Mia James was a consummate romantic, and I knew that I needed to nip this in the bud before she had us walking down the aisle. “Even if, hypothetically, I did have a crush on him. It wouldn’t matter. His next job is in two weeks.”
“That’s perfect!” She clapped her hands together. “You’re probably way out of practice with the triple Fs.”
I couldn’t help but smile at her mention of the ‘triple Fs’. My grandmother had coined that phrase on her podcast. She said that the key to any healthy relationship was acing the triple Fs. Flirting. Foreplay. Fornication.
“You can practice on Jackson, build your confidence back up. It will eliminate all the normal insecurities someone has in the beginning of a relationship. What is he thinking? Where is this going? What does this mean? You can have a flaming hot fling with him, no pressure, no strings because you know there is an expiration date. He’ll be leaving on a jet plane and you will be ready for the real thing.”
“You want me to have a flaming hot fling with your brother-in-law?”
“Why not?” She shrugged. “Keep it in the family.”
I chuckled just as I saw the color drain from her face as she tensed up and placed her hand on her belly. It was only for a split-second and then she returned to normal. If I’d blinked, I would’ve missed it. But I hadn’t blinked. I’d seen it, and that meant I really didn’t have a choice.
“I’ll do it.” Not because I planned on having a “flaming hot fling” or because I wanted to “take my power back,” but because I didn’t want Mia to stress. She was the Diana Barry to my Anne Shirley. We were kindred spirits. I would do anything for her. Even if that meant agreeing to something that every part of me was screaming not to do.
Well, not every part. My lady parts were very excited about this development. Which only made me wish I actually had a shell to hide in.
Chapter 13
Jackson
“Darling, family is nothing more than a group of people that have chosen to love one another. DNA is irrelevant.”
~ Josephine Grace Clarke
The front door opened and, like Pavlov’s dog, my eyes shot to the entryway. When I saw my brother Trace and his wife and son enter, I let out a breath that I’d been holding and relaxed my shoulders. It turned out “on pins and needles” wasn’t a cool and comfortable place to hang out, and that’s exactly where I’d been all day.
Josie still wasn’t back from her meeting with Mia. She’d been gone since this morning. Every time I’d heard a noise, I’d checked to see if it was her, only to be disappointed.
I stood and hugged my brother Trace and his wife Cara and gave Trace Jr. a tiny high five, but the entire time my eye was on the front door. I’d never been so preoccupied with another person before. It was unnerving.
“Mom in the kitchen?” Trace asked.
“Yep.”
The trio made their way to the back of the house and I lowered down onto the sofa. Ever since the talk with my mom this morning, I’d been on edge. I had this overwhelming need to see Josie. Even though I knew what happened to her had been a decade ago, I just needed to see her with my own eyes. I needed to see that she was okay. It didn’t make any sense. Nothing had changed since I’d seen her yesterday, except for my knowledge of her past. But that was all it took for me to wear down the wood planks on the porch from pacing on it all day.
I’d even come up with excuses to show up at Travis’s house, but thankfully, I hadn’t done it. Nothing about my reaction to her made sense to me. I’d never felt so responsible for someone that I had absolutely no relationship with.
“So, I heard Madison gave you a ride home.” My brother JJ plopped beside me on the couch and handed me a beer.
I popped the top and took a swig. I could actually use something stronger, but I was hoping that this would take the edge off.
“You know she’s always had a thing for you,” he continued, taking a drink of his own beer.
“How do you know?” I asked.
My brother JJ had only moved back to Wishing Well a few years ago after a shoulder injury ended his