Don't Go Stealing My Heart - Kelly Siskind Page 0,23
her car. Now they were running through Whichway’s Wherever Park, as though her internal warning light weren’t on the fritz: Heart Trouble Imminent.
Don’t fall for him. Don’t land in jail.
“What about the names?” she asked, keeping their conversation light. She could do light. She could do sweet. “Hank, Ella, Ray? I’m guessing they’re music inspired.”
“You guessed correctly.”
Not surprising from a man who idolized Elvis. Her father had enjoyed old rock and roll, too. Hank Williams. Ella Fitzgerald. Ray Charles. He would have loved the names Jack had picked. “And Ricky Ricardo?” she asked. “Why that one?”
Clouds zoomed across the sky. A thick wind mussed her hair. Where he’d answered her other eleventy-million questions quick as a flash, he delayed this time. Each thump of her feet pounded in her head. Sweat dampened her neck.
Jack wiped his brow. “My granddad watched I Love Lucy with his father. Then he watched reruns with my dad, who carried the tradition on with me.” He jogged around a fallen tree branch. “What about you? Why’d you name your dragon Lucy?”
“Also my dad.” More real details shared with Jack. She’d given up evading, but it didn’t change her plan. Thankfully Jack was fighting their connection, too. “One of my strongest memories is of my father watching reruns and cracking up. I never liked the show, so I’d roll my eyes and call it lame. He’d tell me I had crap taste with a teasing wink.”
The treasured flashback filled her up. The memory had led to her watching that once-hated show into adulthood and naming her dragon after its main character, but it wasn’t her strongest memory. That one was less pleasant. A locked car. Clinton Abernathy slumped over his wheel. Not moving. Not breathing. Her deafening scream.
She blinked the garish image away. “I love the show now.”
“How’d you get into the music business?”
The sudden question felt jarring, but this was a normal conversation. People talked about life, pets, jobs. She wasn’t a normal person, though. “Honestly, this is the first work break I’ve had in forever. I’m kind of reveling in it and would rather not talk shop.”
A pained expression crossed his face. “I get that. So, why a bearded dragon?”
“Like, why’d I choose her?”
He nodded as he ran.
“A zoo came to my school as a kid, one of those ‘play with the animals’ presentations. Most girls screeched and wouldn’t touch the snakes and lizards. I couldn’t get close enough.” She’d fallen half a step behind him and gave a push, meeting his longer stride. “They had an inland dragon and explained that when stressed or territorial their scales go from soft to spiky. I loved the idea of that.”
“That they adapt?”
“That they change to protect themselves.” A living embodiment of herself. “Also, they don’t shed or have to be walked.”
“So you’re lazy.”
“I’m running, aren’t I? Idiot,” she muttered, loud enough for him to hear.
He grinned.
His amusement made her strangely happy. “Lucy is adorable,” she said. “She has a red ball she chases when swimming in my bathtub. My dad would have loved her.”
“Mine isn’t a reptile fan.”
“Where is your father?”
“What do you mean?” Jack stopped short, so abruptly she’d gone five strides before noticing.
She faced him, breathing hard. “Isn’t your father away?”
“How’d you know he’s away?”
Shit. Had she heard it from a local or had she studied it in her notes? On any other job, she’d know the answer instantly. This job had been nothing but a delayed start, distracted focus, and lusty dreams. But nope, she was sure. She’d learned that tidbit publicly. “In the diner that first day, Jasmine said something about him being away, that she hoped he’d return for the festival.”
As usual, his gaze skittered away from her, but this was a different avoidance. Jumpy. Nervous. He dragged an agitated hand through his hair. “He’s been traveling, and I didn’t realize the time. I need to head to work.”
She’d fibbed enough to sniff out lies a mile away, and Not-Maxwell Jack David who performed as Elvis was telling falsehoods. She didn’t push. She didn’t want to distance him more than she already had. Talking dragons was a novelty, but what she needed was to get into his family estate. “Want to meet at the diner for a coffee? I can show you pictures of Lucy.”
“Another time. I’m behind at work.” He tipped his head to her and jogged toward his car.
Her focus stayed firmly on him. On his calves as they balled and lengthened, his shifting back muscles and delectable