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Pappy gives me the sweetest smile, taking my hand in his and patting the top. He’s the cutest old man I’ve ever seen, his shoulders stoop a little bit, but he’s still so tall, like Zac and Jamison. His eyes light up with his smile, and seriously, the cutest.
“I am absolutely delighted to meet you, Scarlett Landmark,” he says. He looks over at Jamison. “You didn’t tell me she was such a beauty.”
Jamison grins. “I knew you’d pick up on that soon enough.”
I don’t even need my coat after that, I’m so warmed up.
“Pappy, I’m warning you now, the ladies in town are going to swoon so hard over you,” I tell him.
He throws his head back and lets out a loud laugh, and the rest of us can’t help but join in. Zac’s been signing our conversation to Ivy and she pretends to faint, which makes us laugh again.
“Ahh, there he is,” Jamison says. “I have a feeling whoever doesn’t try to snag Pappy will move on to Magnus.”
A tall, blond, Viking-looking guy strolls up to the group, rounding out the model photo shoot with his striking looks, and chuckles. “Pappy definitely has more swagger than me.” He holds out his hand when he notices me. “Hello. Magnus Evensen.”
“Scarlett Landmark.”
His eyes spark with recognition as he checks me out. Not in a gross way, but for sure appreciative. “Beautiful place. The architecture is incredible, amazing bones.”
“On behalf of my grandfather and great-grandfather, thank you…” I say, feeling even more flushed with everyone’s kindness and all the eyes on me.
He’s the only one who hasn’t signed while he’s talking even though Zac has been signing what we’re saying, so I’m surprised when Magnus looks at Ivy and his hand forms into a half circle as he drags it down his chest and looks like he’s about to fall over. Ivy laughs and motions for all of us to follow her to the door.
Jamison is watching me when I look up, his expression impossible to read. God, I miss that guy I first met. How can my heart trip me up so much, making me build all these walls one second and then be willing to tear them down the next…over and over again? It’s no wonder he’s shut off all his feelings for me.
“Please teach me some words so I can talk to her,” I say, my lips jutting out to the side in frustration.
His whole demeanor softens, and he puts his hand on my shoulder, his head tilting over to mine. Every nerve ending in my body jolts to life.
“I knew you were good people the moment I saw you, Scarlett Landmark.”
He drops his hand and leans back and it’s probably for the best because my heart was going to explode out of my chest if he kept touching me.
He points at me and then puts his open hand in front of his face and does a clockwise motion with his hand until his fingers and thumb meet near his chin. And the look on his face…I feel like Delgado after he does his nightly laps.
“What does that mean?” I ask, breathless.
“You.” He points again. “Beautiful.” And he repeats the second sign.
He smirks. “Sign that to Ivy and she’ll teach you whatever you want to learn.”
Oh, right. He was teaching me something to sign to Ivy.
“We better hustle. Looks like everyone’s hungry tonight,” he says.
I look around and the whole group is staring at Jamison and me. There’s a tiny beat of silence and then Jamison and I are moving toward them. Autumn’s eyes dance as she reaches out and takes my arm, looping hers through mine.
“Walk with me?” she says.
“Absolutely,” I say, smiling back like I’m not a nervous wreck.
We step out into the cold and it feels so good to my poor fevered body, I breathe in the fresh air.
Zac and Pappy flank Jamison on either side, and it looks like they’re all talking at once. Magnus walks slightly behind him, laughing at whatever they’re saying and Ivy dances between the two groups, with Autumn and Zac both reminding her to be careful in case there are any slippery areas. The snow is mostly melted from the sidewalks, but they’ve been predicting a big snowstorm in a couple of days.
“I’m really happy you’re joining us tonight,” Autumn says. “I’ve been so busy with work, trying to wrap everything up before we made this trip, that I haven’t gotten in on all the Zoom calls Zac and Ivy have had with Jamison. I haven’t had a chance to grill him about everything going on here, and now I can see that I’ve missed out.” She looks over at me and winks.
I smile and then when she keeps looking at me expectantly, I laugh. I like how comfortable she seems to be around me already, and I think I would be around her too, if I wasn’t still in the Jamison lust fog.
