Taming the Mountain Man (Tamarack Ridge Romances Book 3)

by Jeanette Lewis

  Then he leaned in and kissed her and, well … fireworks. The first touch of his lips on hers was a spark that spread throughout her body and the world shrunk even more. All her focus was on the wonderful point of contact where their lips met, and her senses were overwhelmed with the feeling of Jack, the smell of Jack, the taste of Jack. There was heat and light and bursts of butterflies erupting in her stomach and making her limbs feel heavy. If Jack hadn’t had both arms around her, supporting her, her knees would buckle.

  For one moment, she flashed to an awareness of how tacky it was to make out in the middle of the dance floor at someone else’s wedding. Then Jack’s fingers tightened at her waist and he pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. She clutched his shoulders and they were the only two people in the world again.

  The screeching of the microphone jolted her out of the kiss. She pulled back and looked around. The music had stopped and Collette stood near the DJ, clutching the mic. The full white skirt of her dress spilled over the edge of the stage and fluttered as she bounced on the balls of her feet.

  “I guess this is a bride’s prerogative,” she said. “I just learned that my cousin Jennica is engaged, and from the looks of it, she and her new fiancé aren’t wasting any time.” She smiled broadly. “Jennica, I forgive you for crashing my wedding, because I think I speak for all of us when I say … it’s about time!”

  The moment turned slow and sticky, like she was stuck in bubble gum. Jennica heard the words, but they took a long moment to register in her brain, and by the time she’d processed “Jennica” and “her new fiancé,” the rest of the room was ahead of her and had erupted into cheers and applause.

  Jack’s hands fell from her waist. “Wait … what did she say?”

  “We’re not—” Jennica began. She moved toward the stage, desperately trying to reach Collette. But they were overwhelmed, well-wishers rushing forward to hug Jennica, clap Jack on the shoulder, and exclaim how they’d known the minute they’d seen the two of them together because they were such a cute couple. The phrase “perfect for each other” bounced around the room and Jennica’s mind was in a whirl. She clung to Jack’s arm, the only bit of stability she could find amid the chaos.

  Finally, the DJ started another song and the crowed ebbed. Jack pulled her to the side of the dance floor. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

  “I … I have no idea.” Jennica took a step back, surprised at the hardness of his tone.

  “Someone’s telling stories,” he said. His eyes scanned the crowd and he drew a sharp breath. “Your parents are coming over.”

  Jennica swiped her fingertips across her sweaty forehead and arranged her face in a smile that didn’t quite fit. The heat and giddiness of the kiss had flashed to surprise, to disbelief, to dismay. Her emotions were in a tumble and her lips still burned from the touch of Jack’s mouth on hers.

  “What’s this about being engaged?” her mother demanded. “What did Collette mean?”

  “I don’t know,” Jennica said. “It didn’t come from either of us.”

  “I certainly didn’t give my permission,” her father added. He gave Jack a grim smile. “I like you, Jack, but that doesn’t mean you can go against tradition.”

  Jennica winced. “Dad, I’m twenty-six years old.”

  He shook his head. “Some things don’t change.”

  “We’re not engaged,” Jack said forcefully, a bit too forcefully. The vehemence of his denial stung.

  “I should hope not.” Her mother’s eyes went from Jennica’s face to Jack’s and she pressed her mouth in a thin line. “It’s bad enough you were making out in front of everyone, but to do it at your own cousin’s wedding and cause such a scene.”

  Jennica’s stomach dropped. Here it came. Everything was her fault and she was the mess-up. Like clockwork.

  “Mrs. Waverly, we honestly did not mean to cause a scene,” Jack said quickly. “We’ll apologize to Collette and her husband and then we’re leaving.”

  “It’s a little late for that. You’ve already caused a commotion,” Jennica’s mother said. Her gaze flashed around the room, and Jennica noticed several of her relatives were watching, albeit trying to give the impression they weren’t. “We’ll talk about this later,” Jennica’s mother said. There was an ominous note to her voice, a warning.

  They moved off, and Jennica’s shoulders slumped. “I need to set things straight with Collette.”

  Jack nodded shortly. “Fine, but then let’s get out of here. I’ll be by the door.” Without waiting for an answer, he turned and hurried across the room.

  Jennica found the newlyweds seated at a table, hands linked. They were deep in conversation, and the look of love washing across both their faces made her hesitate, not wanting to interrupt such a private moment.

  “Jennica!” Collette leaped to her feet and gathered her into a hug. The beads on her wedding dress dug into Jennica’s cheek. “Congratulations! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me first though.” Collette pulled back and her eyes darted around the room. “Where’s Jack? I have a ton of questions. I have to know if he’s good enough for my cousin.”

  “Who told you we were engaged?” Jennica asked.

  Collette’s face broke into an even wider smile. “Grandma Ruby,” she said in a conspiratorial tone. “I know it’s supposed to be a secret, but I figured since you were crashing my wedding with an engagement, at least I should get to announce it.”

  “We’re not crashing your wedding,” Jennica said, her voice frantic in her urgency.

  “It’s okay. I’m glad you finally found your true love. You always did know how to upstage everyone else.” Collette gave her arm a friendly squeeze, but there was a touch of acid in her tone.

  “Collette, we’re not engaged,” Jennica said. It was on the tip of her tongue to blurt out that Jack was only here because he’d wanted Grandpa’s press to make knives, but she held back. Everything was confused, and after that kiss, she was no longer sure what Jack wanted.

  “Really?” Collette sighed. “I let you upstage my wedding and you’re not even engaged? Well, maybe tonight will make him brave enough to pop the question.”

  “But it’s your moment,” Jennica protested. “I would never …”

  Collette rolled her eyes. “It’s fine. The damage is already done anyway.” She paused and then smiled in a mischievous way Jennica knew well. She’d seen that smile many times right before Collette suggested doing something that would get them in trouble. “In fact, let’s give him another nudge.” Collette grabbed Jennica’s hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. Faces flashed by as if in a dream as Jennica stumbled behind her cousin, fighting to keep her balance in her high heels and with the buzz of Jack’s kiss playing tricks on her head.

  “It’s time to throw the bouquet,” Collette announced loudly. “Single ladies, represent!” She guided Jennica to a spot in the center of the dance floor. “Stay,” she ordered.

  Jennica searched for Jack, wanting to be with him right now instead of this crowd of squealing women who converged on her. Everyone bunched together, chattering and laughing. Her stomach lurched.

  Collette stepped in front of the crowd of girls, waving her bouquet of white flowers. “Ready, ladies?”

  The answering scream indicated they were indeed ready.

  Collette made a show of turning around, holding the bouquet high above her head and making a tossing gesture. “One … two … three!”

  As she said the final number, Collette turned, took a quick step forward, and tossed the flowers directly to Jennica. No one stepped in front of her, no one tried to block the pass, and the bouquet landed squarely in her arms.

  The room erupted, the music started again, and everywhere she looked there was noise and bright lights and so many smiling faces. So many people shouting above the noise that it was destiny and she’d be the next one married.

  Jennica clutched the bouquet, the sickly sweet smell of roses and carnations making her stomach roll.r />
  A big, warm hand clamped around hers. “Let’s get out of here.” Jack’s eyes were flinty as he tugged on her hand, carving a path through the crowd toward the door.

  Jennica clutched the bouquet in one hand and held onto Jack with the other until finally, they were outside, where she could get a breath of cool air. Jack opened the door of the truck and she climbed in, her mind racing.

  Everything was happening too fast. She didn’t want to think about Collette’s announcement or the wedding bouquet or the buzz of rumor they were leaving behind. She wanted to think about Jack and the way his kiss had turned her knees to water, had sent butterflies as big as hummingbirds zipping through her body. She wanted to grab him and pick up where they’d left off before Collette had interrupted them with a screeching microphone.

  Jack slid behind the wheel and turned to give her a long stare. “What just happened in there?”

  “Collette claims Grandma Ruby told her we were engaged,” Jennica sighed. “Poor Grandma. You know how foggy her mind can sometimes. She probably forgot you’re not Josh, or maybe forgot Josh and I broke up. Or maybe she thinks you and I really did get engaged.” The thought of being engaged to Jack sent shivers through her.

  “Your grandma I can understand,” Jack said as he backed out of the parking space. “But what’s the deal with your parents? And that bouquet thing …” He jerked his head to Jennica’s lap, where she still clutched the bouquet.

  “Weddings are a huge deal in my family,” Jennica said lamely. “It’s like the only thing that matters once you’re my age. My mom and her siblings have been in some weird competition to see who can marry off all their kids first and then have the most grandkids … they go a little overboard.”

  “I’ll say,” Jack growled. He threw the truck into drive and pulled out of the mansion’s parking lot.

  There was a long pause in the conversation as they rode through Great Falls and finally got on the freeway toward Tamarack Ridge. Jennica’s mind spun. She thought she’d feel only relief once this day had ended, but instead, she felt … disappointed. It was finally over and now she and Jack could go their separate ways, neither owing the other anything.

  And that was the problem.

  She liked being around Jack. She liked seeing his smile, hearing his voice. She liked the way he teased her and she especially liked his kisses. Her heart throbbed at the thought of his lips caressing hers. The smell of him, the taste of him … okay, they’d gotten a little carried away in the middle of the dance floor, but wasn’t that how romance was supposed to be? No matter how intense, she’d never felt carried away by Josh’s kisses. She’d enjoyed the affection; who didn’t? But there had always been a rational piece of her brain that knew where they were and what was happening around them.

  Not that Josh would ever go into a full-blown make-out session with her in public. He was always very private, preferring to keep his displays of affection understated. It had bothered her the way he wouldn’t even hold hands around other people, but when she’d complain, he’d accuse her of craving dramatics.

  Maybe a little bit, but was it craving dramatics to want the love of your life to put his arm around you or hold your hand once in a while? Maybe press a kiss to your cheek or your temple, even if he’d never be willing to kiss you full on the mouth when anyone else was around.

  A sudden image filled her head of her and Josh at their wedding, standing in front of a huge crowd of people. And after the vows, the pastor would tell Josh he could kiss his bride—the big moment—the first kiss as husband and wife. Only Josh would give her a chaste peck on the cheek and probably not even hold her hand as they walked back down the aisle.

  But with Jack … fireworks. Big and dramatic and full of want and need and desire, sparking between them.

  “What?” Jack said, glancing at her.

  “What?” Jennica asked.

  “What was that big sigh for?”

  She covered her lips with her fingertips. “I didn’t realize that was out loud.”

  The corner of his mouth quirked in a smile. “At least we gave your family something to talk about for a while,” he said. “But what will they do when they realize it was all fake?”

  The fireworks turned to ashes. The intensity of the kiss, the way he’d held her locked in his strong arms even while his lips moved gently over hers, had all felt so real, so genuine. It hadn’t even crossed her mind that he could have been faking.

  “They’ll … it’ll be okay,” she managed to say around the lump in her stomach. The pile of ash that had been hope. “My family has probably come to expect it from me, to be honest.”

  He kept his eyes on the road but shook his head. “They seem awfully hard on you. I didn’t expect that.”

  “I did,” she said. “But actually, today wasn’t so bad, because you were there. So, thanks.”

  Jack gave her a thin smile and she turned to stare out the window at the gathering darkness.

  Jack cast a quick glance toward the passenger seat. Jennica held Collette’s bouquet on her lap and had her head turned away. She’d lapsed into a kind of melancholy silence and obviously didn’t want to talk.

  Which was good, because Jack had his own racing thoughts to examine.

  He tried to remember the moment they’d kissed, the blueness of Jennica’s eyes, the way she’d smelled, the moment their lips touched. Her hands on his shoulders, pulling him closer. It’d been a long time since he’d felt that kind of need for a woman—the kind of need that left him breathless and aching.

  It’d been a long time since he’d felt that need from a woman, too. Had Valerie ever needed him, wanted him the way Jennica so obviously did? He didn’t think so.

  But did Jennica really want him, or was she simply lonely and under pressure from her relatives? Or worse, was she trying to pretend he was Josh and she could simply close her eyes while kissing him and imagine he was the guy who had broken her heart?

  He shot a glance at her now. She had one elbow propped against the door with her hand tucked beneath her chin as she stared out the window. Her auburn curls brushed against her neck. He knew that if he were to reach out and touch her cheek, he’d find it silky and soft and that his touch would raise a blush that would mute her freckles. A bit of a shame, that. He liked her freckles.

  He liked her. But there was a big difference between liking someone and liking them enough to be in a relationship. Relationships were tricky, not Jack’s thing and as good as the beginnings were, those feelings always faded and then the drama began. Just the thought of it sent his heart pounding and made him want to run far, far away.

  Jennica took a long, slow breath and seemed to relax, pressing deeper into the seat. She’d fallen asleep.

  Jack turned his attention back to the road. She was smart and fun and beautiful. Kissing her had felt like flying. But it was all temporary and he wasn’t willing to endure what came after simply for the fun of the beginning.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jennica woke up when they reached Tamarack Ridge. Her mouth was dry and the beginnings of a headache whispered in her temples.

  Jack had his eyes on the road while the radio played softly in the background, country music.

  “Oops. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” she mumbled, sitting up straighter in her seat.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Jack said. He’d loosened his tie and was driving with his wrist draped over the steering wheel. The other hand rested on his thigh, which bounced to the beat of the music.

  Jennica’s heart felt heavy as she watched Main Street going by. Their date was almost over, and even with the awful ending, the rest of the day had been wonderful. She wanted to go back and do the whole thing again. As long as she was dreaming, when they reached the kiss, she’d stop time and shrink the world back down to where it was just the two of them, locked in a kiss on the dance floor forever.

  Jack slowed the truck and made the turns into the residential area of town. He swung into Grandma�
�s driveway and shut off the engine, then turned to look her full in the face. “Well, not quite what I expected, but we managed,” he said.

  Even in the dimness coming from the porch lights, she could see the flare in his eyes and it was enough to give her courage. “I certainly didn’t expect you to kiss me,” she said. Her heart ached with a desire to reach out and run her hand down his arm, over the hardness of the muscles beneath his dress shirt. She clutched Collette’s bouquet and swallowed hard.

  Jack gave her a half smile and reached for his door handle. “Come on. I’ll walk you in.”

  Jennica waited as Jack circled the truck. The porch lights gleamed on his long hair and bounced off his face. The memory of the way his cheek felt brushing against hers sent a wave of longing through her.

  No one in Tamarack Ridge locked their doors, and Grandma was no exception. The handle twisted easily under Jennica’s grip, and she led Jack into the dark living room.

  Rex was waiting, whining.

  “Poor baby, here alone all day,” Jennica crooned. She waved a hand in jack’s direction. “I need to check his water. Have a seat. Can I get you anything?”

  “No thanks,” he said. “I should probably get going.”

  “Wait just a quick second,” Jennica called over her shoulder as she went to the kitchen. She hurried, not giving him a chance to answer, to say goodbye.

  She dumped a cup of dog food into Rex’s bowl and refilled his water dish, then kicked off her shoes as she made her way back to the living room. Relief rushed through her when she saw that Jack hadn’t left. He stood near the fireplace, examining the family pictures covering onto the mantel. Grandma couldn’t bear to remove an old picture, so over the years she’d simply made room, crowding them three deep. Jennica could move from left to right and watch herself grow from a baby through the awkward middle school years to a teenager, and finally to a woman. She never dusted the pictures without feeling the wrench when she picked up the frame with the picture taken at Grandpa’s funeral.