What the Heart Wants (What the Heart Wants, #1)(44)

“Time to go back.”

She nodded and huddled closer to him as a sudden gust of night wind chilled the air. He couldn’t help but seek her lips, then reach up to mold a breast with his hand. What he really wanted to do was lay her down on the soft grass and make sweet love till dawn, but his brain told him that sex in a public park was not a good idea. Besides, he’d noted a couple of suspicious-looking exchanges between some of the guys on the trail. Never a good idea to be in the vicinity when anything like that was going down.

“Tonight,” he breathed, moving against her so she could feel his arousal.

“Tonight,” she repeated in a dreamy voice, lifting up to fit herself to him, then jerking back as one final bare-chested runner came toward them at a fast clip. Jase stepped in front of her as the man ran by, and watched as he turned at the end of the path and started back up the trail into the dying sun, passing them again. The guy looked harmless enough, but there was no telling. If bad stuff was gonna go down, the Shallows would probably be the place for it, and he didn’t want any part of it.

The sunset had faded to a golden memory reflected in the Bosque’s placid waters when they arrived back at the plaza. Jase scouted the parking lot with his eyes as they walked past the fountain toward the gate. Only one other vehicle, the minivan, was still in place.

Probably belonged to that last runner. He must be doing the western path too—which reminded Jase that he needed to get a good run in soon. It’d been three days since he had a chance to hit the pavement. He let his hand trail across Laurel’s hip.

Not that he wasn’t getting plenty of another kind of exercise.

The runner came into view again, waving his arm. “Redlander! Wait!”

Jase went rigid and handed his car keys to Laurel. “Get in the car and lock yourself in. If there’s any trouble, drive off and don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

He turned to face the newcomer, every muscle in his body primed for action. The man was tall and muscular, but he’d be winded from a long run. There’d be no problem taking him down, even if he pulled a knife, but a gun would be real trouble. Not many people out running would carry a firearm, but this was Texas.

The man slowed, stopping a couple of feet away and bending over with his hands on his knees to get his breath. “Took me…a while to figure…out who you were.”

Relief flooded through Jase as he recognized the voice. “Ray Espinoza, you f*ckin’ dawg!”

Still panting a little, the runner stood up, a big grin spreading across his face. “Long time, no see, hombre.”

Jase seized his old teammate’s extended hand, slapped him on the back, and lifted his clenched fist for a knuckle thump. “Linebackers rule!”

Ray stepped back and wiped his forehead again. “Coach was really pissed about losin’ you senior year, dude. Tried movin’ me into your spot, but all I did was get my front teeth smashed in.” He grinned at Jase, thrusting his upper jaw forward. “Like my implants?”

“Sorry about that, dawg. You shoulda chomped down harder on the mouth guard.”

Ray shrugged. “Water under the bridge.” He reached through the half-open window of the minivan for a T-shirt and pulled it on. “You still playin’ football?”

“A little tennis and a lot of gym workouts, but no football. I’m into real estate now. In town from Dallas looking at a few properties. What about you?”

“Buildin’ houses with mi padre out east of town. Can you believe it? Bosque Bend actually has a suburb.” He patted his haunch as if looking for a pocket, then smiled ruefully. “Sorry, don’t carry any cards in my runnin’ shorts.”

Jase laughed. “I think I’ll remember the name.”

Ray was one of the few teammates he’d developed a friendship with strong enough to extend past the football season. All fall, Jase had played strong-side linebacker, the human tank the team depended on to obliterate any running backs or tight ends who were dumb enough to crash through the line, but come Thanksgiving, he became the scummy spawn of the Meanest Man in Texas again.

Ray moved closer to the car. “Hey, who you got with you? That your wife?” He peered in the window, then reared back as if he’d been bitten. “Reverend Ed’s daughter!”

Jase positioned himself in front of the window and smiled broadly and firmly. “Ms. Harlow’s been kind enough to give me a tour of the changes in town, but I guess I’d better get her home now.”

Ray seemed uncomfortable. “Yeah.” He backed off toward his own vehicle. “Uh, well, gotta scram-o. Mi esposa expected me about fifteen minutes ago.” Clicking his door open, he climbed in, waved at Jase, backed around in a spray of gravel, and was gone.

*



Laurel braced herself for questions about his friend’s reaction to her when Jase got back in the car, but all he did was start the car and turn to pull out.

“That was Ray Espinoza,” he said, driving slowly to the exit. “He was telling me Bosque Bend has some new construction east of town.”

“Yeah. I recognized him once he got up close.”

Of course she did. Ray’s younger brother had been one of the boys paid off to keep his mouth shut. Sarah’s father had arranged it all. He’d visited the house almost daily back then, keeping Daddy up-to-date on negotiations and picking up more big settlement checks. Whenever Mama spotted Mr. Bridges crossing the street, briefcase in hand, she’d flee to her bedroom, now separate from Daddy’s, which meant Laurel had to be the one to usher him into her father’s study.