“Those jars are still hot, but you can taste the leftovers from the canning pot.” Felicity turned off the element on the stove. Then she picked up some hot pads and lifted the lid of a large pot. Steam rose, and she waved it away. She grabbed a wooden spoon and scooped up some strawberry jam, then tasted it. “The strawberries are extra sweet. Want to taste?”
She held out the wooden spoon. Leo had no trouble closing the distance to the still-warm jam. The sweet strawberry flavor seemed to explode on his tongue. “Wow, that’s good. It’s like dessert.”
She smiled. “There’s quite a bit of sugar in the recipe, but a good crop of strawberries can make a difference.”
She was about to set the wooden spoon down, when he reached for it and took it from her. He dipped the spoon back into the pot and took another taste. “You could sell this stuff.”
Felicity looked up at him, and he tried not to notice how her lips were now stained with the strawberry jam, which meant his probably were too. “Where would I sell it?” she asked.
“The Fall Festival, or go bigger and sell it to the Main Street Café.”
Felicity took the wooden spoon from him, dipped it into the pot, then took another taste. “It seems like a lot of work. Plus, you know, I like the simple life.”
Leo tried to hold back a laugh, but he failed. “Right. Eat, sleep, and read.”
Her cheek dimpled, and Leo had the strangest urge to lean down and kiss right where the dimple was. Instead, he stepped back. The kitchen was really warm at the moment. “Can I get some cold water?”
“Sure, water bottles are in the fridge.”
So Leo turned from Felicity and grabbed a water bottle. He drank the whole thing down, and when he finished, he found that Felicity was watching him, an amused expression on her face.
“Thirsty?” she asked.
“Thirstier than I thought.” He located the garbage can and threw away the water bottle. “Do you need help?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Do you know how to make strawberry jam?”
“I can learn.”
She shook her head and picked up the pot from the stove. “We’re already running late.”
He crossed to the table and picked up one of the warm jars of jam. “We can go to the shelter tomorrow.”
“I’m working until close tomorrow,” Felicity said. “So I might as well start the search now.” She turned on the water in the kitchen sink and set to scrubbing out the pan.
Leo grabbed the wooden spoon and set it in the sink, then picked up a wash rag and got it wet. Without waiting for instructions, or permission from Felicity, he started to wipe off the strawberry stains on the counter and stovetop.
“You really don’t have to clean up,” Felicity said.
Leo glanced over his shoulder. “I don’t mind.”
Her eyes connected with his. “All right, then, if that’s the case, I need to go change.” She glanced down at her white tank top, and his gaze followed.
“Either way,” he said with a smile.
Her cheeks pinked more. “Funny. I’ll be right back.”
She crossed the kitchen, passing so close to him that their arms brushed. Leo stilled as she continued out of the room and headed down the hall. He watched her go, noticing the small rose tattoo on the back of her neck. He was left wondering how a simple touch, barely a touch, from Felicity could send his pulse into overdrive. Had he waited too long to start dating, and now he was finally dealing with one of those legendary rebounds?
No. He didn’t think so. He could admit that he was attracted to her and found her intriguing, but feeling electric had never happened to him before. It was good that she’d gone to change, because the combination of her attire, this warm kitchen, and the delicious, sweet strawberry jam was melting away any reserve he might have about kissing her—a woman he’d only recently met.
“You cleaned up everything,” Felicity said, coming into the kitchen again.
Leo hadn’t even realized he’d scrubbed every inch of the counter and finished washing out the canning pot. He turned to look at Felicity. She was still wearing the black leggings, but she’d changed into a longer shirt with sleeves that had a tiny floral print on it. The pale-green color matched her eyes and the glasses she’d put on.
“Glasses again?” he asked.
She tilted her head. “Yep. Do you like them?”
Leo wanted to laugh, but he didn’t want her to take it wrong. “I do.” She’d also taken out her high pony tail, and her dark hair fell in waves past her shoulders.
Her gaze settled on his, and she smiled. “Thank you.”
He smiled back. “You’re welcome.” He seemed to be rooted to the ground, even though his mind was telling him to move.
Her smile turned more questioning as they both stood there, looking at each other. “Ready to go?”
Leo blinked. “Uh, yeah.”
She crossed to the pantry, and he watched as she retrieved a small box. Then she set three of the warm jars of jam inside the box, along with another dish cloth. “So they don’t knock against each other in your car and break.”
“Nice idea,” Leo said. “My mom is going to flip when she tastes it.”
She looked up at him. “You live with your mom?”
“No, but I’m going to take her a jar.”
One of her brows quirked. “If your mother is Italian, I’m sure she can out-cook and out-bake me any time.”
“She is a good cook, but she’s never made jam.”
“Well, then, I don’t mind you sharing with your mom.” She picked up the box.
Leo crossed to her and took the box out of her hands. She relinquished it easily. And he caught her scent of vanilla, now mixed with strawberry. She turned away and headed to the front door. Leo followed, kind of wishing their date tonight wasn’t going to include Grant and another woman.
When they’d settled into his car, and he’d started the engine, Felicity asked, “So, where do you live?”
“I have an apartment in the complex by the rec center.”
She nodded. “Do you have roommates?”
“No. I have a two-bedroom, but I like the extra space,” he said, pulling onto the street and heading out of the neighborhood. “Growing up with so many brothers and sisters made me really appreciate not having my stuff moved, borrowed, or broken.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard,” Felicity said. “Except I always thought it would be fun to have a brother or sister.”
Leo caught the nostalgia in her voice. “When you marry, you’ll have a bunch of new relatives.” He had no idea why he’d said that, but Felicity didn’t seem annoyed by a marriage reference.
She reached for the radio dial and changed the station.
“You don’t like country music?” he asked, surprised that she’d been brazen enough—on a first date—to change the station.
“Not particularly.” She settled on some sort of rock station. “I like something with a little more energy, a faster beat, you know. Not the crooning of how it’s five o’clock somewhere.”
Leo laughed. “You did not just diss on Alan Jackson.”
“Oh, is that who sings the song?” she said in an all-too innocent voice.
He glanced over at her. The dimple on her cheek gave her away. “I don’t think you’re that clueless.”
Her smile grew, and she looked out her window. “Where are we going?”
“To the shelter.”
Her brows furrowed. “Like a wild animal habitat or something?”
Then he realized he’d taken a wrong turn, and they were heading up the Pine Valley Ski Resort road. He couldn’t remember taking a wrong turn, well, ever. “I wanted to show you the view.”
“Funny.” She was gazing at him, and he wondered if he could blush. “You’re totally covering up,” she added. “I’d think a police officer would have a permanent Map app in his head.”
He slowed the car and pulled over to the shoulder of the road so that he cou
ld make a U-turn. Before flipping the car around, he turned toward her. “I’m blaming you because you’re kind of distracting.”
Her eyes glimmered with humor. “How do you think I feel?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going on a date with a police officer,” she said. “That’s kind of intimidating.”
“It’s my job.”
She puffed out a breath. “It’s not only a job. Me working in a bookshop is a job. No one calls me when they’re having the worst day of their lives. You’re the person everyone calls when they’re in crisis. And you put yourself into dangerous situations on purpose. Not only that, but you carry a gun, like, all of the time.”
Leo stared at her. It was all true, but was this how she really felt? Intimidated by him? Janna had wanted him to quit the force because the income was too low for her standards. “Does my profession bother you?”
She looked away for a moment, then back at him, with those inquisitive green eyes. “I don’t know. I mean, it defines you, since I didn’t know you before you were a cop. It is what it is.” She shrugged. “Maybe it’s just nerves, you know, since we’re kind of on a date.”
He didn’t like that answer either. “Do I make you nervous?”
She reached for the air controls and turned on the AC. “Not nervous in the way you might think. It’s more like hot. You make me feel hot. And I’m always cold, but around you, I’m not cold at all.”
He couldn’t agree more. He turned up the AC one more notch. “Well, I guess we’re even, then. You make me hot too.”
She laughed and slapped his arm. “Don’t tease.”
He caught her hand. “I’m dead serious.”
Her expression sobered, then her cheeks pinked. She looked down at their clasped hands, but he couldn’t have looked away from her if he tried. Slowly, he linked their fingers. He heard her breath catch, and he felt like he was out of breath himself.
“Maybe we should just kiss,” he said, “so that we can both cool off.”
She snapped her head up, and her lips parted. “I don’t think so. I have a first-date rule. No kissing.”
“That’s good,” he said with a chuckle. “Because I have a rule about dating too. I never kiss the woman first.”
Her brows knit together. “You wait for her to kiss you?”
“Yeah.” He couldn’t believe they were talking about his. Maybe he should turn the AC up another notch. “I learned my lesson the hard way my senior year in high school.”
Her smile was back. “Oh, do tell. High school drama is the best.”
He grinned. “Well, it wasn’t funny at the time, but I was dating a girl for a few weeks—which is like eternity in high school—and I finally made my move at a movie theater.”
Felicity groaned. “Not the cliché dark movie theater.”
“Yep.” He squeezed her hand. “The kiss was terrible. Sort of like kissing a fish, or my sister.” He made a face. “And the next day at school, she told everyone that I tried to make out with her . . . which it never progressed to . . . and that she’d only gone out with me because she felt sorry for me.”
Felicity stared at him. “Okay, wow. That’s hard to recover from. But I don’t get why she felt sorry for you.”
“I don’t either,” he said with a smirk. “Because I’m a total stud, as you know.”
She smirked right back. “I guess the rumors are true; cops are cocky.”
“If that’s my only flaw, then I’ll take it.”
She tugged her hand away, then she surprised him by reaching up and adjusting something on his collar—a collar he was pretty sure didn’t need adjusting. But the brush of her fingers against his neck sent a thrill of heat through him.
“Well, Officer Russo, since there’s no kissing on this date,” she said, resting her hand on his shoulder, “I think we’d better turn around and drive to the animal shelter.”
He leaned toward her. Her scent of vanilla and strawberries was intoxicating, and he was sure she’d taste equally good. Her lips curved into a smile, but she didn’t move, waiting to see if he could really refrain from kissing her, challenging him, tempting him.
“Are you sure?” He lifted a hand and twisted a lock of hair around his fingers.
“I’m sure.”
He dropped his hand. “All right, then. Let’s go.” As he turned the car around, he could see out of the corner of his eye that she was smiling.
Felicity probably shouldn’t be teasing Leo so much, because the thought of kissing him was making her stomach do some serious acrobatics. His dating rule was unexpected, and, well, it kind of worked out perfectly. It sent the ball into her court, so to speak, and she’d already decided that getting involved with Leo would put her way out of her comfort zone. Her comfort zone of only casually dating guys on a very short-term basis. Leo didn’t seem to be a short-term guy.
He was intimidating, simply because she found herself liking him more than any guy she remembered ever liking. And she’d only known him for a few days. And there was all that cop stuff she’d told him about, which was true. If they did date, and if they did break up, it wouldn’t be like she could just forget about him. He lived in the same small town as her, protecting and serving everyone.
They’d been silent on the rest of the drive to the animal shelter, which might have been awkward on a date with any other man, but not with Leo. His very presence seemed to fill the space between them. That was what set him apart from other men she’d dated, she decided. Leo had a take-charge presence. And he was sweet. And funny. And, yes, hot.
Her gaze slid over to Leo. He wore a tan-colored, button-down shirt that was nice, yet casual, and the color brought out the olive tone of his skin. His sleeves were rolled up, even though the day was cool, and it gave her a view of the corded strength of his forearms. Then there were his jeans. Which pretty much fit him perfectly. She’d noticed them when she’d first answered the door, and she’d tried not to stare at him in the kitchen. In or out of uniform, he was a handsome man.
She forced her gaze back to the window now that her face was heating up because of her thoughts. She really didn’t want to be one of those women who threw herself at a man, no matter how tempting that man was. And apparently Leo expected it. He wouldn’t be the one to kiss her first. Didn’t that make him the most cocky man alive? Probably.
“Do you come here much?” Felicity said as Leo parked the car.
“Sometimes,” he said. “We bring strays here, or dogs who’ve escaped their owners.”
His warm brown gaze connected with hers, and she looked away before she could get lost in his eyes and start talking about things like kissing rules again. She reached for the handle of the door, and he said, “Hang on.”
She paused, then realized he meant to come around the car and open the door for her. So she stayed in her seat while he climbed out and did just that.
When he’d opened her door, she climbed out, but he didn’t move to let her pass. She looked up at him, her heart thumping.
“First rule of going to an animal shelter,” he said, resting a hand on the car next to her so that she was standing between the door and his body.
A rash of goose bumps moved along her arms at his nearness. She waited for him to continue.
“Don’t pick a dog on the first day,” he said. “Look at as many as you want, and then sleep on it before making a decision. The one you keep thinking about is probably the one that’s right for you.”
“Sounds like you have experience,” she said.
“My family had a few dogs.”
“And it sounds like you have a lot of rules.”
He smiled. “I am a cop.”
She laughed. “All right, Officer Russo, let’s go find me a dog.” She moved past him, brushing against him, because he still hadn’t gotten out of the way. She heard him chuckling as he followed her inside.
The woman at the front desk, a blonde woman with the name tag of Lesli, looked up expectantl
y as Felicity walked in.
“Hi, can I help you?” she said with a scant smile.
Leo entered, and the woman’s smile turned Cheshire. “Officer Russo, you’re here.”
“I am here,” he said.
Felicity noticed the humor in his voice, as if he found Lesli’s comment funny. He crossed to the desk and placed his hands on the counter. “Did you get my message?”
“Sure thing, hon,” Lesli said, her blue eyes sparkling. “We just got in a yellow lab. He’s about two years old and a real go-getter.”
“Hyper?” Leo asked.
Lesli paused. “He’s still a pup.”
“We’ll take a look, but I’m not sure if my friend wants hyper.”
Lesli’s gaze darted to Felicity, and she didn’t miss the narrowing of Lesli’s eyes. “So, is this your girlfriend, Leo? ‘Cause she sure isn’t your sister.”
Felicity decided she didn’t like Lesli.
“She’s definitely not my sister,” Leo said in a good-natured tone. “And you know I don’t have a girlfriend.”
Lesli had the decency to blush. “Right. I would be sad to see you off the market, hon, if you know what I mean? Remember you have my number, and my nights are always free.”
Leo didn’t take the bait. “What’s the lab’s name?”
“The owner didn’t say.” Lesli rose to her feet. She wore a tight black shirt and even tighter jeans. She almost waddled when she walked, and her heels didn’t do her any favors.
Felicity decided that if Leo checked her out, then she’d be finding another way back home. It wasn’t that she didn’t think he had the right, but this Lesli woman was completely blatant in her attentions to him.
But points went to Leo when he turned to Felicity instead. “You said you wanted a larger dog, right?”
Felicity took a moment to process his question, since she’d been so caught up in throwing imaginary darts at Lesli. “I want a nice dog who doesn’t hysterically bark. He should only bark when bad guys or raccoons come into my yard.”
Finding Us (Pine Valley Book 5) Page 8