all. Her best friend and pro bono attorney, Sophie, had given her sound advice. She’d suggested they go to the local media when the hospital had tried to brush her off. Within twenty-four hours of her interview with the press, the hospital’s legal team had phoned and told her they were hiring a third-party investigator to determine what had happened. Apparently they’d gotten a lot of flak, especially when the news station contacted them and they refused to comment.
That was a week ago. Things had changed quickly.
Jade went to answer the door, flinging it open in a rush, and then stopping short as she recognized the man standing on her porch. In an instant, her heart stuttered, her body stiffened. It was like she’d run straight into a brick wall she hadn’t seen coming.
“Hello, Jade.”
There was no way she could’ve seen this coming. Her mouth dropped open, the words dying on her lips. She couldn’t even manage to say hello. Not with her ex-boyfriend Harley Dalton standing on her front porch.
It had been forever since she’d seen him—her first semester of college, to be precise. A lot had changed about Harley since then. He was bigger now. Brawny, almost. She’d heard that he went into the navy after they’d broken up, and it showed as his broad shoulders strained against his expensive, tailored gray suit coat. He’d dwarfed her in high school and there was an even more pronounced size difference between them now.
A lot of things were still the same, however. The dark blue eyes with the wicked glint. The broken nose. The devilish smile that promised more than she could handle, then or now...
The way he looked at her was different, though. The heat in his eyes wasn’t stoked by desire today. It felt more like animosity. And close scrutiny. It was startling to see that, although Jade supposed he might still be mad at her for breaking up with him all those years ago.
“Jade?” He arched a brow, a questioning look on his face.
She clamped her jaw shut and nodded. “Hello, Harley,” she finally managed to say. “Sorry.”
“So you do remember me,” he said with a smirk.
As though she was ever likely to forget. He’d been her first love. Maybe her only real love, if she was honest with herself. She wasn’t about to let him know that. “Of course I remember you. What are you doing here?”
“St. Francis hired me—my company, rather—to look into your claims of staff misconduct at the hospital.”
Jade hadn’t kept tabs on Harley over the years, but that type of work seemed right up his alley. Maybe if she had paid more attention, she wouldn’t have been blindsided when the hospital hired him—the one man she’d managed to avoid successfully all these years. “Oh,” she said, trying not to sound disappointed or concerned. There wasn’t much she could do about it now. Even if she called the hospital and complained later, it wouldn’t get Harley Dalton off her front porch today.
“They didn’t tell me who to expect. I didn’t realize... Come in,” she offered, taking a step back from the door to let him inside her small rental house.
As he stepped over the threshold, the faint breeze blew in with him and brought the scent of him to her nose. The woodsy fragrance of his cologne mingled with his familiar manly musk immediately took her back to being eighteen again. To snuggling against him in his pickup truck. To fogging up the windows while he nibbled on her neck...
Whatever confidence and self-assurance she’d gained over the years faded to nothing when she looked at him. In their place was a flutter of butterflies in her stomach and a sudden awareness of parts of her body that she hadn’t noticed in a very long time. Maybe since the last time she’d touched Harley. Lance had been a lot of things, but an intensely sexual creature was not one of them.
Jade had been okay with that. She’d traded that intense passion for security and stability. Or so she’d thought. Being around Harley again had just reminded her of everything she’d passed up in her quest for a better life.
It was a high price to pay. She’d been in the same room with him for less than a minute now and was already almost overwhelmed by his presence. She needed a moment alone or wasn’t sure she could get through a half hour interview without making a fool of herself.
“Would you like something to drink? Some sweet tea?” she asked.
“Sure. Thank you.”
Jade gestured toward the couch. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.”
She immediately turned on her heel and disappeared into the kitchen, trying to erase from her mind the image of him smiling at her. At one time, she’d lamented the closed-off floor plan of the older home she was renting, but now was relieved to have a barrier of wood and drywall between them.
Jade took her time pouring two glasses of sweet tea, and even put together a plate of cookies. She remembered that Harley had a sweet tooth, and that bought her a few more seconds to compose herself. But eventually she had to go back to the living room and face him again.
She wasn’t sure what to think of his sudden appearance, or the faint scowl on his face. Questions were swirling through her mind. Did he not believe her side of the story about being switched? He had been hired by the hospital, after all. Or was it because he was still angry with her? If so, why had he taken the case? Was it because he still found her attractive? If so, did she really care? She wasn’t really equipped to deal with something like that right now, what with everything else in her life spinning out of control.
“Do you need any help?”
Jade jerked her head up and saw Harley peeking around the corner. Trying not to look startled, she took the plate of cookies and handed it to him. “Here, take these. I’ll carry the tea.”
“Mmm, shortbread,” he said, appreciation lighting his eyes.
“Those were your favorites, weren’t they?” she asked, wishing immediately that she hadn’t. She didn’t want him to think she recalled things like that after all these years apart.
“They still are. I can’t believe you remember.” Harley popped a cookie into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully, drawing Jade’s attention to his full lips.
A lot of time had passed, and yet it felt like almost none at all when she looked at Harley. She could almost feel those lips on hers as if it was yesterday. He might have been a bad boy, but he was a good kisser. A great one.
How long had it been since Jade had been kissed?
A real kiss. Not a peck. A long, slow, toe-curling kiss? She didn’t even know. A long time. Sadly, it had been long before her husband turned away from her and had taken up drugs instead.
Deep inside, a part of her wished to experience that thrill of attraction again. To feel wanted and desired. But she knew that Harley was not the one to relight those fires. Those flames would be all consuming and that was a risk she wasn’t willing to take. Not back then and not now.
Harley finished his cookie and smiled at her in a way that made her wonder if he knew exactly what she was thinking. Jade had never been very good at hiding her emotions, but she needed to do better. Especially when he was around. He was here to interview her about her claims against the hospital, but she could just as easily be a teenager again, helping him study French over tea and cookies, and
