Page 5 of Silent Partner (Pine Falls 3)

After our weird staring contest, I went to open my door.

“I’ll get that for you,” he blurted. His eyes widened. “I mean, if you want me to.”

I nodded without a second thought. Well, I was thinking. Thinking things like, was this a date?

Brant hopped out of his truck and took his time walking around the back to open my door. I wondered why. Maybe he was regretting asking me to come, or he’d tripped and fallen.

When he did finally open my door, he was pale and it looked as if he had run his hand through his hair a dozen times on his short walk.

“Are you okay?”

He looked me over from head to toe. I was glad I had dressed nicely in dark skinny jeans and a tight brown sweater that matched my eyes and accentuated my curves.

“Kinsley, you are . . .” He paused. “I’m fine.” He was changing gears so fast my brain was getting whiplash.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” He thrust his hand out to help me out of the truck.

I happily took it, and for a brief moment time stood still as he curled his fingers around mine. I wondered if he, too, felt the earth stop and my heart pound as if it were beating for the first time. I felt it so strongly that my free hand flew to my chest. In an instant something deep within me changed, and I knew where I belonged.

Brant stared down at our hands as he helped me out of the truck, his grip tightening. Then his eyes flew up and met mine. As he drew me closer, I could see the fire burning in his deep-as-the-blue-ocean eyes. I was just about ready to rest my hand on his chest when he abruptly let go.

“It’s cold out here; we should go inside.”

“Uh—” I was still dazed. “Yes.” I shoved my hands in my pockets.

He turned toward his house and hustled down the paved path that cut straight through his snowy front lawn. I followed, taking my time to survey his Gothic-style brick home, now decorated for Christmas with real pine boughs and white lights. I remembered when he’d bought it. He’d said it was because it looked haunted, with its steeply pitched roof, flying buttresses, and stained-glass windows. To me, it was like a Disney fairy tale with a hint of Brothers Grimm. Somehow it fit Brant’s personality. He loved history, and this place was full of it. It was one of the first homes built in Carrington Cove in the early 1900s and was rumored to have been the final resting place of an infamous bank robber. It was believed there was buried treasure on the property. Though no one had ever found any.

While the outside of the home retained its Gothic flair, the interior had been renovated to resemble more of a modern home, with vaulted ceilings and an open floor plan that was light and airy.

“The house looks beautiful,” I commented on the Christmas decorations.

“Thank you,” he whispered without even looking back at me.

Maybe this was a mistake. He was obviously uncomfortable. “Would it be better if we did this another time?”

He stopped and clenched his fists. “No.” He turned and faced me, wearing a plastered-on smile. “I’m glad you’re here.” He sounded more than sincere.

“I am too.” I rubbed my arms, chilled by the mountain air. I hadn’t thought about going back in my grandparents’ house to grab my coat. All I wanted was to stay close to Brant.

Brant noticed. “We better get you inside.” He jogged up to his porch and unlocked the front door from which a massive pine wreath hung. He had so much pine on his porch, it smelled like one giant air freshener.

Brant opened the door and waved me into his chandelier-lit foyer. I meant to hurry past him, but whenever I got near him, I had to stop and admire him. Some invisible light, that seemed to shine from within him, drew me in like a tractor beam. I stood in front of him and looked up. Sometimes I forgot how tall he was, or how short I was, even in my heeled boots.

“Hi,” was all I could think to say while I was under his spell. To make it weirder, I said it way too breathily.

“Hi,” he responded, in a low voice and with a crooked smile, as if he knew exactly how he affected me and every other woman on the planet.

While staring at him, I no longer felt the chill of the night air. In that moment, all I could feel was him and the warmth that radiated from him.

He broke the spell by taking a step into the house and exhaling loudly. “We should probably start the movie.”

“Right, movie.” I rushed in, feeling starstruck and ridiculous. We were friends and running partners. I knew that. Really, I did. Jill. Jill was coming back. I needed to remember that. I shoved my hands into my pockets to remind me to keep them to myself at all times.

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