One Day in Apple Grove(20)

Cait shook her head, never breaking eye contact. When she licked her lips, he had to fight to keep from moaning aloud. He wanted. No point in trying to pick apart and separate what he wanted from Caitlin. He liked to keep things simple—he wanted it all.

Textures, tastes, and long, lingering kisses that would lead to soft moans of pleasure—Jack was in serious trouble. He’d only spent a few hours with her and he was imagining them together, could see it so clearly. He never moved that fast…but then again, he’d never met anyone quite like Caitlin Mulcahy before.

Best to retreat for the moment, he thought as he let his hands fall back to his sides. He could fan the flames the next time he saw her and see where it might lead. Either way, he intended to begin a relationship with Cait—hopefully one with all of the trimmings—but he didn’t want to push her into something she wasn’t ready for.

God, he hoped she didn’t need too much time.

“I’d better let you go.” He wondered if his voice sounded as raspy to her as it did to him. Clearing his throat he added, “I’ve got to see about that temporary leash so he can go outside before settling down for the night.”

Her eyes changed in hue from a brilliant and sparkling emerald to a pale yellow-green, the color of new grass that had been covered with a late spring snow. Had his need to keep a lid on these new feelings for Caitlin forced him to be too abrupt with her? Had he hurt her feelings in the process?

“I should be getting on home too.” She bent down to rub Jamie’s upturned face. “Be good for Jack.”

The little dog jumped up and nipped the knee of her jeans in response. When it tore, she shrugged. “Well, they were a bit worn anyway and I needed a new pair of shorts.”

“Hey, I need your number.”

She smiled and gave it to him. Something warm and wonderful moved through him as their eyes met and held. The hesitation and uncertainty were gone, replaced by the laughter in her eyes. Jack had always been drawn to kindness and a giving heart.

Caitlin Mulcahy’s kindness shone through when she stopped to lend a hand, thinking he’d been stranded at the side of the road and needed help. Watching her melt before his eyes as she hesitantly reached out to pet the fuzzy black face of the pup they rescued only added to her appeal and called to him on so many different levels.

Jack could hear his mother’s oft-used advice in his head: “Keep an open mind and heart because sometimes love comes softly and blooms slowly. Best you be ready, Jackie boy.”





Chapter 4




Caitlin thought about Jack and Jamie all the way home. Sparks of excitement still skittered up and down her spine as she remembered the feel of his fingers sifting through her hair. Her heart conveniently forgot that he’d been in physician mode, checking the area around the bump, while his strong, capable fingers stroked the back of her head.

Had she really thought she knew all about him because Meg went to school with him, Miss Trudi used to read snippets from his letters back home, and she’d seen him whenever he was home on leave? The man who’d limped toward her worried about a fuzzy little black puppy was a complete mystery to her. But if she were honest with herself, she hoped he wouldn’t be for long.

She drove the long way home, past the turn off onto Goose Pond Road, so she could go by the McCormack Farm.

Dog Hollow Road was still farther up, and right before the intersection was proof of the poor choice she’d made that morning, parked at Bob’s Gas and Gears. She cringed thinking of her grandfather’s truck stuck inside Bob’s paint booth.

One thought led to another and soon she was dissecting her father’s reaction to the news. Why wasn’t he more upset? A few years ago, she’d have been grounded for life…well, she wasn’t a teenager now, but she had expected more of a blast from his formidable Irish temper.

She sighed as she turned left onto Cherry Valley Road, wishing she’d taken Jack up on the silent question in his eyes. That perfect moment when he’d drawn her close against his powerful chest and bent his head…as if he were going to kiss her…but then he pulled back.

Distracted, she wondered if their first kiss would have been tentative, a mere brush of lips, or lush and full, tempting her resolve not to get lost in his heady, masculine scent or the taste of his mouth. She tingled from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

How could she have spent the whole of her adolescent existence thinking Jack Gannon was too old for her? The memory of the deep dimple that formed when he smiled down at her caused her heart to flutter. “And that is the reason it is probably best that he didn’t kiss me.” It was all happening too fast and tangled up with their rescuing Jamie. She sighed as she turned right onto Peat Moss Road. Going slower than normal, she drew in one calming breath after another, hoping to cool the fire that ignited just thinking of being held in Jack’s arms, imagining how his kiss would be…how his lips would mold to hers…