“Caught you,” the man next to her whispered.
Jill turned her head and locked eyes with a knowing blue gaze. She felt the blood rushing to her cheeks, but she didn’t know if it was because he obviously knew that she’d zoned out, or because she was the focus of such intensity.
Can I bluff my way out of this?
“You tuned out when your phone vibrated.” His voice wafted over her like smoke. He didn’t quite smile, but a dimple showed to the left of his mouth. Jill shivered and thought But it’s eighty degrees in here!
“I want to share,” Ned Rangle spoke up.
“What can I expect?” Hot Guy asked. His lips barely moved.
Jill turned so she could brush something off the windowsill while whispering a reply so quietly nobody but the man next to her could hear. “Buckle up,” she warned softly.
Ned was a sweet older gentleman, whose ninety-year-old mom had passed just over two years ago. He was very open about the fact that his friends and family would no longer listen to him talk about ‘Precious Mama’, so that’s why he came here. Every time he came to a group session, Lesley would let him have the floor for ten minutes to tell everyone about PM’s final meal, the clothes she’d picked out to be buried in, the color of the flowers on top of her coffin, and the exact words that he’d said at her memorial service. Everyone had tried to coax him to remember things about her life and take joy in that, but he was unable to move on. Jill knew that Lesley had suggested professional help to Ned, but that had gone in one ear and out the other. So, here they were, once again left with Ned’s ten-minute soliloquy known as Precious Mama’s Final Rest.
Halfway through, Jill felt her purse vibrate again. If she’d had a life other than work, this might’ve been someone else, someone she actually wanted to talk to. Heck, maybe it’s a telemarketer she thought hopefully. Maybe they were trying to sell her a vacation timeshare in Tahiti—that sounded nice. She’d had a layover in Hawaii once on her way to Australia for business, but did that really count as a vacation?
She came out of her trance when she heard Lesley pipe up. “Now would be a good time for you to introduce yourself. You can share as much or as little as you want to,” she addressed the hottie sitting beside Jill.
God, how long did I zone out this time?
She looked at him and he smirked back. Darn, nothing she seemed to do got past him.
“My name is Lawson Thorne, and I’m in the United States Marine Corps.”
There was an awkward pause as Lesley clearly expected him to say more. Jill jumped in.
“I’m Jill Keiler. I’m a transplant from Florida by way of Texas, and don’t believe everything they tell you about my birth state.”
He gave her his first real smile. Oh God, he has two dimples. “So, how much should I believe?”
“Two-thirds is a good amount.”
Everyone in the room laughed.
“And on that note, I think it’s a good time to say good evening. I’ll see you all back here next week,” Lesley said as she bent down to grab her notepad and purse. Jill watched as Lesley went to talk to Ned. She was a good woman, probably trying to suggest he get more professional help. She was going to be there for a while.
As Jill stood up, so did Lawson.
“I have a friend named Cullen Lyons. If I have to believe two-thirds of everything he has to say about Florida, then it’s probably a good thing you got out of there.”
“I might have lied,” she smiled up at him. “It might be three-quarters. But I need to stick up for where I was born—it’s been the butt of enough punchlines.”
“So, are you going to check your messages?” he asked as she bent to pick up her purse.
Jill bit her lip, debating how to answer.
“If it’s work, it’s just going to make me grumpy. However, if it’s an offer for a Tahiti timeshare, I might be tempted to sign up, and that would be bad.”
She sighed at the sight of his dimples reappearing.
“Yeah, that would be bad. A friend of mine signed up for one of those, God knows why since he was in the Navy and they promised him he would see the world.”
“Did he?”
Lawson grimaced. “Oh, yeah.”
“Tahiti?” Jill teased.
“Well, maybe not Tahiti,” Lawson acquiesced. “But he only ever used the timeshare once. He ended up paying for it while just his family used it.”
Jill sighed again. That wouldn’t happen in her case. Lawson picked up on her mood change. Who would’ve guessed a Marine would be so perceptive that way?
“Tonight was kind of a bust, but I’m thinking that some coffee and something sweet might be a good way to end the evening. You game?” he asked.
Jill thought about her yoga class. That was how she usually ended her Thursday evenings, and immediately decided to give it a pass.
“That sounds good.”
Lawson gave a slow smile. “I know just the place.”
Chapter 2
The only coffee shop with decent coffee and good pastries that Law knew about nearby was a place that Sophia Gault used to work at. Her husband was a lieutenant of a Navy SEAL team called Midnight Delta. Law drove slowly so that Jill wouldn’t have any trouble following him, and she didn’t. He parked his car near another empty spot so she could park next to him. He was beside her door when she shut off her engine.
“I’ve driven past here a bunch of times, but I’ve never been
