The Game of Hearts

The sweltering heat was relentless. She was meaner than his third-grade teacher, with a ruler waiting to whack his knuckles for misbehaving. Jace gave up on the idea of sleeping and tossed the thin sheet aside. The window unit crashed and burned before he managed to fall asleep last night. He still was forced to get out of bed, take the blasted unit off of the window, and put the screens back in.

The breeze was intermittent, and he tossed and turned as his mind raced through scenario after scenario. If he'd only said this, his entire life might not have fallen apart. Or, perhaps. What if he hadn't gotten caught? Would he have changed on his own? Probably not. Admittedly, he was a callous jerk whose heart was as dark as the depths of hell. Until recently, he hadn't given a damn about who he hurt or the consequences of his actions, so he tried to shrug it off and sleep, but the heat made sure sleep remained a figment of his imagination as the night crawled by.

Now that his feet hit the ground, he knew there was only one option. He'd have to work on the ranch with nothing but caffeine to fuel his day and beer to chase the night away.

Wiping his brow, he stripped and jumped in the shower. Keeping the water cool, Jace ran his fingers through his wet hair and wondered why the hell he turned left on that blasted highway. If he'd driven north, he could have avoided this heat wave. Then again, he escaped the bastards out to kill him, at least for now.

Stepping out of the shower, he toweled off and grabbed his blue jeans. Shaking the dust off them, he ignored the receipts that fell out of the pocket, knowing he needed to forget the sea-blue eyes and the smile that belonged to Miranda. All conversations with her needed to be erased from his memory. She was too innocent to get caught up with his past.

Best to break her heart early before he shattered her heart forever.

As his memories lingered on the way she looked last night, he could feel his body reacting to her sweet laugh as he teased her. Leaning closer, he'd felt her warm breath on his neck, and he wanted to drag her back to his one-room hovel and devour her until they both collapsed, exhausted and satisfied. For whatever reason, he decided to let her go, politely walked her to her car, and watched as she drove away from him. He could have lost all control once his lips met hers, but he stayed strong and let her go.

It was for the best.

He needed to ignore the phone number in his contacts and pretend she was a stranger the next time he saw her in the bar.

Grabbing a t-shirt from the pile, he pulled it over his head and finished getting ready for work. He shut the window and locked up before heading down the road to the bakery for breakfast. He needed a few cups of coffee before racing all over the valley on horseback on the ranch. There were a few folks out, and he nonchalantly waved to them and said the obligatory "Hello!" and "How are you?" as they passed by.

It would have been the perfect start to the morning, but as he opened the door to the bakery, it took several heartbeats to register the situation he was about to walk into. Before he could flee, the beautiful blonde turned around and looked directly into his hazel eyes.

Walking over, she threw her arms around him, giving him the best bear hug in the world. Surrounded by her jasmine scent, he wanted to melt away in her arms forever, forgetting the man he was and hoping to unleash the man he wanted to be. Knowing that was a fantasy, he tried to pull away without offending her. After all, he was trying to protect Miranda from the bastard living in his brain.

Then, their lips touched!

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Stay tuned for Part 3