Head over Heels for the Holidays - Jennifer Bernard Page 0,1

Stubborn works too.”

Another knock. She let out a frustrated breath and opened the holding cell door. “What?”

This time it was Jessica, her best friend. She, too, shot a wildly curious glance in Rune’s direction. “We’re, uh, taking off now.” She gestured at the tall man behind her—Ethan James, her new love and a private investigator. They’d taken over her office to fill out some paperwork, which was why she’d brought Rune Larsen in here. “Your office is free if you’d rather meet there.”

“Thank you. You could have just texted me.”

Jessica shrugged, offering a merry smile. “We wanted to say goodbye in person.”

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye. And hello.” Turning to Rune, she offered her hand. “I’m Jessica Dixon, owner of the Sweet Harbor Bakery and B&B. We have the absolute best walnut-cinnamon sticky buns in town, so stop by any time between seven and two-ish, depending on how busy we are.”

“Jess,” Maya said in a warning tone. “Little busy here.”

“Of course. Sorry. Everyone has to eat, though, right? And sleep. Do you need a place to stay?” she asked Rune. “I mentioned the B&B part, right?”

“We have a place for now,” he said in that deep, sexy voice.

We.

For some reason, that word disappointed Maya. That “we” meant he was married, or partnered up with someone.

Sometimes it seemed she was the only one who wasn’t a “we.” Especially now that Jess had hooked up with Ethan, the only “we” in her life was her and her father.

“Gotcha. Okay, I’ll get out of your way. Call you later, Maya. Kate wants to get together for some dancing now that the peony harvest is over. Do you dance?” Once again, she directed that question at Rune.

He didn’t get a chance to answer because Maya manhandled Jessica out the door and shut it behind her.

“I’m really sorry,” she told Rune. “Just a little taste of my life right there. And it’s still early.”

“I hope with everything going on, you still make time for dancing.”

She shot him a surprised look. Did he mean that in a medical-advice type of way? “It’s not at the top of my list.”

“I guess you’re a lot busier now that you’re grown up.”

Now that was an odd thing to say. Her forehead creased as she looked at him.

And then looked again.

“Wait…” Why did he look so familiar? Who was he?

He smiled broadly for the first time, a full-on grin that set off another round of bells in her brain. She did know him from somewhere. But where?

He tugged his hair into unruly spikes so he looked like a mischievous kid.

Her jaw dropped open. “Jay? Jay-Jay from Hawaii?”

With a laugh, he smoothed his hair back down as best he could. “That took you a while. And here I thought you were a detective.”

“Yes, but…” She blinked at him as if he might vanish like some kind of mirage. “What are you…I never expected…why didn’t you… Oh my God, it really is you, Jay-Jay!”

He opened his arms wide and she didn’t hesitate. She launched herself at him and flung her arms around her old friend.

Jay-Jay Breton. From Oahu. Her savior during the year her father had been stationed in Hawaii. She meant that literally; he’d saved her life in the ocean one day. He’d been spearfishing while she’d been sitting on a rock, feeling homesick. An extra-big rogue wave had knocked her off into the water. He’d abandoned his gear and swum to her rescue. She’d been so outraged by her dunking that she’d yelled at him about how much she hated Hawaii.

They’d fought about it, facing off on the sand after he towed her to shore. Then a crab had crawled up her leg and she’d shaken it off with a shriek. It had landed in his hair, which had struck them both as so funny that they’d burst out laughing and wound up in hysterics on the sand.

That was how they’d become friends. Jay-Jay was a sunshiny, scrappy kid with a knack for trouble. They were so different; he was friendly, she was reserved. He was reckless, she was responsible. He loved the ocean, she much preferred solid ground. But somehow it just worked and they were inseparable until she went back to Alaska.

He sure hadn’t had the muscles that now surrounded her. Or at least they’d been much, much smaller.

The door to the cell flung open and a laugh of surprise rang out. “Chief Badger?”

She pulled herself away from Jay and whirled around to face Lucy Krakowski, who was a reporter from the