Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis

time, Jack would turn his picker skills on her. Would he find a way to dump her as a friend, citing her inability to finish anything? No, that was nothing new. Her lack of morals, given the lie she’d told his mom? No, Jack lied too. His entire career was based on the lie that he’d wanted to be a firefighter like his dad, when she knew damn well he’d only done it out of obligation. Sure, he’d loved being a Hotshot, but she sensed his restlessness. He wasn’t loving his job.
    Damn. They were both so screwed up. She slowed a moment and glanced back to the shore, catching sight of a big, built, attitude-ridden shadow that changed the rhythm of her heart rate even more than swimming. She blew out a breath and kicked it into gear, going hard and fast so she’d be too winded to talk, much less think.
    Maybe he’d get tired of waiting.
    But Jack had the patience of Job, so it was far more likely she’d drown.
    Unfortunately, he’d save her before that happened. He was good at saving her. Dammit. Trembling with exhaustion, she turned back, knowing she couldn’t outwait him. She’d never been able to.

Chapter 8
    I t wasn’t all that difficult to find Leah, once Jack set his mind to it. Since the beginning of time, when she’d been troubled, she’d been drawn to two things.
    Him.
    And the ocean.
    She hadn’t come to him. That was new. There’d been a time when she’d have come to him no matter what was troubling her.
    Except, of course, at the moment he was the source of her trouble, even though it was of her own making. The last time that had been the case, she’d left Lucky Harbor.
    But he knew she couldn’t leave now. She was here for her grandma, and though Leah had plenty of faults, her grandma meant too much to her. Unlike himself… He tried not to resent that, but there was no getting around the fact—he did resent it. He was pissed off that she had no idea what she’d meant to him back then.
    Or now.
    “Woof?”
    The soft, snuffling question came from a sleepy Kevin in the shotgun position at his side. Reaching over, Jack ruffled Kevin’s fur reassuringly, getting licked from chin to forehead for his efforts. Kevin wandered a little bit away and started sniffing. Knowing the signs, Jack grabbed a baggie from his truck and waited.
    Kevin continued to sniff around each and every rock within a twenty-foot radius, and then repeated his efforts. Twice. Finally, he sat and yawned.
    “Just do it already,” Jack said, waving the bag. “Before the pretty girl comes out of the water.”
    Kevin tipped up his head and stargazed.
    “Fine.” Jack shoved the bag in his pocket, his eyes following the form swimming out past the waves. She’d always been a hell of a swimmer. He could see flashes of pale skin as she moved quickly and efficiently at a full-out pace.
    Clearly, she was trying to outswim her demons.
    His heart squeezed a little, making room for a few other emotions besides his temper. Empathy. Maybe even reluctant affection. He could’ve gotten into the water with her, but it was after midnight and Christ, he was tired.
    Nothing good ever happens after midnight.
    His mom had always said so, and in this case, he was willing to bet it was true. So he sat on the sand, positioned halfway between her car and the water, giving her no easy escape. And waited.
    And brooded.
    When Leah had first moved to Lucky Harbor, right next door to his childhood home, his life had been long summer days of riding bikes and body surfing, and longer summer nights lying in his bed listening to her father yell at her through the open windows.
    You never finish a damn thing, Leah. Not one damn thing. And you never will… You’re going to amount to nothing.
    Jack had been missing his own father at the time, and his gut would coil into a knot as she’d been spoken to so cruelly and thoughtlessly. “What the hell is wrong with you?” her dad would yell at her. “Didn’t you hear me? Are you deaf? Are you stupid? Maybe