Page 31 of Give Me a Shot

“Um, people watching, Doug?” Jess asked. “Did you consider asking Mo if he wanted to produce and perform for people at the same time?”

“Once the board found out about the possibility, they were all for it,” Doug said, suddenly intent on his laptop.

“And I bet we can guess who suggested it to them,” Jess said.

Doug shrugged.

“They’re also looking forward to your shows,” he said, still not making eye contact.

“Shows?” Mo and Jess asked in unison. She was surprised and…felt somehow lifted that his reaction had been the same as her own. They made brief eye contact, Mo’s gaze softening as he gave her a tiny nod. It sharpened as he looked back at Doug and crossed his arms. Mo seemed to have returned to hedgehog mode, but this time looked ready to attack.

“Ren Faires often have archery shows,” Doug said, continuing not to look at Jess. “Isn’t that right, Theo?”

Theo looked up from his packet, an eyebrow raised.

“I mean, yeah,” he said. “But aren’t we in the planning stage, here? You’re talking like Jess having shows has already been decided.” He glanced at her, looking unsure. Doug still didn’t look up from his screen.

“Doug,” Mo growled. Doug jumped.

“I mean, we are here to agree…on the details,” he said softly.

Ah. Ambushed again.

—

It was easy to have a quiet ride back to her house. Jess felt so defeated that it would have been difficult to talk. A small wave of relief washed over her as they turned down her street. She’d be inside soon and could take a long bath to soothe her head-to-toe aching muscles. The pain had flared in the middle of the meeting and still hadn’t abated. It seemed that Mo had needed to process on the drive back as well. Several times, she’d heard him taking slow deep breaths, his lips firmly sealed together.

“I’m very sorry,” he said after he opened her door at the curb. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked her to her front door. “I didn’t do enough to keep them from piling more stress on you.”

It had been decided that in addition to manning the archery stand and teaching guests to shoot, Jess would headline a fully choreographed show that would take place a minimum of three times per day, each day of the Faire. She had relented because of the extremely solid argument that doing so could bring in guests beyond Faire fans—people interested in archery who might become long-term paying students. Something else strange had happened. Cassie’s face had appeared in her mind’s eye, almost like she was nudging Jess to do it. Like giving her all to this Faire would make her sister happy. And since Jess had failed to make Cassie happy before the end…She cleared her throat.

“If you owe me an apology,” she said, “I owe you one. Icouldn’t get them to see past their own excitement to how difficult this is going to be for you.” They walked side by side up the steps of her porch.

He shrugged, hands in his front pockets.

“I’ll be okay,” he said. “Just put my head down and be mean, grumpy me.” His lips bent up on one side, but no hint of a smile reached his eyes. The sad, defeated look there broke her already battered heart. Before she could think, she cradled his cheek with her palm. The shock that blasted out of his perfectly still body nearly bowled her over.

“You arenotmean,” she said, stepping closer to him and grazing his cheekbone with her thumb. “You are not grumpy, or weird. You…” She fished in her purse with her free hand as she let the other drop to his chest, finding his gift and holding it up for him to see. “You’re a forgiving person who pays close enough attention to others tohand makethem something that theyneed.Please don’t say negative things like that about yourself anymore.”

At some point, they’d gotten even closer. Jess didn’t know if she’d moved, or if he had. The urge to kiss him was there. An urge she hadn’t fully registered during the evening, in spite of the bursts of attraction she’d felt but kept stuffing down. That urge that hadn’t manifested itself until it became an imperative. But she just couldn’t bring herself to move closer. She felt him take a slow, deep breath, which drew her attention to his slightly parted lips. She moistened hers and looked into his widened eyes.

“I—”

Mo darted forward and kissed her, cutting her off. Surprised, she smiled against his lips and immediately started kissing him back. His lips were warm and soft, his beard and mustache tickling her skin. The tingles coursing through her waned and surged again, her previous nervousness melding into arousal. She was aware of his hands coming out of his pockets, gently cupping the backs of her arms as he pulled her close. A moan slipped out of her, and she kissed him back harder, opening her mouth. He followed the invitation and did the same. She allowed herself to spread her fingers, to enjoy the hard warmth of his chest againsther hand. A low, grumbly sound escaped him, shocking her enough to pull back and break the kiss with a smile.

“Wow,” she sighed. “Thank you for that.”

He cocked his head to the side.

“Why would you thank me?” he asked, voice soft and grumbly.

“I don’t think that was very easy for you,” she said, letting her hand fall to her purse.

His cheeks reddened as he glanced down, a shy smile escaping him.

“How do yougetme?” he asked, looking up at her. “Almost no one does.”

She didn’t understand. He didn’t seem like that much of a puzzle. She shrugged.

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