Jaq With a Q (Kismet) by Jettie Woodruff

Author:Jettie Woodruff [Woodruff, Jettie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-05-03T04:00:00+00:00

It only took two nights to talk Jaq out of the house. That was way sooner than I thought it would take.

I had just put spaghetti and salad on the picnic table on the porch and begged her to come out.

“Okay, I’m out.”

I almost choked on own tongue, not expecting that at all. “Good, see how nice it is out here. Sit down, I’ll stay on the steps.”

“No, I won’t eat in front of you and I’m real hungry.”

I smiled and slowly walked toward her from the ground, my plate already in hand. “We’ll both look at the lake. I gave you wind. Sit down and enjoy the day?”

“Ollie.”

“You’re okay. I’m right here.”

The cat to the right of us caught my eye and I shot it a dirty look, telling it to go beg for food somewhere else with my glare. Unfortunately, cat-telepathic wasn’t my thing. The stupid thing meowed at me. “Oh, look at that. Did you see that fish jump?” I questioned, my tone soft and my eyes on the lake.

“I saw it. The fish.”

A smile moved around my bite of fish, fighting the urge to turn to her. “Silas and I used to catch some monsters out of here. Have you ever been fishing?”

“No, I don’t know how.”

“I’m going to teach you.”

“Yeah, sure you are,” she replied, doubt in every word.

Our first meal together was a huge success. Not to mention, it had a way better view than the one in her apartment would have been. I felt like we’d taken a few steps forward. Jaq talked to me, not about anything serious, but I would take it. If it took counting Skittles to make her happy and feel safe, I’d take it. I would do it.

I took great caution in my actions, not moving too quickly, and keeping my tone soft and tender, walking up the steps to her. Our eyes met as I took her plate, stacking it on mine. A gaze held by something powerful, evocative, and magical kept me from breaking the trance we shared. The fear in her eyes was still there, but not like it had been. They held a mixture of sadness, caution, and hope.

Jaq blinked first, but only because of the stupid cat. Her gaze left mine for the meddling animal. “I—I think she’s hungry.”

I stepped back, giving her space, but holding my ground. “We’re not feeding the cat. Once you do that, she’ll never leave.”

“Why does she have to leave? Maybe she doesn’t have anywhere to go. I bet she’s hungry and she’s worried about where she’ll have her babies.”

I looked straight through her, knowing without a doubt we’d just adopted a cat. “I just bought a couple cans of salmon. You can give her that until I go back to town, but I’m not taking care of her, you are.”

“Really? Okay, I will. I promise. Maybe we should make her a bed, somewhere out of the weather where her babies will be protected.”

The smile was fake. So fake.

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