Faith and Mick step outside amidst a tinkle of bells, and then the bakery is quiet. With a sigh, I pour myself a cup of coffee and pluck a still-warm chocolate croissant from the case—my treat for getting everything ready fifteen minutes before it’s time to open.
I’m settling down at a table for two, trying to enjoy how nice it is to have more room for my plate, when the bells tinkle again.
“Forget something? You two always…” I trail off when I look up to find it isn’t Mick and Faith coming back through the door.
It’s Jamison Hansen.
And he doesn’t look happy.
Yummy, but not happy.
With his broad shoulders, beefcake body, shaggy brown hair, and chiseled jaw, Jamison is easily the most stunning man I’ve ever seen. Jake, his older brother and Naomi’s fiancé, is also quite good-looking, but Jamison is over-the-top, melt-your-panties-with-a-look gorgeous.
And he knows it, of course.
He has enough swagger for three men, and a smolder he unleashes upon the hapless women of Bliss River with practiced ease.
I’ve seen that smolder in action, though I’ve never been on the receiving end of it. Jamison’s only a year and a half older than I am but growing up he treated me like a baby sister—someone to be teased, picked on, and protected on the rare occasions when someone aside from himself dared to torment me, but definitely not to be smoldered at.
Which was just fine with me.
Jamison’s gorgeous, but he’s also a bad boy through and through.
I’m not interested in anything bad boys have to offer. I want home, family, and stability, not trouble.
And Jamison? He’s a trouble magnet. Big time.
“You’re alone, right?” he asks as he stalks over to the counter, casting a cautious glance at the kitchen door.
“Good morning to you, too.” I bite into my croissant, deliberately ignoring the question.
Jamison’s been acting weird for months. First it was some ancient thing about the night Naomi left town when we were kids, then…
Well, who knows what’s been making him weird since then?
But he’s definitely weird.
And it’s definitely annoying.
Dumb and annoying. There’s enough drama in the world already without stirring up more for no reason.
“No, seriously.” He strides past me to glance up the stairs toward Mick’s apartment. “I saw Mick and Faith leave, and Naomi isn’t here yet, right?”
“Your sleuthing skills are impressive.” I sip my coffee, not bothering to offer Jamison a cup. He seems wired enough as it is. “What can I help you with?”
“You can help me put a stop to the insanity,” he says, snagging the chair across from mine and spinning it around before straddling it in one graceful movement that I have to admit is sexy.
It’s easy to see why women throw themselves at Jamison.
He’s an impressive physical specimen, charismatic, and smells so good sometimes it’s hard not to lean in and take a big whiff of him. Even over the smell of my coffee and fresh pastry, his spicy, earthy, mouth-watering scent is…interesting.
It’s a smell that’s clean and dirty at the same time.
It could easily turn a woman’s thoughts in sexy directions. If she hadn’t heard Jamison burp the ABC’s or seen him run around with a pair of tighty-whitey briefs on his head when he was eight pretending to be Evil Lord Underpants.
But I heard the burps, and Evil Lord Underpants put a slug down the back of my dress at a town picnic. I am immune to Jamison’s allure, so immune I barely notice how nice his thickly muscled arms look crossed over the back of the chair.
“Every night Faith isn’t at the station, she’s over at Mick’s place or he’s over at hers,” he says. “They’ve been joined at the hip for over a month, and he was at family meal every night this week. He’s even talking about becoming a firefighter for Christ’s sake.”
I shrug. “So? I would assume you’d find that an admirable vocation.”
“It’s not about that,” he says, cursing beneath his breath. “It’s about this shit going way too fast with them. Faith’s just a kid and Mick’s only her second serious boyfriend. He’s taking advantage.”
“Oh, please. He’s only six months older than she is,” I say around a bite of croissant, determined not to let him ruin my breakfast. “And they’re both over twenty-one. They’re in love, Jamison. Leave them alone.”
“They’re in lust,” he counters. “Faith’s too innocent to know the difference, but I see the way Mick looks at her. She’s going to get hurt, and you know it.”
“I know nothing of the sort.” I roll my eyes. “They’re sweet together. I’ve never seen Mick so happy, and Faith is glowing.”
“Fuck.” Jamison’s frown deepens. “You don’t think she’s pregnant, do you?”
“No!” I laugh. “No, I think you’re a crazy person! She’s happy. So quit meddling in her business and tend to your own love life.”
He exhales a ragged sigh, but he seems to relax a little. At least some of the vibration goes out of him. “What love life? Every good-looking woman in this town is taken.” He reaches for the uneaten half of my croissant and I slap his fingers away. “Ow! I’m hungry, Mad.”
“Then ask for something, you mess. Don’t just take whatever you want.”
“But I like taking what I want,” he says in a voice that is somehow both petulant and a little sexy.
I shake my head as I push the remains of my breakfast across the table with a sigh. “You never change, do you?”
He glances up as he takes a bite, his hazel eyes looking green in the morning light through the window. “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. You expect so much from everyone else, but when it comes to Jamison, what you want is all that matters.”
He grunts and continues to eat my treat. “That’s not true.”
“It’s completely true, and you know it,” I say, not in the mood to let him off easy. “When was the last time you thought about some poor girl’s feelings before you lured her into your smolder web?”
He arches a dubious brow. “My smolder web?”
“Yes, your smolder web.” I cross my arms, refusing to back down. “You’re like a big sexy spider, luring women in and then sucking all their life force out before you cast them aside.”
“You think I’m sexy, huh?” He smirks around his last bite, this conversation obviously another big joke to him.
“See, that’s exactly what I mean.” I point at his big dumb smug head. “When you were talking about Mick needing to behave himself, you were all business. But when it comes to you, it’s just fun and games. But I can bet it’s not fun for the women who fall for you and end up getting hurt.”
He reaches for my coffee—once again without bothering to ask—and takes a swig. “Give me a break, Maddie. I’m a grown-up and so are the women I date. They can take care of themselves. I’m only worried about Faith because she’s inexperienced and she’s like a little sister to me. I’d be doing the same thing if you started shacking up with some guy right after you started dating.”