“Mother.” I touched her arm, leaning in. “This is fine. Thank you,” I said, seeing her shoulders relax.
“I’ll see you in a few weeks.” I took the bag.
She glanced up, straightening her shoulders and face. “Jaxon.” She nodded somewhat kindly.
I looked to my side, seeing Jax there.
“Mrs. Carter.” His deep voice sounded like a warning as he put his arm around me. I twisted my lips to hide my smile. I doubted Jax would ever call my mom anything other than “Mrs. Carter.”
Her timid eyes fell back to mine, and she gave a half smile before turning and walking away. I still didn’t know what to think. Maybe she was up to something. Maybe I should stay home and get her to a doctor.
Or maybe I was finally happy, and I just had to go with it.
Jax pulled me in. “Are you ready?” he taunted. “Hostels and roughing it?”
“Are you?” I challenged, smiling up at him. “Do they have Wi-Fi on these multiday hikes and rafting trip you’ve signed us up for?”
He turned me around, pulling me into his chest. “No showers. No beds.”
“And no bikini,” I singsonged.
His eyes widened, and I nodded smugly. “Yep. I didn’t pack it.”
“What if you decide you want it?”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “That’s part of the excitement.”
He picked me up, staring up into my eyes as he carried us to Jared’s car. “You’re a wild little thing—you know that?”
I pressed my lips to his forehead, whispering, “Don’t worry. You can keep up.”
Please turn the page for
a sneak peek at the continuation
of Jared and Tate’s story in
Available wherever e-books are sold in April 2015.
TATE
I blinked awake, the cool summer breeze caressing my face. The early-morning light crept in through my French doors, and I stretched my arms over my head, hearing the buzzing of my phone on the nightstand. The noise that had woken me.
I sat up, ready to check the phone, but I stopped.
Jared sat in my armchair next to the windows. Apparently watching me sleep.
His presence filled the room, drowning out everything as it always did, and I couldn’t help the weight on my heart.
He looked different.
His hair was gelled, so unlike the reserved military style he’d adopted, and he was dressed in his jeans and black hoodie, since it was a cool morning.
A sensual thrill shot through me, and I almost smiled. I’d missed this dangerous, foreboding look on him.
Except for the bags under his eyes and the extra muscle, he looked exactly like the guy I had fallen in love with nearly three years ago.
But we were barely talking these days, and I hadn’t gone home with him since my father had gotten back into town. Even though I was nearly twenty-one, Dad didn’t allow me to have overnight guests, and I’d opted out of going to Jared’s.
After what I’d overheard at Jax’s, Jared was still holding back, and I was afraid.
My phone buzzed again, and Jared tipped his chin, telling me to check it.
Picking up my phone, I saw a picture from Juliet. I smiled, seeing a happy selfie of her and Jax with a bustling city behind them.
In Auckland, baby! the text read.
I set the phone down, rubbing the sleep from my eye. “They made it,” I said softly. “They’re in New Zealand.”
Jared stayed still, eerily frozen as he watched me, and that was when I noticed the black duffel on the floor.
I clenched the sheet. “Where are you going?”
He hesitated, letting his eyes fall, almost whispering. “I’m leaving for a while, Tate.”