Hot SEAL, April's Fool Becca Jameson (philippa perry book txt) 📖

“Well, I’ll be there. I can rearrange some of my clients. I only had two appointments tomorrow anyway.”

“You don’t have to do that.” He hesitated. “But thank you. I appreciate it.” Why did she have to look so appealing? And he hated that she’d turned off her snarky attitude once she found out his father died. She was being nice out of respect after making it clear that he made her blood boil.

“So…you like the Navy?”

“I do. It’s intense at times, but I’m incredibly close to my team. They’re like family to me. What about you? Do you like selling houses?”

She chuckled. “Hate it.”

He lifted his brows. “Seriously? Why do you do it then?”

She sighed. “I worked hard to get my license and I don’t have the funds to go back to college, so I do it. I’m not great at it, but I do well enough to pay the bills most months.”

He winced. “I’m sorry. I hate hearing about people in a career they don’t like.”

“Yeah, well, I never finished my degree. I got my associates at the local community college and then…” Her voice trailed off and she bit her lip as if she suddenly decided to stop herself from continuing with that topic. “Life got in the way and I changed directions.”

“Life does that.” Their meals arrived, giving Cole some time to think and regroup. This was so out-of-body. He’d known he might see her this week no matter how often he’d lied to himself about avoiding her, but he’d refused to think about how it would affect him. A stake to the heart might have been less painful.

She was smiling at him as she finished chewing a bite of her taco. “These haven’t changed in ten years.”

“Do you not come here anymore?”

She shook her head. “The last time I was here was with you.”

He flinched. “Why?” he asked before he could stop himself.

She shrugged. “It was kind of our place. Didn’t feel right. I was afraid it would be too… Never mind.”

He stared at her, his palms sweating. Too what? Too emotional? This surprised him. He hadn’t been sure if she would have given him a single thought after he’d left. Apparently, she hadn’t even gone to eat at their favorite restaurant.

His phone buzzed on the table and he glanced over to see it was from the shop. Luckily, his dad had six people on the payroll, so four of them were still working even though Jacob wasn’t there this morning. He tapped on the screen. “The guys are fixing your car. Looks like it was just the starter. They’ll have it done in a few hours.”

“Oh, good.” She pursed her lips.

“You don’t seem very happy about that,” he joked.

Her face took on that pained expression again. “Finances are tight.”

“Oh. Well, don’t worry about it. It’s on me.”

“I can’t let you do that, Cole.” Her cheeks turned that cute shade of red he remembered she got every time she was embarrassed. In the past, she’d usually been embarrassed because he’d gone too far joking with his friends.

“It’s done, April.”

“Okay,” she murmured as she pushed her plate back. She’d eaten most of her meal. That hadn’t changed in ten years. One of the things he’d always liked about her was the fact that she didn’t pick at her food like other girls, pretending they didn’t actually eat.

April didn’t fake anything. She’d always been forthcoming. What you saw was what you got. It was one of the things he most loved about her. That and the fact that she kept him in check.

“You’re different,” she pointed out.

“How so?”

“Not sure. More…serious.” She shot him a narrow-eyed look. “Except when you’re still cracking jokes. Maybe that’s because you aren’t here for a comedy show. I guess your serious side is more mature.”

“Yeah. Well, I do have a serious side, you know. I’m not always the fun guy.” He lifted a brow. “You might recall there were plenty of times when we were together that I wasn’t joking around.”

She swallowed. “Yeah. I remember.” Her gaze shifted down and he was pretty sure she was shaking. He was also certain her blush deepened.

He may have been voted the class clown and spent most of high school making people laugh, but when the two of them were alone, he’d taken life more seriously. He’d never wanted to waste a moment of their alone time acting like a clown.

“I can still make people buckle over in stitches when it’s appropriate. My nickname with the team is Joker.”

She chuckled. “Why am I not surprised?”

He held her gaze for several moments, wishing things had been different between them. Her smile still made his insides turn over. It had gotten him through many tough times in high school even though he’d never told her that. “Ready to go?”

She nodded.

He paid the bill and led her back out to his rental car. The last thing he wanted to do was take her home. “Is that park still the same? The one where we took our prom pictures?”

“I think so,” she responded when they were both in the car. “Gosh, I haven’t thought about that place in ages. We took all our pictures there on that little bridge with the gazebo. Every homecoming and prom.”

He started the car and headed that direction. He was a glutton for punishment apparently. Why on earth would he want to stir up old memories like this? Somehow today was going to end badly and he was going to pay a price for trying to reconnect with her.

She didn’t say a word when he pulled into the parking lot of the park and jumped down from the SUV. When she joined him in front of the car, he took her hand in his and ambled toward the bridge. It was a little more worn than it had been a decade ago. At some point, it had been repainted, but even that new coat of paint was starting to chip away.

At the