When he releases me, I’m a little lightheaded. The heady feeling only gets worse when JT proceeds to finish dragging my trash cans down to the curb. Even someone who isn’t a true suburbanite knows that taking the trash out is one of the nicer things a man can do for you.
JT ambles back up the driveway toward me with a smirk on his face. “Cutting it a little close, aren’t you? Trash is supposed to be out by seven a.m. and it’s six fifty-five. Better be careful or the HOA will put you on their watch list.”
I roll my eyes. “Really? That’s what I’m going to get from you at six fifty-five in the morning? A lecture on the trash guidelines? I hate to disappoint you but the Greenes already posted all the HOA rules on the refrigerator for me, complete with asterisks and highlighted sections.”
“Well, it doesn’t appear you’ve read them,” he says.
I cross my arms over my chest and attempt to send him a glare. “I’m going in the house now.”
“No, no. Don’t go in the house. I promise not to reference the trash rules again,” he says, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “In fact, I was just headed out for a run, you should come with me.”
My face scrunches up. “I know we’ve discussed my hot jock proclivities, but perhaps you’re confused about the details. Because when it comes to exercise, I’m only interested in showing my appreciation for your athletic abilities.”
He chuckles a little. “Then come be my cheering section. I’m headed over to Pearson Preserve on the outskirts of town. You can hang out in the park while I run the trail around the lake and then we can grab breakfast or something.”
I narrow my eyes, trying to decide if this is a good idea or not. On the one hand, I know the preserve he’s talking about and it’s a beautiful area, the perfect place for me sit and sketch a little while drinking my coffee—which is the way I’d love to start the day. The only issue is, I think I might be a little too interested in what he’s proposing, and that could be an issue. The dynamic we’ve settled into since deciding to spend more time together has been fun and sweet, and totally absent of any expectations for more. But it would be easy to let those feelings grow into something more and that’s something I need to avoid.
“Come on,” JT coaxes. “Don’t turn me down, it will damage my ego. You don’t want that do you?”
I shake my head and try not to grin, failing miserably. There’s no reason to overthink this. All I have to do is make sure that we keep things as light as possible. So long as we stay in the fun zone, we’ll be fine.
I raise a brow at him. “Will you be taking your shirt off at any point? You know, because you’re all sweaty from your run?”
“It’s not very hot yet, so I doubt it.” JT shrugs. “But if that’s what it’s going to take to get you to say yes, I’ll do my best to work up a good sweat. Maybe I’ll end up shirtless, maybe not.”
“You’re a tease,” I mutter, sending him my best narrow-eyed glare before heading back toward the house, calling over my shoulder to him. “Pick me up in ten minutes.”
JT does take his shirt off.
I probably have the relentless sunshine in a cloudless sky to thank for that, along with the superstar pace he’s maintaining, even as he heads into his third pass around the lake. I don’t care which it is, I’m just going to enjoy the result.
I take another sip of coffee from the travel mug I brought along, then add a few finishing touches to the landscape-inspired sketch I’ve been working on since we arrived. I give the piece another assessing look and decide that’s enough for the day, flipping my sketch pad closed. I glance at my watch. JT should be back around any minute now, so I start to gather up my things and toss them in my bag. When he passed by before, he said this would be his last time through, then tossed his shirt at me and told me to decide where I wanted to go to breakfast. I would have found the shirt-tossing a little annoying if it didn’t lead to him being shirtless. That makes it easy to overlook a lot of things.
Just as I zip my bag shut, he appears a few yards away, slowing his pace as he nears the bench I’m sitting on. When he finally makes his way over to me, I swear he’s already breathing like a normal person despite having just knocked out six miles in less than thirty minutes. I toss his shirt at him and shake my head.
“I’m only giving you that to use as a towel, not for wearing as clothing. I’ve decided that shirts should be illegal for you.”
“What about when we eat breakfast? I’m hungry and I think most places still have a policy requiring shirts and shoes.”
“That’s why God invented the drive-thru. So that women such as myself are never denied this pleasure.”
He snorts once and flops down on the bench next to me. He proceeds to take a long drink from his water bottle in his usual sports-drink-commercial style, then leans down and loosens the laces on his running shoes. We sit in silence for a bit as he stretches, practically the picture of relaxed contentment. An older couple passes by on the walking path and they both grin in our direction. I give them a nod and smile politely back. From out of the corner of my eye, I spot JT offering them a quick wave and his own returning smile.
That’s when I realize how we must look to other people right now, sitting here together like any other normal couple. My heart starts to flutter and my belly does the same, and every bit of it feels like a warning. A reminder that no matter how good this feels, it won’t last—it can’t. I force myself to take a steadying breath, hoping that will help curb the irrational panic brewing inside of me.
Calm down, Anya. This is not a crisis. I’m hungry, that’s all. And JT’s shirtless, which only makes things worse since. I’m only human, and no one should be expected think straight under these circumstances.
9
JT
“Please tell me there is beer in our future. And nachos,” Lexi announces as she ambles down the courthouse steps to where Chris and I are waiting for her. She pretends to stumble into the side of Chris, drops her forehead onto one of his giant biceps and sighs theatrically. “Because I deserve a reward for surviving an entire day in there.”
We all know that having to testify in a case means we did our jobs and captured a fugitive who is now standing trial, but that doesn’t mean any of us enjoy spending the day in a courthouse. Without fail, whenever we do have to appear, the docket for the day is always full and running behind schedule, which results in us being here for a lot longer than we planned. I’m convinced that the court system is built entirely upon the principle of hurry-up-and-wait. And since waiting for anything is Lexie’s worst nightmare, she always emerges from a day at the courthouse looking wrung out and on edge.
I yank on the tie I’ve been wearing all day, undoing it so I can stash it in the pocket of my suit jacket. I may not be quite as over-the-top about this stuff as Lexie is, but dressing up in a suit and tie so I can stand around and do nothing for hours on end isn’t my idea of a good time either.
Chris pats Lexie on the head like she’s a toddler and then nudges her away with his shoulder so he can loosen his own tie.