Getting Lucky (16 page)

“TJ,” Tucker said, snapping his fingers in front of TJ’s face. “You okay?”

TJ frowned at him. “Yeah, fine.” Because he
hadn’t
involved his cock. Yet.

He was feeling crazy—turned around and inside out. But did he actually think
Hope
was crazy? No. In fact, hearing her talk about her work as a nurse, her connection to helping people and her desire to understand her mother better, he was starting to think she was one of the sanest people he knew.

That was not good.

“She’s…unconventional,” he said. “But maybe that’s what I need for a few days—something different, out of the ordinary.”

A very
few
days.

“Well, I’d say you’re gonna get that,” Tucker said with a chuckle.

“I’m going to go check on her,” TJ said, shoving back from the table. “I’ll give you two a couple of minutes to talk about us without us here.”

“Finally,” Delaney said.

TJ rolled his eyes and headed outside through the back door. He wanted a few minutes with Hope alone too. Sure, he’d get that later when Delaney and Tucker left, but he couldn’t wait. She’d been gone from him for less than ten minutes and he had to go after her.

Fuck.

He rounded the side of the house and found Hope standing behind the camper. The back end was propped open to reveal a countertop and sink and various drawers and cubbies. He’d wondered if she could store or prepare food with this thing. Apparently, there was a built-in tiny kitchen. Tiny being the operative word.

She had a wooden box sitting on the counter. The front of the box opened like a set of French doors, revealing a collection of glass bottles and jars inside.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” She gave him a grin as she replaced the top on one of the jars and opened a bottle. She poured a bit of oil into the bowl she was holding.

Whatever it was smelled good. Like peppermint. “Is Tucker pretty convinced I’m crazy?”

“Tucker is…” TJ thought about how to answer that. Finally, he said, “Tucker is like everyone else in this town. We’ve seen a lot of the same things and same types over and over.”

“And I’m different.”

“Very.”

“And he’s suspicious of me because of that?” She stirred whatever the concoction was in the bowl as she watched TJ.

TJ shook his head. “I think he’s
fascinated
. Just like everyone else will be.”

She smiled at his use of her favorite word. “Everyone else?”

Meaning including him. Absolutely. “Yes. You’re going to get a lot of attention.”

She poured the mixture from the bowl into an empty bottle and pressed a stopper into the top. “But as long as I keep the attention on things like herbs and yoga and almost-psychic readings, it will keep the attention
off
my connection with Dan and will keep JoEllen happy.”

And that irked TJ suddenly. Why was JoEllen’s happiness so much more important than Hope’s? Hope was Dan’s daughter, and she deserved to know her dad and have a family.

“For now,” he said grudgingly. “But we’ll figure that out, okay?”

She nodded and tucked the glass bottle into the pocket of her skirt and started closing the box. “I’m not worried. This girlfriend thing could work for the next couple of days and then I’ll hit the road and everything will be fine.”

Yeah, and
that
irked him too. She was so prepared to just leave? She’d only gotten here today. She hadn’t even really gotten to know anyone or the town. “Thought you were talking about staying for the rest of the summer?”

“I guess in my mind I was going to have a summer like my mom did here. But,” she shrugged, “that’s not very realistic. I realize that now.”

“What do you think her summer was like?” TJ asked.

She closed the back of the camper and turned to him. “New friends, parties, new love. A carefree summer. A new adventure. A bunch of memories she carried with her for the rest of her life.” Her voice caught at the end.

“Dammit,” TJ muttered and reached for her.

He just wasn’t sure he was cursing the incessant need he felt to comfort her or the fact that she had just laid out everything she wanted and needed that summer—and he wanted to be the one to give it to her.

Hope seemed happy to be in his arms, and TJ felt her big sigh.

He stroked his hand over her hair. “Why do you think all of that is unrealistic?”

She didn’t say anything for a moment. Then softly, she said, “Sometimes magic just happens. You can’t force it. You can’t create it. That’s what makes it magical.”

Magic. That word again.

“You think your mom’s time in Sapphire Falls was magic?” He marveled that he could say that word with a straight face. That word was not a part of his normal vocabulary. But it felt completely serious right now.

“She said so herself,” Hope said against his chest. “She talked about long walks and the sky and the air. She loved nature, loved being in it. Camping out by herself just to be a part of it all was something she did a lot. Something that always amazed her was that we could all be looking at the same sky, the same stars and moon, but that everywhere she went it seemed different. Beautiful in a new way. Like looking at the same painting done by different artists.”

TJ kept stroking her hair.

“That’s what made me want to travel like she did for a while. I want to see things her way.”

“It sounds like you understood her really well and that you had a lot in common,” he said. “The oils and herbs and stuff.”

Hope laughed lightly. “I know all about it. I don’t know if I’d say I
understand
it. That’s what I’m looking for.”

“You were both interested in healing and helping people,” he pointed out. “That must give you an understanding.”

“I understand her desire to help people. But while we were interested in the same destination, our paths were pretty different. I want to see the scenery she saw along her path,” Hope said. “My mom’s experiences were a part of who she was and the things she did. It was as if she had this scrapbook in her mind with pictures and pieces of all the places she’d been and the people she’d met. I know she had more she wanted to do, but I also know she didn’t have any regrets.”

TJ didn’t say anything. In fact, he was fighting to swallow against the tightness in his throat. Not having regrets at the end was an incredible accomplishment.

“You should stay for a little while,” TJ heard himself say after a few moments.

Hope lifted her head and looked up at him. “Stay?”

“In Sapphire Falls. Meet some new people, do some new things. Make some memories.”

What was he doing?

“You can’t force magic,” she said, her voice wistful.

“Is magic always immediately obvious?” he asked.

If anyone who knew him heard him say something like that, they would insist he check with his doctor. Right away.

Hope stood looking at him, blinking, clearly replaying his words. Then she shook her head. “Maybe not.”

She gave him a soft smile and TJ instantly felt everything in him harden and heat.

Without warning, Hope lifted onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

TJ’s body reacted as if she’d touched a flame to a fuse. His hand cupped her head and he deepened the kiss immediately, opening his mouth on hers, his tongue urging her lips to part and then stroking deep when they did.

He felt her arms go around his neck and her body melt against his.

Speaking of good times…

The sound of his back screen door slamming made TJ lift his head.

“Come here.” He took her hand and pulled her around the opposite side of the house and into the shadows. He wasn’t quite ready to share her. He pressed her back against the house and crowded close so they could whisper. He felt like he was playing hide and seek from his brother. He’d always won when they’d played as kids. Even then, he’d been good at being quiet and keeping to himself for long periods of time.

“What’s going on?” Hope asked.

TJ put a finger against her lips. “Tucker’s being nosy. He’s going to try to stall me out here while you go back inside,” TJ told her softly, certain he was right. Because that’s what he would have done if he’d been the one inside and one of his brothers was taking a long time alone with a new pretty girl.

Hope surprised him by grasping his wrist, and his fingertip. “I thought I gave him time to grill you about me when I came out here to mix the oil for Delaney,” she whispered.

He actually smiled at that. She’d understood that Tucker and Delaney would want to talk to him in private.

“You did,” he said. “But he’s planning on you going into the house ahead of me. Where Delaney is. Time for girl talk.”

Hope raised an eyebrow. “Delaney wants to talk to me?”

“I guarantee it.”

“Like about menstrual cramps and shoes sales?”

He leaned back and looked down at her feet. “I don’t see you being big on shoe sales. Or shoes. And I’m guessing you have a tea or a cream or an oil for the cramps.”

“I’m not. And I do.”

She grinned at him and TJ wanted to kiss the hell out of her. Again.

“I don’t like lying to them,” Hope said. “They’re sweet and they’re concerned about you now for no reason.”

He appreciated that she didn’t like lying. He wasn’t feeling so great about it either. “No reason?”

“Well, I’m not really some girl who just packed up and came all the way to Nebraska expecting to move in for the summer after having just met you online. They don’t actually need to worry.”

“No, you’re some girl who packed up and came all the way to Nebraska expecting to stay for the summer having never met anyone here in any way at all.”

Hope frowned at him. “Well, when you say it like
that
.”

He laughed softly. “Which part of that is untrue?”

“Still, I’m not here because I have some strange infatuation with you.”

TJ braced his hand on the side of the house next to her ear. “Thought you said you were fascinated?”

Her breathing changed minutely, and if they hadn’t been standing so close, he probably wouldn’t have noticed. But he did. And he liked it. He liked affecting her.

“Sure,
now
I am,” she said quietly.

“The feeling is mutual.” It must have been the hiding. Or the whispering. Or that it was very true. Whatever it was, he was surprised to hear himself say it out loud.

He was rewarded with a smile that was stunning. “I like that,” she said.

He wanted to kiss her again. “As for lying to them,” he said, forcing himself back on a safer track. “We can tell them the truth. They’ll keep your confidence. But we’ll also be asking them to lie to other people they care about.”

Hope nodded and sighed. “We can’t ask that.” She shrugged. “Besides, the kooky thing could really help Delaney out.”

TJ cocked an eyebrow. “You being kooky could help
Delaney
out?”

“Definitely. I really think I have some things that could help with her stress and confidence. A lot of people think about this stuff too hard.”

“Stuff like herbs and oils?” he clarified.

“Right. They overthink. And second guess. But if I’m just your goofy girlfriend, she’ll try this stuff to be nice to me, and then she’ll find out it actually works.”

TJ thought about that. “You really think you can help her?”

“I do.”

Hope said it with quiet confidence that he had to believe.

“Okay, then our secret is just our secret.” He acknowledged that even that much was a kind of bond and wondered if he was making a big mistake.

“So my conversation with Delaney will be short,” Hope said.

“Oh, I’m guessing the girl talk with Delaney will be about me,” TJ said.

Hope peered up at him. “And that’s not such a short conversation?”

“Depends on how much one of my closest friends is willing to share about me with a virtual stranger.”

Hope gave him a sly smile. “I can be very charming and persuasive.”

He finally leaned back and shook his head. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

“Are there things you don’t want me to know?”

He thought about that. “Maybe.”

“Why?”

“I wasn’t someone I’m proud of when I was with my…monkey.”

“Or after, I’m guessing.”

She’d surprised him again. He wondered if she was going to keep doing that.

Then he worried that she was going to keep doing that.

“Wow. Thanks,” he said dryly.

“Well, you’re not with her now but you’re still a grumpy asshole. I’m thinking those things are connected.”

She made him want to laugh. He didn’t, but he wanted to.

“People can be grumpy assholes for reasons other than a breakup.”

“TJ, I’m not going to claim to know everything about you, but I’ve gotten a look into your life. You have a gorgeous farm you’re obviously proud of and you have a great family who loves and respects you. Those are the kinds of things that make a guy
happy
.” She paused and then added, “And you’re single.”