"Who the heck are you? The sign says 'closed' for a reason."
I turned and found myself looking into the barrel of a rifle. Holding it was a woman, though I was too busy trying to figure out if I could get the gun away from her before she could get off a shot to notice what she looked like.
"I'm looking for Britt."
"Why?"
"Why don't you put that gun down before you hurt yourself."
Her eyebrows shot up before loading the weapon like a pro.
Right.
"I'll ask again. Why are you creeping around here at night?"
"First of all, it's evening. Second, the door wasn't locked. I knocked, but I figured no one heard me and that Britt was probably here in the shop."
"Britt is in the shop. You still haven't told me why you're looking for me."
I blinked. Britt was a woman. Yep. I was a dick for assuming. "Bleeping Rat. He said he'd give you a heads up."
The rifle lowered slightly and moved just off center.
"Ray sent you?"
I let out a deep breath and ran my hands over my face. "Yeah. He said, 'go to the shop. Britt is there and can get you the part you need.'..."
She took the cartridge out of the chamber and set the gun down. "Bleeping Ray. Maybe we can start over. Hi. My name is Britt."
I took her hand and shook it. "Hi. I'm Jack."
She raised an eyebrow. "Just Jack? No team nickname? I thought the world at large got the nicknames first."
I grinned. "You've already pulled a gun on me. I think we can skip right to my actual name."
She laughed and holy shit, it was amazing. "I'm so sorry about that."
I shook my head. "It's fine. I'm glad you can take care of yourself." Wait. That had sounded strange. "That came out weird."
She was staring at me, clearly trying not to laugh. "Want to try again?"
I opened my mouth but snapped it shut before I could say, 'I'm glad I don't have to worry about anything happening to you.'
What the hell, Jack.
"Nope. I'm just going to stick with that one."
This time, she did start laughing.
Britt
Living in a small town is hard on the dating life and dating apps aren't much help these days. You see, I have a pretty specific plan in mind for my future and I'm not willing to settle for anything less. It doesn't matter how many men tell me there's no way I'll find a guy who will agree to my terms. I don't care what they say, I've always thought that when I met the right guy, I'd know. When Jack walks into my shop after closing and offers to help me with the storm shelter after the alerts go off, I start to think that maybe, just maybe, this man might be the one I've been waiting for...
Jack
Once upon a time, I thought I had it all; a job I loved, my little sister to raise, and a wife I adored. We were happy. Or at least, I thought we were. It's been ten years since those divorce papers were signed and I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'll never find anyone who wants the same future as me. When I meet Britt, I have to remind myself that it doesn't matter what I feel, things always work out the same way and I don't think my heart can survive being broken again.
