Page 68 of The Billionaire Land Baron

Shelby met his gaze, still unsure of what he meant. His eyes were cloaked and heavy. With…sadness? Awareness washed over her as she realized that he was giving her an e-reader because Shelby was about to be moving, which meant losing her library. And being displaced somewhere for who knows how long.

The way the realization crashed into her made Shelby realize just how effective today had been in keeping her distracted from the reality that waited in Lucky. Losing her home. Figuring out what her mama wanted and why she came home. It all came rushing back over her suddenly. She didn’t want him to see her cry and stood quickly, leaving the e-reader on the sofa next to the books and the empty box. She hugged him so she could hide her face in his chest.

“Thanks, Jake. This was perfect. I guess I should get dressed?”

Without waiting for him to respond, she crossed the room and shut herself in the master suite before she lost control of her tears. Jake’s gifts were hard to take: the spa, the suite, the clothes, but his kindness brought her to her knees. Tomorrow they would go back to Lucky and the bubble on this tiny spread of happiness would burst, sending her right back into the mess of her life.

The mess she would handle. Life had always been messy and Shelby always handled it. She stayed and she figured out a plan. That’s just what she did. But losing Jake—she didn’t have a plan for that and had no idea how to move on from a crushed and broken heart like this. She had never felt strongly enough about a man to have her heart even touched.

Shelby pulled on the black cocktail dress and stood in front of the full-length mirror. She hardly recognized herself with her blown-out hair and painted nails and a dress nicer than anything she’d ever owned. It was too much—everything about this day and the realities just outside of it. Instead of going back out to see Jake, Shelby climbed into the bed in her dress and pulled the covers to her chin.

An hour or so later, there was a soft knock at the door. Shelby debated whether to call out that he could come in or not, but she didn’t feel like she could speak. The door opened slowly. She must not have locked it.

“Shelby?” Jake peeked his head around the door. When he saw that she was in bed, he crossed the room quickly, then hesitated a few feet away. He crouched down so that his face was just below hers. “Hey, you okay?”

Was she? Shelby nodded, but her eyes were still full of tears. She put a pillow over her head. “Fine,” she said, her voice catching. Maybe he’d just go and leave her wallowing.

“Except I think I’m wrinkling my dress,” she said, sniffling. She pulled back the covers a bit so he could see that she was wearing it.

He smiled. “I’ll buy you a hundred more dresses if I need to. But it still looks great on you. Maybe a little too fancy for pajamas, though. I would have bought you those too if you wanted.”

Shelby laughed, feeling the heaviness lift, just a little. Jake stood and nudged her. “Scoot over, Bacon.”

Surprised, she wiggled over in the bed and he kicked off his shoes and climbed in beside her. The late afternoon sun still stretched into the room, but they were both in bed now, covers up to their chin. He turned on his side to face her, propping his head up with his hand, and she did the same. Their faces were a foot or so apart and her feet stretched out, grazing against his knees. He was so tall.

“I think we’re a little underdressed,” Jake said.

“Huh?”

“The required attire for snuggling is black tie. I should be in a tux and you need a ballgown.” He cupped her faced with one hand, tracing her cheek and brushing hair back from her face. The tiny caresses sent her nerves singing. She couldn’t take her eyes off of his face.

“Should you call Maria?” she asked.

“Not yet. Maybe…in just a minute.” He moved his hand from her cheek to jaw, following the line down to her neck. Shelby shivered. He started to pull his hand away, but she grabbed it and brought it to her mouth, kissing his palm.

“Jake, I don’t want our day date to end.”

He stiffened. Shelby couldn’t meet his eyes, so she stared down at his hand in hers, tracing over his fingertips and his knuckles and the curve of his palm. He pulled his hand away and she felt hot tears start again. She closed her eyes, willing them to stay inside her eyelids.

Jake’s hands cupped her face. “Shelby, look at me.”

She hesitated, but then opened her eyes, sighing softly. A few minutes before, Jake’s gaze had been touched with sadness. The emotion there now was just as intense, but it wasn’t the same. She drew in a breath. It was a look that she had seen in Matt’s eyes for years when he looked at her. It was the slow burn of love.

“Jake?” She wanted to ask him a thousand questions, but he cut her off with a kiss.

When she had kissed him in the pool, it had been unexpected, fueled by her jealousy and desire to stake her claim. Jake had clearly been surprised, but had kissed her back without hesitation, his lips soft and their faces wet from the pool.

This kiss was different. He kissed her slowly, like they had all the time in the world. There was passion heating up between them, but restrained. Jake was making promises with his kisses, showing her that he felt the same way. We have time, his lips promised. All the time in the world.

She could feel this in the way his lips moved on hers, slowly, gently, and then with more heat. Every part of her body lit up. All the worries and fears were lost in the love that she felt as their mouths moved together. He pulled away after a time. It could have been minutes or hours. His eyes moved over her face, admiring. His fingertips traced over her eyebrow, the swell of her cheek, her jaw.

“Jake,” she said, not sure how to say what she wanted to say next.

He smiled a slow smile. “You don’t have to say it. We should probably get out of this bed. I suspect you’re not that kind of girl.”

“I’m not,” she said.

“Neither am I.”

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