The Other Half (Door Peninsula Passions Book 1) by Katherine Hastings

Author:Katherine Hastings [Hastings, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Door Peninsula Passions Series, Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, Forever Love, Bachelor, Single Woman, Sensual Story Theme, Hearts Desire, Lifetime Love, Life-Changes, Second Chance Reunion, Honesty & Trust, Home & Family, Romantic Schemes, Small Town & Rural Area, Cowboy & Western Romance, Beautiful & Feisty, Love-Family & Forever, Action & Adventure
Publisher: Flyte Publishing
Published: 2019-06-27T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Jake

After I finished filleting the walleye I’d snagged off the dock an hour ago, I tossed the rest to Hank, who was licking his chops below me.

“I shouldn’t give you this. You don’t deserve it. You had one job, Hank. One job. Bite me in the balls if I started staring at her with stars in my eyes. And what did you do when I did? Nothing. Absolutely nothing, Hank. Where were you on that one? Nice wingman you turned out to be.”

Ignoring my taunts, Hank ate the remains of the de-boned fish and looked up at me hoping for more.

“That’s all, buddy.”

Taking the fillets inside, I popped them in the fridge before going to the sink to scrub my hands. I never cared if my hands smelled like fish, like they often did, but knowing Cassie would be here soon had me sweating to get everything just right. While I put on the third round of soap, I looked at the clock. Six twenty-five. I scrubbed harder. I’d already shaved and put on my best white t-shirt. After several back-and-forths debating about cologne, I’d opted against it, but slapped some aftershave on my skin instead.

Five minutes.

In five minutes, Cassie was coming to my house.

What the hell did you do, Jake?

Saddle meet horse.

But it was too late now. Not only was it too late to call off tonight, it was too late to shove the feelings that had grown for her back inside. That damn icepick of hers had done too much damage. There wasn’t enough duct tape in the world to patch up all the cracks she’d made in my carefully constructed armor. Every look. Every laugh. Every accidental touch. Each one tore apart my resolve, begging me to toss away my inhibitions and swing my leg over the horse one more time.

The sound of her car chugging down my driveway sped my heart up to speeds reminiscent of that time I went to Great America with Matt and rode the roller-coaster.

Matt. Just thinking about him put one more patch over the armor Cassie had chiseled away. Thinking about Matt made me think about Nikki, and soon I slipped into a downward spiral fueled by fear and regret. Trying to stop myself before I hit bottom, I took a deep breath and looked out the window. That beautiful blonde climbing out of her car wasn’t Nikki. Not every woman in the world was a cheater and a liar. At least I hoped not because the way she looked tonight in that little tank top and those jean shorts would make not kissing her even harder than it’d been last night. And last night was downright torture.

Hank barked when he heard her knock.

“Coming!” I called, trying to hold myself in position a few seconds longer so I didn’t look too eager.

“She’s not Nikki,” I whispered before I pushed off to the door.

“Hi.” She smiled when I opened it.

“Hi,” I answered back.

Hank exploded out the door and jumped around her, his excitement mirroring how I felt, even though I kept my emotions locked tightly inside.

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