Page 88 of If Tomorrow Never Comes

He wrapped his hands around her wrists and pulled her in. His body was solid and warm and smelled as if he’d just stepped straight from the shower. “I’m up for it, all right.” He bent low and kissed her thoroughly.

Staying in for a private dinner had been a very, very good idea.

A muffled bark came from somewhere, and she pulled back, breathless. “Where’s Hank?”

Jamie scrunched his nose. “I put him in my room. I just thought you might not want his hair all over you tonight. I wasn’t sure what you’d be wearing, and ...” He trailed off, passing a hand across his jaw.

“That’s thoughtful,” she said. “But I love him, hair and slobber and all. You never have to put him away when I’m coming over.”

His face lightened. “Are you sure? You don’t mind?”

In response, she walked to his bedroom door and opened it. Hank came barreling out, nearly knocking her down.

“Did that mean old man lock you away?” she crooned, kneeling down to kiss his head. “I’ll never let him do that again. I promise.”

She glanced at Jamie and found him watching them with a fond expression, but one of his eyes was twitching. “Is it weird that sometimes I’m jealous of my dog?”

Laughing, she stood and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry. I’ve got enough to go around.”

He’d set up his kitchen table with candles, and he pulled out her chair to wait while he dished out their food. The rich scents of cumin and turmeric filled the kitchen. He paused after pulling the containers out of the bags and unbuttoned his shirt cuffs. Elliott watched, her eyes growing wide, as he rolled up his sleeves as if he were moving in slow motion. Each movement of his long, thick fingers and every flex and pull of the muscles in his forearms was like her very own private striptease.

When he paused long enough for her to notice he’d stopped, her gaze snapped to his face. His eyes were on her, his expression hot. When he spoke, his voice was like warm honey poured over her skin. “Never stop looking at me like that.”

She exhaled a shaky breath. “I won’t.”

He finished what he was doing and set the plates on the table, kissing her hard before he sat across from her. They talked about her business for much of the meal, and what she’d been working on for Chantal. She told him about a food-truck doughnut shop that was looking to start a brick-and-mortar store in Benson, and who’d called her after getting her card from Blythe.

Jamie listened attentively and got excited with her, and she realized she seldom felt so acknowledged—soknown—by another person.

“So I have a question,” she asked at the end of the meal, suddenly nervous.

He looked at her curiously. “Okay.”

“I was planning to go to Lincoln next weekend. To visit my parents.” She gripped her hands together in her lap. “Would ... um. Would you maybe want to come with me?”

A wide grin spread across his face. “Really?”

“Yes. I’d like for them to meet you, if you want to.”

“I’d love to.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jamie

“Ready for this?” Elliott asked, her eyes lit with excitement.

“I don’t think any man is ever ready to meet the parents of the woman he’s dating,” Jamie said. He’d worried about this day all week and peppered Elliott with questions about her parents day and night to be better prepared.

Okay, mostly during the day. At night they were ... otherwise occupied.

“But if they’re as great as you say they are, I think we’ll get along just fine.”

“Just remember what I told you.”

“If they ask me to play poker, I’m in.”

She nodded with a grin, and they exited the car. He opened the back door for Hank, who jumped out and immediately took off to sniff a nearby tree.

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