Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96922 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
The way his forehead scrunched up, it was apparent he was curious about that remark.
“Enough shoptalk, though,” I said. “We can get to that later. How are Nance and Keegan doing? Keegan still giving you hell about being Internet famous?”
He caught me up on the family, and then we ordered drinks and food. When they arrived, he eyed the platter he’d ordered and then my chicken salad. “You think I need to be on a diet or something for these shoots?”
“Are you eating the same as you normally eat, or have the past few meals I’ve seen you consume been larger than normal?”
He pondered that for a moment, then shrugged. “I feel like I’m eating a little less, actually.”
“Then I wouldn’t stress about it,” I said, pouring my lite vinaigrette dressing over my salad, something Jace obviously noticed.
“You hit the gym…what? Three or four times a week?” I asked.
“Gym?” His brows pulled together.
My jaw dropped when Jace threw his head back and enjoyed a laugh. “Oh, come on. I’m fucking with you. Of course I hit the gym. We have a fitness center at the station that I go to during breaks, and between being on the job and going to the gym is how I hang with my buddies. I’d love to say that I could get my body looking like this without working out at all, but no.”
As soon as he finished saying that, he started shoveling spoonfuls of loaded mashed potatoes into his mouth. I mixed my dressing into my chicken salad, but couldn’t help looking over at his potatoes.
“You want some?” he asked. “Come on. You can have some of my delicious loaded mashed potatoes. Just a spoonful won’t kill you.”
“No, I shouldn’t. I’m very good at sticking to my diet.”
He shrugged. “Your loss.” Then he took a bite. “It’s a shame to have so many delicious things in the world if you can’t enjoy them. All I’m saying.”
“I confine my tastetesting to other areas of my life,” I quipped.
“I bet you do.”
* * *
“That was awesome!” Jace exclaimed as we headed into my hotel room.
We’d chatted some more over lunch—Jace about his buddies and family as though I knew each and every one of them intimately—before we hit the sights: Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and the National History Museum.
Even on our return to the hotel, Jace couldn’t stop talking about the information we learned on the audio tours and posted plaques at our various destinations.
“You learn about these things in history class, but it’s so different when you’re over here. Like that was crazy at the Westminster Abbey, finding out Mary and Elizabeth are stacked right on top of each other. I get that they were sisters, but they hated each other’s religious beliefs, and then that comment about ‘sisters sleeping in hope of the Resurrection.’ That’s kind of messed up.”
“Someone paid way more attention to the tours than I did,” I acknowledged.
“It’s all so fascinating. I remember learning about British history and things like the War of the Roses in high school, but putting it in context is pretty awesome. Thank you for this. You didn’t have to do that, since you’ve seen all these things already, but it was nice getting to see them with someone.”
“My pleasure. I’ve been here a few times, and even to some of these places, and I haven’t enjoyed them as much as I did this go-around.”
I poured him a cocktail, and we headed out onto my balcony, overlooking the London dusk.
“Wow,” he said. “I’m thoroughly impressed so far, Dax Munro.”
“So am I,” I said, not taking my eyes off him, and suddenly, we were just staring at one another.
“And you get to do this kind of stuff all the time?”
“The job demands it.”
“Meanwhile, mine sort of keeps me in Fever Falls. Don’t get me wrong. I love being a firefighter, and I take pride in being the best I can at my job. I wouldn’t be doing anything else, but I haven’t traveled a lot.”
“Any big bucket-list places?” I asked.
“Yeah, always wanted to go to Peru. Machu Picchu.”
“That’s very specific.”
He shrugged. “Always thought it sounded cool, the idea of this tucked-away secret place. All these people living their lives and no one knowing about them. A little mystery is kind of nice.”
“Yeah, it is. And you’re quite the mystery to me, Jace Kruse.”
“I’ve told you, I’m an open book.”
“And I’ve told you that’s the part that confounds me. Not many people like that, not in my experience.”
“Maybe you’re just hanging around the wrong crowd.”
I couldn’t help but enjoy the remark. “At least I’m with the right crowd tonight.”
“You just trying to get sweet on me, Dax? Tell me, did you have innocent intentions when you asked me for a drink up here?”
I snickered. “I was honest about a drink, but I wasn’t talking about the cocktail.”