Jodelle looked up at him, smiled shyly again, then turned her attention back to the sidewalk in front of them.
Baker decided to go with the flow.
CHAPTER THREE
Jody lay on her bed the next morning and stared up at the ceiling. Yesterday had been…interesting. The last five years of her life she’d enjoyed a kind of comfortable routine. Looking out for her kids most mornings before school started, coming home and doing some work, heading back to the beach again in the afternoon, then spending the evening at home alone, eating dinner and often working again, before heading to bed to do it all over the next day.
Yesterday had been quite a change from that routine, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. There was safety in doing the same thing day in and day out. Jody’d had enough surprises and change to last her a lifetime.
Yesterday had shaken her out of her comfort zone. First off, there was Ben. Something was wrong, and she desperately wanted to talk to the teenager and see if there was anything she could do to help. She didn’t know a lot about the boy, just that his parents were wealthy and he was a fairly quiet but well-liked kid.
Then there was Baker.
Sighing, Jody closed her eyes as last night replayed in her head. It was hard to believe that he was actually interested in her. She wasn’t anything special. Some days she felt as if she was barely holding her head above water. Yet Baker seemed to be completely serious when he’d told her he wanted to see where things could go between them.
He was slightly arrogant, but Jody knew if she’d rebuffed his advances in any way, he would’ve backed off. But she hadn’t. For the first time in a long time, she was taking a risk.
Mana would’ve told her it was about time.
Thinking about her son, Kaimana, was still painful, but this morning, picturing her son smiling at her and giving her a high-five wasn’t as debilitating as it had been in the past. She missed her goofy kid more than she could put into words. It had been just the two of them for so long, it still felt odd to wake up and not have him in the house.
Knowing if she dwelled on the loss, she’d be in a funk for the rest of the day, Jody forced her thoughts back to Baker. She liked how upfront he was. He was intense, but she definitely knew where things stood between them, which was a relief. She was too old to play dating games.
Their walk to the beach had been nice. They’d held hands and talked about the day’s surfing competition—and how much they hated the resulting traffic—among other things. Baker had told her just a little about his time in the Navy, and his decision to stay here in Hawaii after retiring from the SEALs. It was comfortable, and Jody felt as if she’d known the man forever. She was still confused about how they’d gone from barely friends who saw each other a few times a week on the beach, to apparently dating, but she couldn’t say she was upset about it, even if nerves still plagued her.
Baker was…it was hard to come up with the words to describe him. All Jody knew was that she liked being around him. He filled her up inside, and she’d felt utterly empty ever since Mana had died.
Refusing to let herself get morose, Jody sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She was taking a rare day off from going to the beach. This was the last day of the surfing competition and her kids would most likely be there watching, as they’d been the last few days. Tomorrow they’d get their beach back, surfing in the early morning hours before school started, and Jody would be there to keep her eye on them.
She had today to herself…which wasn’t exactly her favorite thing. But she had a few graphic design jobs she wanted to work on, as well as a website she needed to build from scratch. Jody was very thankful for her job…it gave her something to focus on when the pain of losing Mana became too much, and it allowed her to stay in the house she’d shared with her son.
After showering, Jody grabbed a Pop-Tart out of the pantry and stood in her kitchen as she ate it. She knew they weren’t healthy, like at all, but they’d been one of Mana’s favorite things to eat, and having one for breakfast every morning made her remember her son.
She’d just finished the treat when her phone beeped with a notification. Frowning, not sure who would be contacting her so early, Jody walked over to the table where she’d left her phone the night before and picked it up.
Seeing Baker’s name on the screen made butterflies swim in her belly. They’d exchanged numbers last night.
Baker
Had a good time last night. I’m trying not to come on too strong, so I’m gonna resist the urge to come over today.
Knowing she had a goofy smile on her face, Jody leaned against her counter and used her thumbs to type a response.
Jody
You weren’t kidding about not fucking around, were you?
Baker
Nope. You’ll learn that about me. When I want something, I give it my all. What are your plans for the day?
This felt nice. It had been a long time since she’d had someone to share plans with.
Jody
Nothing exciting. Doing some work.
Baker
No beach?
Jody
You told Rome I wouldn’t be there, so I’m going with that. Besides, it’s Sunday. No school and the competition is still going on. My kids will be too busy trying to soak up the rad vibes from their favorite surfers to get into trouble.
Baker
But tomorrow you’ll be there?
Jody
Yeah. Why?
Baker
Just making sure I’ll get to see you soon.
Goose bumps broke out on Jody’s arms. Man, this guy was lethal. Then she frowned. He could tear what was left of her heart out of her chest and stomp it into bits. Second thoughts raced through her. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.
Baker
No rush and no pressure, Tink. Just being real.
It was as if he could sense her freaking out and did what he could to try to alleviate that. She took a deep breath and replied.
Jody
I can’t pretend this isn’t making me nervous…but I did wake up with a smile on my face for the first time in years.
Baker
Good. Expect a call from Elodie today.
Jody blinked in confusion. She knew who Elodie was. She was married to one of Baker’s Navy SEAL friends. She’d met a few of them over the last year or so, but had no idea why the other woman would be calling her.
Jody
Elodie? Why?
But instead of three dots appearing at the bottom of the text screen to indicate Baker was replying to her question, her phone rang in her hand, scaring the shit out of Jody. She laughed at herself before clicking on the icon to answer.
“Hi,” Jody said a little shyly.