his balls had disappeared to in the presence of Hayley’s mother.

Once Mrs. Stone vanished into the kitchen, he grinned at Hayley. “Now we’ve made out.”

“You’re impossible.”

He winked at her. “I have a new proposition for you.”

Leaning forward, she looked ready to hang on to every word. “I can’t wait to hear the new angle you’ve come up with to blackmail me.”

He started to rise. “I can get Eric if you’d rather listen to him.”

She grabbed his arm, though they both knew he had no intention of going anywhere. “Sit. Down.”

Jackson relaxed back in the booth, one arm stretched across the back of the bench seat.

“I’m listening,” she prompted, not all that happy about it.

If he didn’t enjoy pushing her buttons so much, he’d kiss her again. “You need help. I need something to keep my hands busy.”

“As much as I appreciate how eager you are to volunteer your bra removal services, I’m not interested.”

“I’m talking about the renovations on your gramps’s house.”

“Oh.” She didn’t glance away despite the flicker of pink on her cheeks.