He grinned as he met the old man’s wrinkled eyes. “Oh, yeah?”

“Oh, yeah,” he agreed. “Sarah, man, she forgave me for the shittiest things. I was a bad guy when I was younger, into those drugs and drinking, bad. I never cheated, but there were a few times where she could have assumed I did. But still, she loved me. Never gave up on me. As soon as our little Amy came into the world, I cleaned up and then loved her extra hard for dealing with me for so long. Now, she says she has the best husband, and in return, I say I’ve always had the best wife,” he said with a little grin that brightened his eyes.

“Sounds like a real strong, good woman you got there.”

“The strongest. I asked once what made her stay, and she told me that you never give up on the person you can’t go a day without thinking about.”

“Wow,” Jordie said, a little bit in awe. He wanted that. The undying, stay together through thick and thin kind of love. If he wanted that with Kacey, he had to fight for her. Or woo her, as Lacey said.

Hey. Wait.

“Hey, Billy Ray, you know what wooing is, right?”

Billy’s brow rose. “Yeah, I woo the hell out of Sarah. Still to this day.”

Jordie’s grin grew. “Good. I need some wooing advice.”

He laughed. “Hoping to woo her away from the guy she’s with and into loving yer sorry ass again?”

“Maybe not woo her away, but rumor is it won’t work, they aren’t meant for each other. And when that does happen, you’re damn right I’m gonna woo the shit out of her. I’ll do anything to get her back.”

“Have ya thought about just telling her how ya feel?” he asked and Jordie shrugged.

“Figured I’ve always been about talking and making promises but never following through with them. I thought if I showed her how I felt, wooed her a bit, and then told her my feelings, it would work better.”

Billy Ray nodded as he brushed the hair off Jordie’s shoulder. “Good plan, I like the way you think.”

Jordie laughed as he nodded. “Thanks, now hit me with that wooing.”

“All righty now, listen closely, boy. I’m about to give you some winning advice, and I won’t be repeating myself.”

He wouldn’t expect him to, but Jordie did pray that Billy Ray’s advice would win Kacey back. It was honestly killing him knowing that she was with Kelly and not him. Yeah, he understood that he was late to the game, only realizing now that Kacey was it. But surely she hadn’t given up on him fully. So Jordie would wait, because good things come to those who wait. But he hoped it didn’t take long.

Because Jordie wasn’t known for being patient.

Kacey dragged herself into the house after a long day of training and massages and then an evening of meetings. When she’d started this job, she’d thought it was going be an eight-to-noon job, but she soon realized that the Assassins’ training team worked seven-to-eight in the weeks before the season started. It was intense, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t love it. She loved the guys, minus having to work with Jordie, and enjoyed the staff. They were a family, everyone was. It was fun, and she looked forward to her future with the Assassins.

But she was really looking forward to the beer she had been thinking about all day.

Because she needed it.

Watching Jordie struggle through her exercises was downright disgusting. He was better than that; she had seen him at his best before his injury. He could squat the most of the team, but today, not so much. Even the new girl was squatting more than he was. Kacey knew she needed to remember his knee was still getting used to everything, but had he been sitting on his ass for the last eight months? She knew his PT guy was hard on him, so what the hell had been going on?

It killed her not knowing where he’d been and what he had been doing. She knew she could ask him, but she was sure it would lead into them “talking,” something she was not ready for. She wasn’t ready to hear about all the reasons why he couldn’t love her but that he was sorry for all the pain he caused. She knew that was what he would tell her. It was the same story, yet she always fell into his tangled web of lies and deceit. And somehow, she still loved him!

She needed to go therapy or something because she was downright pathetic. No one should feel the way she did when she looked at him. She was like a sick little puppy, begging for a home and family, thinking Jordie was the answer to all her needs. She felt so many emotions that she found herself struggling to contain them. One minute, she was happy to see him, she missed him. But then she was instantly mad because he’d left her in his dust. Desire filled her belly because she wanted him more than her next breath, but then she felt stupid for feeling anything for him but a need to kick him in the balls. She just didn’t understand any of it.

Most of all, why was she still with Liam when she continued to feel all of this for Jordie?

God, Liam was a whole other issue. After walking her out to the car that night because, of course, he had waited for her to get done with her meetings, he’d given her a kiss on the cheek and told her he’d see her the following day. She’d actually stood there, shocked. Jordie would have thrown her on top of the car and done her right there. No cares that anyone could find them, because his desire was so great. She missed that. The anytime, anywhere kind of longing that hit her straight in the core. She had no clue what she was going to do, but she needed to figure it out. It wasn’t fair to anyone. Especially Liam. But still, her fear was that if she did break up with Liam, would she fall victim to the whirlwind that was Jordie Thomas?