“I’m not like him, Maddie. Not even close. Don’t compare us.”

She felt like he’d slapped her. Not a mouse, she reminded herself. Hold your ground. “So you didn’t keep parts of yourself purposely hidden from me? You’re not still keeping parts hidden?”

A muscle ticked in Jax’s jaw. “You’re going to let him win.” His words were short and clipped. He was pissed. “You’re going to let him drive that wedge he wanted between us.”

“This isn’t a court case to win or lose, Jax. It’s my life.” She stared at him while he stared straight out the windshield. “Is there anything else about your past I should know?”

He was quiet for a beat too long, and she let out a breath. “Jax. Is there?”

“There’s always something.”

“That’s no answer, and we both know it.”

But given his silence, it was the only answer she was going to get. Honestly, she couldn’t quite believe it, that they’d found themselves here, in this place. She’d had little hints from him that he hadn’t been the open book she’d thought, but she’d ignored them.

Logically she knew that, given how hard it’d been for her to open up about her past, she needed to cut him some slack for not being completely forthcoming himself. But she couldn’t find it in her at the moment. “I have work to do.”

He shoved his fingers through his hair. “Maddie—”

“Lots of work.” She hopped out and shut the door hard. Her exit wasn’t exactly graceful, since she had to yank it open again to pull out the hem of her shirt, which had gotten caught.

Without looking at him, she walked into the inn and shut that door hard, too, then put her forehead to the wood. When she couldn’t stand the suspense and peeked out the window, he was gone.

Chapter 21

“Men are like roses.

You have to watch out for the pricks.”

PHOEBE TRAEGER

The three sisters sat in the back booth at Eat Me Café having a late night dinner. Tara had just gotten off shift, and at this hour, there were more Christmas decorations than customers.

Chloe was eating the night’s chicken special. Tara was carefully stirring her hot tea and adding honey with the precision of a drill sergeant moving troops.

Maddie was knitting, and not with the precision of a drill sergeant. She was also thinking too hard: about Jax’s father, about Jax’s ex-fiancée, about Jax. About their fight. At the moment, she wasn’t sure where they stood, or even where she wanted them to stand, but with a few hours of distance, she could definitely admit one thing.

She’d overreacted.

Fear did that to a person, made them completely… stupid. She hated that. She thought about going over to his house to talk to him. Or better yet, not talking. She could let her fingers do the talking for her.

Chloe glanced at her and rolled her eyes. “You and your orgasmic glow need to shut it.”

“Don’t mind Chloe,” Tara said. “She’s just jealous, bless her heart.”

“I’m going to bless your dead body,” Chloe said. “And are you saying you’re not jealous? The Mouse is clearly getting some, and we’re getting the big fat zip.”

“Sugar, you can’t miss what you can’t even remember.”

Maddie sighed. “There’s really nothing to be jealous of.”

“Uh-oh.” Chloe cocked her head. “Trouble in paradise? What happened? Don’t even try to tell me he didn’t fill out a condom. I’ve seen how he fills out his jeans.”

Tara choked on her tea.

“Oh, like you haven’t noticed.” Chloe turned back to Maddie. “Before we get to why you’re pouting, can we at least hear the juicy details? Does he talk dirty in bed? He’s good with his tongue, right? Please tell me he is.”

So good, Maddie thought and wriggled as she felt her body respond at just the memory.

“This isn’t fair.” Chloe slouched in her chair, pouting. “I’m good with my tongue, and I can’t even do it without getting an asthma attack.”

“I know I’m going to regret asking,” Tara said. “But how do you know you’re good?”

“I practiced with zucchinis. What?” she asked when both sisters laughed. “You asked.”

Tara rubbed her temples as if trying to remove the image burned into her brain. “So what happened?” she asked Maddie, clearly desperate to move on. “What happened with you and Jax?”

“I happened,” she said miserably. “I let my past dictate my present and possibly ruin the future.”

“Huh?” Chloe asked.

“I met his father. Who’s not a nice guy, by the way. And I found out that Jax gets really quiet when he’s mad. Like the calm-before-the-storm quiet.”

“Ah, sugar.” Tara pushed aside Maddie’s knitting to squeeze her hand. “That doesn’t mean he’s going to blow up.”

“I know that.” Sort of.

“And we all have pasts,” Chloe pointed out, surprisingly void of sarcasm. “And exes.”

“I know that, too. I just realized that, for as open and laid-back as he is, there’s more to him, a lot more than he’s shown me. I’m tired of playing the game when I don’t get a copy of the rules. He can go play with himself.” She paused. “Okay, that came out wrong.”

“But it sure is a great visual,” Chloe said.

“I say back off,” Tara said. “You’ve had your fun with him, and that’s all you need for now.”

“But—”

“Trust me,” Tara said. “Backing off before you fall is the safest.” She got up and came back with an apple pie and a quart of vanilla ice cream. “This is my Can’t Get It Together apple pie. It’s got a million calories, but it cures everything. Broken budget, broken heart, you name it.”

They each took a huge piece and added ice cream.

“Uh-oh,” Chloe said to Maddie. “Your foods are touching.”

“Shut up.” The warm, buttery crust melted in Maddie’s mouth and made her moan. Not as good as being na**d with Jax, but a close second.

“So one week left until Christmas,” Chloe said, mouth full.

Maddie set down her fork, her stomach clenching.

“Honey.” Tara shook her head, looking surprisingly upset. “It all comes down to money. Our cards are maxed out now. We have no buffer. We’re finishing up the bare necessities and getting it on the market. It’s for the best.”

“Plus you two want out of here,” Maddie said softly.

“And that,” Tara said honestly.

Chloe took Maddie’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go back to the cottage, turn on our Charlie Brown Christmas tree lights, and sing bad Christmas songs. I have a brand-spanking-new facial mask to try out on you guys that takes away fine wrinkles.”

“I don’t have wrinkles.”

Chloe patted her hand. “And remind me to remind you to get your eyes checked.”

The next morning, Maddie opened her eyes and had to laugh. Once again she’d fallen asleep knitting and was wrapped in her yarn. And also once again, she was entangled with her sisters beneath their tree like a pack of kittens. She crawled over a snoring Tara and pulled herself free from her latest knitting project. She’d finished it last night, and beautiful as she thought it was, she had to admit—it was her most crooked scarf yet. “Okay, one of these days, I’m going to get the hang of this.”

Chloe sat up, and Maddie gaped at her. And then at Tara. “Why is your hair green?”

“What?” Chloe touched her hair. “What?”

“And your face is white.”

“Omigod. So’s yours! And yours!” Chloe said, pointing at Tara, too.

It was like a bad game of blind man’s bluff. They all ran to the tiny bathroom and fought for space in front of the mirror.

Each of them had green-tipped hair and a face mask that had hardened like clay, cracking across their skin.

“Oh, God,” Tara groaned, then whirled on Chloe. “This is your fault.”

Chloe tossed up her hands. “Why is it always the baby who has to take the blame?”

“Because you are to blame? You said the mask would soak in overnight.”

She’d talked them into some new conditioner she’d made out of seaweed and avocado. “It must have stained. Okay, no one panic.”

“Why, because I’m sporting a hair dye that makes me look like I should be starring in a Dr. Seuss book?” Tara yelled.

Maddie bent to the sink and scrubbed off the face mask and brushed her teeth. Chloe and Tara followed suit, then they all stared at themselves until the doorbell rang.

Maddie went to the door.

Jax stood on the porch holding a container of four steaming hot coffees. Something tumbled inside her at the sight of him, but the warm fuzzy was immediately chased by a cold dose of reality. She had no idea where they stood.

He was wearing his usual sexy-as-hell work uniform—jeans, boots, and a big, warm-looking hoodie sweatshirt. Minus his usual easy smile. He handed her a coffee. “About my father and my ex,” he said, characteristically going right to the meat. “I don’t talk about them because neither are involved in my day-to-day life anymore. I spend long chunks of time not thinking about them at all. We don’t keep in touch; we don’t have fond memories. Both of those relationships ended badly, so believe me, there isn’t anything you’d want to hear.”

Fair enough. She and her father had a very decent relationship, but her time with Alex certainly wasn’t anything anyone would want to hear, either. “I’m sorry. I overreacted.” She offered a small smile. “I guess I’m still working on those trust issues. But you can’t deny that I really don’t know very much about you.”

His warm caramel eyes met hers. “We could work on that.”

Out of everything he’d given her—his time, a sense of renewed confidence, his friendship and more—this was perhaps the most meaningful of all. “That’d be nice,” she said. “Getting to know each other even better.”

“Maybe we could start with why you have green hair.”

“Basically, it’s because Chloe’s evil. Notice my scarf matches.”

“There’s a lot of green going on,” he agreed.

She pulled off the scarf and wrapped it around his neck, holding the ends. Playfully, she went up on tiptoe and brushed his lips with hers. “It’s a little crooked, but I prefer to think of it as unique. And it’s warm.”

“Reminds me of you,” he said softly, hands going to her h*ps to hold her against him. “Unique and warm.”

She kissed him again. “Thanks for the coffee, and especially thanks for being so patient with me.”

He tightened his grip when she moved to pull away. “Have we negotiated a truce, then?”

“I think so. We’re…” What? What were they? She realized she had no idea what he wanted from her.

He looked at her for a long moment. “I’d like to keep going with us, Maddie. Adding in more talking, minus a few misunderstandings. You?”

She stared at him, feeling her emotions swing like a pendulum. Not only had he said what he’d wanted without a sign of panic or fear, he’d asked her what she wanted. “I’m on board with that. Though I’d add in more of what we did yesterday at your house before your dad showed up.”

With his first real smile and a soft laugh, he pulled her in and pressed his mouth to her temple. He ran a hand down her hair, tugging very lightly on the green tips, the small smile still curving his mouth, the one that tended to melt her bones with alarming alacrity.

Her sisters appeared on either side of her, green hair and all. Jax offered them coffees, which were gratefully received.

“You need a clone,” Chloe told him and sipped. “To share with the rest of the female population. What are we doing today?”

Maddie knew what she wanted to do. Jax.

But clearly his superhero powers of ESP were broken. “Painting,” he said to Chloe. “An entire day of painting.”

Damn.

They painted.

And painted.

Well, Tara and Maddie painted. Chloe worked on her skin care line.

Jax worked outside and away from them on the wood trim. By the time Tara and Maddie quit at sunset, Maddie’s arms felt like overcooked noodles.

Chloe, restless as usual, rode off into the sunset on her Vespa.

“Stay out of trouble,” Tara called after her. Shaking her head, she sighed. “She’s not going to stay out of trouble.” She turned to Maddie. “I’m going in for my dinner shift. Come over when you’re hungry, and I’ll feed you.”

“Will do.” Maddie stood in the middle of the living room of the inn and took stock as if she were looking at the place for the first time. The floors were looking good, and without the rooster and cow wallpaper, the rooms looked bigger and more airy. Even so, there was still something almost antiquated about the place, which was okay, because it fit like an old glove. It had character. And charm. It felt like a place that she could get comfortable in and stay a while.

Too bad that wasn’t going to be the case. For her entire life, “home” had been transient, a place to hang her coat, to rest her head, but not a place to stop for any length of time. Now she’d finally found a true home, one that embraced her, comforted her, and gave her peace.