Page 35 of Done

Her eyes skimmed down my body as she nodded, taking in my jeans that held tight to my thighs and the button up shirt I had chosen instead of my normal t-shirt. The sleeves had been rolled up, because it was a pretty warm evening, but it was still as dressed up as she had seen me.

“Let me in,” I whispered, with a demanding tone.

She backed up and I opened the door myself, stepping into her small space. It was still minimal as far as decoration went, but I noticed a few boxes against the wall and a picture that had been hung above the couch.

“I feel underdressed,” Jesse finally confessed, smoothing her short summer dress down her waist.

“You’re perfect,” I practically growled. It didn’t matter what she wore, she was perfect, but the dress really was a good choice for the night. “I must have been looking really grubby if you think this,” I motioned to my clothes, “Is making you look overdressed. It's just jeans, baby.”

“I…I…know,” she sighed. “But you look really good.”

My chest puffed out and I stepped closer, grabbing her waist and pulling her against me. “You know how to flatter a guy.”

“I think I’m just done being as spineless as you claim to have been.”

“Weak? Worrisome?”

“Exactly.” Our foreheads were together, and the breath from between her lips cooled mine as she blew a heavy sigh.

Leaning in closer, I licked my lips, knowing I was going to kiss her and readying myself for how much more I could possibly feel for her once we connected. She was moving toward me, as well, her body trembling beneath my touch.

“Are you going to kiss me?”

I smirked because she was asking a question that she already knew the answer to. Had I intended to come in and kiss her first? No. But the decision was made for me when she looked at me the way she had. “I have?—”

“Fire truck!”

Before I could tell her that I had no choice, Max’s voice forced us apart. Jesse looked around the room as if she had been looking for something, and I looked up at the stairs toward the little voice.

“Hey buddy!” I clapped excitedly. “Are you ready to do some dancing?”

He carefully held onto the bars of the stairs and made his way down. I stood at the bottom, waiting for him, and with three steps left, he jumped into my arms.

We spun around, checking on Jesse, who had picked up a bag and held it tightly against her chest. She seemed to be back to her usual self, smiling and watching Max and me. There were no signs of her heavy breathing or indecision about the dress she wore. There was no desire in her eyes, but her gorgeous green gaze held so much love for the little boy in my arms.

We made quick work of getting into her car—she buckled Max into his seat while I grabbed a blanket from my truck and threw it into her trunk. Then we headed onto the main highway, our conversation taking on a casual and familiar tone. We shared more of ourselves. Some deep stuff about our parents, but mostly it was light, and I learned a few more things that I hadn’t even thought to ask in my binder.

She loved the rain and Chinese food. She’d never had fried okra, which, I warned her, was illegal since she was born and raised south of Tennessee. I told her Grams grew her own and made the best I had ever tasted, which led to me telling her about our Sunday dinners.

Max sat in his chair quietly listening to every word we said. He was too young to realize his mom and I were in the middle of creating a foundation for the passion that simmered between us. At the time, I hadn’t realized it either. But I knew I would always hold those innocent conversations close to my heart. It was unlike any other moment in my life, where I yearned to know every detail of a woman.

Jesse did that to me.

Not far past where my grandparents lived, there was an old dirt road with nothing but peach tree orchards on either side. I slowed the car and turned, making Jesse look at me suspiciously from the corner of her eye.

“This isn’t scary at all,” she joked.

“I know a back way.”

“To where?”

Without answering, I bit my lip and suppressed a smile. There was no telling if she would like what I had in store, but it was exactly where I’d have spent the evening even if she hadn’t agreed to come.

Another quiet mile down the old dirt road and we turned into a field that was being used as a parking lot. Rolling down my window, I flashed a parking pass to the attendant while Jesse eyed the top of the rides and booths that peeked over a tall fence.

“A carnival?”

“Harmony Haven’s yearly festival,” I smiled. “Everyone comes to listen to the music and dance.”

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