hung on the wall and a picture of him with his football friends from high school sat on the dresser. Jackson had given her permission to clear out the old things, but Clara hadn’t done it. Seeing them reminded her she didn’t belong there. Her stay at the apartment was only temporary until she could get her life back together and the paperwork finalized for her divorce.
What a dreadful year. Thank God it was coming to an end. New Year’s Eve was never so welcomed as far as Clara was concerned. She was in a wistful mood as she crawled into the bathtub and sat there waiting for the hot water to fill up, wishing Jackson had been able to take off for the holiday. It would have been nice to spend the last evening of the year with someone, but she wasn’t surprised he volunteered to fill in an extra shift so a coworker and his new wife could be together.
She tried not to think of just how endearing that made Jackson as she finally stretched out in the tub, using her foot to turn off the stream of hot water. The bath was heavenly, soothing her weary muscles and washing away the stress of the day. She lay there until the water grew cool and her fingertips wrinkled while she enjoyed the novelty of having time to relax.
In truth Clara was hiding and trying to waste as much time as she could. She wanted to make her way to the end of the year with as much dignity as she could muster. Lately any dignity seemed to be a scarce commodity in her life. After coming home and finding her husband fucking another woman in her bed she had been clinging to the threads of her tattered life for the past three months. She moved out of their spacious home, the one she’d worked so hard paying for, simply because she 9
Kele Moon
couldn’t bear staying there and being reminded of her farce of a marriage. She ought to thank the blonde piece of fluff her husband had been sleeping with for giving her an excuse to do what she should have years ago.
Jackson had been furious. She’d always thought Frank, her husband, was a smart man, but he should have known better than to show up before she and Jackson had left with Clara’s things. Jackson always hated her husband with a fervor that was unusual for him. He had been waiting for five years to give Frank a piece of his mind. He did it the best way he knew how—with a hard right hook that knocked Frank off his feet and had Miss Fluff screaming she would call the police.
It showed how far Clara had sunk that she entertained that as her favorite memory.
She closed her eyes, seeing Jackson’s large frame shaking in fury as he towered over her husband. The two men hadn’t gotten along in the best of times and in the end, Frank, a top researcher in the field of ancient cultures, had no chance against Jackson, a seasoned firefighter.
Clara got out of the bath and put on her favorite nightgown, the one made of blue silk and white lace that left little to the imagination. She covered it with her well-worn robe and padded barefoot out of the spare bedroom. She settled for sitting on the leather couch with a romance novel and in the name of being truly festive, an expensive bottle of wine her mom had given her for Christmas.
By her second glass she’d turned on the radio and abandoned her book to the pleasant hum of alcohol. She lit a fire in the fireplace and stretched her feet out toward the heat, wiggling her toes as she took another sip of the heady, rich liquid. It was then she heard the door open. She turned to see Jackson walk in with his hair still wet from the shower he must have taken after his shift ended. He wore his favorite leather jacket, a black work shirt with the yellow letters of his unit emblazoned across the front and jeans.
The wine only made her more aware of how good he looked. Lines of hard muscles were plainly visible under his thin cotton t-shirt when he shrugged out of his jacket, 10
A Kiss for Luck
hanging it on the coat rack. His large, powerful arms were half bare
What a dreadful year. Thank God it was coming to an end. New Year’s Eve was never so welcomed as far as Clara was concerned. She was in a wistful mood as she crawled into the bathtub and sat there waiting for the hot water to fill up, wishing Jackson had been able to take off for the holiday. It would have been nice to spend the last evening of the year with someone, but she wasn’t surprised he volunteered to fill in an extra shift so a coworker and his new wife could be together.
She tried not to think of just how endearing that made Jackson as she finally stretched out in the tub, using her foot to turn off the stream of hot water. The bath was heavenly, soothing her weary muscles and washing away the stress of the day. She lay there until the water grew cool and her fingertips wrinkled while she enjoyed the novelty of having time to relax.
In truth Clara was hiding and trying to waste as much time as she could. She wanted to make her way to the end of the year with as much dignity as she could muster. Lately any dignity seemed to be a scarce commodity in her life. After coming home and finding her husband fucking another woman in her bed she had been clinging to the threads of her tattered life for the past three months. She moved out of their spacious home, the one she’d worked so hard paying for, simply because she 9
Kele Moon
couldn’t bear staying there and being reminded of her farce of a marriage. She ought to thank the blonde piece of fluff her husband had been sleeping with for giving her an excuse to do what she should have years ago.
Jackson had been furious. She’d always thought Frank, her husband, was a smart man, but he should have known better than to show up before she and Jackson had left with Clara’s things. Jackson always hated her husband with a fervor that was unusual for him. He had been waiting for five years to give Frank a piece of his mind. He did it the best way he knew how—with a hard right hook that knocked Frank off his feet and had Miss Fluff screaming she would call the police.
It showed how far Clara had sunk that she entertained that as her favorite memory.
She closed her eyes, seeing Jackson’s large frame shaking in fury as he towered over her husband. The two men hadn’t gotten along in the best of times and in the end, Frank, a top researcher in the field of ancient cultures, had no chance against Jackson, a seasoned firefighter.
Clara got out of the bath and put on her favorite nightgown, the one made of blue silk and white lace that left little to the imagination. She covered it with her well-worn robe and padded barefoot out of the spare bedroom. She settled for sitting on the leather couch with a romance novel and in the name of being truly festive, an expensive bottle of wine her mom had given her for Christmas.
By her second glass she’d turned on the radio and abandoned her book to the pleasant hum of alcohol. She lit a fire in the fireplace and stretched her feet out toward the heat, wiggling her toes as she took another sip of the heady, rich liquid. It was then she heard the door open. She turned to see Jackson walk in with his hair still wet from the shower he must have taken after his shift ended. He wore his favorite leather jacket, a black work shirt with the yellow letters of his unit emblazoned across the front and jeans.
The wine only made her more aware of how good he looked. Lines of hard muscles were plainly visible under his thin cotton t-shirt when he shrugged out of his jacket, 10
A Kiss for Luck
hanging it on the coat rack. His large, powerful arms were half bare
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