By Proxy(4)

He put his palms up in the universal sign of surrender and swallowed a grin, his eyes flicking briefly to her chest. “Sorry, ma’am…” he drawled. “J…ust trying to help.”

Oooo! He was full of himself! He was doing that charming thing again and didn’t seem sorry one bit. She zipped up and crossed her arms over her chest, her brows knitted in consternation.

“I think you’ve done enough to help today.”

“Wow. You’re something! Without me, you would have been sprawled out on the lobby floor twenty minutes ago. I don’t remember a ‘thank you,’ come to think of it…”

“Well! Maybe if you’d been on time, I wouldn’t have slipped on the floor which got progressively worse while I waited for you for over an hour. Thank you for that.”

“Ohhhhh. I see. It’s my fault you fell into me.”

“You were late!”

“You’re a real piece of work, lady. I said I was sorry for being late.”

“Well, that and a dollar’ll buy me a pop.” She swung her purse up on her shoulder.

“Have you even noticed how bad the weather is outside?”

“Yes. Yes, I have. In fact, I was watching it get worse while I sat on a bench waiting for you, and now I’m real excited to drive home in it. So, thanks for that too.”

He whistled low, shaking his head back and forth. “Okay. For the last time, I am sorry for being so late. Last thing I’d want to do is let Kris down.”

“Well, I’d hate to know what the first thing you want to do is!”

“Wow, you’re—” He ran a hand through his hair, his face finally as irritated as hers. “You’re snippy. And bitter. You are snippy and bitter!”

Snippy. Bitter. Ouch. Her shoulders drooped down like a sail losing its wind, and she took a step back as though she’d been slapped, staring at her shoes and trying not to cry, which was hard because of the rising lump in her throat. “I missed a day of school. My students missed an important review for their midterms. We missed the appointment for Kris and Ing. It was hard enough to come up here and do this in the first place, and now it’s just going to hang over me all weekend. I’ll have to miss another day of school on Monday doing it all again. And I…I’m embarrassed that I fell on you, and I don’t like driving in bad weather if I can avoid it. I’m not bitter. I’m just…I’m upset.”

She looked up and he was staring like he didn’t know what in the world to do with her. He raised his eyebrows, about to say something, then shook his head. She braced herself for another snappy retort.

“Okay. Let’s start over. Again.” She was surprised to see him offer a gentle smile. “How about I take you to dinner? To make up for everything? Looks like I’m staying the weekend.”

Jenny eyed him warily but was grateful that the lump in her throat hadn’t grown, staving off tears. “I don’t think so—”

“Come on,” he cajoled. “I’m Kristian’s cousin. I can’t be that bad. Just unaccustomed to your aggressive Montana weather patterns.”

She stared at him and felt a brief, unexpected flash of pleasure as she recalled his hands on her waist, her body pressed against his. Why did he have to be so good-looking? Her resistance faded, and she sighed in resignation. “Okay. I guess. We do have some e-mails to send. Ingrid and Kris probably think they’re already married.”

“Great. We can find somewhere around here to have dinner and send them an e-mail. I have my iPad with me—”

She interrupted him, shaking her head. “Oh, I can’t stay here. I have to get home. I can’t stay in Livingston all night. I have a puppy, and she’s been home alone too long. She needs a walk.”

He stared at her for a moment, digesting this information with a barely concealed smile. “Well, I checked out of my hotel in Bozeman this morning. I could come stay in…”

“Gardiner.”

“—Gardiner, for the weekend, I guess.”

She cocked her head to the side, and really looked at his face for the first time. When he wasn’t trying to be so cool and sarcastic, his eyes were kind. He was several inches taller than she, as tall as her brothers even, but his hair was a redder blond than theirs. Long lashes gave his brown eyes a softer look than the rest of his face, which was angular and chiseled. Handsome. Ingrid had been right about that. She felt that tingling sensation on her waist again, the imprint of his strong hands holding her.

She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and opening them as she exhaled, resetting herself again.