Page 70 of Score to Settle
I squeeze Jake’s hand. “But it wasn’t your fault.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t have his back the night he got injured.” His shoulders drop and he swallows before turning to face me. “Hey, you OK on your own for a while? I’ve got something I need to do.”
“Sure.” I nod, hiding my disappointment. I hadn’t expected to be spending my last night at the ranch alone.
I’m halfway through packing my clothes and wondering if I’ll even miss Chase’s Stormhawks bedspread when there’s a soft knock at my door and a note slid beneath it. My name isscrawled across it in Jake’s bold handwriting, followed by five words:Meet me in the barn.
A thrill zings through me. I grab my coat and slip silently into a cold, still night. My breath mists in the moonlight as I hurry toward the barn. Warm light spills from the open door, casting a glow across the frosted ground, and a gasp escapes my lips as I step inside. Strands of twinkling lights hang from the rafters, bathing the cavernous space in a romantic shimmer. A nest of thick blankets and cushions are spread over the ground beside a glass-cased lantern with the flame of a candle dancing inside. Two glasses and an open bottle of champagne sit in a bucket of ice nearby. And in the middle of it all stands Jake, looking utterly gorgeous. “Surprise,” he says softly. “I wanted your last night to be special.”
“It’s magical,” I whisper. I walk into his open arms and he pulls me in close, his body solid and warm. “Thank you.”
Jake looks at me and his gaze is so deep, so intense, I feel like he’s seeing right into my soul. He smiles, kissing me gently before reaching for the champagne. When the two glasses are full and we’re sitting on the cushions he’s laid out, he points to the roof.
“Look,” he says and I follow his gaze to an open shutter high up in the barn. “It’s the perfect view of the night sky.”
I stare at the inky blackness, awash in a sprinkling of stars, bright against the dark canvas.
“Wow,” I breathe. “It’s stunning.”
“I used to come here a lot when I wanted to think about my dad,” Jake says quietly. “Being here, looking up at that big open sky—it made me feel closer to him somehow.”
Emotion swells in my chest at the vulnerability in his voice, the poignant memory he’s sharing with me.
Jake turns to me, eyes glinting in the light from the lantern.
I smile back at him. “And to think, I thought this was all about getting me into bed one last time before I leave,” I tease.
Jake laughs, a deep rumble. “That too,” he admits with a roguish grin. He sets down his glass and takes mine, placing it beside the ice bucket. Then he leans in, one hand coming up to cup my face, a thumb stroking my cheekbone. “But mostly, I just wanted to be alone with you on your last night here.”
My breath catches at his words, at the undisguised longing in his gaze.
Jake’s eyes drop to my parted lips. Slowly, deliberately, he lowers his head until his mouth hovers a mere whisper from mine. “Harper,” he murmurs, my name a gravelly caress. “I’m going to miss you so damn much.”
“I’ll miss you, too.”
“Does it have to be three nights?”
I laugh. “It’s Christmas, remember? Chase is home. You’ll forget about me. Besides, we’re spending all day Saturday together and Saturday night at Mia’s apartment.”Then it’s the penultimate game and the end of the assignment, I add to myself, feeling the disappointment knot in my chest.
I think Jake might kiss me, but instead he hands me my glass and taps his chest and I snuggle against him.
“When the assignment ends…” Jake says like he’s reading my mind. He trails a hand down my back as I stop breathing, waiting to hear what he’s going to say. “I wondered if I could take you out on a date.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “That depends. What kind of date?” Like there’s a chance in hell I’ll be turning him down.
He makes a noise in the back of his throat. “I’m thinking… the kind of date that involves a bookstore and a really good burger and ends with a very big bath with candles and champagne.”
“Hard to say no to that.” I grin. And even though it isn’t all the answers to what will happen next, it’s something.
We sit in comfortable silence for a while. I enjoy the sharp fizz of champagne on my tongue as I lean against Jake’s body and watch a plane tracking across the night sky.
“What are you thinking about?” Jake asks.
I smile. “I’m thinking about how I thought you didn’t like me, and then you do something like this.”
“When did you think that?” He huffs a laugh like it’s the most ridiculous thing.
“After the kiss in the hotel room, you pulled away. You said we shouldn’t.”
