Hope Smolders by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

have to go a little slower, Will. I’m out of practice.”
    He smiled at the waitress as she brought the beer and sake along with their lettuce wraps, then he turned his attention back to Jane. “I don’t know about that. Seems to me you’re doing just fine.”
    She took a sip of the beer, also surprisingly good. Probably a little too good, because she started to feel the buzz. “Just stop me if I start to strip off my clothes and climb up on the table to dance.”
    “Duly noted. Here, have some food.” He scooped some chicken onto a piece of lettuce, rolled it up, and slid a plate across the table in front of her.
    She didn’t want to eat. She wanted this nice, relaxed feeling to continue and didn’t want the food to ruin it. She hadn’t felt this way for a long time. And she had no kids around, no responsibilities, didn’t have to worry about Ryan and Tabby arguing or throwing things and talking too loud or wanting to go play a game. She could sit back and have an adult conversation. When was the last time that had happened?
    Chelsea was right. She deserved this. But she also didn’t want to end up on the floor after the first half hour, so she took a bite of the wrap, which was oh so good.
    “I’ll bet you do this a lot,” she said, trying not to devour the wrap in two bites once she realized how hungry she really was.
    “Do what?”
    “Go out. Eat. On dates.”
    He’d fixed one of the wraps for himself and had taken abite. He chewed thoughtfully, took a drink of water, then leaned back in the chair. “Well, I do eat.”
    She pinned him with a look. “You know what I mean.”
    “I do know what you mean. And no, I don’t date a lot. For the past several years I’ve been on the night shift. There aren’t a lot of women to date during daylight hours.”
    “You had weekends, though.”
    “I had night shift on a lot of the weekends, too. I wasn’t exactly high man on the totem pole. You get the shit shifts when you’re working your way up.”
    “Oh. I hadn’t thought about that. Must have really screwed with your social life.”
    “What social life?”
    “Okay. Point taken. So what have you been doing?”
    He shrugged. “Sleeping. Going to the gym. Hanging out at home or going out for a beer with my friends when I do get some time off.”
    “Sounds about as exciting as my life.”
    He shot her a smile. “Minus the kids, but yeah, it’s hard to have a relationship when you know you’re not going to be able to take a woman out on a Friday or Saturday night, or when you know your schedule is going to be the kiss of death before you can ever get anything started.”
    She lifted her sake. “Welcome back to regular working hours, then, Will.”
    He clinked his glass of water against her sake. “Thanks. It’s good to be in the land of the living again. And the same to you.”
    He had a point. “Thanks. It’s nice to be out without the kids. I don’t get adult conversation all that often.”
    “You should have been out well before now.”
    She took a deep breath. “It was important the kids had me around.”
    “For a while at the beginning, yeah. For two years? Come on. You don’t need to sacrifice your entire life just because Vic took a hike.”
    She lifted her beer and took a long swallow. “Oh, how about we don’t talk about Vic tonight?” Or…ever.
    “Sure. Okay, sorry.”
    “No. I’m sorry.” She’d snapped at him. Wasn’t she turning out to be a fun date?
    “You don’t have to be sorry. You have a right to not want to talk about…that.”
    “No, I need to stop pretending he doesn’t exist. I just wanted a nice night out tonight without thinking about my kids or my ex-husband. Is that selfish of me?”
    He picked up her hand, and there was that zing again. “You have a right to have anything you want tonight.”
    “That’s a dangerous thought.”
    “No, it’s not.”
    “Yes, it is. I am, after all, with an officer of the law.”
    His gaze went dark. “Do you have