Free Loving Jack by Cat Miller Page A

the street and Grace’s mortification was complete. Jack had come looking for his absent brother. When Everett turned around Grace and her tear stained face was revealed to Jack. He stared at her, too stunned by her presence to react. Grace was still crying and there was no way to hide it with the trails of mascara she was sporting. She needed to go before the shock wore off and Jack crossed the street.
    Grace smiled sadly at Jack and gave a little wave before she pulled away from the curb. The light at the corner was red so she had to pause in her getaway. Her eyes immediately searched out Jack in her side mirror. Everett reached Jack and she continued to watch while Everett spoke to him. Grace assumed she was being discussed. Jack turned to look at her car and the light turned green. She heard Jack yell her name.
    “Grace! Wait!” he shouted, but she didn’t stop. You had to know when enough was enough. And Grace had had enough for one day.

    ****

    After that awful day in Jack’s picturesque home town, things between Jack and Grace continued down a path that was destructive and painful for Grace. She refused to talk to Jack about what happened. He wanted to know what she and Victor had talked about, but she wouldn’t discuss it. Victor must have clammed up as well. That was probably best for him. She didn’t believe Jack would appreciate the way he had accosted her. She’d told the whole sorted story to Luke and Jessie, and they agreed that she was doing the right thing, but staying away from Jack was going to be hard.  
    At first, Grace avoided Jack in a mad effort at self-preservation, but he used every excuse he could find to seek her out. First he needed a tutor to help him prepare for his math final. He’d been nearly hostile when he learned that she and Luke study together as a habit. He attended their study sessions but she didn’t believe he actually needed help. He just glared at her and Luke as they quizzed each other. When she quizzed him he never needed help finding the answers.
    Then he needed a ride to the airport when he flew home to help his mom deal with some legal papers and box up some of his dad’s stuff to be donated. He hated eating alone so he’d show up at her door and insist he let him take her to dinner. Grace could never look into his pleading, ever-changing blue eyes and tell him no.  
    Of course, half the time he came to her room Jack would find Luke there, too. It annoyed Grace when they both puffed up their chests and got all macho. Jack didn’t like her spending so much time with Luke but she wasn’t going to let him chase away one of her best friends. Luke didn’t think Jack deserved to breathe the same oxygen she did. He was such a sweetheart. She would question his relationship with his blond bestie and the argument was over.
    The more time she spent with Jack the deeper her feelings for him grew. He wanted her as desperately as she wanted him and she knew it. He would always hold her hand or tuck her in close to his body as they walked and anyone who saw them together believed they were a couple. Jack took every opportunity he got to kiss Grace and he constantly tried to push her past her objections to dating him. She was so weak in his arms. It really was like they were already a couple even though she tried to pretend otherwise. Turning away from his passionate affection was nearly impossible. Then she’d remember that he would be returning to Victor and whoever else he was seeing. Those thoughts effectively halted Jack’s advances every time.
    She was in love with the man, and that was the problem. Jack had feelings for Grace and the chemistry between them was like a nuclear reaction, but he wasn’t ready to give up the other people in his love life. She didn’t fault him for it, at least she didn’t in her mind, but her heart was another matter altogether.  
    The funny thing about a person’s tolerance for heartache is that you never see the last straw until