No Limit (Armed & Dangerous #1)(40)

“I’ll put it in and have it ready for you in two hours. In the meantime, I’ll get your check. Have fun on your walk.” She sauntered off and came back with our check, which I stole out of Jason’s hands.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Closing the booklet, I set it on the table. “Paying. Have you seen the insane amount of cash I have? My uncle’s going to freak out when I give him his birthday present.”

“Are you going to give him the money?”

“Most of it. He deserves it after putting up with me for the past seventeen years. I never had to pay for anything, not even my first car. It’s time I paid him back.”

“What was your first car?”

“It was a ninety-three, metallic blue Acura Legend. It was also a manual transmission. Learning on those hilly roads by the B&B almost gave my uncle a heart attack.”

“Why does it not surprise me that your first car was a stick?”

“Probably because you know I like things difficult,” I laughed. “It was a good car. I drove it until it had over two hundred thousand miles on it. What was yours?”

“It was an old Mazda 626. The paint was even chipping off the hood because it was so old. I begged my parents for a truck, but they made me take that. My sisters got the better deal.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

Standing, he reached for my hand. “Why don’t we go for that walk and we can talk as much as you want?”

Holding his hand, he helped me stand. “I’d like that. I’ve been dying to watch the fountain light show.” We walked outside and since it was getting dark, the heat wasn’t as bad. There were people everywhere, walking around, laughing, and talking just like us. For a moment, I wanted to pretend everything was normal and I was there on vacation—not risking my life.

“Where were we?” he asked.

“I was inquiring about your sisters. You said they got better cars than you.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right. I got the old paint chipped car and they got a brand new Nissan Sentra. They did, however, have to share it for awhile. So I guess I can’t complain too much.”

“I would rather have the beater car than have to share.” I laughed.

Letting my hand go, he put his arm around my shoulder. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Anyway, you already know what happened to Braylen. Brooklyn is the feisty one. You and she would get along great.”

“Do you ever talk to her?”

“Occasionally. She knows I’m out here working so her incessant phone calls have calmed down a bit. For the longest time, she was all I had.”

“I wish I had a sister or even a brother. It would’ve been nice to not be so lonely over the years. I miss my mother more than anything. I guess that’s why I latched onto Diane so easily. She reminds me of her.”

“You two have gotten close. She’s called you more in the last three days than my mom has in the past three months.” We walked over to the rail and it was about time for the light show. He leaned up against the post and pulled me to him, holding tight. “Are you going to miss her when you go home?”

“I’m going to miss a lot of things, you being the main one. I never thought I’d say this, but you’ve really grown on me.”

“Right back at ya, firecracker,” he murmured, kissing my head.

“Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?” My heart hurt just thinking about it. I couldn’t demand anything from him since we hadn’t known each other long, but dammit to hell, I wanted to hold onto him as long as I could. He made me feel things I never thought possible. I didn’t want to give that up.

He sighed. “I don’t know, baby. I just don’t know.”

About that time, the fountains started to light up and the water shot up in the air. I pulled out of Jason’s arms so I could see it, but I really wanted to hide the hurt on my face. Maybe I was expecting too much from him.





Once our two hours were up, we ventured back to the hotel and picked up our lava cakes. Chocolate could always help mend a hurting heart.

“You ready to play some games tonight?” he asked as we made our way to the room.

I smiled. “Are you?”

He winked, opening the door. “More than ready.”

I set my lava cake box down and retreated to my room. “I just need to change. Give me a minute.”

“Okay, I’ll get the cards ready.”

Shutting the door, I opened my bag and got out a pair of shorts, my sports bra, and a fitted T-shirt. I had to be able to move around. I took off my dress and carefully laid it on the bed before joining Jason in the living room.

He was sitting at the table with both lava cakes and a deck of cards. He looked back at me and whistled. “I bet you could put on a potato sack and still look sexy as hell.”

“Thanks. What game are we playing? Or better yet, what game have you managed to come up with?”

He shuffled the cards, smirking. “Come over here and find out.”

Kneeling down on the other side of the table, I watched him shuffle the cards, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. I wanted to tell him that he could pull off a potato sack too but I was pretty sure he already knew. Jason Avery was an arrogant ass, but he was mine; at least, for the next few days.