Worth It All(30)

“Not in a while.” He grinned. Was she jealous?

He could stand here all day, staring down into Paige’s upturned face. Her expression guilty and embarrassed, a little exasperated, and if he wasn’t mistaken, there was a good bit of desire in those blue eyes as well. Her cheeks were pink and the sunlight hit her eyes at just the right angle to make them sparkle and he shook his head. He wanted to say that he couldn’t look at her without wanting to kiss her, without needing to. But the ride slowed and the swings descended. “I’ll go get Casey.”





Chapter 9


Paige stood there, heart pounding, eyes glued to the spot Jake no longer occupied. The way he’d looked at her just then caused a ripple straight through her heart and lower. It happened every time he looked at her too closely or brushed against her. The feeling that there was something rippling and building between them.

A minute later, he came toward her, smiling. The sight of Jake holding Casey on his muscled forearm, her daughter’s little arms wrapped around his neck, made her heart swell. But seeing Casey also reminded her she was in no position to lose her head dreaming up things she wasn’t even sure existed.

“Hey, sweetie. Did you have fun?”

“Yes. It was windy.”

Paige touched her sun-pinkened cheek. “I guess that’s a good thing for a ride to be.”

With Casey still in his arms, they moved on to a game, walking together in a little pod through a sea of people.

A tall man in a blue and white striped shirt and red suspenders drew players to his game. “Step right up, step right up. Ring the bottle and win a prize.”

Jake handed over the required tickets he’d purchased, insisting this day was his idea and his treat. Casey took the rings from the man. Jake held her way out over the railing to give her a better chance; flinging them without aim or precision, all three bounced off the glass bottles. She scored a plastic whistle just for playing, which was all she cared about.

The next game required them to hit moving-duck targets with baseballs. Paige missed the first three. Not even close. The crowd bumped her closer to Jake, which amped up her heart rate and didn’t help her game. “Aren’t there any games that don’t involve throwing?”

“Maybe try closing your eyes. You might hit more.”

“Ha-ha.” She narrowed her eyes at his teasing and shoved at his rock-hard shoulder. It didn’t budge him, just served up memories of what his upper body felt like under her hands. As much as he had her emotions on the edge, she was having fun. She liked this playful side of Jake she hadn’t seen much of before today. “Are you always competing?”

“I’m the youngest of seven children. I came out of the womb competing. Come on. Close your eyes, feel the Force.”

No way would she close her eyes and channel Luke Skywalker. She might kill someone.

Then it was Jake’s turn again. “Aren’t you going to close your eyes?” she challenged.

He flashed her a quick grin. “I have skill. I don’t need the Force.”

She rolled her eyes, but his voice was so deep and sexy and she shivered. No doubt he had a lot of skills.

“Come on, Jake,” Casey encouraged from her perch on his left arm. “You can do it.”

Jake aimed at the first target and hit it dead center, then did the same with three more.

The gamer whistled. “One more and you win the grand prize.”

“Did you hear that?” Casey took his face in her hands, making certain he got the importance. “It’s the grand prize!”

They didn’t know what that was exactly, but it didn’t matter. The man had said it was grand and Jake was the one winning it.

Casey smacked a kiss on his cheek. “That’s for luck. Mommy, come on! You have to kiss him too so he can win!”

Jake’s hot gaze held hers. There were hundreds of people milling around them, not to mention Casey’s expectant eyes just inches away, but everything faded into the background. Their easy camaraderie turned into sizzling tension in just a few beats. It shouldn’t be anything to kiss his cheek. Except it was, because she couldn’t be this close to his mouth and not want to wrap her arms around his broad shoulders and press her lips to his.

She raised up on her toes, unsure where to place her hands, knowing how badly she wanted to run her palms all over his solid chest. Someone bumped her and she grabbed onto his upper arms, and pressed her lips to his cheek. It was warm from the sun and a tiny bit scratchy, and good Lord, he smelled good. Then it was over. Barely a whisper that couldn’t have lasted more than a second, but she felt it all the way to her toes.