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“Read it to me,” he said, and then he draped an arm across the back of the couch. His arm wasn’t touching her, but he was definitely increasing his presence.
Heat crawled up her neck as she began, but she continued, trying not to be self-conscious about her writing. Yet, she wondered the whole time what he thought of it. When she finished the first chapter, she closed the laptop.
“That’s it?” he asked. “I’m waiting to see what happens with Sandy’s job promotion.”
“Spoiler. She gets the job.”
“Ah, good to know. And her loser boyfriend? Is she going to start taking Ryan seriously? He’s the one treating her right.”
“You’re pretty good at catching all the foreshadowing.”
His brows furrowed. “What shadows?”
“You know.” She elbowed him. “The plot device we talked about in English class. Where the author leaves a clue of what’s to come.”
“I still have no idea, but I believe you,” he said. “You paid a lot more attention in that class. I think I spent most of my time paying attention to you.”
Jana wouldn’t allow herself to blush. “When you say things like that, it makes me think you’re flirting with me. And we’re both past that.” She was pretty sure she’d shocked him, but he merely turned toward her.
“You know… since my divorce, I’ve done a lot of thinking.” He paused. “I’ve gone about a lot of stuff wrong in my life, and I hope to correct that one thing at a time. Might take me forever, but it’s all I can hang onto for now.”
“What are you trying to correct?”
“Flirting with women who I know I don’t want to end up with,” he said.
“So… I’m a special case?”
He didn’t answer at first, then surprisingly, he moved to his feet. “You’ve always been special, Jana. I don’t think I appreciated it as much as I should have, though.” He extended his hand.
Now, it was Jana’s turn to hesitate.
“I won’t bite, promise.”
She placed her hand in his larger, warmer one. She ignored the appearance of her trusty goose bumps and rose to her feet easily with Knox’s help. He didn’t release her hand, but rubbed his thumb over her wrist.
Tingles zoomed up her arm, and she wanted to lean into him, press her cheek against his T-shirt. Feel his arms about her. But his sweet words and regretful tone wouldn’t make her a fool twice.
“Well, thanks for listening to my chapter,” she said, pulling her hand away even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. “The jam should be done now, so back to work.”
“Best story time I’ve ever been to,” Knox said as he followed her into the kitchen.
She turned off the water canners, then lifted their lids. Steam billowed out, the moisture clouding over her.
“What can I help with?” Knox asked.
She hesitated, and he noticed it.
“I’m serious, I don’t have to be anywhere for a couple of hours, so I’m all yours,” he said. “Unless you’re sick of me? You can kick me out, you know.”
She glanced over to see his beautiful smile. She might have melted just a bit. “All right. I’m going to let these jars cool before setting them on the table. But in the meantime, we can prepare the next batch.” She snatched an apron off the hook on the pantry door. “You’re going to need this.”
He dutifully tied on the apron as she tied on hers, and soon, they were standing side by side, washing raspberries she’d fetched from cold storage.
“See, I’m already an expert,” Knox teased.
Standing so close to him was making her pulse rise again, because they were doing something so domesticated… like they were best friends. Or something more.
“Now comes the measuring, then the smashing of the fruit.”
