by A. J. Pine
He leaned across the counter, dipped the tip of his finger in her ice cream, and spread it onto her bottom lip. She licked it clean away, her eyes turning glassy as he licked his own finger clean.
“I must confess,” he said softly. “You do scare the hell out of me, Jenna Owens.”
“See?” she said, almost whispering. “Truth serum. It’s working on you too.”
They were definitely close enough to kiss for the second time since the night began. But for the second time, he held back. Because say what she would about the effect Trudy’s concoction had on her, if Colt kissed her now, he’d blow it, the whole slow-and-steady part of the evening itself.
He wanted to build the anticipation.
If he kissed her now—because holy hell, he wanted nothing more—all that expectant energy would be lost. And he wanted the kiss at the end of this night to knock the air out of her lungs.
Also, he wasn’t really sure what came next. The ice cream was his grand plan. He wanted to leave the rest of the night to her—and he wanted to see what else was on her list.
So instead of kissing her, for several seconds he let their breath mingle in the small space between his mouth and hers. Finally, he said, “If you don’t eat that ice cream of yours, I’ll do it for you.”
His bottom lip accidentally brushed hers—or maybe it was no accident at all.
She sucked in a sharp breath, and he pulled away, every part of him silently growling as he did.
“You’re going to send me to an early grave, Colt Morgan,” she said, and he watched as heat visibly spread up her neck, wondering if she could see the same thing happening to him.
“Don’t worry,” he said, hoping to hell and back that he was right. “It’ll be worth it.”
Chapter Thirteen
Trudy was right. The café was empty until just before eight o’clock, which was when she and Frederick showed up to take over behind the counter.
Jenna and Colt had eaten their ice cream across the counter from each other. Other than teasing her twice (she was keeping count) with almost-but-not-quite kisses, it was like Colt was keeping the counter between them as a safety barrier.
He’d kept the conversation safe as well, steering clear of anything that would suggest she should reveal those deep, dark secrets of hers. Not that she hadn’t told him the darkest one already—about that last guy she dated and what he’d done. But once they got to talking, it started to feel like Colt was somehow retreating.
“Favorite color?” he’d asked her.
“Rainbow after a storm,” she’d said. “Look.” Then she showed him the photo she took of the rainbow over Maggie and Robert’s farmhouse the morning they left and finally made their trip to Meadow Valley.
Once they made their way back outside for a slow stroll down First Street, the conversation veered into other innocuous territory like first time riding a horse and small-town life versus city life.
They walked side by side. Jenna had initially worried about whether or not they were supposed to hold hands—and why she wanted to—but Colt conveniently held the small Storyland bag in the hand next to hers, taking the question off the table.
So Jenna crossed her arms as she went on.
“I remember when I was little and Clare, my sister, was practically a grown-up…I was a surprise if you’re wondering about the age difference. But there was this one time our mama and daddy took us to Dallas for Christmas dinner at this fancy hotel, and then we walked around to look at all the beautiful lights, and I swear it was the prettiest thing I ever saw. Swore I’d live there one day.”
“What happened?” Colt had asked.
She shrugged. “We ended up in California eventually, and even though I could have gone back, we’d been successful with our small farm—which became my farm. Wouldn’t know what to do with Lucy and her sisters in the city. It’s been farm and small-town life ever since.”
Now that she thought about it, Colt had let her go on and on about her life. He’d asked questions, and she’d happily answered. With verbosity. But not once had he shared anything even close to intimate about himself. It was as if he was now putting roadblocks in place to keep things between them from getting too intimate.
Colt stopped short and turned to face her. Here it was. He was going to kiss her. Finally. Maybe this was his way of returning the intimacy she hadn’t expected to want from him. She tried to tell herself she didn’t want this as badly as she did, but holy hell, he had better lay one on her already.
“Should I—feed you dinner?” he asked, brows furrowed.
Jenna’s mouth fell open, then closed.
He winced. “I messed up already, didn’t I? I played the ace up my sleeve, and now you’re hoping for more. I guess I was hoping—”
“No!” she blurted, cutting him off, trying to wipe the disappointment from her face. “Honestly,” she added. “I think that bowl of ice cream was dinner. I mean, we even ate the bowls.” It was true. She hadn’t left a bite. She’d even eaten the last chunk of his chocolate-dipped waffle bowl when he’d claimed he was too stuffed to finish it. “Plus, you still haven’t revealed your book picks. I’m quite curious to see how well you did.”
“Or if I failed miserably?” he asked, grin back on his face.
She let out a nervous laugh. “Hardly.”
He stepped closer to her and dipped his head.
Jenna sucked in a breath. Here it was. Now he was going to kiss her.
She closed her eyes and waited, felt his warm breath hit her lips.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” he said softly.
“What?” she asked, eyes still closed, mouth still ready to receive a long-awaited smooch.
“The list, Jenna Owens. It’s time I see the list.”
Her eyes flew open, and Colt had already straightened to his full height, his brows raised in anticipation.
She groaned, her shoulders sagging. She wanted to show him. That was always the plan. But why couldn’t he just kiss her and put her out of her misery?
“I left my bag in the car,” she finally said.
So he escorted her back to where they’d parked, even opened her door like a perfect gentleman, but she still huffed out an indignant breath as she pulled out the leather-bound notebook and hugged it to her chest.
“You are beautiful when you’re frustrated with me,” he said as she turned to face him.
She narrowed her eyes, but Colt just laughed.
“Let’s hear it,” he said. “Lay it on me, all the wild and crazy stuff you want to do before going back home.”
While he kept the smile plastered to his face, Jenna could have sworn his jaw tightened as he finished the sentence. Would Colt Morgan actually miss her when she was gone?
The thought made her stomach tighten, made her wonder how much she might miss him.
“Fine,” she finally said, opening the journal to the only page with writing on it. “Here it is, in order of how they popped into my head, but I am not tied to completing them as such.” She squared her shoulders and jutted out her chin.
“I think it’s already clear you’re not tied to any prescribed way of doing things. Anyone who’s okay with dessert for dinner is a free thinker in my book.”
Ugh. Why was he so damned charming? It made it so hard to be angry about him holding out on kissing her.
Her expression softened, and she couldn’t help but smile back at him.
“Okay,” she said. “Here it is. Number one, sleep outside under the stars. Two, eat food from a country I’ve always wanted to visit. Three, eat the best ice cream in town.” She skimmed her teeth over her bottom lip and felt the heat rush to her cheeks. “You already made that happen. Twice. Though I have to say Trudy’s is top of the top for me.”
He nodded. “Had no doubt it would be.”
“Number four,” she continued, and now her cheeks burned. “Have a—um—vacation fling.”
Colt bowed. “Happy to oblige, ma’am.”
Okay, He really needed to stop being so adorable.
“Five, skinny-dip. Six, be the last one at a bar at closing time, and seven—” She tried to rush through to the end but couldn’t bring herself to say the last one—Write something more meaningful than a list—out loud. Not yet.
Colt’s brows drew together. “Seven?” he asked.
Jenna blew out a breath. “Can I save that one for now? It’s one I have to do on my own, anyway.”
He shrugged, but his smile faltered for a fraction of a second, and she wondered if he was disappointed in her keeping the last one to herself.
“So…that’s it, I guess. Nothing earth shattering, I know, but it all means something to me.”
“Come on,” he said, reaching around her and dropping the book bag in the car before closing the door behind her. Then he threaded his fingers through hers and gave her a gentle squeeze.
Jenna’s belly flipped and flopped at the simple yet intimate gesture.
“Where to?” she asked.
“To find a good seat at the bar for when we close the place down.”
“I’m Casey,” the pink-haired woman on the other side of the bar said, reaching a hand across to shake Jenna’s.
“Jenna. Nice to meet you. And I love your hair.”
The corners of Casey’s mouth turned up. “A girl’s gotta let her creative side show, right?”
Jenna swallowed, thinking about the one unmentioned item on her list. She had a creative side once upon a time. But she couldn’t seem to access that part of herself yet and was beginning to wonder if it still existed.
“Just wait,” Colt added. “It’ll be purple next week. Maybe blue the next. I don’t think there’s a color that doesn’t look good on Midtown Tavern’s favorite bartender.”
Casey rolled her eyes. “I already said the first round’s on the house. Stop trying to butter me up when you are clearly on a date, Morgan.”
Jenna laughed, her shoulders relaxing. “Right?” she said. “The charm’s just dripping off this guy here.” She nudged Colt’s shoulder with hers. Then she caught a flash of color on the inside of Casey’s wrist.
“Is that a tattoo?” Jenna asked, nodding in Casey’s direction. “What’s it mean?”
The other woman huffed out a bitter laugh before brandishing the body art, which was a blue infinity symbol.
“This,” Casey said, “is what I like to call a mistake. And because I’m not shelling out hundreds of dollars to get it removed, I like to think of it as my infinite reminder not to make the same mistake again.”
She dropped her hand, and Jenna could tell that was the most she was going to reveal about whatever the story was behind that tattoo.
“I’m going to serve some paying customers,” Casey teased. “Let me know if you need anything.”
She winked and spun back toward the bar, making her way to the next waiting patron.
“I do pay,” Colt said when Jenna turned her attention back to him.
“Sure,” she said. “With buckets of charm and being a big old tease?”
Colt’s eyes widened. “Are we talking about me and my bar tab still?”
Jenna sighed, then took a sip from the pint glass in front her. The slight carbonation bubbled on her tongue, and the amber liquid—although ice cold—warmed her belly as it went down her throat.
“I know we have an arrangement,” she admitted. “And that nothing in that arrangement requires you to reveal anything personal to me. But you let me babble on at Trudy’s about my childhood and my farm and I can’t help thinking that maybe you don’t want me to know even your favorite color, which is fine, but then maybe we throw that all out on the table—boundaries, you know?” Her stomach tightened. “Okay, so I know we’ve already crossed a bunch of physical boundaries, which is the whole point of—you know—the fling, but I wouldn’t mind getting to know you a bit.”
He raised a brow. “Wouldn’t mind?”
She groaned. “I want to know you, okay? Just because this is all fun and games doesn’t mean I can turn off wanting to know who you are, what you like and dislike, your hopes and dreams…It’s simply in my DNA, wanting to know people.”
But wanting to know you especially. Maybe that will help me understand why I get butterflies when you hold my hand or why I’m going out of my mind about whether or not you’ll kiss me tonight.
Though she sure as hell wasn’t going to say any of that.
“My favorite color,” Colt said, matter-of-factly. “Your stormy, baffled blue eyes when you look at me like you don’t know what the hell I’m saying.”
She promptly rolled said stormy, baffled blue eyes.
“Well, that was ridiculously sweet,” she mumbled.
He barked out a laugh. “Thank you?”
“You’re welcome,” she said, begrudgingly.
“But,” he added.
“There’s always a but…”
He leaned over and glanced at her butt, then straightened and gave her a mischievous grin.
Jenna’s mouth fell open.
“Some butts are better than others. But the one I was referring to verbally is that you already know a lot about me. You know I have a sister who’s a country singer and can bake like no one else I know. You know we lost our parents and ended up getting separated in the foster system. And you know I grew up in Oak Bluff but joined Sam and Ben in building and opening the ranch up here in Meadow Valley. Jenna, you know more about me in a matter of days than some people I’ve known all my life. The reason I hung back at Trudy’s is because I want to know as much about you as you’ll let me.”
“Oh,” she said softly. Because—wow. Jenna wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so instead she brought her pint glass to her lips and slowly drank until it was empty.
Tonight was starting to feel more and more like a date—a real date. One she’d go on with a guy she might want to see again after their two weeks were up. But this couldn’t be that, not when they had an arrangement. Not when she was so sure there was more than simply the obstacle of age and physical distance between them.
Wasn’t there?
“Okay…” Colt said, drawing out the word. “I think we better pace ourselves if we’re going to make it until closing. Also, I probably should have mentioned that Casey has a tendency to ignore the hours posted outside the door. Sometimes she closes when she says she’s gonna close, and sometimes people want to keep buying drinks, and she wants to keep letting them.”
Jenna responded with a belch—one that sneaked up on her without so much as a warning until it was out there, in the world, on this date that wasn’t a date.
Colt’s eyes widened, and Jenna threw both hands over her mouth. But then, as if on cue, both of them burst out laughing at the same time.
“Don’t worry,” Jenna said when she finally caught her breath. “My nephews run a winery. I can hold my own when it comes to a drink or two.”
Her bar stool lurched toward Cole’s, and Jenna yelped. Then she noticed his boot hooked under the wooden rod that acted as the stool’s footrest.
“It’s time,” he said, leaning in close, his mouth a breath away from hers.
Her breath hitched. “For—for what?”
“I wholeheartedly believe in your ability to hold your liquor, Jenna Owens. But just in case, I don’t want you to forget.”
“Forget? I—I don’t understand.”
Great. Apparently she could only stammer when Colt was this close.
“Your good-night kiss,” he said.
Finally, finally, Colt Morgan’s lips were on hers.
They weren’t in a guest room in a secluded farmhouse or in Luis and Anna’s secret make-out spot outside the dining hall.
They were in a crowded tavern that—while dimly lit—still put them on display for all to see. Yet Colt kissed her like she was the only person in the room, in the world for that matter—his hands in her hair and her knees hooked over his thighs. He slipped his tongue past her lip
s, and Jenna thanked the stars that “Sin Wagon” by the Chicks was blasting through the tavern’s sound system. It meant no one heard the soft moan escaping her lips—except Colt.
He smiled against her, letting her know he hadn’t missed the audible reaction.
He nipped at her bottom lip and slowly pulled away, a self-satisfied grin spread across his maddeningly handsome face.
Jenna’s heart raced. She touched her swollen lips with the tips of her fingers.
“You just did that in front of everyone,” she said, stating the obvious.
Colt shrugged. “It was important and needed doin’. Plus, in case you hadn’t noticed, I like doing things out of order.” He winked and then lifted his own glass, clinking it lightly against her empty one, and downed the contents in three large gulps.
“There,” he said. “Now we’re on equal ground.”
She let out a nervous laugh.
Jenna liked this man. A lot. Apparently she hadn’t read the fling manual, because she was pretty sure it said something to the effect of it being mighty difficult to have a lengthy casual encounter with someone you liked this much.
Equal ground? Right.
Not. Even. Close.
It was one in the morning by the time Casey cashed out the last customer—the last one other than Jenna and Colt.
“All right, you two. Go find somewhere else to kiss and make eyes at each other,” Casey said, shooing them away with her hands.
They weren’t sitting at the bar anymore. Sometime after Jenna’s third pint, she’d convinced Colt that even though it wasn’t line-dancing night at the bar, they should get up and dance.
Now her arms were draped around his neck, her head resting sleepily on his shoulder as they slowly swayed back and forth even though an uptempo Zac Brown Band song was playing.
“We did it,” Colt said softly in her ear, and Jenna mustered up the energy to smile, even if she didn’t have any left to actually lift her head.
“Can I help you clean up?” she heard Colt ask as her eyes fell closed.
“Go home, ya charmer,” Casey called back. “You have more important things to take care of, but I appreciate the offer.”