“You asked her out on a date right in front of me, cowboy. You do remember that, don’t you?”
“Vaguely.”
“Were you trying to make me jealous?”
Confusion caused him to squint. “I’m crazy about you, Jade. And I hate that I can’t take you out and let my friends see just how crazy I am about you.”
That was sweet. She didn’t think he’d appreciate that sentiment right now, so she waited for him to continue.
“Maybe I had it in my head that if Miz G was hanging around last night when I got home, that if she heard me asking Riss out she wouldn’t be suspicious about you and me breakin’ the rules every chance we get.”
“Seriously? You’re going with that explanation?”
“No. I’m goin’ with the ‘I was drunk and didn’t know what the hell I was sayin” explanation.” He pressed his lips to hers and held them there for several long moments. “I apologize if that hurt you.”
Jade slid her hands across his chest. “It hurt worse to know that you were upset and angry and I couldn’t be there for you the way I wanted.”
“You wouldn’t have liked me. I was a moody dick.”
“Will you become a moody dick if I ask you to talk to me about it tonight?”
“No.” He brushed his lips over hers. “I’m calmer.”
“Good. Meet me on the porch in half an hour.”
After he scrambled her brain with a seductive kiss, he shooed her away.
GG seemed distracted and puttered around in the kitchen for nearly forty-five minutes after Jade came downstairs.
It’s almost as if she knows you and Tobin plan to sneak off for alone time.
Jade chalked that up to paranoia. If GG suspected her granddaughter and her protector had moved beyond adversaries to more than friends, she’d bring it up. Loudly.
So an hour and fifteen minutes had passed by the time Tobin strolled out to meet her. He smelled divine—a manly kind of clean. He’d swapped out his cowboy duds for a T-shirt, athletic pants and running shoes. His hair had almost dried and she knew he felt naked without a cowboy hat or a ball cap, but she loved how his hair retained some curl when it wasn’t smashed beneath a hat. His face and neck were smooth. She reached up to caress his cheek. “I like that you shaved for me.”
“One of these days I’m gonna keep the stubble.”
“Why?”
“So I can leave beard burn on the inside of your thighs.” His wicked gaze hooked hers and he offered her an equally wicked grin.
She imagined his hands curled around her knees as he pushed her legs wide enough to accommodate his massive shoulders. He’d keep his eyes on hers as he teased her with the soft brush of his hair and the rough scrape of his beard as his mouth journeyed higher.
“Don’t fucking look at me like that, woman, or I will plunk your ass on this table right now and drop to my knees.”
The deep rasp in his voice could be mistaken for a growl.
No. Knowing Tobin, it was a growl.
The man was so blatantly sexual she wondered how she’d ever keep up with his needs when they became lovers.
Jade rose to the balls of her feet and kissed his Adam’s apple. “You, Mr. Sexy Talk, are distracting me.” She grabbed the folded quilt she’d stashed on the chair.
“What’s that for?”
“To spread out in the grass so we can talk and stargaze.”
Tobin loomed over her and made that rumbling noise again. “By stargaze, please tell me you mean us rolling around on that blanket naked as I make you come so hard that you see stars.”
Jade blinked at him and had to bite her tongue against blurting out that it was the best idea she’d ever heard. Instead she stepped back and hugged the quilt tighter. “While I can see that happening one of these nights, it’s not tonight, okay? I really think we need to talk.”
He curled one hand around her hip and pressed his knuckle under her chin, tipping her head back to gaze into her eyes. “Why is it so important to you that we talk?”
“It just is.”
He studied her for a few more moments before he kissed her. “Okay. We’ll talk. But darlin’, we are gonna mess around too. If that’s not what you want, say so now.”
She said, “I want that,” quickly enough that Tobin laughed.
“Good.” He tucked the blanket under one arm and her under the other. “Lead on.”
Jade had found a flat spot away from the compost pile and the gardens where the ground felt more springy than rocky.
Tobin helped her spread out the quilt.
She kicked off her flip-flops and scooted to the middle after Tobin had settled in. The man took up a lot of space.