Page 39 of His Perfect Bride
Thirteen
Jackson stared at the ceiling beams of the barn, swiftly calculating the degrees of the angles needed to build a loft.
After working with Caleb throughout the day on the barn, his mind had begun to design the rest of the interior to make it as efficient and productive as Caleb needed. Now that Jackson had allowed his thoughts to go that direction, he couldn’t stop them.
“Jackson?” A woman’s voice came from near the barn door.
It was Sage. Only her voice had the power to interrupt his calculations and draw him back to reality. No one else had ever been able to do that.
He liked that she’d started using his given name, doing away with formality. It felt right.
He moved out of the corner stall he’d helped Caleb build. The darkness of night had fallen, and Caleb had lit a lantern that hung from a rafter at the front of the barn. The young man had been quiet company for most of the day, just the way Jackson liked it.
Now that they were retiring—the men sleeping in the barn and Sage and Willow taking the bed in the cabin—Caleb had disappeared to say goodnight to his wife. Jackson had no doubt that Caleb’s goodnight involved some fairly passionate kissing, having already caught Caleb sneaking kisses with Willow whenever he thought no one was looking.
It had been obvious Caleb was in love with his wife and that he couldn’t keep his hands off her. It had also been obvious Willow adored Caleb in return and relished his stolen kisses and couldn’t get enough of them.
Watching the two interact had only made it all the harder for Jackson to hold in check the feelings for Sage that were growing exponentially. Since first meeting her, his affection may have started slowly, but now it was multiplying with every passing hour so that it felt like it was already at ten to the power of twenty. Soon it would border on infinite, beyond the capability of counting or equations.
As she stepped inside the barn, she was clutching a shawl over her shoulders…and her hair was unbound. He’d never seen her hair down before, and now it swirled in long waves, falling nearly to her waist. The faint lantern light cast a shimmer over her, turning the strands into burnished gold, warming her face, and brightening the blue of her eyes.
His breath snagged in his chest, and every single thought fled from his mind except for her. Nothing else compared. Nothing else was worthwhile. She was all he needed and wanted. There was even a part of him that didn’t know how he’d ever survived without her.
“Jackson?” She paused and searched the spacious area at the front of the barn. It was sparely furnished, with only a few tools. The dairy cow was resting already on one side and lifted her head and turned curious wide eyes upon Sage.
Jackson stepped away from the new stall. “I’m here.”
Her gaze swung toward him, landing upon him with a force that once again sucked the air from his lungs. How had this happened that he was so consumed with her? Yes, partly the consuming thoughts were the way his mind always worked. But why now, when he’d all but given up on relationships? And why was he so attracted to her more than the other women he’d known?
She was different, that’s why. She was simple and straightforward with him, genuinely interested in what was important to him, accepting of who he was, and yet unwilling to coddle him.
He liked those things about her. Actually, he could probably list at least two dozen things about her he liked. Near the top of that list would be how beautiful she was.
She started toward him, a smile beginning to curve her lips.
He could only watch her approach with a sense of reverence. She was incredibly beautiful, so much so that he couldn’t even put into words how to describe her.
She stopped when she was several feet from him. “I stepped out of the cabin to give Willow and Caleb some privacy.”
“Excellent choice.”
Her smile crept higher. “I love seeing her so happy, and I’ve loved being here today.”
Did she want to stay permanently? “Then you want to stop working for Augusta and move here?”
“No, not at all. I couldn’t move here. I would just be imposing on them and the life they’re making.”
He breathed out a tight breath. He didn’t want her to move either. But he’d also seen a side to her today that he hadn’t witnessed before—emotional and happy and relaxed. If living with Willow would fulfill Sage, then how could he oppose that?
“Besides, Augusta needs me.” Sage clutched her shawl tighter.
“I need you too.” He tried to keep his voice light, knowing he had to hold back his ardor.
“You need my organizational skills.”
“Yes. Desperately.”
“And you need me to continue to make sure you’re well groomed.” She looked pointedly at his unshaven face.
