Page 58 of A Whisper of Summer Magic

“You can prove that hypothesis later,” she said, stepping even further out on the limb than she had that day several weeks before when she’d fallen out of the tree.

His gaze burned over her. “If that’s a green light, I’m in.”

“Green as my grass”

“Good, because you’ve been driving me crazy—not even on purpose or maybe you have.” He ran his hand through his hair, which emphasized the streaky sunny color and stretched his T-shirt across his pecs in a way that made her mouth water.

“I wish I were that bold,” she murmured. “I feel out of my league with you,” she confessed.

His WTF expression would have been comical, if she hadn’t felt so exposed.

“Join the club,” he muttered. “Let’s go for a walk before I do something R-rated and make us the topic of conversation all over town.”

He stalked off toward the curb and jabbed the button on the traffic light so they could cross into the park.

He snapped a leash on Whiskey’s harness. She’d never seen him do that. Whiskey always stayed close to him, but the park did have leash laws except for the fenced-in dog park area. All the while, she tried to catch her breath as her heart pounded as if she was finishing a sprint on a five-k run.

Was it true? Was he really attracted to her as much as she was attracted to him? It seemed impossible, but why not? She bordered on arrogance about her professional abilities, but she’d put all her energy into her brain, her career. She’d measured physical attractiveness against Jessica, who’d always been so stunningly beautiful that their mother had fussed over her, doted on her, signed her up for pageants where she won again and again.

Not everyone wanted that.

And Jessica was far more than her face and body.

Meghan had lived in her head, and now she wanted to inhabit her body—live a whole life: mind, body and spirit.

He handed her Whiskey’s lead, and they walked across the street while she wondered about what to do next. Should she hold his hand? Touch him? Say something? Never before had she felt so awkwardly self-conscious and as if the next step she took would be so portentous.

“Tell me about the little girl,” Jackson said as they stepped on the walking path.

“Oh, you know about her, sort of. She and her father came to Jessica’s nursery’s open house.”

“The guy you want to set up withSarah?”

“You don’t need to sound so dubious,” she chided. “It’s not like I have a cauldron back at the house or a… a voodoo doll.”

“Pretty sure those are two different things.” He looked amused. “But yeah, I’m… dubious.” He sounded like he was tasting the word. “Your vocabulary will keep me on my toes.”

He didn’t sound annoyed. Not something she could say about a lot of men who spent time in her company, but she couldn’t remember a single time she’d taken a walk with a man and his dog before. It was nice. The trees provided shade against the glare of mid-June’s sun and the sound of the water splashing in the fountain mingled with the sounds of children playing.

The pressure about what to do, what to say, if she should or shouldn’t make a move eased.

“This is nice,” she said tilting her head back to look at the sky, enjoying the warmth of the sun.

“It is, but I can’t help feeling that we are rockin’ a soft-core creepy stalker vibe, especially when we’re looking for a little girl.”

Meghan laughed. “You are not wrong, though my intentions are pure-ish.”

“My grandmother’s sister used to always intone the one about the road to hell being paved with good intentions so, Meghan Maye…” He paused, his smile teasing the corners of her mouth “Are you leading me astray?”

“Quite possibly.” For the first time in her life she felt like what G. Millie would wink about and call saucy.

“Lead the way.”

*

“This view nevergets old,” Jackson mused a couple of hours later after he’d accompanied her home since he’d only been working a few hours covering a colleague’s shift so he could watch his son’s baseball game.

Now they were outside in the fragrant fruit fields, harvesting some strawberries and early blueberries. She decided next year she would plant rhubarb. Jessica could use it making pies and she could add it to strawberry jam.

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