Page 26 of I'll Carry You

She was visibly nervous as she slid into the car's back seat beside him. Not a bad nervous. But an alluring innocence to it made him want her even more. Yet now that she had left the bar with him, that confidence seemed to slip a bit.

He reached over and took her hand, interlacing their fingers. The action made her visibly relax, and his heart settled at a steady pace. “My cabin okay?”

She nodded. “I don’t know that I’ve ever gone into a cabin when I haven’t been working.” Her pupils were wide in the darkness, her blue eyes almost diminished by them.

“You work a lot, don’t you?” His thumb brushed against the fleshy part of her palm, and her fingers tightened in response. Keeping her talking was a good idea. He wasn’t used to women who were nervous like this anymore. Reminding her of their connection would set her at ease.

“Six days and three nights a week.” She fidgeted with her purse. “The cabins are the undemanding job. Mostly, I get to sleep and man the phones. Sometimes there’s a late check-in, but they give us a heads-up if that’s the case.”

“And the rest is at the café?”

“I split my time between serving and the kitchen. I prefer baking, but the money is better for serving. More tips.” She pulled the éclair out of her purse. “Actually, I made this earlier this morning when I was at the café.”

“That’s impressive.” The idea surprised him. He didn’t know why. But it seemed like an advanced skill for someone who mostly took orders and answered phones.

She popped open the container and broke off a piece. “Want to try it?” She held it out to him.

He wasn’t the biggest fan of sweets, but he didn’t want to offend her by saying so. Taking it from her, he ate it. The flavor was incredible, the delicate pastry melting against his tongue. He swallowed. “This is amazing.”

“Thanks.” She licked the pastry cream from her fingertips, and he almost groaned.God, this woman.The freaking car needed to go faster.

“I’m serious. I don’t eat a lot of desserts, but this is one of the top ones I’ve ever tasted.” He wasn’t exaggerating to get in her pants, oddly enough. Did he sound genuine? It barely sounded sincere to him, so there wasn’t any way she would believe his motivation. “I’m really not just saying it. You should open your own bakery.”

“I want to, but it’s not so simple.” A wistful expression lingered in her eyes. But something else. An ember of excitement that he sensed she didn’t discuss often.

“Because you don’t want to compete with your boss?”

“That’s part of it. Bunny taught me everything I know. Setting up my own bakery might really hurt her, and she’s like family to me.” Jen played with her necklace. “But it would be amazing to have a place on Main that I could call my own. There’s this old hardware store that used to belong to Colby’s great-grandfather, and it would be perfect. But the building needs a ton of work, and I just don’t have the money for something like that. I could never get a business loan.” She sighed. “Someday. Maybe.” Her lips tipped in a smile. “You have some left right here.” She leaned over, brushing some crumbs from his lips with a featherlight touch.

Now she was just messing with him.

The power dynamic between them was unusual. She seemed to take it back from him effortlessly but not in a commanding way.Aggressive.That fact was unbelievably alluring.

He reached for her fingers, then kissed them smoothly. He returned their intertwined hands to her lap, grazing her thigh. “No wonder you were going to enter a baking competition.”

Her sigh was an unhappy one. “Yeah, but I can’t now. It’s for couples only. I was hoping to askmy date.” Her eyes darted to the rearview mirror toward the driver. The driver kept his gaze level with the road, clearly aware of the intimacy of their behavior.

She’d been hoping to ask the idiot who had let her go tonight. Jason felt a twinge of guilt. “Maybe next year?”

She shook her head. “It’s not like a yearly thing or something. It’s being sponsored by a cable television network and has a twenty-five-thousand-dollar prize. Which I could really use right about now. But I guess it’s not meant to be.”

“Well, it’s not twenty-five thousand dollars, but”—he fished a twenty from his pocket—“I grabbed this from the ATM for you because I knew you would win. Which you did, actually. So congrats.”

She laughed, pushing the money away. “No way. It was a tie.”

He smirked and rolled it up, then shoved it in her purse. “A bet’s a bet. I would have expected you to pay up.”

They pulled up in front of the cabin. Thank God TJ had found some seedy motel that had a room available. Of course, if TJ saw who Jason had brought back, he’d probably call him insane.

And maybe he was insane.

He wasn’t used to this level of overanalyzing who he took home. After TJ had shown him the footage of Amanda and Chad together, he’d sworn he would control the circumstances of any encounter with a woman. Never give them hope for something more.

But he’d been clear with Jen. The rest was on her.

He unlocked the door and let her step in before him.

Now her lack of experience in this sort of situation bubbled closer to the surface. That woman he’d brought back from the bar the other night had practically ripped his clothes off at the door.

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