She hadn’t meant to be so forward. When she had glanced over at him, his eyes were closed, and she had wondered if he was sleeping. He looked so peaceful with his head resting on the back of the loveseat, hands laced under his head, one wing of elbow above her head. It occurred to her in that moment if he had straightened that arm, he’d have his arm around her. The thought had made her cheeks flush and her heart beat faster, and she had leaned into the fantasy, enjoying the rush of—what? Excitement? Curiosity?
No, she thought simply. Longing.
She had leaned closer, pulled to him, drawn inexplicably to his beautiful face; sharply angled cheeks that belied his mother’s Scandinavian ancestry, copper-toned blond hair that tousled wildly after their windy walk. A coppery-colored beard-shadow came in along his strong jaw after a long day. Kelley. Hmmm. Irish, she had decided, even though the reddish color could have come from either side. His lips were full and pink, and she liked how often they tilted up laughing and teasing. Her brothers, “the boys,” were a laughing, teasing lot and she adored them, but their eyes were icy blue, all three, not soft brown like Sam’s, which were a dreamy brown, really, with long, dark lashes that—
When his eyes had popped open, she had wished a crater would have suddenly opened up in the floor of her apartment and swallowed her whole. She shook her head back and forth on her bed, fresh humiliation just as sharp as it had been the moment he opened his eyes.
She was confident she had him all figured out right before they left the courthouse: slick, citified dandy with his expensive wallet and glib sarcasm. She was sure he’d hightail it back to Bozeman for the weekend, or worse, head back to Chicago, leaving her alone to find a proxy for Kristian. However, he had surprised her, which had softened her angry feelings and propelled her to accept his dinner invitation. Not only did he stay, he was willing to stay uncomplainingly near her in Gardiner so she could tend to Casey.
His gentle care of her after she had spun out changed her opinion of him greatly. She thought of him shrugging out of his warm coat and laying it gently over her, and a shiver of pleasure tingled down her arms, making the wrist of the hand he had kissed throb with her beating heart.
Casey yelped from the kitchen and Jenny knew she needed to let her out before bed. She sat up and shook her head, wishing her brain didn’t feel so overwhelmed with the events of the day.
“Come on, Little Bit, and let’s make it snappy.” She took Casey down the stairs and out the back door into a small fenced courtyard behind the building and sat on the stoop, waiting for her to do her business.
I love Montana. When he had said that, her heart just about stopped beating for a second, because she had been thinking the exact same thing before he whispered the words.
And when she’d shared her feelings about taking vows on Ingrid’s behalf, his kindness overwhelmed her again, as it had on the side of the road when he treated her so carefully, so gently. It matters to you. She felt, for no good reason, but with certainty, that he may as well have said, “It matters to me,” because he seemed so invested in her feelings. She was so touched by his warmth and kindness, his careful acceptance of her feelings, which could have been dismissed or ridiculed by a less gracious man.
She made her fingers into fists, pumping them open and closed several times then cupping them around her nose and mouth to warm them up. When had it gotten so cold? Too distracted to remember your mittens, Jen? Tsk.
“Hurry up, Casey Mae!”
Jenny’s romantic experience was limited: her entire oeuvre consisted of some handholding on a high school church retreat in Yellowstone, and a few kisses with a boy in college who had broken things off when she wouldn’t let him touch her breasts. And, let’s face it, it’s practically impossible to date anyone in Gardiner with three hulking, well-known brothers all living locally.
Anyway, she had only been working at Gardiner High School for two years, and her job was her first priority. She didn’t need any distractions, and, if she was honest, well, she knew just about everyone in Gardiner, and there just wasn’t anyone to be a distraction. Even if there had been, Jenny would have probably kept him at a respectful distance, especially at school where she honored the simple inherent wisdom of: Don’t get your nookies where you get your cookies.
She grinned, shaking her head. How Sam had managed to get so close to her in the space of a few hours was a mystery to her, especially in light of the fact that everything between them had gotten off to such a rocky start. She realized, with a little bit of wonder, that when she wasn’t completely distracted by his good looks, she was comfortable with him. For the first time in a long time—maybe the first time in her whole life—she was interested in someone up close, not from a guarded and ultimately futile distance.