Page 92 of Love’s Silver Bullet

Son. Swallowing hard, Jake gouged a thumb to the socket of his eye to ward off a headache.

There was a hint of desperation in Finn’s voice. “You know, just enough to give our girl a little hope for one more year until she comes back home to us, safe and sound?”

“Come on, Jake,” Dash tossed in with a wide grin, “as gun-shy as you are about women, you could use a little practice.”

Jake cauterized both Dash and his brother with a nasty look, triggering even more laughter from his two ‘ex-best friends’ before he homed in on Finn with a deep draw of air. “Yes, sir, I would be happy to—”

“Liar,” Blaze said with a chuckle, earning another scorching look from Jake.

Giving a gruff clear of throat, Jake met Finn’s eyes once again. “—but only for you, sir.”

“I appreciate that, son, more than I can say. I know you won’t disappoint me.”

The scrape of Carmody’s chair jolted Jake back to the present as the dandy rose to his feet, lacing his fingers through Sheridan’s to tug her up as well. “Hate to disappoint you, old buddy, but ‘plannin’ ain’t doing, cowboy, because Sheridan already promised to be my partner in the next tournament.” He hooked an arm to Sheridan’s waist, his challenging gaze never straying from Jake’s as he leaned to press a kiss to Sheridan’s hair. Isn’t that so, Sugar Lips?”

Pink suffused Sheridan’s cheeks as her gaze flicked to Finn with a nervous smile while she eased from Gray’s hold. “Uh, about that nickname, Uncle Finn,” she said with a nervous tug of her lip, “Grace and I made Sophia’s mother’s recipe for Mexican wedding ball cookies one day, and I got powdered sugar on my lips”—she gave a feeble shrug—“so Gray’s teased me with that nickname ever since.”

Finn took a slow slip of his coffee, his gaze cool. “Seems a bit too intimate for just friends, Sheridan Marie.”

“Uh … anyway,” Sheridan said, quickly turning back to Jake with an apology in her eyes while she picked at her nails, “I did promise Gray to be partners with him in the next game, so maybe the next one after that?”

The smug look on Carmody’s face lit Jake’s fuse to white hot. Gaze flicking to Finn’s scowl and back, he nudged his Stetson up with a slow smile straight out of the Blaze Donovan handbook. “Well, actually, Half-Pint,” he said with a hand over his heart, “you’re leaving me in two days’ time, darlin’, and I won’t get to see you again till Christmas while college boy here”—he gave a stiff nod to Carmody—“will get to see you all the time. So, I was hopin’ to spend as much time with you as I can before you go.”

The blue eyes did a slow blink—once, and then twice—before a soft blush dusted her cheeks, and suddenly oblivious to everyone else around the table, Jake homed in on the woman he loved, willing her to read the deep affection in his eyes. “Please, Sheridan? For me?”

A knot ducked in her throat as she nodded, and Gray looped an arm around Grace’s shoulder with a heavy sigh. “Well, I guess it’s you and me then, sis,” he said, directing a polite smile to Libby and Finn as everyone rose from the table to commence with the tournament. “Dinner was wonderful, Mayor and Mrs. McShane, as usual, so thank you again.”

He motioned his head toward the cornhole platforms already set up in the backyard. “But it appears it’s time to ‘fling’ for our supper, so to speak.” Escorting both Grace and Sheridan down the wide set of steps that flared out to a well-kept meadow, he lobbed a cocky grin over his shoulder that spun Jake’s spurs all the more. “And may the best man win.”

“Count on it,” Blaze said as he draped an arm around Jake’s shoulder, cutting loose with a low chuckle that helped ease a touch of Jake’s chagrin. “Because truth be told, old buddy”—Blaze gave his best friend an encouraging wink. “He already has.”

CHAPTER SIXTY

“It’s hard to believe you’re leaving again in two days.” Jake’s voice was soft and low as he shredded a dandelion till his fingers stained yellow.

Sheridan bit back a smile, thinking Gray Carmody was a genius, given Jake’s possessiveness all week. “I know,” she whispered, a bit of melancholy settling in at leaving him and her family once again. Propped against a thick California oak, she sat beside Jake while they watched Gray and Grace go head-to-head with Blaze and Dash in the final leg of cornhole.

The sun slowly bled into the horizon with a scarlet tinge as she leaned her head against the smooth cracked bark of the tree. Boots crossed at the ankle, she absently threaded fingers through the wispy meadow grass on either side of her skirt.

Jake’s sigh was quiet as he threw the frittered puffs of dandelion into the air, work-roughened hands dropping to rest just inches from hers, twice her size as they tunneled into the grass too. “I’m … going to miss you, Sher.” She caught her breath when his pinky inched over to tangle with hers, pooling heat in her belly. “Are you going to miss me?” His voice was low and gruff with emotion, shallowing her air.

Oh, Jake, with all of my heart! “Of course I am,” she said softly, her words as breathless as she while she trained her gaze on Gray and Grace, too afraid to peek at Jake lest he see the lovesick look on her face. All at once, Gray glanced their way and gave her a wink, and her lips tipped up in a gentle smile, making her wish her uncle and brothers could know him for the lovable friend that he was.

“Are you … you know … as close to him as you are to me?” There was a thread of hurt in Jake’s tone that pulled her gaze to his, her heart thumping at the possessive look of love in his eyes.

A look of love so potent, she was compelled to lift a hand to skim her fingers along his stubbled jaw. “Oh, Jake, Gray is a dear friend whom I’ve definitely grown to love, but I’m in love with you, the dearest friend I’ve ever known.”

His Adam’s apple jerked hard as he cupped his hand over hers with a gentle squeeze. “Me too,” he whispered, eyes caressing her face with such tenderness, a shiver of warmth skittered her skin. His gaze dropped to her lips, and heat purled through her so strong, she thought she might faint.

He glanced up to where Gray was cheering his sister’s successful throws, and that hard-sculpted jaw calcified a hair. “Do you … think you could ever fall in love with him?”

She followed his line of sight to Gray and knew she should answer quickly to put his fears to rest, but the warmth and want he’d just unleashed begged for putting her own fears to rest as well. Fears of never being able to let another man in her heart, just like Jake would never let her into his. Of never getting married because her heart was already taken by someone who never would.

“I have to be honest with you, Sher, and tell you that despite my love and attraction for you, I have no intention of ever getting married—”

“Sher?”

She jerked her attention back, pretty sure the worry etched in his handsome face matched hers to a wrinkle. “I don’t know, Jake,” she whispered, gaze dropping to where his massive hand covered hers. The same hands that had always held her, comforted her since she’d been a little girl. And, she thought with a dangerous thud of her pulse, the same hands that had set her skin on fire with every hungry touch. She slowly looked up, heart wrenching in her chest. “Because nobody knows the future.”