Page 45 of Simply Yours

Caitlin’s heart thundered in her chest.

“You really mean that,” she breathed, stunned, still reeling from his touch, from the sincerity in his voice.

Jason held her gaze, steady and sure. “And what I said before?”

She swallowed hard, her pulse a wild, erratic thing in her throat.

“I meant that too,” Jason murmured, his voice rich with something unspoken, something undeniably real. “I think you’re pretty, and I want to get to know you better.”

Her stomach flipped. Her world tilted.

“Just like that?” she whispered.

His grin was slow, deliberate, carrying the kind of confidence that sent a shiver through her.

“Yep.”

The single word hung between them, charged with a meaning she wasn’t quite ready to untangle.

Her heart hammered against her ribs, disbelief warring with something warmer, something dangerous. “You’ve never even looked at me before.”

His chuckle was quiet, rough-edged, and unexpectedly bashful. She wasn’t used to seeing him this way—slightly off balance, his usual easy arrogance softened by something more vulnerable.

“Oh, I’ve looked,” he admitted, his voice dipping into something low and intimate. His ears reddened slightly as if the confession cost him something, and his gaze flickered downward for just a moment before meeting hers again. “I just couldn’t act on it because you were friends with Matthew, seemed so much younger than me, or I was drowning in chores, duty, and other stuff.”

He hesitated, as if debating how much more to say, then exhaled slowly. “Things have changed for me… and I’d like a chance to see what this is.”

“This?” she repeated, barely managing to push the word out past the knot forming in her throat.

“With us,” he clarified, his voice steady now. He reached forward, plucking another honeysuckle from the display, his fingers brushing the petals with a tenderness that made her breath hitch.

Before he could drop it into the already overflowing cart, Caitlin shot out a hand, covering his wrist with her palm. The heat of his skin seared into hers, a brand she wasn’t sure she was ready for. Their eyes locked, and for the first time, she saw something in his gaze she’d never noticed before—something deep, unwavering, and wholly focused on her.

“What?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.

“There’s already too many in the cart.”

His lips curled, not in mockery but in something softer, something entirely too disarming. “If you like them, then I want them at my place too.”

Her stomach clenched, and she swallowed hard. The weight of his words pressed against her, sinking in, making her feel dizzy with the realization of what he was truly saying. There was no mistaking his meaning, no room to pretend he was joking.

“You really mean this, don’t you?”

His gaze didn’t waver. “Show me your world, and I’ll show you mine,” he said, an invitation wrapped in something deeper, something she wasn’t sure she had the strength to turn down. “Let’s begin by getting to know each other and go from there.”

A slow smile tugged at her lips despite the chaos in her chest. “By planting stuff in the garden… and having coffee together?”

“Followed by dinner because you are so overwhelmed by my gardening skills,” he teased, the confidence in his voice making her laugh despite herself.

She shook her head in disbelief, pressing a hand against her forehead. “You know what? You’re on—for all of it.”

His grin stretched wide, victorious. “’Bout time, Catnip.”

Caitlin groaned, dragging her hand down her face. “Caitlin,” she stressed, glaring at him.

His laughter rang out, warm and unrepentant. “My apologies,” he said smoothly, eyes twinkling. “I must have misspoken.”

She rolled her eyes, but her lips betrayed her with a smile.

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