Page 81 of Someone to Tempt
“Do I need to be protected from you?”
He pauses as he opens the passenger side door of the truck. “I hope not.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I think the opposite might be true.”
“No.” I lean around the edge of the door and kiss his cheek. “We’re in this together, Jake, for as long as it lasts.”
His hazel eyes darken with something that looks like disappointment, and I glance away. We both need the reminder that there’s an end date on whatever this is between us.
I like rules and limitations because they make life easier to navigate and keep me safe. But my heart isn’t on board with that plan. Instead, it’s defying every boundary I set, and I can’t seem to—don’t want to—stop it.
“Did you just kiss me in public where anyone could have seen it?” Jake asks as he turns the key in the ignition.
“I don’t want to sneak around or hide any part of my life.” I force my hands to loosen when Jake places his on top of my balled-up fists. He can’t understand what those words mean to me, and I don’t know how to tell him.
“I don’t want to hide either, Iris.”The words are right, but I don’t understand the tension in his body. Maybe he’s just reacting to my anxiety. I draw in a deep breath as the truck rumbles down the street.
Resting my head against the back of the seat, I gaze out the window, willing myself to relax. It’s a perfect October afternoon, the sky impossibly blue and the aspen leaves shimmering like gold coins in the sunlight.
“Where are we headed?” I ask as he turns down a gravel road just before we get to the edge of his grandfather’s property. “There’s nothing out this way.”
“I’ve got everything you need, sweetheart.”
He says the undeniably cheesy line with so much conviction that I burst into giggles. His affronted growl makes me laugh even harder. He reaches out with one hand and playfully smacks my jeans-clad thigh.
“Woman, you are terrible for my ego.”
“Your ego’s doing just fine.” I link our fingers, and his smile softens as he glances down at our joined hands.
It’s not the first time we’ve held hands, but it might be the first time I’ve initiated the contact. It means something to me, letting someone in when I’ve spent so long keeping everyone out.
Jake tightens his hand around mine without saying a word, like he realizes the weight of the small gesture.
“Been to Echoveil Lake?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I didn’t think anyone went up there.”
“No one has since Grandpa closed the summer camp. It’s been pretty much deserted. Maybe a few hikers snap pics of it. Anyway, I thought we could have a picnic and take out one of the boats.” He says the words casually, but his voice is tight.
“Are you sure?”
“It was my grandpa’s suggestion, actually, and it’s a good one. I haven’t been up here since Mikey and I visited as kids.”
He moves to pull his hand away, but I hold on as he continues, “I also haven’t been on a boat since the night he died. Shit. Today is supposed to be fun, not a trip down traumatic memory lane.”
“This month has taught me something important about fun,” I say softly.
He keeps his eyes on the road “What’s that?”
“Fun is less aboutwhatyou’re doing and more aboutwhoyou’re with—the camaraderie and spirit of being with a person or people you…” I hesitate. I refuse to use the word love, not with things so tenuous between us. “With people you care about.”
He glances over like he knows the omission of that one word is purposeful.
“I could probably have fun with you in a hardware store,” I tell him.
“We’ll see about that,” he says. “You have a loose step on your front porch.”
I laugh. “That thing has been there forever. It’s a game I play to hop over it, especially when I’m carrying loads of groceries.”
“We’re going to fix that step.” He taps his fingers on the steering wheel. “And it’s going to be fun.”
