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I snorted. “Don’t worry, we all survived after you left. You didn’t have to lie.” I was teasing her, mostly, and was shocked to see she looked genuinely flustered and even hurt by my words. I couldn’t wrap my head around someone being so legitimately sweet, but it seemed she was. “Look, I’m sorry. I can be a bit abrasive sometimes. Don’t mind me.”
She sighed gustily. “Well, thank goodness you admitted it. That’s exactly the word I was searching for. Of course, I’m way too polite to say it to your face.”
It took me a second to spot the mischievous spark in her eyes but, when I did, it was delightful. Miss Loblolly showing some fire made me feel hotter than I expected. Who would have thought a little white lie could be so sexy, and then she topped it off by calling me out.
“Okay, now that the truth is out, you should take me all the way to this other place,” I said.
“Sure, why not?” She pushed ahead of me to lead the way.
I would have enjoyed a more enthusiastic response, but I was quickly distracted by the enticing sway of her backside as she nimbly strode up the trail. I hurried to keep up, eager to learn what she planned on doing on her day off. I wanted to see if I could make myself a part of those plans for more than just the next hour or two.
Chapter 10 - Luna
Hiking with Jax wasn’t how I planned to spend the morning, but after the initial mortification of getting caught in my lie wore off, I found myself having fun. He was easy to talk to when he wasn’t being bossy or trying to make me think he was an expert at charity gala planning. Since he looked purely huggable, lost as usual, but completely oblivious to the fact, I had a brief moment of the same panic that drove me from the farmhouse the night before. I wasn’t used to having such strong reactions to anyone, especially not such a perfect physical specimen of a man that I wasn’t even sure I liked.
A long talk with my sister before I went to bed the night before made me stop freaking out. Like any good big sister, Lynette told me to stop being silly, stop viewing everything as a project I needed to excel at, and for goodness’ sake, stop freaking out because I happened to enjoy the company of a gorgeous man.
And he was certainly gorgeous, especially every time he hurried to help me past a tight spot on the trail, looking down at me with care, as if I might drop dead if I got the slightest scratch from an overgrown bush. Normally, I would have rolled my eyes at such over the top chivalry, but it worked for him. Maybe I wouldn’t have been single if more men acted that way. But then again, if I wasn’t single, I wouldn’t be out on the trails getting tingles every time Jax sidled up to me and held back the low branches so I wouldn’t have to stoop to walk under them.
The little insecure voice in my head told me he was probably like that with everyone and it didn’t mean anything, but a few times I snuck a glance behind me to catch him checking me out. I didn’t mind it one little bit. Knowing he found me attractive felt good, and it made me walk with more swagger than I normally did. When we came upon a fallen log, I waited patiently for him to catch up, almost holding my breath to see what he would do. Would it be a repeat performance? The darn thing was about a foot and a half above the ground and a five-year-old could have easily cleared it without a hitch in their breath, and as stupid as I felt, I wanted those hands of his around my waist again.
He didn’t disappoint, easily lifting me up. Instead of putting me down on the other side of the log, though, he pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me. I held onto his shoulders with my feet dangling half a foot off the ground.
“Um, hello,” I said, my cheeks flooding with color. His body felt like a furnace compared to the cool breeze wafting through the trees.
“Hi,” he said with a smirk. “I bet you’d have no trouble getting over this on your own.”
“I don’t know about that,” I said, finding it hard to catch my breath with his hard chest so tight against mine I could feel the thump of his heart through his t-shirt.
He jumped over the tree as nimbly as a mountain goat and set me down on the other side, locking eyes with me. His hands still rested on my waist, but barely. Just enough for me to make the next move, whatever that might be. Oh, the possibilities.
Holy crap. I had a sudden, overwhelming desire to grab him behind the head and drag him down into the dirt and leaves for a make-out session, something I’d never done in these woods in all my years of coming here. And something I never planned to do, either. Swallowing hard, I turned and marched onward, jamming my hands into my running jacket pockets to hide the fact they were trembling.
Thankfully, the scenic overlook was close, and I kept my distance while he admired the view and took pictures. I was pretty sure he snapped a few of me while I pretended to be entranced by the remains of an abandoned bird’s nest, and tried not to lean to make myself look better. What was he doing to me? I never even acted so self-consciously in middle school with my first crush, Ronny Cheng. I certainly wasn’t acting like an adult who had full control of her faculties.
We made it back to the parking lot where I was sorry to have to say goodbye to him, but knew it was probably for the best, unless I wanted to embarrass myself by jumping on him. If we were going to make out, it would have been better hidden away in the woods than on the hood of his car. I waved a casual goodbye, managing to drag myself away from him toward my own car. There, I’d taken my sister’s advice and enjoyed myself, and wasn’t stressing at all about what came next. Mostly because I was fleeing the scene before anything else could come next.
Instead of letting me leave in peace, he hurried forward to open my car door for me after I pressed the key fob to unlock it. He held it open as I slid in, all the while smiling down at me. That smile of his gave me one of those shivers I was beginning to associate with Jax. How did one shiver when they were burning up? My hand shook as I fumbled my keys and his face turned dark with concern.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
It wasn’t just unbridled lust. I realized I was so hungry my stomach felt like it was twisting inside out. “I didn’t eat breakfast because I didn’t think I was going to be out here so long,” I said. “Or doing so much exercise.”
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a slightly crumpled energy bar and pushed it toward me, then yanked it back as he shook his head. “No, this isn’t enough. You need real food. Surely there’s a restaurant in this town I can take you to?”
“There are several restaurants,” I huffed. “Nice ones, too.”
He laughed and tugged on my hand. “You’re so serious about defending this place. Stand down, I didn’t mean anything by it. Come on, we’re getting some lunch in you before you pass out.”
“I’m fine,” I said, still letting him pull me toward his rental car. So much for fleeing. He tucked me into the passenger side, making me crack up at his absurdity when he tried to put my seatbelt on for me. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”
“No way, it’s my fault you went so long without food.” He started the engine and waited for me to direct him to the nearest restaurant.
The sandwich shop in the middle of the town square was bustling with customers, as it always was at lunchtime. They made a mean tuna melt and it was the only place for the people who worked at the nearby shopping center and the mayor’s office to get a meal without driving. It was inexpensive enough that most people treated themselves there several times a week, with me being one of their best customers since Dr. Keller’s office was just around the corner.
Jax told me to order for him since I was the expert. “I’ll order for you when you’re in New York,” he said.
I stared at him, but saw he was looking over all the local artwork on the walls and had just thrown out the comment casually. Of course he had. I wasn’t going to New York any time soon. Or ever. When our sandwiches, fried pickles, and deluxe chocolate chip cookies were ready, every table and booth in the place was taken.
