Jade was astounded. She couldn’t even find a response.
He threw his head back with a laugh. “Sorry. That was intense, huh? Look, if you want me to help planning, I am down for it. But you’ll have to explain this to me. I know what Beach Day is. It’s self-explanatory. But Christmas in July is kind of a whole other beast.”
She giggled. “You’re hilarious. Think of Christmas, and then add it to summer.”
He pursed his lips. “Not sure I wanna have hot chocolate in July heat.”
“No, but imagine a nice glass of ice-cold eggnog!”
He chuckled. “Okay, that’s not bad.”
“I was thinking that now we have a pro chef like Mason in town, we can ask him to come up with some fun and fresh ideas for the menu.”
“That’s a good idea. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to help.”
She nodded. “Anything to help the small town that has taken him in.”
“Not to mention the small town that is letting him marry one of their favorite citizens.”
“That’s a good point,” she giggled. “So you’ll help?”
“Sure thing, Rosebud. Maybe our planning will take us back into the city. I still need to get those supplies for the bank’s security.”
“Yay!” Jade kissed his cheek.
Her imagination was filled with images of her and Parker planning all of Half Moon Key’s activities with their kids one day. With any luck, they would have a daughter who would take over for them someday.
Jade knew her heart was a little too involved with the man she hadn’t even been dating a month, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t just any man. He was Parker Dawson, and he was all hers.
EIGHTEEN
PARKER
Parker wanted to kick himself for getting so distracted by his new relationship with Jade. Not that there was anything wrong with the relationship. Actually,thatwas pretty damn amazing. They were totally in sync, and if he was honest with himself, it was the best … and the healthiest … relationship he had ever been in.
There was just something about Jade that called to something primal inside of him.
He had this need to protect her, and it was a bit hard to be apart from her. There was no point in trying to fight the attraction he felt for her.
However, now that pull to her was getting in the way of her safety.
Parker had promised Jade and the elders that he would fix the security in the bank to make sure that even if there was no electricity in the town, the bank, money, and most importantly, the tellers would still be safe. But he hadn’t actually gotten the material he needed yet to make that happen.
He had tried, of course, but then they had run into Rueben, and they had rushed out of the city. After that, there was always a reasonnotto go into the city to get what he needed. He just had a hard time keeping away from Jade, and she hadn’t really had a day off to go with him.
Adding to this was the fact that it was impossible to get any sort of delivery to Half Moon Key, and Parker wasn’t his usual highly efficient self.
These were lame excuses, he knew that, but he also knew that if something happened to Jade while he was out of town, he would never forgive himself.
“You’re scaring the fish,” Jack Hayes, a lion shifter and one of his fishing buddies, said beside him.
Parker looked up, confused. “Huh?”
“I agree,” Mason cut in. “Look at the poor bastard,” he went on, nudging his chin toward his brother. “He’s in such a bad mood that the fish aren’t biting.”
“Are you two seriously blaming me for the fish not taking your shitty bait?” Cohen grumbled. “Because maybe you need to admit that you are a shitty fisherman who had no clue what he is doing.”
Jack flipped him off playfully. “You can say that to Mason, but I’ve been fishing since I was knee-high to a boat.”