“Well, every town has the requisite no-tell motel. You got a firsthand view of ours up close and personal. Most traveling folks stay at the Holiday Inn they built right off the interstate,” she explained with a grin.
“Then thank God I decided against shining a black light on the mattress,” he muttered with a look of disgust.
“That probably would have sent you screaming toward the door,” Harmony agreed with a nod, before waving her hand around the room. “You did much better finding this place.”
Jake watched her face closely. “Well, this place is only temporary.”
Harmony’s eyes widened as her lips parted in surprise. “Oh? Is your vacation over already? Are you heading back for Atlanta soon?” she asked, feeling a sense of disappointment at the thought of him leaving. It wasn’t as if she’d imagined this date really going anywhere, but she couldn’t deny that she’d enjoyed spending time with Jake over the last month. She liked having him as a friend and had hoped that once he viewed the real estate properties the area had to offer that he might settle here and open the security business he’d spoken of in passing. She would have liked seeing him around Paradise on a regular basis a lot more than she was prepared to admit out loud. Already, in the short weeks she’d known him, she’d grown used to seeing his friendly face sitting in her station day after day at the café. Not seeing him at all would...would...well, it would suck. The thought of him leaving Paradise for good cued an empty ache in her belly that she hadn’t been prepared to feel.
Her nervous energy was obvious, especially to a trained eye like his. After spending the last few weeks watching her, he knew anxiety, Harmony style, when he saw it. Her biggest tell was in full swing right now. She was twisting that mother’s ring she wore on her left hand with enough force that he was worried she’d tear her delicate skin. Rubbing his fingers against the edge of the silky blue dress, he asked, “Would it bother you if I left, Harmony?”
The shiver that slid down her spine as his fingers traced a nerve-racking pattern against the skin just above her knee was almost her undoing. Shifting slightly, Harmony whispered, “I don’t know. There’s a lot of things on my mind right now.”
“As long as I’m one of those things, I can wait for the answer,” he responded, his fingers cupping her smooth neck and turning her head to face him. “Would it help you to know that I’m thinking about sticking around for a while?”
“You’re going to make Paradise your home?” she asked, her eyes widening in full surprise as she turned fully, her body perpendicular to his on the sofa. Why did that simple thought make her happy, she asked herself as she watched his forehead crinkle. Don’t get attached to this man, her inner voice warned darkly, visions from her past flying in her mind. How many times had she trusted Tanner only to have him make a fool of her? But then another voice – that sounded suspiciously like her sister Patience – yelled out for her to seize the moment…and seize that man.
Watching as an unnamed emotion flashed in her eyes, Jake chuckled as he stroked her supple neck. “Yeah. Old Man Simmons gave up the deed on his old homeplace and accepted the offer I made on the house and the land. When I showed up with the check today, he was happy to take my money. It needs some work, but you were right when you said it would make a gorgeous home a few weeks back. When I took a look at it, I could see myself being real happy there. So, I guess the fine, upstanding citizens of Paradise are gonna be stuck with me for a good long while.”
“Why here? Why Paradise, Jake?” she blurted out suddenly, the bold question more than she could contain. Part of her wanted to just revel in the moment and enjoy the fact that he’d decided to stay here….but the much more cautious part of her… the part of her that had been burned in the past… won out and asked the question that had been bothering her for weeks. What the hell about the place she called home attracted a man like him? Answers surrounding questions about the mystery that was Jacob Stone had been in short supply, and before she even entertained the notion of something developing between them, she needed to know more about him.
A whole lot more.
Chapter Eight
“Why here? Why Paradise, Jake?”
Oh, now that was a loaded question that she asked him. There were so many things he wanted to share with this woman. He wanted to be entirely honest and tell her about what had brought him to Paradise - and to her doorstep, - but more than he wanted that, first, he needed her to trust him. He needed her to know that she could rely on him and understand that this desire he felt for her wasn’t going anywhere.