Jane's Gift (Lone Pine Lake 1)

“No! You can’t forget Daddy. Ever!” Lexi ran off, her little feet pounding on the linoleum floor, and Jane turned to see both Mindy and Chris staring at her, eyes wide.

“I don’t think she’s as ready to move on as you are.” Mindy shook her head. “And I can’t believe you let her talk to you like that.”

“Please, you’re not helping.” Jane propped her arms on the edge of the table and rested her forehead in her hands. She hadn’t expected Lexi to hear her and Chris making plans.

She hadn’t expected such a negative reaction, either.

“Hey. We can put this off if you want—” Chris started.

“No.” Mindy spoke up, her voice firm, reminding Jane so much of their mother it was downright spooky. “You two should definitely go tomorrow. Lex will get over it eventually.”

“Are you sure, Jane?” Chris spoke low, his gaze locked on her face, and she gave a quick nod.

“I am.” But she wasn’t sure. She was scared out of her mind Chris might back out, freaked over her daughter’s temper tantrum.

Not that she would blame him. She was plenty freaked by it herself.

One part of her wanted to tell Lexi to buck up. The other part wanted to haul her daughter into her arms and cry right along with her. Guilt was such a terrible burden, but she was so tired of carrying it.

Tomorrow’s date might be a mistake. But she wanted to spend more time with the handsome fire captain. The way he looked at her, talked to her, touched her, it brought something forth that had been long dormant.

Desire. Need. And heaven help her, she wanted to explore it further. At least for one evening.

Chapter Four

Next time Chris saw Mindy Fenton, big sister of Jane Clark, he was going to give her a big hug and a bouquet of flowers. She deserved it for allowing him the opportunity to take Jane out on a bona fide Saturday night date sans kids.

Not that he minded the kids—okay, maybe they did make him sorta uncomfortable, especially after the outburst—but he wanted to get Jane alone so he could get to know her better. The Lexi episode had thrown him a major curveball, had made him waver. Was this something he wanted to pursue? A relationship with a woman recently widowed, a mother with children who still missed their daddy and were most likely working through issues he couldn’t begin to comprehend?

But then he remembered, the second he saw Jane last night at the recreation hall. Remembered how he’d turned into a fumbling fool. Almost spilling the pitcher of water in someone’s lap, tripping over the leg of a chair—he’d earned more than a few stares and inquiries of whether he’d had a few to drink.

Embarrassing, but also revealing.

He’d never reacted to a woman like that before, not even when he’d been a walking, talking hormone in high school. When he’d sat next to her, caught a whiff of her scent, saw a flash of her sweet smile, he’d grown dizzy. The urge to touch her had been overwhelming. And so he’d gone for it.

At first it looked like he’d made her uncomfortable, but she’d eventually relaxed. And he hadn’t wanted to let go of her hand, had only done so reluctantly because he needed to get back to work.

And then there’d been that big blowup with Lexi. She’d been so upset, almost inconsolable. He watched from a distance as Jane had talked to her, hugged her, held the little girl in her lap, and he wondered if he could ever be that good with children. If he even wanted to take on that sort of responsibility—caring for another man’s kids.

He had never considered it before. Could he handle a readymade family? And what the hell was he doing, thinking about families and kids and that sort of thing? He hadn’t even gone on a real date with her yet.

Clearly his attraction for Jane had messed with his brain.

After he finished his shift, he’d been almost afraid to join Jane, her sister, and their children. But Mindy had waved at him. The look on her face brooked no argument, so he’d moseyed on over.

He enjoyed every minute with them, too. Mindy had a terrific sense of humor and with enough encouragement, she’d gotten Jane to joke with her, got her to laugh. Mindy had even made Lexi laugh, too—no small feat. He’d smiled at the girl a couple of times himself, but she refused to budge.

It had been nice to see Jane relax and have a good time, especially since the last few times he’d been with her, she’d seemed so nervous and unsure of herself. He had assumed she would behave the same way that night, at least at first. He hoped he’d be able to calm her fears. Well, he wanted to do a lot more than that, but he knew that with this woman, he’d have to take it slow.

And he was surprisingly okay with that. He didn’t normally move slowly, but his gut told him to proceed with caution.

Now he had her in his car, sitting so close he could reach out and touch her. But he didn’t, instead keeping his hands firmly planted on the steering wheel as they headed down to Oakwood, the closest city to Lone Pine Lake. Though still small, it did have a movie theater, which Lone Pine didn’t.

“Anything in particular you’d like to see?”

“Um, I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I went to the movies.” She nibbled on her lower lip as they drove beneath a street light and he thought again how beautiful she looked. She wore a black turtleneck, a narrow denim skirt that hit her just above the knees, and black tights with black leather knee-high boots. Simple, yet the breath had been knocked from his lungs the second she’d swung open the front door.

He never thought turtlenecks were sexy before, but the way the clingy shirt hugged her breasts made him think otherwise. And the black tights and boots only emphasized her long, slender legs. Legs he could imagine wrapped tight around his hips while he…