“It looks great in here, Em.”
She rested her hand on his bicep, and his heart skipped a beat. He loved how casually she touched him. It felt so right.
“We’re ready to get the vendors in here,” she said.
“Yeah. That’s next on the agenda.” He linked his fingers with hers and gave her a gentle tug. “I have a surprise for you.”
Her pretty face lit up with a smile. “Oooh. I love surprises.”
“I know.” He towed her toward the barn entrance. “Let’s go.”
“What is it?”
He smirked. “A surprise.” His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he ignored it. Most likely it was Claire, and he had no interest in talking to her.
She groaned. “I hate it when you keep things from me.”
He laughed. “You’ll like it.”
Jake and Emily strolled through the cool, cloudy day to his garage. He punched in the code, and the door hummed as it made its journey upward.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
She did as she was told, lids pressed together tightly. He didn’t think she could get any cuter.
His phone vibrated again, but he continued with his plan. After taking her hands in his, he guided her over to the refrigerator. Bending down, he whispered in her ear, “Stay here, okay?”
He was almost certain she shivered as she nodded.But he must’ve imagined it. Why would he make her shiver?
He filled a cup with cider and then returned to where she stood with her eyes closed. “I’m going to give you something to drink, but I need you to keep your eyes closed.”
“I will,” she promised.
“Here, put your hands out.” He placed the cold cup in her hands. “Drink this.”
While Emily complied, his phone vibrated again in his pocket, but his eyes were focused on her lips. He tried to dismiss the rush of heat that moved through his veins, whispering to him over and over that he should cover her lips with his.
As if reading his thoughts, Emily’s golden-brown eyes flew open. “Jake! What did you do to this cider? It’s out of this world!” She brought the cup to her mouth and took another sip.
“I’ve been working on perfecting it at night, and I realized I needed to ferment it more,” he explained. “I wanted you to be the first one to drink it. I think it’s ready to be sold now.”
She beamed at him. “For real, are you serious?”
He nodded.
She whooped, pumping her fist in the air. “Fantastic! We can use the label I already created. I’ll get them printed ASAP.”
“Yeah, let’s do it.”
In the distance, Jake could hear a siren begin to wail faintly. His phone started vibrating again. The world may have been trying to distract him from this woman, but he couldn’t pull himself away from her. He kept his eyes focused on Emily as something passed over her face. She set down the empty cup on the chest freezer beside her and touched his shoulder.
Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him against her. “I’m so proud of you, Jake. Truly.” She said the wordssoftly next to his ear, sending an avalanche of emotions racing low in his stomach.
He rested his hands on her hips as he inhaled the scent of her perfume, smelling faintly of flowers. Holding her now, like this, definitely felt different. The familiar yearning that had burrowed into his chest weeks ago awakened once again. He couldn’t ignore it any longer.
He was attracted to Emily.
And he needed to know if she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
