Lucky in Love (Southern Bride 4)

“It’s from Australia. It’s called The Stump Jump. It’s a shiraz.”

“I love a good shiraz.”

Her teeth dug into her lower lip, and I ached to pull it free with my own lips. “Me, too.”

“Consider it done. Any certain year?”

She shook her head. I brought my finger to her chin and lifted her head so that her eyes met mine. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Saryn.”

Her throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “See you then, Truitt.”

I leaned down and kissed her mouth softly. Saryn reached up and grabbed onto my shirt and moaned into my mouth. It caused a rush of desire to race straight to my damn cock. I was going to have to go home and jerk off in the shower, no question about it.

Quickly, I stepped back and broke the kiss. It left us both a little dazed. I tipped my cowboy hat at her as she opened the door to her car. As she slipped in, I leaned down and smiled.

Saryn rewarded me with a smile that made my chest feel tight. Then I shut the door and watched her drive away. I was positive I wouldn’t be able to wipe the smile from my face if I tried.

“So, what happened last night?” Jack finally asked after bugging me about why I had come back to the shop the night before.

“Nothing.”

“So it’s just a coincidence that Saryn left the dinner party only minutes after you did. And you’ve had a damn smile on your face like you got…lucky last night.”

My head turned to him. “Lucky?”

“Yeah, you remember that, don’t you? Getting laid? Sleeping with a woman? Having sex. I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time, so that leads me to believe you got lucky.”

I chuckled. “Well, you would be wrong.”

He looked shocked. “No shit? Did you see Saryn last night?”

If Jack had wanted to, he could check the security cameras and see exactly what happened, another reason I had to stop the kiss last night with Saryn. Or I’d be erasing part of the security recording before he took a notion to snoop.

“I saw her. She stopped by here, we talked.”

“That’s it?”

Turning on the saw, I cut a piece of wood. I could practically feel Jack’s eyes burning into my back. The moment the saw went off, he was back at it.

“Nothing else happened? How long did she stay? What did she say about the playhouse? Is she liking it?”

“You really sound like a busybody, you know that, Jack? Are you taking lessons from Evie?” I said, picking up the piece of wood I’d cut and walking over to the window box I was making.

“Guilty as charged. I know she was here.”

I stopped what I was doing and shot him a look. He laughed. “No, I didn’t look at the security footage, but Lou told me she showed up last night.”

Lou. We had hired him to keep an eye on the place at night. I’d forgotten all about him being here. He had either walked in on us and back out of the shop without making a sound, or had seen our vehicles out front. He was a good guy, so if he had seen anything, I knew he wouldn’t be running his mouth all over town.

With a dramatic sigh, purely for effect, I faced Jack. His eyes lit up, and he looked as if he was about to get a birthday gift.

“Saryn stopped by. We talked, and I’m seeing her for dinner tonight. At her place. With…Liliana.”

He grinned like a school boy. “Fucking finally.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Dude, everyone can see how much you like her. You’ve always liked her. Even when we were in school.”

My mouth dropped open. “How in the hell did you know that?”

A look of hurt moved over his face. “I’m sorry, have we not been friends since like fifth grade? Ryan’s not your only best friend, jackass.”

I laughed and shook my head. “I know, but I didn’t realize it had been so obvious in high school that I liked Saryn.”

“Dude, why do you think Tim went after her? The moment he knew you were interested, he did everything in his power to keep you away from her.”

It felt like all the air in the shop suddenly got sucked out. I found myself not able to breathe, let alone think about what Jack had just said.

“What?” Was all I could get out.

“What?” Jack asked, confused.

“What do you mean, that’s why Tim went after her?”

Jack looked around the shop and then back at me. He looked conflicted before he finally spoke again. “You’ve never, since I’ve known you, looked at a girl like you do Saryn. It’s always been that way, Truitt. High school was no exception. I think it started when we were around sixteen.”

“And you never thought to say something?”