by Jamie Begley
Jessie turned sideways, putting her hand on his arm. “Do you know who it is?”
“I’m sitting here with you, ain’t I? Don’t you think, if I knew, I would be sitting in a prison cell?”
She tightened her hand on his arm. “Holt told me what you said. Dustin, I’m begging you not to do anything that would get you in trouble. If I had found out who it was when it first happened, I would have killed whoever it was without a second thought. I would have … until I made love with you. I have too much love in my heart for you to taint it with feelings of hatred for anyone. I’ve decided to leave him in God’s hands.”
“Sometimes, God needs a little help.”
“No, He doesn’t, not from me, you, Holt, Asher, or from anyone else. I’d rather have you sitting beside me in a courtroom, seeing justice was served, than crying over a letter you sent me from prison.”
Dustin started the car. “Everybody thinks I’ll get caught. Have a little faith in your man. I’m the smart Porter brother.”
“You’re the Porter brother I’m in love with, and I don’t want you to do it!”
“Jeez, calm down. The only thing I have on my mind right now is getting warm. You want to stop at King’s and get some lunch?” he tried to cajole her by changing a subject that he had already set his mind on. “It could be like a first date.”
Her winsome smile transformed her worried expression. “I would love to.”
He turned his hand over, linking their fingers together as he drove out of the cemetery. “You keep sprouting off that love word today. You have the other night on your mind?”
Dustin laughed when he saw her flush.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” she said with a haughty upward tilt of her nose.
“Be careful doing that when we get out the car—you’ll drown.”
“You know, the Porters couldn’t tell a good joke if it bit them on the ass.”
“Ouch, that hurt. You’re getting good at insulting a man.”
“I’ve had plenty of practice. Holt and Asher have your sense of humor.”
“And the insults keep coming. Comparing me to Holt and Asher are fighting words. Another crack like that, and I’m not going to let you order King’s T-bone steak. You can have the lunch special instead.”
Jessie snapped her mouth shut.
Dustin laughed. “Nothing to say?”
Jessie shook her head, then ruined her moment of silence. “My lips are sealed.”
Dustin kept giving her quick, amused glances as he drove, waiting for her to break her silence.
Pulling into the restaurant’s parking lot, he turned the car off.
“Okay, I guess we can share the T-bone.”
“Nuh-uh, that wasn’t part of the deal.”
When he didn’t make a move to get out of the car, she looked at him expectantly.
“Just waiting for the rain to slow down,” he said, looking through the rearview mirror as other cars poured into the lot.
“Maybe we should go to the diner. There’s going to be a long wait.”
“I’m not in any hurry. Are you?”
“No, I just don’t want them to sell out of the T-bones. They’re King’s specialty.”
Dustin took his eyes off the mirror to stare at her, considering. “You think he’s good-looking, don’t you?”
“Kind of.”
“Kind of? What kind of an answer is that?”
“I kind of think he’s good-looking. But if it makes you jealous enough not to let me eat at his restaurant, then he’s just okay.”
“You know the only person in town who tells worse jokes than me?”
Her eyes twinkled at him in humor. “Who?”
Dustin snorted. “You get three guesses, and the first two don’t count.”
Seeing the car he was waiting for parking, Dustin got out of the car, getting the umbrella before opening Jessie’s door.
“It’s raining harder now.”
Holding the umbrella over her, he shut the door. “I was hoping the storm would pass through, but I guess it’s not going to.”
He kept his pace slow, letting the group crossing the parking lot get in front of them. Dustin nodded to Charles, his parents, Jackson as well as both his and Miranda’s parents.
Getting in line in the lobby, he and Jessie were behind the group as Dixon Wells told King how many were in his party.
King wrote it down in the book before looking to them politely with a small smile.
“It’ll be a forty-five-minute wait.”
The elder Wells wasn’t happy, shoving his suit jacket’s sleeve up to look at his watch as they moved to the side of the podium to wait to be seated.
When they moved aside, Dustin led Jessie forward.
King’s expression turned welcoming as they approached. Stepping out from behind the podium, he held his hand out to shake Dustin’s.
“Dustin, you should have told me you and Jessie were coming. Give me a minute, and I’ll have a table ready for you.”
Dustin shook his hand. “No problem. We’re not in a hurry.”
“It’s no problem. Just give me a minute.” King took off, motioning for a waitress who was passing by.
They began clearing off a table as the group that entered before them looked flummoxed.
Jessie lifted a wondering gaze to him.
“King is a client of mine,” he explained, raising his voice slightly, so Charles would overhear.
King came back a minute later. “Your table is ready, Dustin.”
They followed him to the table, and then the waitress brought a bottle of wine to them.
“Take good care of them, Iris. The bill is on me.”
Dustin held a chair out for Jessie before sitting down. Shaking the napkin out, he laid it on his lap. “You’re going to regret that, King. Jessie has been bragging about how good the T-bones are.”
King’s gaze switched to Jessie, his hard face cracking into the first real smile since they entered the door. “Miss Hayes can have anything she wants as my guest.”
Jessie blushed red, giving King the smile Dustin had fallen in love with when he was just a little boy. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. I’m glad you made it home. When Evie goes back to work, we’re planning on enrolling our daughter in your daycare. If you need anything, let me know … either inside the restaurant or out.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
King gave her another smile. “Enjoy your meal.”
Jessie looked at him from across the table. “Wow, I need to get you to bring me here more often.”
Dustin took a sip of the wine, then nodded to the waitress. “King and Drake led two of the search parties that were searching for you.”
Jessie started to get up, but Dustin reached across the table to stop her. “Don’t. The only thing they wanted was to see you safe. Seeing you sitting at one of his tables is thanks enough for him.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m very sure. Now, what do you want to order as an appetizer? I’m starving.” Dustin looked up at the waitress. “We’ll take the combo platter.”
“How do you keep from gaining weight with as much as you eat?” Jessie asked when the waitress left to place their order.
Dustin patted his lean waist. “Just lucky, I guess.”
“I hate you.”
Dustin clucked his tongue at her. “Your jealousy is unbecoming.”
“You think so? If I ate as much as you do, you would throw me to the curb.”
“Peanut, I would never throw you to the curb.”
Her face softened. “I love it when you get romantic.”
“Then you’re going to fall head-over-heels in love with me tonight.”
“You have plans for tonight?”
“I might have one or two.”
“What are they?”
“You have to wait and see.”
Their eyes met as they drank their wine.
; Dustin was about to reach across the table for her hand when he saw Charles and his group pass their table.
Dustin raised a brow when Charles paused at their table.
“Dustin, Jackson wants to spend time alone with his parents and son. If you still want to have lunch, I have the time before I go back.”
“Tomorrow around twelve good for you?”
“Yes.”
“You have another one of those cards of yours? I’ll shoot you a text, and we can figure out where we can eat.”
Charles reached into his suit pocket, taking out the card clip and removing one to give to Dustin.
Dustin put it in his suit pocket. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Charles nodded, then hurried off to catch up with his family.
Dustin picked up his wineglass, so the waitress could set the platter down.
Jessie stared at it in dismay. “There’s no way we can eat all this and the steaks, too.”
Dustin picked up a chicken wing. “Speak for yourself. Don’t you know the best part of a big meal are the leftovers?”
“This platter alone could feed four people.”
“No, it couldn’t. Greer and I can finish one of these platters off by ourselves.” Dustin was about to take a big bite of his chicken wing when he looked toward the doorway in disappointment. “Life is just not fair.”
Jessie lifted her eyes from the platter in puzzlement. “How so?”
“Greer and Holly just came in.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“He’s going to want to share. I have a problem keeping my brothers away from my food lately.” Dustin sadly watched as Greer saw them and started steering Holly toward their table.
“Mind if we join you, brah?” Greer pulled a chair out before Dustin was given the opportunity to answer.
Holly sat down next to Jessie, giving him an apologetic glance. “I tried to talk him into eating at the diner, but it was a no-go.”
Greer slid the platter closer to himself. “What we having for dinner?”
“Jessie and I were enjoying our first date.”
Greer couldn’t care less. “Don’t mind us. We’ll just sit and eat. You won’t even know we’re here.”
Dustin reached for a potato skin, to find his hand smacked by Greer.
“That one is mine. It has the most bacon. You can have the scrawny one on the side.”
He heard Jessie giggle at his reaction.
“You won’t be laughing when that T-bone comes.”
Greer paused, the potato skin almost in his mouth. “She ordered a T-bone?”
Jessie nodded. “Dustin did, too.”
Greer sat the potato skin back down on the platter. “You can have it,” he said magnanimously. “I need to save my appetite.”
“Since when?”
“Since I learned there were T-bones involved. See, Holly? What did I tell you? Dustin doesn’t mind sharing. Dustin and I can share his, and you and Jessie can share hers.”
Dustin waved at their waitress as she finished at another table.
Greer gave him a happy grin.
“Order me a Mountain Dew, and Holly will take an unsweetened iced tea.”
“I wasn’t getting her attention to get us drinks.”
“Then what you want her for?”
“I want her to package our order to go.”
Jessie was still giggling when he pulled into her driveway.
“I thought he’d stroke out when he found out King gave you our meal for free.”
“My brother is a food whore.”
“I’ve heard that one before. I think both of you play fast and loose with your affections where food is considered.”
“There are three religions in Kentucky that all men take seriously. One is food. Two is their weed. Three is their liquor.”
“Women aren’t important?”
Dustin gave it some thought. “Okay, there are four religions—”
Jessie held up a hand to stop him. “Spare me. I don’t want to know where women are ranked.”
Dustin placed his arm across the back of her seat. “Number one, of course.”
“Dustin Porter, you’re lying through your teeth.”
His face turned serious as he cupped her cheek with his free hand. “You will always be my number one. I’m sorry my brother ruined our first date.”
Jessie relaxed back on her seat and smiled at him as it grew dark outside. “I wouldn’t change a thing. I enjoyed it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Don’t tell him, but I’m starting to like him.”
“You don’t have to worry about me telling him that. I can hear what he would say. What’s not to like?”
Jessie laughed. “Too true. Greer doesn’t have a confidence problem.”
“Like everything, Greer got in line for seconds and thirds where that’s concerned.”
“What did you get in line for?” she asked huskily, running her hands down his chest.
“You know me. I can’t let Greer outdo me.”
Pressing a kiss to the side of her mouth, he rubbed her jawline with his thumb. Then he stared down at the woman he loved, memorizing the tiny bump on her nose, the fine lines coming out of the corners of her eyes. The thing he would always remember was the light of love that was shining from her hazel eyes. He wished he could be a better man, the man she needed him to be.
“I should be going in. You need to be getting home to help Logan with his homework.”
“Did you forget your surprise?”
“I thought you would bring whatever it is when you come over?”
“Nope. This surprise is too big for me to carry.” He pressed another kiss to the corner of her mouth, then stared deeply into her eyes. “You want to spend the night with me? Greer is taking Holly and the kids to spend the night with Tate and Sutton.”
He saw the red flood her cheeks. “You didn’t? Oh, my God … I’m so embarrassed.”
“What’s to be embarrassed about?”
Her face flamed even redder. “They’ll know that we … that you … Oh, my God.”
“Don’t worry about it. I handled it … discreetly.”
“How did you handle it?” She eyed him suspiciously.
“I told Greer that if he cleared out the house for me tonight, I’d take him to King’s and buy him his own steak dinner tomorrow night.”
29
“It’s blowing away!” Jessie cried out, trying to save the umbrella that a strong gust of wind had blown out of his hand.
She helplessly laughed at Dustin as he chased the umbrella while she ran after him, catching his hand. “Forget about it. Let’s go.”
Holding hands, they ran toward his house, both of them leaping onto the porch.
Jessie twisted her hair, wringing the water out. “This is the worst storm I’ve seen since last spring.”
“At least it’s not cold enough to snow.”
“It feels pretty cold to me.” She shuddered, feeling the cold raindrops sliding down her back. Forlornly, she looked at the clothes she dropped in the mud when she tried to help him catch the umbrella.
Dustin saw what she was staring at. “I’ll go get them.”
She didn’t release his hand when he tried to tug it away. “It’s lightning too bad. I’ll get them in the morning.”
A crack of thunder had her nearly jumping into his arms.
“You big baby, it’s just a little thunder.”
“My mama was hit by lightning.”
“Your mother wasn’t hit by lightning,” Dustin scoffed as they went to the door.
“She was. She told me so.” She ran inside as soon as he opened the door. “She said the only reason she didn’t die was because she was standing on a rug.”
“It didn’t happen.”
Jessie stared at him mulishly as he went to the hall closet to take out some towels. Coming back, he handed her one.
“I’m telling you it happened.”
�
�It didn’t,” he argued back as he dried his hair.
“How do you know? Were you there?”
“I didn’t have to be. It didn’t happen.”
“How do you know?” Wrapping her hair in a sarong on her head, she folded her arms across her chest stubbornly.
“Because she didn’t die. You would have me believe your ma didn’t die from a lightning strike?” Draping the damp towel over a chair at the kitchen counter, he used the chair to bear his weight as he took his boots off.
“You never believe the stories I tell you.”
Dustin raised his eyes heavenward. “I wonder why?”
“One day, when the little green men show up at your doorstep, whatcha gonna do then?”
“Shoot ’em.”
“You better not shoot my green men.”
Dustin eyed her as if she had a screw loose. “You know, when I get in these arguments with you, I just want to drive myself off a cliff.”
“Why?”
Jessie held her breath when his lashes lowered and his face turned sensual. She took a step backward, her butt hitting the back of the couch.
“Because you make me want to believe you. There is no such thing as little green men, other than in your own imagination.”
“You never know.”
“I know.”
Jessie put her hands on the back of the couch to steady herself.
“Why are you backing away from me?”
When he gave her a seductive grin, Jessie knew she was in trouble.
“I don’t like the way you’re looking at me.”
“How am I looking at you?”
She shivered when he started unbuttoning her blouse.
She took his wrists to stop him. “Like I am a combo platter from King’s restaurant.”
The sexy expression on his face was replaced with one that was much easier to handle. “Come on, I’ll get you a pair of Holly’s pajamas.”
Jessie went down the hallway with him.
Dustin opened a door, going inside to turn the light on. “This is my room. Wait here. I’ll get you the pajamas.”
Curious, Jessie went inside, seeing a full-sized bed with a blue comforter spread on the top. The window had blue curtains, which Jessie rushed to close when she heard a crack of thunder. The room was small, much smaller than the bedroom at her house.
“Will these do?” Dustin asked, coming into the room holding the pajamas out to her.