As she watched him walk away, she wondered if she’d ever kiss Jaime Martínez without him apologizing for it right afterward.
Chapter Eight
Jaime guessed about five seconds passed before Grace ran after him.
“Jaime! Stop!” She grabbed onto his arm, effectively stopping him. “Are you always going to run away like this?”
That got his attention. He swiveled, looking at her flushed cheeks and ruffled hair and how she looked like she’d just gotten kissed thoroughly, and all he could say was, “What?”
She let go of his arm, crossing her own arms. “You can’t just keep doing this. You can’t kiss me and then run like you’ve murdered someone.”
“I’m not running.”
Grace just looked at him.
He ran a hand through his hair. The sun was setting and he was sure everyone inside was wondering where the hell the two of them were. Especially Adam. Jaime winced. Adam probably thought the worst was happening out here, but of course Jaime had to be the one to run after Grace.
“We just—we can’t do this.” His explanation sounded lame to his ears. He made a frustrated sound, mostly because he didn’t know how to make things clear when he himself didn’t know the answer, either.
“You keep saying that. ‘We can’t do this.’ Why not? Why can’t we? Is there some law I’m unaware of that specifically forbids us from being together?”
Having the words said out loud sent an electrical charge through him. He couldn’t stop looking at Grace: how the breeze caught at tendrils of that dark blonde hair, or how her lips were still kiss-bruised. How he wanted to take her into his arms and kiss her until the sun went down and they forgot about everything and everyone else.
“It’s not that simple,” he said, his tone harsher than he intended.
Grace flinched, biting her lip. She looked down at her feet.
“I’m sorry.” Jaime reached out to touch her, but then thought better of it. “I’m sorry for everything.”
She growled—growled!—and stamped her foot in the dirt. “Will you stop apologizing? I wanted you to kiss me! I asked you to kiss me! Stop acting like you’ve violated me or done something neither of us wanted. Stop acting like you need to confess your sins for kissing a woman who’s attracted to you!”
He’d never seen this side of Grace Danvers, and he had to admit, he didn’t know how to deal with it. She’d always seemed so sweet, so helpful, so easy going. Then again, they all presented masks to the world, didn’t they? People thought he was the diligent, hard-ass chef who didn’t mind when the world tried to screw with him, who didn’t shed a tear when things got tough.
“It’s just a crush.” He seemed as though he was trying to make himself believe that statement.
Now she looked up at him. “Seriously? Is that the only thing you got from what I said? I’m not some dumb kid who doesn’t understand her own mind.” She sighed, loud and long, rubbing her forehead. “Men are idiots. The biggest, most useless idiots,” she muttered to the sky.
“I’m sorry—no wait. Don’t get mad again. I’m sorry for saying sorry.” He smiled a little, stepping closer to her, his expression quickly sobering. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that. I know you really are interested in me.”
“I’m not interested in you in the slightest right this second.”
He laughed. He took her hands and kissed the backs of her fingers. Her irritation seemed to melt, and then she sighed again.
“You never answered my question,” she said softly.
“About why we can’t do this?”
“Yes.”
He played with her fingers, noticing that she had freckles dotting the backs of her hands. She’d painted her fingernails a bright pink, although they were starting to chip.
“It’s not about you or me. It’s about—everything else. About your brother, about this investigation, about my parents,” he replied.
She touched his fingers. “What about your parents?”
He didn’t let go of her hands—because he didn’t want to stop touching her—but he looked up as he said, “Did I mention to you that they’re applying to become citizens?”
She shook her head.
“Well, they are, mostly because the university my dad works at isn’t interested in continuing to pay for his work visa. I’m one of their most important character references, besides the fact that having a child who’s a citizen helps their application immensely.” He brushed a finger across a constellation of freckles. “But if I end up getting charged with a crime, their application would suffer, to say the least.”
Grace inhaled. “You won’t be, though. Charged, that is. You didn’t do anything!”
“Doesn’t mean the sheriff couldn’t file trumped up charges if he wanted to.”
She shook her head, pressing his fingers harder, like she wouldn’t let him go. “I know I sound naïve to you,” she said, “but I refuse to believe it won’t all end with you being declared innocent. I know Adam is on your side. How can they charge you without evidence?”
He smiled a little sadly. He brushed a hand down her cheek. “I wish I could look at the world like you can, Graciela.”
“Don't.” She looked away. “Don’t put me on some pedestal, like I’m an angel or something. I know the world isn’t fair and I know shitty things happen but that doesn’t mean I’m going to resign myself to let shitty things happen to people I care about. Not without a fight.”
He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted to hold her close and keep her safe. But he also felt admiration bloom inside of his chest for her: he’d misjudged her. He’d thought her sweet and even docile, but she was neither. She loved people, but she had backbone, too. And his heart contracted at the realization that someone like Grace Danvers would fight for him.
“There’s another reason we can’t do this.”
She looked at him, her forehead crinkling. “Oh yes, tell me more reasons why us being together would bring about the apocalypse.”
“Your brother, for one.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Adam? Spoiler alert, Jaime, but he isn’t my keeper. If he doesn’t like it, he can go sit in his room and be mad about it.”
Jaime laughed softly. “I agree, but he’s not just my friend: he’s my boss. He already asked me to stay away from you, you know.” He didn’t know if he should have told her that, and at the angry expression now on her face, he realized he should’ve kept that bit of information to himself.
“That interfering asshole!” She pulled away, crossing her arms. “That arrogant, highhanded, bossy, idiotic brother of mine! I could wring his neck.” She looked like she was about to stalk back to the house and do just that, but she just made annoyed noises in the back of her throat. “I’m going to kill him!”
Jaime took her by the wrist. “I shouldn’t have told you that. But try not to kill your brother. He means well.”
“Yes, he means well to tell men to stay away from me! How helpful of him.”