Page 55 of Kissing Chaos
She snorts before giggling at herself. The lightness to her features, her mood elevated, brings my heartrate up. It takes everything in me not to kiss the chaos before me.
“Hilarious. Pouring in. More like trickling as slow as molasses. I had three clients follow me, but their next big projects are still a few months away.”
“You can always work as a farmhand. Declan could use someone to groom and tack horses for him while Drew is still getting his strength back.”
Jett shakes her head but leans closer into me, snuggling into my side. “I can’t be that close to Reece all day, every day. We’ll strangle each other with baling twine.” Her ill-placed humor has her giggling again, and it’s the best sound I’ve heard in years. Making Jett Taylor laugh is one of my new goals in life.
“I asked around about making your dream come to fruition.”
“You mean the one that’s meant to stay a dream?” Shaking her head again, she huffs a breath before leaning back against the couch, eyes closing. “I’ve asked around. I’ve checked the board at the bar. There aren’t any commercial lease locations available.”
Reaching back to squeeze my neck and hoping like hell I’m not overstepping, I say, “I talked to Kelsey. She’s interested in giving you a starting place at the bakery. She has that whole extra room that is just sitting space. You could create a mini bookstore set-up and offer your freelancing out of there, too, if you had clients that wanted to meet in person.”
Her eyes pop open, studying me. There’s a mix of embarrassment and what looks like awe on her face. “You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?”
“One of these days, you’ll believe that I’m in this for the long haul with you. I want you to succeed and to be happy.” I bring my hand up to grasp her jaw. “Don’t you dare shake that pretty head of yours ‘no’ one more time tonight, sweet girl. You are capable. Youcanmake your dream a reality, and this entire town will support you.”
Jett’s eyes get misty, but she blinks it back. “Well, when you put it like that.” She sniffs and takes a deep breath, holds it for a few seconds then breathes out slowly. “Why are you so perfect, Noah Slater?”
“Not perfect,” I say. “We just seem to balance each other.”
“Like order and chaos.”
“Like order and chaos.
My favorite smile graces her lips, the softest look in her eyes as she whispers, “Perfect.”
23
Noah
“If we blow this whole dating thing up, just remember that I told you not to waste your time with me.”
Rolling my eyes as we walk across the street to the bakery, I tuck her tighter into my side. “I know that. Actually, your exact words back in January were ‘hot mess central.’”
“Please save me from repeating my own words. I know what I said. I still believe it all, but I don’t need to hear it repeated back to me. No need to mock me.”
“Never, baby girl. I just wanted to remind you that you. Are. Wrong. You are a beaut’ inside and out—hot mess and all—and I want nothing more than to take you out—or in—if you’ll really let me. We can go to dinner, we can have a picnic, or we can hide out in one of our apartments and order takeout. Whatever scenario will get you to date me, I’ll gladly accept.”
I’m a relationship guy, through and through. I did thehit ’em and quit ’emthing in high school and my early twenties and realized pretty soon on that it wasn’t for me. I realized quickly that most women don’t want to stay trapped in such a small town. Then the one relationship I thought might have a chance was ripped away before we had the opportunity to try. Jett is the first girl who’s made me want to give a relationship another chance. As I tell her all of this, she stares at me, wide-eyed.
Chuckling, I say, “Crazy right? How could anyone hate living here? Everyone always in your business. One bank, one diner-slash-bar, one bakery, one miniscule grocery store and package store.”
“And yet you love it.”
“Don’t you? This place is a community. A family. If I needed a place to stay, ten people would offer a roof. If I needed groceries, I’d have meals delivered to last for days. That’s just how the people in this town are, and I absolutely love it. There is no where I would rather grow old. Hopefully raise some kiddos and teach them the same respect that this place taught me.”
“You want kids?”
“Not a deal breaker, but I can see little ones running around. Not in the loft, but there’s a rental of mine that I’d like to move into eventually. The view out the back window is phenomenal. Plenty of yard for dogs or kids.”
“You have it all planned out, huh?”
Opening the door to the sweet smell of baked goods and coffee, I say, “Sweet girl, if I told you every thought going through my head about the future, you’d have tucked tail and run before I ever got you out the door earlier.”
“Probably.”
“Not probably. I guarantee it, chaos.”
