Page 13 of Worth the Trouble

He glanced at her as they continued down the street. He didn’t think she was the sort of person who would use him for information. Heck, she hadn’t asked much of him before laying her truth out for him to scrutinize. If she’d wanted to leverage any information she could have gotten from him, she would have lied about who she was.

That in and of itself was telling.

Jason scrubbed at his face with his free hand and blew out a breath.

He wasn’t going to let this information stop him from finding out more about her. There was an undeniable attraction between them. That much was certain. He might not have dated much in the last several years, but he knew what he wanted.

And right now, he wanted the woman who seemed to be at a loss for words.

That was a first.

When she stopped rambling, he knew she was upset. He didn’t like it, not one bit.

Jason nudged her shoulder with his. “Cece Williams, huh?”

She blinked and her cheeks flushed. “Yes.”

“From New York.”

Her lips twitched. “Correct again.”

“Can you tell me something?”

Once again, she went quiet. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she eyed him warily. Her thoughts were written all over her face.

He chuckled. “What do you like about Rocky Ridge?”

Her mouth opened then snapped shut.

“Come on, Cece, I told you mine. Now you tell me yours.”

This time she gave him that dazzling smile he adored so much. And the tension between them eased up a little. It was still there, but it was the sizzle he’d gotten from her since the beginning. The desire to reach out and touch her that continued to grow deep inside him. He nearly did, but instead, his hand curled into a fist at his side.

And he waited.

Cecelia rolled her lips between her teeth and glanced up at him again. “I like how the world seems to fade away when I’m here. I like how everyone seems to know everyone else. This doesn’t feel like a town. It feels⁠—”

Jason waited for her to find the rest of what she wanted to say. It wasn’t hard to hang on her every word. With each passing second, he knew he’d wait a thousand more if it meant getting to know her better.

“It feels like a family,” Cece whispered on a sigh before offering him a shy smile. “Boy, that sounds a little crazy, doesn’t it?” She released a laugh and covered her face with a hand, one he pried away from her before dipping his head to get a better look at her.

“No. Not crazy at all.”

Her beautiful wide eyes searched his before she narrowed them. “What? Why? This isn’t real, is it?”

Amused, he gave in to the temptation to reach for a strand of hair that floated around her face. He curled it around her ear before retreating. “What do you mean?”

The next sound she made was more of a snort than anything else. She gestured at him with the flick of her hand. “You. This. I just told you who I am and you’re not demanding answers? I’m sure you have plenty of questions.”

“You’re right,” he murmured.

Her face fell and she looked away, but once again he moved into her line of sight. “And I don’t care.”

“What?”

Jason shrugged. “You’re Cece. I’m not worried about who your father is or what you do for work unless it’s your passion. I just want to get to know the woman who keeps me up at night.” Jason winced inwardly. No, he didn’t have a lot of dating experience, but even he knew it was way too soon to say anything so revealing. He needed to backpedal, and fast, if he didn’t want to scare her off.

“You really don’t want to know anything about what my father’s planning?”