“I guess so,” she said, and shivered. “That kiss…”
Instantly, his body fisted. He trailed his fingers up and down her spine, enjoying the sparks in her eyes as she reacted to his touch. “Yeah, I’m thinking about that, too.”
“What’re you thinking exactly?”
“I’m thinking we should do it again as soon as we get clear of this place.” He waited to see her reaction.
“And I think that’s a great idea.” She slid her hand along his shoulder to the back of his neck and ran her fingers through his hair.
He gritted his teeth, glanced around the crowded room, then shifted his gaze back to hers. “Then let’s do some fast introducing you to a few more of these people and get the hell outta Dodge.”
That smile of hers was all the encouragement he needed. Leading her off the floor, Jesse made stops at several groups of people. If his friends wondered about why he stopped to say hello and then left again seconds later, it didn’t matter to Jesse. Jillian charmed them all and he watched with a weird sense of pride. She’d been dropped into a new town, without knowing a soul, and she was handling it all with a lot more confidence and style than most would have. She was stronger than she thought and that appealed to him on multiple levels.
She was creative and kind and ambitious. She was a damn good mother and a hell of a kisser. Everything he discovered about Jillian Norris made him want to learn more.
A part of him was bothered by that realization. As he’d told Will, Jesse wasn’t in a position to offer Jillian all the things a man should. He already had a family he had to look out for because of his own carelessness. How could he promise someone else forever when he already owed a debt to his sister and her son that he could never repay?
A sinking sensation opened up in his gut as he watched Jillian smile and laugh at something Sheriff Nathan Battle said. His wife, Amanda, slapped her husband’s forearm playfully, then leaned in and whispered something he didn’t catch to Jillian.
Still smiling, Jillian looked up at him and everything in Jesse turned over. Her eyes, her smile, the fall of her hair and the touch of her hand all combined to twist Jesse up into so many different knots he couldn’t begin to untangle them. All he knew for sure was that he wanted her more than his next breath.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Twenty minutes later, they were headed for the door. Jesse got her wrap and his hat, then led her out into the cool summer night. The black sky glittered with stars that not even the streetlights could dim. A soft wind shot down the street, lifting the ends of Jillian’s hair and flipping at the hem of her skirt.
She laughed and admitted, “I won’t remember half of the people I just met.”
“You’ll meet ’em again,” he told her. “When they come to buy our pies.”
“Our pies?”
He winked. “Partners, remember? For now.”
For now.
Jillian told herself she’d do well to remember those two words if nothing else from tonight. And she wondered if he wasn’t trying to tell her that more than their business partnership was “for now.” What they felt when they were together wasn’t a declaration of love buzzing between them. This was plain old-fashioned lust. Nothing wrong with that—as long as you didn’t try to convince yourself it was something more.
A pang of regret jangled her nerves before she could stop it and she shivered a little as she tried to let it go.
“You’re not cold, are you?”
“No, it’s nice tonight.”
He studied her in the dim glow of a streetlight, and Jillian tried to read what he was thinking, feeling, and failed. “If you’ve changed your mind about this, just say so. I’ll walk funny for a week, but it’s all right.”
Shaking her head, Jillian reached up, cupped his face between her palms and drew him down for a kiss that seared them both. Lust or love, this was too big to ignore. She had to have him with her even if it was only for this one night.
His arms came around her like steel bands. He lifted her off her feet and a part of her thrilled to it. In the glow of a streetlight, he kissed her deeply, letting her know without words that he wanted her as badly as she did him. That was powerful and for tonight, it was enough.
When he finally tore his mouth free of hers and drew in a deep breath, he said, “It’s been killing me, waiting to get another taste of you.”
A laughing couple burst through the door behind them and Jesse reluctantly set her on her feet. “But this isn’t the place for it.”
Last chance, she thought. Last chance to change her mind and turn away from what she was feeling before it overwhelmed her. But even as she thought it, Jillian knew it was already too late to go back. Maybe it had been too late since the first day she’d met him.