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“Well, we can’t go without dessert after a meal like that. What kind of host would that make me?”
“I’m the one who left the ice cream to melt. I suppose I can whip up some cookies if you have the ingredients. I make a mean chocolate chip.”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid we don’t have ingredients for much of anything.”
What was he getting at, then?
“You mentioned you got the ice cream from a well-known town attraction. And that Sonya and I had to check it out sometime. What better time than the present?”
Without waiting for her answer, he picked up his little sister and set her down on the counter. Then he proceeded to sign and gesture. Jess had to bite back a laugh when he made a motion of licking an ice cream cone.
The scene before Jess sent an undeniably clear revelation through her mind. Though their first impressions of each other had been less than idyllic, and though she’d only known him a few short days, she seemed to be growing fonder of Jordan Paydan than she wanted to.
She had no idea what to do about it.
* * *
The place was a madhouse. Jordan took a look around at the hustle of activity around him as they made their way to the ice cream line. The very long ice cream line. A group of kids ran past them and he noticed the look of longing that passed over Sonya’s face. Hopefully, she would meet some of these very same children when she started the swimming classes at the center.
Jess was right. This place offered so much more than ice cream. A volleyball net was set up a few feet behind the ice cream shack with what seemed to be a very intense game. Several diners sat under a large tent full of picnic tables. A couple of teenage boys were tossing a Frisbee in the field adjacent. Across the parking lot was a full-fledged mini-golf setup. Bimby’s was packed with adults and children alike. Not to mention some livestock. Was that a chicken that just ran by his feet?
“Wow,” was all he could manage as they stopped at the end of the line.
Jess laughed at his reaction to all the activity. “This is relatively slow for a Saturday evening,” she said, surprising him.
“I’d hate to see what busy looks like for this place.”
“We’d still be in the parking lot trying to make our way to the ice cream line.”
Several more people came to stand behind them. “We could be here all night waiting.” Though he could think of worse things than enjoying a pleasant evening chatting with the woman standing beside him. He was truly enjoying her company and had been since she’d walked onto his patio a few hours earlier. In fact, the thought struck that he didn’t want this evening to end. Stunning, really. Considering his usual idea of a good evening would be an elegant dinner in a five-star restaurant somewhere Midtown followed by drinks and slow dancing on one of the rooftop clubs that he liked to frequent on dates.
He would certainly enjoy those things with the woman next to him.
Stop it.
This was a simple outing for ice cream. He had to try and ignore the unwelcome attraction to a woman he had absolutely nothing in common with. Nor did he have anything to offer. Not at this stage in his life.
“The lines actually go by pretty quickly,” Jess answered him. “Bimby’s scoopers are experts at ice cream efficiency.”
She was right. In hardly any time at all, they had each received their orders and were sitting at one of the picnic tables. Sonya’s sundae was the size of her head and she was making a complete mess. There was no way she would finish it. But Jordan hadn’t had the heart to tell her no when she’d pointed to the special scribbled out on the chalkboard.
“What do you think?” Jess asked him, lifting her cone and then gesturing to all the activity around them.
“I think so far you’ve proven yourself a commendable tour guide,” he answered. “Who knows when we would have heard about this place if it wasn’t for you.”
She laughed. “It was one of the first places I visited when I moved to the vineyard.”
He studied her. There was so much about her he didn’t know. He found he was terribly curious to find out.
“How long have you lived here?”
“About three years,” she answered.
