Mad About Moon (The Whiskeys: Dark Knights at Peaceful Harbor #5)(9)

She finally managed to say, “Moon,” at the same time he said, “Jojo,” and her heart stumbled.

“I wasn’t sure I hadn’t made you up last night,” he said, stepping forward.

He was even taller close up, broader chested, his features more striking. The scar on his cheekbone called out to her. How many times had she touched it that night—the night that had felt like it had lasted a month?

“Why are you here?” she asked too sharply, but she couldn’t help it. She was confused, startled, overwhelmed. She had fallen in love with Brian over a period of weeks, months, years. He’d cared for her, protected her, and made sure she had a wonderful life. But he hadn’t touched her until she turned eighteen, despite her efforts to seduce him when she was fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…He was a good, smart man, who had wanted the best for her. With Moon it had been just like this, an electric attraction from the moment she’d first seen him. She’d never spoken to him until just days before her eighteenth birthday, when she’d tried again to get under Brian’s skin, and he’d thoughtfully, frustratingly turned her away…again.

“I wanted to be sure,” he said.

He flashed the boyish smile she remembered, softening his roughness. She’d told him that all those years ago, when she’d gone to the party to make Brian jealous, and she hadn’t looked away when Moon had pinned her with that stare.

“Now you know,” she said nervously, struggling against conflicting desires to tell him to leave and the bewildering feeling that she’d found an old, trusted friend. A friend she’d once known intimately. How could the air between them still ignite this many years later?

He took his hands from his pockets and slid one to the back of his neck, rubbing as if he had a pain there. His eyes became hooded, and he said, “I can hardly believe it. You said your name was Joanne. I had no idea you were Sarah’s sister. She’s been searching for you for months.”

“I know. Sorry to cause trouble.” She glanced around them, glad they didn’t have witnesses to their uncomfortable, and equally enticing, meeting. “Joanne was the name I went by so my parents wouldn’t find me.”

His expression turned serious. “Jojo, are you okay? Sarah said you have a kid. Is he okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine. Thanks.”

“But you’re at the shelter. Has anyone hurt you?” He rolled his shoulders back and said, “I’ll kill them if they did.”

A nervous laugh slipped out, and a perplexed expression came over him, as if he thought she didn’t believe he could hurt someone, which was crazy. His tight T-shirt hugged his muscular pecs, and his leather jacket did nothing to hide his powerful arms. She lowered her eyes, involuntarily checking out his thick thighs. That was a mistake, because now her eyes were hovering around his package.

She dragged her eyes away, and his low laugh drew her eyes back to his.

They were both smiling. Damn, this was how it had all started that night. A look, a comment, and the next thing she knew they were walking away from the bonfire, away from the party, toward the creek. They’d talked for so many hours that night, she’d felt like she’d known him forever.

She struggled to push that memory away and remember what he’d last said. Oh yeah, that he’d kill someone if they hurt her.

“No one hurt me,” she said. “At least not on purpose. I’m fine.”

“Okay, good. I’d like to help you out any way I can. Do you want to go someplace and talk?”

She actually considered it for about three seconds. What am I thinking? I have a life to put back together. “I don’t even know you or what you’ve been up to all these years.”

“Let’s talk. I’ll catch you up.” He waved to the couches in the waiting room.

“I can’t,” she said quickly. “I’m decorating gingerbread houses with my son, Hail. He’s in the kitchen with everyone else.”

“Good, because I brought him something.” He pulled a small rectangular gift box out of his pocket.

“Geez, Moon.” That was so thoughtful. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“He’s a kid. It’s Christmas.” He shrugged. “Seemed like the right thing to do.” He glanced down the hall and said, “You know, I’ve never decorated a gingerbread house. Mind if I join you?”

“Yes,” came out before she had time to think. She didn’t want to send him away, and she didn’t understand why, but she thought she should. He was a stranger, wasn’t he? Even if they’d been intimate once before?

He arched a brow. “Seriously? You’d rob me of my first experience decorating a gingerbread house?”

“I…It’s probably against the rules.”

An arrogant and freaking hot grin slid across his face. “I like breaking rules. Besides, I have a gift to deliver to your little guy. That is, unless you want to rob him of this experience, too.”

There it was, the sweet and sexy combination that had done her in the first time. “Maybe I need protecting from you,” she said with a laugh.

“Trust me, Jojo, you don’t. Now, about those houses…” He stepped beside her, putting his hand on her lower back and bringing her down the hall with him as he said, “Is the kitchen this way? Because it smells delicious.”