Promise of Love, page 1
Promise of Love
Jodi Allen Brice
Copyright © 2022 by Jodi Vaughn/Jodi Allen Brice
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
For my Family and Friends in Harland Creek
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
About the Author
Also by Jodi Allen Brice
Chapter 1
“This is a horrible idea.” Tabitha mumbled to herself as she sucked on a Diet Coke and surveyed the restaurant through her sunglasses.
When Grace had called her that day to go shopping, she had lied and said she was on her way out of town for a masseuse class. She’d been so nervous before she left that she hadn’t come up with a plausible excuse if anyone asked what she was doing that day.
Grace seemed taken aback that she was actually keeping up with her training but she didn’t question it.
Now if it had been Allison, then the jig would have been up. Allison knew her well enough and long enough to know Tabitha didn’t do any extra training.
Some people called it doing the bare minimum, but Tabitha had better things to do than to keep up with her training.
It wasn’t like there was anything new in the world of massage. She had more clients than she liked and she didn’t want to grow her clientele in Harland Creek. Besides, being a massage therapist wasn’t the exciting career she thought it would be.
Instead of doing massages on the rich and famous in an elite all-inclusive resort, she was stuck giving a foot massage to Agnes Jackson and her bunions.
She shivered at the image.
Things were changing in her life and now that Grace was engaged to Sloan and Allison and Mitch were an item, she was the third wheel.
This was one change she didn’t see coming. Her friendships were the only thing in her life she could count on.
Now, she wasn’t so sure.
A short balding man looked around the restaurant. His gaze zeroed in on her.
“You got to be kidding me.” She muttered to herself and shrunk down in the chair.
He smiled and made a beeline straight for her. “You must be Tabitha.”
Her heart sunk and she shook her head. “No. I’m not.” She stood quickly knocking her chair over.
“But you look just like your picture.” He moved toward her.
“Well you certainly don’t. You catfished me.” She glared at him. “I was expecting tall, dark, and handsome. Not short, pale, and pudgy.”
“That was my picture.”
“From how many years ago?” She shot him a glare. She waved the waitress over and shoved ten dollars in her hand for the Coke. “Keep the change.”
“Where are you going? Don’t you want to at least have a meal together?”
“Nope.” She was out the door before he could stop her.
She should have known better than to get on an online dating site to try to meet someone.
It was a good thing she’d not told her friends. Otherwise they’d be getting a good laugh out of it.
She saw her car parked on the side street and fished her keys out of her purse. She wasted a perfectly good outfit on this disaster of a date. She glanced down at her black high heels, her black skirt, and sleeveless white blouse.
“Hey, wait a minute.”
She turned and saw her ‘date’ following close behind her.
She turned and sighed. “Look. This whole thing was a big mistake.”
“But I spent good money on a new shirt.” He glowered.
“And I shaved my legs. So it’s a loss for both of us.” She turned and stuck her key in her car.
He grabbed her arm. “Listen missy…”
She stiffened. “Get your hands off me.”
“I didn’t drive all the way over here for nothing.” He tightened his hold on her.
“I said get your hands off me.” Anger tinged with fear rushed through her veins. She tightened her hand on her purse.
“The lady said to let go of her.” A deep voice spoke. “Take your hands…”
Before the stranger could finish, Tabitha swung her purse around her head and brought it down on her surprised date. He let out a grunt before crumpling to the ground in a heap.
She nudged him with the pointed toe of her shoe. He groaned. She smiled and looked up at the stranger who tried to help. “He’s alive.”
Standing before her was a large man with almost a buzz cut hairstyle and dark shades. He wore a baseball cap which helped shield his features.
She blinked. “Hey, you’re not a stranger. You’re Neal what’s his name.”
“Neal McLean.” He nodded at the stranger on the ground. “Old boyfriend?”
She snorted. “As if. I made the mistake of clicking on a dating site. The last time I’ll ever do that.” She crossed her arms.
He bent and rifled through his pants and retrieved his wallet.
“Good idea. Maybe he’s got some cash.” She brightened.
He ripped his sunglasses off and glared. “I’m not stealing from him. I’m going to run his name to see if this pervert has a record.”
“Fine. Although it did cost me a tank of gas to get here.” She pouted.
“Why are you going on a dating site?” He asked.
“I know right? Total surprise that someone hasn’t put a ring on it. But the males in Harland Creek are quickly dropping like flies.”
He frowned.
“I didn’t mean they are dying. I meant they are already taken.” She sighed. “What are you doing in Jackson? I figured you’d be out in Miami taking down drug lords and arms dealers.”
The last time she’d run into Neal he was undercover in Harland Creek. He’d been trying to find Allison’s ex, Rob, who was a wanted man. He’d kidnapped Grace and tried to hurt Allison but Neal, along with Mitch, Sloan, and herself had rescued them.
“Business is slow.” He uttered and stood with the driver’s license. He snapped a picture before putting the license back in the wallet. “I suggest you be more careful when you contact people online.”
“I thought I was.” She lifted her chin. “Besides, I can handle myself. I mean, I’m the one who knocked him out.”
“What do you have in your purse? It’s not a gun is it?” He cocked his head.
“No. It’s a brick.”
“Very funny.” The corners of his lips tilted upward.
“Well, I’ve got to go. Good luck on catching the bad guys, Neal.” She gave him a smart salute and slid into her car. Her purse banged against her car door and he frowned.
“Wait a minute.” He reached for her purse and opened it. He met her gaze. “It really is a brick.”
“Sloan took away my gun. You don’t expect me to go out on a strange date with no protection do you? I have to have some way to protect myself.” She lifted her chin and grabbed her purse and slung it into the passenger’s seat. It hit the door with a bang.
She put her key in the ignition and the car sputtered to life. She cast him one last look before driving away leaving him standing there in a cloud of smoke.
Chapter 2
Neal sat in his car, after the strange interaction with Tabitha, and returned some texts from his boss. After Tabitha had left, he called 911 to come get her ‘date’ who finally roused enough to sit up.
When Neal questioned him as to why he was following Tabitha to her car, he clammed up quickly.
The ambulance and cops arrived on scene and he briefly told them what had happened and left.
When he was done checking emails, he tossed the cell phone in the console and gripped the steering wheel.
What was Tabitha thinking showing up to meet some random guy? Did she have no sense of fear or sense when it came to the dangers of the real world?
He thought he had seen the last of her when he’d captured Rob in Harland Creek. Even then she’d rushed into danger without thinking of the consequences of her actions.
Didn’t she realize she could have been hurt?
“She probably didn’t even tell anyone in Harland Creek where she was. So when she came up missing no one would have a clue where to even start looking.” He groaned and rubbed his neck.
His cell phone chimed. He picked it up and looked at the message.
He narrowed his eyes as he read off Tabitha’s date’s history of stalking and ha
He needed to warn her so she’d be careful in the future. He picked up his phone and sent in a request to have her tracked down so he could find her. Within a few minutes her location had been sent to him.
“A bar? Really?” He shook his head and turned the key in the ignition. His Dodge Charger came to life. As he drove toward her direction he came up with a speech in his head that would put the fear of God in her.
Chapter 3
After the disastrous date at the Mexican restaurant, Tabitha had gotten in her car and driven only four blocks until her car crapped out on her in a pile of billowing smoke.
She gritted her teeth, grabbed her purse, and headed for the nearest bar, Smooches.
She sat down at the bar and ordered a soda. She still had a long way to get home and she didn’t need any alcohol despite desperately wanting a glass of wine.
The bartender slid a Sprite in her direction and gave her a smile.
She smiled politely and then dug around in her purse for her phone. She pulled it out only to see the very large crack in her screen.
She hit the on button. The screen stayed black.
“Perfect.” She muttered.
“Figured I’d find you in a bar.” Neal’s deep voice had her jumping in her seat.
She turned around and glared. “Are you stalking me?”
“What? No!” He slid onto the barstool beside her. “I’m here to let you know what I found out about your date.”
“He wasn’t my date.” She shuddered and took a sip of her Sprite.
“He sure sounded like it. I can’t believe you went on a blind date with someone you didn’t know. I bet you didn’t let anyone else know where you were going either.”
She cringed and busied herself sipping on her drink.
“I’m right. And I bet I’m also right that you’re drinking a vodka Sprite before you get behind the wheel.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t think your authority extended beyond catching drug lords or arms dealers.”
He whipped off his sunglasses. For the first time she noticed he had flecks of green in his dark eyes.
He leaned in close. “You have no idea how much authority I really have.”
Her pulse went up a bit, surprising even herself.
“And look what I found out about your date.” He shoved his cell phone in her face.
She squinted. “The screen went dark.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line and hit the button to make it come alive. He turned the phone around and showed the screen to her.
She squinted as she saw a picture of her date and a list of criminal charges he had against him.
She rolled her eyes “That’s what I get when I try to go out on a date. A serial pervert.”
“Why are you even on a dating site? There are plenty of normal guys in Harland Creek. Well, mainly normal.” Neal stuffed his phone in the back of his jeans pocket.
“Well, the normal good-looking guys are taken. Sloan is marrying Grace and Mitch and Allison are a couple now.” She took another drink.
“There’s more than just two guys in that town. I know. I’ve been there.”
“Well, to be honest, for a time I had my eye on Grayson, but then Heather moved to town and well, now they’re together. And something must have been in the water because next thing I know Sam and Olivia coupled off.” Her eyes widened.
“Coupled off?” He frowned.
“Yeah. So then I started getting a little worried that the eligible men were getting snapped up. So I actually considered Colin for a while. I mean he’s totally not my type. He’s very smart, a little too smart, if you ask me. And he’s a writer so I kind of figured he’s more of a lover than a fighter and well I don’t really like wimpy men. Call me old fashioned.” She shrugged.
He blinked, looking more confused than ever. “So what exactly is your type?”
She took a thoughtful sip and frowned. “You know, no one has ever asked me that before.”
“You are probably like most women; looking for someone like their father.”
“When I was young I would have said yes, but now with some time and perspective, I have to disagree with you.” She shoved her drink away.
“Another, miss?” The bartender smiled.
“Sure.” She shoved another ten dollar bill at him and looked at Neal.
“You know better than to drink and drive.”
“Well I’m not exactly driving am I?” She smirked.
“Can I get you anything, sir?” The bartender looked over at him.
“Water.”
The bartender nodded and got busy filling up a glass with ice and water. When Neal pulled out his wallet, the bartender shook his head. “It’s free.”
“Thanks.”
Tabitha watched as he took a drink. Feeling her eyes on him he turned and looked at her. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Which question?”
He groaned and shook his head. “About your type of guy.”
“Oh, that.” She shrugged. “Someone protective and dependable. Someone who will always be there when I get home. Someone faithful. Someone who loves just being with me.”
“Sounds like your type is a German Shepherd.”
“You could be right. Men aren’t faithful anymore.”
“It’s getting late and you need to be getting home.” He stared at her.
“Well I can’t. My car broke down. I came in here to call a tow truck and realized my phone is broken as well.”
“Your phone is broken?” He looked even more irritated.
“Yeah. When I hit the pervert with my purse, the brick must have hit my phone as well.”
“So you came in here to get drunk? You’re not very smart when it comes to danger are you?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Who said anything about getting drunk?”
He pointed at her drink with a lime on the rim. “Let me guess. Vodka and Sprite?”
A slow smile crossed her lips. “Why don’t you taste it yourself, since you’re the detective.” She slid her drink over to him.
He took a small sip and frowned before taking a bigger sip. “It’s just Sprite.”
“Well, duh. You should know you can’t drink and drive.” She taunted. She picked up her purse and stood.
“Where are you going?”
“To get an Uber.”
“Your phone is broken remember?”
She frowned. “Oh yeah.”
“Come on. I’ll give you a ride.”
“To Harland Creek? It’s over an hour away.” She stared at him.
“It’s either that or you can sit here until another Prince Charming comes along like your last date.”
“Fine. But I’m not sitting in the back of your car like a criminal.” She hefted her purse on her shoulder and winced.
“Tabitha, leave the brick. I don’t need my car window shattered.” He pointed his finger at her.
“Fine.” She dug out the brick and placed it on the bar. The bartender gave her a confused look but didn’t say anything.
She headed for the door with Neal following close behind.
Chapter 4
Neal stopped in front of Tabitha’s car. “So what’s wrong with your car? Other than it smokes like a moonshiner’s still in January.”
“Nice metaphor.”
“It’s a simile not a metaphor.” He corrected. “Pop the hood.”
She brushed past him and her perfume seemed to envelope him. He frowned wondering why she felt the need to draw more attention to herself by smelling nice.
She slid into the driver’s side and popped the hood.
A waft of smoke billowed out. He waved his hand in the air clearing the smoke away before peering inside.
