Page 30 of The House on Blueberry Lane

He blinked. “Yes?”

“Who else was at the party?”

Did she want a list? And why was she interested? “Isaac Elloran, the two Witherspoon brothers—Ry and Duke—the fire marshal, Brody Dorsett and a guy, who grew up here and recently moved back to town to work at LaCroix Industries, by the name of Evans Toussaint. Kaegan invited all of us to go night fishing on his yacht next month. I told them I’d loved to join them if I’m still here.”

Her head whipped up so fast it was a wonder she didn’t get whiplash. That bit of information was of interest to her apparently. And was he seeing panic in the depths of her dark eyes?

“You’re leaving Catalina Cove?”

He was tempted to tell her no, not until he won back her love, proved that she had his. “Not sure yet. Things are doing better at this branch than I thought they would. That means I’m not needed here as long as expected. Dean is interviewing a bank manager for here. And we break ground on a new bank in Birmingham in a week.”

“Oh.”

Was that disappointment he heard? Or was it too much to hope? “I’ll take stock of how things are looking in another month,” he decided to add.

She nodded as she glanced around and then back at him. “I guess I’ve looked enough tonight for that earring. Maybe it dropped out of my ear near the porch.”

“You want us to look there now?”

“No. I’ll look in the morning when I leave for work.”

“And I’ll be sure to look around when I leave for my morning jog,” he said.

“You don’t have to do that, Jaye.”

“I don’t mind.” He offered his hand to help her out of the car. He braced himself for the impact he knew he’d feel from their hands touching. He noticed she hesitated only a moment before taking his hand, and his body began to sizzle. Her touch had him all ablaze.

Still holding her hand, he pulled her closer to him, not caring if their bodies touched in a way that would tell her he was aroused. His erection was a dead giveaway. But then there was truly nothing dead about his hard-on. It was very much alive and, at the moment, had a life of its own.

He recalled his decision to keep things nonphysical between them. She needed to know that he loved her and how much. But with her staring into his eyes and standing this close—even closer than they had the other day—it was messing with his common sense.

It was dark but there was a soft light from the porch, which meant they could be seen if anyone was looking. At the moment, he really didn’t give a royal damn. All he wanted to do was ease his mouth closer and capture hers with his.

“I think I need to go inside now, Jaye. Thanks for helping me look for my earring.”

“Anytime.” He swallowed and then said, “Vel?”

Too late, he’d said her nickname, which she didn’t want him to use. He braced himself for her sharp retort. Instead, she surprised him when she answered, “Yes?”

He wanted to tell her that he loved her, wanted her, needed her and, more than anything, wanted to marry her, but he knew now was not the time. She wouldn’t believe him. So instead, he said, “Good night, Velvet. Pleasant dreams.”

She smiled at him when she said, “Trust me, tonight they will be pleasant.”

She turned toward the house. He watched as she walked up the steps and entered her home. He decided right then and there that the next time their mouths came that close to kissing, they would.

CHAPTER TEN

VELVET WOKE UP the next morning with a huge smile on her face. Just like she’d told Jaye, she’d had pleasant dreams—more than pleasant—they’d been downright scandalous, naughty even. Last night, she hadn’t been able to get into her house quick enough to take a cold shower. Her goal had been to semi-seduce Jaye, but in the end she was the one who’d gotten all hot and bothered. Just knowing they were in such close proximity had nearly overpowered her.

She had deliberately done things that would get his attention, like twisting her backside in the air, rubbing her hands over the car’s interior and placing her body in positions where he couldn’t help but notice her. She was pretty certain that he had.

Glancing at her watch, she saw it was ten minutes past the time Jaye usually jogged past her kitchen window. What was up with that? Should she be concerned when she knew the man had an internal clock? When they had been a couple, she’d had a hard time convincing him there were times when it was okay to be fashionably late, and that you didn’t have to be the first to arrive each and every time.

She put down her coffee cup, deciding she couldn’t worry about Jaye’s no-show when she needed to get ready for work. She was about to walk out of the kitchen when she saw him jog across the yard. Instead of leaving, it appeared he was returning. That meant he’d gone jogging before she’d gotten out of bed.

He paused right outside her window to bend over. Her heart rate kicked up a notch when she saw him doing his cooldown exercises. Even from where she was standing, she could see drops of perspiration trickling off his face and rolling down his neck, shoulders and back. Lordy, his sweats were low on his hips, and why on earth was he bare-chested? It was February for heaven’s sake, and since Catalina Cove was so close to the water, mornings tended to be cool. But the weather didn’t seem to faze him. And if jogging hadn’t been enough, now he was on the ground doing crunches.

Intense desire surged inside her, and she moved closer to the window. She didn’t want to get too close, since she didn’t want to be seen. Velvet stood with her gaze fixed on Jaye until he finished his crunches. When he stood and began running in place, even more perspiration covered his face and barreled down his chest to disappear in the waistband of his sweats.

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