A Kiss in Costume | Holidays in Heartsbrook #1

Six | Jack

I'm sitting in the front seat of what can only be described as a decrepit van. There are car seats in the back. Like, for human children. Suddenly Alex seems a lot more complicated than he was at first glance.

I don't know exactly where he's taking me. We stop at the only gas station in town, buy a loaf of bread, and drive to a small house set back on a large yard decorated top to bottom for Halloween. My kind of people.

Then, without a word, he disappears inside and I sit in the car, covering my freezing skin with his oversized jacket.

Each moment brings the cold closer to my heart and has me second-guessing everything. He doesn't deserve to be dragged into my mess. He has a house with decorations and a van with car seats and he wasn't kidding when he said he had things to worry about.

I'm in the middle of listing all the ways getting into a mess with this guy is a bad idea when he sprints through the yard and rips the driver's door open.

"I can't let you lose your job," I shout to be heard over the now-roaring wind.

"And I can't let you get tossed around by the rudest man alive," he responds simply, sliding into his seat and throwing a small back into the back seat.

"You definitely could." I glance back over my shoulder. "I can hold my own."

"I have no doubt of that." He lets out a little huff of air somewhere between a laugh and a scoff, running his hand through his hair. "But he really thinks he can get away with murder, doesn't he?"

Can't help but nod. He's right. "If there's one thing I've learned about Luther Bellsworth, it's that he gets what he wants."

"Except when it comes to you," he points out, rolling the car into reverse and backing out onto the narrow street toward the highway.

"Except when it comes to me, I guess." I shrug. "He did a pretty good job reminding me I wasn't allowed to make that decision, though."

"He did what?" Alex's eyes pop out of his head and I'm scared we're going to hit something with how intently he's staring at me instead of the road.

"Just what you know already, I'm sure. He bought the Stalwart so he could fire me. Jessica keeps me informed of the goings on and he wasn't supposed to be in today, but..." I don't know what to say, so I lift my shoulder and drop it, twirling my fingers around the end of his jacket in my lap.

"So, what are we going to do, then?" he asks, subtly shifting the conversation away from whether we are doing it.

But I can't leave well enough alone and have a slight need to self-sabotage. Or that's what Becky says. "Before we get to that I need to know." I resist the urge to turn around and look at the car seats. "What made you change your mind?"

His smirk lights up his eyes. "The man of the hour."

"You have a bone to pick too?" I ask, pulling myself further into his coat as the car blows barely warmed air into my face.

"Who doesn't?" He looks straight ahead, guiding us out onto the highway. "But I've never been willing to risk it before today."

"Don't do this for me," I spurt. "Please. I can't have your kids going hungry or whatever."

"My kids?" His eyebrow raises, and I gesture to the backseat.

"You don't know, then?"

"Know what?" What on earth am I supposed to know about a man I barely know and can't stop thinking about, pray tell?

"You know my sister? She's got the kids? Surely you know her."

That's a bit of a gut punch because I do know his sister. But if I'm being honest, we haven't kept up since high school. I heard about her husband, but otherwise, I don't know much. "I haven't really paid much attention, sorry."