than himself.
She’d been right. He did have a heart of stone; it was the only way he knew how to survive.
But now Jenny was getting under his skin and into his mind and dredging up all of those improbable ideas he’d once had.
Jared eased off on the wrench. “There are worse things, kid, than your parents missin’ a few games. Trust me.”
“Like you would know.”
The bolt came free. Why didn’t he just drop the subject? When it came to this kid, conversation was quick-sand. “Yeah,” Jared agreed. “You’re right. I wouldn’t.”
“I bet your parents never missed any of your games.”
Positioning the oil pan, Jared removed the plug. “Nope,” he said with a hundred percent honesty. His mom hadn’t, because she couldn’t drag herself off the couch long enough to get him signed up, let alone take him to practices. And by the time Jared was placed in the system, he’d lost what little interest he’d had in organized sports. He wasn’t about to buy into some social worker’s bullshit about “getting involved” and “being connected.”
Involved and connected didn’t work for Jared. Except in the cockpit of an F-18.
“See?” Cody whined. “Parker’s mom never misses a game. And his dad’s there most of the time, too.”
Jared glanced sideways. Was this kid for real? So his parents missed a few baseball games. So what? He was clothed, fed, and had plenty of expensive toys. Jared hadn’t missed seeing the backpack full of them earlier. “Listen, kid—”
Cody kicked at the oil pan, and thick black liquid sloshed over the sides. “You’re just like all the others.”
Jared glanced at Cody’s expensive shoes. “Shit.” Oil pooled in the laces, ran over the expensive leather. “Shit,” he said again.
Cody looked at his ruined shoes. “My mom won’t care. She’ll just buy me another pair.”
Jared scooted out from under the plane. He pointed to the workbench. “Grab some rags. You’re gonna help me clean up this mess.”
Cody glared at him. “Get it yourself. I’m not your slave.” He ran out of the hangar.
Jared watched him disappear and cursed himself for being ten kinds of fool. He should have stuck to his original plan and kept his mouth shut. No, he thought. His original plan had been to stay as far away as possible from the kid. And that’s exactly what he should have done. Getting mixed up with Cody and his problems wasn’t Jared’s deal. Getting his money and getting the hell out of here was.
Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if he should go and find the kid. Talk to him.
But about what?
He had nothing to offer.
Turning away from the hangar’s exit, Jared got back to work. Without any distractions, he finished his work in no time. Halfway through updating the maintenance log, he heard the angry slap-slap-slap of flip-flops against the hangar’s concrete floor.
“What did you do?” Jenny fired at his back.
He didn’t bother to turn around. “I’ll treat that as a rhetorical question.”
Just what the hell did she use to make herself smell so damn good? Years back, he’d been stationed in Hawaii. That was what Jenny smelled like. Coconut oil, exotic flowers, and sun-heated skin.
“Cody hasn’t said a word to me since he stormed back into the house.”
“You can thank me later.”
“I heard that.”
Jared made the last entry in the maintenance log and turned around. And as always, he felt like he’d been punched in the gut. She didn’t just smell good, she looked good. Better than good. For just a moment he let his fantasies run wild. He wondered what it would feel like to nuzzle the side of her neck . . . trail kisses up and down her throat . . . wrap his arms around her and pull her close while burying his face deep into her thick blonde hair. And those lips. Too many times he’d fantasized about what they would taste like, look like after he pushed his mouth against hers, smeared off her lip gloss until her lips were puffy and bruised because of him.
No wonder Steven had given up everything to be stuck in this godforsaken town. Why he’d quit flying jets and started puttering around in a damn seaplane. Jared realized most men would consider themselves the luckiest saps on the planet if they had the chance to throw everything away and spend the rest of their lives with a girl like Jenny. Bad cooking and all. But then those suckers still believed in happily-ever-afters.
“You were supposed to. The kid didn’t shut up the