“It’s not stalking. I told you how we met. Anyway, I’m trying to work here, Cam,” Jackson growled. He hardly wanted his brother to witness his failure with Alyssa again, not after that first night.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of work to watch a girl’s ass as she walks away.”
“You’re a pig.”
“Yep. Haven’t tried to convince anyone otherwise.”
“Hey, Camden, you drinking your usual?” Alyssa asked with a much friendlier smile for his brother than she’d given him. That didn’t please Jackson in the least.
“You know what I like, beautiful,” Camden said with a wink.
Even though Jackson knew his brother was laying it on thick to get a rise out of him, he still felt the urge to give the guy a shiner. Yeah, sure, that would really impress Alyssa. Camden was safe for now.
“Hmm. I thought for sure that would rile you,” Cam said, leaning back and getting comfortable. He wasn’t planning to leave anytime soon. “You must be mellowing in your old age.”
With a defeated sigh, Jackson closed the lid of his laptop and ate a tortilla chip.
“I know you’re trying to piss me off. I also know you won’t go after her . . . since she’s already claimed,” Jackson said.
“Interesting,” Camden said, helping himself to a chip.
“There’s nothing interesting about it. I like her, she likes me. Case closed.”
“From where I sit, there’s not a whole lot of love going on between the two of you.”
“That’s just what it looks like, Camden. She’s fighting the attraction. As soon as I can figure out why, then we’ll get on to the next phase.”
“Here you are.” Alyssa appeared with Cam’s drink, then took his order. “I’ll be right back with your salads. How’s your difficult case going?”
“Not as well as I’d like,” Cam said.
How did she even know which cases his brother had? When had they become so chummy? Jackson didn’t like this at all.
“Sorry, Cam,” Alyssa said. “But we both know you’ll pull it off. You always do.”
The pat she gave Cam’s shoulder made smoke come out of Jackson’s ears. Worse, she turned and walked away without even glancing in his direction.
“When the hell did you two become so close?” Jackson asked.
“Look, I really was just teasing you earlier, Jackson. I have zero interest in Alyssa. She’s a client of mine and we’ve become friends over the last few months. I come up here a lot, especially after a really trying day at the office. She’s a good listener. But I’d better warn you that a lot of the locals come in just to talk to her, and several of them do have crushes.”
“Who’s she suing?” Jackson wanted information now.
“You know I can’t discuss that. Come on, bro, don’t be dense. If she wants to share with you, she will. I can tell you this: she’s gone through some hell of her own and she’s strong. I respect her.”
“I know she’s strong, Cam. What I can’t figure out is what in the hell I’m doing. I don’t want a permanent relationship, but I can’t get her out of my head. If I could just have one more night with her—just one—I think I would be cured.” Jackson huffed in frustration.
“My deluded brother . . . She’s not a disease you have to find a cure for,” Cam told him. “She’s a woman, a damn fine woman at that, and maybe you like her a hell of a lot more than you’re letting on. Just go for it. Tell her how you feel. Maybe honesty would be the best policy at this point.”
Alyssa dropped their salads off without saying a word and then disappeared again to tend to her other customers. It was a fairly slow night and Jackson hoped she’d get out of there at a decent hour, giving them a chance to talk without interruptions.
“I can’t just lay it out there. I don’t even know what it is I’m feeling,” Jackson said.
“You know. You just don’t want to analyze it. You’ve been alone a long time—you’ve punished yourself for long enough. Don’t give up because it feels like you aren’t allowed to be happy. Your daughter wouldn’t want this.”
Jackson’s face blanched at the mention of his daughter. “I can’t. If I move on, it will be like she never existed. If I find happiness, then I am living while my daughter isn’t allowed to.”
Cam’s response was gentle but insistent. “She was a baby. It was tragic, but it’s been five years, Jackson. It’s time.”
“That’s not what this is about, dammit. It’s not about my daughter. This is about Alyssa and me. The two of us made a connection on New Year’s Eve, and I just want to see if we can do it again.”
“And I think you’re delusional. I don’t care how spectacular the sex is. You don’t go this crazy over a woman unless there’s something more to it than incredible chemistry.”
“I don’t know her enough for it to be anything more than chemistry,” Jackson insisted.
“Are you trying to convince me of that or yourself?”
The two of them paused when Alyssa came back with the rest of their dinner. Jackson couldn’t turn his mind off, couldn’t quit thinking of Alyssa, but he did know that he was going to wait until she got off work, because tonight they were having a real conversation, even if he had to kidnap her to do it.
“It’s probably just because she’s playing hard to get,” Jackson said as he chewed without tasting his food.
“I don’t think it’s that, either, bro. You would have lost interest by now if that were the case. I think you have some real feelings for this girl, and you’re lying to yourself about it so you can tell yourself that it’s okay. Let go of the past and try to grab some happiness,” Cam said.
Jackson was silent after that, not knowing what to think. Camden finished his meal and left soon after, allowing Jackson to become lost in his work. Now that he had an established routine, he was able to read more than one line of a report in Alyssa’s presence. That was good. He quickly tuned out everything around him and entered the world of finance, the world he’d managed to create—where the players were controlled by him and the one with the most money and power always won.
Alyssa watched Camden leave and then let out a sigh of relief as Jackson got lost in his laptop. He might not have known it, but the hunger burning in his eyes, his constant but gentle pursuit, and his almost daily presence at the saloon were wearing her down.