Done (Harmony Haven #1)

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

JESSE

Why? Lord, why, did Easton have to find me while I was picking out condoms. Why was I even buying condoms? Why did he have to see me nonchalantly trying to put them back?

Why did I grab extra, extra, large?

There wasn’t a deeper shade of red I could have turned when he took the box from my hand and tossed them in the cart. He was unbothered, even keeping Max on his hip while he started pushing the cart and nodding for me to keep going.

“Those had nothing to do with you,” I lied, trying to save face.

“Then how come they are exactly my size?” he teased.

“I’m going to the city in a few weeks to see a friend and we may go out one night. I wanted to be prepared. I mean, a girl has needs, ya know?”

He paused and turned to face me slowly, Max completely unaware that the man holding him looked as if he could wring my neck for what I had just said.

“If you have needs ,” he hissed with a throaty growl, “then I can stop being so noble and take care of those for you.”

Shit. He called my bluff. There was no way in hell I was going out in the city to get laid. Did I have needs? Yeah. But I wouldn’t be having sex with strangers any time soon. I’d rather risk the shampoo bottle breaking my little toe in the shower while pleasuring myself. It was the safest way to feel good.

Though, there was no denying how my body had felt since meeting Easton. He added to that fire I felt inside myself that night we met—the night I had attempted, and failed, to help myself feel something other than the stress of my move to Harmony Haven. I was worried that if Easton kept pursuing me, he’d break me down enough for me to lead him straight to my room and let him take care of any needs I may have had.

It made sense to be prepared, just in case. Max was the best thing that had ever happened to me, but he was walking, talking proof of what happened when I got stupid and wasn’t prepared. The birth control I was on wasn’t enough reassurance.

With Easton’s words, my mouth had gone completely dry, and my mind went down a rabbit hole of thinking of him following me up to my room, making me forget how hard and lonely life could be as a single mom. Damn, I was further gone than I thought.

As it turned out, him showing up at Wal-Mart on a Friday night and scooping my son into his arms was all it took for me to reconsider the no’s I had given him. He was going to be hard to resist if he kept being so cute and charming.

“Come on, Mama,” Easton laughed, lightening the mood and breaking me from my stupor. “Let’s shop.”

We spent the next hour strolling up and down the aisles. I’d throw things into the cart while Easton kept Max entertained. He’d let him walk down the aisle, then pretended to chase him. Then he’d lift Max over his head, claiming he was The Hulk. I had never heard Max laugh as hard as he was that night.

Between the fun they were having, Easton and I would chat—mostly about surface-level things. His favorite food was pizza, and he loved the Atlanta Kings baseball team. He seemed surprised that I was also a baseball fan, and he was even more surprised when I told him I had created a candle for the Kings and was trying to pitch it to them to carry in their pro shop.

That led us to going a little deeper, and talking about my business. I explained how I had managed to thrive when the odds were stacked so high against a home-based business. He was proud, and even seemed to be in awe, of how I had taken a little hobby and turned it into a chic brand. I was, by no means, as well off as his brother, but he compared the two of us. It took a lot of heart and dedication to create an empire. The fact that he recognized that in me was fascinating. He made me want to share every detail, even if it was boring to most people.

“Enough about my candles,” I finally waved a hand around. “We should talk about you.”

“I’m boring,” Easton laughed. “I was born in Harmony Haven, raised in Harmony Haven, and now work in Harmony Haven.”

“Your parents still live here?”

He grimaced a little and shook his head. “They passed away when I was younger. My grandparents raised me and my brothers.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, hating that I almost spoiled the mood. Thankfully, he didn’t let it change anything. He playfully nudged me and laughed, letting me know it was all good.

“Anything else we need to get?”

“Before I get a few groceries, I want to grab a book.”

“A book? What does Jessica Olsen like to read?”

I couldn’t help but blush a little, even though I didn’t feel the need to lie. “Romance. Happily ever after.”

“Ohhhh,” he nodded. “Like where they get stranded in the snow and have to share a bed? Then they keep each other warm?” His eyebrows waggled, and I burst into laughter.

“Have you read one of those?”

“Grams used to keep those red romance books in her closet. Every once in a while, I’d sneak one and read it.” My hands covered my mouth; the threat of causing a scene with how hard I was laughing was real. We turned onto the book aisle just as Easton shrugged and winked. “Hey, when I was twelve, it was like having a Playboy in my hand.”

If he thought those were hot, he wouldn’t be able to handle the things I read. But the explosion of heat was what made them so good.

It took me a few more minutes, but I was finally able to stop laughing. Although I wasn’t even sure if his confession was true, I felt less self-conscious as I looked around for something new to read.

Meanwhile, Easton took Max down the aisle to the kids’ books where they were trying to decide on a book they both wanted to read. It was endearing, and I was too distracted watching them to read any descriptions of the books I was grabbing. There was no telling what I was about to read as I tossed a black book with skulls on the front into the cart.

“Find one, Mama?” Easton nodded at the cart.

“Find one?” Maxed asked as well.

“I just grabbed whatever,” I confessed, meeting them down on their end of the aisle.

“What if you don’t like it?”

“Then I just don’t like it,” I smiled. “It’ll be okay. Besides, as long as there is no third act breakup, I’ll probably love it.”

“Third act break up?” He asked, raising one eyebrow in confusion.

“You know, where they are snowed in, share a bed, find love, and then you think the book is going to end. But then the snow melts and they break up for some dumb reason before finally getting back together?”

“Huh,” he smirked. “I must have skipped those chapters.”

All I could do was shake my head and smile. There was something so easy and captivating about him. He made me feel both excited and calm at the same time, and he had been making me laugh more than I could ever remember.

“Well,” Easton stood from the squat he had been in and held up a book called, 96 facts about Taylor Swift . “We want this one.”

“Are you a Swiftie?”

“Not particularly,” Easton laughed. “But it's the only one Max and I could agree on.”

I looked down at Max, who was jumping next to Easton and trying to grab the book from his hand. “Stars.”

“We both love the stars on the front,” Easton explained, then gave Max the book. “They’re yellow.”

Sure, that was the reason, I snickered to myself.

Rubbing his hands together, Easton looked around and then back at me. “Where to next?”

“I just need a few groceries, but not much, I promise.”

“I secretly hope you need all the groceries and it takes us all night.”

While we walked to the groceries, Easton once again scooped Max into his arms. By the time we made it to the produce aisle, he had started getting antsy, fighting the urge to close his eyes. Several times I had suggested Easton put Max back in the cart, but he insisted on keeping him wherever he was happiest. His arms may have been as big around as my thigh, but he had to have been getting tired.

“He looks so sleepy.” I ran my hand delicately through Max’s short locks as he laid his head on Easton’s shoulder. Max’s little hand grabbed Easton’s shirt and squeezed it in his fist as his eyes finally closed all the way.

“Take your time, Mama,” Easton whispered. “I’ve got him.”

Despite his words, I started grabbing as many fruits and veggies as I could. I must have looked manic because Easton grabbed my hand as I reached for an orange and pulled it to his mouth.

“Slow down, Baby, everything’s okay.”

Baby.

One word that, by definition, suited Max more than it did me, yet it made me weak in the knees. Easton’s lips slightly grazed my knuckles before he released my hand and let me shop again.

It was useless, though. I was standing directly in front of a mound of oranges and I couldn’t even remember what I had been doing before he spoke to me. Standing there with the bag open, I watched as Easton took his free hand, the one that he had just used to hold mine, and grabbed an orange.

“These look good.”

He dropped a few in my bag, and I tied them up, moving on to the next items. I stayed quiet but was able to focus, and I moved at a pace that didn’t make Easton feel the need to slow me down.

Another thirty minutes had passed and I was finally ready to head home. Thankfully, it was late and checking out was quick. Easton helped as much as he could with his free hand, keeping Max securely on his shoulder. Holding him and letting him sleep was more help than he could imagine.

“I’m all the way in the back,” I pointed as we left the sliding doors, hoping he didn’t mind taking Max to his car seat.

“Me too,” he pointed a few cars down from mine, and I saw his truck parked against the bushes that lined the back of the lot. “I didn’t want to waste time looking for a spot.”

“That would have made you even later,” I laughed, coming close to mentioning him being at Fiddler’s before he joined me. Not that it mattered. He still showed up when I didn’t expect him to, and whatever he did beforehand wasn’t my business.

“Exactly.”

As if the night air and the slight breeze were all I needed, I started to feel like myself again before the slight trance Easton had gotten me into with his sexy words. “Are you always late to dates?”

“Finally admitting it's a date, huh?”

“If this is your idea of a date, that’s incredibly sad.”

“No, this was your idea of a date,” he nudged me as I pushed the cart.

“No, this was my answer to your question. I told you that you could join me because I never in a million years thought you’d show up.”

“You underestimate how much I like you, Jesse.”

As we got to my car, I opened the trunk and started loading the bags while Easton placed Max in his car seat. With Easton being a firefighter, I was confident he knew how to strap Max in safely, but I snuck in next to him to watch, just in case. Then we both moved back to the trunk and loaded the rest of the bags while Max slept soundly in his chair.

After securing everything, Easton pushed the cart into a return, and I started my car. I wasn’t going to leave without saying goodbye, so I leaned on my door until Easton got back.

“So,” he smiled, “What is your idea of a date? I mean, if this isn’t it, what is?”

Twisting my lips and scrunching my nose, I thought about it for a bit and then shrugged, “Drinks and dancing. I love to dance.”

“Hmmm, okay,” he said, lifting one finger to get me to hold still. Then he reached into his back pocket. He pulled his phone out, thumbed through it for a second, and pointed toward my trunk.

“Pop that up for a minute.”

Using my key fob, I did as he asked and watched as he returned to me holding two apple juices.

“Drinks,” he bit his lip, working the straws into the boxes. Then he put his phone on the roof of my car and finished his thought. “And dancing.”

Music began to play and he held his juice box up for me to clink against his. “Cheers,” he winked.

I tried suppressing my smile as my eyes caught his. The straw slipped between my lips and I took a sip just as he did. We stood there for a minute, as the song continued to play and when he was done with his juice box, he took mine and set it on top of my car.

“Now dance with me.” He held his hand out, waiting for me to take it, but I was quickly aware that it was almost midnight and we were in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Shaking my head, I started to tell him I couldn’t, but he moved closer and put his body against mine. “One song.”

His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer. My hands went around his neck and we started to sway. Being so close, I could smell his woodsy scent, see the stubble on his cheeks, and hear the way his breathing stayed steady and rhythmic. Even if there hadn’t been music, we could have swayed to the beat of it, while mine seemed to be skipping beats and creating havoc inside my chest.

For the entire length of the slow song, we melted into each other. It was more romantic than I had anticipated, and I accepted that I wasn’t immune to the charm Easton had laid before me.

A few cars drove by, but no one bothered us. As the song ended, I realized I could have stayed there all night and let him hold me. It felt good not being so lonely.

But it was late. Max was in the car, and Easton and I both knew we had to leave. He kissed my temple softly and pulled away, grabbing his phone from the top of my car and turning the music off.

“There,” he smiled softly. “The perfect first date.”

“Does this mean you’re done?”

“Done what?”

“Making me weak?”

His snort made me melt, and the way his head shook as he looked around the parking lot was making my knees feel wobbly again. He licked his lips and looked back at me with a serious look on his face. Then he leaned down and made sure we were eye to eye.

“I’m not done making you weak,” he whispered with a small smile, “but I’m way past done with feeling so spineless.”