Her Seven-Day Fiancé
Autore
Brenda Harlen
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18
Chapter One
No one would ever describe Jason Channing as a morning person—especially not before he’d had at least his first cup of coffee. And yet, he used to set his alarm for 7:00 a.m. every morning, at which time he’d slap the clock to silence the annoying buzz, drag himself out of bed, pull on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt—or jogging pants and a sweatshirt, depending on the season—lace up his running shoes and head out for his 5K run.
It was a pattern he’d established in high school, when he was a quarterback for the Westmount Mustangs and his coach had insisted that routines and discipline were even more important than talent in building a winning team. Jay hadn’t played ball in more than a decade, but he continued to run every morning. And for the past two months, he’d had an extra incentive to hit the pavement: Alyssa Cabrera.
The Southern California transplant had moved into unit 1B of the A-frame triplex sometime near the end of the previous summer. He hadn’t paid too much attention to his new neighbor at the time—although he’d done a double take that first day, and that second look had reinforced his first impression of the new resident as a definite knockout. But preoccupation with his fledgling business and his own relationship rules had discouraged him from doing anything more than look.
Until one morning in early March when he’d awakened before his alarm and decided he might as well start his day. He’d headed out for his run at 6:45 a.m., just as Alyssa was returning from hers. She was wearing a hoodie, body-hugging leggings and high-end running shoes that suggested her morning routine was more of a passion than a hobby.
He’d awakened an hour earlier the next morning in an effort to sync his schedule with hers. And though she’d initially seemed wary of his request to join her, she’d consented. So he’d set his alarm for the same time the next day again. And the day after that, because it was a pleasure to spend time with a woman who didn’t feel the need to fill the silence with idle chatter. As the days turned into weeks, he found that his daily exercise—even now starting at 6:00 a.m.—had become more of a pleasure than simply a habit.
Aside from those early encounters, their paths didn’t cross very often, despite the fact that they lived in the same building. As a math and science teacher at the local high school—that much she’d revealed in between sprints—she worked the usual school hours Monday to Friday, while Adventure Village, the family-friendly activity center he owned, required him to be on-site from early to late Wednesday through Sunday.
Then, completely out of the blue and in the midst of a March blizzard, she’d shown up at his door with a covered dish in her hands. Apparently the unexpected storm that had shut down the town had also canceled a staff potluck at the high school, leaving Alyssa with enough chili to feed twelve. She’d already put a container aside for Helen Powell—the widowed resident of 1A, who was out of town visiting her daughter’s family—but she still had more than she could possibly store in her freezer.
As Jason had listened to the explanation of why she was at his door, he found himself mesmerized by the curve of her lips rather than the words she was saying. And when his gaze had dipped lower, he couldn’t help but appreciate that her soft sweater and leggings outlined her sweet curves. She wore fuzzy socks on her feet, and the top of her head barely reached his chin, but there was a lot of punch in the petite package.
Since the storm prevented him from going anywhere, he’d invited her to come in to eat with him. He’d opened a bottle of merlot and, as they’d shared dinner and conversation, he’d found himself increasingly intrigued by the beautiful woman he’d never really let himself notice before.
After that night, when they’d sipped wine and listened to the wind rattling the windows, he’d been much more aware of his neighbor—and more cognizant of her comings and goings. But their morning runs had done little to satisfy his growing curiosity about his new neighbor.
“Looks like spring is finally here,” he noted, when he met her at the top of the driveway on a Friday morning in early May.
“The last time you said that, we got dumped with six inches of snow only a few hours later,” she remarked, walking toward the street.
“No chance of that today,” he promised. “The sky is clear and blue.”
“So far,” she acknowledged.
They turned west, away from the rising sun, and picked up their pace.
“Any big plans for this weekend?” he asked as they transitioned from a brisk walk to a slow jog.
Her only response was a negative shake of the head that sent her ponytail swinging from side to side.
“You’re not going to ask if I have plans?”
“I don’t need to ask if a man whose nickname is ‘Charming’ has weekend plans,” she noted.
He winced inwardly at her use of the moniker he’d thought—hoped—he’d outgrown. “Where’d you hear that name?”
“In the staff room at school.”
Of course. Because he’d dated Lisa Dailey, the music teacher, Shannon Hart, the girls’ gym teacher and soccer coach, and—very briefly—Taylor Lawson, the office administrator.
“Rumor has it you’ve broken the hearts of all the single women in Haven and are dating someone in Battle Mountain now.”
“Was,” he clarified.
“She dumped you already?”
He was so surprised by the question, he stopped running.
It took a few strides before she realized he was no longer beside her and turned back, jogging on the spot until he caught up again.
“She did not dump me,” he told her.
“You dumped her?”
“We decided that we wanted different things,” he said as they continued along their usual route.
“She wanted a relationship and you didn’t?” Alyssa guessed.
Her assumption hit a little too close to the truth for comfort. “Renee said that I was too focused on my business and not enough on her.”
“And instead of trying to appease her with flowers or chocolates or candlelit dinners, you gave her the equivalent of a relationship pink slip.”
“Pink was her favorite color.”
She surprised him by laughing. “Then maybe you made the right decision.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“How is that relevant to anything?”
“It’s a simple question—although also a personal question,” he acknowledged. “And I’ve noticed that you always sidestep personal questions.”
“Orange,” she told him.
“Why orange?”
“That’s an even more personal question.”
“Tell me anyway,” he urged.
She picked up her pace and turned onto Peregrine Lane, and for a minute, he didn’t think she was going to answer.
“Because it’s the last color you see as the sun dips below the horizon at the edge of the ocean,” she finally responded.
“That’s right—you’re a California girl, aren’t you?”
“Former California girl,” she amended.
“Why’d you trade sand and surf for northern Nevada desert?”
She shrugged. “It was time for a change.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there.”
“Did you date Belinda Walsh, too?”
“I don’t think so,” he said, a little warily.
“She teaches English at the high school,” Alyssa explained. “And she looks for hidden meaning in everything.”
“That’s not a female thing?”
She sent him a disapproving glance. “Belinda was talking to another teacher in the staff room one day, explaining the symbolism in a poem her class was studying. She claimed that the blue curtains fluttering in the breeze were representative of the author’s depression. I suggested that perhaps the author just happened to be writing in a room that had blue curtains.”
He grinned. “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar?”
“And sometimes orange is just the color of a sunset,” she confirmed, waving to him as she made her way to her door.
Clearly that was all she intended to say about the subject, but as Jay made his way up the stairs to his own apartment, which occupied the two upper floors of the building, he wasn’t entirely convinced. In fact, he suspected there was a lot more going on with the sexy schoolteacher than she wanted anyone to know.
He did know that she left her apartment at precisely seven twenty-five every weekday morning to head over to Westmount, and she usually returned home by three forty-five in the afternoon. The only exceptions were Wednesdays, when she monitored Homework Help in the library after school, and the second Monday of every month, when there was an afternoon staff meeting. She didn’t, as far as he could tell, date very often—or maybe not at all.
Which piqued his curiosity for two reasons: first, she was a beautiful woman, and second, she was new to Haven. Either of those factors would appeal to most of the single guys in town; the combination would prove almost irresistible. This led Jay to believe her presence at home most nights was a matter of choice. But why?
Was she involved with somebody back in California? Was she nursing a broken heart? Or was she simply not interested in any of the guys she’d met?
It wasn’t in his nature to ignore an intrigue, but he didn’t like being distracted by thoughts of a woman.
So rather than admit that he was, he pushed all thoughts of her out of his mind and focused on getting ready for work.
* * *
Alyssa turned off the water, grabbed a towel from the bar and briskly rubbed it over her body. She knew, without looking at the clock, that it was 7:00 a.m. She knew because she was a creature of habit who awakened every morning at six and had her shoes laced up, ready to head out the door, ten minutes later.
She wasn’t a competitive runner—not like her sister, Cristina, had been. But she enjoyed challenging herself to go a little farther, a little faster. After too many years of being told to be careful, to slow down, because she was fragile and weak, she had a lot to prove—if only to herself.
She’d started running three years earlier, just a short jog at a moderate pace, to see if she could. And then she could do a little more—and a little faster. Now she was strong, she was fit and she was determined to live her life on her own terms.
She ran for herself. It wasn’t really a secret, but it also wasn’t something she’d shared with anyone else.
Until Jason Channing.
Somehow, eight weeks earlier, she’d acquired a running partner she didn’t need or want. And despite her less-than-welcoming demeanor at the start, he’d continued to show up, until she’d found herself not just enjoying his company but looking forward to it.
But at the same time, being around her upstairs neighbor also left her feeling a little...unsettled.
Of course, if rumors were to be believed—and in the eight months she’d lived in Haven, she’d discovered that they usually were—he had a similar effect on most of the female population in town. Because not only was he unbelievably handsome and charming, he was educated, motivated and rich. Not that he flaunted his wealth. In fact, it was only through a conversation with Mrs. Powell, the resident of 1A, that she’d discovered he owned the triplex they all lived in.
Still, it had taken her a while to accept that the cause of her unsettled feeling was most likely physical attraction. But what woman wouldn’t feel some kind of stirring in her blood when she was around a good-looking guy? And Jason Channing was undoubtedly that. Referred to as “Charming” by the women in town, he was six feet tall with broad shoulders, dark hair, deep blue eyes, a square jaw and an easy smile that never failed to make Alyssa’s toes curl inside her running shoes.
So although she couldn’t deny that she was attracted, she was thankfully smart enough to realize that he was way out of her league. And that was okay, because when it came to the dating game, she was content to sit in the bleachers and watch others play.
Someday she might be ready to suit up and hit the field, but after so many years of being “coached” by her doctors and parents, she just wanted to call her own plays for a while. Which was why she’d finally moved away from the well-meaning but stifling attention of her family.
Eight months later, Renata Cabrera still hadn’t let up in her campaign to get her youngest daughter to come home. Her latest effort, begun when Alyssa was home for the Christmas holidays, had been a reintroduction to Diego Garcia. He was “handsome and single” as her mother had promised, but Alyssa simply wasn’t interested.
Unfortunately, Renata refused to believe it, and Alyssa couldn’t remember the last conversation she’d had with her mother without some mention of Diego. Most recently Renata had suggested that he might be traveling to Nevada to help his cousin, who lived in Elko and had recently split from his girlfriend, move out of their shared apartment and into his own. Alyssa hated to think that her mother had encouraged Diego to make the trip—or to think that she had any kind of personal interest in him—but she couldn’t disregard either possibility.
With her travel mug of coffee in one hand and car keys in the other, Alyssa had just stepped onto the driveway when her phone rang. Only one person ever called her early in the morning, so she didn’t need to glance at the display to know who it was.
She unlocked the car door and set her coffee in the cup holder on the console before pulling the phone out of her purse and connecting the call. “Buenos días, Mama.”
“I’m just calling to remind you that Diego’s going to be in Nevada this weekend,” her mother responded without preamble.
Alyssa closed her eyes and quietly banged her head against the open door. “I didn’t realize those were firm plans.”
“Then you weren’t listening,” Renata said.
“I’m working this weekend,” she reminded her mother.
“You’re working tonight,” Renata acknowledged. “And Diego said he would stop by this Diggers’ place so the two of you could make plans for when you’re not working.”
“I have another job, too,” Alyssa said. “And test papers and lab reports to mark this weekend.”
“You work too hard,” her mother protested. “At the school all day and then a second job at night.”
“Only two nights a week,” she interjected to clarify the part-time status of her bartending job at the local watering hole.
“If you don’t slow down, you’re going to wear yourself out,” Renata continued, as if she hadn’t heard her.
Alyssa didn’t bother to point out that her sister worked a full-time job and then cared for a husband and son when she got home, and nobody worried that Cristina was going to wear herself out. All she said was “I’m fine, Mama.”
“You need a break,” Renata said. “And I think spending some time with Diego will fit the bill nicely.”
“Diego’s a nice guy,” she began in an effort to appease her mother.
“From a good family,” Renata pointed out. “And ready to settle down and start a family of his own.”
Which was something Alyssa was definitely not ready to do. “Mama—”
“Would it be such a hardship to spend some time with an interesting and attractive single man?”
“Of course not,” she acknowledged. “But—” she needed to firmly and finally extinguish any hopes her mother had of striking a romantic match between Alyssa and Diego “—the truth is, I’ve been seeing somebody here.”
Except that it wasn’t the truth—it was a blatant lie.
But desperate times called for desperate measures.
“You’ve been seeing someone?” her mother echoed, not bothering to hide her skepticism.
“That’s right,” she confirmed.
Lied.
Again.
“And why am I only hearing about this now?” Renata challenged.
“I didn’t want to jinx the relationship by talking about it too soon.”
But apparently she didn’t mind going to hell, which was certainly her destination after she added more falsehoods and untruths to the conversation.
“Well, this puts me in an extremely awkward position, Alyssa,” Renata said. “If I’d known about this...relationship...I would not have encouraged Diego to look you up while he’s in town.”
She didn’t bother to point out that Elko was a different town in a different county. “Maybe it’s not too late to get in touch with him and recommend he change his plans,” she suggested hopefully.
“Unfortunately, it is,” her mother said. “He’s already in Nevada, so I’m just going to trust that, when you see him tonight, you’ll treat him as you would any friend visiting from out of town.”
“Of course,” Alyssa murmured, her mind once again scrambling. “But now I really do have to go, so I’m not late for work.”
“Okay,” Renata said. “But don’t forgot to call Nicolas next week to wish him a happy birthday.”
“I won’t forget,” she promised, already looking forward to talking to her almost-five-year-old nephew—because although he always told her he missed her, he never tried to guilt her into moving back to California. “Goodbye, Mama. Te quiero.”
After her mother had said goodbye, too, Alyssa disconnected the call and sighed wearily. “I’m going to hell.”
“I’m not a priest, but I’m willing to listen to your confession, if it would help.”
She jolted at the sound of Jason’s voice behind her, then pressed a hand to her racing heart as she turned to face him. Of course, seeing him now, freshly showered and shaven, her heart raced even faster.
“Sorry to startle you,” he said.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I didn’t expect—You don’t usually leave for work this early, do you?”
“No,” he admitted. “And you don’t usually leave this late.”
She glanced at the clock display on her phone and winced. “You’re right.”
“I don’t want to hold you up any longer, but I’m curious to hear why you think you’re going to hell.”
“Because I lied to my mother,” she confided.
“A big fat lie or a little white lie?” he asked.
“I told her that I had a boyfriend.”
“You don’t?”
She shook her head. “No. The last date I had—and I’m not sure it even counts as a date—was the staff Christmas party, December 22.”
She’d attended the event with Troy Hartwell, the biology teacher. He’d had a little too much to drink and misinterpreted her level of interest, forcing Alyssa to demonstrate some of the moves she’d learned in the self-defense course her mother had implored her to take before she moved away from home.
“Any particular reason for the dating hiatus?” Jason wondered.
“Not really,” she said. “I just have other priorities right now—including a test for my senior calculus class this morning.”
Jason took the hint. “Well, good luck with that,” he said, moving around to the driver’s side of his truck and climbing behind the wheel.
She waved as he drove away, then decided that her mother’s ongoing matchmaking efforts meant it was time for her to implement plan B.
