Not Quite Over You. Susan Mallery

      “I always have.”

      * * *

      DREW WATCHED CAREFULLY as Jasper stepped close. His friend moved as fast as a snake, striking out when Drew least expected it. He’d learned the hard way not to relax when Jasper spun away. More times than not, he came back harder, faster and ready to win.

      The workout room was silent except for the sound of their breathing and the crack of the sticks connecting. Usually music pounded but not when they worked with fighting sticks. Concentration was required.

      A couple of years ago, Jasper had wanted to use fighting sticks in one of his novels. He’d hired a trainer to spend a week in Happily Inc, teaching him. His friends had been invited to the intense classes, as had a few of the local fitness trainers. As far as Drew knew, the book was finished and sent off to the publisher, but Jasper continued to train with sticks because he liked it.

      Drew’s cousin Cade sat on the mat, out of range of their combat, calling out advice, praise and slurs.

      “Duck, Drew. Watch that left arm of his. Jasper, my mama hits harder than that. Oh, good one. Get ’em.”

      Jasper advanced, forcing Drew to retreat. Drew sidestepped, faked a slash, then came in hard. Jasper slipped on the mat and went down on one knee just as the timer dinged.

      “Well done,” Cade called as he scrambled to his feet. “We got off lucky today. Only a handful of bruises and no broken bones.”

      The sticks were solid wood and struck hard. Getting hurt came with the territory. None of them had more than bruises, but they were often impressive and took a while to heal.

      Jasper tossed Drew a towel, then took one for himself. They all walked to the stools in the corner. On the way, they grabbed water from the refrigerator against the wall.

      Jasper’s house was high enough in the mountains to be surrounded by trees. In the summer, the temperature was a good twenty or thirty degrees cooler than in town, and every now and then there was winter snow.

      His place had started as a two-room cabin maybe eighty years ago. It had been added onto at least a dozen times. The house was a hodgepodge of styles and materials. Some of the rooms were large and stately and others were oddly shaped and poorly constructed.

      When Jasper had bought the house, he’d built an office and the workout room. The latter had the traditional array of equipment found in a home gym, along with a big open area and a wall of mirrors. From what Drew could tell, Jasper was a “method” writer. He liked to physically work through any action scenes. He often had friends over to block out fight scenes and a couple of summers ago, he’d spent six weeks getting familiar with a hunting bow.

      When they were seated, Cade unscrewed the top on his water. “So, Drew. Buying trailers?”

      Jasper raised his eyebrows. “You bought trailers?”

      “They’re not for me.”

      “He’s trying to bribe Silver into sleeping with him,” Cade said with a chuckle. “I’m not sure that’s the best way to get her attention, but if you don’t have the goods personally then hey, whatever works.”

      “Shut up.” Drew’s tone was mild. He was used to his cousin’s teasing. They’d been tight since birth.

      “Why trailers?” Jasper asked. “And you did use the plural version of the word so there’s more than one?”

      “I want to buy into her business.” He thought about mentioning the trouble with the bank loan but not only was the information personal, Libby was Cade’s mother. The two weren’t close but he doubted Cade would appreciate him dissing his mom.

      He also wasn’t going tell them that he’d flat-out lied to Silver. Yes, he wanted to be involved in her business, but not because he was “building his personal portfolio” or whatever other crap he’d told her. He was a bank guy, through and through. He had no more interest in buying into other businesses than sprouting wings, but the fib had been necessary to get her to agree.

      As to the why—as in why was he working so hard?—that was harder to define. He just couldn’t get her out of his head. Given their past, simply asking her out seemed fraught with peril. But this way, he could get to know her again while doing something interesting. Should things work out, then great. Should they not, he would loan her the money to buy him out—no harm done.

      “The trailers were for sale, so I bought them. I’m hoping Silver lets me be a minority partner.”

      “She strikes me as the kind of person who prefers to be in charge.” Jasper chugged more water. “Why that business?”

      “Silver and I go way back. I’m helping an old friend.”

      Cade snorted. “Is that what we’re calling it?” He turned to Jasper. “Drew and Silver have a past. The summer before Drew here took off for college, he and Silver had a thing. It was a hell of a summer. I still remember that party before Labor Day.”

      “Silver and I threw a big party by the falls,” Drew explained to Jasper. “Underage teens, a lot of drinking.”

      Cade touched his water bottle to Drew’s. “My first time getting drunk. I paid for it the next day, but the party was killer.” He chuckled.

      Jasper studied Drew. “So you and Silver were an item? Then what?”

      “I went off to college.” He hesitated. “Silver insisted we break up before I left. I didn’t want to, but she was determined.”

      “She can be stubborn that way,” Cade told him.

      “She can. Then I left.” There was more. So much more. Before he could decide what he should and shouldn’t say, he found himself blurting, “She was pregnant.”

      Both Cade and Jasper stared at him.

      “Seriously?” Cade asked. “What happened?”

      “She came to visit me at college. I was well into my freshman year and had moved on. I didn’t want to believe her, but I knew what we’d been doing. I proposed, she said no. We agreed to give up the baby for adoption.”

      Jasper and Cade exchanged a look.

      “So you have a kid out there,” Jasper said. “How old is he? Or she?”

      “Nearly twelve. I never asked what she had. I assumed a boy.” He’d always pictured a son, one who looked just like him. Ego, he supposed. And a lack of any other input. Of course, if they’d had a girl, he would have assumed she looked exactly like Silver.

      “A kid,” Cade said quietly. “Bethany and I want kids. The sooner the better, but you beat us all.”

      “We were young and foolish.” They’d been passionately in love, he thought. That part had been about as real as it got.

      “Is the baby why you want to go into business with her?” Jasper asked. “Out of guilt?”

      “I don’t feel guilty.” Drew paused. “We were kids ourselves. We couldn’t have been decent parents. I want to invest in Silver’s company because I think it’s the smart thing to do. I’ve run the numbers. She works hard, makes a good profit and is turning business away every week. It’s a sound business decision.”

      “Uh-huh.” Jasper didn’t look convinced. “What did she say?”

      “I think the real question is what did she hit you with when you told her what you’d done?” Cade chuckled.

      “She’s thinking about it.” Drew grinned. “She was fine with it.”

      “Liar.”

      “Okay, but she really did listen.”

      Jasper finished his water and tossed the bottle into the recycling bin in the corner. “So you’re going to invest in Silver’s company, and then what? Are you going to help her manage