Jace

Jace watched as Heather's pickup truck kicked up dust as she sped away from him. He knew he fucked up, blowing off his date with her, but that was six months ago. He thought she would have gotten over that by now, but he was wrong. Every time she looked at him, he saw the same sadness and hurt he saw that day she stormed into the guards' locker room and accused him of being the lowest form of life on the planet. And he had to agree with her, he was.

Six months earlier, all Jace wanted to do was take Heather out on a real date. They had been dancing around each other for a long time and he never seemed to get up the nerve to ask her to dinner, or even to coffee, for that matter. He just wanted a chance with her—just one shot, and he finally got it. Heather seemed just as nervous and shy as he was when she agreed to have dinner with him at his favorite café.

When the day of their big date finally arrived, his day went sideways fast, and he forgot all about their date. Hell, he spent most of the night in the emergency room, holding a twelve-year-old boy's hand while they waited for his mother to show up. It was that day he decided to go to school to become an EMT and Heather was the first person he wanted to tell about his decision. But Jace never told Heather any of it—she never gave him the chance.

He was on duty that day, and he had to pull the twelve-year-old boy, who was surfing in some of the angriest seas he'd seen in a while, from the water. The kid wasn't breathing when he finally got to shore, and he was afraid he was too late. He worked on the boy for what felt like an eternity, and when the kid choked and threw up water, he was the happiest son-of-a-bitch on earth. He promised the scared boy he'd ride with him to the hospital in the ambulance and he stayed with him throughout the whole experience until the kid's mom showed up. The poor woman was beside herself with worry. She was a single mom, and she had no idea her son had played hooky after she dropped him off at school to go surfing. The hospital's call was the first clue her son wasn't where he was supposed to be. God, he was happy he wasn't in that kid's shoes, his mom would have murdered him.

By the time he had gotten back to the guard shack and filled out all the paperwork and spoken to the local authorities, he was dead tired. He went home and collapsed onto his bed, not waking up until the next morning for his shift. He was changing into his suit in the locker room, at the guard tower when Heather came storming in, causing a whole bunch of commotion. She was followed by cat calls and obscene offers that made her blush and all Jace wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and make his own requests of her. She was his walking wet dream, with that long brown hair and her hazel eyes that seemed to see into his soul. She had on a skimpy little sundress that accentuated all her sexy curves and he was hard just being in the same room with her.

Heather's anger got the best of her, and she yelled at him for so long that he was at a loss as to what to say in response. Heather was so pissed at him for missing their dinner that she told him he would never have another chance with her and that just about gutted him. He could see in her eyes that she meant every word of what she said, and he just shut down. He was angry with himself for not remembering their date and blowing his chance with the only girl he had wanted in a damn long time. He was also pissed Heather didn't give him a chance to explain what had happened the day before, but that probably wouldn't have mattered to her. She shut him out, built up her walls, and Jace was sure she'd never let him back in. Judging from the way she just stormed away from him, his assessment was correct—Heather Sinclair was done with him, and it was time for him to move on.

The Wrong Mr. Right is coming soon from K.L. Ramsey!