Off The Clock: First Responders, Book 1 by Donna Alward Page A

muscled, not overly large but exuding a confidence and power she’d always admired. But at this moment, the charming smile and manner she’d come to expect were absent. He almost looked angry now, mingled with surprise at her turning up so unexpectedly. She wrinkled her brow and glanced in the backseat. Matteo was already attempting to undo his seatbelt.
    And with a stroke of perfect timing, Aurelia woke at the sudden lack of motion and started wailing at the top of her tiny lungs.
    Anna unbuckled her seatbelt. She slid out of the car, avoiding Jace’s severe gaze, opened the back door, scooped the crying baby from the seat and reached over and released Matteo from his own restraint.
    She held her daughter close to her shoulder, her son by the hand and wished quite irrationally that she’d had time to do something about her hair before trying to convince Jace to take them all in.
    “Anna.”
    Jace strode over, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt that was dirty in several places. His boots were brown with dried mud and there was a smudge of something across one cheek. His hair, however, was perfect, slightly longer than it had been last time she’d seen him, the shaggy tips giving him a sexy, roguish look. She pursed her lips. She hated being at a disadvantage. She’d spent so many years exuding the perfect image it was difficult to allow herself to be anything less than perfect now.
    “What on earth are you doing here ?”
    That was it for a greeting? No smile? No nothing? She rubbed Aurelia’s back, trying to quiet her, but she knew what was wrong and standing around wasn’t going to fix it.
    “I know I should have called first…”
    Jace frowned. “Called first? It’s not like you live moments away. You’ve come all the way from the Island?”
    Matteo had pulled his fingers away and Anna rested her hand on top of his head. Oh, the man made it sound like she was the dumbest woman in the world. Didn’t he know about Stefano? Didn’t he know what a shambles her life was? Was there really that much distance between them now? He made Vancouver Island sound like it was oceans away.
    “I didn’t have anywhere else to go. And you did say I was always welcome.”
    As soon as she said the words, her eyes stung sharply and her breath caught, painful and thin in her lungs. All through the trip—packing, the flight, even the drive here—she’d been fine, but now it all caught up with her. It was hopeless. She was pathetic, running away from her problems. And knowing it, tears glimmered and slipped down her cheeks.
    “Anna.” Jace’s face softened, his eyes dark with concern. “Anna, what’s happened? Don’t cry. Please.”
    He gripped her upper arms, the fingers strong around her biceps. Suddenly it was all clear. Stefano was gone. Her father was furious. Alex was wrapped up in Melissa and their first pregnancy. She was alone, and she’d made so many mistakes, ending with the latest—coming to Jace.
    “I…I…”
    “Mama?” Matteo stood firm beside her left thigh, and she let her fingers trail along his dark head, attempting to allay the worry she heard in his little voice. Aurelia’s crying increased.
    “What’s wrong with her?”
    Little Matteo stepped forward from beneath his mother’s hand, brown eyes blazing. “My sister is hungry and needs to be changed.”
    A smile twitched at the corners of Jace’s mouth as he turned his attention to Matteo. He lifted his brows in a way that said he was clearly indulging the boy. “Is that right?”
    Anna tried to smile, gathering herself together. Matteo was trying so hard. She hated how her son saw her sad more often than not these days. Jace was as infuriating as ever, though normally he wasn’t mean about it. The friend she knew would have been teasing, or concerned. Instead he was sharp and annoyed. Maybe she’d overestimated the power of their past friendship. Jace didn’t usually do things to be polite, but maybe he’d casually thrown out the offer